Post About Nothing.

So, unfortunately, I don't spend as much time surfin' the net like I used to...not because I don't have the time but because I choose to go to bed at 8PM on a regular basis.  This is the bedtime I have always dreamed about but never indulged in.  I am a morning person, but due to social norms, for years I have been forcing myself to stay awake at least until the sun goes down.  But having a baby gives you the perfect excuse to do just about anything you want. 

Want to talk about vaginas all day?  Sure.  You just had a baby.  Want to cry for no reason?  Yeah, that's normal.  You just had a baby.  Want to talk about poop and vomit while others are eating?  Why not?  You just had a baby.  Sweating profusely?  It's the hormones.  You just had a baby.  Want to go to bed at 8PM everynight for the rest of your life?  No prob.  You just had a baby.

As a kid, my mom would tell me that I couldn't get out of bed until the numbers on the clock matched this piece of paper she taped on the wall that 7:00.  Unfortunately for me, at my tender age, I didn't know that 6:59 came before 7:00 and that 7:01 came after...so I remember sitting in my bed, staring intently at the clock, just BEGGING the numbers to match and knowing that if I looked away for even a second I could miss 7:00. 

It's the little things that really eff up your kids man.  It's the little things.  She also gave me a phone book and a pair of scissors so I could entertain myself.  I spent most of my childhood cutting up phonebooks.  That's a life skill I have yet to need.

Back to my point.  My original intent was to tell you why I haven't been blogging...which, if you follow the logic, can ultimately be blamed on my mother.  So thanks mom for screwing up my blog.  I'm sure that when you gave birth to me, you were planning on savings lots of money for some serious therapy sessions down the road (for you or me or both) and you had no comprehension of this newfangled virtual world where I would type up my diahrea of the mouth for everyone to read.  I think we can ultimately blame dad for that one though.  I'm sure he had something to do with it.  And if not, feel free to take your angry out on him anyway.  You just had a baby after all (I realize I am 30 years old so the excuse is getting a little tired, but until he capable of pushing a baby out of him, I say just go with it).

Sidenote since my mother has now started reading my blog:  I love you mom.  But all those times you told me I looked terrible in lavender really messed me up.  I don't own a stitch of purple clothing for fear of upsetting the color wheel.  But really, I love you mom.

I wish I had something exciting to write about, but the point is that I don't. 

Mmmmm...Nachos is good for me.

Cooking up a nugget for dinner!

So in lieu of actually writing a post, I started a special savings account for Anna's future therapy, which frankly, I feel that her future self should pay for...but since I am the one who styles her hair that way (because OMG, it cracks me up!), I will do what I can to offset the financial strain of years and years of therapy.  Here's a quarter sweetheart.

Only Babies Can Get Away with That.

Me and my pal Roggs took our beasts to dinner on Monday night.  She had just gotten back from vacation and I had just eaten most of the food in the world, so we went to Ziggy's Healthy Grill.  It's a health conscious place (most everything is cooked healthy oils or no oils if possible...the fries are sweet potatoes and the salads are DIVINE)...but they don't really offer up nutrition information (which I find bizarre - and probably means the stuff isn't as healthy as they like to promote). 

Nonetheless, we took the beasts to dinner...but there was no one else at the restaurant...which was good because screaming babies didn't bother anyone but us, but bad because there was no one else to drown out my screaming baby.  Ha.  (Roggs' baby didn't scream so much as squeal...she is just a loud one!)

When the waittress came over to take our order she lurked for a minute too long before addressing our table.  It was just a little wierd.  But hey, we were in Montrose.  Weird lurking people are pretty par for the course 'round those parts.  But when she did finally decide to talk to us, she apparently told us about the specials...but I could barely hear her because the giant booger in her nose was talking louder than her.

I'm telling you, it was the biggest booger I have ever seen in my life.  Ever.  On anyone.  It was so big that I wasn't sure if it was a booger or if it was a nose ring.  It was THAT big.  Huge.

