Resolutions 2013 revisited

1) Run 700 miles in 2013.
2) Complete 3 family photo albums on Blurb.
3) De-clutter a few times during the year.  Thoroughly purge rooms/garage.
4) Host several dinners for friends.  Especially BBQ's in the summer.  (I got a bunch of hosting things for Christmas because after last year I realized I didn't have platters etc to host meals.)
5) Read 50 books.  It's been a couple of years since I've reached this goal so I'm going to make an effort this year.
6) Try a new recipe a month. I think this is a good one, gives us variety in our diet.  Plus I really need to learn how to make a good appetizer or side dish.  Whenever there is a potluck I fail on this dish.

Update May 2013
1) I'm at 263 miles so far.
2) Um, not even close to getting an album done.
3) Just took 4 boxes of stuff to Goodwill today!  Have also been selling many old baby items online.
4) My neighbors and I have started a Friday dinner swap.  Every Friday we can, one family hosts and prepares dinner, the other family brings wine/beer/drinks.  Does that count?
5) I'm really behind on this...I've read 13 books so far this year.
6) Not so good on this one either...

TriSlide, my new favorite product!

My new favorite product.  I have had an issue with running, I get chaffing at the edge of my short sleeves.  This happens whether or not I wear sleeves or tank tops.  Must be my running style. I Body Glide up my arms but still get the chaffing.  Last October when I ran a half marathon I chaffed really badly.  I was fed up. I began looking for a body glide alternative that was liquid/lotion like.  I ended up finding this aerosol TriSlide brand at Sports Basement.  OMG, I'm in heaven!  Day 1 I sprayed on the TriSlide, headed out for a 10 mile run.  No chaffing!!  Warning...do not spray this stuff near anything, it will make it slick.  The floor of my bathroom was slippery for days!  Now I only spray this on me outside.
I have run two half marathons and several double digit runs in heat and no chaffing.  I can wear my tank tops with no issues.  Hooray.
My next race is an Olympic Distance Triathlon so I will see how this fares in triathlons.

My list of baby must-have's revised after baby #3

1. Swing

2. Bouncy Chair

3. Crib

4. Crib mobile

5. Crib music soother

6. 2-3 crib sheets, 2 mattress waterproof pads

7. Sleep positioner

8. Humidifier

9. Nose aspirator (washable!!)

10. 2-3 towels

11. 4-5 washclothes

12. infant bath tub

13. non-slip mat or sticky pads for bathtub

14. bath toy holder, faucet cover

15. plastic spoons and forks (use a plastic toothbrush holder for travel)

16. high chair with at least 2 trays (3 preferable) or a highchair booster seat combo. (Revised after 3^rd kid, at first my hubby didn’t like the booster seat that attached to the chair, but now we hate that a separate high chair takes up too much floor space.  We like the Fisher Price Healthy Booster Chair.  It’s great for travel and everyday use.  Easy to clean and you can even use it on the floor/ground if you picnic.)

17. plastic bowls

18. plastic bibs (at least 3)

19. changing pad

20. 2-3 changing pad covers

21. lap pads (4-5)

22. cloth diapers/receiving blankets (7-8) we used them only as spit clothes

23. fold up bottle drying rack

24. snack cups

25. bottle brush

26. sleep sacks

27. Exersaucer

28. Activity Gym

29. Umbrella stroller or jog stroller.

30. Infant car seat

31. Pack n play (simple unless you’re going to have it out in your house.  If you use it all the time, then splurge for the vibration/music.  If you just use it for travel, don’t need all the bells and whistles.)
                For the Pack n Play, buy the quilted crib sheet, makes it much more comfy for the babies to lay on. 

