Update and Pictures

A crooked smile with only three teeth never looked so cute!

Not a lot has been going on around here lately since Mila was sick and then graciously passed it on to me. Just a lot of coughing and runny noses for the two of us, and a few cuddles here and there from her. She seems to be doing a bit better than me at this point, which is good because a sick baby is about the most pitiful thing in the world. It totally broke my heart to see her so upset, so I really am glad she is on the up and up.

Next week my family will be here.....my mom, sister, niece and nephew all in our two bedroom apartment. So if you can't do the math, that is 7 people. 7 PEOPLE!! Hopefully we don't drive each other crazy, but with that many people in such a small space it wouldn't be unheard of. But, I really am looking forward to it. The kids love Mila, and we live by the beach so they are beside themselves with the thought of going. The beach may actually be the main reason they are excited to come, and that makes me excited too. There is nothing like experiencing things I do in my every day life with a 6 and 4 year old who are over the moon excited about it. It just brings so much more joy and happiness into those activities. So, for now I am cleaning and getting everything ready for them. Which is kind of a joke since I can barely keep things clean with just Mila around, so I know that they will be here 15 minutes and everything will already be destroyed. But it's the thought that counts, right? 

^^ Someone was feeling a bit better...

This is just a random picture of my hair, but if you live in south Florida then you can sympathize with me. I went for a run with perfectly straight hair, and due to the insane humidity/amount of sweat, I ended up with curly hair. Apparently I am going to need to find new ways of taming my long hair while I run. Any suggestions??? 

 

Spring Fever

Cuddles all day long for Mama. 

So, we had our first fever over here. Honestly, I consider us to be quite lucky since we had not experienced one until Mila was 11 months old, but that does not make it any easier. She was so upset and inconsolable the whole time. She perked up for about 10 minutes to help me make some banana bread, but that's about it. I just felt so bad and helpless all day. I finally know how my mom felt all those times that she used to say she wished she could take the sickness from me or my sister. I get it. I would have rather had a fever any day than my little girl. Finally, sometime in the night, her fever broke and she woke up this morning a bit more like her usual self. Still not 100%, but we are getting there. Nik and I are still pretty exhausted from it all, so hopefully tonight we can get some sleep.

Keeping an eye on the banana bread. Such a big helper. 

That Perfect Saturday

This past Saturday, Mila was on cloud nine due to the fact that her Dada was home all day! This seems like no big deal, but this is a rare occurrence for our family since he works so hard to allow me to stay at home with our little girl (Thanks so much!). Whenever these days do roll around, you'd think we would relax and enjoy the shared responsibilities of taking care of Mila, but instead, we pack our day full of activities. On this fine Saturday, there was a long run for me and a walk on the beach for them, followed by some quality swing time. Then nap, lunch, laundry, swimming in the pool, grocery shopping, walking in the neighborhood and dinner making. We were all sufficiently exhausted by days end, but it is always so nice to have a day when the three of us are together. Mila couldn't have been happier to get so much attention, and she gave lots of hugs and kisses to thank us!!

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I have finally committed to running a full marathon (26.2 miles) later this year. It has been a long time coming, and I feel like now is a good time to do it. I actually wanted to do one before, but little Mila showed up and I certainly couldn't do it pregnant, so I had to put my plans on hold. I am pretty excited even though it is a while away because my best friend from high school will be running the half also!! Yayy yayy yayy!!! I finally bought new running shoes for the occasion since my old ones have basically died. (I'm embarrassed to admit how long I have been running in them, but there are holes where my toes are....) Anyways, I will be sure to update with my running progress and such since this is something I am pretty passionate about =)

^^New shoes. Hopefully my knees will be thanking me.

The perfect kiss on Mila's cheek^ 

A special moment with Bunny. Mila has been super cuddly
lately, even with all of her stuffed animals. It's pretty sweet. 

