What what?

What happened? Has it really been almost 2 months since my last blog entry?! Again, what happened? Well, school/work/Liam/going back to running happened.  And I can't complain.  I know that the busier I am, the more productive I am, too! :-) So this should be a good thing.

Updates on my 3-dimensional life:

On Running...
I am very proud to say that I have gone back to consistently running! I am back to running with A.  Although my progress seems to be quite slow, I am still very happy to say that yes, there is progress! We run every Wednesdays and this week, I was able to finish 7kms! Happy happy.  Next week seems quite daunting, though, as we aim to finish 9kms.  Of course, this is all in preparation for the Adidas KOTR Run which I signed up for:

Note: I registered for 10kms only, as CA thinks (and so do I!) that I'm still not ready for 16.8 :-) 

Photo from Adidas KOTR website.

So apart from this run, I also bravely registered for The Bull Runner's Dream Marathon happening in February 24, 2013! If you know me well, I have always wanted to run a marathon simply because I want that feeling of accomplishment I will get after crossing a 42-km-run's finish line.  Here's my welcome kit: 

Of course, CA will be helping me train for this ;) Two weeks ago, while running, he was talking about how, at the rate I'm going, I should just run with his wife (Lani).  I had to encourage him by saying, "Uyy don't give up on me! I'll get there again!" Parang baliktad, ako yung nag cheer on sa coach ko, hahaha! Anyway, it's all good.  I know it's harder to train this time since I haven't been running for over a year (sayang, I was halfway there with that Goldilocks 2012 half-marathon) plus, I gained so much weight so I'm heavier now, harder to run.  So it takes extra effort now, but I'm up for it.  After all, apart from that marathon dream, there's a lot of weight I still need to shed off!

On Liam & Family Life:
It's been a great almost-5 months with Liam.  He turns 5 months this coming week! How fast! Time really does go unnoticed, pretty soon, I'll be attending his grade school graduation.  HAH, fast forward much? Here's his most recent photo:

Here's the little one, after a 5:00 AM poo session ;) 

It's 6:30 AM now and he's back in his crib, sleeping. 

Ahh, married life is not a bed of roses, that's for sure.  It's a constant, everyday, learning experience.  Each day, I learn about my husband and his likes/dislikes - I've known him for seven years now and there are still so many things I don't know about him! As a mother, I started out with ZERO experience but I survived, thanks to my mom, mommy-friends and of course, Mr. Google (I find myself Googling almost everything like, "how to burp baby" or "how to sleep train" and many more).  I'm sure it will be a life long learning experience and I'm not complaining because as I discover more about parenting and homemaking, I also learn more about myself.

On teaching:
This year, I am very, very grateful to be blessed with wonderful students.  I can honestly say that I enjoy all 7 sections that I'm handling this year.  As I have said before, although teaching + being a first-time parent is never an easy combination (to add to this, training for a marathon), I find these 3 preoccupations of mine, that I strive hard to juggle, teach me so much.  Did that make sense? What I mean to say is that, teaching helps me become a better mom and vice versa.  Then, to get a break from both, I run - and as I run, I learn so much about myself and how much I can do physically, if I set my mind and heart to it - again, self-discovery and self-improvement.

***

Today's a Saturday and as a teacher, I've always looked forward to Saturdays as days when I can sleep in (having to wake up at 5:30 AM from Mondays through Fridays).  Since Liam though, sleeping in has been a foreign concept.  I know I have a nanny around but leaving him to the nanny, when I'm at home anyway, just feels so unsettling to me.  Nevertheless, I'm determined to have a busy and productive weekend:

Saturday:
7-8AM, run in the gym (cancelled or postponed to later time due to heavy rains - it's been raining since 12MN, I think?)
10AM, accompany mom to downtown to do some errands
1PM, leave for husband's basketball game - watching it with the little one!
6PM, go to the mall to get sister-in-law's birthday gift
9PM, watch a movie (last full show ;)

Sunday:
9AM, go to mass
10AM, go to the gym (if no work out today)
12NN, family lunch out
2PM, visit my dear best friend who's scheduled to have her cesarean section done 7AM, Sunday)
4PM, try to go to a friend's child's first birthday party

Edit edit: My best friend's waterbag just broke! So, looks like I'll have to squeeze in the hospital visit today! :) Wheee baby baby! :)

Of course, the nights are reserved for doing school work! :p

***

Ahh, life is good.  Thank You, Lord for a busy and productive life! :)

