Derby Week Monday!

I've decided that I'll probably blog every day this week because I'm so anxious and excited for the weekend that I need to kill some time and stay busy. :-)

Today was another eventful day in the Cecil household. Alarm clock was blaring at 530 and I hopped out of bed to crank out some Cardio T-25. I killed it and felt great. Apparently it must have been sleep in day at my house because Charlie and Ryan didn't bother rolling out of bed until 8 which was GREAT for me! I actually got to relax a little this morning and enjoy a cup of coffee which I normally don't do. Most times I'm rushing around, making lunch, straightening the house, feeding the baby, getting the baby dressed or doing some other random thing around here. So anyway, when those two sleep in, I enjoy it.

When Charlie finally decided to wake up I was changing her and noticed a rash all up her belly and her back to her hairline. I was like oh great, what terrible thing is wrong with her now! I was hoping it was just a little reaction to her medicine or maybe she had a reaction to some mandarins that she tried for the first time Sunday. I wasn't too concerned because she seemed fine so we got ready and off to daycare we went. When I got there I was telling Miss C. about the rash and then Ms. T came out and told me that it could possibly be strep rash. WHAT?! She was tested for strep last week when we were at the doctor but they had me convinced that this is now what she had. Ugh.

They let her stay and I told them I would call the doctor so that's what I did when I first got to work. Of course they said they needed to see her so here goes another half day at work. Thankfully my bosses have been understanding and haven't minded me leaving to take care of the little one. They have a ton going on so I really appreciate them on days like today when I'm stressing out and worrying about the little bug. I left work at 2 and picked up the kiddo and we ran over to the pediatricians office. It was really crowded when we got there but we had an appointment so it didn't take long to get back and see Dr. Rash. Ha. Her name is Dr. Rash and we were seeing her because Charlie had a rash. That was ironic.

As soon as she walked in and looked her over she said immediately that Charlie didn't have strep and even if she did the antibiotic that she has been on since last week would have already knocked it out. Well, that's nice to know. She informed me that Charlie has a touch of Roseola which if my mother in law hadn't called me earlier in the day to tell me that this was something Ryan got when he was younger after a fever I would have looked at her like a deer in headlights. Instead I felt pretty informed and grateful that it was nothing to worry about! (Thanks Jan!)

When we left the doctor I was so relieved. The last thing we need during Derby week is Strep and a sickly baby! We came home and she immediately went down for a nap and I tidied up a little since I had some unexpected free time at home. Today has been so rainy and dreary so I haven't really felt like doing much except sitting around. Glad I knocked out my workout early.

Next topic. A friend and fellow blogger has entered a cute little picture of her and her daughter in a mother/daughter photo competition and I think you should go vote for them. The link to her blog is HERE and the voting site is at the bottom of her blog. Feel free to browse around. She's always blogging fun stuff!

Well, I think my husband is on the way home so I guess I better wrap this up. Hope everyone is having a great day despite the rain (here in KY).

118/365

As long as it stops raining by Friday we will be in good shape. 

xxx

Ryan & the rashy babe

Progress and daily life update!

Hello my followers!

I know I haven't written an actual blog in a while but I promise it's only because I've been so busy lately. I say this all the time but I will be SO glad when Ryan's night shift is over. Looks like it will be just in time for summer too. That makes me happy because we will get to go out and do stuff together with Charlie while the weather is nice. It hasn't been terrible during the winter but I would hate to spend the summer nights without my love.

SO! As most of you know I started a weightloss competition on January 5th. I'm in one with all my friends, who are totally kicking ass by the way, and considering most of us girls had babies last year we totally rock for wanting to get back in shape as soon as we could. (I'm a little late, my kid is almost 1 :-) ha)I'm also in another one on a website called dietbet.com. Totally genius idea and concept but you really have to be focused to at least win your money back. I bet $125 that I would lose 10% of my body weight by July. I'm well into that bet, I've already lost 6% and I fully intend to lose the 10% plus more. My friendly diet bet ends in April so I really need to kick my butt into gear for the next two months.

I've really been focused on eating right and staying away from fast food and garbage that I know my body does not need. I haven't totally kicked the diet cokes, I maybe have 2 a week but I know I need to give those up too because really they do absolutely nothing for me. I've been running 3 miles a day 5 days a week and sometimes my weekend runs are a little longer. Running at 530  in the morning is really the hardest thing ever, especially in the cold, but I would rather knock my workouts out early so I can spend time with the little bug when she wakes up. My pace is getting better too. When I first started running again my pace was like 12:50 per mile. haha. I'm back down in the 10's now so that makes me smile. 

I've decided not to run the mini or any of the triple crown races this year. Those races take so much out of me and by the time they are done I don't want to run again for like 6 months! So, I've decided to take this year off and focus on fun running for ME!

