STEPS!!!

So.... finally....

Meaghan took some steps. 

She would only take one step, but it happened 4 times in a row... so it was deliberate, not a fluke.  And she was SO proud of herself... I was giggling, and she was giggling like a little fiend... it was awesome!!

(She is my latest walker - the boys walked at 13 months... Meaghan is 14 1/2 months.  I'm not even considering her as officially walking yet, but it sure was cute!)

16 years ago...

Today's Facebook status update:

Melissa LaRue was baptized 16 years ago today, on a beautiful day (like today) in a chilly lake at a summer camp by the man who first taught me about Jesus and is now living with Him.

Mr. Kushnerik loved Jesus.  He gathered children easily around him to tell them about Jesus.  Anyone who knew Mr. K knew he was the most lovable, loving, gentle-spirited man of God you could ever meet.  He was readily available with warm hugs, but also ready to correct and rebuke when necessary.  He and his wife were my spiritual pillars as I grew up.

On the day I was baptized, Mr. K was the only dad I had.  My own parents didn't even show up.  I didn't even bother telling my dad; he was so against anything *religious* as it was.  But my mom knew; she said she'd try to come, but she didn't.

It also happened (happens) to be my dad's birthday.

So today is bittersweet for me.  Today is a celebration of testimony to God's work in my life; to His power to save, to His power to keep me from stumbling, to His provision of grace.

But today is also a day of cruel reminders that my dad just simply doesn't care.  Never did.  Never likely will.  I remember my baptism, but I also remember that it's his birthday; yet another one passing without contact.... knowing that he is unwilling to reconcile, but preferring instead to live in his own little bubble of "other-hatred" and misery.

I am glad that *this* day has been made happier because I chose to show the world that I am living for Jesus.

I'm apparently not 18 any more

My compressed disk (or whatever it is in my back) is sure slowing me down.  I decided this morning that since things were feeling "okay" and that my chiropractor & physiotherapist is happy with how things are coming along, that I would bike with the kids over to a play date today.  It's 2 miles to Janelle's house, and the boys did awesome - Meaghan was in the Chariot.  It took *far* longer than it would've taken me to just run it, but whatever - we had to obey the pedestrian rules of the road when crossing streets, etc.

Now, keeping in mind that biking was one of the major aggravators in the first place, I went slow and easy.  It was a 2 mile ride there, and 2 miles back.  Not a big deal.  I was doing 20 *miles* before, hard and fast.

My back let me know, in no uncertain terms, that even doing 4 easy miles was not smart.  *Boo*

So instead of bemoaning the pain, I decided to join the boys in an after-dinner trampoline session.  They love it when I double-bounce them and make them fly higher than my head.  They also like it when I make them lay on the trampoline, stiff as a board, and then I "sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, POP!" them up in the air and then catch them on their way down.

Dustin is 43 lbs and Joshua is over 50 lbs.

And... just before I was going to go for my run tonight, my side started hurting.  I think I *may* have pulled something.  It hurts to breathe if I'm sitting wrong.

So, no run tonight.  :(

Maybe tomorrow... my training is NOT going the way I want it to!!  (But at least I'm spending quality time with my kids - the memories of which will far outlast the half-marathon joy!)

I feel alive when...

... I've said a teary goodbye to a good friend who popped into town to lend a hand for a couple of days.  I am blessed with the friends - near and far - that God has blessed me/us with.  Bountifully blessed indeed.
... my kitchen is clean (ish).
... I'm caught up on my correspondence.
... I've spent time with God.
... I've learned something new.
... I've exercised at least once every 48 hours, but *moreso* if I exercise 5-6 times a week.  Doesn't have to be long and complicated, just *something* these days.
... I've laughed.
... I've gotten and given hugs.
... there's another load of laundry running as I fall onto my pillow.
... I've been able to encourage someone.
... there's something on my dinner table that has come from my garden... and no, I'm not talking about bugs.
... the shoes are lined up at the front entry and the jackets are hung.
... I've been able to teach my children something new.

Intact Half...

I have officially registered for my first half-marathon.

I am feeling pretty good after my 14K run the other night... and I went for a really strong-for-me 7.25K (4.5miles) run this morning... my back is definitely no worse for the wear, thankfully.

Sooo... August 22nd... 8 a.m.... Edmonton...  post-race brunch for my sweetie and me...

YIKES!  :)  I am excited!

The last few and the next few...