I didn't hear a single word that she said about the specials.

I asked Roggs if she knew what the specials were and she said, "No, I couldn't hear over the booger."

Yeah.  I'm telling you.  Biggest.  Booger.  Ever.  Only babies can get away with boogers like that.  The good news is that, unlike my adorable booger filled child, this chick is capable of picking her own.  When she came back, it was gone.  Apparently booger shaped nose rings aren't as fashionable as I had once thought.

I ordered the salad.

*********************************
In exercise related news, my race in 3 weeks away - ahhh!!  I have been picking up the running mileage - I am now at a respectable 4 miles and a pitiful 5 miles, but I'm getting there!  I'm gonna shoot for running 6 again this weekend at a normal pace (I went way slow last weekend just to make sure I got it done). 

I am feeling good, but my legs are pretty wasted.  I ran 6.5 on Saturday, took Sunday off (because my BFF was in town and we went Owling - ha), did 5 and weights on Monday, biked 20 and ran 1 on Tuesday, 5 and weights on Wednesday, and now, after 2 hours of sleep, I am trying to get motivated to bike at lunch today...but truthfully, I'm not sure if my legs will hold out. 

I will probably take it easy the week of my race - not because I really need to taper before a sprint tri, but because I've increased my volume so much in the last few weeks that my body will probably just need a break.  

For now, I'm hoping to swim in about 12 minutes (500 meters), bike in about 40 minutes (13.5 miles = 20-21mph), and run in about 32-33 minutes (3.65 miles = 9 min/miles). 

The swim will be a crapshoot.  You have to actually train on something to have a vague idea of how it will go...and I have been in the water once since before Anna was born (we are going on about 5 months now).  And that was at my last race.  Ha.  Oh well!  We are going to swim this weekend (swimming is the sport that is REALLY hard to do with a baby, FYI - it just takes too much time!) and then I will have a better grasp of what I can do on race day I think.

I'm relatively confident in my biking ability - I've been KILLING it on the trainer.  I haven't been biking outside, so I don't actually know how fast I've been going, but I've been feeling good and sweating a lot. That's got to be a good sign, eh?  Or I could just be really out of shape.  We will find out!  (It's definitely hard to find time to bike outside, but finding time on the trainer is pretty easy)

On the run, it will just be about willpower.  I know I CAN do it....it will just be a matter of MAKING myself do it.  I'm gonna wear The Green Silence (my racing flats), so that should motivate me to run faster.  You can't wear racing flats and dillydally.  It's just wrong.

I am so excited!  I love racing!  I wish I was gonna look better in my spandex, but alas, this is the squishy body that I was given.  Avert your eyes!

Owling About Town.

For those of you who don't stay home all day and watch tv, I've got news for you.  Owling is the new planking.  And for those of you who are saying, "what the hell is planking?". Well, I've got news for you too.  You are behind on the times my friend. Behind the times.

Planking is all the rage.  Mostly for teenagers.  Or adults hopped up on caffiene.  It's also apparently dangerous.  Whic is ridiculous because according to Wikipedia, it's alternate name is also called the Lying Down Game.  Lying down is probably the safest of all activities in the world.  But you know, if you lay down on your roof, you're an idiot.  Nonetheless. 

This picture has inspired me to take pictures of Anna planking.  I bet planking is a SIDS risk.  Tragic. 

Somebody give that baby a planking!

BUT.  Planking is out and Owling is in.  Thank goodness I have friends like LD and Tater who fill me in on these things now because my daytime TV watching is lacking and I miss it.  I know I said that Brooke Sheilds at The Addams Family was irritating, but I miss.  You don't know what you've got till it's gone.  They took paradise and put in a parking lot.

Since my pal Amac was here from Dallas (yayy for friends visiting!), we owled about town.  We went on a run with our friends on Saturday morning and finished it off with breakfast at Yale Street Grill (home of the crispy hash browns...yum!).  (Sidenote:  I ran 6.5 miles!!  HOORAY!)

