Do we really have a "Big" Family???

I grew up in a big family....an actual big family: Kelly, Jordan, Heather,Samantha, Christopher, Candice, Natalie(ME), Nichole, Angelique, and Cameron. Ten of us plus parents. So. when I was watching a talk show the other day and the host commented to her guest who has three children, "Wow, that is a lot of kids." I laughed. Three isn't "a lot" is it? We have three. Does the world at large view a family with three kids as a big family? Then the other day I took the kiddos to visit Daddy at work. As we entered his staff room at the hospital with me pushing the baby in a stroller and the older two running around....I suddenly felt like I did have a lot of kids. We filled his office with bodies and noise. It was beautiful. Am I seriously a lady with a bunch of kids? What if we have a few more? Will we start getting jokes about being like the Duggers? "The doctor and his wife plus eight?" We are of the mind set that every child is a blessing...that doesn't mean we plan on having 20 though, so just calm down! It was just a strange transition that took place in my mind that day. For a moment I didn't feel like the young thing I usually feel like. I felt like a Mom with 3 kids. Very weird...and pretty awesome.

What does a Stay home Mom do?

I have a very busy husband. He is a resident physician who works at least 80 hours a week and another 20 at home doing paper/computer work for his job. Then he has his Daddy/Husband jobs. I admire his hard work and diligence. I am sure I only understand a fraction of what he goes through in a day....Reflecting on this got me wondering. What do I do in a day? I know I am busy too. How does it all compare? For my own information I decided to record all the tasks I performed in a typical day. Drumroll please...

• Wake up kids
• Nurse baby
• change baby's diaper
• get baby dresesed
• get me dressed
• brush my teeth
• wake up kids a second time (they are not morning people)
• Make sure kids get dressed
• do Pooka's hair
• get kids breakfast
• breakfast prayer
• feed baby breakfast
•  feed cats
• make sure kids have the following for school: Home work, lunches, library books, coat, hat, gloves, brushed teeth, clean faces.
• Clean baby after breakfast
• scrub highchair
• sweep floor
• Hugs/ kiss goodbye to big kids
• Play with baby
• teach baby to use sippy cup/straw
• change baby diaper
• read baby story
• rock baby
• put baby down for a nap
• eat my own breakfast
• chores for the day (I have a chart and do one area per day)
• put in a load of laundry
• check email
• order some Christmas presents
• More chores
• make phone calls
• make appointments
•  pay/schedule bills
• rotate laundry
•  empty lint form dryer
• fold clothes
• sweep
•  mop
• get baby up from nap
• change baby diaper
• nurse baby
• put away clothes
• practice choreography for a Zumba class
• feed baby lunch
• run 4 miles with jogging stroller/baby sleeps
• shower
• eat my lunch
• play with baby
• empty dishwasher
• scoop cat litter
• read to baby
• pick up kids at school
• drop off carpool friends
• help kids pack lunches for the next day
• help with homework
• play with kids
• get dinner started
• change into Zumba clothes
• make sure everything is ready for hubby to feed kids dinner
• welcome hubby home
• drive to Zumba (hubby was home this time so kids stayed home, they usually have to come with me)
• teach 1 hour Zumba class
• drive home
• shower
• eat my dinner
• pack lunch for hubby
• read Scriptures with kids
• do Family Home Evening
• read bedtime stories
• bathe baby
• get kids to take showers
• Family prayers
• tuck kids in bed
• nurse baby
• baby to bed
• hang out with hubby
• brush my teeth
• personal prayers
• personal Scripture time
• set alarm
• take vitamins
• SLEEP

Now this was a "normal" day with no doctors appointments for anyone or emergency trips to the vet or other craziness. Not bad huh? I am grateful for the chance to be a Wife and Mother, and for the opportunity to be busy serving those I love.

It is all becoming real now...really

Finishing residency, selling our home in Iowa, finding a new house in Utah, moving. It is all sneaking up on us. The other day we got an email with a pic of the brand new building that hubby's office will be in. "Coming soon Dr. Empey MD OB-GYN  September 2012" It is surreal. I pray this mega transition will go smoothly. So excited though. Here is an artist rendering of  new office....I have an actual photo but it wasn't in the right format to post here. It really does look like this...only more real.

Running with baby

Ever since I  started running (about five months now!) I have wanted/needed a jogging stroller. My hubby's schedule is too crazy to count on him to be home in time for me to get a run in...even just a couple times a week. So I figured if I had a jogging stroller I could go when ever I needed to, not just be waiting for someone to be home to watch baby. When the big kids are at school would be ideal.
Well, jogging strollers are expensive. About $120 for a decent, no frills, not high end basic stroller. That kind of decided for me...No go. BUT.....I am a bargain hunter. A dang good one. I have been keeping my eye out at the consignment stores around here for some time. I have seen a few okay jog strollers that were high end, but second hand. They were all over priced and kind of yucky dirty.
A couple days ago I found this beauty. It isn't fancy, but it is clean, practically new, and it works! It retails for about $110 and I got it for $69. Still more than this poor cheapskate wanted to pay, but I needed it! I didn't get to run at all last week because of hubby's work. I took it out for a test run yesterday, I love it. More importantly, baby loves it...she fell asleep while we were out. I got in 2 miles. Not bad for a test run. I read reviews about this model online and some people complained that it shook while pushing it. It does, when the front wheel is in swivel mode. When you lock it in place it is as smooth as anything. I was worried it would be super hard to run while pushing another human + the weight of the stroller, but it was surprisingly easy. The momentum actually helped me stay at a more consistent pace. I am well pleased with my bargain.

