Friday Letters: FRIDAY

 YAY!!!!

IT'S FRIDAY!!!

• Dear Tracey Ann,  You are amazing!  I cannot believe you are going to be four months old tomorrow.
• Dear School Year, I am SOOOO glad you are almost over.
• Dear Grammy and Papa,  We really miss you.
• Dear Grandma and Grandpa, We really miss you, too.
• Dear Lloyd, Thank you for reminding us to feed you.  Its not that we're forgetting that you need food -- we just need a little reminder that you haven't been fed yet.
• Dear Mitford Books, I have LOVED listening to you as I travel for work.
• Dear Sonic,  Thanks for offering $0.50 corn dogs to celebrate the end of school.
• Dear Hubby, Thank you for all your work this week taking care of Tracey Ann.  We make a really good team... and it definitely takes both of us giving 100%+ to make life work these days.
• Dear Warm Weather, It has been really nice to have you hanging around these days... I especially love dressing Tracey Ann in her adorable summer dresses and sun hats!
• Dear Friday To-Do List, You are very long and nearly endless...
• Dear Veterans, Thank you for your service.
• Dear Long, Memorial Day Weekend, Welcome!

Fit Mountain Millers

JOIN US!

I'm stepping out into a journey and I'm wondering if you might like to join me.  Since baby Tracey Ann entered my life, I have found that my usual ways of staying fit, getting to the gym, and running are increasingly difficult to accomplish.  Plus, I have these pesky added pounds of baby weight that don't want to go anywhere.

Starting Monday, June 2, I will be committing to doing an at-home workout program, 25 minutes/day, 5 days/week.  Are you interested in making a similar commitment and joining me?  The program I will be doing is called T-25 by Beachbody, but Beachbody sells many other at-home videos as well (such as TurboFire, Insantity, P90X, Slim in Six, and many, many more).  Workouts are available through this website:
 www.beachbodycoach.com/FITMOUNTAINMILLERS 

You may even have a Beachbody workout already, and just need the incentive to dust it off and start again.  I am committing to T-25 because I think I can make 25 minutes/day at home happen as a first step toward making this a habit.

I will be starting a private accountability group on facebook for anyone who makes the commitment to join me on this fitness journey this summer in order to encourage one another and track our progress.  If this is something you're interested in, please let me know and I would love to talk to you more about if this is a good fit for you now, and which Beachbody program might work well for you.

Don't delay, Start day is Monday, June 2!  This might be a great way to head into the summer.  We don't have all the answers or the perfect "before" and "after" pictures... but we are on this journey -- join us.

The time is now to shed some weight, but most importantly, become a healthier you and be the difference maker in your family for the future!

Comment for more information!

Tracey Ann Birth Story -- Long Version Part 5

Yeah... you can't say I didn't warn you.  "Long Version" is right there in the title of these posts I've been writing, and I've been trying to keep each segment a not-too-long readable length, but I really have to wrap up Tracey Ann's birth story.  Check out the first four parts of the story here.

Out of the bathtub, after four or so hours of intense labor, Dr. Katie checked my cervix and said I was dilated to ten centimeters, but there was a problem.  She said that the circle that was my cervix, the back was open at ten centimeters, but the front was swollen, and so it was not ten centimeters.

She cautioned me not to push, because that could cause the cervix to swell even more, which would make the opening less open that it was now.  She suggested I spend a little more time laboring, but encouraged me to try different positions.  So, I squatted at the edge of my bed, and got down on one knee and labored through more contractions.  At this point, I looked at the nurse and said something like, "I guess I have made it through the window of requesting drugs, haven't I?"  And she looked at me, sort of puzzled, and asked if I wanted drugs.  I said that no, I didn't, but if I was dilated to 10 cm, it was comforting to know that I made it through the window when I could ask for them.

I don't remember much about the labor during this time, but I remember, as one contraction began, Chris couldn't reach my back, which he had been lightly rubbing with every contraction, and so he lightly rubbed my neck instead -- really. bad. move.  I didn't have the words to say, "Hubby, please don't touch my neck right now."  Instead, I grabbed his hand with my fingers, and violently removed them from my neck while I verbally let out a sound that was an interesting combination of a growl and a roar.  My poor Hubby got the message, and did not try to touch my neck again during labor.  Come to think of it, I don't think he has touched my neck since.

The other thing I remember is that the doctor got an ice pack and held it in the small of my back during contractions.  She said, it was an old wives tale, that this could help, but she didn't see any harm in helping things along with a natural remedy.  Chris told me later something about the baby turning when Dr. Katie did this, and the baby was then in a better position to be born, but I don't remember any discussion to that effect.

After 30-45 minutes of continued labor, and increasing urge to push, Dr. Katie checked my cervix and said that the swelling was not improving and she was going to go ahead and let me push.

** Side note: I would later find out that this condition of a swollen cervix might have been cause for another doctor to recommend/insist upon an epidural and/or a C-section, but we were incredibly blessed with Dr. Katie allowing us to proceed with a natural birth despite this complication. **

I promise, the next post will be the birth story finale.

Dreaming...

I am dreaming of a day when I get to stay home with this baby girl all day.

Until then, I will treasure every moment I have with her...

First Date Night

Friday night Hubby and I had our first date night, alone, since Tracey Ann was born.  It was wonderful and so much fun... but also different.

