Playing catch up

How long can you go in between posts and still call yourself a blogger? I think I'm going to find out.

I've noticed during the last couple of weeks that the less I blog the better I feel about my parenting skills. Maybe it's because I'm not analyzing every move I make, or maybe it's because when my kids are bad, I forget about it instead of writing about it.

Yeah, that's the ticket. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Having said all that, so much has gone on that I'm not even sure where to start, so I'll start on the toilet. Quite literally, Sophia has decided she wants to use the potty. She still isn't telling us when she has to go, but she's using the potty when we ask her if she has to go. To be fair, she did tell us one time on Saturday that she had to use the potty, but it hasn't happened since.

Regardless, I am thrilled at her enthusiasm for the potty and I'm feeding into it as best I can, so much so that Ryan has decided he should sit on the potty whenever Sophia does. It's actually very cute, he just plops his little butt down on her little potty after she's done and claps. Maybe, if I'm lucky, Ryan will be potty trained by the time Sophia is and I'll have both kids out of diapers by the summer.

Good luck, right.

The other major thing happening at home is Sophia (again) has decided she can't stay in her bed. Bedtime stretches for hours (if both parents are home, of course). Supernanny would be appalled at how long it takes us to put Sophia to bed. We've tried everything, from Supernanny techniques to sleeping on the floor next to her bed. Nothing works … except ignoring her. I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but what has been working is when she gets out of bed after we tuck her in, we go upstairs and put her back into bed without saying a word to her. She's an attention grabber, so she doesn’t enjoy this one bit. Some days she screams louder, other days she goes back to sleep.

It's a crap shoot, really. One day she'll go to sleep.

Sigh

When she does go to sleep, we've noticed at about 11 p.m. every night, Sophia wakes up screaming. I think she's having a nightmare, but I can't confirm that since she doesn't really understand what a dream is. I've resorted to comforting her and giving her whatever she wants to calm her and get her to go back to bed.

My kids aren't spoiled one bit, are they?

Enough about the kids, you want to know about me too, right? Yes, I know, I'm used to playing second fiddle when my kids are around, but, damn it, you're going to hear about me too. This weekend beautiful weather crept in and we took advantage of the 60 degree weather to go for our first bike ride of 2009. It felt so great to get back on the bike and out of the gym, it better have, because this year we have quite a few miles to train for and I'm so nervous and looking forward to it at the same time.

This year, in addition to the MS 150 City to Shore ride we did last year, Jon and I are going to do the Dutch Country ride in July, which is two 100 mile days (ugh!) and we are hoping to do the Livestrong Challenge ride when it comes to the area, which is another 150 miles. All together that's 500 miles for 2009.

I hope my legs make it.

In exactly three weeks, my husband and I will be boarding a plane and flying to Cancun. I am so excited about this trip because 1) it's a warm vacation spot in the middle of crappy weather season, and 2) THE KIDS ARE NOT COMING! I love my kids to death, but is it really a vacation if the kids go? Hmmm, you can decide that for yourself.

A journey unlike any other: Day two

Even at 6 a.m. it is still dark, but the spotlight that came through the curtain of our hotel room helped make it feel like it really is morning. When I got out of bed, my legs and shoulders were tight, but not sore. Intense training prepared my body for the first day. I cannot say the same thing about my butt, which felt bruised and battered.

In our pajamas, Team Sonia searched for breakfast. As a group we were a little tired and a little cranky. Being 76.5 miles from your car and the only way to get to it is to sit my burning butt on a saddle and peddle my way there seemed overwhelming.

With our bellies full, we head back to the hotel, put back on our bike gear, pack our bags and head out. This time I walk to the start with a new sense anxiety: my pedals. Physically I was ready to go, emotionally, I could have used another day to rest. I didn't sleep well that night. I had dreams about failing and when I woke up my brain focused on my biggest anxiety about cycling: unclipping from my pedals. Sand in my clips made my feet stick in the pedals, fatigue made it hard for me to snap out, but I could do it and we headed out.

