7:35!

I went to swim class today with a not so great attitude. I had the day off from work but I had so many things to do, I just didn't feel like working out. Coach offered up a workout that would call my bluff... 3 x 500 as 500, 5 x 100, and 2 x 250. I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to test myself. My lane mate wanted to swim 8 minutes and I wanted a 7:45 which I thought I could get but would still be disappointed with because I know I should swim faster. So I went out hard and kept kicking. When I hit the wall and looked at the clock, I couldn't believe my time: 7:35 is a 10 second PR for me. I wouldn't have believed it except my lane mate was down at the other end swimming towards me, she hit the wall in 7:57. So my time was real. I did it!

Instead of rushing off to the US Olympic Training Center to join the triathlon team, I went home and started back in on my to do list. Baby is sleeping slightly better, still teething, still no teeth yet, and we're still exhausted. Every time I get some sleep, my body says MORE. More PLEASE! I don't think we'll ever get caught back up.

I took the baby and dog out for a walk today and Liam got to sit upright in the stroller for the first time. No more car seat in the stroller for this big boy. I also retired his 6 month old size clothes today after our childcare provider commented on his high-water pants and then offered me 3 bags of hand-me down clothes. All of his bigger clothes are for summer since that is when he is supposed to wear 9-12 month size. I guess layering shorts won't get him through the spring. I can't believe I swam a 7:35!

Me love tickles

Instead of tickling Cookie Monster he's eating him. No sign of teeth here yet and Liam is still not sleeping. I don't know what happened on Bill's shift but I was up with baby from 3:30 am -4 am and then up for good at 5:20 am. Kiddo is not happy. I need to go to bed right now instead of blogging.

When I left for work this morning Liam was asleep on the big couch and Bill was scrunched up on the little couch trying to catch a few zzzzzs. After work I made it to swimming but once again I treated it like a recovery workout. I need to stop doing that and start working harder at swimming. Today I pushed three 200s with decent results: 3:01, 2:57, and 2:55. I can no longer justify a weak 500 time. It's time to do a little time trial and see where I am at post-baby. Perhaps Wednesday?

Speaking of tests, we are a few weeks out from Liam's 6 month checkup. They have a list of skills they want to know if baby can accomplish yet (I know! the pressure is on already) one of which is can baby pick up a Cheerio? Since we aren't supposed to feed baby food like Cheerios, I'm trying to figure why I would be seeing if he could pick one up? Well we tried it out today, I put a Cheerio in front of baby and grabbed the camera. He picked it up and put it directly in his mouth, without missing a beat as you can see in this photo. I tried to pry it out of his mouth before he swallowed but too late! No more Cheerio tests until baby has some teefs to eat them with! Wish us sleep again please, it didn't work last night.

Jaguars

Today was insane. We started out this morning where we ended the night before, with Liam not sleeping well. Bill tagged me off around 3:30 am (he had been up watching basketball in between wake ups). I can't tell you what happened next except I got intermittent sleep and got up with baby at 5:50 am. Then... who knows, I ended up at the grocery store at 8:30 am with a sleepy baby and a long grocery list. We think it's teething that is causing the sleep disruptions. At least we got a few nights of decent sleep.

Bill slept in until 10 am, then I handed baby over to him so I could do Tribabe inventory and finish making 30 Powerdry hats for the Beaver Freezer. It's dumping rain here so I shuffled off to the gym for a quick run and weight lifting. Poor dog didn't get out for exercise today. Honey I can't do it all.

Fat cat enjoying the sun yesterday. Right now I'm working on burning CDs of music I would like to perform with this new band I might start playing with. I think this means I have to rehearse. Or I could just chicken out like I've been doing these past 5 years.

I don't think I could have packed anything else in today. Life fully lived! I hope that baby sleeps tonight, for everyone's sake.