And So I Run

I saw two friends I haven't seen in a while and was so surprised to see them so skinny. This of course inspired me to stick to my diet and fitness plan until I see significant changes. This week I have been having only 3 spoonfuls of rice every dinner. Worked out only Monday, though. I weighed myself yesterday and scale says I lost about 4 pounds so hooray for me! :-)

On running, I was texting CA awhile ago, thinking I should really seriously go back to running again. I am 100% registering for the Adidas KOTR run which is on the 30th of September so I have to prepare for it! I texted CA in line with this, asking him if he could help me train. Of course he's up to it. I'm his favorite student, I think. Haha!

So we set a date, August 1. My plan is to run 5kms in the gym on Monday, rest Tuesday and run with CA on Wednesday. So help me God :p

TGIF

TGIF has never meant as much to me as it does now that I have my Liam. I love that it's Friday tomorrow because it means I can say "Happy weekend" in my classes! It means I can stay up late on a Friday night not worrying whether Liam will keep me up or not, since there's no work the next day.

I do have a seminar to attend the next day but who cares! At least it's only half the day :-) This weekend is pretty special, too! It's Liam's christening on Sunday. FINALLY! :-)

Here's Liam at 3 months :-)

2012-2013

I can hardly believe that I'm already on my 6th year of teaching! Four more years and I'll already be awarded for 10 years of service! Some days, it feels so fast and on some, it feels super slow.  Today was fast, though.  I met 3 of my 7 classes and I guess I can say the meetings awhile ago made me look forward to the rest of the school year.  This is the first time I'll have this one-of-a-kind load so I'm anxious about how I will finish all the work.  This year, I'll be handling 7 sections, will also be an adviser and club moderator.  That's 3 units more than what I've been having the past years.  On top of this, I'll also have to squeeze in pumping sessions in my oh-so-busy schedule.

Updates

Has it really been over a month already??! I seriously cannot believe I haven't blogged since early June.    What happened? WORK happened.  Try juggling work, pumping milk, losing weight, doing my best being a hands-on mom and workouts! So, updates on what I've been busy with...

On Work
Another school year has started and I cannot be thankful enough I have work.  On some days, I think, I should have insisted on being a stay-at-home mom for at least Liam's first year.  But most days, I'm grateful for being able to be a mom not only to my little boy but to about 200 teenage girls as well.  This year, my load is quite unusual, I've always had 6 sections, 1 club and 1 advisory class but this year... I have 7 classes, that is, the whole batch.  You might think, what's another section? But boy, does it make a HUGE difference.  While my tired and pessimistic self will rant endlessly about the situation, my optimistic self shines through and tell me, another section is another challenge, another role, another chance to make a difference.  So, that's how I shall see things.  My advisory class, III Goodness, is a good class.  So far, so good.  Although I go home everyday with aching feet and strained vocal chords... really, I love what I do so it's all good.

Pigeon Breast Pump

Is it possible that my manual pump (Pigeon) works better than my electric (the so-called Mercedes Benz of pumps, Freestyle)...? Or could something be wrong with my electric pump? Gahh.  So frustrating.  I read a couple of blogs saying a manual pump will come in handy (if you mainly use an electric one) in the case of prolonged trips outside.  Say, if you go to the mall and did not anticipate having dinner out as well, at least there is a hassle-free way to pump milk.  When I say hassle-free, I mean just carrying this:

Instead of lugging all this around:

Firsts

Whenever Liam's awake and alert, I try as much as I can to chat him up and do some cooing and oohing with him, to encourage him to talk back.  Lately, he has been very active with his baby talk, so happy.  Husband says, "Blame it to his overly talkative mother." Guilty :P Anyway, last, last Sunday (May 20), I saw baby's first big smile! :)

I tell you, there is nothing like a smile like this to make all the hard work worth it.  I remember this one batch mate from college saying something like, "Having a baby is so much hard work but you'll love it so much you won't mind." So true.  It really is SO MUCH HARD WORK!!! Most especially for the mom! I used to think, the mom carries the baby for 9 months ++ , delivers the baby...and STILL has to deal with the stresses of breastfeeding?! In as much as it's all done by the mother, I learned to see it this way: Instead of complaining about why everything has to be done by the mother, I just see it as MY privilege to be able to do all these for Liam :) In everything, it's all a matter of perspective.