To begin with, honestly, I didn't really want to go on a date alone with my husband.  I wasn't very excited to be away from our baby in order to spend time alone together.  Realizing this helped me to realize how much we NEEDED a date night just the two of us.  We needed to reconnect and prioritize each other for the evening.

We took advantage of Hubby's parents still being in town to help us and decided to have a date alone.  But it was SO different, and absolutely priceless.

In the afternoon, we decided we were going to Grand Junction (the big city), and I was able to make an appointment to get my hair cut at the last minute.  We got everything and every body ready to go in 20 minutes flat and we were out the door... not just my husband and me... but Grandma and Grandpa and Tracey Ann.  We ALL went to Grand Junction for Hubby and my alone date.

I got my hair cut and felt like a million bucks for our date... then Hubby, the grandparents and Tracey Ann picked me up and it was dinner time.  The grandparents had already decided where they wanted to have dinner, and when Hubby offered me my choice of restaurants for our date, I ended up choosing the exact same restaurant -- mother's intuition!

So, Hubby and I had a wonderful, uninterrupted, intimate, joyful dinner together... and Tracey Ann and her grandparents had dinner just a few tables away.  I couldn't see them in my direct line of sight -- but I could peer around a visual barrier and spot her any time I wanted.  It was awesome for our first meal without her.

It was wonderful to have a meal with Hubby... its amazing how quickly we can eat when neither one of us is holding, feeding or soothing Tracey Ann.  We also were able to talk about what we want to do this summer -- specific dates we'll travel, summer home projects, and our summer bucket list.

Then, we finished up dinner, and the grandparents and Tracey Ann gave us a ride to a movie theater where we were just in time for a movie I've wanted to see, MOM'S NIGHT OUT.  It was a really cute, funny, faith-based movie about an overwhelmed mother who feels like she can't get anything right, and just wants one night to "unplug" and enjoy some time with friends.  The result is a comedy of errors of all that can go wrong when mom's away.  It was really cute and funny... but not entirely comforting when you are spending your first night away from your baby, like I was.  :-D  I kept leaning over to Hubby and whispering, "Our baby will be okay, right?"



After the movie, Tracey Ann and her grandparents were waiting for us in the movie theater parking lot, and Tracey Ann was a little fussy, but quieted down the moment she saw me.  I was walking on air.

Then we all drove home together, and I got to do her normal bedtime routine when we got home.

Oh, and BONUS, while I was getting my hair cut, Hubby bought us a running jogger.  I am REALLY excited about it, and both Hubby and I have been trying to make time to run this Spring, so a running jogger can make it a family activity.

When we returned home, I was exhausted, no two ways about it... but a date night with Hubby was definitely worth it, and having Tracey Ann nearby helped me to be able to relax and enjoy the evening all the more.

Great Time

Thanks for everything, Grandma and Grandpa Miller.

We've had a great time and appreciate all your help.

Respect and Thoughtfulness

Families work because of respect and thoughtfulness... love manifested through respect and thoughtfulness.

Chris' parents have been here this week helping us take care of Tracey Ann while Hubby and I are at work.  They are here on the heels of my parents having been here for the past three weeks.

As one can imagine, it is an adjustment to have my mother-in-law (and father-in-law) here, helping out, taking care of Tracey Ann, helping with cleaning, laundry, and meals after having had my mother here doing the same thing.  Both of these mothers are wonderful women... and both of these women are wonderful mothers, but one of them is MY MOM -- the one who taught me how to cook, and clean, and launder, and run a home, and care for a child... and the other is the woman who raised my husband... but not the woman who taught me how to cook, and clean, and launder, and run a home, and care for a child.

My mom and I can finish each other's TO-DO lists, household chores, and sentences.  My mother-in-law and I do not share this innate similarity.  Simply put, we do things differently.

All of that being said, families work because of respect and thoughtfulness, and my mother-in-law is really good at being a part of a family, and specifically, really good at being a mother-in-law.  I can tell, every day, that she is trying so hard to not only take care of my daughter, but to do things my way in my home.  She has repeatedly learned my way/method of diapering, feeding, napping, laundering, and dish-washing and made a pointed effort to remember all the little specifics of how I run my home.  It makes me feel so respected that she has taken time and effort this week and learn how I run my home, and try to follow suit.

... And yet, she is still herself in my home, bringing her own personality, humor, thoughtfulness and joy to my household.  We were chatting a few nights ago about Spring, and somehow the subject turned toward gardening and flowers.  Without thinking I mentioned two things.  1) Someday I hope to have an herb garden outside because herbs seem to be so simple to grow yourself, but I can't have them inside because Lexie will eat them.  2) My mom plants flowers every spring, and one pot is always full of purple pansies.  She thinks of this pot as honoring both her mother and my dad's mother (my grandmothers) because her mother loved pansies, and my dad's mother loved purple.

Yesterday, I knew my mother-in-law had been working in our yard, but I didn't know that I would come home to a surprise -- a flower box and flower pot full of purple pansies and herbs.  I now have an herb garden... and my own spring time tribute to my grandmothers.

I did not grow up with a lot of extended family around me, and so growing into Chris' family has not come naturally to me.  Thankfully, I have such a thoughtful mother-in-law who demonstrates her love for me through her respect and thoughtfulness.