Here are the weekly workout totals:
Swim 1:20
Bike 3:10
Run 1:30
Walk 1:22
Weights :50
Core 1:05

I have to say that I was disappointed with how weak I felt riding Kings Valley yesterday. My memories of that ride are riding strong through several sections, but yesterday I survived or suffered. I am really looking forward to the day when I feel strong again. It might be a while, the rains have returned for the foreseeable future and I'm not too motivated to ride in the pouring rain. Wish us good sleep tonight. We don't need luck, we just need sleep!

Garage nudity

Several months ago we had to make room for the baby in the house so Bill moved some of his things out in the garage, like his massive amounts of workout clothes. Since then, I've found Bill in various states of undress in the garage because why would he change clothes in the house when the clothes are out there? It's slightly alarming to find him out there like that though. I have another biking story for you, I'll get to it in a sec.

We had nice weather again today and I could see some weeds coming up in the yard so I set Liam up in his Johnny Jump Up on the deck so he could watch mommy in the yard. He seemed pretty darn happy to be outdoors.

Liam working on cutting his first teeth. A couple of days ago I was drinking water out of a glass while holding Liam and he muscled my hands toward his face and stuck his mouth right on the glass and started licking the water with his tongue. I couldn't get the glass away from him so today his daddy bought him a sippy cup. Don't ask me how he figured out how to mouth my glass!?!

Whoa. Sippy cup! He can move it toward his mouth and gnaw on it but he can't quit lift it up yet.

Peas and squash for dinner yum! Now the sippy cup has flavoring on it. And finally, in bike riding news... I rode with my mom friend today, we did most of the Kings Valley loop but Bill dropped us off and picked us up so we could cut out the highway sections. I wore the Garmin GPS and downloaded the data (return of the tri geek) and the stats were:
31 miles
1H 51M
16.9 avg speed
141 avg heart rate
1703 total ascent
1948 total descent

We did a nice mix of chatting and working so it was a good ride on the last sunny day we have in the forecast for a long time. Bill took the baby shopping at Costco and Target while we were out riding so we had groceries when we were done. Excellent. I was thinking about doing the Beaver Freezer triathlon course tomorrow by myself but I think my legs are going to be tired from the 1700 ft of climbing we did today. Maybe it will rain hard and I can lay on the couch with Liam all day? HA! Like the baby would allow that.

I'M BACK!

That's me this morning, wearing pre-pregnancy clothes that aren't skin tight with the baby on my hips that's baby and not just hips! You will have to forgive me if I enjoy life right now because I don't have all sunshine and rainbow moments all the time. First good news: I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight. After weeks of very slow weight loss, I've dropped 4 pounds in the past two weeks and I'm starting to see a little bit of my old form return. Of course, things are slightly rearranged on my body (hello jelly belly) and I'm no Valerie Bertanelli in a bikini. I'm 8 pounds away from my goal weight and I can see that goal coming into focus in the not too distance future. Thank goodness, I was beginning to wonder if I was permanently damaged from child bearing.

Second, last night I put my brave suit on and went to rehearse with a band. I used to sing, a long time ago, and I have mixed feelings about performing, but last night went great! I brought two tunes to the group, both Suzanne Vega songs: Tombstone and Caramel, and they loved both songs and invited me to perform with them in a few weeks. I'm going to do it but I don't know that it will become a regular thing for me. Believe it or not, I am over the stage in my life where I want to hang out in bars. But spending a Thursday night in a self-made music studio (sweet setup in a re-done garage) with a drummer, bass player, and guitar player was really enjoyable. Just to be clear: I'm no American Idol contestant. I don't slide across a stage or thump my chest like Celine Dion, but I sing clear enough and hit the notes close enough to be passable. I did start singing into a dead mic last night and didn't realize it for a little too long but hey, who needs amplification? I'm just happy to be there.

