Running is hard...

In the last two weeks, after a 6 month hiatus from running, I've come to realize just how tough it is to get back into it.

I've always been a big fan of running, and am always trying to sell my friends on it and pressure them to take up the habit.  Now I think I have a new appreciation for how rough it can be to get into the sport if you've never been a runner.  With this last pregnancy I had to give up running pretty early on (around 20 weeks), as it was causing a lot of pelvic pain and pressure and I didn't really want to risk long term damage to my pelvic floor.  I don't think I've taken this long a break from running in more than 15 years, since I started distance running in about Grade 11.  

After the go-ahead from my doctor at 6-weeks postpartum though, I decided it was time to give it go. Wearing the only pair of running shorts that I can get on right now and squeezed into my sports bra like a sausage, I managed to jog for 5 km (not going to say run, as I was going pretty slow).  That first run was not the feeling I remembered, and it felt almost unnatural (definitely no runners high achieved!).  The next day, my legs felt similar to the way they've felt after running half marathons.  It hurt to walk up and down stairs, sit down/stand up and even just to lie down while sleeping.  Still though, it was a good pain (muscle pain, lactate build-up instead of the joint and ligament pain I'd had during pregnancy).  

While that first run was tough, after about 7-8 runs it has been getting better.  I still have a very long way to go in terms of fitness level but my legs are feeling stronger and I'm gaining some of my confidence back that one-day I'll be able to get close to where I used to be (right now I have a hard time believing that I ever ran a marathon).  I don't have many hobbies that have stuck with me as long as running has - it is such a great workout, so convenient, inexpensive, and a great way to experience the outdoors - so being able to get out again and start running has really helped boost my mental health as well.  

Even harder than the physical challenge associated with running is the logistical challenges of finding time to fit it in at a time when Craig is home, a meal isn't in process or being served, Lucy doesn't need to be breastfed in the next 30-60 minutes (hard to predict), and bedtime isn't underway (since that is a 2-person job at this point).  Luckily the days are long here, and the sun is still up at 8 at night, which seems to be the only time left for a run - but I'll take it.  It's nice to feel a little bit more like myself and have a short break - even if I have a long way to go, I know I'll get there eventually.  The last 3 years in May, I've ran the Calgary half-marathon.  This year, I'm going to sign up for the 10km....It will still be a challenge, but hopefully the race-day adrenaline will give me some new motivation to keep pushing forward.  

Enough about me, right? Outside of my re-entry into the world of running, we've been settling into a routine with two kids fairly well I'd say.  This is the second week where I have Evie at home on my own three days of the week.  She still goes to dayhome on Wednesdays and Fridays as she really enjoys it, and it's nice to have a couple days alone with Lucy where I can actually get a few things accomplished (e.g. grocery shopping and writing a blog today) and have time to bond with her a little more than on the days when Evelyn is also around...Toddlers have a way of dominating the household when they are home.  

When Evie is home, we have been going to various playgroups or library classes in the morning, which by the time I spend an hour getting ready to leave the house, do the activity, and get home pretty much takes us to lunchtime and then a little bit of quiet time.  That makes that day go by pretty quickly.  Craig has also shifted his hours to be earlier, so he is getting home between 3-3:30 now which makes it a lot easier to get dinner ready.  So overall, I think it has been much better than expected.  I am still very glad we had full time care the first 6 weeks, as I was feeling pretty overwhelmed about having both of them at the same time.

Lucy has turned into a really calm and sweet baby,  A few weeks ago, she seemed a bit more difficult, requiring lots of walking and bouncing, but now she only really cries when she's hungry or tired and will fall asleep if you just wrap her up and put a blanket over her eyes.  She spends a lot of her days in the bouncy chair (which I still feel really guilty about), but she seems pretty content to be there or lying in her playmat while Evelyn runs circles around her (and insists on aggressively bouncing her in the chair and making sure her soother stays put).  The last week or so, she has been sleeping a 6 hour stretch between 10pm-5am, so I am feeling pretty good.  Hopefully that lasts, but I know that Evie did the same thing around this age and it didn't last forever.  We are getting lots of smiles and coos from her, and she has been sucking on her hands in the last couple days.  I'm looking forward to hearing some baby giggles in the next month or two :)  It's so nice when they start showing a few emotions, especially those heart-melting smiles.

Evie is very busy these days.  We have re-started potty training (after many months of protesting and refusal to sit on the potty), and Craig and I are a bit more confident that it will stick this time....the power of Smarties as a reward maybe?  It is still pretty hard to work on potty training with a new baby, so I think it will not happen overnight, but hopefully it just continues to improve.  She is good with reminders but still hasn't managed to tell us in advance yet.  I'm also not desperate enough to stay in the house for multiple days on end trying to get it done, so potty training while out and about it a challenge.  

She is definitely becoming more of a negotiator these days, and always wants things her way.  Like if you offer to read a book, she will say "You read 2 books", or if she offers you part of her snack and you say "no thank you", she will insist that you eat it ("you want this cracker", "you like this cracker". "eat it", "eat it").  She also has this funny habit now where if she wants to do something that she knows we have said No to, she just tells us "Let me talk by myself" - like she expects us to not tell her no, and just leave her on her own to do what she wants.  Toddlers are so funny.  

While the days when Evie is home are very busy and exhausting, I miss her being around - babies really don't provide the same entertainment :)

Here are some pics from the last little while

Nighttime snuggles with daddy

Lucy sporting her first summer outfit on our 25 degree day last week

Our backyard is now equipped with a kiddie pool, sandbox, ride on cars, kitchen playset, and playhouse...a toddler's paradise.  Evie will play out there for hours. Hudson appreciates when we fill the pool up too, but he wouldn't obey Evie's command to go down the slide

Trying to soak up all these baby snuggles when I have a chance

Wide-eyed and alert :)

Snacks outside, in a Christmas skirt (very practical for playing in the sandbox).  Evelyn is really into dresses because the two older girls at her day home wear them often.  I dropped her off not too long ago and they were all dancing, and I said "Evie, go dance with them", and she looked at them and then at me and said "I can't dance, I have no dress" (they were both wearing dresses). She had the saddest face on....I dropped off a dress later for her.

Evie has still been really good with Lucy; She talks to her lots and gets excited when she does anything slightly interesting (sneezes, grasps a toy etc).  I think she'll have lots of fun as Lucy starts to develop more and more.

Love these baby smiles

Evie still insists that all of Lucy's toys are hers too - Luckily Lucy doesn't put up much of a fight.

Wearing an outfit for a change (sleepers are just so easy)

Best dogs ever

Admiring the peacock at the zoo

Girls in shades

Out for a walk to throw rocks in the river - we are so lucky to have this close to us in the middle of a large city

Look at that follow-through

 Walking sticks are a necessity these days

Lucy's first Easter :)

Egg decorating fiasco on Easter.  Craig was out walking the dogs and I was feeling good about myself for a few minutes - Evie was occupied decorating eggs and Lucy was calmly watching.  Then all of a sudden in the span of five minutes, Evie started coughing until she threw up all of her chocolate eggs and breakfast, somehow also pooped at the same time, Lucy started crying because she wanted to eat, and Evie spilled all the red dye everywhere....Calm to chaos for sure

Evie loved Easter this year...she keeps asking when the Easter Bunny will be back

Hard to believe Lucy will be 2 months tomorrow.  Time is going by way too quickly.