Bulgaria 2013

It's happening again. We are headed off to Bulgaria in a couple of months for a (short) 2 week visit with Nik's family. Couldn't be more excited for delicious food, visiting family and getting back to the basics, but I am honestly dreading the flights that will get us there. Last time we went, Mila was only 3 & 4 months (since we stayed a month she obviously aged one month) and that was HARD. When we went over it was considerably easier. I really think that one month age difference had something to do with it, but on the way home I just wanted to jump out of the plane. She screamed for what felt like the whole flight. I think I lost about 10 pounds from anxiety on that plane. So, now you can see why I am so nervous about doing this all over again, and then turning around two weeks later and doing it again hahah. Everyone seems to think it will be so much better, but I can't really imagine a 13 month old Mila sitting on my lap for 10+ hours, but I can only hope for the best!! If anyone has any tips on traveling with a one year old, send them my way!!! I could use all the clever mommy ideas out there =)

Walking all day, every day.

She never realized all this mulch was out there in the world
to play with. Now she knows^^^

Lately Mila has only been taking one nap. ONE NAP PEOPLE. This is not enough for me. She has never been a good napper, but I could always get at least two in there, but for the past few weeks she just refuses the second one. Sometimes I will still leave her in her crib for "quiet time" but that really doesn't make her any less cranky later on in the day. So basically, I have given up on that afternoon nap and have moved her morning nap to a later time, which now means we have oodles of time in the morning to do things. Things like go to the park every.single.day. The monotony of it kills me, but Mila loves it. Now that she is walking it has opened up more things to do besides push her on the swing, but these are still things that I would rather not do. Things like trying to eat all the mulch in the playground. I really thought we would be past this stage by now, but she is still trying to put anything and everything she finds into her mouth. Maybe in a couple of months it will be over??? Let's hope.

Speaking of Mila walking, (which she apparently decided to perfect over night) now everything takes 8,000 times longer than it should. She wants to walk without holding my hand and just wander about aimlessly, stopping to look at, sit down and pick up whatever is on the ground. Don't get me wrong. I'm super proud of her for walking, but she certainly does know how to throw a temper tantrum when I try to help her out and hurry things along. And she is also walking on the smallest feet possible. Do you see those shoes in that picture??? Size 2.....which is also known as 3-6 months. I keep thinking they are too small and putting a bigger size on her only to have those shoes fall off. People comment on it all the time....smallest shoes they've EVER seen (probably not, but you know how people like to exaggerate). Maybe her feet will grow soon and maybe that will help her walk faster. We can only hope.

^^Here's another picture of the shoes. 

Who knew this little rocking sea horse
could be so much fun???

Making goals and actually accomplishing them. An unheard of concept.

I am one of those people who is always thinking of new goals for myself and trying to push myself further each day. With that being said, for the past couple of years, that has been focused a lot on my running. Running is something that I HATED in high school, but somehow found a love for it in my sophomore year of college. I actually began running when I was in Ghana for a month, and then continued to run while I was in Australia for 6 months. Every day that I ran I was just blown away by the beauty around me, so I would run farther to see what else there was. Eventually I stopped feeling like I was going to die from throwing up my lungs, and I really have become a runner. A really committed runner in fact.

Cool shadow that makes me look like a giant.

Since having Mila and spending so much time at home, I have been able to run daily while bringing her along for the ride. She truly has made me such a stronger runner, which I am so grateful for, and she loves every minute of it. (If you have never tried running while pushing a child in a stroller, I strongly suggest you do it. Your times will get faster and you will be so strong. Borrow a friend's kid if you have to.)

Last year, I accomplished two of the goals I had set for myself. One was to run a half marathon in 2012, which I completed in the beginning of December just 7 months after Mila was born. The other was to place in a race.....any race. This was more of a life goal, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got 2nd place for my age group in a 5k that I ran. Was not expecting it, but I was super proud of myself. And it was my personal record at 23:41.

This year my goals are to run a full marathon (26.2 miles if you didn't know) and to run at least 2 local races, either 5k or 10k. I am also trying to run an average of 100 miles a month, for a yearly total of 1200. This may be a stretch, but so far I have kept up with it solets see what the rest of the year brings. Here's to making goals and getting them done!!

Hollywood, FL half marathon

5th place and 2nd place^^^ this will probably never
happen again so we really played up the moment.