The last few days have been filled with
a congested girlie (again),
little boys on sugar overload (thanks, Daddy),
fans and a dehumidifier going full-blast,
a tented sleepover in the bonus room for the boys & Daddy,
no more water pouring into the basement (thank you, God!)
leading worship, with Joshua reading scripture in the service,
church bbq,
a nap,
a 6.5K run,
a 14K run,
a date to Twisted Yogurt with Kerry,
in-depth discussions about all things baby and birth related,
very little sleep last night,
a little boy with recurring nightmares about his baby sister being stuck in our dryer, the dryer then blowing up and taking Meaghan along with it.

The next few days will be filled with
Karen coming to visit and help with the littles for 2 days,
projects getting done,
cleaning house,
another run,
registering for a half-marathon (I have till Tuesday night to decide),
another Twisted Yogurt date (this time with Karen), or maybe Starbucks instead,
and hopefully some sleep.

I am blessed.  Tired, but blessed.

Garden update

The view from my upstairs bedroom - I pulled out the screen just for the occasion of taking pics from up here!  Note the wetlands in the far left...

A zoomed-in shot:

Even zoomier... along the top fence, you can see beets, and some kale and carrots (which are taking soooo painfully long to get big!)... then in the bushy rows, I have double-rows of beans (each "row" has one row of green beans and one row of yellow beans), and then third bushy row has two rows of spinach and one row of romaine lettuce.  At the bottom end of the middle row, I've got some fuzzy dill!  For perspective, these rows are all around 8' long.

Cukes in the middle, potatoes on the top, kale & carrots top right, turnips bottom left, and tomato plants under the cucumbers. 

Some of my flowers... not the greatest picture.  You can see some of my strawberries in the top right.

The view (zoomed) of the bridge in our wetlands, from our bedroom window.  A few days ago, the water was much, MUCH higher!

This was taken at the peak of the flooding.  you can see where the normal shoreline is, and then how much farther the water has spread beyond that.  You can barely see the bridge - it's in the distance.  It's a fairly large area!

Here's one end of the bridge, along with a tree that really should not have been in the water...

Same bridge, other end... wait a second, why isn't the end of it on dry land?  I think the water level had risen around 18" during the storms.

This is the other end of the wetlands - and there is a whole lot more connecting these two spots.  Notice how close the water has gotten to the yards of some of the homes... 

I'll be glad when my basement stops leaking, we can get the weeping tile and foundation guys in here, and get our basement re-renovated.  Looks like we've got some deconstruction to do.  :(

I'm not mad.

Interesting.

Our basement started flooding yesterday morning, even though the rain stopped 2 days ago.

We have ripped back the carpets and underlay.  I'd sucked out about 40-50 gallons of water from the carpet before we decided we need to peel it all back...

We've got about 30 towels on the 'go' - layered and stacked near the points of entry as the water continues to seep in... down here every 1-2 hours to "change" towels, throw those 15 in the washer to spin at 1200 rpm and then toss into the dryer to dry a bit more before subbing in for the other 15 huge towels...

Sleep?  Yeah, not sure what that really is.

A newer home... such issues... water table is high... wetlands have gone beyond flooding, and bridges are under water... it doesn't sound like insurance or new home warranty will cover any of it...

Meaghan was up twice last night, also - apparently she read my blog post about missing her snuggles, so she graciously obliged.

As miserable as this is...

I'm not mad.

Just tired.  And maybe a little frustrated.  But not mad.  Just plugging along.

Last night, I realized that this is almost like having a newborn in the house again, having to be up so often, only newborns are much sweeter and much more *worth it*.

We do what we have to do, don't we?

Last night, I was e-mailing back and forth with some of our friends, late at night... he said, "We know you guys like coming over to use our hot tub, but really, did you have to one-up us and get a pool in your basement?"

Heh heh.

I'm gonna grab a quick shower before changing towels again.  :)

Sleepies

Joshua slept 9 hours straight at *less than* two months old.  By the time he was 4 months, he was doing 12-hour shifts, straight through... and we never looked back.  We didn't *try* to make him do this; it just worked.

Dustin was a different story.  During the day, he was a fun, happy, content little guy.  When he woke in the night, though, he was a monster.  He woke 2-3 times a night for 13 or 14 months.  Exhaustion creeping in for both of us, we tried to *sleep train* him, utilizing all kinds of different methods.  He would be *just about there*, and then would get sick... not just a little sniffle, but a full-blown something, complete with fever and whatever else.  So we'd be back to square one.  It was frustrating and exhausting, and, thanks to peoples' opinions, we felt "less than" because we couldn't *make* our son sleep through the night.  It is still a rare night when he doesn't come into our room, having been woken by a bad dream.

Meaghan, however, was another different story.  We didn't try to change her sleeping; we just let it be what it was.  She slept well as a young baby - 5-6 hour stretches easily within a month.  We even got a few longer stretches out of her.  But we didn't push her.  She would very occasionally sleep through the night, and then completely regress to being up 2-3 times a night again.  When she was ill, she would be up many more times, more than the boys ever were.

