It's 100 Degrees--Let's Go Running!!!!!

OY VAY. It is hot. Hot, hot, hot. Imagine watching a piece of paper burn and curl up in a flame and that is how your skin feels the minute you step outside. You half expect to see your epidermis flake off before your very eyes... All that being said I had to get my run in today. I'v been trying to get up early to run but since Liam has been night waking I am suddenly wiped out. I just couldn't drag myself out the door at 5:00am. Couldn't do it. So I went out over lunch and put in my 6.5 miles on a dusty, hilly, not a SPECK of shade trail and you know what?? It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I took a liter of ice and water and wore as little clothing as I could and it was ok. I actually saw two other grizzled and grimacing runners out on that trail too. We acknowledge each others perseverance with a grunt and a head nod (anything more than that would have sapped precious energy). Runners--yeah, we're different.

Sidenote: Liam did better last night although he did wake up. He seems to be on the mend although now he is really congested and his voice is hoarse and on the verge of disappearing altogether. So far so good with the Bean--hopefully he can manage to get through this week without the bug biting and he'll be officially in the clear!

Other Sidenote: Emily told us last night that the Bean almost sent her into heart failure. He was scaling the steps and she was right behind him. Since the boy has NO FEAR he stopped on a step, let go and just leaned back. Emily said although she was right beside him when he leaned back he flipped over her knees backwards. She said she caught him by his chubby drumstick and his onesie. She told me this morning that she was so upset by what *could* have happened that she had literal nightmares last night. Our neighbor is right--this boy IS going to give us grey hair.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Ahhh...there's the rub!

It is day FOUR of Liam's bug and just when I was optimistic that I might be able to get some sleep last night Liam up and had another setback and was up a good portion of the evening. I think my children have built in sensors that program their bodies to awake 5 minutes after I lay down for bed. All day yesterday it appeared that Liam was on the mend. He was eating, acting silly and stayed fever free all day. I put him to bed with a glimmer of hope that he would sleep through the night and I would get more than 2 hours of rest for a change. But alas, at 10:35 he woke up crying, moaning and generally miserable. He only wants ME. He cried and cried but could not tell me why. He said his mouth hurt. His ear hurt. His nose hurt. His head hurt and at one point I *swear* he said his bed hurt. He had a very low grade fever but he kept thrashing all around. I gave him motrin and told him that it would help. He demanded to know *WHEN* it was going to help because he certainly was NOT in the waiting kind of mood. I finally got him back to bed around midnight but he still tossed and turned off and on all night. He woke up in a very NASTY mood. He just cried over every little thing--which makes me think he is just not feeling good (this is how he acted on Sunday before the illness kicked in). I talked to Emily and she said that he is doing ok--just a bit emotional. We both agree he is exhausted (and he isn't the only one!)

What is hard too is that we are in the middle of a week of 100+ temps. This means the kids can't really go outside--and I think Liam is having some major cabin fever. The weather is supposed to set some sort of Colorado record on Friday for "most consecutive days of perpetual hell-like-infernoesque temperatures" (OK the papers aren't calling it that but that is what it is!) . Ychhhhh. The weekend appears to be more of the same. I am hoping that soon we get a break and that the heat lessens to at least 85 degrees, Liam's virus leaves and the Bean can manage to stay healthy. Oh yeah, and if we could all get a little sleep that would be just ducky too.

It has a name: Enterovirus

This is the name of the illness that has been messing around with Liam. After 24 hours of fever, headache and body aches I got him in to see the pediatrician. He diagnosed Liam as having an enterovirus--common in the summer months and spread via water (like at a pool or waterpark). He said it is comparable in many ways to Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and also mentioned that it mimicked encephalitis, especially in adults. He said that we can expect him to be ill for the better part of a week although by the look of things this morning, it might run its course quicker (let's hope). Last night I was only up with him about 5 times, as opposed to the 20 times I was with him the night before. He woke up without a fever (YEAH!!!) and actually wanted to eat a little bit which is a good sign. I am hoping/praying he can go the whole day without the fever returning or the headaches. Here's hoping...

Every parent knows how hard it is to watch your child suffer--it made my heart break every time he would cry and ask me to "make it go away" and I could not. I did my best to just hold him and sing to him and promise I would do whatever I could. Later when he had a good moment he said to me "Thank you for taking care of me Mommy". Even when he feels lousy he is still is so sweet it turns your insides to mush. Thank goodness that my kids are relatively healthy--stuff like this just makes you all the more thankful for the things that you have as well as the things you have not...

