Cynical Mom

Technically, he was correct.

At red robin, we sat at a table near this:

David asked Jared "Where does that come from?"

Jared quick responded: "China!"

Before & After

I turned 30 this summer, and decided that it was time to stop carrying around those extra few pounds from the pregnancies and actually not just lose weight, but get healthy. So I joined a doctor-supervised health program at the local pro club. 3 months later, and probably around 70 workouts, I have run two 5k races and am signed up for two more next month, and am debating starting to train for a marathon next year. I no longer wake up on the weekends already tired without any energy to keep up with my kids.

The biggest test will probably be when we go back to visit my family later this year, and we'll have the whole gang including 6 kids all together - will I be the one running and playing with them this time, instead of sitting on the chair smiling serenely? :-)

I have some official before & after pics from the program that I'll post when I get the soft copies, but I ended up needing to take a self-portrait for something else today so decided to dig out a recent 'before' pic too:

"Darnik, mommy"

I suppose I've done a good job in censoring my foul mouth while raising my children, because the worst I've apparently done is say "Darnit" too much, which Jared misheard and now misuses whenever he's frustrated as "Darnik".

--

The wonders of technology:

Jared: "Mommy, I light up the whole world."
Me: "Really? how?"
Jared: "My shoes! See?" <points at lights on shoes>

The days are long, but the years are short.

Two years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital bed, cradling my first daughter, my second child. I was marveling that I'd done it, created a human again. Some days it seems like you go through life thinking you can't do any right... and then you remember what it's like to shepherd life through this world, whether through birth, adoption, fostering or simply caring deeply for others, and you know that you can do no wrong.

I remember cradling her in one arm, working away in photoshop on my laptop with the other arm to B&W render the photo to send out to our team at work, announcing her arrival. I remember smiling as I canceled a meeting with my GM from my calendar, with a comment that I was at the hospital giving birth and couldn't make it.

In her first few days, she slept a lot and wouldn't wake up for feedings, and as a second-time mother I quietly thrilled in it and took the opportunity to grab a nap for myself; I knew all too well the sleeplessness that lay ahead of me. The biggest stress of my life at this time was wondering how her brother would handle the intrusion, which ended up being a complete non-issue - at least until she got to be old enough to bogart his stuff.

Happy birthday, Audrey. My little not-a-baby-anymore.

P.S. When you're old enough to read this, don't hate me for blogging a picture of your sandy butt.