Finally, my run is coming back. Very slowly, but coming back. I'm starting to get that runner's high thing again and ohhhhhhhh. Running hard gives me a a feeling of power and satisfaction that just can't be duplicated. I feel a Meg Ryan coffee shop moment in my future! I think it will all come together as the weight drops off. I just have to keep at it a few more months. Let's see what happens, sometimes life gets in the way, especially with a little baby, the best excuse ever for not getting things done.

Liam in sweat pants his auntie sent him and a hand-me down rain jacket because it's raining again. In Oregon, it's raining. Who could believe it? I took him to the fabric store yesterday, we picked up some fabric for some baby pants that mommy or grandma will make for him. Let's see who has more time...? Probably mama, my mom is busier than me most of the time. In baby news, the brightest spot in my life right now, our precious boy is finally healthy again and sleeping well. Two nights ago, he slept 7pm to 3:50am and last night 7pm-1am and then 1:30am-6:10am. Sweet relief! Grandpa and grandpa are coming next weekend so Bill and I can do the Beaver Freezer triathlon (he race, me tribabe) and perhaps we will get out on a date. Because I still have a husband, right? Not just the other person who cares for the baby? I didn't say things were perfect, but I'll get back to being a decent wife again here soon. At least he's getting breakfast in the morning. Love you honey!

More pain with a roadie

We shared dinner with friends twice in two days so that has kept me busy and kept me from blogging. Last night we were up chatting until 11 pm! The dog was hilarious, at 10 he came over and put his chin on my leg and then moved over to our guest and nudged her as if to say, "Hey, it's bed time."
Today was a little insane, at noon I got in a short swim and then rushed home with baby so I could get to the dentist by 2, and then rushed home so I could get myself together for a 4pm bike ride with a friend. As you can see in the photos, Liam and Daddy were busy at work while mommy was running around.

Today's ride partner is a roadie, for the non-geeks reading this, a roadie is someone who rides a road bike which is the type of bike that is used in bike racing. Typically, roadies ride in packs and take turns pulling and drafting. In triathlon, we ride time trial bikes and when riding with other triathletes, we typically don't draft or pull, we ride far enough apart so there is no drafting effect. Riding with roadies is challenging for a triathlete because instead of keeping one steady pace, the riding is more of an interval workout. Good for speed but hard on a triathlete's legs.

Today was a roadie's delight, after a scant 2 miles we turned into a vicious headwind. My roadie girl friend turned up the heat and I tried to stay on her back wheel but it hurt. My heart rate was over 150 and just as I was getting used to sight of her tire tread, it was my turn to pull. OUCH. OH OUCH. Luckily she was patient with me and let me take shorter pulls. About 20 minutes later we were able to turn out of the headwind and didn't face it again until later in the ride. This is good for me, right? I don't know that I've ever challenged myself on the bike this consistently. I hope this work results in a better bike split. If not, I guess I'll just have gained a lot of knowledge about the tire tread on my roadie friend's bike.

Getting wild today

Whoa it was a wild day, we stayed home and cleaned the house. I got out for a short run, the only run of the week (oops) and we did a short shopping trip. A nice Sunday!

Next weekend Liam is getting his photograph taken. Hopefully we'll figure out something for him to wear and how to get his hair looking decent. He seems to know how to work with the camera.

Liam lost his privileges today. We've always swaddled this boy but now that he's 5 months old he decided he doesn't want to be swaddled and he wrestles around in his crib until he gets free. I found him with his arm hanging out of the crib one day and the next day he was on his belly with a leg hanging out. So it was time for bumpers in the crib but I wanted bumpers that wouldn't increase the risk of SIDS so we ordered these breathable bumpers on Amazon. Liam is trying to figure out how to thwart these now.

This week's totals:
Swim: 1:55
Bike: 3:40
Run: 25
Walk: 25
Weights: 0
Core: 20

Another bad week for core, someone should do something about that. This was intended to be a recovery week but I think I took that concept a little too far. Back on track next week. Que the Rocky soundtrack!

