New Adventure: Running

I've begun to run. I started four days ago - today being the fourth. I've made it up to a mile now, but it's a slow, sad, pathetic, gasping mile. I really had to push myself today. I'm hurting in a lot of new places lol. And I kicked the couch with my pinkie toe and thought I broke it - so that really hurt and made the running a LOT harder to do, but I did it anyway. I'm hoping I pass a point where I stop nearly dying with each run. I'm sure I'll get there. But you know, it really feels good when I'm done running. I haven't run a mile since high school and now I'm doing it again. And I have a goal. What's my goal? I want to be in a shape. And even better than that, I want to be in shape for when we try to have baby #2 next year. I want to be in shape so I can have a better birth. I mean, Anna's was good in some ways. I came in at 3 1/2 cm and didn't feel any contractions. I sometimes wonder if I had gone into labor naturally if things would have been different. I wonder if Anna would have had time to rotate from that posterior position. I wonder if I would have thought, "I'm in labor!" and then when I got to the hospital, I would be like 5 or 6 cm. I would love that for the next one. Plus, I know that being in shape means a better birth. And I want another natural birth - this time no failed epidural - just no epidural at all. I know I can do it now. I have no doubts about what my body can achieve. I actually fear getting an episiotomy more than giving birth. I don't want to take pain meds after birth because of an episiotomy like I did with Anna - the pain meds caused complications that I talked about on this blog once upon a time. I'd like to avoid that altogether. And I'm hoping these changes make that difference. I don't want to be Miss Skinny America. I don't think I even need to lose weight. I was 118 last time I was weighed. I would like to have more muscle and less fat on my tush, though. ;) But really, my goal is to get in shape. If anything else like that happens, well... that's just the cherry on top. I actually have a workout partner now - a college friend. We start together on Sunday. I'm really excited about that! I think it should be fun. :)

Soccer Graduation

Anna graduated from Tot Soccer yesterday! She's done so well! The first couple of weeks she practically refused to kick the ball and hid behind the trees and gave up ten minutes into it. We thought we would have to quit, but she caught on and this last practice she didn't need me to hold her hand at all to keep playing and she dribbled... ACTUALLY DRIBBLED... the ball and participated in all of the games! At the end there's always goal time and she kicked TWO goals. Sometimes getting her to kick ONE is difficult. I'm very proud of her! My big girl! :)

Happy Oceanniversary!

Sandiversary? Oceanniversary? Anniverseary? :) Anyway, Paul and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary on the 19th and there was nothing I wanted more than to spend time with my family! We watched Toy Story 3 with Anna on the 18th - her first movie in a theater. We sat on the handicapped-accessible aisle and it was a good thing because Anna kept jumping up and walking around. She did a good job, though! And she loved it! Then on the 19th we went to Lincoln City, OR and spent time at the beach. It was a beautiful day and Anna had a great time running into the waves. Eventually she fell and laughed and then started diving into the waves and running from the waves. We had such a blast! On the 20th there was a Father's Day barbeque at my in-laws' house. It was a lot of fun and a perfect weekend. It went by too quickly, though. I miss living close to family. Paul and I graduate in 11 months and then we'll be able to move back home to Oregon. :)

Cheap Things To Do

I've been thinking of cheap things to do for fun this summer with Anna. Today I walked down to the waterfront with Anna until Paul got off from work. That was about a twenty-ish minute walk downhill with three hours at the beach. Hopefully that means Anna will sleep well tonight. Long story short, how can I entertain Anna this summer on a reallllllllllllllly tight budget? She gets so bored and ought to be in preschool. She's social and needs a lot of that socialization. So I guess we'll spend a lot of time at parks, the beach, and the McDonald's playplace. My mother in law gave me a nice list of things to do, so I might try them out. If you read this post, do you have any ideas? THING CHEAP OR FREE!!! ;)