A Trip to Tucson

 

Over President's Weekend, we headed to Tucson to visit my folks. We purposefully planned it to coincide with the same weekend as the annual Gem & Mineral Show. Cameron has been dying to go to ever since I gave him a "rock" for Valentine's Day a few years ago. 

The "rock" is actually an amethyst geode smoothed out on one side, so it actually looks like the Death Star from Star Wars. One of my better Valentine's Gifts to Cameron, if I do say so myself. 

The Amethyst "Death Star", a blue geode from another trip and a meteorite from this trip

We got to attend the show together, sans kids, so we did get to celebrate Valentine's Day together and get a little date in - we even made it to our favorite sushi restaurant there, RA.  And this time, Cameron got not only another rock, but metal and a meteorite. The rock is actually a part of the metal, as native copper is formed around it. 

There was a ton more we saw that we would have loved to bring home, but we set ourselves a budget and kept to it (ok, I think we went $10 over it). We figure this won't be our last visit to the show, but we definitely will have a larger budget next time, and drive - I don't think we would be able to come home by plane with some of the things we were eyeing just because of the weight involved! Not to mention, going through security at the airport Sunday night made for an interesting conversation.

This trip also was Sydney's first time on a plane. London flew for the first time when she was 2 months old - hard to believe Sydney was 15 months old before hers. We also reminded ourselves why we held off on plane rides at this age. They sure don't like to hold still. We were flying in the evening both ways, so the girls traveled in their PJs and got many compliments on how comfy they looked. On the way there, we were on the same flight as the University of Pacific's Baseball team and we actually ended up being surrounded by them on the flight. Sydney enjoyed this immensely, waving and blowing kisses to several of the players. I was dying laughing, Cameron was freaking out - he thinks she's too young to be interested in boys.

London was wonderful on both flights. She was pretty calm and relaxed throughout both flights and a very good listener for us which allowed us to focus on Sydney's needs. Not exactly great timing for her two ear infections but the antibiotics luckily had already taken effect.

The girls were, of course, thrilled to see Grandma and Grandpa. While we were at the Gem show, they got to go to the park and golf course. My dad even bought London her own putter, though now there is a debate on whether she is a left or right handed golfer. Time will tell. 

During our downtime at the house, London had fun helping Grandma cook and wash dishes. Here she is making cornbread for our chili dinner night. 

The second day we were there, we headed to the Tuscon Children's Museum, which was having a special event, and offered free admission. We made it just in time to check out the last of the Zoo's presentation out front. And we were ready to head inside once those 10 minutes were over. It was 90 degrees, and we aren't used to that temperature yet. It was beautiful out though. 
 

London walked right to the front for a seat during the Zoo presentation

 

The Tuscon Children's Museum was fantastic and definitely somewhere we will go again, though on a non-free admission day - man was it packed. London and Sydney both enjoyed the freedom to roam and touch everything. 

They even had a special, soft room for those 4 & Under. We all agreed it would have been better to make the age range 2 & under - London was bored in there, but with my parents along, they followed London around while Cameron and I sat and watched Sydney run all over the place. It was similar to the equipment she plays on at daycare, but more of it. We discovered she likes to sit in holes or foam circles!

The last morning we were there, we headed back to the park. It was another warm day and the girls turned pink in the cheeks rather quickly. Even with water, we didn't last long. But the girls sure did look cute in their hats from Grandpa. 

Unfortunately for me, I came down with a cold while we were there, so we actually spent a lot of time at the house, being lazy and I even took a nap after the park before we left.

Sydney's Stats: 15 Months

Playing Dress Up with London's Boots & Sweater

Sydney had her 15-month well baby visit last week. Based on the survey I filled out for our doctor prior to our visit, Sydney is well on track developmentally, including being able to say a handful of words. Her vocabulary consists of: 

• Hi
• Bye
• All Done
• Choo Choo
• Shoe
• Mama
• Dada

And she almost has Jakey & Gibson down. 

Sydney is also doing well, physically: 

Height: 31 1/4" (85th percentile)
Weight: 23 lbs 12 oz (85th percentile)
Head Circumference: 44 3/4 cm (20th percentile)

I was shocked to learn that Sydney had two ear infections! The girl has been a snotty mess due to a cold and cough, but hadn't been sleep unusually horrible or pulling at her ears. She's on 10 days of antibiotics, which has all but wiped out the cold, and her ear infections. 

And because of the Kawasaki diagnosis and Immunoglobulin treatment back in September, Sydney was lucky and only got one shot. She'll probably not be thrilled when she turns two and starts to get her MMR and Chicken Pox vaccines to make up for missing those now. She was a champ though and barely noticed the poke. We head back in May for her 18 month visit.

Lost Energy - Again!