But I didn't let it bother me.  I didn't worry.  I didn't care what other people thought.  I did what I had to do, whether she was sick or not.  I nursed her back to sleep, and no, it didn't spoil her.  Because she knew I would *be there* for her, she settled much more quickly than Dustin ever did.

I chose to treasure her moments of need, rather than resent them.  I actually looked forward to those sleepy moments.  I found I was no more tired for getting up with her in the night, than if I'd slept all the way through.

She had started sleeping her 11-12 hour stretches again about 6 or 8 weeks ago.  It was up and down, and then she got *really* sick with fever, cold, ear infection, influenza... and there were nights where sleep didn't happen at all.  Exhausted?  Certainly.  Resentful?  Not a chance.  Needy myself?  Absolutely!  But God met me there...

And now she is back to sleeping solidly again.  Last night?  Over 14 hours.   It was pretty glorious, and she was soooo happy when she woke this morning (finally)!

But you know what?

I'm missing our middle-of-the-night cuddles.  Those are the rare moments where it's just her and me, with no big brothers to toss pillows on her or blow in her face while she's trying to feed, or pepper me with questions and requests during those sacred moments.  My "dollie-time" is waning.

My sweet Dollie is growing up.

Free to say...

I figure this is pretty safe... I have a very small blog following... (and she told me I could tell my kids... it's no longer a secret!)

Missush S. is really Missush Snell...

a.k.a. Mrs. Schnell...

a.k.a. my wonderful friend Kerry!!  (Yes, the one and same Kerry who so ungraciously ditched me, throwing me to the wolves after forcing me to sign up for the Canada Day 15K, leaving me to run it completely *sniff* alone...)

Ha ha!!  I couldn't be happier for the *reason* she ditched me.  And, it was pretty phenomenal to have her waiting at the finish line for me!!  (and, for the record, she did apologize profusely, and she really didn't force me to sign up, and there were only a couple of wolves, and she didn't throw me - she just pushed me. And I wasn't alone, there were 730-something other people there, too...)

14 weeks and counting, Baby Schnell...!  I can't wait to meet you!!

Conversation with Dustin

I won't include the name, for now, of the person in question:

We were coming home from Day Camp today.  I told them, "Hey, this is where Mrs. S lives!"

Dustin:  Can we go visit Missush S today?
Me:  No, sweetie, she's not home right.
Dustin: Can we have a play date with her?
Me:  Well, I suppose maybe one day, but she's working right now.
Dustin:  Does Missush S have any toys?
Me:  I don't think she has anything that you would be interested in playing with.
Dustin:  (pause)  Does Missush S have a baby in her tummy?
Me:  (shocked pause)  Why do you ask?
Dustin:  (repeats question)
Me:  Umm, well, do you *think* she has a baby in her tummy?
Dustin:  No.  I don't know.
Me:  Why did you ask that?
Dustin:  Because I just wanted to know.
Me:  Do you *want* her to have a baby?
Dustin:  Yeah!  Because if she has a baby, then that means she'll have toys to play with, and we can go for a play date!
Me:  (giggling) Well, maybe one day, sweetie.  That would be neat, hey?
Dustin:  Yeah!

(Obviously I'm not going to tell my kids that Missush S does indeed have a baby in her tummy... 'cuz they'll probably say something really awkward to her in front of people she hasn't told yet...then that would be even MORE awkward!!)

Dustin makes me smile...

I've been bitten

It's happened.

The 'race bug' (for me, 'event bug') has bitten me.  I will never win a race - nor even come close - but I sure enjoyed participating in the one I've done so far - the atmosphere was fantastic!

Races I have discovered and am contemplating:

July 18th - The Moose is Loose trail half-marathon in Edmonton - I'm too late to enter or train for this one this year, but it's an actual "trail" run (as opposed to road race); much more to my high school cross-country racing roots.  Next year!

August 22nd - Intact Canadian Derby Half Marathon - flat course through downtown Edmonton

September 12th - Drumheller, Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon - 'cuz really, I may never get to run with the dinos again!  We could make a family trip out of it...

September 19th - Edmonton 21 - Half Marathon starting and ending at the Zoo and going through the River Valley.

September 25th - Melissa's Road Race in Banff - with a name like that, who really would NOT want to run it?  It's totally sold out for this year, but the half-marathon is extremely challenging, so it's not for me.  Not this year.  Maybe in a couple of years once I get more "hills" under my feet.

