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The annual post…
What did you do in 2014 that you’d never done before?
Welp…started raising a child, started a new job. That was new enough.
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn’t. I wanted to focus on balance. That was tumultuous. I’m an extroverted introvert and I have trouble saying no. I also did not PR my Ironman – I didn’t finish. My heart wasn’t in it. My only regret is trying; I should have been staying home with my baby. Shame on me. So many Ironman races await. Rachel will never be an infant again. I didn’t get it at the time but I do now. At least I lost some weight?
What are your new year’s resolutions for 2015?
Lose the weight. Be healthier. Drink less. Finish IMAZ. Do what’s best for US, not what other people want us to do. Brush off the haters (always).
Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sweet friend Merritt had her second baby boy, Maddox. A few other friends also had babies!
Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank goodness.
What places did you visit?
Traveling is my favorite ever. Took my first trip away from Rachel at 8 weeks – a 24-hour trip for my good friend Rachel’s (yes) bachelorette in NYC! I even paid to change my flight because I missed baby Rachel so much. It’s hard. We took a fantastic family vacation to Alaska to visit our dear friends Shea and Kyle. Rach was an angel on the flight!! I have a feeling now that she’s mobile that we went at the right time. A couple of other trips to NYC, plus Vegas, San Francisco + Napa.
What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?
Perspective. Life is short. I hate sitting still, but sometimes I have to in order to get the most out of life.
What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Am I allowed to say Rachel’s first birthday? Love that sweet girl.
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Taking a new job – I had never realized my full potential. I love being at a company that truly values its employees. Couldn’t ask for a better job!
What was your biggest failure?
IMTX. Something I never should have attempted. I regret spending a single minute of time on it. I should have been at home. I didn’t want to do it. So many regrets.
Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope.
What was the best thing you bought?
Tickets to Alaska. Love the place. We’ll be back.
Whose behavior merited celebration?
Always the strangest question. But, my parents – our whole family, really. They love Rachel exponentially and without question. My mom begs to spend time with her. She and my sister drove 8 hours in one day to spend 36 extra hours with her by themselves. I don’t know if any other girl has been so lucky as she is with the out-of-town grandparents.
Where did most of your money go?
Lolz, childcare? And (besides savings) travel. We love to travel!
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I personally would only allocate ONE “really,” but NYC Marathon was amazing.
What song will always remind you of 2014?
SHAKE IT OFF. Because I shake the haters off. Always have, always will.
Thanks for being a part of our year…
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Dear Rachel,
My sweet daughter, we have reached the first milestone. I have almost no adjectives for how awesome you are! Silly, adorable…they don’t seem to describe. So intuitive and smart. You wave “hi” and “bye bye.” You walk now. 6 or 7 steps, I count it. You love food, but what else is new?
I kiss your neck and you laugh and laugh. I make faces you recognize. You shake your head “no” at me and then do it anyway. I don’t know what else I could have possibly been expecting – you are your mother’s daughter, after all. A rebel.
I hope you are. I hope you always question authority. I hope you challenge yourself. May you develop your own opinions of the world. May you fight for what you believe in. May you fight for the ones you love. Be an artist. Be an academic. Be a warrior. Be a feminist. Be. You. Argue with the people you don’t agree with. Defend the ones you do. Be outspoken. Be (a little) obnoxious. And definitely be weird; normal is boring…
And know that Daddy and I are on your side no matter what.
I have no idea who you are yet. But I hope that I instill the proper values, that I give you some sort of moral compass. You inspire me every day to be a better person. I didn’t know why I was here, until I knew what I would die for. It was all you… every day of my life.
Love,
Mommy
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Dear Rachel,
You are truly the sweetest. You are the light of our lives and pure joy. That sounds horribly cliche, but it’s so true. I can’t imagine a sweeter baby.
Your laugh is contagious. I always tell you, “Nobody else laughs like you, Rachel.” You have sort of a crazy laugh, a hilarious heheehHEHEHAHAHAHAA. Genuine crazy person Broadway musical laugh. I just realized that it’s the Joey stalker laugh.
Just kidding, love.
You are standing! You can stand on your own for up to 10 seconds and then slooowly lower yourself back down. You’ll walk if we’re holding both of your hands, and a couple of times you have taken a tentative step toward me if I outstretch my hands, but then you tumble into my arms. You will definitely be full-on walking soon, and then we are totally in trouble!!
In Mommy’s office after the Halloween party.
You were a dragon – the cutest one! My t-shirt said Mother of Dragons. I am sorry I am so nerdy.
You partied too hard.
You are always happy. So rarely fussy – only when you are tired. Otherwise you are smiley and giggly, and oh so curious! You are interested in everything and never miss a detail.
