FLASHBACK - June 30, 2009

ROUND 4

JUNE 30, 2009

It was day 45 of my cycle... yes I just posted about Aunt Flo... although she's quite unproductive in my life - it's fun to count how high the number gets between her visits. Usually in the 100's. 

It was Kday's pay day

I worked at the nursing home then covered a few hours at the hospital too

Read books about preparing for a baby during my lunch hour... I would tell everyone I was going to the bank and then sit in my car in the Weber State parking lot and watch the bell tower slowly tick-  the windows rolled down and the sun on my face. I did that secretly every work day for 2 months.

Went to my nephew, Aussie's baseball game at 5pm

I emailed the "Other Shannon"

Updated the blog

Dishes - vacuumed- mopped (this may or may not have been the day that I found myself vacuuming the vacuum, totally normal right?)

Kday's sister had her MD appointment for her little nugget

Lady's birth mom had an OB appointment and she emailed saying "still at a 2+ and 80%"

I went to bed with intention to run off all my anxiety, frustrations, and jitters in the morning

FLASHBACK - JUNE 29 2009

ROUND 3 - MONDAY

JUNE 29, 2009

Work

Yuck

Instead of eating lunch in "the dungeon" I took the Element to the car wash and I detailed it inside and out

Returned my rented wetsuit

Budgeted our money from now till August... just in case we got stuck in Cali

Had an awesome "last date" with Kday - couples message followed with fresh fruit, juice chocolates and a foot soak. We giggled back and forth about how much our lives were about to change and how un-prepared we were. We reminded each other to not get too crazy about the baby and to stay centered and always remember that we're best friends doing this together. 

Then Kday realized that the girl who massaged him... lives in our ward. Awkward.

FLASHBACK - JUNE 28 2009

ROUND 2

JUNE 28, 2009

I handed off all the responsibility to ensure all youth in our ward going on Trek had the right clothing requirements filled- I volunteered another family in the ward to do it. How rude of me!

Kday and I went to Stake Conference - I remember exactly where we sat and I took my phone with me because I was certain we'd "get the call"

Made home cooked pizza at Kday's sisters house. Yummy. 

I wrote down some type of scripture reference in my brain.... something about Proverbs:

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not....."

Good counsel.

I was bummed that the baby wasn't here yet because it mean another week at work, at a job I was dying to get out of.  Every Friaday I would make sure all my t's were crossed and i's dotted because "I'm sure I won't be coming back by Monday!" 

Another Monday came. 

FLASHBACK - JUNE 27 2009

Let's play a little game called Flashback. We all know I'm quite a freak about keeping a "day planner" otherwise known as "my brain." Yes, it's color coded - get over it.

Anywho, I sometimes like to look back at my brain from years past and it acts as sort of a journal. It's interesting to see what I was doing today - last year. Thus, the game of FLASHBACK. For the week leading up to Lady's birthday I thought it would be fun to reminisce about what was happening in my brain last year. Especially since last year was  a complete craze.

JUNE 27, 2009

Kday and I had slept over at our friends house in Heber

I had a 9:15 start time for the Rock Cliff Triathlon

I wanted to cry and throw up all at the start line

I finished

I upgraded my text messaging to 1,000/ month in prep for Lady's birth

Layla was due in 2 weeks

All the girls in Kday's family went to dinner and a movie at The Gateway

We saw the saddest movie ever, but dinner was amazing and we had a blast

Kday printed out driving directions to the Modesto hospital and our temporary home in Sacramento

finish line of the triathlon- exhausted

YEAH, I'M DIRTY...

I'm dirty minded, I blame my totally dirty minded mother. She grabbed Kday's butt one time you know... But this race brings "dirty" to a whole new level.
THE DIRTY DASH It's gonna rock my world. Running a 10K is effort, running a 10 K through sludge and pits of mud will be the closest thing to "whipeout" as I'll ever get. Too bad, I love that show. 
How dirty are you?

PRODUCTIVE FLOC'ING

*** preface***

to the darling friend that stopped by today and saw Lady camped out in her bumbo chair in front of the TV watching a "baby sighning times" video... I promise I don't use the TV as a babysitter. One day a week when the schedule is jam packed I allow her to watch 10-20 min of a sighn-language video while I try to get our life in order. Max. Just had to get that out so you don't think that's all we do at our house :)

(Because no post is complete without a pic- 

this is me, peeking in on Lady while she sleeps)

Onto the super duper efficient day today. And before you get all excited to leave a comment about how awesome I am for doing all this... days like these are a dime a'dozen around here. Yesterday included nothing but making a mess of the house and lounging at The Hill. And I haven't made dinner in weeks... yes, WEEKS!