The weather Sunday morning not ideal for cycling, it was a misty rain that made everything wet and slick. It was a warm, humid day.

The first 10 miles were torture. The first obstacle was bumpy, beach roads that made sitting on the saddle nearly impossible. This went on for miles and once the road got smooth we had to tackle the bridge. This is when I realized how tired I really was. One rule of cycling is to start out slower than you think you can so you can have some energy stored for the end when you need it the most. This bridge makes that rule very hard to keep. Many riders walked up and over the bridge. We pushed up and over two bridges only to be rewarded with a flat tire at the bottom. My teammate got a flat. The National MS Society provided a ton of support to riders, so it wasn't long before help arrived. Within 10 minutes we were back on the road, but less than 2 miles later the same tire went again. Sitting on the side of the road waiting for this tire to get fixed, thoughts of how long this ride was going to take started creeping in.

With a brand new tire, we're back on the road. It's smooth until it starts raining. Water and dirt from the road is spit from the tires in front of me and on to my glasses and I can hardly see. Today miles don't pass as quickly as the day before. Instead of the feeling of accomplishment with every passing mile, I have the feeling of anticipation for the coming miles.

Lunch comes right before mile 40. The lunch stop is set in this open field that is covered in sand. Even with my cleat covers, there is little I can do to prevent sand from getting on them and I begin to panic. I cleaned my shoes with some water before we got back on the road and tested and retested my pedals. Less than a mile back on the road, we came to an intersection. Traffic forced us to stop. I tried to unclip and I couldn't. Panic set it. If I can't unclip, I can't stop. I manage to slow down enough so that Jon can grab me and stop me. He reached down and unclipped my pedal for me. For the next 15 minutes, we sat on the side of the road trying to figure out what the problem was. We cleaned the clips again and I clipped and unclipped several times. Everything is back in working order, so we get back on and ride.

Miles pass, time seems to stand still. I have no idea what time it is because my watch stopped. I feel out of tune with the world. We stop at a rest stop and see there is 19.5 miles left to the end and one more rest stop. We decide we're going to skip that stop and take on the final 20 in one shot.

Soon enough we are at mile 70. Only a few left to go, but they aren't easy. The roads are relentlessly uphill. The scenic neighborhoods we cruised through on Saturday became one challenging hill after another. The sky clears and the sun comes out bringing heat with it. Everyone is tired, but the end is near so we keep going. There is one last hill to conquer before we hit the finish line. As we approach there is an officer directing us. He tells us to slow down because there is a medical crew at the bottom of the hill. As we crest the hill, we see there is a biker on a stretcher no more than 50 feet from the finish line.

I feel awful for the guy. I heard there were a lot of accidents along the road. A lot of riders fell and didn't get back up, but this was the worst. He was so close and didn't make it. But there's not a lot of time to reflect on his situation. We're directed around the scene and on to the finish. Crowds are cheering, people are waving and taking pictures. I was less emotional at the finish than I was the day before. Maybe it was exhaustion or the intensity at which I was riding that I just wasn’t able to turn it off fast enough and take everything in.

This was my first big ride, and experience that I will not soon forget. We've already registered for next year and I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.

We took a few pictures, but not many. Here are a few photos of our team and one of my bike right before we left on Sunday. They aren't great, but it's impossible to ride and take pictures at the same time. The National MS Society is posting photos and if I find any of me and my team, I will also post them. Thank you to everyone who offered me their support, without it, I'm sure I could never have done this. Together, with events like this, we can find a cure for multiple sclerosis.

A journey unlike any other: Day One

Saturday at 3:45 a.m. the alarm went off, 30 minutes later, I stumbled out of bed. I'm exhausted but I get out of bed anyway. I put on my bike shorts and jersey and I'm ready to go. The starting line is in Cherry Hill, N.J., about a 45 minute drive from my teammates' house where we stayed Friday night. At 5 a.m. we pack up the car, stop to get coffee and breakfast and head off.

