Birthday Baggo

It is someone's birthday today....

Happy 31st Birthday, Josh!

We decided last week that this would be a great opportunity to have our family over for a BBQ, since we haven't been together in quite a while.  It was such a treat to spend the beautiful summer day with family: grilling, playing yard games, and catching up.  Thanks everyone for making the trip!

Here are a few pictures from the day.

My Grandpa's birthday was a few days earlier, so we celebrated that too.  Happy 81 Grandpa!

 

Josh handled the grilling, and he did a great job!

 

My brother brought Baggo, so of course there was a little yard competition going on.  It turned out to be a beautiful day to be outside.

This is Pam, my baby sister.

 Lucy was really very good today.  She laid down at Josh's feet most of the time he grilled.

As for food, here is what we did:
For appetizers, I had homemade salsa and chips, bacon-wrapped BBQ jalapeno poppers (these were delicious!), and my mom brought a fruit tray.  For dinner we had grilled chicken (BBQ and cilantro-lime), a few hot dogs, grilled corn on the cob, caprese salad, and oven redskin potatoes.  We had pop and beer to drink.

We had my nieces up for a sleepover last night, so they helped me make Josh's cake.  He picked this cookies and cream cake, but I didn't get any pictures this time around.  Josh's mom brought some ice cream, which definitely helped cut the richness of the cake!

Crim 10 mile 1:33:34

Well, it was a disappointing race, but I still managed a PR.  I finished the Crim in 1:33:34, I was hoping to break 1:30.  Given the issues I've been having with my foot, I really shouldn't be too upset.  My foot didn't bother me too much during the race though - the course was hilly and I ended up walking a LOT.  Way more than I ever have in a race.  I write a full race review in a few days.  In meantime, here is what week 11 looked like, 13.48 miles running (blah) and 4.06 on the bike:

Tu 8/23: 1.04 easy, 9:22, 8:59 pace; 100 push-ups, 50 pull-ups (assisted), 250 crunches
W 8/24: Rest
Th 8/25: 2.44 easy. 26:21, 10:48 pace (some walking with Lucy)
F 8/26: 4.06 bike to work, 25:33, 9.5mph
Sa 8/27: 10mi race, 1:33:34, 9:22 pace

Babies, Babies, Everywhere

I'm sure its because I'm hyper-sensitive to the subject lately, but seriously, I'm reminded of pregnancy and babies ALL.THE.TIME!

Let me run down the past week for you:
-Chick-lit book for our Florida trip (Good In Bed) - a third of the way in, and main character finds herself in the midst of an unplanned pregnancy.  Its worth noting the synopsis on the jacket fails to mention "baby" anywhere.
-Cousin's wedding - one guest has the cutest looking baby bump on display in a figure-hugging long dress, while another couple are toting around an infant carrier holding the most adorable, tiny, couldn't-be-but-a-couple-weeks-old-MAX bundle of pure newborn cuteness.  Josh caught me staring, twice.
-Oh, People.com.  Its seems like every day I want to catch up on Hollywood gossip, and I find out some other celebrity is knocked up.  I realize I only have my self to blame - I'm reading the gossip, and any Hollywood baby is most definitely news.

Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie announced their pregnancy on their 1-year anniversary, I already LOVE Jennifer Garner and her and Ben make beautiful babies, and Cameron is just faking it on the set of her new movie What to Expect When You're Expecting, which I actually want to see when it comes out.

It just seems like there are babies everywhere lately, except in my tummy of course.  I don't want to seem bitter - when friends and acquaintances announce their pregnancies, I am truly happy for them.  I just want it to be our turn so damn bad.

Bury it

I had yet another monitoring appointment this morning - bloodwork and ultrasound.  I'll get right to the details: 1 30mm follie, 6.8 mm lining, and an E2 (estradiol) level of 602.  No ovulation detected.

So my doctor decided we need to get this show on the road!  And Josh couldn't by happier :)  My nurse called in a prescription for an HCG trigger shot this afternoon, which should make me ovulate in the next 36-42 hours.

I mildly freaked out when I found out that we would have to administer said shot at home this evening.  Yes, I had to have my husband give me a shot in my butt.  Oh, the joys of infertility.  Nothing says "lets make a baby" like "bend over so I can stick a needle in your ass."  But at the end of the day, I'm laughing.  We somehow made a 60-second shot into an hour-long ordeal.

