Emery Grace

Emery: industrious leader.

Grace: grace of God.

Two things that I hope my daughter grows to know and to be.

She was born at 4:15am on Sunday morning, and was 8 pounds, 12 ounces.

We are absolutely in love.

See? I told you so.

This baby will totally be late. Like me.

Still nothing....3 more days until the "official" due date, but I'm calling it now: LATE, my friends. Don't hold your breath. This is a product of Matt and I, and I should know.

Anyway, I gave up trying to sleep around 4:17am this morning and picked up the book I started last night: The Help. It is really, REALLY good. And I have this thing about books--I read RIDICULOUSLY fast (like, to the point where no one believes I'm really reading it) and I can't put things down until I know how they end. Which is a problem if it's long. I read Sarah's Key in 3 hours and 10 minutes. STRAIGHT. I had to. Now, I started The Help last night around 8:30 and currently, after this morning's 2 hours, I am on page 248. I swear I am actually reading it. Around 7:30, I gave up, and went to Panera to get bagels. Here it is, 8:32am, and Matt and Bug are still sleeping.

Last night, perhaps because I am the size of a walrus, I found myself thinking about how I'm going to get my body back. I'm definitely a little worried about 2 kids, as I've stated before. And people who love to tell me how "hard it will be" are starting to drive me nuts. (Thanks, by the way, to people out there kickin' it with 2 and taking names. You guys rock.) I know it will be a definite adjustment, but I've never backed down from a challenge before and I'm not about to start now.

So, as I've also stated before, my goal will be to qualify for Boston. It's going to take me a bit to get there, as I am hoping to avoid all anxiety issues that I had with Bug. That was rough. But that was different, because I had to work for 4 months instead of 4 weeks before summer break. And it was my first year of AP US History; not my third. I'm in a much better spot now professionally...not to mention, the timing is just plain better. Ever wonder why so many teacher's kids are born in late winter or early spring? ;)

Here's a few things I need to work on after this watermelon decides to make its grand appearance from my ridiculously stretched abdomen:

It will be very hard for me to get to Boston: a combination of skill, determination, sacrifice, and just a good day. I will need every edge I can get. Here's what I'm working on in my head now:

1. I need to get STRONGER. No more slacking on weight training. It will need to be efficient, but it will need to be OFTEN. Please hold me to this. I'm 32, and I know that's the first thing to "go." Plus, it will keep me from injury--especially as I ramp up mileage in late summer and early fall. There is absolutely no reason why I can't do some kind of strength training 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes.

2. I think dropping an additional 5-6 pounds might help, too. My typical racing weight is around 145-147. I noticed a big difference from when I raced slightly higher than this in 2008 to when I raced right at this in 2009. I'm thinking if I could get to around 140, it might really help shave off the minutes or seconds I need. This won't be too difficult, as it leads me to #3...

3. NUTRITION. I am very healthy and eat healthy, too. However, I love my sweets. I simply cannot pass up chocolate or ice cream. I really need to focus on cutting down on the refined sugars and eating as clean as I can. I definitely notice a change in my energy level when I eat well and skip the sugar. Next season, I need to think when I eat the sweet stuff and really try to remember my ultimate goal. I think by cutting down (notice I didn't say OUT--a girl's gotta have some ice cream or a beer from time to time) these empty calories, and combine that with a little more strength, I can drop a few more pounds. 140ish is about as low as I'd like to go, given my height and body type.

I think everything else is there. Treadmill for early morning workouts? Check. Group to run with on the weekends? Check. Masters swim this summer in the early am to push me in the pool? Check. (Yes...I might try Masters again, despite my disastrous start back in '07....where, I've come to realize, I just met the WRONG guy there who rubbed me the WRONG way BIG TIME. But he won't be at this one, so no one will get hurt.) Trainer for indoor quality workouts? Check. Friends to ride with at the drop of a hat during naptime this summer for longer rides? Well.....you can't get everything you want. But I've got almost everything set up here.

Most importantly: awesome husband who supports me? Check.

Very flexible summer job schedule for both of us? Yep.

Amazing family nearby who helps more than they know? Uh-huh.

So this will be a team effort here. If I am lucky enough to get to Boston, it won't be because I did it alone. That's for sure. There are some things I can do by myself, as listed above. But most of this will be made possible by those around me.

So the goal is...

Rev3 70.3 in September: push myself hard and see how it goes--if I'm in PR shape, than go for it. If 2 has been rougher than I expected, not to beat myself up and just have a great race.

Fall Classic Half Marathon: 1:40.

Cleveland Marathon 2011: 3:40.59 or better.

It's aggressive, but you know what? Sometimes I am, too.