Tater, owling it up on the newspaper stand.

After running and post-run calorie consumption, we took naps and went shopping on Westheimer (home of the clothes that are too trendy for me) and then took the Anna to dinner at our neighborhood bar and grill.  Tommy took Anna home early so Amac and I could party like it was 1999, so we ordered a 2 liter bottle of wine (because they apparently sell those there) and consumed it.  Then called Tater who joined us for some beers and some late night owling. 

Late Night Owling.  Burns more calories than Taco Cabana.



Then, because we are old and I just had a baby, we left at like 11PM because, let's be honest, I cannot party like it's 1999 anymore.  I tried though, I really did.  We came home, watched Ferris Bueller (SEE?  We were really trying for the 1999 thing...)    Then on Sunday, we met Janelle and Thomas for breakfast at Coco Crepes (home of the delicious bananas foster crepe) where Anna worked on her Jackie O impressions.

Anna and Aunt Amac.

Oh, and BTW, this morning on the radio, Rod Ryan was talking about how owling is the new planking.  We are so trendy.


Quick Updates...Only Because It's Been Forever Since I Last Blogged.

I'm really glad I bought semi-stylish maternity clothes.  I had no idea that I would STILL be wearing them.  My entire outfit today is maternity.  Stretchy pants rock, but I kind of miss belts.

Apparently, I can't remember to put on deodorant anymore.  This is the third day since I've been back at work that  I've forgotten to put it on.  Thank goodness for my gym bag.

What to do when people make TERRIBLE spelling mistakes on Facebook?  Not just a typo, but like, the wrong word all together?  Should you help them?  I hate seeing my friends get dummer*. "Conscience" and "conscious" are not the same word.  FYI.  Nor are "affect" and "effect".  And don't get me started on "irregardless". 

Since my belly button is so freakishly deep now (it was freakishly deep before...now it's even worse...if you can possibly fathom that), it is collecting all sorts of artifacts.  I wouldn't be surprised to find a dinosaur fossil in there.

It's Anna's 3 month birthday!  Happy birthday Miss Anna!  I'd buy you cupcakes (because any excuse for cupcakes is a good one), but I can't wear stretchy pants forever and I can't afford a new wardrobe, so Project Weight Loss is underway.  And in case you didn't follow, Project Weight Loss does not include the consumption of cupcakes.

Dear lord mom.  That outfit...[shudder]...

We started giving the beast bottles pretty early on (which was awesome, btw)...and we couldn't figure out why sometimes she would choke and sputter and drool and splatter milk everywhere.  Then one day, I was like, "Hey Tommy, some of these nipples have numbers on them".  And Tommy was all,  "Hey, let's google it".  And we determined that we had been feeding her with nipples fit for a 3 year old.  No wonder the kid couldn't keep it all down.

Lucky for me, newborns are not quite as fragile as they appear to be.  There are just too many damn instructions to read - no one could keep up.  No pregnant woman knows what to read and no new mom actually has that kind of time...soooo, my house is kind of one giant booby trap.

The best thing about being back at work is morning talk radio.  Oh, how I missed morning talk radio. 

Had my first hangover on Saturday morning.  Learned my lesson!  Hangovers and babies do not mix.  Nor do long runs in the heat of the day or massages.  All of which I did with a hangover.  Not optimal.  Game night was fun...Things in a Park that start with J??
****************************

Workouts are going GREAT!  My running group started up for the season and I quickly realized A. how much I missed working out with people and B. that running while talking is hard.  I will attempt to run 6 miles on Saturday with them (and my BFF who is coming in town to play!)...we will see how that goes.  It is a 50% increase over my longest run lately.  I think we can safely say that that is higher the recommended 10% increase. (not to be redundant for you math geniuses out there) Ooops.  Bridgeland Sprint Tri is in 3 weeks...and since I forgot to sign up for the Athena division (CRAP!), I will attempt to be more competitive so I don't embarrass myself.  Probably should have thought that through a little more.  Probably should go to the pool.  At least once.  Probably.

