flashback friday and pregnancy update

Here I am just a few weeks before Anna was born in early March of 2008::

And, here I am just last weekend at the Kelley farm::

Generally speaking, it's not the best picture ever, but it's the only recent one I have of my belly. If you want to see it bigger {the picture, that is}, just click on it and voila, it will get huge!

I am 29 weeks pregnant.

That means I have 11 weeks to go before my due date.

I went to the doctor on Wednesday {I go every other week these days} for my checkup. Everything looks pretty darn good. My glucose screen came back {as it always has} to show that I don't have gestational diabetes {phew!}. All the levels in both my blood and my pee looked just dandy. My weight gain is completely within normal ranges {and is slightly below what I normally have gained by 29 weeks . . . maybe that has something to do with it being summer and not the dead of winter?} However, at each appointment they measure your belly {among other things} and that number should correspond pretty closely to the number of weeks along you are {isn't that a cool fact. I love when God thinks numbers are cool, just like me: I must have gotten that from Him!} Well, guess what I measured? You would think that the first sentence in this paragraph might be hint, but if you thought that you would be mistaken. Nope, not 29 {like would be expected}, but rather just a hair under 35! Nice! I guess I shouldn't be surprised {and, really, neither was my OB} because I have big babies {my smallest was 8 pounds and 4 ounces -- and he was nearly 2 weeks early! and my biggest was 10 pounds 2 ounces -- although a week late. The others have hovered right around 9 pounds. Give or take.} But, since I have 11 more weeks of growth ahead of me {and the largest, most rapid time of growth is still to come!} I'm pretty sure I'll be HUGE long before the baby is ready to make it's grand entrance. Oh well. I've done it before, I guess I can do it again. Right?

On another, pregnancy-related, note, I have had a few charlie horses in the night over the past month or so. Those are NOT fun! Also, I had my first bout of nasty late-pregnancy heartburn this week::let the good times commence! I know the end is approaching when these things start to begin. Still to come are::can't get up from the couch, can't get comfortable enough to sleep well, completely out of steam, "I can't be pregnant for one more minute!!!", Braxton-Hicks contractions all the time and back pain. Oh, the joys! {but so worth it!}

Also, the baby and I {mostly me, the baby was no help, and sometimes even a hindrance} finished the Lazyman Triathlon at the Y {so did Kirbs, by the way!}. That means we biked 112 miles, ran/walked {I opted for WALKED!} 26.2 miles and swam 2.5 miles over a 5-week period. It was more of a challenge this year than it was last year, but I'm glad I finished. I need some motivation to do something or I'll opt for sitting poolside and reading a book while the kids swim rather than getting in there and doing a few laps myself!

Here I am with my Lazyman finisher t-shirt::

Alrighty, that's all. Enjoy the weekend!

Thankful Thursday

Incentive & motivation::

Incentive and motivation are both things that I think are good, and that I need. I'm not always a good self-starter. I get stuff done, but I often procrastinate and put off and don't actually get around to things until I really, really need to!

So, I've decided our entire family could benefit from a little of this two-some {incentive and motivation, that is!} to get our summer started on the right track! So today I am thankful for a little incentive and some motivation to get us movin'.

The kid's get super excited about summer reading programs. Even the one . . . or two . . . or three . . . or four . . . or five who might not be overly enthusiastic about reading the rest of the year are ready to go when you start handing them charts for the various summer reading programs around here. Traditionally we do the summer reading programs at Half Price Books, Barnes and Noble and the public library. Free books, gift certificates, state fair admission tickets, Culver's custard . . . who wouldn't love that kind of incentive? {I wish they had reading charts for adults too! I'd be all over it.} One year we even did a summer reading thing at Ikea and got a free bookcase out of the deal! Anyway, we are thankful, around here, for the many great summer reading programs the kids can take part in!

And, we wouldn't want the adults to miss out on the benefit of a little motivation and incentive, so once again {this'll be our second year} Kirb and I signed up for the "Lazyman Triathlon" at the Y. It's an entire Ironman Triathlon, but instead of doing it all in one day, {like the crazy ambitious, in seriously amazing shape people with insane amounts of energy and endurance . . . and who I also must add, often poop their pants as they go} you get 6 weeks to finish {and I promise not to poop my pants!}. So between the 1st of June and the 15th of July we have to {each} swim 2.5 miles, bike 112 miles and run {walk, more likely, in my case} 26.2 miles. I, for one, need a little incentive so I thought it would be fun to sign up again. This whole summer pregnancy thing might make me pretty lazy {and not at all in the "lazyman" kind of way!} over the summer without the goal of finishing}. Plus, I'm kind of a "responsible" type, so if I said I would do it then, by george, I'm gonna get it done. Plus, when we successfully complete our goals we get a t-shirt {and they are much cuter than the ones from 2009 . . . although they didn't come in maternity sizes, so I might not be able to wear mine right away after I earn it.} I'll update once in a while and let you know how we're doing. I'm excited!