I wrote Tuesday's post last week - the day my energy literally felt like it had come back. Too bad it didn't last. By Friday I was dragging, again, and almost worse than before. Then came a cough. I was up all last Friday night with it, so running didn't happen Saturday morning as planned. 

I barely made it through the Sacramento Home & Landscape show that day - and returned home to take a 2 hour nap. Basically, I sleep hard but still wake up exhausted. It's really irritating me now, so I went to the doctor Tuesday and had blood drawn Wednesday in hopes we can find out why. 

The cough is allergy-related. With how dry and unseasonably warm it has been, allergy season has begin in Northern California early - super early. We can only hope that the rain that started yesterday continues for a few more days and brings even more storms our way, behind it. Honestly, please pray for rain in California. Our food supply (& prices) depends on it.Any how, the cough has already been greatly reduced by the use of a new inhaler. 

Let's just hope the blood work reveals why my energy levels are so low and that there is an easy fix to the issue. I can't stand it right now. All my doctor can tell me right now is to take it easy - and when I do rest, I have a little more energy the next day, which results in me going overboard in trying to get things done, creating a vicious cycle for myself. Ugh!

The good news is I have stayed motivated and dedicated to our meal plan and tracking my caloric intake. My exercise habits not so much, but a little is better than none, right? I did lose over 1/2 a lb last week too, which is a healthy direction.

Working on Weight Loss

What's up in your neck of the woods. We're working on getting into a nice little rhythm here. After this holiday season, Cameron and I both agreed it was time to get bcak on track with eating healthy and managing our weight. A few too many pounds had krept up on the scale for the both of us. 

Luckily, my work encourages participation in a Biggest Loser competition each year, that starts mid-January and runs for 9 weeks. There is a small fee to participate and any time you don't lose weight or gain weight from week to week, we owe a dollar for each pound gained. All this money is then donated to The Wounded Warrior Project. 

I participated last year and was doing ok, but then caught a stomach bug from Sydney, which resulted in me going downhill quickly. When I'm sick, my will power and eating habits going right out the window. Does this happen for any one else? I also think I just wasn't in the right place last year for the competition. I was just coming off maternity leave and lacking sleep thanks to Sydney. 

This year my head is more in the game. I am more motivated than ever. Cameron and I chose to follow the South Beach Diet plan, along with tracking our calorie intake via MyFitnessPal. We just completed the 1st week of phase 1, and both of us shed 5 lbs. My clothes already feel as if they are fitting better.

I'm also trying not to introduce too much at a time. Last week, the focus was on tracking our food, and cooking healthy meals. Luckily, I was already pretty good at devising a weekly meal plan & grocery list and we know we have grocery shopping to do on the weekends. This was enough, especially with how I felt by the end of the week. Sydney came down with a nasty cold two weeks ago and I caught a small one last week. I had that dry-throat feeling for 3 days and then had 2 sore throat days. Plus, I had no energy. But my motivation prevailed as did my will power. I stuck to the meal plan, even on the night Cameron wasn't home. 

Now, I have my energy back, though the dry throat is persistent. This week, I've focused on bring in some strength training to help tone my arms and core. And by the weekend I hope to having my running routine back. 

It's not easy though. The toughest thing Cameron and I have both found, after the initial feelings of starvation because it was obvious we were consuming too many calories, has been not taking a bite here or there of the kids food. 

We have settled into a nice routine though. First, we try and get a walk or run in before picking the girls up from daycare. Once we are all back at home, I work to fix the girls dinner. Someday, they will be included with ours, but Sydney is starving for food when we get home and bed isn't too far behind after she finished. 

Cameron sets to work making our dinner, while I deal with the girls, baths and dishes. Usually we are sitting down to dinner just as Sydney is down for bed. After eating, we spend time with London before she goes to bed. From there, I work on getting a few things done around the house. This week I am tackling our ironing pile. I have been ironing for 1/2 an hour each night. Then I do my strength training and core workouts before settling and relaxing each evening (usually, this involved my working on Sydney's Christmas stocking - I'm determined to have it complete by December but feel I have a long way to go still!).

Life on the Farm

 Cameron snapped these pictures of London pretending to drive the tractor sometime around Christmas when he was working on moving gravel into the eventual dog pen. Hopefully we'll be pouring cement there soon. 

Country life seems to be agreeing with London pretty well. She loves to make the trek down to the mail box with Cameron every evening after daycare pick up and any time the compost bin inside needs to be emptied (which is just about every other day with Cameron and I working toward some healthier eating habits right now.)

One of these days we'll get a good shot of her cute work boots too. You can kind of seem them in this last picture, but they've got flowers on them and are too adorable. Only wish they made them in my size. I had to settle with regular old black.