*Yes, I no that's not how you speel it.

International Travel

Did you know that infants need passports?  Yeah.  They do.  Which is ridiculous, by the way.  Because we took passport pictures of her and we travel in 7 months...which means that she will look nothing like she does now.  Totally NOT a waste of my time.

Nonetheless, you have to have a passport for an infant and we are going to Mexico for a wedding in December, so the beast will have a passport.  Unfortunately, taking a picture of an infant who cannot hold her own head up is like pulling teeth (and hysterical...unlike pulling teeth).

We are highly amused by these.

And then we got to hang out at the passport office for 2.5 hours with an infant.  What an awesome system.  Luckily, I think she left some crap  (yeah, like actual crap) on the floor there.  Payback is a bia!

********************

In other news, I started back to work this week.  In very un-momlike fashion, I enjoyed almost every single minute of my first day.  That said, I spent a good portion of my day looking at pictures of her on my phone (don't tell my boss how much they paid me to do that), but I loved being back at the office, talking to people, solving problems, using the non-babytalk side of my brain, and having a reason to brush my teeth. 

I loved staying home with her (WAY more than I thought I could/would) but I was definitely ready to get back in the work force.  I took 11.5 weeks off - which was right about what I needed.  I started getting really antsy at about 10 weeks and then I had another week to get my ducks in a row...it was perfect.  3 days in, I am tired but overall, work is work.  Some parts of it are good, some parts of it are bad...but as an engineer, I CRAVE routine and schedules and spreadsheets.  And there are only so many spreadsheets you need for an infant (and I didn't actually have any).  I considered making a spreadsheet of her sleep and awake cycles, but since she doesn't sleep during the day AT ALL, the spreadsheet would have been quite short.

I've given myself the week off from working out.  But since my office has a great gym, I was able to get an abs class and some weights in yesterday and toda, I woke up early and got 25 minutes on my bike trainer and there is a quick class at lunch again that I will take.  So the week won't be a total wash.  Next week I will start to try to get workouts in before work  - it will be an interesting balancing act, but since Tommy and I are the masters at schedule juggling, I'm sure we will figure it out.  AND next week Tommy and I will start alternating middle of the night feedings...right now, Tommy has been doing it because I was pumping in the middle of the night, but that has stopped now that I am back at work.  Hopefully the beast will start sleeping through the night soon and life can get some sort of routine!

AND (so many changes!) my track workouts with my group start next week.  I cannot wait.  It's been a LOOOONG time since I've done speed work...and while I am terrified, I know it will be worth it in the long run.  Hooray!

The Daily Grind

Today is my last day home with my beast.  I can't believe it.  In honor of this momentous occasion, I give you some pictures of my gorgeous crotch parasite.  Once I start using a computer regularly again, I will start blogging regularly again.  I hope.  I haven't even been reading blogs.  I just watch Channel 13 all day long.  The problem with never changing the channel is that you have to see the same person get interviewed over and over and over again.  The other day, I watched Brooke Shields promote The Addams Family about 18 times.  Or that video of the kid getting eaten by the lion?  Yeah.  A lot of times.  I love my little, adorable, huggable nugget, but man, I miss adults.

But now, some gratuitous photos of my wonderful baby girl...

So bashful.

Scary bear!

Anna and her mean friend Mia.

Bored at a triathlon.  Again.

First (and only) trip to church.

Streeeeetch!

I hate you mom.

Apparently Nana doesn't care that I spit up all over myself.

Nana is fun!

I'm cute.

Dogs love me.

Father's Day brunch.  

Silly mommy.

11 Weeks Old with Lenny the Terrible.

Ha.

We dress all of our creatures in costumes.  This is just the beginning.