So for now, I'm going to waddle and get myself a banana. Hopefully the next time I'm on here, I'll have some news to share about Baby Bean...wish me luck!

Early--and ME--in the same sentence?

Hmmmmmm..

So, I just sort of have been operating under the assumption that this baby will be late. Because, let's be honest--it's me we're talking about here. I'm late EVERYWHERE I go. Chronically 5 minutes late and frantically racing everywhere. Matt's the same way.

So I just got back from the doctor, and I still have about a week and a half to go, and to spare you the details let's just say things are definitely progressing. And I had a bit of a scare last night. Totally thought something was up. But then I fell asleep, so obviously not.

This baby is big, so I'm definitely rooting for the "sooner rather than later" scenario...however, I have my little world planned out with work ending next Friday and a few days before baby gets here. So, this SO doesn't fit in with MY plans. ;)

We'll see how it goes here...Baby Bean may be here before I sure would. After all, as my mom will gladly tell you, I was FOUR days late. In the heat of July. (Sorry, Mom....) Usually she likes to remind me of that when I ask why she couldn't have just held on for two more days so I'd be born on 7/7/77?

Any over/unders? Anyone want to place bets? I'm up for making this as entertaining as possible....

And then there were TWO.

As in, WEEKS.

Work has been KEEEEELING me lately. This baby has dropped fo' sho', so I spend my time waddling like there's a watermelon lodged squarely in my pelvis and trying not to pee my pants. It's pretty much awesome.

I did have a few good laughs today, mostly because I was teaching about Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Stick Diplomacy." Because you know what? That phrase might have worked in the early 1900s, but it really doesn't translate well into 2010. Especially if you're 16.

Uh, huh huh. Huh huh huh. She said, CARRY A BIG STICK. Huh huh.

Then, when teaching about the annexation of Hawaii, I put a picture of Queen Liliuokalani on the board and asked the kids if they could tell me who it was.

"Queen....oh, wait!....Queen somebody."

"Queen Lalalalala?"

Come ON guys, I responded. You're getting close. Queen L....?

"Queen Latifah!"

So that made me laugh.

I'm excited to find out if this bean is a girl or a boy. I'm excited just to not be huge and round, and to drink beer again, too. But finding out if it's a girl or a boy is what is really keeping me motivated. I know some think I'm crazy for NOT finding out, but for me it just seems to make these last 2-3 weeks of sheer uncomfortable hugeness much easier to deal with.

I do have to admit, though, that I am a little nervous if it's a girl. I am so in "boy mode," and just having a blast playing with cars and remote control dinosaurs and trains and getting dirty and stuff. I don't speak pink. I never have. I don't even really speak doll that well. What on earth am I going to do if it's a girly girl?

I am sooooooooooo not a girly girl.

I will say one thing: there will not be an overload of pink. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. A little pink is fine, but not every single thing. I might hurl.

It's not as much that I'm scared to have a baby girl, as I am scared to have a girl from age 14-16. Because I see that every day. Most of the time it's fine. But sometimes girls can be so mean and nasty. Like in seventh grade, too. Ugh. That's not a good year, either. Mean mean MEAN and nasty passive-aggressive UGH. And I feel like it's all gotten way worse than when I went through it back in the dark ages before the intarwebs and facebook and all this other stuff. Some of the stuff I hear that goes on is just so mean. Good thing that wasn't around when I was all awkward with bad 80s bangs and a horrible fashion sense.

(Although, seeing as I'm carrying most likely close to 60 extra pounds right now I am quite awkward. And am lacking in the fashion sense department, as I'm down to about 3 pairs of pants that "fit" me now. And "fit" is in quotation marks for a reason.)

So if this is a girl, I will have some learning to do. First lesson: how to survive aisle after aisle of pink stuff and toys that are all about dolls and clothes and stuff.

Or not. Right? Because girls can play with cars, too. And dinosaurs are totally unisex.

I picked up Bug at the sitter's yesterday, and she said, "Shhhhh...." and pointed to the corner. Bug was carefully "feeding" a baby doll that he had put in a toy high chair. "Baby want milk? Baby want egg?"

So my boy can be a caring little Bug that plays with dolls. And if I have a girl, she can play with trucks and dinos, too. This is 2010. There are no rules anymore, right?

So perhaps I need to not worry as much about what happened to ME or what I was doing at age 12, 14, or 16. Because chances are the technologies that this potential girl will have aren't even a blip on the sci-fi radar yet.

If I raise them to care about others, then it doesn't matter what color they like to wear or what toys they play with. Or, later on, what music they listen to and what color their hair is.

I just hope I can at least learn to tolerate some pink.

;)