Irvine Regional Park

We've been living in Southern California for a whole year now and it was hitting that milestone that made me realize, we have yet to really take advantage of this area outside of our immediate environs, really explore it, you know? So a couple of weekends ago I took the kids out to the Irvine Regional Park for a day of fun.

It's a big regional park that has a little bit of everything -- wide open lawns for picnicing and parties (there were at least two family reunions taking place the day we were there), play structures for the kids, trails for biking and hiking and horseback riding, pony rides, a mini train that gives rides, a lake where you can rent paddleboats and fish and feed ducks. The Orange County Zoo is even housed there.

There was so much to do that we definitely weren't going to fit it all into one trip, especially since it was just me and the kids, and some things like the paddle boats I wouldn't want to attempt without my second parent friend present, hehe.

The first thing we found when we drove in was a play structure area for the kids, so we spent about an hour there. Violet made some little friends right away, a family of 5 other kids, ranging from a baby in a stroller to a girl who was something like 6 or 7 I should think. Max mostly threw sand but also climbed up the baby structure and went down the slide a few times.

Eventually we made our way to the train.

 

We ended up arriving and getting our tickets just in time to catch the next ride before it left. It's a cute little train on a real track that winds around the lake and some other parts of the park in a big loop, probably 10 minutes or so altogether. Max hadn't had his morning nap so he was already pretty exhausted by this time, but he got interested once the train started moving.

There are peacocks on the property. Apparently one of the trees is famous for having been in a Lassie movie, and some other films have been shot here as well. I think the guide said like, Wuthering Heights, or something that is set on the English countryside, hehe.

After the train Violet got to ride the ponies, a first for her. She had the option of a walking pony or a trotting (faster) pony. Three guesses which one she choose. She ended up going twice, she liked it so much.

I'd intended to hit the zoo, but we were hot and getting tired and cranky, so we went to the snack shack and bought some ice cream treats and then went back to the play structure for a bit. Violet's friends were still there.
   
Then, finally, I got them back into the car, cranked up the AC, and headed home.

Maxy didn't last very long. :)

So that's one new place we've discovered that has a ton of potential for family outings, and I'm excited to bring Shawn back with us next time now that I know you can fish in the lake. I think he and Violet would have fun doing the paddleboats together.

Not sure what's next on our adventure schedule, but I'll keep you posted!

Feed Me!

(originally published on Blogging For Two on July 15, 2014)

In a delicious turn of events, I have decided to share with the world all the delicacies I'm currently eating or would eat if they were put in front of my face.

#1: Cheese Quesadillas. Pretty much all Mexican food (again) but cheese quesadillas top the list this week. So crunchy and cheesy and perfect for scooping up guac. If you're not eating this with guac, you're doing it wrong. This recipe is from Paula Dean's website, and while I've never made it myself, you know that butter-lover makes a mean fried tortilla.

#2: Cheeseburger. I'm so hungry looking at this right now. Cheese and meat, red meat. Bacon. More avocado. Yes.

#3: Fruit-based pies. We went to Nation's the other day. Well, Shawn picked up Nation's while I waited at home. And I specifically asked for strawberry pie. They sent him home with chocolate creme pie. I was devastated. Not enough to let it go to waste or anything, but you know, still pretty pissed.

#4: Peanut Butter Pretzel Milkshake. I didn't know I needed this until I saw it on the internets. But I think we can all agree that this is needful.

#5. Pickles. Yes, it's happened. I wouldn't say I crave pickles, but when they give me one with a sandwich, I suddenly find myself asking if I can have two instead. Did you know there was a National Pickle Day? It's November 14. I shall be celebrating this year.

Also, pretty much everything on my Pinterest boards dedicated to food and dessert. Also pizza. There's a strong theme of cheese running through all this, I think.

And the answer is 7.4lbs so far, at week 14. I'm still right on track to gain about 30lbs with this pregnancy, which I can totally live with. That's half of what I did before and smack in the middle of the recommended range, so I'm aiming for the middle.

We've Gone Public!

(originally posted on Blogging For Two on July 7, 2014)

With all the exciting things that have been happening with the realization that Baby #2 is on the way to our household, I'd forgotten all about the blog I wrote while I was pregnant with Baby #1 (now known as Miss Violet Jane).