September 26th - St. Albert Half-Marathon - just 'cuz it's close to home and it looks like the run is along a river.  :)

October 11th - Devon Turkey Chase Half Marathon - just because the name sounds really cool!

Then there are races to think about for next year:

• Canada Day 15K (which I just did)
• Little Big Run 10K - end of May in Edmonton
• Wild Rose Women's half-marathon - sometime in June
• Hypothermic Half-Marathon - sometime in February in Edmonton - a winter half??  Eep!

Not to mention... duathlons that I might consider one day..

My friend Monica is also trying to convince me to do a sprint triathlon with her in September in Leduc.... I dunno - it's scary!!  It's only a 750m swim, which would totally put me at the back of the pack, but I can cycle decently and I will be able to run a faster 5K by then, too.  I don't know!!!  S-c-a-r-y!!

All I know is that this is too many races for me to do in one season - in my FIRST season... but they all have some really good merits.  How to decide!!  The good news is that many of the events also have concurrently-running shorter distances - 10K, e.g.

Is there any treatment for these bites?

Home Alone... With Junior

This made me LAUGH!!  I was cleaning off my desk tonight and ran across this article in a magazine.  I quickly found the online version to share...

HOME ALONE...WITH JUNIOR
by Joe Schneller

“But Snookims,” I implored when my wife asked me to change Junior’s diaper while she prepared dinner, “I’ve been working all day.”

She looked as though I’d just belched our wedding vows. “And can you watch Junior on Saturday?” she asked. “My friends are planning a girls’ day out.”

“Seriously?” I’d never soloed on baby watch for a full day.

The changing table 
Saturday morning, after my wife left, I faced the first challenge — dressing Junior. Getting clothes on a toddler is like wrestling an octopus. No sooner did I have the second leg in his shorts than the first popped out. No sooner was his melon through the shirt hole than his shorts dropped to the floor.

After seven minutes, my toddler had both legs through one hole in his shorts and was wearing a tank top with the tag flipped up at the neck. That’s when I realized I’d forgotten to put on a diaper.

“Can you make it through breakfast?” I asked.

He giggled as tinkle traced the inside of his leg.

Breakfast 
Disastrous scarcely describes my son’s oatmeal breakfast. Let’s just begin with where the oatmeal was not: Uh . . . nowhere.

“Son,” I said, perceiving this to be a teachable moment, “the oatmeal splattered across your clothes and your head — and the refrigerator and the ceiling — is like the sin of the world. It soils all of Creation.”

My son, with uncanny timing, responded with a grunting, red-faced look, indicative of fouler effects of the Fall.

Bath time 

After breakfast, I ran Junior’s bathwater while he invented fabulous new forms of mischief. I could not keep up with him. As I attempted to re-roll toilet paper, Junior flashed an elated four-toothed grin and splashed toilet water. While I piled toilet paper on the counter with one hand and held the toilet seat down with the other, Junior held my cell phone over the bathtub.

“Whoaaa!” I said, with a lunging catch worthy of a Little League highlight reel. That, of course, is when my cell phone vibrated. My wife was calling to ask how things were going.

“Compared to what?” I said. “The Bay of Pigs? The subprime lending crisis?”

A new understanding 

At 4:32 p.m. I heard the garage door open. Before my wife even put her purse down, I engulfed her in a bear hug, oblivious to the fact that I hadn’t taken a shower or brushed my teeth.

“Honey, I have completely underappreciated you.”

With a tender look, she said, “Go brush your teeth and then tell me again.”

---

 This article originally appeared in the January/February 2010 issue of Thriving Family magazine. Copyright © 2010 by Joe Schneller. Used by permission. ThrivingFamily.com.

Sleep

Meaghan finally slept last night.

After sleeping in till 11 yesterday morning, and then napping from 2 till 6, she went down for the night at 10:30 (very late for her) and slept clean through till 7:07.


Thank you, Lord!


I didn't tell you about our visit to the Medicentre the other night.  I got there shortly after 7:00, after J's birthday party guests had all been picked up.  I registered, and was told to come back around 9:30.  We finally got seen by a doctor at 10:30 (they were supposed to close at 10, but they always see the patients they register regardless of the time).  The receptionist was so kind, an older-middle-aged woman who was sympathetic to my dear Meggie.

When the doc finally came in, it was pretty clear that he was relieved to see a baby.  A non-demanding, sweet, cherubic (but messy/snotty) baby.  By this point, I was on the floor with Meaghan, and she was rifling through my purse and diaper bag in search of anything to play with.  When the doctor came in and saw us on the floor, he shut the door and sunk to the floor himself.  I could just hear and see the fatigue in him, and he just sat and talked to us for a few minutes.  He was so good with Meaghan, but even moreso, he was really good with Meaghan's Momma.  He checked her out and complemented me on how I held her when he wanted to check her ears (he didn't have to explain to me how to do it, and I've done the "sideways head-pin" a few times before)... He was patient with her when she wouldn't open her mouth so he could check her throat...