MISERABLE HEAT

UGH. It was so incredibly hot today. It was miserable. It's the kind of heat here that you dare not venture outside unless you can run to a patch of shade. I am not sure I have ever lived in any other place where the heat was THIS intense. While it is nice not having humidity, the intense burning sun more than makes up for it. Living a mile closer to the sun has its disadvantages I suppose. I got up at 5:00am to get in my 20 mile long run and by 7:30 the sun was already beating down. By the look of the weather report the heat is not going to go anywhere anytime soon. You know it is hot when your kids don't even want to go outside. Speaking of kids, Liam woke up from his nap utterly exhausted and whiney and totally grouchy. He wouldn't eat snack and he just sat around crying. Finally an hour or two later I got him to at least eat--but then an hour later he was complaining that his head hurt and he didn't feel good and by the time I got him in bed he had a fever. This was all after he helped me tuck Sawyer in bed and had peppered his face with about 50 kisses. Ugh. It could be a rough night. Stay tuned...

Love...

Sigh. THIS is why I don't get as much done at home as I should every night. How am I supposed to focus on housekeeping, laundry and the like when I have these adorable, scrumptious faces to stare at as much as I can before they go to bed??? One look, smile and giggle and I am a goner. I just can't help it--these boys are irresistible.

And here I look like my Mom. I think.

Yesterday I posted a pic from the horrific, wretched 5K I ran in on Tuesday. Someone, I believe my sister Lori, commented that she thought I looked like my Dad in the photo. I answered that I thought I looked like a man, I just didn't know WHICH man. I am breathing a sigh of relief that at least I look like my Dad verses, say, somebody like John Madden... So today I am posting a pic where I think I look more like my Mother or at the very least, more female. I am happy to look like either parent but would *prefer* to at least be representing the appropriate gender.

I HATE 5ks

Last night was the Corporate Challenge 5k--a race where local companies field teams of three and four people and combine their times. Lowest combined times win. Our company fielded four teams--three woman's teams and one coed team. I was on the coed team. Let me state for the record that I HATE 5KS!!! I say with all sincerity that I would rather run a MARATHON ANY DAY than a 5k. And that is no lie. People say, "But 5ks are only 3.1 miles! They're easy!" And I answer, "No, they are not. 5ks are 3.1 miles of fiery lung and leg pain, wheezing, and oxygen deprivation." Seriously, they are wicked, wicked little things that I do only if coerced by my coworkers. That is why I run marathons. I am built for distance, not speed.

Long story short: I cursed my way through 3.1 miles of 90+ degrees heat and misery. I ended up tying my worst 5K time since I started taking this running stuff seriously 7 years ago. I still did better than I thought I would though so I guess I should take solace in that. Our coed team placed 8th out of 28 corporate teams which is not too shabby since we live in THE LAND OF PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. There is something very awe inspiring running these races with people who do this for a living. I'm hoping that eventually via osmosis and wishful thinking some of their speed will rub off on me. A girl can dream anyway...

Your Daily Liam

Liam is at the age when he never stops talking. And when I say "he never stops talking" I mean that literally. His mouth moves from the second he wakes up until he goes to sleep at night. In fact, most nights he falls asleep WHILE talking. To himself. He is so imaginative that he can entertain himself for hours. Last night he had to go to the bathroom and he looked down into the toilet and said. "Oh look...It's a Mommy poopie tucking in her two babies!" It made me laugh out loud because he said it so sweetly and so genuinely--as if he really believed that there are Mommy poops and baby poops and little poopie families all living peacefully in the bottoms of toilets everywhere.

Summer... We Loves It!

As promised, here are a few pictures of the boys from our scorching hot weekend (100 degrees and counting). Sawyer LOVES the water. He is not the least bit fazed that the temperature is chilly. Of course, Sawyer also has LOTS of insulation to keep him warm. He is like a sweet baby seal. Then we have the stringbean, Liam. He is SO slim that even in 100 degrees he is comfortable laying in the sun. He is more like a lovable...lizzard.

Stay Tuned...

I have been away from my computer for a while. My apologies--it's been a rough week. I will be posting some cute new pics later tonight...

