Family Photo Shoot

About a month ago we had our family pictures taken and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Our boy is turning out to be quite a star in front of the camera!

Grammy and Nana

At Nana's house, Toph gets to pick tangerines.

At Grammy's house, he gets to ride in a big red wagon.

Little guy definitely hit the jackpot in grandmas.

Sneak Peek...

A little sneak peek of our Christmas card...

Doesn't everyone look thrilled?

We can't wait for everyone to see the finished product...for now, it's top secret!

Happy Birfday Aunt Mollye!

Today is Aunt Mollye's birfday!  We sure do miss her around here and hope she has an awesome day!

Looooveeee yoooooo Moooooolooooooo!

Kristopher, Gene, and Kristopher Gene

Toph is named after three great men; Kris, Matt's best friend who introduced us, my dad (Gene Flippen) and Matt's dad (Gene Kelsey). 

Kris

My Dad (Big Papa)

Gene (Grandpa)

Toph is named after a trifecta of great men and I think it's safe to say they're all crazy about him!

Not Quickly Broken

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 
Ecclesiastes 4:12

My Water Baby

Toph loves to swim! He had a blast in the pool at his Nana's house...and I got in a swimsuit for the second time of the season; something I vowed I wouldn't do.  Turns out when you have a baby you sacrifice things like vanity to be with your baby.  We both had a blast! 

Imagine

Imagine this: your family of three decides to take baby on its first overnight trip...oh, the possibilities. The destination? Way down south in McAllen, TX. A mere 15 minutes from the border. But you don't make plans to go border hopping, oh no. Nana and Poppy's house provide all the fun you could want without leaving the country. We knew Toph would appreciate the undivided attention from his Nana, Poppy and Gigi, while hubs and I would appreciate the gameroom, pool, delicious food and a brief break from diaper changes.

Since it was Toph's first overnight trip, it was mama's first time packing him for an overnight trip. It's amazing that such a tiny person needs so many things. I made a list, checked it twice and got busy. By the time 9pm last Thursday rolled around, all my precious baby's essentials were packed in the car, ready to go. I was exhausted! Hubs and I made a plan of getting out of the house by 9am. I woke up the next morning at 5am realizing...I forgot to pack myself. I realized that I forgot to pack myself at the same time the baby woke up for his first feeding of the day, so as he nursed, I began making a mental list of all the things I would need.

Every time I pack, I always visualize where I am going, including the weather, the longevity of our stay, the occasions and the location. Before I was a mama, this system never failed me. I quickly realized that now that I am a mother, a list will need to be made for both me and the baby. While the baby didn't have to go without any essentials, mama had to buy new essentials from the neighborhood Target in McAllen. Oh well. Live and learn.

Long story (oh, I could really stretch it out) short, we were out the door by 9:45am. The drive is about four hours long and the baby passed out almost immediately. He only dislikes his carseat if he is not in the car, if that makes sense. We got to our 281S exit in Three Rivers, TX and I was famished (I spent the morning packing, not eating) and hubs had to use the restroom. Three Rivers is a perfect place to eat a quick meal, get gas and...get stranded?

Actually, not so perfect, but that's what happened. While in the drive-thru line, we noticed a crazy sound coming from our reliable Subaru. Hubs tried to convince me it was normal and got back on the thoroughfare to get on our way. When we started driving again, we soon found out it was not normal. The powersteering went out and the noise got worse. Hubs pulled over and pulled this out from under the hood:


That is the alternator belt and it was shredded. Apparently it's quite an important part to the inner workings of a car. Hubs saw some men next to our car and asked where the nearest auto shop was. Luckily, it was right across the street. We puttered over in the torrential rain (yes, torrential, Hurricane Alex had made landfall) and hubs went inside to see if they could help us.

At this point, I was doing okay. I had food, my baby was sound asleep and the air conditioning was still going in the car. Hubs got back to the car and told me some not great news, but I was able to keep my composure. He said that we should not dare to try and drive to McAllen with no alternator belt, as we wouldn't make it 20 miles and this was the last town with a reliable auto shop for awhile. He then said they would be able to replace the belt, but it wouldn't come in until 3:30pm and they close at 4pm, so they wouldn't be able to install it until Monday, as they're closed on Saturday and Sunday.

I was feeling a little bothered at this point but oddly calm. Before I was a mother I am sure I would have been freaking out, but I guess now that I'm a mom I must maintain composure for the sake of my child. Anyway, that's what I did. While our family members were a long way away (Matt's family: 3 hours, my family: 2 hours), I knew they wouldn't let us sit in a weird place all weekend. We're truly blessed like that. We got on the horn and of course, the lovely Jayne, Toph's adoring Nana, said she would drive the three hours to pick us up so we could still have our weekend getaway.

This did however leave us with three hours to kill in Podunk Three Rivers, TX. This is the view from our car:


Neat. We Kelsey's are a resilient people, not to mention adventurous, so we didn't despair. We played in the car for awhile (while the air still worked). When the car completely died we hopped out and braved the rain while exploring Three Rivers. We found an outrageously priced boutique and a smelly grocery store. After that we waited for Mama Jayne and Daddy Mac to pick us up. Toph got to nurse for the first time in an auto shop bathroom, so did I for that matter. Toph was an absolute gem, given the circumstances. He entertained the crowd in the auto shop, cooed and smiled for the whole place and brightened the day of all there. In fact, he didn't cry once while we were stranded. He fussed once when his daddy decided to have him try his hat on:


And I'll leave you with my favorite picture of our little adventure; Toph telling me in his own special way that it's time to eat:

That's my boy!

