She Runs By Faith

The first 18 months of our second child's life are still a blur in my mind. As I was warned, our second bundle of joy was much different than his older brother. Our first was a "by the book" baby and quite easy going. Our second is quite the opposite. His struggles started with constipation and sensitive skin rashes and then ear infection after ear infection. While I adore all the cuddles from our sweet babies, my little W was very much attached to my hip for a looong time. We have many special memories together in those early months but we also had quite the challenges as well. I know, I know. Enjoy every second because the years are short but some days feel extra long. Like suffocatingly long. And the nights were even longer. Everything our sweet second-born did was high-intensity. All babies are born needy but some are definitely more intense and less content than others. Dr. Sears' High Needs Baby articles cover the topic much better than I can...

August is National Breastfeeding Month so it is fitting to talk running and breastfeeding today. Plus it's something I have spent a lot of time doing over the last 2.5 months. Can running and breastfeeding work together? Sure they can! Though I wouldn't recommend trying to do them literally at the same time. While I was gearing up to train for a Fall marathon after having our first baby, I was told that  "running will make you lose your milk supply" . Baby E would only be 7 months old on race day so I pumped extra to make sure he had enough milk for at least his first year. Well... I didn't lose my milk after all (which I am very thankful for!) and was left with an epic collection of frozen milk. If anything, regular exercise caused my milk supply to increase . Continuing to run while caring for and nursing a baby does require a lot more motivation and energy but it's totally do-able. Despite the running and breastfeeding myths, running hasn't h...

Two weeks down and I'm really loving our "new normal" of being a family of four! Today I'm joining up with Jessica and Jill at  the Fit Dish link-up but first let me briefly introduce  My Postpartum Fitness Plan . My littlest man is two weeks old! But it's only been two weeks!? Why have a fitness plan so soon? I have a plan this time to MAKE MYSELF take it easy. Yes, forced easy-ness and recovery time. After our first son was born, I started walk-run intervals just after 2 weeks postpartum and ran 5 miles on the 3-week mark. My body recovered quickly after a smooth delivery and everything worked out fine. I ran a marathon 7 months postpartum and finished in 3:37:37. That was a good finish time for me and I even placed in the top 10! BUT... I was exhausted. Longer training runs were more burdensome than enjoyable. In the peak mileage of training, I came down with a nasty sinus infection, missed a week of running and told myself "never again...

Happy Fitness Friday ! Here is a quick run-down of five things this Friday: ONE: Life as a Mom of Two. The first week was stressful. The combination of a moody toddler, not being able to move around quickly myself, not sleeping and my husband returning to work all added up. Week #2 has been much better! I'm so thankful for nice weather and feeling good enough to take the boys outside on walks. Being outside makes everyone happier! TWO: Chocolate's Best Friend = Macadamia Nuts. My youngest brother brought me a bag of Mauna Loa Coconut Milk Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts yesterday and they are basically gone. Guilty as charged... they are addicting. I can't have these around the house anymore, otherwise the remaining baby weight will never leave! THREE: No Run on National Running Day After our first son was born, I was doing walk-run intervals just after 2 weeks postpartum. My body felt ready for it, as delivery was rather "easy" (for chi...

May is one day away and pregnancy week 34 is nearing its end! Here are a few things happening in our house this week: We had an appointment with our midwife  and the homebirth kit arrived that same day! I feel like I haven't done anything to prepare for our baby this time - no nursery decorating, no baby clothes buying, no crib or carseat shopping. To feel like I have "done something", I sorted through the newborn cloth diapers a friend is borrowing me. Aren't those Blueberry diapers adorable?! Baby is growing... a lot. Here is my "weight gain progress" photo. That's something new, huh? From week 5 to week 35, baby/my body has done some major growing - like 20 lbs. worth! It's completely amazing how God has made a woman's body to grow new life. I feel surprisingly comfortable at this point, though I look like I'm smuggling a football under my shirt. This baby is carrying all out front, just like Mr. E. Freezer meals are work ...

We're talking potty training on One Year and Beyond this week. It's a topic I'm totally unqualified to write on but I will share our experiences at this point nonetheless. Is our toddler potty trained? Short answer: No. Here's where we are as of today. E is 25 months old and there are days when I question his readiness to ditch the diapers. Potty training has been on the mind for a few months now but our game plan is to postpone until Baby #2 arrives around the end of May/early June. Though our plan makes perfect sense to me, there are times I've wondered is it right to wait until after Baby is born? Or should we just take the plunge now and deal with a regression later? The potty has been set up in the bathroom for a few months. He certainly has no fear of it but his interest in actually using the potty like a "big boy" is wavering. He would rather wear the seat as a hat. Gross, I know! He's not allowed to do that anymore :) One day ...