Ralston Taken Into Protective Custody

This is Ralston. He is Liam's baby and sometime alter ego. "but Mommy, Ralston doesn't LIKE ketchup now, he likes mustard..." Most days Ralston is the treasured baby of Liam and his best buddy/girlfriend Sam. They play house and take care of Ralston. Normally he is quite loved but today, sadly, Ralston had to be removed from the home. It started when Liam got upset over me denying him the use of the tape dispenser. If left to his own devices he would put tape on EVERYTHING. On toys. On food. On a cup of water. On the refrigerator, etc. I'd had enough of finding scraps of tape everywhere and of prying it out of the Bean's hands so I took it away from Liam. This started a doozy of a tantrum--the likes we (luckily) rarely see. So I marched him up to his room where he proceeded to throw almost everything in his room that was not tied down, including poor, sweet Ralston. SO now Ralston is in protective custody for the rest of the week until Liam can prove he is once again a fit parent.

Big Day for the Bean

This morning as I was getting ready for work I noticed that the Bean has yet ANOTHER tooth! The front tooth sprouted sometime overnight--which would explain his less than usually pleasant mood as of late. He is definitely working on more and I half expect him to wake up some day with a full mouthful, gnawing on the crib railing and demanding a side of beef. I jokingly told a coworker the other day when she asked "WHAT are you feeding that boy??" that we throw a raw steak into his crib and then run. (Imagine the goat/T-Rex scene from Jurasic Park...). He definitely likes his vittles.

Then as I was on the phone talking to Ken this morning the Bean suddenly starts scaling the stairs. Note: He has been trying (rather frustratingly) for the past two weeks to figure out HOW to get up the step and then lo and behold this morning suddenly it just clicked. I might add that this step scaling occurred approximately 20 minutes after he pulled himself up on the laundry basket and then let go. He stood free for about 4 seconds before dropping to the floor but methinks it is a sign of what is to come soon. VERY soon. Our neighbor commented this weekend (as he witnessed Bean try to climb OUT of his stroller) "That boy is going to give you both grey hair." Don't I know it.

Ugh. Monday.

I feel like I could use one more day to try and recover from the weekend. Yesterday's 18 mile run, early rising and Sawyer chasing just about did me in. I was doing good until about 3:00 when I hit the wall hard and felt like I could fall asleep at any second. Liam had a fun time hiking yesterday with Ken. It ended up being longer than Ken probably should have taken him (a 3.5 mile hike in the mountains is nothing to sneeze at when you are almost 4 years old!). I guess he did great on the way up--he enjoyed looking at the bridge, the waterfalls (there are two of them) and the cliff (yeah--I can't even GO there in my brain or else I will vomit just thinking about them standing near the edge--shudder). On the way down Liam had a melt down and needed to be carried a good portion of the way back. All in all though he did good. He fell asleep about ten minutes after he got in the car and then snoozed for 30 minutes until they got home. We thought for sure he would take a good nap but no such luck. He was energized from his power nap and raring to go.

So when bedtime rolled around for both boys I was more than happy to get some sleep myself. I fell into a coma-like sleep only to be awakened by Liam crying about an hour later because he was thirsty, his legs were sore, etc. He is just like me--if he does too much he gets very restless legs and has trouble sleeping. His thrashing and crying went on off and on for the next two hours until finally he got some rest. Cue baby boy crying an hour later. He has been blissfully sleeping through the night for many months now but last night for some reason he was up and not at all happy about it. I ended up having to give him a bottle at 2:30am because he was so ravenous. (Oh yes-his new thing is that he does not want to drink his bottles anymore. I have to constantly fight to get him to drink anything which is not good--especially when the weather is in the mid 90's) He went back to sleep and got up for good nearly an hour earlier than normal which was about the same time Liam got up earlier. Needless to say I think BOTH boys are going to be exhausted today and in desperate need of naps, much like myself. Only 12 more hours to go before that happens. Oy.