More than 7,000 cyclists were scheduled to participate in the MS150 City to Shore ride, so traffic was backed up heading to the start before 6 a.m. Slowly we made our way through traffic and parked the car. After dropping off our luggage and making our way through check in we line up with other cyclists. There's no turning back now.

In the background there's a TV news personality giving riders weather updates and an announcer directing riders to the start. There is music and cheering, but I'm focused on the ride.
The countdown begins. I clip one foot into my pedal and get ready.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 …. Go! There's a crowd of volunteers, friends and family cheering us. The first couple of miles are through a residential neighborhood. Some homes have signs on their lawns thanking us for riding. We are in a good mood. The road is smooth and everyone is starting out slow, warming up our legs for the miles ahead.

Leaving the neighborhoods for the open road is a relief. Each intersection is manned by local police and MS Society volunteers pointing us in the right direction. We thank each as we pass them and they return the thanks and cheer us on.

As miles go by, the crowd of bikers thin out and my team finds its' rhythm. Miles and time pass with ease. I'm feeling strong. We stop to refuel at a rest stop. Food and water are a necessity. Cycling takes every ounce of energy and these stops are vital. Next stop is lunch. Hot food, protein, carbs and drinks are plenty. We linger for a bit during lunch, check our bikes over and when we're rested and refueled, we get back on the road. Lunch is set up only 19.5 miles into the ride so we have many more miles to go.

As we ride further into the New Jersey I notice the scenery is changing. Dirt on the side of the road turns to sand and gravel. The air begins to smell of salt, but there's 20 miles left to go. The weather is clear, but the roads are a little wet from overnight rain. The air is thick with humidity, but it's not hot. At one point I look at my odometer and see we've hit 65 miles. "Right now is the furthest I've ever ridden on a bike," I say to my teammate.

Mile 70 marks the final 6.5 miles. I'm feeling optimistic until I see the bridge we have to cross to get into Ocean City. I'm tired and I don't know if I have the energy to make it across. Half way up the bridge, my team falls apart and we separate. We cannot make it up together, it's every man for himself, but we get up and over it and catch up to each other. I feel great … until we get to the next intersection. There is a man standing with a sign that says "Only 3 miles and one BIG bridge left."

Oh. My. God.

I look ahead and see the bridge. It's tall. The air is so heavy that I cannot even see the top of the bridge. It is frightening. Everyone struggles. Many riders stop and walk their bikes up the hill. I shift gears and keep peddling. I cannot stop. I will not stop. My breathing becomes labored, I look around and my team has broken up again. At the top of the hill, we are rewarded with a steep downhill.

Only a couple of miles left. Volunteers are at every intersection. There are many turns through the beach community. Children are standing on the corners cheering us and holding signs. As we get close to the finish the crowd gets bigger. Everyone is cheering.

I knew this ride was going to be hard, but what I wasn't prepared for was how emotional it was going to be. At Saturday's finish, I called my mom and found myself crying. I couldn't believe what I just did and the amount of support total strangers gave to every rider. A woman stood at the entrance to the rest area handing out medals to all the riders. Food, drinks, music and children's activities awaited riders and their families. We ate, got a massage and went to our hotel for a shower and rest.

Tomorrow …. Photos and part 2: Sunday.

Give them love ... they deserve it

There are exactly five days before my ride. I am overcome with a strange mixture of nerves and excitement that is hard to describe. Since this is the only thing I'll be thinking this week, I've enlisted the help of some super awesome bloggers to help get me (and you) through the week.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride … and be sure to give them lots of love. They're helping me out so much this week and since I blog for free, I'll never be able to repay them.

