Sleep and running

I don't have much time, but I just wanted to get a couple things out there.

1. Jade's sleep is SO much better. I haven't wanted to post about it before now because I was afraid of jinxing it, but she now consistently only wakes up once or twice a night.... and probably once a night more often than anything else. I realize that some people think that's "a lot" for an almost 10-month-old, but for Jade that is AMAZING. I feel so much more rested and able to handle not only her demands during the day but other demands as well. My house is returning to some sort of order and I shower on a regular basis. I'm sure you are all glad to hear that.

I doubt anyone cares how we got her to this point, but I'm going to touch briefly on it anyways. I decided that I would not nurse her before 5 am. This took a LOT of work from Chuck... he was the one that had to respond to all of her wakings before then. He would go in, do his best to calm her down (which generally did not work), and then lay down on a mattress that we put in her room and continue to comfort her verbally. I was comfortable with this because that way she knew she wasn't being abandoned... but she was getting the message that she was not going to be picked up and that it was time to sleep. The first few nights were really rough, but he hasn't even had to go in there in a couple weeks now I think. I love my husband SO MUCH because I know that many husbands don't participate in nighttime parenting (especially with a stay at home mom in the house) but with Chuck it was never an issue... he was always right there with me. I am so grateful.

I figure I'll give her a little while to see if she weens off the 5 am feeding naturally, and if she hasn't done it herself by 1 year I'll push her that way.

2. I have officially started training for a half marathon in Virginia Beach in September :) I've run a half before, but didn't really train for it so I'm interested to see how well I can do if I actually train. I have a couple running buddies to keep me accountable, a good jogging stroller, and a treadmill so I'm set! Chuck's trying to convince me to run a full marathon in October, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen. I mean, I want to run one... just not sure I want to do it in October.

But I am excited to be officially training for something, because now Chuck is well aware that I have no intentions to get pregnant before I've finished that run! Is that bad? When Jade was first born, we said we were going to start trying again when she was 1, but that's just not going to happen. He's ready, I'm not. So I've bought myself some time with my run :)

And this post is boring with no pictures. You guys will just have to forgive me!