Happy 4 Months!

It's hard to believe, but my Josiah is 4 months old. As of today, he's nursing like a mad man, including two or more times during the night, so as grateful as I am to have a good eater, we're going to have to nip the night feedings in the bud here soon. The pediatrician said I need to lay him down awake (yeah, yeah, yeah) so that he can fall asleep on his own...and that should take care of him nursing during the night. We'll see. I'm not sure if I'm ready for all that yet.

Mr. Josiah is weighing in at 15 pounds and 10 ounces, and he's a whopping 25.75 inches long. (I say whopping kind of jokingly, because his good friend Harper was 25 inches when she was born...or soon thereafter.) Believe it or not, 25.75 inches puts him in the 76th percentile for height. As pudgy as he is, he's only 66th percentile for weight. He's just a chubby, healthy little boy. Praise the sweet Lord. I cannot even describe how much I love that boy.

Mid September Memory Verse

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 (NIV, 84)

Yesterday, the girls were "helping me" put the groceries away. I was actually in the living room, feeding Josiah, and they were busy taking everything out of the bags and onto the counters. All the sudden I heard something bust on the floor. (Gosh, I hadn't even considered the fact that they are picking up breakable things...maybe it's not a good idea for them to put away the groceries. Dang it.)

I walk into the kitchen to see this:

What you don't see is the spaghetti sauce all over Elizabeth's white tennis shoes and the blood coming from Layla's ankle where a piece of glass went straight into her skin.

These are the moments when I just want to give up. The last thing I wanted to do was clean up this huge mess of spaghetti sauce and glass off the floor. Which would then be followed by putting up the rest of the groceries, fixing lunch, cleaning up a container of yogurt that Elizabeth would bust in a few minutes (after which I decided they are no longer allowed to help put away groceries, which stinks, because I kind of like the help), and the list goes on. Sometimes I feel like all I do is clean up messes. There are several messes that I need to clean up right now. Toys, food on the table, clothes, stuff in the hall. Goodness. You know what I'm talking about it. It's exhausting, and sometimes, I just want to give up.

That's why I need this verse. If you ever feel like I do, which I bet you do, that's why you need this verse. Let's commit it to memory.

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 (NIV, 84)

In every case for me, the prize is bringing glory to God. In this case, I bring glory to God by loving my children and taking care of them, which in turn means I can't leave a broken jar of spaghetti sauce on the floor. I cannot give up. I must press on.

Couch 2 5k Update

If you read this post, you know I started the Couch 2 5k program at the beginning of August. Since I'm in the middle of the program now, I thought you might like an update.

Let me begin by saying that when I started, I could barely run/jog a minute and a half. My legs felt like they were made of led. I still remember feeling like I was going to die by the end of the first workout.

Well...I'm in the middle of week 6 now (I had to take a little time off to research a numb foot issue - but that's another story), and I am definitely impressed with the program. It works. I am also grateful to the Lord for continuing to give me the motivation to get up early (between 5:30 and 6) and do something for my health and for giving me the ability to move my legs. I thank Him every day as I'm exercising, and I think of all the people in the world who don't have the physical ability or the opportunity to do what I'm doing. I'm humbled by His favor and feel like not taking advantage of my God-given ability would be a waste.

So where am I now? I ran 20 minutes straight last Friday!! Yesterday's workout was a 5 minute warmup walk, run 5, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5. I have to admit I thought it would be easy peasy when I started. Not so. I guess the fact that I could run 20 minutes Friday doesn't mean I can do it easily all the time. I better start getting used to it, though, because tomorrow's workout is the last one that involves any walking. After that, it will be running for 25, then 28, then finally 30 minutes.

When I started, I was not sure how I would ever be able to run 30 minutes straight, but I can say now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm a believer in this program. Every day is challenging but doable. And that's the key to a good workout, if you ask me.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm not 100% sure if I've lost weight as a direct result of this program, because I'm also cutting back on calories and working out at the gym. I do think the running is having an effect on my overall body shape, and I like it. As I run, I visualize the fat just falling off my thighs. It keeps me motivated, people! I will post another update at the end to let you know whether I'm done or moving on to couch 2 10k.