Toph's Fan Club

What a lucky boy to be blessed with such doting grandparents!

Spring Break!

We have had a fabulous spring break here in the cold midwest. Even though it might be cold outside, we have received so much warmth from our family, which has made the trip so awesome.

Chicago. I loved the city and had a great time. I am even more thankful that I got to experience it with my husband and his parents. We all had so much fun. I would say my favorite part of Chicago was the people watching and the eating. We never had a bad meal. I was taken aback at the amount of black worn by Chicagoans and the hurry that they always seemed to be in. I also loved watching the taping of "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me", a favorite NPR show of ours. It was hilarious. If you listen on Saturday you might be able to hear us laughing.

Ashley and Andre. If you want to meet two standup people, I will introduce you to these two. They are my brother and sister in-law and are both so fun to be around. We have watched them grow up into these really cool people who never cease to amaze us every time we see them. It has been so great to see them, they are two of my favorite people in the world.

Eating. I haven't been eating like a runner this week, I can say that much. But I have had some delicious food. Delicious. We ate at this precious place called "The Bongo Room" one morning for breakfast that was so cute. I had an omelette with spinach and chicken. I drank a TON of coffee which was awesome. We ate at Harry Caray's, the famous Cubs announcer's restaurant. I had a chicken vesuvio sandwich, also very good. I drank coffee there too. I have been splurging a lot this week, but it was a vacation and I know I will get back on the wagon once I get home. It was ALL worth it too.

Weather. Before we left for the midwest it was 80 in SATX and I thought, "I will welcome some nice, cold weather." Well, cold weather is just what I got. I would say the weather in Chi town bordered on bitter. Forget running outside. Forget about it. I didn't bring my cold weather running gear and I wasn't about to run without it. Too cold.

Running. I was able to run three times indoors at the YMCA here in Ankeny. I ran three and a half miles the first time and had to stop due to severe calf/shin pain. However, the second time I was able to complete four miles and it felt really good. No pain and I didn't even get tired throughout. Today I ran another four miles and it was a little tiring. I think it was because I skipped three days running and my eating wasn't that great. I got through the four miles though and that was good. I can really tell I'm getting better at running long distances, in my head and in my body. My heart is really good at beating, my lungs are really good at inflating and my legs just keep on kicking. When we get home I'll be ready for longer distances and more speed work.

Basketball. One of my favorite parts of this trip is that every time we have gone to the gym, MGK and I have played basketball afterward. It has been a lot of fun spending time with him like that, chatting and shooting around. I also have to say that shooting with him made me remember how much I enjoyed playing basketball. Mostly though, it was fun to play basketball with my husband. When we buy our house, a hoop will be going in on the driveway for sure.

That's all for now. I hope all of you have had an equally fabulous week, even if you didn't spend it jetsetting around the midwest.

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

First of all, I am coming to you live from my in-laws' living room and let me tell you, its the best thing ever. I LOVE my husband's family and its such a blessing to be here. More on our trip later...

I don't know if you know this, but I've been running a lot lately. (Ha, ha, it's the only thing I've been talking about the last two weeks.)

Anyway, I want to talk about some changes Ive noticed in my hunger. I am always hungry!!! However, the hunger is different than normal. Before I started running long distances consistently, my hunger would just appear out of nowhere, like, one minute I was fine and the next minute I was incredibly hungry. It would just appear. I would eat (normally too much to try and quench the hunger) and then I wouldn't be hungry anymore.

Not so anymore. Now, I eat and about two hours later, I am hungry again. But it's not the same hungry. It's like a slow gnawing hunger in the back of my stomach that's just there. It reminds me that I need to eat soon, but I don't feel that panicky "I must eat" feeling. I eat a small snack, the hunger goes away and then a couple of hours later, it comes back. That means that I am eating all the time, just not as much. I am not consciously trying to do this, it just happens because while the gnawing hunger is not as bad as my old kind of hunger, I would rather it not be there at all. I kind of like this change because that panicky hungry feeling is my least favorite feeling and it doesn't make me the nicest person. When I have the gnawing hunger, I am still a normal, sane person.

I have also found the key to the reason my calves light on fire when I run outside. Actually, it's not only when I run outside. I should say that the only reason my calves don't burn is when I run on my treadmill at home. My treadmill is special because it has a special padding underneath the belt, which cushions as you run. Other treadmills, like the one I ran on yesterday and the sidewalk/paths do not have said padding. So, what I am experiencing in my calves and now my shins has to do with the lack of padding. Now that I have that figured out, I need to know how to make it stop because it hurts. It hurts so bad that I start to do a little dance I have titled the "Burning Calves" dance. It starts right after I quit running. I just can't start to stretch quick enough, so I end up hopping around and shaking my legs. Ouch. So...yesterday's run was scheduled to be four miles but I had to stop at three and a half. I must give a shout out to the bro in law for taking us to the gym so I could put myself through that torture. When we get home there will be a lot more outside runs for me. It's freaking freezing up here in Iowa and I want to avoid pneumonia so I am going to stick to the treadmill while we're here.

Happy Spring Break everyone!