My Motherly Advice

I've been getting a lot of questions from friends about new baby stuff, pregnancy and labor and delivery...and seeing as how I have sooo much experience, I thought I would offer up my motherly advice. 

1. Find a nice man.  Let him get you pregnant.  If you choose to sleep with a man who is less than amazing, wear your seatbelt. 

2.  Find a doctor who believes what you believe.  Seriously.  If you don't agree with what your doctor tells you (assuming what you are asking about is reasonable), find a new doctor.  This person will have the ability to make life and death decisions regarding the health of you and your baby - you want to be on the same page as them.

3.  Although cost prohibitive, an iPad has been my BFF throughout my staying at home days.  We got one for free, (otherwise I would never have purchased one), but seriously.  I am nothing without my iPad.  What did moms do before iPads?  I have no idea.  The internet is the stay-at-home moms BFF.

4.  Figure out what makes you happy and find a way to do that during pregnancy and after the baby is born (as much as possible).  For me, it's running and triathlon.  We got a really good jogging stroller and I take my beast out almost every day.  For some it's reading or shopping or paintball.  Keep doing that.  It doesn't have to be as much as you did pre-baby, but make the time sometimes.  And if anyone throws 140bpm in my face again, I'm gonna hurt them.  Most people can barely cook dinner without their heart rate getting that high.

5.  Be the kind of parent YOU want to be.  Listen to everyone's advice and filter out what you want...and then make it work for you.  And when the annoying people on the elevator say that their doctor told them not to take their baby out of the house until they are 2 months old, just smile and say, "How'd that work out for you when you had a second kid?" and walk away. 

6.  If you do not think that poop is amusing, I would highly recommend rethinking the whole baby thing. 

My favorite baby products are:

• BOB Ironman jogging stroller
• iPad
• Woombie (the perfect swaddling tool if you have a screamer/flailer and cannot get them swaddled in blankets)
• Aden + Anais swaddling blankets (but they only work now that she doesn't scream all day)
• Bouncer
• Movie channels on TV

I'm pretty sure I could survive with just the items above at this point.  We don't use bottle warmers or wipe warmers...the Anna drinks ice cold milk and gets her tush wiped with cold wipes.  Oh, the horror!  It's like a third world country over here. 

So far, my beast and I are having a blast.  My only terrible experience was driving to Dallas on Sunday, alone with 2 dogs and Anna (although, I was hardly alone).  I'm telling you, it was awful.  It was worse than when I evacuated for Hurricane Rita...and that took 2 days.  I may not be able to return home because the fear of that drive has me trembling in my britches.  Seriously.  It was so bad.  Do not attempt a 5 hour drive on your own with a 7 week old because if you do, it will take about 7 hours and all of the sanity you can possibly muster.

This is dumb.

My Ironman envy has led me to sign up for a triathlon. On Sunday. 7 weeks after hatching a nugget. 3 months since I last rode a bike. 10 months since I actually rode outside. 3 months since I last swam. And about a year since I actually looked decent in spandex. It's not gonna be pretty.

I will be heading to the Tejas Tri on Sunday morning for my first triathlon since Anna arrived. What was I thinking? In addition to the fact that I am WILDLY under prepared, me in spandex is something no one should ever see right now. I'm gonna bring blindfolds to pass out to the spectators, lest they be blinded by the sight of me. [shudder]

I got the wild hair to register on Monday (race is the coming Sunday).  Before I registered I wanted to get on my bike to make sure I was capable of actually biking 12 miles.  But since I have a baby, I wasn't able to get out on the roads, so I just made sure I could bike for 45 minutes on the trainer.  CHECK!  I used to be able to bike 12 miles in about 34 minutes...now I think I will be lucky to conquer the distance in 45.  If I can average 18mph, I will feel like a rockstar.  I wasn't able to get to the pool this week, so the first time I swim will be right before the race when I warm up.  I don't normally warm up, but I will probably make an exception this time.  It seems like the safe thing to do.  And the running will be questionable...I know I can run 3 miles with walk breaks, but I have no idea what that will look like after swimming and biking.  I've done 0 swim workouts, 0 bricks and 1 bike workout in preparation for this race.  To say that I am underprepared would be an understatement.