Today: In no particular order

Washed- Folded- And put away 6 loads of laundry
Vacuumed
Mopped
Cleaned the Bathroom
Washed the dishes
Took Kashi and Lady for a walk
Delivered 90% of Lady's birthday invitations
Made 3 batches of Chicken Enchiladas
Delivered dinner and dessert to 2 neighbors - new mothers
Called Activity Day secretary
Hosted Lemonade Party for Activity Days
Went to 2 nephews baseball games
Packed a lunch for Kday
Watched 2 episodes of "The City"
Changed 4 diapers and kept an almost 1 year old fed and clean
Showered - blow dried my hair (if you're a mom, you understand why I felt the need to mention that :)

AND MY HEART WAS HAPPY ALMOST EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I freaking LOVE summer.

SUMMER SOLSTICE

Yaaaa baby, summer has arrived.
Last summer was a total absolute blurrrrrrurrrurr. The weeks of secretly planning for the possible arrival of Lady, then the time in Cali, and then adjusting to motherhood and avoiding the H1N1... before we knew it 2009 was over and we were finally planting our feet where we wanted to stand.
And here we are again. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year. The band geeks start practicing for The Parade and the music rings out through the ghetto streets of one hundred south. Lady gets down and jiggy with it whenever she hears the music. Super cool.

IF YOU NEED A LITTLE INSPIRATION TODAY---

This is Becky. She is my daily inspiration. She is the definition of beauty and resilience. She is my friend first, therapist second. We are the leaders of the "Hope Group" she helped me jump right in with two feet and never look back at how nervous or scared I was at failing this journey. Now we have guided 8 wonderful women who are gaining their lives back through a sisterhood of support, love and learning.

Read about Becky Here. She has a visual impairment called RP which you can learn more about here, but it does not define her. Becky is awesome, with or without her vision... just awesome. In fact I knew her for 2 whole years before I ever learned of her limited vision. SHE is AMAZING. My favorite  and after reading her blog... she will be yours too. 

LIVE 'N LET RUN

Some people do it for the sticker. I did it for a different reason. 

I've chosen to live and run. I love both choices. There were times where it's obvious running wasn't a choice for me... and sometimes I didn't want to chose to live either. But those times are past and this weekend was proof. I ran harder and farther than I've ever imagined in my life. Over 21 miles in less than 24 hours.

I AM..... SDAY RUNNING. 

Rad team, funny as heck, punch drunk with fatigue in the middle of the night.... good good times.
You had to be there to laugh at these "one liners" but I just had to do it:
"Dad, you have something stuck to your butt."
"I was a scout master... so I know a lot about space."
"So, is there a reason why you're driving in the left lane."
"Shut your pie-hole and run"
"The sound of Kday laughing so hard he was going to choke on his cheese burger"
"Ya, we have half a tank of gas..."
"This baby doesn't turn so well, but listen to it purr like a kitten."

 Our finish time 29 hours and 19 min.

129 place out of 658 in our category

Average finish time is 32 hours

We rocked.

HE'S MY FAVORITE

First Fathers Days are the best. 

Kday rocks at fatherhood. 

He's way better at it than I am at motherhood. 

He would climb mountains for us.

And look fabulous doing it... in spandex. 

Not many dads can do that.

5.2.8 Kday

SNIPPED

Lady's hair was a lot out of control in the back. It was growing a handlebar mustache... but only on the back of her head.
So we snipped it off and gave her a little bob instead. I love it. Except it makes her little neck so accessible that sometimes I have to put her in her crib so I don't accidently bite it.
Ghadfree she's growing up fast.

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT....

Ok, so I'm feeling a little "undeserving of the praise" Apparently my story in the Salt Lake Tribune ran today. Silly me, I got all mixed up on the dates. 
Well, anyway......
Read all about it HERE.
And holy cow, thank you VERY much for actually printing my weight for the entire population of Utah to see... I was not expecting that. Eh, whatever. 

BIRDS AND THE BEES

Have I ever told you that one of my very most favorite jobs in the world was when I sold tickets at for the SLC Bees baseball team? Best $7/hr job ever. The caterers would bring the extra suite food down and we'd all chillax in the box office, tunes on and rockin out the tickets. Cute boys, guys in uniform, and home plate seats after 7th inning. Super rad.

For 3 bucks a ticket I decided to share my love of the game (well, not really. more - the love of the atmosphere) with Lady. Kday mostly texted on his phone the whole time and ate all my peanuts. But we lasted 4 innings and it rocked Lady's world.