32. Floppy seat cover for grocery cart/restaurant high chair

33. Ergo carrier (much better than the Bjorn)

34. Stroller travel system.  If you have two cars and will both be using strollers, get a snap n go for the 2^nd car.  I’d buy the snap n go used, cuz you don’t use it for that long.  (Revision after 2^nd child, if you need a stroller in two cars, I’d do BOB revolution w/infant seat attachment in one car, snap n go in the other.  Later on, Snap n go can be replaced with umbrella stroller.)  (Revision after 3^rd child: I think travel systems are out now.  I hear great reviews on Baby Jogger City Mini for non-BOB fans.)

35. Go go kids carseat roller (for plane travel)

36. Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner placemat. If you go out to eat often. (We love this!!)

37. Kiddopotamus plastic bib (good for travel as well)

38. Something to swaddle.  I’ve tried all the swaddle stuff, the kiddopotamus and ultimate swaddler but I found that regular blankets worked best. 

39. Gripe water (loved this, especially for my colicky babies), Infant tylenol and advil (advil only after 6 months old).

40. Baby monitor.  If you have a big house, and the baby’s room is far away then splurge on this one.  Our house is small, we hardly used it.  I just leave our doors open and can here her.  I mostly use my baby monitor when we travel to friends/family houses when we’ll be far from her room. (Revised after 3^rd child.  We remodeled our house and now our master bedroom is far away from kids rooms so we use monitors all of the time.  I didn’t splurge for video monitors so I got the Phillips Avent Basic Baby monitor with Dect technology.  We have brick walls and it works awesome.  We have two one for each kids room and they don’t interfere with each other.  And I like being able to talk back to the older kids walkie talkie style, I use that feature quite often.)

41. Glider (not essential, used in the early years but hardly used now except for story time reading) (Revised after 2^nd and 3^rd child, I use the glider for nursing baby at night in their room.  After newborn phase I didn’t want to have baby sleep in bed with us if possible.  The only way was if I was sitting up.  I would nurse in the glider then put baby back to bed. Still use it to rock baby to bed or nap every day.)

42. My breast friend or Boppy  I like it better than the boppy for positioning for feeding.  But the boppy can be used to position the baby in on the couch, tummy time etc. 

44. Breast pads (tossable ones in the beginning, washable ones the rest of the time)

45. At least 3 nursing bras and tanks.

46. Nightgowns with snaps or button closures for night time feedings or nursing tanks for summer.

47. Car mirror

48. Digital thermometer

49. Pacifier (depends on your parenting thoughts)

50. Lovey (depends on your parenting thoughts)

Revised with 2^nd Child:

51. Aden + Anais blankets for swaddling.

52. For cloth diapers if you’re going that route, try the Jillian Drawer’s Diaper trial.  We went with Bum Genius 3.0 diapers. 

53. Bum Genius Diaper sprayer

54. Robeez shoes (helps keep socks on)

55. Medela Free-style pump

56. Itzbeen timer for keeping track of breasfeeding times. (Though now everyone has smartphones, not useful anymore.)

57. Jumperoo

Revisions/additions after baby #3.
58. Register for a carseat for after baby has outgrown infant carrier.  They can outgrow them before a year old and those suckers can be $$.  I like Britax but I’ve heard great reviews on Gracos.

59. Double strollers…I really like our BOB revolution double, especially because I can have all 3 kids ride at once if need be.  But I am a runner and use it for that.  We mostly use our BOB double for zoo’s/amusement parks, etc.  Day to day we just use single BOB revolution and can have 2 kids on it if need be.  I hear people rave about Baby Jogger City Mini double strollers if you’re not wanting the hefty BOB.

60. I really like Pediped shoes, very sturdy sole yet flexible for growing feet.

61. Bum Genius diapers…I’ve been using them now since 2009, I still love these diapers.  They have lasted well over the years and I haven’t had any issues with them.  The Velcro ones are getting a little worn but the snaps ones are lasting well.  The only downfall with snaps is when you have a wiggly baby it takes longer to get them in.  As for detergent for the diapers, I use either Kirkland Free and Clear or Trader Joes Free and Clear.