I'm still working on my 365 project and it's coming along. Shooting everyday has done wonders for me. It sometimes hard to think of things to photograph though. Especially in the winter. Especially this winter. IT'S BEEN SO FREAKIN' COLD! Ugh. I'm so ready for it to be over, but nope, snowed again last night. Jeez.

So yeah, that's what's been going on with me lately. I'm also planning little bugs first birthday party! That's probably a whole different blog I should write because there is no way a 1 year olds birthday party should stress me out the way this one has. More on that later. Probably after the party.

I'll be posting another blog later with the 365 update and following that up with a special blog about a special client of mine having TRIPLETS! I've snuck some in on Pinterest. Check the link--->

Hope everyone has a great day!

xxx

Ryan

It's just one of those days...

Sitting here listening to Lana Del Rey Radio on Pandora, playing around with photos and hacking the husbands Facebook account. It's a lot of fun. :-)

Yesterday was Charlie's 9 month doctors appointment and of course Dr. Hubbs didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. Our little bug is perfect :-) She weighs a whopping 22 lbs and is 27.4 inches long. Last Friday she started crawling and then out of no where yesterday she started pulling up to her knees on her toy box. I guess this means she's going to be pulling up to standing position and walking before I know it. I can't believe how fast this is all happening! Make it stop! Just kidding, I enjoy watching her grow, learn and discover things.

She only had to get one shot yesterday so she was pretty happy about that. Here is day 20.

Today is the last day to post my week 3 image for the lyric "It's like you're my mirror, my mirror staring back at me" for The Photographer Within's P52. I had this whole idea planned out in my head that incorporated Charlie but she just didn't want to cooperate with me this week. So instead of Charlie, I completed another selfie.

Day 21. Week 3.

I feel like it was kind of cliche to take a picture of myself in the mirror. I guess I was a little uninspired this week. Hopefully I can have some fun with next week's lyric.

I haven't really talked much about my weightless journey recently. I weigh in again Saturday but I'm currently down 7 lbs. Hopefully I'll be down another 2 by the time I weigh in again. I've really been doing great running and eating right. I feel so much better than I did 20 days ago. I'm not really trying to diet, I'm just trying to focus on making lifestyle changes and not eating crap that I was before. Luckily for me I've got a lot of motivation $$$ and some good friends along for the ride. :-)

Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts just came on. Wow. I love this song, it reminds me of a million different things.  I think I'll go ahead and sign off for tonight and sing this song at the top of my lungs. (Hope my neighbors can't hear me.)

xxx

Ryan

xxx

Ryan

Outdoor running essentials, a story & my playlist.

Good Monday morning!

This morning Charlie decided to wake up at 430 hungry and of course after I fed her I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to get up and go for a run. I turned on the news around 5am and saw that it was 52 degrees outside so I knew that I was going to take this mornings run outdoors. Normally in the summer/spring/fall I always run outdoors but this winter has been icky so I've been taking full advantage of my treadmill.

I geared up with my essentials: Day 13.

1. Brooks Trance 12 Running Shoes
2. Belkin Arm Band
3. Iphone with the Nike running app (758.1 miles, whew!)
4. Cinnamon gum
5. Earphones
6. Mace

I really need to get a reflective vest for when I run outdoors, or a little flashing light thingy because it's freakin' dark out and I really don't want to get hit by a car!

This mornings run was great but when I was rounding my neighborhood for my second lap I saw two big males walking in the middle of the road so I diverted through a side street and looped around the "big" block on the other side of Johnsontown Rd. As I was running down Lower River almost towards the end of my run I saw a guy dressed all in black wheeling two bikes down the road. This freaked me out. I'm pretty sure those bikes were stolen and I believe that this was one of the guys that I saw walking in my neighborhood earlier. It's dark as can be at 530am so I was a little freaked out when I saw this guy. I had my mace but when I passed him I just ran faster because I didn't want him to drop one of those bikes and hop on the other to come after me. I should have called the cops and reported the suspicious activity but honestly I was more concerned with getting home safely.

I never really feel scared or concerned about running in my neighborhood when it's dark because I live in a pretty good neighborhood and we've never had any issues but I was a little creeped out this morning. I think I'll try to keep my outdoor runs closer to 6am when the kids are at the bus stops and more people are leaving for work.

This mornings playlist was from Songza's Cardio Hip Hop Mix. This app is the best.


1. Kanye West - The New Workout Plan
2. Eminem - Sing for the Moment
3. Salt N Pepa - Push it
4. Lil Wayne - 6 Foot 7 Foot
5.Ludacris & Nicki - My Chick Bad
6. Missy Elliot - Get Ur Freak On
7.House of Pain- Jump Around
8. T.I- Bring em out
9. Missy Elliot - Work it

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

xxx

Ryan