First post of 2013.... Finally!

**I started this post about five days ago. The first time I went to write it, my iPhone wouldn't upload the pictures I wanted. The second time we discovered that after much abuse my laptop has officially stopped functioning properly in the form of a non-working  "Q" "W" "E" and "R" key. Tonight I am stubbornly forcing myself to finish it and publish it, despite the fact that I am tucked away in the loft on our clunky old desktop, and S and L just had a dinnertime standoff that resulted in L getting sent to bed in tears with no bath or story time. (Apparently to L, sweet potatoes are the new gross.) Oh, and did I mention that L2 is headed back to the hospital at 5:30 tomorrow morning to replace his ear tubes which have already fallen out?

Besides the trying last few days (and the looming reality of having to fork out money for a new laptop) 2013 has been pretty good so far. We've laid low the last few weeks, recovering from the excitement of the holidays and trying to get back to our normal routine. L2 has started physical therapy every week in order to catch up for the time he missed when he was preparing for his surgery and in the hospital and I am amazed weekly at how quickly he is catching up. Despite the fact that he got a little behind with his surgery, you can definitely tell he is just a completely different [personality from L. L was up and pretty much running by 10 months and when he learned to do something new he took off with it right away. L2 is much more laid back about things. He is perfectly content to crawl for now and with each new skill he learns he likes to try it out a few times and slowly ease into it over a period of a few weeks. It's actually pretty funny. He's also very stubborn and if he's not in the mood to do something, he won't do it. End of story. I didn't like the idea of physical therapy at first, just because, truthfully, I didn't really like admitting that L2 had any catching up to do. Now though, I see what a God send it really is. Not only has she showed us how to push him in certain things and fun ways to teach him how to do things, she's also put my mind at rest that each kids really is different. L was super advanced for his age physically. Some kids are super advance in Vocab. L2 has been doing fine motor skill things since he was only a few months old. When they are this age and every milestone is so huge, it seems like a big deal, but our therapist has put our mind to rest that when he is two or three and running around yelling at his brother all these things I have been stressing about will seem like a distant memory.

I"ve been feeling invigorated with the start of the new year. I took a break from my normal gym routine for most of December and was only going about three times a week or running outside. I know that may not sound like taking a break, but I'm pretty strict with my gym routine and usually go five days a week for about two hours a day. But honestly, I needed a break mentally. I've always been very hard on myself when it comes to my body. As an athlete I think that is pretty common. And this last year has been hard on me, because it was freaking hard to lose the baby weight the second time around. And I was beating myself up about it big time. All my pre-pregnancy clothes fit but I've remained constantly about five to seven pounds heavier than I ever was.... and it was killing me. Like seriously, I would cry about it. And I needed to take a break from feeling that way. I needed to run outside and remember that, all the health and body benefits aside, I like running. I like sports and I like being active. I like the way I feel, more so than just the way I look. And I needed to spend more time with my boys, doing crafts and playing outside and cuddling up for movies on the couch, and remind myself that five or seven or more pounds would totally be worth these two amazing little children that I get to call me own. I think the aftermath of childbirth is hard on most women. Regardless of what diet you're on, or if you live in the gym, having a little person grow inside of your tummy changes your body and there is nothing you can do about it. And that 's OK. Like I said, it's worth it. Yes, being fit is important to me. Fitting into my size four jeans is important to me. But being healthy and being a good role model for my sons has to be more important.

OK, sorry about that little rant, but I've been needing to get how I was feeling about it off my chest. S is very understanding and very supportive, but as a man, he really just doesn't totally understand. I know you other mama's out there get what I'm talking about! Anyway, I'm back to my gym routine; running a few miles every day and doing Pilate's and this new tabata class which is killer but awesome. I"m feeling good! And the first weekend of the month I did my first 5K of the year! Me and  few of my girlfriend signed up for the graffiti run, and despite being freezing (for Phoenix) it was so much fun! I"m already signed up for a mud run in the middle of February and I'm stoked! So I'll leave you with a few pics of our race and a promise to be back soon with less rambling posts and hopefully a toddler who has developed a taste for sweet potatoes!

All White before the race!

No white after the race!

Trying to show off our team name "Color me Bad-Ass"

The whole crowd was tossing color in the air.... it was crazy and really cool looking. You couldn't even see the sky! Breathing in all the powder? Not so fun!

I"m sure the restaurant we went to afterwards for some well deserved cold beers was thrilled when we walked in!