Nonetheless, I am super excited.  I love to race (although, I'm not sure you can say that I will do tomorrow will technically be racing).  I can't wait to get back in the swing of things.  Unfortunately, as I type this I am not feeling too hot, so tomorrow is even more questionable than it was a few hours ago.  Hahaha.  Either way, I know I will have fun.  AND because I am officially overweight now, I get to race in the Athena division - hooray!

If I can swim in 15 minutes, bike in 45 and run in about 35, I will be happy.  I have absolutely no idea if this is a reasonable goal.

***********

I wrote the above post on Saturday and raced on Sunday but never got around to posting.  Sooooo, here it is/was.

The race was AWESOME.  I had so much fun.  I was so excited to be in the midst of it all again - the race excitement is always a crazy boost!  It was a small local race, which means a small field, but lots of friends racing and spectating.  Because I haven't lost all (or any) of my baby weight, I qualified to race in the Athena division - 150+ pounders - which I figured would make me more competitive.  Last year I raced in the 25-29ers and got 4th place and I knew I wouldn't be able to duplicate that performance...especially since I aged up to the 30-34ers and that's a much harder age group.

Race morning we loaded up the beast in her Under Armor gear (OMG - so freaking cute) and drove 40 minutes to the suburbs.  I got my bike all set up, peed about 4 times and got into the nasty subdivision pond for a warm up swim.  Holy crap.  I am out of shape.  I swam about 200 yards to warm up and my arms were BURNING.  This didn't bode well, but I knew that regardless, I could survive swimming 600yards...I just may tread water and breast stroke to make it happen.

I was in the 4th wave - with the Athenas and the 40+ women - and the gun went off!  I started out near the back of the pack and kind of stayed there but battling with the people was a real challenge.  Not only am I not used to swimming, I'm not used to having to fight for my right to swim.  It was tough going.  I was very glad I was still able to breathe bi-laterally.  Once I got warm, I actually felt okay...the water was too gross to really enjoy it, but overall, it was nice.  I finished in 12:43...about 30 seconds slower than I swam it last year.  Moral of the story, swim training does me absolutely no good.  I was in amazing shape last year...and saved myself 30 seconds.  I doubt you will catch me doing much swim training this year!

Getting out of the water was tough - you forget how hard going from horizontal to vertical can be - and I was off running!  I got my bike and headed out for 12 miles of flat Texas roads!  The bike was pretty fun...I LOVE biking fast.  I had no idea what an appropriate speed was, so I just pedalled at a moderate pace and was having fun.  The some guy passed me and commented on my fancy bike and I realized I was not doing my full carbon beauty justice with my slow speed so I picked it up.  Haha.  Sometimes it just takes a little motivation. I missed the turnaround and ended up biking about an extra half mile but I think I averaged about 20mph for 12 miles.  I was happy with my time but I had no idea how that would affect my run!

I saw Tommy and Anna coming in off the bike and I threw on my running shoes and started running.  I knew I was going out WAY too fast - an 8 minute mile is just ridiculous - but I wasn't able to really slow down.  My plan was to run about 9 min mile-ish and then walk for a minute through the water stops.  When I got the first stop, I got my water and was planning to walk but then I saw Tommy and couldn't make myself do it.  Haha.  Stupid pride.  I kept running but slowed down finally. I walked quite a bit on the last mile but still averaged about 9 minute miles overall. 

I finished in 1:16:35...about 5 minutes slower than my time last year.  I cannot believe it.  I am so happy that not only did I do well, but that I had fun.  I was so worried I wouldn't have fun and my motivation would go away but I loved it and it was fabulous (minus the spandex part of the day) and I CANNOT wait until August when I get to race again.  And the best part is that I got 1st place in the Athena division!  Hahaha.  Who knew?