I'm loving the sunshine and the warm weather this spring! After a gorgeous weekend and lots of family time, it's not always my favorite to jump into another Monday but I do love that it's time for another Fit Dish  link-up with Jessica ,  Jill  and the #fitfam! This week's [optional] topic is "Be Present: Do You Live in the Moment?". Being present is an everyday battle for me. It's so easy to start thinking ahead to what needs to happen this week or this month or what didn't happen last week. While planning ahead is wise and To-Do lists are helpful, allowing myself to be distracted by the list or whatever is scheduled for this week is not beneficial. Jesus said it Himself: So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. MATTHEW 6:34 My #1 Biggest "Being Present" Killer is: Distraction. This week, I read an article by Beecher Proch called "Why You Should Kick Distract...

This post is linked up with "One Year and Beyond" and we are covering the topic "Deciding when the time is right for baby #2". Our topic this week is one near and dear to my heart. Having a sibling for E has been on our hearts for a while. Actually, for the last ten months or so. **Disclaimer: This post is about pregnancy and all that business, so read beyond this point at your own risk!** With our first baby, E, we were pregnant in the first cycle of "trying". This time around has been another story. After I ran the Blue Ox Marathon in October 2013, Leo and I decided it was time to add to our family. A few months passed after that and we still weren't pregnant. When E turned 14 months old, I reluctantly weaned him from nursing and thought maybe, just maybe my cycle would return. A couple more months pass and still not pregnant. He will be 18 months in September and never imagined we wouldn't be pregnant again at this point! All I can sa...

This week we are sharing tips for "Helping Your Toddler to Communicate" on the series, "One Year and Beyond" Before I write anything, let me confess that I'm not a master of this mysterious toddler stage. With E being only 16 months old, the wild times of toddler-hood have only just begun! I was hesitant to try baby signing at first, thinking maybe it was just another fad, but now have to say that signing has been a great way to connect with E. The online dictionary at Baby Sign Language.com has been a wonderful resource. Their dictionary includes easy-to-understand images and videos for everyday words. Plus, by using their online resources, we didn't have to spend money on buying books or flashcards! We started teaching E signs at around 6 months and I questioned whether he was absorbing any of the signs we were teaching. Now as he is in the early toddler months, the "hard work" is paying off! Actually, teaching him wasn't hard at all. ...

Summer is here and the temp has been in the 80's and 90's this week. Heat and humidity feel almost refreshing after such a frigid winter! Our family is battling allergies right now, but we really can't complain about this gorgeous weather. In a few weeks, I'm running a local 10k with E and the jogging stroller (if the weather is stroller-friendly). This is the first race I've heard of that has something for jogging stroller runners, too. First place stroller wins a gift card - How cool is that?! That gives some extra motivation to those running with the extra weight of a baby (or babies) + stroller :) Check out the June Bug Run Since running the Fargo Half Marathon, I haven't been doing any official "training". I run simply because I enjoy it and push the pace/distance when I feel like it, which hasn't been much with my allergies gone wild. Structured training plans are something I enjoy though running on a whim is refreshing, too. So,...

The Fargo Half Marathon is less than a month away! Training is going well and I'm really enjoying training for a half. Compared to training for full marathons in the past, half training has been more speed-focused, weekend long runs are less stressful (20-milers can be a bit daunting to me!), and training is more baby-friendly! Since my training runs are generally a bit faster, time-wise, they fit perfectly into naptime or E can join me in the jogging stroller. 12.27 miles down for this weekend's long run and I even brought "fuel" of some sort with me. Do Snoopy fruit snacks count as fuel? I'm out of GU gels, so they needed to work for the time being! Having a "Mom Body" With it being over a year now since E was born and since my body began the journey to find some form of normalcy again, I have been thinking about how pregnancy changes your body not just for 9 months (or 8 months in E's case), but forever . I'm coming to terms with t...

It's amazing how much joy the sunshine can bring. We were blessed with three 35°F days in a row! E has been enjoying his first snowy adventures. He wants Leo and I to walk him everywhere and, if we keep this up too much longer, we're going to be permanently hunchbacked! We even snuck out for a 5-mile jogging stroller run yesterday in the snow. That run definitely counted for strength training and cardio... my arms were jello afterwards! The BOB Ironman stroller is such a beast in the messy snow; it's probably the best invention for running moms EVER. When we reached the 5-mile mark, I was a sweaty mess and E was sound asleep. I forgot how to dress when it's 35°F above zero! My body just isn't used to this heat :) I hope it sticks around for a while... 500 Burpees Down Along with playing outside, we've been burpee-ing a lot. Well, more so I've been burpee-ing. Leo is doing some now and then and E is usually attacking me while I...