Enjoy.

20 DAYS

Invitations done: ready to mail this weekend
Decorations: planned
Food: planned
Excitement level: through the roof

Lady is having a birthday in 20 days. It's over the top, everyone is telling that I'm "sooo stupid" for wasting my time and money. But I'm not just throwing a birthday party for a 1 year old. We are CELEBRATING the past WONDERFUL year of LAYLA DAY. We're partying to show the world how grateful we are that she is a part of our lives and that adoption is a bigger than life miracle and it's over and a part of our past.
Love it love it love it. Can't wait for you all to celebrate with us.

Here's a little picture of Lady's 11 month pictures in her rocking chair. She wanted nothing of it and I LOVE that her feisty italian attitude is showing the best of her in this moment.

I'm sorry but sometimes her meltdowns are so fun to watch because she just absolutely falls apart.... just like her mother. I'm sure if I sifted through some old photo's of myself we'd see me making having this same exact fit.

She hated the other chair, but loves this one like crazy.

KIT Summer Cleaning

In my hasty cleaning frenzy last weekend I got a little carried away. It started with cleaning the cupboards of baby stuff and it turned into re-organizing and deep cleaning a few rooms. The majority of the house still needs it's annual deep clean but that will have to wait until I get "the itch" again.
My spring cleaning never quite got completed.... or started. But my summer cleaning is off to a great start.

It all started with creating a place for Layla to "safely crawl" about her room.

I put all of the baby toys into storage... then I got "the itch"

So I started cleaning all of the new "big girl" toys that Layla's sweet cousin gave her.

And somehow that led to cleaning out the "junk drawer"

Next I moved to my closet top

Then the closet bottom

And last but not least we finished off cleaning out the bathroom drawers.

I also cleaned the blinds in the master bedroom, the baseboards in the bathroom, and created a new place to store Layla's toys in the living room. Gah, it felt so so so good to have the cleaning itch. If only it would come back soon and on a day that I have a lot of time to accomplish the rest of the house!

RE-POST: I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE THAT GIRL (INTIBTG)

THIS IS A RE-POST OF MY ORIGINAL SERIES OF (INTIBTG) BECAUSE I'M SHORT ON TIME TODAY.... GOTTA GET MY LAST LONG TRAINING RUN IN FOR THE WASATCH BACK! 5 DAYS LEFT!!!!

November 23, 2008
Friday morning while running the Shoreline trail with Kashi, I passed 2 women about my age walking the trail with baby-packs on their chests and talking. I jogged past with Kash on my side and kept going until my side-ache stopped me for a few minutes. I was smiling from ear to ear, looked out over the Valley and I realized how much my life has changed in the past year. I have become someone I never thought possible. I had given up on my future, my health, my goals, and myself, but doubt has left the building and I am alive again after 7 years. So I am starting a page on the blog dedicated the moments that stop me and give me the chance to realize that I am the girl - "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE..."

I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE...
The girl with her hair pulled back in a braid, ipod in one ear, trusty dog by her side and running up the side of a mountain with confidence and a smile.

INDIVIDUALITY- for your butt

DEFINITION - 1 a : total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others


When kday and I were stranded in a roach motel last year in California... we were saved by Facebook (I hate to admit it) and The Church. Although we were complete strangers, a local LDS family opened their home to us and their hospitality was unmeasurable. Kday and I adopted Layla, then we adopted the idea of  individual table chairs from this super cool family that took us into their home. When this family was new and had a few children they were struggling with money. They couldn't afford a matching dining room table and chairs set. So one by one as their children became old enough to need a chair at the table, the parents would take that child out and allow them to pick out "their chair." 8 or 9 children later... A table with "individual" chairs for each person. No fighting over who sat where and no need to spend a bazillion dollars on a gigantic table set. What an awesome idea! Everyone in a family is different, so why not allow them to express it in a productive way... like the place they sit their bottoms every evening as they gather together and share stories around the dinner table? 
I love it. We plan on doing it. This family that we stayed with is plenty wealthy now and has no children at home and a lovely matching table set. But I think we'll keep those chairs forever. For our children to come home to, they will always have a safe seat at "home." 

EXHALE AND EXCHANGE

Last week I realized I no longer had a need for the fifty gazillion burp rags in the cupboard, or the teensy tinesy hooded baby towels folded nicely in the closet... and all the other "baby paraphernalia" laying around the house. The first time I earned the right to enter the baby isle and not feel like an obvious outsider, I was in seventh heaven. I waited so so long to stock a nursery and pick out every detail and make it perfect. Well, now all that stuff is headed to storage. Wow that came fast. I was totally unprepared for the time to come to pack all that stuff up and move into toddlerhood. Duh shan, what did you think happens after an entire year of infancy!?
So after the cupboards were cleaned out, wiped down and re-stocked with new "big girl" items... I was having "baby product" withdrawals. So I bought this -

Layla's new ride --- Moo.