It wasn't until SIL reminded me about it that I decided to jump into it again, especially now that we've made it known to everyone outside the family (Facebook Declared!). 

Here are the important statics so far:

Due date: Jan 9

Currently: 13wks

Gender: still officially unknown

Unofficially, however, there seems to be a good chance that this baby is a boy. We had an ultrasound last week as part of routine genetic screening tests, and the ultrasound technician and I both noticed at the same time that there was very obviously something sticking up from between the legs that was not the cord, or an arm, or a leg. It's early to be able to see that at what was 12.5 weeks, so we're not calling it yet, but the indications are strong.

When I got home that day, I thought, oh nice, this means I can get rid of all the girly stuff that I've been hanging on to just in case. And then I immediately got sad about it. Sort of a big deal to part with all my first baby's baby stuff. I may have to hang onto a few things that I like the best.

Looks like it's going to be another baby season, too, as at least two of my besties are also expecting, all within a month or two of each other. I cannot reveal their names at this time, but one of them is Leti, (hehe, she's already told everyone) who was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and thought she could fool all the other gals (who were already moms at least once) when she was bursting into tears for no reason and complaining about having itchy boobs. Everyone's first response was, are you pregnant? Psh. Like you can hide that from Mama's eagle eyes.

So far things are going well. Less morning sickness this time which is saving my life, and the nausea is already starting to fade.

Here's the official weekly update from BabyCenter, with a handy illustration.

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head -- which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (about the size of a pea pod) and weighs nearly an ounce. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed and your odds of miscarriage drop considerably.

Reading People

People are so hard to figure out sometimes.

I tend to be a pretty friendly, chatty person, but I understand -- completely -- the desire to want to be quiet, keep to yourself, and just not talk for a while. I have those moments as often, if not more often, then I have my chatty periods. And I'm good at reading people; or, at least, people's current emotional state of being. It's one of the gifts of a Pisces -- we can sense the emotions of others.

Sometimes, though, I encounter someone who mystifies me.

I've recently had a person enter my life who I just can't get a read on. I see this person every day, and I see her being chatty and friendly with others. And she's been chatty and friendly with me, too. But when I try to engage her, make some of my trademark silly remarks or just some attempt at bonding through speech, it's suddenly very awkward, as if I'm the only person really interested in the conversation. There are two explanations for this fighting for prominence in my brain.

1. This gal just doesn't like me. Although why, I could not say. I haven't known her for that long. And since, due to the situation in question, we've barely exchanged the equivalent of what could be called a full conversation, I don't know what she could have to go on. But let's be honest, sometimes we don't like people for no reason at all.

2. She's just not a big chatter. I don't really buy this, since, like I said, I've witnessed multiple leisurely conversations between her and other folks, so it can't be that chit-chatting in general is against one of her rules.

It's very odd to be solicited for some light convo one moment, and then sort of brushed off and ignored the next. Is this some queen-bee, girl-drama issue? Am I confused because I am inherently unwilling to believe that a person could be so openly rude? Or am I over-thinking this and turning it into an issue when it's not? I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt, so much so that I try to correct for that by sometimes being overly suspicious, to make sure I'm not letting myself get taken advantage of or stepped on, etc.

Thoughts?

No More Stress!

I had a little mini revelation over the weekend. It was about my life in general, but running and working out played a part. 

I've been overloading myself, spreading myself too thin with favors for other people, or saying yes to too many things. Turning 30 recently has given me a much stronger sense of what my priorities are, and what I want to spend my time on and vice versa. I spent the last couple of days sending emails and making phone calls to cull a lot of the unnecessary things from my life, and it has made me a lot less stressed and happier already.

One of the biggest committments I had made for myself was the training for the half marathon this summer. Having trained for a halfie before, and knowing that I have knee issues, and not wanting to hurt myself by running too far too soon, I knew I needed to be very strict about sticking to the training schedule, and increase mileage gradually. There are only a certain number of weeks before the big race, and I didn't have any time to flub the schedule or I would end up hurting later.

Well, finding time to fit in long runs, even on the weekends, just isn't always possible for me right now. Yes, most days at work I have time to go for a short run on my lunch break. But sometimes meetings get scheduled, sometimes I have to work through lunch. And feeling like I was screwing up my training schedule was stressing me out.