Our bathroom is also our laundry room, so the washer made the perfect laboratory.

There were Youtube videos (of the mixing - since the HCG comes in powder form - and of the injecting), the directions from the doctor, the directions from the pharmacy, more directions from the Internet, and Josh text-messaging his doctor friends.... trust me, we did our research.  My favorite line of the night: Josh asking his friend how far to stick the needle in before injecting the medicine; the reply: "bury it."  Thanks Mike, we needed the laugh.

Needless to say, all of this drama, and it was over in a matter of seconds.  I honestly hardly felt a thing.  Josh had the needle out before I even knew he did the injection.  Easy peasy.  Should we need to do this again, we are practically pros!  In the meantime, we have three days to make the magic happen, then more waiting.  Fingers crossed for good news in a few weeks!

Back in the saddle

So the saying goes.  I took off of running for a few days during our trip to Florida.  My foot desperately needed some real rest, and it was too hot and humid to run down there anyway.  I took Monday off of work, figuring I could use a 4-day weekend, so I got a nice long run in this morning.

I brought my phone so I could call Josh and bail on the run if needed.  I felt a little discomfort in my foot, but not enough to make me stop, I just took it really easy.  I got all 17 miles in!  The bad news: my foot hurt after.  I think I'll take it easy this week since I have the Crim 10 mile race on Saturday.

If I count Monday as part of last week (since I just pushed back the run from the weekend), I managed 30.37 miles.  Here is how Week 10 looked:

M 8/15: 4.23 easy, 38:40, 9:09 pace
Tu 8/16: 35min P90X Shoulders and Arms
W 8/17: 7.97 (pace run, but a very bad one), 1:16:25, 9:36 pace
Th 8/18: 1.09 easy with Lucy, 9:53, 9:02 pace
F 8/19: Rest
Sa 8/20: Rest
Su 8/21: Rest
M 8/22:  17.08 long, 2:51:46, 10:03 pace

Leave your snakes at home

This past weekend we took a quick trip to Florida for my cousin's wedding.  We flew into Tampa and spent our time in the Auburndale/Lakeland area.  We visited for my other cousin's wedding in April, so this trip was all business - flew in on Friday, back on Sunday morning.  It was great to see family, and to spend a couple days chilling, reading in the pool, and stuffing our faces with yummy food.

Josh got the trip started by catching up on some sleep.  He's lucky I let him have the window.

 Josh, about 30 minutes into the trip.

When we arrived to pick up our rental car, we lucked out and got a mini van even though we paid for a Kia Rio.  That was sarcastic - you may be able to tell from the look on my face how happy I was to taxi my family around for the weekend:

Mini-van mom in training

The rehearsal dinner was Friday night, and my Aunt and Uncle had a Hawaiian theme with a luau spread, which was delicious.

My sister Pam, cousin Tim - the one getting married, cousin Erin - who got married in April, and me.  Even though we lived in different states, the four of us spent lots of time growing up together.

And now with the significant others.  I think my mom cried when we took this picture.

Saturday was a nice relaxing day since the wedding wasn't until 5pm.  After breakfast, we walked down the street to the flea market that we would visit when we visited my Aunt and Uncle when we were younger. 
 

You have to leave your pet snakes at home.  

I'm guessing because they don't want to risk any of the <10 lb dogs getting eaten.

It was a lot cooler when I was younger.  Oh well, I did find 2 decent pairs of knock-off sunglasses for $10 (total).  We spent the afternoon in my Aunt and Uncle's pool, catching up with family and eating leftovers from the night before (did I mention the good food?).  Then it was time to get ready for the wedding!

My cousin is an architect and designed and built this cross for the chapel where they got married.  Isn't it beautiful?!

Though I think he finished it the day of the wedding.  As the say, if you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute!

 I love it when guys cry at the alter while they watch their bride walk down the aisle.  Josh cried when he saw me and it melted my heart even more.

No shame - making out at the alter.  Congrats Tim and Meggie!

 Pam and Me

 Josh and me.  The reception was at a yacht club and the ballroom had a really pretty view.