You mimic our sounds (we can always get a “mama” and “dada” now, as well as something approximating “nonono”). You also make a deep grunting/growling noise, like you are exasperated. It’s hilarious. You do understand the word “no” and usually mind us if we say it and shake our heads. But you think it’s funny to be bad – I say, “Rachel….are you being a baaaad girrrrl?” and you crack up!
AND THE CLAPPING. I love it. We taught you how to clap a couple of weeks ago, and now all we have to say is, “yayyyyyyy!” and you start smiling and clapping. SO adorable. That’s a great one.
I can’t believe how fast time has gone. You are truly turning into an adorable little girl, and so smart and kind.
Never change from your silly and sweet self, my doll!
Love,
Mommy
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Dear Rachel,
It gets harder and harder to write these updates. You have turned into an almost-toddler in the blink of an eye, it seems. You’re 10 months now…
Just like it gets harder and harder to leave you every morning to go to work. I wake up before you and shower and by the time I’ve warmed up your bottle and poured myself some coffee, your’e stirring. I always ask the boys (the dogs of course) if they “want to go get Rachel.” They run downstairs and wait at your door. By this time you’ve heard us coming and are standing in your crib with a huge toothy grin – you’re such a morning baby!
You at nighttime:
Speaking of teeth, you have 6 now. 4 up top and 2 on the bottom! And you do use them. You’ve broken the skin biting me. I just assume it’s how you kiss right now
You LOVE the dogs. Every time they play around you, you crack up. That’s another thing – you are a very giggly little girl. Luckily your daddy and I are super silly so we get to hear your sweet laugh quite often.
You crawl everywhere, all over the house. We put a baby gate at the top of the stairs, of course. But you crawl from the living room through the kitchen, down the hallway, all the way to our room and then back again.
AND you pull yourself up to standing and your balance is getting really good! You can hold on with just one hand and I’ve noticed you’re much steadier – we’ll have a walker soon!
You have lots of activities! Story time at the library, Gymboree, and music class – music is your favorite. You went to Maya’s first birthday at a music class and had a blast! We noticed how much you liked the maracas and got you some. The first few days you would cry when we took them away and would get frustrated when you couldn’t stand up with them in your hands! Hilarious.
SUCH a happy girl. I love you!
Love,
Mommy
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This weekend started on Friday, very early. We woke up at 5:15 to get to the airport for a 7:30am flight to Tampa. We went to visit Shane’s grandmother, who has lived there for quite some time!
Watching Frozen on the plane.
We got in pretty early and I was super hungry so we went straight to lunch at good ol’ CPK in the nearby mall. Shane spotted H&M Kids and that tied us up for a little bit – my girl got a few new outfits (included a pretty birthday dress!). How did I walk into an H&M and come out with nothing new to wear myself? This is being a mom, huh?!
Then we headed to meet Shane’s grandmother at the home where she lives for Shabbat dinner. Rachel cried at first because she was tired and there were so many new faces, but pretty soon she warmed up and was the life of the party! Everyone got a kick out of her. I was walking down the hallway and heard two of the residents talking about her playing with her feet. Oh, she was such a hit!
After a couple of hours we headed out for the night and went to Target for some items we needed, plus a few we didn’t (oops). Grabbed dinner at Whole Foods to take back to the hotel room. The Renaissance by the airport was great! They sent up a Pack ‘N Play! Rachel was so tired and we went to bed shortly after her. We had bought some beer, but I could only drink 1/4 of mine before I was too tired.
Did not want to wake up and run, but I had already set something up with the local TNT chapter – so I’m glad I did, because that’s the only thing that got me out of bed at 5:20am! It was raining – booooo! But I was looking forward to getting some miles in and meeting some new people – I ran with another girl named Christa! Ended up getting 11 done, that’s 11 more than I would have done on my own.
I was hungry (sensing a constant theme here) and on my way back to the hotel saw a TooJays sign around the corner! TooJays is this Jewish deli chain in Florida that my high school boyfriend first introduced me to (he was from FL). Shane and I went once in Fort Lauderdale before a cruise, but I was pleasantly surprised to find one in Tampa. Made for a good breakfast (omelette, potatoes, and a bagel for $7 – yes please). Also got some mini black-and-whites, the best!
After breakfast we headed over to see Shane’s grandmother again and had lunch with her (constant meals, like I said). We sat outside for awhile and then Rachel was happy to climb around inside – she was holding onto her stroller with just one hand while standing, which I’ve never seen her do before. Right now she needs something to climb up on, but I give it a week until she’s standing up from the ground on her own. It was sad to say goodbye after a couple of hours but Rach was getting fussy and needed a nap.