1st Place Athena!

I love racing.  I am so so SO happy to be back in the game.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds.

Anna the Beast at 7 Weeks Old

Ironman Envy!

Ironman Texas was this past weekend and now that the initial exhaustion is over, I can blog.  I'm telling you now, spectating Ironman is almost as hard as racing it.  Spectating is a sport and I am sore from my participation.

Tommy raced like a champ and I know we are all glad the race is over and behind us!  He didn't really want to race (he did not enjoy his experience in Cozumel) but signed up because I wanted him to...and then I got pregnant.  Ooops.  But he put in the long hours of training before Anna arrived and did what he could once she was here.  It wasn't the optimal training season, but it is what it is!

I dropped Tommy off in the Woodlands on Friday night so he could stay at the hotel and get a decent nights sleep before the race.  I came home and spent the evening packing for a day in the sun with a newborn.  Ha.

#915 Ready to Rock!!

In traditional triathlon fashion, we ran into just about everyone we know at bike check in.  I heart the tri community.

#160 will be using a stroller for the bike portion of the race.  Anna was not amused.

I wasn't sure Anna and I would make it for the swim in the morning, but we did!  We got there in time to see the 1st pro get out of the water and to see Tommy get his bike!  I had to wake up at 2AM to get there, but I am so glad we did.  She had this adorable UnderArmour outfit that my mom's BFF sent to me...she wore it for all of 20 seconds before she shat all over it.

Baby running gear.  OMG.

Heat makes baby comatose.

Tommy headed out for 112 beautiful miles!  

He gave us a kiss before rolling out.  It was then that I realized I was covered in poop.  So romantic. I didn't see many of my other friends get on their bikes because I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning poop off my hands, my camera, the Anna, the diaper bag and the carseat.  I stuck her in the Bjorn so the carseat could dry out a little and we watched the end of the swim.  And then I had to go to the port-a-potty.  With Anna in the Bjorn.  Triathlon is a nasty nasty sport.

After most of the people had left for the bike, Anna and I went to the hotel for snacks and naptime.  And air conditioning.  I love air conditioning.

The hardest part of the day was not actually toting a 5 week old baby around outside all day (alone), but the logistics of it all.  How do you pack enough cold breastmilk to last all day without breaking your back or tipping over your stroller?  How do you pump without having to go back to the hotel every 3 hours?  How do you pack enough food and drink for yourself?  How do you plan on enough diapers and clothes for blowouts?  What if the stroller gets too hot?  Don't forget the Bjorn.  Or the clip-on fan.  Or the mosquito netting.  Or your camera.  Or phone.  Or wallet.  Oh dear lord.  The logistics of it all were enough to essplode the brains of a small village of geniuses.  Let's be honest though, I LOVE logistics and I was kind of in hog heaven planning for all the possible risks and doing it all as minimalistically as possible. I even remembered toilet paper for port-a-potty trips and a small jar of dish soap so I could wash bottles.  I mean, if you ever need a logistics planner, I'm your gal.  That said, if I had to do it all over again, I would have packed her powdered formula for the day so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping breastmilk cold...but I didn't think of that genius idea until 2am when I was getting ready to leave, and I decided 2am was not the appropriate time to learn how to make a bottle of formula.  The milk thing worked out just fine though.  It was messy, but the Anna had food!

Anna and I spent the day wandering between groups of friends, tracking down Tommy and just enjoying the great outdoors. It was balls hot, but we were expecting WAY worse, so all in all, it was a gorgeous day.  the breeze on the canal made things very bearable.  And the heat kind of made Anna comatose (bonus!)...she was a champ all day long!