 Pam and Ervin

My Aunt and Uncle - evidence that I am still learning with this camera.  Too much to think about at once sometimes!

My mom and dad had a fun time!

We had a great trip, but I was excited to get home and pick up the puppy.  She missed us! 

Bad News Bears

Today was one of those days.  No good news from the doctor, a craptastic run, and a possible injury to sideline me for a while.  Ugh!

I'm really frustrated with this cycle.  I went in for another monitoring appointment this morning (CD13), and I seem to be making backwards progress!  This time I didn't have any follicles larger than 13mm, and the nurse was a little concerned with my uterine lining.  They like to see it around 9, and mine was only 4.5.  Since we are going out of town this weekend, I have to use OPKs through the weekend and go in again on Monday if there is no sign of ovulation.

Then after work, I had an 8 mile pace run to do.  Blah, blah, blah!!!!   It was easily my worst run of this training cycle, possibly my worst run of the year.  I could barely keep my pace under 9:30 when I was actually running (I've been targeting 9:00 miles during pace runs), and I took literally like 20 breaks.  The stats for the run won't look all that bad, but that is because of a lovely feature on my Garmin called auto-pause.  I stop moving, it stops ticking away the time.  I had about 14 minutes of stoppage.  It was only an 8 mile run!

To top it all off, I think I hurt my foot bad enough to require a few days rest.  It been bugging me on and off for a week or more, but tonight it really hurt.  Look at the picture below - see the slightly bruised, slightly puffy area on my left foot?  Yeah.... not sure what I did or when I did it, but I hurt something. 

I realize it is really hard to see in this picture, plus my sandal-tan-lines make it a little harder to see the color difference.  But you can definitely see the puffiness, right?

So, here's the game plan for the next few days: pee on a stick to test for ovulation and take a few days off from running.  At this point, I'll try to get my 17-miler in on Monday (since I have the day off), so long as my foot is feeling better.  I definitely need this 4-day weekend!

Garden Babies

We started gardening three summers ago with one small 4'x8' raised bed garden.  We got hooked.  We've added an additional bed each year, and keep finding more things we want to try and grow.  These pictures are a few weeks old, I will have to update soon with more pictures of our bounty.

Yes, we put our garden in our front yard.  And no one would notice except for the fact that our tomatoes are 6 feet tall and the pumpkin vine is about to cross the driveway.  And ignore the grass.... it was really hot for a few weeks and we don't water it.

This year we planted:
6 tomato plants (2 Roma, 2 Salsarita/Vine tomatoes, 1 Cherry, and 1 Big Red)
4 bell pepper plants (2 red, 1 green, 1 yellow)
2 jalapeno peppers
green beans (fordhook, tenderpick, and stringless)
onions (yellow, red, and some green onions too)
2 zucchini
1 yellow squash
2 sugar pumpkins
basil
parsley
cilantro

This bed contains our green beans, herbs, and onions.  We had to put up the chicken wire since bunnies ate all of our green beans last year.  This year we won.

Yummy veggies!  Green beans, jalapeno, zucchini, and yellow squash were all ready by mid-July.

And look at our baby pumpkin.  I just wish that for the amount of space this dang pumpkin plant takes up that we would get more than one pumpkin on the vine!

Our garden is definitely Josh's baby.  He spends a significant amount of time each day watering the beds, pulling weeds, and inspecting all of our vegetables.  I often get asked "Hey, did you see that zucchini today?" or "Come look at our pumpkin baby."  Its really cute actually.  Now that we are getting veggies, I help out a lot more.  More garden updates and pictures of our haul next week!

When Bigger is Not Better

Boring post to follow.....

I had a "follie check" today - which is basically a quick vaginal ultrasound of my ovaries to measure the maturation of my follicles this cycle.  Today marks CD11, and I have 1 16mm follicle, and 4 others that are about 13 mm.  At this point, any of the smaller ones could either catch up to the big one and I might have multiple dominant follicles release an egg, or they could back off since another follicle appears to be "dominant."  The nurse said they like to see them 18-24mm for ovulation.  I also had some bloodwork done - E2 (estradiol), LH (luteinizing hormone), and P4 (progesterone).  My LH was a 7.8 - normal levels are 7 or below, but typically you will see a "surge" 24-36 hours before ovulation when levels can get closer to 20 (I'm too lazy to look up what the units should be on these numbers, sorry).   So anyways, I'm making good progress this cycle, and will go back in for another ultrasound and bloodwork on Wednesday.