Birthday parties and bike rides make Mommy too tired to write

I haven't been posting here very regularly for the past several weeks and I'm sorry about that, but I've been a bit preoccupied with some goings on. First it was the big first birthday bash for Ryan, which I am glad to say was pretty chaos-free. It was fun and I have to say that I am more than thankful that that was the last first birthday party I'll ever have to plan. Next, of course, is the upcoming MS150 ride that is in, gulp, two weeks. I can't promise regular posts until after the ride, but bear with me, please. When I have less on my mind I'll get back to regular postings, I swear.

Yesterday my team and I rode 64 miles in sweltering heat and humidity. The temperature reached at least 95 degrees with humidity that was so thick and heavy it was actually hard to breath. I seriously thought I might die during the ride. In fact, it was so hot that I actually had a breakdown and we had to pull off to the side of the road to let me calm down. I started bawling like a baby. I couldn't help it, I felt defeated; the weather had done me in. But after I got my cry out, I sucked it up and we managed to finish 64 miles. I'm proud that we were able to do that distance under terrible conditions yesterday, but I'm praying for better weather for the actual ride.

Speaking of the big ride, I wrote a column about my upcoming ride that appeared in The Mercury newspaper Sunday. You can read it by clicking here.

So, without further adieu, here are a few photos from Ryan's first birthday party.

I love this picture of Ryan. I think he looks exactly like Sophia in it that it's spooky.

Look! Look!

There is exactly three weeks of training left until the MS150 City to Shore ride, and look what I got in the mail already ...




It's my rider number! Getting this has renewed my excitement for the ride. I still can't believe I'm doing this, but I know I can and it will be a lot of work, but worth every second.

Weekend update: Missing my babies

Since I've never done anything like this before, I can only surmise that this happens to everyone. There is only five weeks left until the MS150, and I'm getting frustrated. I'm frustrated because all of my free time is spent on a bicycle and I miss my kids. Because my husband and I both work full time during the week, we get a grand total of about 3 hours a day with them (not counting middle of the night visits). Weekends are our only family time and this entire summer I have spent the better part of every single weekend riding my bike.

When we came home from our ride yesterday, Sophia was sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch with my aunt (who has watched the kids every single weekend this entire summer. Without her help we would never be able to do this ride). She looked up from her chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, smiled and said, "Mommy home! I miss you."

I miss you too, honey.

I really, really do.

But I feel like I'm getting better and I want to finish this ride and I will not be able to do so if I don't train. I want to finish the ride because I can. I can when so many people cannot, especially many who are afflicted by Multiple Sclerosis. No, it is not a bike ride across the country and it's a far cry from the Tour de France, but it's my goal, and 150+ mile bike ride over two days is nothing to take lightly. I am not the best, the fast or even the rider who has raised the most money, but I am a rider.

But I am also a mother … a mother who misses spending time her children … two children who are growing up way too fast.

This will all be over soon and I want to keep riding, it is fantastic exercise and is really helping me get back into shape. But I'm hoping to bring it down a notch or two. Instead of riding 85 miles over the weekend (whoo hoo, that is what we did this weekend!!), we'll put the kids in a bike trailer or get a carrier for them and take them for a leisurely ride.

Do you have a love/hate relationship with anything that takes you away from your family? How do you manage?

To my archnemisis: Don't read this!

When I ride my bike, I sometimes feel like a superhero. Dressed in my superhero outfit (no, that isn't me!), I can speed past many other riders on the trail. I feel good, like I can pedal forever, that is until I have to go down a hill.

If I was a superhero and I had an archnemisis, he could totally kick my butt by just by putting me on top of a huge hill.

Ugh.

Most riders love speeding down hills. My husband is one of them. He'll pick up to speeds of over 30 mph. Me? I practically stop. I get so nervous. "I'll meet you at the bottom," I yell to him as he flies past my wimpy butt. I squeeze my breaks and hold it steady, balancing myself and practically hold my breath until I reach the bottom.

This is where I do not look or feel like a superhero at all.