So, we're thankful for a help help to get our butts in gear and start our summers off on the right track! How great is that?

Done and . . . done!

Well, we're both officially done with our Lazyman triathlon. Over 225 miles biked, 55 miles ran/walked and 5 miles of swimming between the 2 of us over the last 4 1/2 weeks. I'm so proud of us! It was lots of fun, now I think I'll celebrate with some Peanut Butter M&M's!

Lazyman update

Well, Kirb is DONE with all his miles! He worked really hard last week and just finished up his last few miles of running this morning. Way to go, babe! I have a little biking left to finish this week and then I'll be done too; I wrapped up my swimming and walking/running last week! Soon we will be the proud owners of new t-shirts. Hooray!

Lazyman update: Week 3

Well, we finished our third week of the Lazyman Triathlon. It is an entire Ironman Triathlon {2.5 miles of swimming -- which, at our Y, comes out to 41 laps in the pool, or 82 lengths -- 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running/walking}, but you get 5 weeks to finish. So far, so good. We're done with 3 of our 5 weeks, which, in case math isn't your gift, is 60% of the time we have to finish. Here's what we've logged so far:

Shana:
Swimming: 36 laps {88% done}
Biking: 66.7 miles {60% done}
Walking {with a few small hints of jog/run}: 23.1 miles {89% done}

Kirby:
swimming: 26 laps {63% done}
Biking: 88 miles {79% done}
Running {most of his actually was running} 14 miles: {53% done}

Overall, we're even a little ahead of schedule. It's been fun so far, but it is a lot of work to make sure you can log a decent chunk of miles almost every day. We were gone all weekend, so we didn't get much done then . . . although I was planning to log a few miles on the hotel treadmill, but since it was in the room with the pool which was probably 80 degrees and steamy, I only made it about a mile before I thought I might die, thus ending the weekend workouts! Thanks for cheering us on . . . virtually, if not in person!

Lazyman update: Week 1

Well, we finished our first week of the Lazyman Triathlon. It is an entire Ironman Triathlon {2.5 miles of swimming -- which, at our Y, comes out to 41 laps in the pool, or 82 lengths -- 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running/walking}, but you get 5 weeks to finish. So far, so good. We're done with 1 of our 5 weeks, which, in case math isn't your gift, is 20% of the time we have to finish. Here's what we've logged in week 1:

Shana:
Swimming: 17 laps {41% done}
Biking: 30.7 miles {27% done}
Walking {with a few small hints of jog/run}: 5.9 miles {22% done}

Kirby:
swimming: none so far {that's 0% done}
Biking: 37 miles {33% done}
Running {most of his actually was running}: {19% done}

Overall, we're pretty well on track, if not just a smidge ahead of schedule. It's been pretty fun so far, but it is a lot of work to make sure you can log a decent chunk of miles almost every day. I worked out 4 days this week. The weekend was REALLY busy {more about that later} and I couldn't get to the Y, although I'm sure I logged many miles on my feet. I only count the miles that I'm intentionally doing for the triathlon when I add up my miles. On Monday last week I biked, on Wednesday I biked some and walked some, on Thursday I biked and walked both and on Friday I swam and walked. It was a great week. Thanks for cheering us on . . . virtually, anyway!

On your mark, get set . . . go!

Well, it's official. Kirb and I both signed up for the "Lazyman Triathlon" at the Y. It's an entire Ironman Triathlon, but instead of doing it all in one day, {like the crazy ambitious, in seriously amazing shape people with insane amounts of energy and endurance . . . and who I also must add, often poop their pants as they go} you get 5 weeks to finish {and I promise not to poop my pants!}. So between today and the 9th of August we have to {each} swim 2.5 miles, bike 112 miles and run {walk, more likely} 26.2 miles. I, for one, need a little incentive so I thought it would be fun to sign up. Plus, I'm kind of a "responsible" type, so if I said I would do it then, by george, I'm gonna get it done. Also, the $10 I had to pay to register is also a big incentive for me, not to mention the t-shirt I'll get when I finish!

Kirb put in 17 miles on the stationary bike this morning, I went later in the afternoon and logged 7.7 miles. So, we're on our way. I'll update once in a while and let you know how we're doing. I'm excited!