Two weekends ago, I ran a 5K with a friend just for fun, and it occurred to me that I can do these shorter races, have a blast participating, and keep up with my running in a way that is *gasp* enjoyable and not one more thing that is an item on my to-do list. Running was becoming one more chore to get through every day; working out in general, it was just something else I HAD to do, more work, and so rather than relieving any stress it was making me more miserable, and so I was skipping it often and then feeling guilty.

Ugh, Enough!!

So, the half marathon is scrapped. I hadn't registered yet anyway, so good. There are a TON of super-fun looking 5K and even 10K races in the San Francisco area all the stinkin' time, and lots of great trails and paths to run on where I live. I do enough work and I have enough stress. I want running, and working out, to be a fun thing that I do, I need more fun things in my life. And once I ditched the self-imposed pressure and stress, suddenly, it seemed that way again.  

Oh, the Horizon...

Two of the mommies who were in my graduating class of mommyhood -- that is, who all had their first babies around the same time -- are now pregnant with their second kids. I'm happy for them, in that crazy-lady ridiculous happy way I get happy these days when I find out someone I know is pregnant. I love it. One of my favorite people from high school just announced she is pregnant with her first. It's like a cult. Once you're in, you want everyone else in too.

But, I admit to a twinge of jealousy. There were things I thought I'd have done by now that still haven't materialized, and certain parts of my life still feel like I'm on hold. I've had the bug for a second baby myself for a while now. But, I also know that I'd be happier waiting for a while, so that I can have my wedding and honeymoon and then have another baby.

But the wedding is postponed indefinitely, until there is less debt and more money.

Which means that baby #2 is just somewhere out there on the distant horizon, as well.

I hate that someone else's good news makes me slip into a funk of depression. Like, what kind of horrible friend am I? Slash, horrible person, that I can't just be happy for their good fortune without a) slipping into a funk of depression, or b) making it all about me?

Sick Baby = Sad Mama

Little Miss Pants has had the flu this week, which makes Mama very sad. Luckily, there was no vomiting involved, but she had a high fever and has been congested and sad. We took her into the doctor when she peaked at 105.6, but the Doc said that she looked okay, and to keep giving her Tylenol and Motrin, and to watch. The fever broke yesterday and we've been running the humidifier almost non-stop. She's not sleeping the best and so she's cranky, but is otherwise starting to get back to herself again.

What has made this extra hard is that on Wednesday morning, as it became suddenly clear that she was sick, Shawn was on his way out the door for a trip to Anaheim with his band until Monday. He felt really guilty leaving, but her being sick wasn't an emergency and his trip had been planned for months. It's been stressful to not have him here to help, but his mom has been amazing, coming over during the day to help me with Violet so that I could get some work done from home and not have to go into the office.

She insisted on holding the medicine bottle. Thank goodness for child-proof caps. We had a Caillou marathon this week.

The upside was that I got some baby-cuddles at night, because the only way to get her to sleep long stretches was just to take her in bed with me, because she needed the comfort. So that was nice and snuggly.

What this has also meant is that my fitness plans have been derailed by a week. I didn't get to do any exercise for a week, and when I finally got into the gym yesterday afternoon and went for a run, I could feel the absence.

I haven't blogged much about it here, but I have been on a quest to return to my pre-baby weight before I hit my 30th birthday in March. Which means not taking a day off until then and losing somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 lbs a week. Honestly, not an unreasonable goal. But kicking oneself in the pants to get the snowball rolling on motivation and good habits can include the occasional misstep, and those become all the more frustrating when I can hear the clocking ticking away to March 11.

But I had one of my revelations this morning -- the number on the scale matters less than the ability to fit back into my old clothes again. So perhaps I should measure my success by what fits instead of that digital readout every morning. That thought was the bump I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and refocus on target training my trouble spots, toning up, getting in shape.

I want to be a fit, happy, healthy mama, sexy and confident and excited about life, because Violet will learn my attitudes, and the last thing I want is my own personal struggle with body image, occasional bouts of semi-depression, and just that adult disenchantment with life to negatively affect her world view.

I'm sure she'll develop her own neuroses in time, she doesn't need any of mine. :)