So what gives? Why can't I just take a hill like every other rider out there? If I were on a mountain bike, I know I would have no trouble getting down these hills. In fact, I'd probably even enjoy them, but this road bike is a completely different animal. I know it can go fast and I can make it go fast. What I don't know is how to unclip from the pedals and dismount fast enough not to fall, which is especially embarrassing when I'm alone. Falling is my biggest fear while riding this bike and it's not one of those fears where I can just fall and get it out of my system because I've fallen like six times in the four weeks I've had this bike.

I'm guessing it will just take practice to get comfortable on the bike. I'm proud of my accomplishments (I road 74 miles this weekend, almost half of the MS150 with 5 weeks left to train), but I need to get over this hump because it slows my time down and when I'm riding with my team (which I did this weekend too!) it really disrupts our line. I don't know how to do it except with lots and lots of practice. I will try any suggestions, so if you have any, please share. PLEASE!

My question to you is this: What is your fear and if you got past it, how did you do it?

The wonderful world of cycling

"Get the fuck out of the road, assholes!" That is the world of cycling I road into Saturday morning.

It was terrifying.

Jon and I were making our way into Philadelphia; it was about half way through our 38 mile ride. We've been riding on a paved trail that head into the city, but the last two or three miles heading into the city is loose gravel, dirt and, of all things, a boardwalk. Instead of taking the trail for those last several miles, we decided to take the road this time since it's a smoother surface to ride.

Peddling up and up and up a huge hill, we were rewarded at the top with a pretty steep decent. I get a little nervous going down hill because I feel out of control, so cautiously I continued down. The open road turns into cramped city streets pretty quickly. We got through several stop signs then came to our first traffic light.

Jon is ahead of me. Behind me is another cyclist. It's a woman, something I'm finding pretty rare along the road, but I'm thankful for this woman. She is way more comfortable on her bike than I am, but she's patient with me as I slowly make my way through the first traffic light. At the second traffic light, I watch Jon almost get hit by a car that's making the same left-hand turn he is. Suddenly, Jon starts shouting. "Whoa! Watch it, asshole. You almost hit me!"

"I was slowing down," the driver of the car yells.

"Jackass," Jon yells and speeds through the light.

The patient woman behind me gets past me and I stop at the light. I'm not in the left-turn lane, where I'm supposed to be. I'm standing on the corner, trying to catch my breath and calm my shaking hands. Oh my God, I think, how am I going to get through this light? It's red, so I have a minute to think. Looking back and forth, there are no cars coming the other direction, so I clip back in my peddles and go through the red light and some how, by the grace of God himself, meet up with Jon and the patient woman at the next light.

While waiting for the light to change, the three of us talk about the incident that just occurred. She laughs and says, "Yeah, this guy threatened to back up over me a few miles back."

That's it, I'm sure I'm going to die before we reach our halfway destination. I'm certain today will be the day I die.

Riding up Main Street, the road narrows. Cars are parked on both sides of this two way street. The speed limit is 25 mph, we're going about 17. The cars behind us are following us as we make our way through the city and up another slight hill. The car behind us is a white convertible with a young guy driving.

"Get the fuck out for the road, you assholes," he screams at us, probably 10 times. Each time he gets louder and more obnoxious.

OHMYFREAKINGGOD, I'm dead, for sure. There is no place for us to go, our only option is just to keep peddling and ignore the guy screaming and honking his horn at us. Cars are parked bumper to bumper along the street and from the looks of things, the sidewalk is just as dangerous as the road. Somehow we make it to the water ice stand that is our halfway mark. I don't know how it happened, but we got there. My hands were shaking and my knees were weak. All I wanted to do was sit and try and pull myself back together.

"Sorry Jon, I'm not going back that way. We're going to have to take the trail back."

"Come on. Think about that huge hill we'll get to go down," he says.

