Gran and Pop

OK I'm trying to get back on track here. Gran and Pop have been here since the beginning of March watching the kids, which has been great. Finley loves it and Rowan needs to get used to new people, so it's good for her too. I've been focusing on getting my dog trainer certification and have been teaching more classes and started doing private dog training lessons in peoples homes. Also, I had my first private nutrition consult at the YMCA and have another lecture coming up at the end of the month. My GRE class is almost over and I'll be taking that this summer. I'm still not sure what I want to do once I take the GRE. Probably just wait and see how I do and go from there.

Rowan has been crawling super fast and cruising around pretty well too. She just started making more word-like sounds. It's very cute. We can finally take her to a restaurant and keep her entertained with eating the whole time. Taking both kids  out to eat is actually not too bad.

Ben and I are still running a few times each week. I'm on week 4 of the 5K app, but stil haven't found a race that I want to do. It's hard to find time with my current schedule. This week I'm not home any night. I miss putting my kids to bed. I have a consolidation plan for next month with 4 dog training classes in one night.

Plans

We went to a flyball tournament this past weekend and Ben's parents came to stay with Finley. Rowan was good in the car considering the 8-9 hour drive we had to Canada. We had a good time and it's always a welcomed break from everyday life, but we get behind on things that need to be done. I am taking a GRE class that is a lot of work and I have a nutrition lecture coming up next week. The snow has been piling up. We signed Finley up for more swimming lessons and a princess dance class. And Rowan gets to take a Music and Movement class. So cute! We have also been planning our summer trips. We are going camping at an amusement park in Pennsylvania, Cape Cod for a week and to Reno to visit Grandparents. We will also do lots of flyball tournaments and some whippet racing too. I started doing a couch to 5K program. I'm on schedule and have done 2 weeks so far. This is a huge step for me because I hate running. Now I need to find one to sign up for. Looking forward to an uneventful week and staying home this weekend.

Snow Day

We had a snow day today! I love snow days. I love when the whole family stays home. Finley and the dogs enjoyed playing in the deep powder. Well the whippets didn't, but the border collies love it. I was like the whippets today and stayed snuggled up inside. Didn't even step outside once. I think I took about 2,000 steps, compared to 16,000 yesterday. We had a very relaxing day. I cooked chicken nuggets and broccoli and I finally had a change to catch up on stuff on my computer. We figured out some travel plans for the summer...Cape Cod and a trip to Reno. And we will take the trailer on a few short trips too, so we can get some use out of it and bring the dogs with us.

I am having a very hard time deciding if I should go back to school! Major pros and cons and neither side is a clear winner. I don't want to be in an intensive program for 3 years while my kids are so little, but I know if I do it will pay off (literally) in the long run. I decided today to take the GRE and see how I do and then go from there. In the meantime, I have monthly lectures schedule at the YMCA and have picked up more dog training stuff.

Finley has been testing her boundaries lately, which is expected for her age. She's been so good overall.  Her punishment for not listening or doing something she knows she shouldn't do is that something gets taken away and then if she is good she gets it back. She gets one warning and then consequences happen. She is so funny about it sort of. She takes the punishment well and doesn't get more upset about it.  She has been pretending that she can't put her shoes or clothes on or gets really upset after we say she is done watching TV.  She usually just needs a nap or some alone time and then she is her usual happy self.

Rowan is getting much better at standing and has taken a few steps side to side. Not close to being ready to take steps by herself. Every day she gets better at eating and can eat a full adult meal. No more baby food. We just break up our food into small pieces and put in in front of her. We also don't use sippy cups or bottles. It's funny to see a baby drinking out of an adult sized cup! And she's down to 2 naps a day instead of 3. Sleeping has been OK, not perfect.

Tomorrow will be a long day. Ben has class from 8-5 pm. I have yoga and need to practice my demo routine for the dog training center this weekend. 

three nights

Three nights in a row that Rowan has slept fully through the night. 7:30-7:30 with no wake ups. It's a miracle. I hope it lasts. I am sick of needing a nap everyday. We went to New Jersey for a quick trip to do Rowan's baby naming and visit with family and friends. On Sunday I went to a seminar on training reactive dogs, which was interesting. But I had to leave for a few hours in the middle to go food shopping and feed the baby! that's how busy I am!

I've been adding more dog training classes to my schedule. Right now I'm co-teaching two classes and maybe starting to do some in-home private lessons and puppy class stuff. I love it because it doesn't feel like work. Speaking of work, I am trying to find time to grow my position as nutritionist at the local YMCA, but it requires lots of planning. So I do what I can now. I am scheduled to give a lecture at the end of February. Also I signed up to get my certification in adult weight management. I cannot wait until Frances gets here to help with the kids. I will finally have some time to get stuff done! So excited.

Rowan is growing and changing super fast right now. Just in the past two weeks she went from barely crawling to motoring FAST! She can get across a room pretty quickly. We had to lower her crib because she stands up now too. Walking will be here very soon I'm sure. She is also eating very well. She has gotten great at picking food up and eating it herself. Tonight we had sweet potatoes, ribs and beans and she loved it. Finley is doing very well in school and is just starting to sound out 3 letter words. What she really needs is some friends to play with. Her mom needs to work on finding her some! Tomorrow I have my book club meeting and going to IKEA and Finley has gym class.