On my first visit (2 cycles ago), I had 3 very large follicles - over 30mm - and my RE said ovulation was imminent.  I did some reading today, and it turns out bigger may not be better?  Someone said that anything over 26mm isn't likely to release an egg.  I plan to ask about this, and if we should consider using a trigger to induce ovulation before the follicles get too big.  And here I thought I had super-ovaries...... (no links here, because I would not consider the sources of this info even remotely reliable, thanks Google.  But it does make me want more info, so I will at least ask my doc about it and continue looking for other studies about this that I won't feel uneasy about referencing.)

Between the Drops

Its a rainy weekend here in Bay City, but I'm OK with that.  This is the first weekend in a month that we have zero plans, and our next few weekends are booked too.  It was a great excuse to relax around the house, catch up on cleaning, and watch the rest of our On-Demand cue. 

I also managed to fit a run in, though it was delayed a few hours because I decided I didn't want to run in the rain.  It was another step back week, so I only had 11 miles to do.  I managed to fit in a few P90X videos this week - whew, its been a long time since I did those!  Lots of push-ups, pull-ups and some Ab Ripper left me sore for the next three days!  I think a few more of those videos in rotation will do me good.

S 8/7: Rest
M 8/8: 4.11 pace, 35:12, 8:34 pace
Tu 8/9: P90X Chest and Back (first half), Ab Ripper X
W 8/10: 7.04 pace, 1:01:16, 8:42 pace
Th 8/11: 4.04 easy, 37:15, 9:13 pace
F 8/12: Rest
S 8/13: 11.05 long, 1:44:37, 9:32 pace

I ran 26.24 miles last week.  I'm already thinking about how I can adjust my training schedule for the coming week - we will be in Florida for my cousin's wedding next weekend.  The temps are rather undesirable, with overnight lows of 78 degrees.  Couple that with the fact that they are calling for thunderstorms every day, and it will be a hot and humid mess.  So I'm thinking I will get my 17 mile run in after we get back, either Sunday evening or Monday morning (since I took an extra vacation day).  Who wants to spend 3 hours running on their vacation anyways?

Where do they all go?

I went to the dog park with Josh and Lucy this afternoon.  I usually don't go - Lucy usually either gets a run with me or a visit to the dog park with Josh each day.  Lucky for us, the dog park is about a mile from our house and couldn't be more convenient.

But here is the interesting part - I found out Lucy can fit 3 (yes, THREE) tennis balls in her mouth.  How in the world does she do it?  I don't know, but she can carry all three around as much as she pleases.  See, Lucy gets bored with fetch fairly quickly now and prefers to hoard tennis balls at the park.  We have the puppy that doesn't share.  I kind of snicker at this, because there are plenty of balls to go around, but part of me is a bit flabbergasted that our puppy is a tennis-ball bully.

Josh neglected to share her new accomplishment with me a couple weeks ago when it happened, but I think we have all of those expectations sorted out now.  Next time we will have a camera on hand so we don't miss these important milestones.

*yes, I know tennis balls can be a choking hazard.  But we keep a careful eye on her and only let her play with them at the park when we are watching, not at home.

I Run to Eat

I cranked out 15 miles this morning, to bring my weekly total to 30.39 miles running and 14.0 on the bike.  Whoo hoo, I broke 30 miles!

S 7/31: Rest
M 8/1: Easy bike ride on the rail trail, 9.99 mi, 54:12, 11.1 mph
Tu 8/2: NRoLFW Stage 3, Workout B-4; 2.9 mi HIIT, 25:00, 8:37 pace; 1.31 mi easy, 12:10, 9:16 pace
W 8/3: 7.03 easy, 1:04:00, 9:06 pace
Th 8/4: 4.05 easy, 36:53, 9:06 pace
F 8/5: Bike to work, 4.01 mi, 22:19, 10.8 mph
S 8/6: 15.10 long, 2:24:06, 9:32 pace

Most runners will say they run to eat, and I'm one of them.  One of the huge benefits of running 15 miles in the morning, is getting to stuff my face at the annual Pig Gig festival in Bay City.  (Though I usually prefer sweets, barbeque and beer works too!)