62. Used clothes…I can’t express how fast kids go through clothes, after baby #1 I realized used clothes are totally fine and actually use my local mom’s group for those resources.  The clothes I try to buy used all of the time are snow clothes/boots.  You usually only go a couple of times to the snow and pay so much for new stuff.  The stuff used is barely used and marked down way low.  And I double the boots as rain boots for my kids so I don’t buy two pairs of boots.

63.  I like Kushies on the Go wet/dry bag for cloth diapers, wet/dirty clothes holder, great for pump parts storage if you pump at work, I got tired of using Ziploc bags everyday so used this bag.  Just throw in the washer to clean.

64. Itzy Ritzy zipper snack bags for snacks.

65. Diaper bag/backpack.  If diaper bag, get one that clips to stroller, I hated lugging them around. 

66. JJ Cole Bundle Me.  I love this, it’s great for Bay Area babies.  I use it when running or working out in the winter with the jog stroller.  Also great for just pushing baby in regular stroller out and about.

Resolutions 2013

I haven't really thought it thoroughly so here's a rough outline .
1) Run 700 miles in 2013.
2) Complete 3 family photo albums on Blurb.
3) De-clutter a few times during the year.  Thoroughly purge rooms/garage.
4) Host several dinners for friends.  Especially BBQ's in the summer.  (I got a bunch of hosting things for Christmas because after last year I realized I didn't have platters etc to host meals.)
5) Read 50 books.  It's been a couple of years since I've reached this goal so I'm going to make an effort this year.
6) Try a new recipe a month. I think this is a good one, gives us variety in our diet.  Plus I really need to learn how to make a good appetizer or side dish.  Whenever there is a potluck I fail on this dish.

Resolutions 2012 Completed

The Resolutions: 
January 2012
1) Cook a new recipe once a month. (And post them here if I like it.)
2) Run 500 miles. I have already signed up for 2 half marathons (One in April and one in May)
3) Lose the 7-8 lbs I'm still carrying of baby weight.
4) Try new classes. Look for groupons or deals to experiment with different fitness classes in my area. I've already started a boot camp class that I bought on groupon.
5) Read 50 books. (I'm on book two right now.)
6) Host several dinners for my friends, especially the ones I haven't seen in ages.

Resolutions revisted.

1) I know I tried at least 12 new recipes if not more, it came in bursts so it wasn't monthly.

2) I ran 612.21 miles this year so I surpassed my goal by far.

3) I lost all the baby weight, woo-hoo!

4) I tried bootcamp, and I signed up to teach BOSU so kinda half completed this goal in my opinion.

5) I totally failed on this resolution.  I read 36 books.  I tried lowering my goal to 40 books but couldn't even reach that.  I guess if I didn't run the extra 1,000 minutes I could have used that time to make my reading goal but maybe working out was a better choice?

6) Host several dinners, I can name perhaps a handful of dinners I hosted for people I haven't seen in a while, but several with friends I see often.

Children's Book Recommendations

We've been going through a lot of library books lately.  Doesn't help that we go to the library every Monday morning for story time and we have to get more books each week.  Here are some current favorites.

Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban
Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen
Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake by Thomas Taylor
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

And a really cute chapter book:
Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst

500 miles met!

Resolution met and surpassed.
I made my 500 mile goal during my Oktoberun 1/2 marathon.  I'm now at 522.28 miles this year.  Maybe I can hit 600?  We'll see, November and December are hard months to get a lot of miles in due to school holidays and holidays in general.