For an exhausted doctor, I was impressed.  It just struck me as to how gentle and relieved he seemed when he walked in and saw Meaghan... but then again, who wouldn't she absolutely melt?

As far as Medicentre experiences go, this would top them all.

I used to be one of those moms...

I used to be "one of those moms" who, when I would see a family that was always sick, would think, "Why don't they take better care of themselves?  They are ALWAYS soooo sickly!"

Now I am on the other side of it.

I'm not a terrible housekeeper, though things the last 3-4 weeks have gone horribly awry.  Then Joshua and Graeme got sick with influenza, then me, then Joshua took a turn and ended up with an ear infection, then Dustin got to coughing, and Meaghan... and now she has taken a turn for the worse.

The last several nights have been long and exhausting, poor hunny coughing and sputtering and choking... so I took her to the Medicentre last night and they figured she's just got a bad cold, BUT they also found a really nasty ear infection.

Poor little bunny.

And of course I am run down from not sleeping, as well as trying to recover from my road race (I am still SORE, ladies!!)... so I am getting a deeper chest cough again, too.

BOOOOOO!

I don't want us to be a sickly family.  We are too active and busy to have time for this... how do I get us healthy again?  I feel like I'm caught in a bad dream, and I'm just waiting for the next hammer to fall...

I DID IT!

I feel amazing.

I am not Speedy Gonzales, but I actually ran my first road race yesterday.

And in my humble opinion, I did it successfully.

Originally, I'd wanted to run the 15K in 1 hour 30 minutes... that'd be 10km/h pace.  Since I've only been running for 5 months, I figured it was a reasonable goal over that distance.

But then this back injury and the flu sidelined me from training for 3 whole weeks.  I stuck my goals on the back burner, and until a couple days before the race, was even debating even participating.

The first hill coming out of the Legislature was a massive downhill - which means that I'd be going back up it in the last km before the finish line.  I made a mental note to prepare myself for it and save some fuel.



The next several km were very gentle grade changes.  We ran through Hawrelak Park (more like "around" it, actually), and then to the University area, where there was yet another intensely gruelling hill - my Garmin shows a 115 foot climb over about a 1/4 mile distance.  About 2 or 3km later, we were able to run down that same hill - what a breather that was - soooo fun!  :)

My stats for my Canada Day 15K road race

• Total time: 1:36:15 - even though I had tossed my goal out the window, I still wanted to finish with a 7 min/km pace, which would've put me at 1:45:00.  I was beyond thrilled with my finish in light of recent weeks!
• My first 5km split took me 29:50 - I'll take it!!  Again, not blistering, but I also knew I had a lot of work ahead of me, so I left a lot in the tank.
• Overall pace:  6:22/km
• Best km:  5:44 (and I had three other km that were under 6 min, and a few others that were just over 6 min)
• Worst km:  well, I walked parts of those hills, so my worst was 7:32, and my next worst was 6:49.
• Place:  531/742 (the winning time was around 49:28)
• Ranking in age group: 71/122

My back?  Hurts a bit right now.  However... the race organizers had a sponsor there doing free treatments and massages.  So, courtesy of River Valley Health, they worked on my left hamstring a bit (I'd somehow pulled it a bit the day before and it was causing me some trouble), and then went to work doing A.R.T. (active release technique - a new chiropractic thing) on my back - no cracking required!!  I am 100% convinced that the only reason I can walk today is because of the treatment I got post-race.  The treatment hurt like the dickens, but I could tell even then that it was going to be really effective!

The run was great.  I am tired today - doesn't help that Meaghan's cough is worsening and she was up about 6 times last night.  I am also sore in my legs.  But who cares?  I ran a 15K road race!!  :)

Best moment?
Hearing my friend Kerry cheering me on at the finish line, and finding me to give me a big hug.  She ran the 5K instead of her originally-intended 15K - she has a verrrry good reason for downsizing her distance! - and she finished 13th out of 49 in her category.  She was amazing in her race, too - running with her husband Michael and his brother Johnathan.  I'm so happy she was there waiting for me!!!  Everyone who runs their first race should have someone there to cheer them on at the finish.  What a boost!  (Unfortunately Graeme couldn't find parking and didn't make it in time for my finish - he arrived about half an hour post-race.)

I think this could become addictive.  Next goal race:  Intact half-marathon, Edmonton, August 22nd.