"Nope. Sorry. You can go, I'll meet you. There is no way I'm going through that again. I am just not comfortable enough for that. Look at my hands. They are still shaking. "

He didn't leave me. He took the trail back with me and endured the gravel and cobble stone (which I dutifully fell on and bruised my wrist, hand and hip. Go ahead, you can laugh. I would laugh at me). Of course, riding through all that (and my fall) slowed our overall time, but I'm alive to tell this story. As far as I'm concerned, it was a good ride.

Better on the inside and out

Many of you may already know this, but it was news to me. In each of our intestines is a bacteria called acidophilus. This bacteria helps to keep our bowels, um, working properly, if you know what I mean. Anyway, because it's a bacteria, it is susceptible to an attack from some antibiotics. That is why many antibiotics claim diarrhea as a side effect.

Go ahead, snicker if you like. Of course this makes perfect sense now, but when Ryan was suffering from this side effect from taking a broad spectrum antibiotic, I was completely freaking out.

My poor little guy was not well at all. The fever, which hovered around 105 for 4 days, really knocked him out. By the time we took him to the doctor, his fever had decreased, but we found out he also had an ear infection.

As I side note, because I feel like I need to clear some things up, when Ryan woke in the middle of night last Thursday with a fever of 104, I did consider calling the doctor. But I gave him some Motrin and a bottle and he fell back to sleep, so I fell back to sleep. On Friday morning, I called the doctor at 8 a.m., and this exchange happened:

Me: Hi. My son has a fever. It's 104. He's cranky, not eating, and I guess I should bring him in, right?

Nurse: How old is he and does he have any other symptoms?

Me: He's 10-months-old and he has a runny nose.

Nurse: OK, I'll have the doctor give you a call.

45 minutes later:

Me: Thanks for calling me back. Ryan has a fever of 104, he's cranky, not eating and has a runny nose.

Doctor: Is his fever going down after you give him Motrin?

Me: Yes, but it never breaks.

Doctor: As long as his fever is responding to the Motrin, he should be fine.

Me: OK.

Friday night:

Me to doctor on call: Ryan's fever is still bad. Should I bring him to the hospital?

Doctor: If his fever doesn't respond to the Motrin, yes, bring him to the hospital.

Saturday evening:

Jon to the doctor on call: Ryan's fever is at 105. It's responding to Motrin, but after 4 hours it's shooting back up to 105. We just gave him another dose of Motrin.

Doctor: Give him a dose of Tylenol, and if his fever isn't down by 11 p.m., take him to the hospital. Otherwise, call the office at 7 a.m. and bring him in Sunday morning for an emergency appointment.

We made it to the doctor at 8:30 Sunday morning and that's why it took us so long to find out he had an ear infection, as well as roseola, and start him on antibiotic. Again, hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, he was exhibiting signs of ear pain, but we were so focused on the fever that we missed the ear pulling (and banging his head on the floor), which would have gotten him in for an appointment much sooner.

OK, back to the antibiotic dilemma. Doctor gives us this prescription for amoxicillin with clavulanate. He wanted to give Ryan something a little stronger to knock out the ear infection since he's had five in the last 10 months. He warned me that diarrhea was a side effect.

The first day of antibiotics, of course, he had some diarrhea. The next day, he broke out in a rash and the diarrhea worsened. On the fourth day, we took him off the antibiotic for 24 hours. During those 24 hours, his rash went away and his diarrhea stopped. We gave him one more dose and the diarrhea came back. The rash did not. So, we called the doctor and he prescribed azithromycin and Ryan is now right as rain. But not really right. That's how I found out about acidophilus. The antibiotic killed a lot of the good bacteria in my little guy's intestines and now we have to replace it by giving him acidophilus in capsule form, mixed with his food.

I really should have paid better attention in biology class.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, Ryan is feeling much better now. Sophia is another story. Today she woke up with a 104 degree fever and we are watching her closely to see if she develops an ear infection as well.