Case of the Mondays

No Mondays around here! Just a great weekend. Bill went out of town and left us for 3 days earlier this week. I was worried, I'm not going to lie, but Liam is at the age now that we can hang out together and enjoy each other's company. It's less work and more fun and being mommy is turning out to be more wonderful than I thought. I didn't get the workouts in while he was gone but I could use the break anyway.

If only I had just a little more sleep, life would be perfect. Today was another gorgeous sunny day here (so surprising for this time of year!) so I ran out the door this morning to get on my bike and meet some roadie gals for a ride. Once again, I got the hurt put on me. Eventually I will get back into shape but for now it's suffer time. At least the sun was shining! As soon as I got home, Bill ran out the door for his exercise and then as soon as he got home I ran out the door with Sunny to go the the spa for her birthday. We had fancy showers, fancy steam room, fancy retreat room, and then fancy pedicures. When I got back home for the final time, no one was here. That is not a feeling I like anymore. When I was at the spa I saw a woman snuggling her daughter on the couch and it shot straight to my soul. I am so lucky to have a child to share my life with. No bad Mondays around here. Just another great week!

Where did he come from?

William K Fleck Jr 5 months

William K Fleck Sr 5 months

Baby 5 months

Mommy ~4 months

Before mommy's hair turned blond and her eyes brown. Can you believe I was a red haired blue eyed baby?

Bonus Photos:

Grandma Olson with Baby Erika

Grandpa Olson

Grandma Olson on the left

We'll get some more Fleck baby photos and see but I think Liam looks a little like mommy! What do you think? I love these old photos!

When to buy flowers

Liam's new fun trick is to yank off his socks and then stuff them in his mouth. He won't let go of the socks either and if you try to say "no no no" he laughs. Well little dude we'll see who the joke is on when we show this photo at your wedding reception!

I took him to the Doc yesterday and he has an ear and sinus infection so baby is now on antibiotics. You would never know this kid was sick if you were around him during the day because he's cheerful and happy. But at night he coughs and cries. I was exhausted this morning from staying up with the baby so I decided to skip weightlifting and running and went to go buy my childcare provider a small bunch of local flowers. Turned out to be a genius move because the meds gave Liam explosive diarrhea right before I got there. She had just finished cleaning him up and he was happy again! He got me later so it wasn't like I got out of anything special!

New topic: Bill and I bought this electric skillet recently after using one at his parents. I love it and find myself using it constantly. This is potatoes with peppers, onions, garlic, and shallots (yummy breath) which we had on Saturday and then on Sunday we had the leftovers in a breakfast burrito with cheese, salsa, and pork sausage.

Our other useful kitchen help is the good ol George Foreman grill. This grease came off pork sausage which was plenty tasty without the grease. I think it had ginger in it. YUM. I am really enjoying changing things up in our food purchasing and diet. Eating less meat and less processed foods has changed how easily things move through my digestive system and I feel better. My body was still messed up from pregnancy for a while but I'm coming around. I am still sketchy with chicken after getting averse to it during pregnancy. I have no desire to eat it unless it's unrecognizable (in some other dish).

I'm off to bed, hopefully the baby will skip the hour long coughing and crying fit we've had the past two nights and sleep like the precious soul he is.

Wilted

Here we are! I fell off the blogging wagon, I think it started with a bad night of sleep but who can remember these things? Here is what I do know, I went on a bike ride with one of my mom friends today and she put the hurt on me. woo! My face is warm 4 hours later. We hurt ourselves trying to chick this poor guy. We passed him on an uphill like he was standing still, then we promptly died. We deserved it! At least he didn't find out that he got chicked by two new moms!

I'm going to be sore tomorrow, and the next day. Liam looks pretty good here but he's still sick, I can hear him coughing via the baby monitor right now. I am calling the Doc tomorrow, I hate to get him on any meds but this poor kid has been sick long enough.

