Visit with Santa

Last year, I missed Hannah's visit with Santa. The base children's Christmas party was the day Meeghan was born so my neighbor took Hannah. I was told she did not want to go near him, but she still has the bath duck he gave her. This year I wasn't sure how she would do. E's squadron had a Christmas party last week. It was in the hangar which was pretty neat since I hadn't seen that part yet. They asked for wrapped gifts for your kids so Santa could hand them a gift after their visit. They also had bounce houses, cookie decorating, crafts, and snacks. It was a pretty nice set up. They even had free pizza!

I swear bubble wrap can entertain kids for hours. Meeghan didn't get it, but Hannah loved it.

These were their favorite activities. Hannah loved the bounce house, and Meeghan thought it was fun to push the chair everywhere until she found the tie downs in the floor that are full of grease. She was a mess by the time we left. 

Santa "arrived" in a P-3

Hannah wasn't sure she wanted to sit on Santa's lap, but she did. She was pretty shy. I was waiting for her to cry. I wasn't sure how Meeghan would do. She is pretty friendly so I assumed she would be okay. Honestly, I thought I would have the kid that yanks off Santa's beard. Luckily, she didn't do that. She was more interested at looking at everything. Overall the girls enjoyed themselves, and they loved their gifts from Santa, so I consider it a successful day for my family. 

First birthday!

I am a bit behind on posting about Meeghan's birthday. Like most one year old's she had no clue what was going on. She did get pretty excited when she saw the cake with the candle, and she loved the cake.

She sort of figured how to unwrap the gifts. She kept back to the previously opened gift to play with it. Of course Hannah was trying to open everything and then play with the toys. Every toy became their toy. She had some jealousy issues that weekend. 

We went to Disney World to celebrate. Meeghan had her button to let everyone know it was her birthday. She rode the tea cups for the first time and loved it. I get sick just watching those things. Overall, I think she had a pretty good first birthday weekend. 

Training update

I am about 2 months away from my first half marathon. I would say my training is going pretty well. I have some minor aches and pains, but nothing that is terrible. My running schedule seems to be working for me. I run 30 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays with alternating increased long runs on the weekends. For instance, this past weekend I ran 4 miles. On Saturday I am scheduled to run 11 miles. The weekend after that I will run 4 miles again (maybe if I can stand the cold temperatures in KC). I did 9.5 miles a few weekends ago, and it felt good. I ran it slower than the last few runs, but I was able to run all of it and feel decent. I was definitely getting tired at the end, but I figured I could probably go another half mile. I am getting faster on my shorter runs which is encouraging to me. It shows me that my body is getting stronger and that the training is paying off. The only downfall is I have experienced chafing, and it hurt. My hydration vest rubbed on my 8 mile run so I had to tape up my arm for my 9.5 mile. I had bad chafing on my thighs, and then I had some under my boobs. I didn't even think I could chafe there! Overall, things are going well. There are some days where I really have to talk myself into opening the door to get a run in, but I think that is true for everyone. Isn't it?

A chapter has closed

About 10 days ago, I pumped for the very last time. I was down to pumping once a day and I was only making about 2 ounces. It was bittersweet for me. It has been so nice to have my body back and the freedom to live without a pumping schedule. However, it also meant that I was finished providing for Meeghan. I still have around 2000 ounces in the freezer so I am still providing for her, but I felt a bit sad that I wasn't giving her fresh milk anymore. She only has about 15 ounces of milk a day so I will be able to give her breast milk for awhile. I offered some to a friend of mine who just had a baby and is having trouble with nursing and pumping. It still amazes me that I made it that long. I never realized how much of my life it consumed, and how different my life was. Constantly dragging the pump and supplies with me if we left the house for a long time, cleaning parts, trying to entertain the kids while pumping, and waking during the night to pump even after Meeghan started sleeping through the night. Now that I quit I look back wondering how I did it. I am very lucky that with Meeghan I was encouraged by my doctor and her doctor to continue with pumping. When I tried pumping with Hannah I was told several times it would not work, and that I just needed to get her to latch. I only lasted two weeks with Hannah. I was uneducated about pumping, I was battling the baby blues, and I was told it wouldn't work. It is hard to fight against those things. I wish I could go back to those women (they were doctors and lactation consultants) and tell them that they should be more supportive. I made it 11.5 months, and I stopped on my terms. I could have gone longer. I know pumping doesn't work for everyone, but it is an option that women should have.

One year

One year ago today, my little Meeghan was born (you can read about it here). I can't believe it has been an entire year. She has moved twice and lived in three different houses in her short life. She is walking, talking, laughing, and starting to throw tantrums. She is definitely becoming a toddler. She also loves to climb. She will climb anything that she can find. She is trying to communicate with us with words or signs. I can understand some of what she says, but most of it is still babbling. She loves Pepper. She will hug Pepper any chance she gets. Pepper tolerates her most of the time, but she isn't fond of Meeghan climbing on her. I am trying to soak up all this sweet toddler time because I know those terrible twos are on the way. I couldn't resist doing a little through the year pictures of her. I am biased, of course, but I think she is pretty darn cute. I can't wait to see what the next year will be like with her.

I am going home!

Thanks to my dad's generosity (and my mom's according to him) we will be heading to KC for Christmas. It will be nice to see KC at Christmas again. I haven't seen the Plaza lights in a few years as well as Christmas in the Park (a favorite of mine). I am hoping that I can quickly throw a birthday party together for Meeghan so my extended family can meet her. I figured it has been a year it may be time she is introduced to them. I hope it snows just enough so the girls can play in it, but not so much that it ruins plans. Hannah hasn't seen snow since she was 7 months old and she really wants to build a snowman. There is a tiny part of me that is sad we won't be here because we really haven't had a chance to start traditions, but I think it is good for the girls to be around their family. Plus a friend of mine just had a baby and I am dying to meet her. I can get my newborn baby fix without the sleep deprivation that comes with one.