Jack is 4 months

Jack turned 4 months old yesterday. We celebrated by going to the doctor for some more shots. Poor little guy.

Jack is a happy and healthy baby. He weighs 14 lb 1.5 oz (34th percentile) and is 25 inches tall (55 th percentile). His favorite thing to do is suck on his fists... sometimes he tries to fit both of them in his mouth at the same time. He is learning how to play with toys and is able to grip thin objects. He loves bath time and will lay in there, kicking his legs off until the water gets cold. He loves to be rocked in the rocking chair and bounced on the big exercise ball. He smiles and laughs and coos. He even sleeps through the night (since he was 7 weeks old). He is so much fun to be around. Here are some of my favorite Jack pics from the last month.

A week of firsts

We had a fun week of firsts at our house:

Last Saturday, I planted my first garden. It is a small 3X5 square foot garden. I'm starting out small during my experimental year, but if I like it and it works, I'm going to do a bigger one next year.

That evening, My mom taught me how to make jam. It was a first for me and it turned out very tasty. I have enough in my freezer to last at least a year.On Monday, Jack had his first of many to come evenings in the canyon. We went up American Fork Canyon and roasted hot dogs and smores over the fire. We forgot to bring condiments, so the dogs were a little dry... oops. Jack enjoyed watching the fire and he liked looking at the rushing river. For a while now, I have been wanting to learn how to make homemade bread. It's just so much better. On Wednesday, I googled the phrase "easy bread recipe" (It's my first time... I don't want to get too complicated) and after sifting through many easy recipes, I decided on "No Knead Wheat Bread" from Betty Crocker. Well, I made bread and it was delicious. I think next week I'll try kneading.After Michael got home from work that evening, we decided to take the new car out for a spin... off road. We geared up and headed up AF canyon again. We have been looking for a new car for a while. We needed a second car and wanted something with 4 wheel drive for all our adventuring, so we ended up with a Jeep Liberty... that fits both our needs and our wants.

So, It was a fun and experimental week. I think I'll do each and every activity again.

Tulip Festival

Last week, I visited Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival... Twice. The first time was an activity for Dialysis patients and staff funded by the Kidney Foundation. We had a nice time, but it was windy and cold, so we kind of rushed through the gardens. It was fun to go with Kasey and Brian who also have a little baby, Sam, who was born 4 weeks after Jack.

The second time, Katie and I took Jack and Zeke for a fun filled afternoon. Our favorite part of the day was when a mother said to her crying child, "don't be sad, it's tulip time."

Afterwards, Jack and Zeke crashed on the bean bag at my house.

Nurses Day

Michael sent me flowers at work today. It's Nurses Day. I've never gotten flowers delivered to me at work (or anywhere else) before. I felt so special. Thanks Michael.

Happy Birthday to Michael

Michael turned 26 on Sunday. He is the best husband ever. We spent the entire weekend celebrating his birth.

On Saturday evening, we dropped Jack off with my mom and went out. I decided to take him someplace nice that we hadn't been to before... Bambara (it's the restaurant inside the Hotel Monaco). It was very nice and we had a really good time.

On Sunday, he got to open his gift from me... A REI day pack made from recycled materials that was stuffed with all his favorite snacks. We got to have cake and ice cream twice that evening... once at my parents' home, and once with Michael's family. We were all hopped up on sugar.

Monday night, we went out with Michael's parents to Smoky Mountain Pizzeria for yet another celebration.

Now we're all birthdayed out.

5 years ago...

5 years ago last Friday, I ran a marathon. Yes, me... 26.2 miles.

Last Friday, I ran 1.5 miles. It felt like a marathon.

I have about 8 lbs. to loose from the pregnancy. I have been making excuses (some of them legitimate) as to why I am unable to work out:

-I am too tired... I've been up all night with the baby
-My vericose veins are hurting
-I can't work it into my schedule
-Jack is not 3 months old so I can't take him to the daycare

All of these things are resolved (except my veins did hurt last night, but that was the first time in a while), so I am out of excuses.

Oh, and I'm addicted to sugar... do they have rehab for that?

I always say "If it's important, you'll make time for it." So it's time I take my own advice and get going on getting rid of these 8 lbs.

I just found this photo of myself and my two BFFs Melissa (on left) and Katie (on right) after finishing the marathon. They trained with me but were unable to run the race due to injuries.

Working Out Isn't Working Out

Last night Michael and I decided to go to the local rec-center to work out. We bought an annual pass in January. I have not been working out much because of some painful varicose veins leftover from my pregnancy (I tried running about a month ago, but it hurt too much), so when I decided to go try the low-impact elliptical machine, it was kind of a big step for me.
Also, I haven't wanted to take Jack there while he was so young and his immune system was so frail, but he's almost 3 months old now, and he has been out enough that I feel comfortable taking him there.
So anyway Michael went to work out in the weight room and I went over to the cardio side. I had Jack sitting there in his car seat beside me as I began my workout. About 1 min into my warm up, a staff member came up to me and said that I wasn't allowed to have my baby in the cardio room (the last place I had a membership did not allow children in the cardio or weight areas, but did allow infants in car seats, so I figured that this was ok). She said that the reason for this rule was that someone could "fly off a treadmill and injure the baby." She then let me know that I was welcome to take him to the daycare for a small fee of $2.50/hr.
So, I figure that if I workout 5 times/week, it'll cost me $50/ month to put Jack in the daycare to keep him safe from people flying off treadmills (It is only $25/month for our couples pass). I think he is significantly more likely to get injured in the daycare than he is by someone flying off a treadmill.
My point is, I don't mind that you enforce your rules, but please don't tell me some B.S. reason for it like "people flying off treadmills." Just tell me the truth: We want your $2.50/hr.