All About Poop

This pretty much sums up my weekend to date (and we still have a fair deal of Sunday to go so you never know...). Yesterday my dear sweet oldest child yelled down to me crying that he had pooped his pants. I went upstairs to find out that yes indeed, had pooped massive amounts in his underwear, shorts and on the bathroom floor. He has a tendancy to wait until THE last possible moment to use the restroom because he is too "busy" to take a break from playing to go--which was REALLY going to make me mad. However when I got upstairs I realized that the poor guy had diarrhea and couldn't help it. So I cleaned him up, put him in the shower, did a load of isolated laundry and then finished getting Sawyer ready for naptime. Liam looked at me and told me his tummy hurt again so I got him upstairs and he went to the bathroom again--disaster averted. Whew! I put him to bed for his nap with explicit instruction that if he had to go to the potty to just get up and go. I told him that if his tummy started hurting again to just go to the potty just in case. He assured me he would. Fast forward TWO hours later and I heard him in his room--he had not napped (which isn't that unusual lately but he still rests in his room and plays during naptime.) When I went in to get him I was overwhelmed by Ode de Feces. He was laying on his bed with a sheepish grin and when I said "Did you poop again Liam????" He said "Yeah, I did...!" I got him up and we repeated the whole cleansing/shower/laundry routine all while I scolded him for NOT telling me. It became pretty clear that he had been laying there in it for a while which made me want to heave. He asked if I was mad at him and I said "YES--but not because you had an accident. I am mad because you didn't come and tell Mommy that you needed help and instead chose to lay in it for who knows how long and get it all over your bed!!" Grrrrrrr.

So we go donwstairs after shower #2 and he asks if he can go to the park. I say "No way buddy-you can't go a foot from a toilet right now." He said "Yes I can--I feel better!" then he gets up suddenly and runs to the bathroom again just in the nick of time. He said "See--I made it in time--can we go to the park now??" We finally talked him into just playing in the front yard where he was throwing a ball then got "that look" and told me he had tooted but was afraid he had messed himself. He had. So it was BACK into the house for a repeat of clothing changing, washing and laundry. It made for a long day. This morning he seems to be fine. Ken bravely (and maybe foolishly??) decided today would be the day that Liam got to go on a hike with he and the dogs in Evergreen. I pray that it goes well for everyone's sake. I am a nervous wreck just thinking about it.

OH-I nearly forgot to mention! THis morning I ran 18 miles (which went better then last weeks dehydrated run) and when I got home and was sitting on the floor I smelled much to my horror that I had ran through some sort of animal poop during my run and brought it all the way home with me. If I have to clean up any more poop this weekend I just might lose it.

FINALLY...VIDEO!!

I've been trying to upload some video for weeks...and now (I think!) I have figured it out. So enjoy a little Liam unplugged (titled "Lullaby" )...



PS Kindly disregard everything piled around and under the bed...

More Teeth!

I discovered last night that the Bean has more teeth! His canine tooth came in on top--so now I am calling him "White Fang" until the front teeth come down--which looks to be about any minute! I think in another month he is going to have a mouthfull because his bottom "fangs" are almost through too. Sawyer says "Bring on the food baby!"

The Heat of 10,000 Burning Suns

It is HOT today. HOT as in near 100. HOT as in so intense that when you stand outside in the sun for even a brief moment your skin feels like it is going to shrivel up & blow away like tissue paper over an open flame. There is something about the intensity of a Colorado sun that can only be felt in person. I'm sure the fact that we are at a high altitude has something to do with it--we're a mile closer to the sun then most of the country. I love being outdoors, but when it gets near and above 100...not so much.

Your Daily Liam

Just sharing a little Liamism... Yesterday Ken & I went out to dinner with Ken's Mom, brother & best friend since they leave today for NY. Emily was gracious enough to stay late with the boys so we could actually have a dinner that did not involve wrangling two small boys. Liam was very excited because he knew that it meant he got to go out to eat with just Emily and Sawyer. Emily decided to take the boys to Noodles because Liam loves the Mac and cheese. She told us that while she was there he told her suddenly "Emily, I'll be right back." and he hopped up from his seat and went over to a family siting nearby. The couple had a baby about Sawyer's age who was sitting in a high chair. Liam asked them "Excuse me, but where is your baby's big brother??? How come he doesn't have a big brother???" Emily said the couple laughed and told him "Well, because we only have one baby right now." Liam seemed ok with that answer and sat back down. Clearly he LOVES being the big brother--I see it everyday when he goes in and greets his baby brother in the morning. He has told Ken & I he would like another baby (which Ken is ALL for) but I am not on that boat.

OH, and another gem. Yesterday as I was getting dressed for work I had just gotten out of the shower and was in my room looking for undergarments to put on. This happened to be the exact moment that Liam decided to open up the blinds and look out the window which happened to be the exact same moment the neighbor man decided to get his mail (the neighborhood mailbox is right in front of our house). I impressed myself with how quickly I dropped and pancaked myself to the floor while Liam stood in the open window saying "What Mommy? What's wrong? Why are you on the floor??" Turkey.