I've been avoiding the change from tiny snuggly baby to crawling wiggling child, from sleeping anywhere to whining everywhere, and doll size diapers to just dolls. Tonight after Lady woke up from her afternoon nap (another change... little to no morning nap - but an awesomely long pm nap) we just sat and played together. The Big Guy Upstairs continues to nudge my heart and remind me to STOP RESISTING and enjoy my ride with Lady. Oh, it's so so rad when I stop resisting her feisty-ness and I remind myself to live in the moment and at the very moment I stop... we totally connect. She'll look up at me and smile and the sparkle in her eyes speaks to me. It's like our spirits hugging and I need to always remember that sensation. 

So the baby rattles have been exchanged for "little people" circus trains and teething toys for doll houses. I'm excited for the change but a part of me aches with wonderment of whether those baby items will ever be extracted from storage and washed, folded and snuggled again... 

Knee Caps

It's a good thing I have knee caps to keep the ligaments inside my knees from exploding and spilling out the front of my legs! I thought my knee caps were going to shatter after my 8.5 mile run down Trappers Loop on Saturday evening.

In pure fear of letting my Ragnar Team down, I decided I had better face the music and make sure I could handle the run. It's the middle leg of the race that I've been worried about. I completed the run at what felt like race pace. Only it wasn't as fast as I'd like... instead it was an 11 min mile. But it felt AAAAHH--MAZE--ZING! !
I know that my thighs were chaffing so hard that I wouldn't have been surprised if my pants caught fire... and my spare tire was hanging super far over my hydration pack... and my face was flaming red. But I felt so much joy and fulfillment while running next to my trusty dog and being followed by my super rad husband and daughter in the car, giving me the double thumbs up every time they passed.

My legs have never ever felt like rubber the way they did when I reached the gas station at the bottom of the canyon. But my heart never ever felt so full either. Ya, I freakin did it. That doesn't mean I'm not worried about running 8 miles before and another 5 after... but at least I know I can do the 8.5 in the middle.

CO-OP OFFERINGS 6/5/10

2 Red Bell Peppers

7 Potato's 

10 Peaches

7 Apples

4 Tomato's

1 Head Romaine Lettuce

9 Mystery Mini Lettuce's (I forgot the name)

8 Corn Cobs

1 Carton Black Berries

1 Melon

7 Banana's

1 Bag Red Grapes

Yum - Yum - Yum

If you're participating in the Co-Op.... don't forget to volunteer and stay for the entire time including clean up! Your help is what keeps the cost low.

P.S. I've completely talked Bike Fix into providing me with my new Madsen to attend the Co-Op and Farmers Markets this summer.... I can't freaking wait!

Up Next...

Check back in next week for posts on:

"KIT Summer Cleaning" (I haphazardly started it today and my eyes were bigger than my stomach. But I'm past the point of no return! And Loving it!!!) 

Exhale and Exchange

The big change from newborn to toddlerhood. Not just swapping out the car seat...

The Other Side of Heaven

A glimpse into the stressful side of adoption

and last but not least

This weeks Co-op list!

LET THE FUN BEGIN!

It's here. The stage I've been fearing for months now! So exciting... and scary. Into everything and hasn't figured out that she can just follow me around if I put her down. Her tender little feelings get hurt when I walk away because she doesn't realize she can come along for the journey on her own account! Silly Lady.

BLURRY MESS

Feeling a little better. Gotta get back on top of things around the house, bills, planning girls camp, the yard, the broken car, hope group and everything in between. Sheesh what a weekend get-a-way and a few days under the weather can do to burry me alive in a mess!

PEE PANTS MCGEE

*** warning*** complaint post ahead.... it won't last long. My apologies.

I used to call Layla that little nick name when her diaper was so wet in the mornings that it had the power to pop the buttons on her PJ's. 

I'd like to retract that nickname from all prior usage. 

Tonight, after puking over and over so violently that I pee my pants over and over.... I think that nickname is mean.

It's as mean as when Kday laughs in the background as I'd like to die instead of throw-up one more time. 

Gahhh. Make it stop. 

33:01:17

33 Days: 1 Hour: 17 Minutes until Lady's BDay Bash.....
Here's another hint!

Enjoy