Liam looking at himself in a little mirror on his hand-me down exersaucer. He just started with this thing yesterday and it looks like a winner. Whatever entertains baby and gives mommy more time to get dishes done. HA HA! Thank goodness I exercise, otherwise, that last statement would be brutal!

First attempts at sitting up. He wilts over after about 10 seconds of sitting up. I know how he feels!

Here are the weekly workout totals: h:mm
Swim 2:10
Bike 3:30
Run 1:20
Walk 1:10
Weights :50
Core :35

Still sucking at core, I don't know what I'm thinking by skipping it, like this belly is going to tone itself. I have lost about 1 pound in the past 2 weeks which seems BAD but I have noticed a change in my body, I'm gaining muscle, so hopefully weight loss is around the corner. Running is feeling better, I can't wait for my first genuine runner's high! It will probably come seconds after chicking my first dude on the trails. ;-) Just kidding folks!

Warm, cozy, and numb

I'm focusing on food this week, if I didn't make that clear. Wild blueberry pancakes and yogurt this morning, not quite as filling as the other meals this week but tasty. Snoqualmie Falls pancake mix is the best, get it if you have access to it, and Nancy's yogurt too. I'm going to try crepes later this week and see how long it takes, the pancakes are pretty quick.

I had to go to the dentist this morning to get two crowns replaced so Bill took some time off work to watch the baby while I was away. When I came home they were both out in the garage, the baby still in his jammies with one holey sock on one of his hands, apparently as an old sock glove. These are the moments that make mommies feel all warm and cozy inside!

Liam looking adorable wearing a sweater my former boss knitted for him. I went swimming a few hours after my dentist appointment and my mouth was still numb so I had to breath between strokes with part of my mouth since the other part was numb and felt like had taken a ball to the face. A new swim experience for me! Whatever it takes to mix things up.

Wittle Ittles in some knickers I got on Etsy. It was either knickers or a super hero outfit. I think that will be next.

Shadow of my breast

First, this is not about what you think! I had a meeting at the library on campus today so I grabbed a notepad and pencil and furiously took notes at the meeting. I didn't wear a jacket since it was just across the street and I had on a nice blue turtle neck sweater. I hit the bathroom before heading back to my office, thank goodness, because I saw in the mirror that the pencil on the notepad had rubbed off onto my chest making what looked liked two distinct shadows beneath my breasts. Fortunately, the spots came off with some water and rubbing. But good grief! I am a walking disaster sometimes.

I'm trying to cut back on sugar so I got this "no sugar added" ice cream only to have Bill find that it's full of Splenda, fake sugar. Gross! Not even the wild blueberries would save this for me. Back to full fat, full sugar ice cream for me but once or twice a week. Thanks for the comments on yesterday's post! Keep them coming! I'm breaking out the crock pot soon (thanks sun safety barbie!) for chili.

This morning's breakfast was awesome! Egg sandwich on whole wheat english muffin with avocado on the side. YUM! The contraption next to the sandwich is what helped me kick the latte habit. You put warm milk in it and pump it and it creates frothy milk. Excellent. I have to save money when I can now that I work part time so quitting lattes was a good idea. Still trying to get ideas for breakfast but I could eat today's breakfast everyday.

Dinner! Steak from local organic farm cost $14.99/pound. Expensive but, if we went out to a restaurant we would have spent more than twice that. Eating local and organic will take some getting used to but if we eat less meat then splurging on local meat will even out financially.

In other random, odd, crazy news, I was at the gym lifting weights today and a guy told me I was looking good and that I should call him sometime. Yeah! Except, it was my husband's friend I think he meant I was looking good considering how hugely pregnant I was and that my husband should call him sometime if he ever gets a life again. Context! My life would be so exciting if taken out of context.