Hmmmm...Makes Me Wonder

Today on my miserable long run (miserable because I had a nagging side ache for 9 of the 16 miles and miserable because I donated blood and had zero energy this week) I noticed something that made me scratch my head. On my return route I noticed a guy out running too. It was about 9:30 in the morning and easily 85˚ under a hot Colorado sun. The guy was running wearing a black heavy hooded sweat shirt (with hood UP), gigantic Unibomber sunglasses, and GLOVES. Yes, gloves. In summer. In Colorado. Where the intensity of the sun can peel paint. Hmmmmm. WHY? That's all I could think of and ponder on my last few miles. What would possess this man to run dressed like that? Protection from the sun??? SURELY he could have found a cooler fabric and besides, the dude was wearing shorts so that didn't add up. Trying to lose weight?? Well, that's crazy too since all he would have lost was water weight which he would gain back the minute he rehydrated. I just couldn't figure it out. Just plain crazy if you ask me.

Look Who Wants to Walk

It's just a matter of time. In one week he has mastered crawling AND is able to pull himself up to standing. He is one strong little cheeky monkey.

I Doubt I'll Do This Again Anytime Soon...

Last night I decided to give both the boys a bath at the same time since the Bean is now great at sitting, crawling and is easily entertained by his brother. Liam, who now is "too big" for baths and only likes showers was MORE than happy to revert to the days of his "youth" and partake in a bath with his baby brother. It was one of the gajillion times since becoming a parent that I have wished out loud that I had another set of arms, hands, and eyes. When Sawyer wasn't trying to put his face directly in the bubbles and Liam wasn't too busy splashing around "swimming" I was almost able to scrub their parts and get them clean. Almost. What happened was this: Sawyer discovered that "hey! these bubbles look tasty!" and "hey! I bet that bottle of shampoo would be a good thing to put in my mouth!" and "hey! I bet if put my face in the water I can REALLY see those bubbles better!" All of this of course made Liam laugh and splash around which in turn made Sawyer giggle, splash and thrash around to the point that he kept slipping under the water. Which made me lunge into the tub and grab his slippery body and extract him and swear not to try it again until he was at least 5, or I sprouted that other set of arms, hands and eyes. Whichever comes first.

Liam Goes to the Dentist

Today was Liam's first dentist appointment. I took the day off and the boys and I went to a children's dentistry place nearby. I anticipated that Liam would do well--he generally likes doctor's offices and learning about new things so I thought the Dentist would be no exception and I was right. Liam was a rock star! He had Dr. Betty and the hygienist Miss Heidi laughing out loud. The place where we took them is AMAZING--dear niece Lindsey (future pediatric dentist) take note! The experience was great from the minute that we got there 10 minutes late. They had a giant sign when you first walk in that had "Welcome New Patient Liam!!" Liam really got a kick out of that. Then inside it was a virtual playground--a giant castle/play house with dress up clothes, toys, books, games etc. which helped pass the time. Even the wee bairn enjoyed himself crawling all around. When they called our name they were so sweet and introduced themselves and talked to Liam a bit. they noted how handsome he is and how much energy he had. (Ugh. Don't I know it sister!) Then we watched a little movie about a dinosaur who goes to the dentist and it prepped Liam for what was to come next. We went into the exam room and it was a little miniature dental chair/table with a doll on it. There Liam got to clean and count the doll's teeth and he REALLY enjoyed himself. He asked if he could wear all the gear and they let him. Then he asked to count Miss Heidi's teeth and she let him do that too. When it was his turn he was awesome--he was a great listener and he laid very still after warning them "Don't you let me fall off!!". The Dentist kept commenting on how gorgeous his teeth are and that he is probably NOT going to need braces based on his spacing, bone structure, etc. She told me she would give anything to have his teeth. The purpose of this visit was to get him acclimated to the experience, to count his teeth and do a little cleaning if need be. When we go back in 6 months he'll have the x-rays, proper cleaning, etc. When we left they took his picture and asked him to pick out a prize. He kept asking (even after claiming his prize) "Where are the treats?????" "Why don't I get a treat Mommy???" I'm like "Oh Liam, ha, ha, ha you're so funny. You KNOW how bad treats are for our teeth! We'll go home and have a nice piece of fruit or some vegetables for a snack... (nervous awkward laughter). Yeah, I'm sure they didn't buy it either.