Chili on a Cold South Florida Day

It has been cold here in South Florida recently, which  gave me the perfect excuse to make all my "cold weather foods". One of those is a chili that i LOVE and think it is so tasty that even meat eaters would enjoy it. Basically you swap ground soy for beef, which can be found at any grocery store. You can find the recipe here. I like to make mini cornbread muffins on the side because that's just how chili should be eaten.


And since it has been cold here, we have been spending a little more time in doors. (I know when I complain about it being cold, I really have nothing to complain about since I don't live in a place that has an actual Winter but it has been in the 50s lately.) Anyways, something we take full advantage of is the children's area at our local Barnes & Noble. There is a train set to play with and loads of books, so Mila couldn't be happier. And there is a Starbucks down stairs, so momma couldn't be happier. That's what I call a win-win situation!

Renaissance Festival

It's alllll about the snacks with her.

I think south Florida has a season of festivals during the winter because every weekend it seems like there are multiple festivals to go to, which is really great for me since I have Mila and she loves being outside and around people. So double score for me!!

Anyways, this weekend I ventured to the Renaissance Festival with Mila and a couple of friends. I have heard about it for years, but never actually gone until now. And really, this experience has changed my life. I have never been to something so strange/cool/bizarre/straight-up awesome. It's a huge festival filled with people dressed up and acting like they are from the Renaissance. And they are serious about it.....they do not break character at all. Most of the time I was there, I just kept saying to myself "Where am I???" There is tons of food, shopping, shows, and just interesting people to look at. Definitely something I will be attending next year, and probably for the rest of my life. I mean, what's better than a day full of crazies......nothing =)

Random dancing around a tree.

Can you see him????  ^^^

All the rides at the festival are powered by people, which is actually pretty cool. When I took this picture, I didn't even notice the guy doing a flip while pushing the dragon (sea monster??? no idea). Pretty cool though. 

This ^^^ I just have no words for. Some guy on stilts acting like a puppet. Absolutely creepy/the weirdest thing I saw all day. Or maybe all year. His little hands reminded me of the Lawrence Welk Show on SNL with the woman who had tiny baby hands....anyone else remember that??? So strange. 

All Mila wanted to do was walk, but since she is not the most fantastic walker and there are ten million people way taller than her trying to run her over, this is how she acted half of the time we were there. You know the wiggle game?? She has absolutely perfected that. She makes it almost impossible for me to hold her since she won't stop moving/throwing herself backwards. Really, after all this, my arm muscles are going to be so strong. So maybe I should be thanking her.....

                         

Is this 10 month old stage supposed to be like the toddler stage??

The past couple of weeks have brought a lot of change with little Mila. Babies change constantly. If you are a parent, you know exactly what I mean. Just when you figured something out and you are feeling so proud of yourself, BAM, they change. It is a cycle of changing, learning and adapting to all these things and I have no idea when it will end. Never???!! Lately though, Mila has been a little bit of a terror. I hate to use that word while describing her, but lets get real, that is kind of how she is acting. It reminds me of the "terrible two's" (like I even know what that really means), but she has been straight-up defiant recently. Full on temper tantrums. She just recently started to cuddle which is something I have longed for since she was born, but now she is using it for evil. If she doesn't want to do something, like be put down on the ground so my hands can be freed up, she will just try to cuddle with me. But any part of me......usually my feet because that's where she is at that moment. She is smart. She has me cornered and I have no idea what to do with her when she is like this. I wished for her to cuddle for so long, and now that she has learned to, I am kind of biting my tongue.

She is also into this biting thing if I am not paying attention to her. I thought at first it was just accidents, like she didn't REALLY mean to walk over and bite me on the leg, but now I see that it is intentional. And it hurts. I never knew three teeth could do so much damage.

I mean.....just look at this face! Can't get enough of her. 

On a way cuter note, she has been giving hugs and kisses like crazy lately. It absolutely melts my heart and makes up for all the biting when she leans in for a kiss without me even asking. She really is a sweet little girl and loves her mama a whole lot, and I love her a whole lot too!