I'll HUFF, and I'll PUFF, and I'll wog down the sidewalk!

As I was out for my morning "wog" (because who am I kidding, I waddle more than I jog at this point) yesterday morning, I couldn't help but notice that passengers in the passing cars seemed to be laughing at me. I got a little irate and thought to myself, "haven't these people seen a pregnant woman try to run before?" Of course I had to temper my ill thoughts when I came to the realization that no, they probably haven't seen a fat lady try to quickly waddle down the road while pushing a toddler in a stroller with a furry dog's hair flying in the breeze riding shotgun on top of the stroller. Now that the weather has cooled a bit we're returning to our daily walk routine. I usually start out for two miles just with Hayley, we then loop back by the house and pick up Chloe for an additional mile. Of course Chloe's little 5 inch legs just can't manage a full mile so I end up putting her on the hood of the stroller for the end half... right when we're walking along the busiest stretch of road in our neighborhood for all to chuckle at. It's a good thing I value fitness over vanity because I'm sure I look absolutely ridiculous. So after realizing what everyone is probably laughing at, I begin to think through just how many people I'm giving a "free ride" (in the lap of luxury I might add) while I'm huffing and puffing them along! I was planning to get a double stroller for Hayley and the Frog Prince, but maybe a triple would be in order so Chloe would have an actual seat? I'm sure I wouldn't look ridiculous then.

Hayley had her 18 month check-up with the pediatrician today. She's actually 19 months now, but I had delayed her appointment while I searched for a new doctor. After some soul searching I decided that our current pediatrician just wasn't right for us and luckily I happened upon a pediatrician who has just opened up his own holistic practice. This doctor spent a good hour with me today just talking about nutrition and getting to know Hayley and I'm so thrilled to have found him. Hayley is still on the small side at 22 pounds, but continues to be a healthy and thriving little girl.

Nana and Papa had given Hayley the Cozy Cottage, her very own ball pit, for Christmas. I about killed my self getting it inflated, but my hard work was definitely worth the effort after seeing Hayley's sheer delight over her new toy. Keep in mind that Hayley is obsessed with balls and in Hayley's mind if one ball is good then 150 balls must be heaven. But of course it's no fun to play in the Cozy Cottage alone, which is why Pooh spends every moment in the Cozy Cottage along with Hayley!

Christmas 2007

Christmas must be over. I know so because at exactly 8pm last night our outdoor Christmas lights tripped off the ground fault, signaling the official end of Christmas. We did have a Merry Christmas and now today we begin the holiday clean up (and I'm not opposed to using child labor). Santa brought Hayley more blocks then a little girl could dream of. Perhaps Santa didn't fully think through how these blocks would be used strewn throughout the house for Mommy to constantly step on. Hayley also received a red wagon that her and little brother can ride around the neighborhood in. She's taken her new wheels out for two spins to the park already and, big surprise, yells at Daddy to make the wagon go faster. I'm not going to be able to keep my little thrill seeker off the roller coasters when she gets older.

We hosted Christmas dinner at our home and somehow I managed to make it through without burning the house down (unlike Brian's birthday dinner, but that's another blog posting and our smoke detectors must be overly sensitive). There was one minor catastrophe which was my hollandaise sauce, but I managed to whip up a different cheese sauce and save the steamed broccoli and cauliflower. (Because after all, what good would nutritious steamed vegetables be if not topped with a calorie laden cheese sauce?) Each meal is a learning experience and in this latest episode I learned that the double boiler is not my friend. So now that I'm all cooked out, we have plenty of leftovers and I'm hoping to take the rest of the year off from the kitchen.

Our holiday photos

Ahh Man!

No, pigs haven't started to fly and it's not "really" snowing in Florida. However, considering the ice storms and severe weather that most of the country is seeing right now, this faux snow is the closest we Floridians want to get to the real thing! Friday night we took Hayley down to Main Street where it "snows" for ten minutes at the top of each hour. The "snow" is actually foam. It reminded me more of my old sorority's foam parties then an actual snow storm, but if it takes a bottle of Palmolive to give my daughter her first snow experience then so be it. Just remind me to eventually explain to Hayley that snow doesn't really taste like soap, nor does it occur when it is 75 degrees outside.

We attended a Christmas celebration for our small group last night. Hayley enjoyed getting to stay up past her usual bedtime playing with Luke. When Luke tired out she moved onto Luke's good natured dog, Satchley. Poor Satchley puts up with a lot! I've tried showing this picture to Chloe so she'll see how much worse it could be, but she refuses to even look. Anyhow, we all enjoyed the good food and the fellowship!

Brian exclaimed "Ahh man!" at Hayley the other night and we were shocked when she exclaimed "Ahh man!" right back. Aunt Amy pointed out that she probably picked up "Ahh man" from watching Dora the Explorer. Sure enough the first time we said "Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping," Hayley chimed in with "Ah man!" Notice in the video she even tries to snap her fingers just like Swiper does! It's probably time that we really start watching what we say around her!

All I want for Christmas...

... is a shiny new set of wheels! The Mercedes Benz of strollers. Ah, the endorphins! Yesterday I managed to have my first successful jog since I came down with my little parasite. The overwhelming nausea combined with first trimester exhaustion just made the thought of running completely unbearable. I did manage to regularly take walks, but oh how I've missed the thrill of a run. And after the carb fest that was my first sickmester combined with all the laying around I've got some fitness gains to make up for! Unfortunatley, I'm not sure how long this running (or speedy waddling) bit will last though. When I was pregnant with Hayley, I had to quit running at about 26 weeks because she was so low that it was painful and I'd be unable to walk for days after a run. This little boy seems to be hanging out a bit higher up, so I'm hoping I've got a future in running this time around. I'm wondering if I should start going to the track and trying the hurdles. Might as well get Junior used to the motion because with those long legs I bet he'll be a natural at the hurdles... and the high jump... and...

As I previously mentioned, Hayley has been a handful lately. We've had several moments where we just wanted to hang her up by her toes. The problem is that this isn't a very effective punishment as she seems to rather enjoy it. Same goes for timeout. Sometimes I think she acts up just so she can be put in timeout... it amazes me how she can entertain herself just sitting alone and staring at white walls.