Road Runner Sports Thursday Adventure Run

I'm loving my local Road Runner Sports Thursday Adventure Runs.  They are so much fun!  I can't believe I've waited so long to get into them.
How it goes:
1. Register online beforehand (then you get a free drink ticket).
2. Check in between 5:30-6:30pm, get your drink ticket, take a look at the cool gizmo's you can test out during your run.  (ie. CEP compression socks, Asic's shoes, Amphipod earbuds, Garmin watches etc.)  Just give them a credit card or license as a deposit and you're good to go with borrowing the item.  Also as you are talking with the vendors, collect some raffle tickets before the run even starts.
3. 6:30pm, up goes a big map with the 10 or so spots you can collect raffle tickets.  Take a picture of it, write it down, whatever it takes to know where to go.  Also if you preregistered, they will email you the map to your smartphone.
4. Take off running!  The run is around 6 miles, more or less.  The more stops you hit the more raffle tickets you collect.  If you purchase and wear the Adventure run shirt you get double the tickets.  Most stops you just collect the tickets and jet, others you may have to do an activity.  At Crunch we had to do squats, jumping jacks and lunges.  One time we had to hula hoop at the park.  You can hit as many or as little stops, but you have only 1 hour.
5. 7:30pm, come back to the store, drop off your raffle tickets, grab your free beer and sit down and wait for the raffle.  I am not as organized as others, but the pro's come back and tape their raffle tickets to cardboard or clipboards to keep them together and easy to view when numbers are being called.  Prizes usually range from gift cards to local stores, items that had booths that night, boxes of power bars, month long gym membership, shoes, etc.  Great stuff!
6. Go to the after party.  I haven't attended one yet because usually I have to relieve the babysitter or help my hubby get the kids to bed.  But I hear it's fun and they give more prizes there.
If there is an Adventure run near you, check it out.  It's super fun, a way to get a workout and it's free!

I've made a new playlist for spin class

I made a new playlist for spin class which means I have more music I like.

I'm really liking the artist Eric Hutchinson.  Especially his songs Breakdown More and Watching You Watching Him.

Don't Wake Me Up by Chris Brown
Good Time by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen
Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
Home by Phillip Phillips
Whistle by Flo Rida
Turn Me On by David Guetta Feat. Nicki Minaj
Drive By by Train
Good Feeling by Flo Rida

2012 Resolutions

The Resolutions: 
January 2012
1) Cook a new recipe once a month. (And post them here if I like it.)
2) Run 500 miles. I have already signed up for 2 half marathons (One in April and one in May)
3) Lose the 7-8 lbs I'm still carrying of baby weight.
4) Try new classes. Look for groupons or deals to experiment with different fitness classes in my area. I've already started a boot camp class that I bought on groupon.
5) Read 50 books. (I'm on book two right now.)
6) Host several dinners for my friends, especially the ones I haven't seen in ages.

What I've accomplished so far:  As of June 2012
1) I have attempted a few new recipes...I will have to post them here.
2) I'm up to 300 miles ran this year. :)
3) I have lost all of the baby weight!!  A couple of months ago I accomplished this one!
4) Other than the boot camp class I haven't tried another fitness class or other class.
5) I"m only on book 15, gotta speed up my reading.
6) I've had 2 dinner parties so far, well big dinner parties.  

Now as of September 2012
1) New recipe trying sort of dwindled as well as me posting them.  I have been reading magazines and ripping recipes out but those have just ended up in a pile in my kitchen.
2) I'm up to 454.48 miles...and I have a 10k coming up this Friday, a half marathon in 3 weeks, definitely will accomplish this goal.
3) In June I ate something that threw my stomach out of whack where I ended up eating only bread and water for 3-4 days and ended up losing 4 more pounds.  I thought it would come back and I'd be back to my pre-baby weight, but 3 months and it's still stayed off despite not changing anything in my diet or exercise.  So I'm now down to my college days weight, the college days when I wasn't in training/athletic mode.  When I was in college/early 20's and working out a lot for a race, I always gained a few pounds.  I'm hoping I keep it off.  :)
4) I attended a local Adventure Run at Road Runner Sports in my town.  Does that count?  It was something new.  I really enjoyed it and hope to do a few more this year.  I'm working with my boss at the YMCA to attend a training or two on some new classes for me to teach.  We'll see what I get into.
5) I'm up to book 30.  I gotta really cram to reach this goal.
6) I've had a few more dinner parties, not as much as I'd like, so I'd better start setting up some more.  Off to send some emails...