Food rampage

That's it! Food is getting my attention now. I'm working on eating healthy foods and in a way that is better for the environment. Starting with breakfast, I used to just eat cereal and run out the door to go get a latte and I would be hungry again within an hour of getting to work. Now that I'm getting up earlier with baby, the excuses are over. No more lattes and no more cereal, I'm feeding myself a full meal everyday. I could use some new ideas for breakfast though if you have any. Today was oatmeal and a berry smoothie with coffee made with a coffee press and warm frothy milk. Good and filling. I didn't need to eat again until 11am when I had a slice of cheese and some Triscuts before swimming.

We're eating as much organic fruits and vegetables as we can, including frozen for things that are out of season. Even Liam is getting in on the act, helping himself to some organic peas. mmmmm! Yes it is more expensive and yes I know this stuff is a marketed product targeted at people like me who are willing to buy it. But it's better for the environment and we can afford organic so we're going to vote with our dollars.

We watched the documentary Food, Inc last night and it solidified what I was already starting to feel about meat and processed food that is offered in grocery stores. This is not a political blog so I won't get into the politics of food processing in the US, but see Food Inc if you are interested in how things get to your grocery store. Tonight I made quinoa for the first time and planned to serve it with grilled shrimp but when I went to the store the only thing they had was farmed shrimp from Thailand which didn't sound good at all. But I found some frozen clam chowder from a restaurant on the Oregon coast which is as good as local can get. We made the quinoa as a pilaf, if you haven't had it before, you make it just like rice. Quinoa contains a balanced set of amino acids which makes it a complete protein source. We'll have the leftovers with teriyaki chicken tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.

It looks like this food rampage will take some effort, if you have any great tips or recipes to help me, I would appreciate it. I don't have a ton of time to research stuff but I'm really enjoying cooking and I do feel better now with the big breakfast in the morning.

Good day sunshine + date fail!

It's Sunday night, it's raining now, and we're all tired, but it was a great weekend, thank you sunshine! We are having an amazing spring and we are taking full advantage of it. Both Bill and I got out for a bike ride on Saturday in the sun. Today we did a little walk/run together and right now I'm blogging while watching the documentary Food, Inc. I was already leaning toward less meat and less processed foods but this is going to push me over the edge. I'll get back to on the impact.

We tried to go out on our 1st date Friday night but it was a big old fail. We had a friend stay at the house while Liam slept then we snuck off to see the movie Avatar. Only it was sold out. So we decided to go out for drinks but every dang restaurant we went in was packed. We finally ran into some friends at the gelato place downtown which is where we ended up. I guess we'll go on a date in another 5 months since that's our current pace.

Weekly totals:
Swim: 1.5 hr
Bike: 3:50
Run: 1:10
Walk: 1:40
Weights: 0
Core: :25

Still not getting enough core in. I'm too tired to make jokes about my jelly belly!

Raspberries solve your problems

Did you know frozen raspberries are high in fiber? Liam practices his raspberries as soon as he wakes up in the morning and he almost has it figured out. I think he's trying to impress an older girl at daycare and today she apparently gave him some smooches so it must be working.

Liam loves grandmas and so do we! We need more grandma time! This is the only thing lacking right now, otherwise, we have adjusted pretty well to life with baby. We're still trying to manage our time better but we're doing well enough that I'm starting to see this kid thing as Bill and Erika's Excellent Adventure.

Whoa baby burrito! Of course, as soon as I say we are doing well, Liam turns up sick. Poor kid! We put him down for a nap this afternoon and he seemed fine. I zoomed out the door for a bike ride and literally as soon as I walked in the door he woke up crying and wouldn't stop crying. I had to give him a bath to calm him down. He was coughing and had a runny nose. Again.

He did manage to scarf down plenty of food despite being sick. Thank goodness our kid is a decent eater. By the way, I shouldn't let him hold the spoon, he bangs it on the table and he actually threw it in my direction last night and hit me with it. Hopefully that wasn't on purpose. That's not as bad as what he hit me with this morning. Motherhood can be quite glamorous!