After naptime, our first stop was to hang out at the end of the bike course so we could see Tommy coming into T2.  He finished looking strong!!  Then we went to join our friends to hang out on the run course at about mile 0.5.  The run course was 3 loops - each about 8 miles long - so I was able to see Tommy at mile 0.5 and then cross the canal and see him again at about mile 5.

Mile 0.5ish.  Looking strong but says he feels like death.

 Anna and I crossed the canal and caught up with him around mile 5!

Looking good at Mile 5!

That's one good lookin' piece of ace right there.

A daddy and his girl.  She says, "Dad, this triathlon sh1t is hot.  Can we go home now?"

We spent the day wandering between groups of friends...I walked at LEAST 10 miles (if not 13-15), pushing a jogging stroller in flip flops.  The flops were not my smartest decision.  I had a blast seeing friends, watching the race and tracking down Tommy at various points on the course.  I may or may not have cried several times throughout the day - sometimes due to jealousy and sometimes just because I get so overcome by Ironman.  I just love it soooo much!

He loves the horsey dance.

My husband is hot.

We saw Tommy for the last time around mile 22 and walked with him for a mile or so.  He was really hurting but was almost done!!  I had realized earlier in the day that there was no way I was going to be able to get close to the finish line with my giant stroller so I jumped ship when we got close to transition and headed down to get his bike and gear bags so I could take them back to the hotel and he wouldn't have to worry about them when he was done.  Unfortunately, at this point, I was kind of done - Anna was chillin' in the Bjorn and my shoulders were hurting, my feet were hurting because I was an idiot and wore flip flops, and I kept picking the wrong side of transition to try to get into.  Pushing that stroller through sh1ttons of people is like trying to fit my post-partum ass in my pre-pregnancy jeans.  Unpleasant for everyone involved.

I ran into an old friend of mine from college, the lovely and wonderful Cayla (who gets her meat for free) and her mom and sister.  They asked if there was anything if they could do for me and offered to get Tommy's bike and gear bags for me.  I didn't realize exactly how tired I was until that moment.  I started crying out of gratitude.  They saved me another quarter mile of walking through transition and then Cayla helped me steer Tommy's bike back to the hotel.  These women pretty much saved my sanity that night.  I seriously had no idea how exhausted I was until they offered to help.  Apparently spectating Ironman with an infant on 3 hours of sleep is less than optimal.  Ha.  I seriously owe them big time.  THANKYOUGUYSSOMUCH.

I got back to the hotel and was planning on taking a quick shower and then packing up the Anna in the bjorn to try to brave the finish line, but Tommy called and said he was done and was heading back so I just packed up the room.

He didn't quite have the race he had hoped for, but he still did amazingly well considering the heat and his training hadn't been optimal at the end.  I am so proud of him for sticking it out and finishing despite not really wanting to.  He is so strong!

The finishers chute of Ironman Texas.  There is really nothing like it.  A.Maze.Ing.

Tommy, you are an Ironman!  

We realized when we got back that his morning clothes bag was not in the gear bags we got from transition so I had to trek back down to the finish line to find that bag...whoever decided not to put all the gear bags in the same place is a dumbass and I hate them.  But whatever.  We got packed up and headed out and finally got home around 11:30PM.  I bathed Anna and put her to bed and finally, after being awake for 24 hours, I crawled into bed around 2...and slept like I had just finished an Ironman.

I am so proud of Tommy for putting in the hours of training required to finish this race.  And not only that, he did it while being an amazing husband becoming a new father.  He is amazing and goes above and beyond in loving and taking care of Anna and I.  We are so lucky to have him.

And now we are all so lucky that it's over.  Haha.  It was a huge stress on all of us the last few months and I think we are all glad that it is finally over.  Tommy can relax, focus on work, us, and some Honey-dos that have been stressing him out...and I get to take advantage of his lack of exercising to focus on my own fitness and my race in August.  :)

Congrats to the most wonderful husband, bestest friend, and loving father in the whole world - you are an Ironman!  Again!