My company hosted their annual "Pignic" at the Pig Gig this year, so that means we got reserved parking, a tent to eat in, meal tickets to any vendor we choose, and 8 drink tickets between the 2 of us.  (Yeah, plenty-o-drinks, that's for sure.)    Josh and I had pulled pork and ribs from Aussom Aussie and Two Fat Guys BBQ, and they were both really good - even with a long run, I couldn't eat all the food they gave us :)

There is a free concert each night on the festival grounds, and tonight's was Saving Abel.  I'm familiar with a few of their singles from the radio (18 Days, Addicted), so Josh and I brought some lawn chairs to watch their set and Josh's friend Tom joined us.  They played a little more than an hour, but that was enough since it was raining on and off the whole night, and picked up quite a bit towards the end.

(I took some pictures and video on my phone, but now they seem to have disappeared.... huh.)

So, we dragged our wet butts home to catch up with Tom for a bit.  It was a fun night - I always enjoy taking advantage of the things Bay City has to offer in the summer.

A MAY-be Baby

I started a new cycle today, which makes 10 cycles and 16 months trying to conceive baby #1.  We are hoping for a MAY baby this time around!  The protocol for this month is 150 mg of Clomid on days 3-7, which is earlier than my other Clomid cycles and will hopefully stimulate my follicles faster.  We go in for monitoring on day 11, and then will continue to go back until ovulation is imminent.  We have decided to forgo artificial insemination this cycle in favor of timed intercourse, but will consider IUI (intrauterine insemination) in the future (but hopefully we don't need to!).

I'm feeling good about this cycle and am in a pretty good place right now emotionally.  Training is really picking up, so my running is helping keep me distracted.  On top of that, I'm pretty excited for the races I have on the horizon.  At times I have struggled hearing pregnancy news from friends and acquaintances, but I have seen a couple new announcements in the past week and have avoided any tears.  Don't get me wrong, I am always incredibly happy for the couple when I hear the news that our friends are expecting.  I just get even more sad and frustrated with our own situation.  I have really tried to de-couple the emotions and remind myself that our situation shouldn't have any bearing on my excitement for our friends.  Josh is also really good at reminding me of this, so that helps too.

On an unrelated note....
Early to bed tonight so I can set my alarm for pre-sunrise tomorrow morning.  We've had some "cooler" temps for running this past week (like around 80 degrees, which is way better than 90), but of course tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, hot, and humid so I'll get my 15 miles in bright and early.  I had to make a Kroger run because I am out of my normal running fuel.

Last minute Kroger run: bruised banana, 12-hour old bagel, and vanilla Power Bar energy gels

Before a long run (of about 12 miles or more), I normally have a bagel (or toast or english muffin) with peanut butter and a banana.  Then I'll take a Gu (in this case Power Bar gel, but I prefer Gu) with me on the run and have one every 6-7 miles or so.  I also sip on some G2 in the morning and fill at least one of my fuel bottles with the Gatorade.  I really need to get to a race expo to stock up on some more gels and sport beans, since they are so overpriced at my local running store.

Marathon #2

I bit the bullet.  I'm officially registered for 26.2 on October 16th.  And when I'm done, this will be around my neck:

Deteroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon, here I come!

To make things a little more interesting, this year there happens to be a Lions home game on the day of the marathon.  We should beat most of the tailgaters to the parking lots in the morning (but some might get started crazy early).  I think it will just mean a few more cheering spectators, and a chance to grab some additional beer on the way back to the car!

The Leather Anniversary

Happy 3 years Baby!

Somehow I manage to love you more each day.  Thank you for being a wonderful husband and the most understanding, patient and caring partner I could ask for.  There are BIG things (in little packages) ahead for us, I just know it :)
P.S. Did you know that traditionally, three years of marriage is the leather anniversary?  When I tried to think of a leather gift, this came to mind:

Yikes, I know.  I'm pretty sure this is not what traditionalists had in mind.  There were probably thinking luggage or briefcases or something.  Its a good thing Josh and I just go out to dinner!