Back at the hotel, Shane and Rach both snoozed before my friend Merritt’s mom, Maureen, who lives in the area, came over for a drink! We went to the hotel restaurant and caught up for an hour. So good to see her!!
Took Rach to the hotel pool for a bit and then it was time for bath and bed for her. She wasn’t quite willing at first…
Shane picked up Thai food and we had another night staying in and watching The Lincoln Lawyer.
Another breakfast at TooJays, then quick to the airport to get home this afternoon. Laundry, work, dinner, Breaking Bad, updating the blog a little, and now it’s time to turn in. Rach was sleepy all afternoon…
Busy and emotionally draining weekend. Lately it feels like we don’t get a break – I know that sounds whiney, but man…I just need a break. My energy is way down.
Anyway, hope you had a good one!
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Written yesterday, posted today. But I am posting, so there’s that. And also my phone wiped out all my photos with a software update which I’m trying not to freak out about, but yeah, lost all photos and videos of Rach. Anyway…
This weekend kicked off with Aziz Ansari at Toyota Center! While Shane and I both agreed his last set (Buried Alive) was funnier, it was enjoyable. It just lasted so late!! Jess was babysitting for us and I thought we’d be home by 10:30 or 11 at the latest, but we didn’t get home til midnight. AHHH!
So…got very little sleep. I had to wake up at 5:30 to get in my 16 miles. Which actually isn’t that early, it’s just the late bedtime that bothered me. I have NYC Marathon on 11/2. I know it’s not going to be the time I’m wanting, so my “A” race for the season is Houston Marathon in January! I know the course like the back of my hand, so here’s hoping for a PR then…not gonna happen at NY. I’m still trying to get back in shape. 5 more pounds to go. Plus I have to get back in mental shape. Kinda being a baby.
But no time for that this weekend because I can’t take 3 hour naps after my long run anymore. After the mileage I took Rachel to music class, which she loved! It was so adorable seeing her crawl around to the other babies and pop bubbles with her fingers – what a little mess! It didn’t last long enough, she loved the music so much!
She was due for an afternoon nap and I was due for a tour at Holocaust Museum Houston, so I spent a couple of hours there before coming home and doing bath and bottle with my baby (I just re-read this sentence and realized I should clarify that I gave Rachel a bath and bottle). But then Shane and I took advantage of the weather and had a drink outside on the balcony – it was nice. A rare cool evening in September.
Woke up early today to get in some miles on the bike – went with Jess and Lindsey to the Karbach ride – here’s the photo at our gas station rest stop! The only photo I have from all weekend thanks to said phone.
Rachel accompanied me to a meeting for our fundraiser this week and enjoyed her first crepe outside the womb – she had so many in Paris last summer when she was inside! ;o) Pleased to say she loved ‘em…
Hope you had a great weekend!
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Dear Rachel,
Your mother is perpetually late. Especially these days. No matter how early I try to leave, I always am a few minutes behind. Usually. So it should come as no shock that these letters are always. late.
But really, I remind myself that I need to write them and I resist. It’s hard for me to admit that you are nine months old. Maybe I was in a sleep-deprived stupor for the first few months, but I swear those passed like days.
And now you are 9 months old. This is you in a Frozen coma – the only way we can get you to sit still – but you have no interest in paying attention to the camera when Frozen is on!
Of course I remember what you at 9 months has been like though. You full-on crawl, on hands and knees. You pull yourself to a standing position and even walk along the furniture; once you tried to go from the coffee table to the couch and were short – fell on your face. You cried for all of five seconds – you’re SUCH a tough girl. Everyone says so. The dogs knock you down, you slip and hit your chin, you bump your head. But you take it all in stride. I’m amazed at you.
You can say dada and mama (though you don’t know what that means), but mostly you just babble. It’s hilarious because you have a toy phone and you know exactly what it’s for. You put it to your ear and start talking away. Daddy and I come up with your dialogue – you always sound so busy and important! “What the h, Frank? I told you to have those memos on my desk by this morning!” You’re gonna rock this crazy life thing, I can tell.
You’re starting to really and truly engage. You laugh when we tickle you and play peekaboo. You LOVE “I’m a Little Teapot,” “The Noble Duke of York,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” and of course any song from the Frozen soundtrack. You, watching Frozen? You’re in heaven. It’s so adorable.
You have FOUR teeth now (two bottom, two top). At the doctor’s office this month you weighed 21 pounds, 4 ounces and were 29.5 inches long – 85% for weight and 90% for height. And the doctor diagnosed it herself – you’re a hot mess.
I miss you every day while I’m at work. But you are a very happy and healthy baby and that’s all I can ask for. I love you!
Love,
Mommy
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