"Run, Forest, Run!!"

When you get to know me you learn one thing:

I will only run if someone is chasing me. I will run out of a building if it is on fire. I will only run if there is a wasp around. (story for another day)

That is my motto. Run from danger. You don't run for pleasure. Only crazy people do that! Why in the world would I do that to myself? Sounds like torture.

So.... then there's my husband. He likes me. (yea!) And he wants me to live for a long time. So He wants me to exercise my heart. (I don't actually exercise. I've attempted it a few times in my life though....)

We have had a Wii for three years now, and one of my favorite things about it is the 'exercise' "games". (I am using the word 'game' loosely here...) About a year ago we bought Wii Active with the Bob Green 30 day fitness challenge. Patrick and I made it all the way through..... four whole days of the the challenge. Whew! Go us!! :)

I picked it up again about two weeks ago. Again, I have made it through the first four days. (in the last two weeks mind you)

This particular game is torture for me, as they "make" you run. Ugh. Hate it. Especially with my huge nursing boobs.(TMI???)

However... I think.... I actually think that maybe it is having a positive affect on me. Last night I dreamt I was running - for exercise - and the most shocking of all.... I liked it.

What spell have you put me under Bob Green?!?!?

So maybe in the year 2010 I may actually be a person who exercises. Who knows.

Ode to Breastfeeding

When you are pregnant, perhaps then more than ever you think about this. Will you or won't you? If so, will it hurt? You watch others. Seems simple enough. Ahh... the joys of nursing. Wait a minute, what???

• Have you ever had a baby crying so fiercely that even when you "shove" your nipple in their mouth they don't even notice it and cry fiercely right into your boob?

• Have you ever pumped milk and looked in the bottle only to discover the milk is now a pinkish tint thanks to the fact your nipple is bloody from the over use - of never being squeezed like this before???

• Speaking of being squeezed, has nursing a baby ever felt like a rabid squirrel is chewing your spine out through your boob??

• What about sneezing? My baby pulls off of me to sneeze on my nipple then latches back on to finish her meal.

• Throw up is a FUN one. I have been thrown up on countless times nursing my four babies. My personal favorite is when there is a pool of it in your bra. Sometimes there is more spit up than you knew in there and you accidentally reclip your bra.....ewww.

• Poop. It is weird to have a baby actively nursing from you and pooping their loose, loose mustard poop into the diaper resting on your leg/arm. I guess it is true that what goes in, must come out, but seriously, at the same time??

• My baby girl just stopped nursing the other day to literally lift her upper leg and let a 'big one' rip - and then peacefully went back to her meal.

• What about the struggles of waking the hard-sleeping newborn? Ice on the back, thumping their little feet?

• Have you ever been woken by piercing cries at 2:30 am, only to latch them on after a 40 minute newborn struggle, and they fall asleep? So then you spend another hour trying to get them to nurse and finally they do, then you all go to sleep, only to have the baby cry and start the process over in just a little over an hour later????

• I do like it when they 'talk' and coo to you while nursing. Melts your heart. Like they are saying "thank you mommy. This milk is warm and yummy! I like the taste of the chocolate cake you had last night."

• Or, simply when they look at you - their precious little face staring into yours. A precious moment, a special bonding time.

• Has your baby ever smiled at you - and thus losing their latch? Funny.

• The baby falls asleep nursing. At 3am, or 3pm. Either way, it is so beautiful. And fulfilling. Can you even bear to take them off and set them down? Infancy passes too quickly.

For all you women out there who no longer have a nursing baby, perhaps this has jogged some great memories. Mommy amnesia happens all too quickly. You forget the little details. For those of you who bottle fed by choice or not, perhaps you can still relate, or are glad you missed some of this..... And for the ladies out there that are not yet at this point, happy decision making! But, don't let a little throw up in the bra keep you from an amazing gift!