Ponsetti Races 2011

There is a race here in Iowa City whos proceeds go to treating clubfoot problems in children. I had been hearing lots of good about these races and I needed another goal to keep me motivated to keep working on my running. I signed up about a month ago...I signed the kids up too, for the kiddie races.

Today (October 1st) was the big day. It was great going to a race that was just five minutes from home...I got to sleep in :0) The weather was so perfect! Just chilly enough to wear cozy things and run without dripping sweat...much. There were lots of fun activities for the kids before the races started and for them to do while they waited for Mommy to finish. They decorated pumpkins, made sidewalk chalk pictures, did hopscotch with "Herky the Hawk" and played giant jenga and giant checkers.

I had made a goal to run this 5k in 35 minutes because the last one I did I finished at a little over 36 minutes. The course was not bad except for the grass! I had never really run much on grass, and I have decided I don't like it much. The paved parts of the course went through a beautiful wooded area. I was listening to my showtunes all the way and I felt like I was doing pretty well. I actually kept pace for about a half mile with a girl who looked to be about 6 feet tall...awesome. I did need to walk (quickly) a couple of times but I finished strong. Until I saw the clock...it said 44 minutes!!! What!? Okay. I figured out that the clock was for the people who had started the 10k about 15 minutes before us. Whew! My official time was 34:23. Yay!!! About two minutes better than last time. I was pretty proud of that.

GO POOKA!!

Ribbons!

The kids had their races in age groups. Pooka shell surprised us. She ran so fast! She was the fastest girl in her age group! Bubba-do was so awesome. He finished in the top half of his group with a smile on his face. They proudly accepted their participant ribbons. Hubby and Savvy cheered us on. It was a great way to start the day...as a family. These races may be a new family tradition

Green Smoothies

So...I am more and more into fitness and nutrition. I am making progress with my goal to become a runner (Went 3.5 miles a few times in the past week and a half!) I have always enjoyed fruits and veggies, but I knew I was not getting them as often as I should. In comes the "green smoothie" fad. I say "fad" because I have been noticing it everywhere all of a sudden. I decided to give it a try to see if it would kick my after the baby weight loss into action.
I went to the store and bought any fruit and green veggie that looked appealing. Spinach, Collard Greens, Green Chard, Kale. I had things in my cart that I had never tasted, let alone purchased, but at least I wasn't going to try and find ways to cook it all. Throw it all in the blender...easy as that.
There are purist out there that only put greens/veggies in these smoothies. I am not one of them. The fruit adds it's own nutrients and it makes them taste great!
I have been making a whole blender full every morning. I drink a full glass with every meal and whenever I feel hungry I drink some smoothie before snacking on anything else. I have also been more consistent with making sure there is at least one fruit and one veggie at every meal...for everyone in the fam. They taste pretty darn good! I keep quoting the latest "Kid History" (episode 6) " I know it is green, but what else is about it?"
I am starting on week two of this new way of doing things. The biggest change I have noticed so far is that I have significantly less cravings. I don't super want dessert or anything "junk foodish". I have lost about 3 lbs and I'm feeling very good. Baby Savvy even likes my smoothies. When ever I turn on the blender she gets all excited and wants to taste my drink :0) Here is what I made this morning:

• 2 large oranges peeled
• 3/4 cup coconut milk (decided to try this on a whim...yum!)
• 1 handful frozen strawberries (from our own garden no less)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 2 cups Spinach

Updates

Over the past month or so I have been considering all the things I should blog about. Because I couldn't decide which one thing to do...I did nothing. So now I will touch on all the things I should have.

Utah-
At the end of July we went to Utah for hubby to interview for positions as an OB-GYN. It was a really busy week. He met with at least one group (sometimes more) every day. Some were an obvious "no", but others were harder to decide about. We left with two top places in mind...One in Layton and one in Riverton/West Jordan. 
We visited with family, went swimming at the hotel, met with friends, ate at many of the places that we have missed since moving to Iowa, went to the Utah Children's Museum. All that, and we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary the day before we left town! Our date the night of our anniversary was to go see "Harry Potter".

Running-
I did a little bit of running while we were in Utah...not much though. When we got home I did a little recovering and signed up for my 2nd 5K. I recently had a personal best distance of 3.5 miles whilst running to show tunes! I considered blogging about that. It was so awesome being out in the cool "fallish" weather and listening to tunes that truly "trip my trigger"...I was practically giddy while running 3.5 miles...crazy.

Fall-
The weather has finally changed! I look forward to it all year. When the sweltering, sticky- humid, days slowly give way to a slight chill in the air at night. Then the noisy cicadas stop humming. The school year starts and we start planning Halloween costumes. When I can go running and not feel like I am drowning, both in humid air and sweat. Cool, crisp, sweater weather. Apple orchard weather. Pumpkin weather. It makes me happy.

Kids-
The school year has begun. Pooka-shell is in 2nd grade and looking so much more like a young lady than she did last year. Bubba-do is in kindergarten. He is loving it and I am missing him being home. Savvy is almost 7 months old. She can sit up, and roll over and is eating solid food.

The job contract is signed! We decided which place was best for us. We prayed about it and attended the Temple in Nauvoo to pray some more. It seemed like the decision was so easy. It all went so smoothly. After all this hard work and waiting... all the smoothness made it seem almost anti-climactic. We are thrilled and thankful. In 9 months we will be back home...done with residency. I can hardly believe it. That means this is our last winter in Iowa. Not sad about that...but it is also our last Thanksgiving here, and our last Christmas, and our last Halloween. Our last New Years, Easter, etc. There are many things I will miss about Iowa....I should blog about that.