Weekend.

Friday nights are my flyball class night, which means that I'm out training until 10 pm, so Ben is in charge and dinner, bathes and getting the kids to bed. He does a great job and it's a much needed break for me. Finley and I and our friend Carrie went ice skating at a local rink on Saturday. It was super fun. It was Finley's second time and she did great. Her balance is getting better. I'd like  to sign her up for skating lessons and dance lessons, but there isn't enough time! I don't know how other people do it. I am not working much right now other than dog training and some nutrition work, but our schedule is jam packed everyday. We are NEVER bored! On Saturday night Ben's friends from school came over for dinner. I met them for the first time now that he's been in school for 1.5 years. I made Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp, Eggplant Gratin and Lemon Walnut Green beans. It was NOT on the low carb diet, but so good! On Sunday I took the dogs for a hike and got stuff done around the house. My need to catch up on sleep really cuts into the day! We had flyball practice as usual on Sunday night and then a team meeting until 11 pm. Finley was amazing. Our meeting started at 9:30. Finley ate with the team and then went into the playroom and played quietly for several hours. She didn't come out until she heard the word ice cream! We ate dessert, she watched a TV show and then we all went to bed! Fin slept until 10. Lucky girl. Training Rowan to sleep is just like training a dog. I try different things and see what works. I think I finally figured something out. The past two nights have been pretty good with minimal wake ups and willing to sleep past 7. Oh we decided to sign Finley up for 5 full days of Montessori preschool next year. I think she will handle it with no problem. That kid loves to learn.  Speaking of not having enough time in a day..I need to get back to work! 

Blur

Ben picked up a dog at the airport last night and Ben got pulled over and stuck in traffic on the way home, so didn't get home until very late.  We didn't get to bed until 1 am and Rowan wakes us up at 6 am every morning. Ugh! And she woke up a bunch of times between then too, so we did not get enough sleep at all. So....today was mostly a blur. Ben took Finley to school and I slept a bit during Rowan's morning nap. I dragged myself to yoga, which was awesome and felt really good. Rowan didn't quite make it in the childcare at the YMCA for the whole hour though. I trained dogs and did some stuff around the house until Ben got home. One of those days that I'm happy I didn't fall asleep sitting up. Tonight I went to Finley's parent/teacher conference at Montessori. They said all good things about her. She listens, loves to learn, kind to others, and is working on remembering to put stuff away. She's agreeable and is willing to try anything. I already knew all that, but fun to talk to her teacher about her. Finny had gym tonight. She loves it, so we keep going. We take turns because neither of us usually wants to go. In April she will be in class that doesn't require parents. We are looking forward to that! I'm too tired to write anything more interesting! Tomorrow I have a nutritionist meeting at the YMCA and flyball class at night. GOING. TO. BED.

Small accomplishments

Another busy day today. I found my keys and got Finley to school, so that's better than yesterday. Rowan didn't get good naps today, so was pretty fussy all day. Which limits my ability to get a lot done. Ben got home at 3:30 and I immediately went out for a hike with Spy, Indy and Pax. Came home, cleaned up a bit and made a very boring dinner of homemade chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries and roasted broccoli. Ben went out to pick up a dog at the airport (long story for another time).
I have a huge list of things to do and have been trouble getting things crossed off. When I finally have time to do stuff I'm either too tired or just want to do nothing! Lots going on tomorrow too. Yoga at the YMCA in the morning (and by morning I mean 11 am). Ben is taking the dogs to the vet. I have a parent conference at Finley's school and then gymnastics. I'm looking forward to another weekend at home. I'll need it to catch up. I think when I get a real part-time job, I'll feel less overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to that!

Everyday

I am going to try to start posting every week day. This is going to be really hard because I'm a terrible blogger. One of my goals for this year is more blogging and taking real photos, less facebook and iphone photos.

So...I haven't posted since June! A lot has happened since then. Ben just started back up with school and we are getting into a routine. The routine should be working pretty well, but its not because of Rowan's sleeping schedule and my needs for sleeping. She goes to bed at 8:30 and wants to wake up at 6:30. For awhile this also included several episodes of crying during the night. We tried weaning her off the pacifier because when it falls out she wakes up crying. But that made everyone miserable, so we decided to put that off for awhile. Last night was OK. She woke up once, Ben helped her find her pacifier and she went back to sleep. Still woke up at 6 am. Thats not going to work for me. Finley sleeps until 9 am. I guess having two kids that sleep well was too much to ask for.

Aside from the sleeping issue Rowan is doing well. She's been really whiny in the past month or so when she isn't being held. In the past few days this has gotten much better because she started crawling! And then I was shocked yesterday to see her pull herself up to standing! The problem is that she's not strong enough to stay there so she falls. I need to watch her very closely because she is a danger to herself at this point. I'm guessing she will be an early walker.

She's been eating well. We pretty much stopped giving her baby food and just break up whatever we are eating into small pieces for her. Or we try to find regular foods that are soft like yogurt, refried beans, hummus, guacamole, apple sauce. She isn't as interested in nursing, which is alright as long as she is getting enough. I'm not ready to wean her onto cow's milk, she she has a few months before that can happen! I try to nurse her before giving her solid food when she's hungry.

More about Finley and other stuff that is going on tomorrow! Also hopefully some new photos!