Oh, and did I mention Jon isn't feeling well and I'm feeling like I'm getting a cold. I'm sure we could have fought it off pretty quickly except that we thought it would be a good idea to go for a bike ride today. When we started the ride, it was a beautiful 75 degrees and sunny. We road 38 miles, the last 15 of which were road in a thunderstorm that included nickel sized hale.

What is our deal!?

Finally feeling better

Now he has a rash. It’s roseola. That’s what caused the fever. That’s what has been making my little baby feel so badly for so many days. But the rash means he’s getting better. Thank goodness.

Yesterday, after his crying, which we determined to be his very first temper tantrum, Ryan’s fever went down and stayed down. It seems like Ryan gets every little virus and infection that’s going around. It’s exhausting, it’s annoying, and mostly it’s scary. I hope he’s going through all this for good reason, like once he starts kindergarten he’ll never get sick. That’s right; he’ll be the kid who never misses a day of school.

Ever.

On to some more pleasant news, during all of Ryan’s weekend drama, Sophia has become the sweetest, most well-behaved little girl. I’m not sure what’s spurred this crazy sweetness, but I like it and I hope it stays. Don’t get me wrong, she’s as crazy and wild as ever, just sweet at the same time.

Training notes: In case you’ve been wondering how my training has been going, it’s going very well. The road bike is tough to get used to. I fell twice the first day I road and today I fell again. It seems like I can’t make a sharp turn on the bike while clipped into the pedals. It’s embarrassing, but I can laugh about it. We are up to 24 miles, which did yesterday and today. That’s 48 miles in two days and my legs are beat. They aren’t sore, but they are extremely fatigued. 48 miles is a far cry from the 150 miles I’m supposed to do in September and it’s making me a little nervous about getting through 150 miles in two days.

Time for serious training

Day one of our vacation has been pretty eventful. I finally got my new bike on Saturday, but I still needed to be fit to it. We did that today. I also got new cleats, which are really cool, but really hard to figure out. I’ve never been physically attached to my bike while riding and this is something to get used to. I fell the first time I tried to get on the bike. In fact, I fell twice. I’m going to have a bruise on my hip and a sore wrist to show for it, but it was worth it because it was so much fun riding. It was way better than riding the old crappy mountain bike, so training should be a lot easier.

Here’s my new bike! It’s a Cannondale R500.

In other news, Sophia tried on one of princess outfits she got for her birthday. She was being a little camera shy, but I was able to get this picture of my little princess.

The weight is on

Every time I hop on my bike, I'm reminded that I need to lose a couple of pounds. Yes, I do need to lose them to satisfy my vanity, but there's more to it when considering the MS150. If I'm going to ride well, I need to be in better shape.

Up until today, I was kind of hoping that all the riding I'll be doing once I get my new bike (which is still MIA. boo hoo!) will take care of any extra baggage I need to get rid of, but truth be told, after looking a bit closer at my current lifestyle, I'd say I could ride 100 miles every day and never lose an ounce.

Seriously.

What I really need to do is way more cardio and improve my upper body strength. Oh, and eating better would really help, too.

It's a well-known fact that Sophia is thin. She always has been. It's not like when she was a baby she was huge and now she's thin, she's just always been thin. At one year, she weighed 18 pounds, at 18 months she was 21.5 pounds and now, at 2, I'm really, really hoping she weighs at least 23 pounds.

But the girl is tall. Boy, is she tall. For her entire life, she has been above the 95 percentile in height (but at about the 10 percentile for weight). My guess for her next appointment is that she's at least 36 inches tall. My theory is that every time she puts on a little weight she grows an inch. And as a mother of a very thin toddler, I feel terrible about it. People are always commenting on how tiny she is. No one takes into consideration how tall she is when discussing her weight. I feed her, honest, I do. She eats all the time. She may not like to sit and eat dinner with us, but she does eat. Plus the child never ever stops running.

So far, the doctors haven't said too much about her weight since it's been her norm, but every time she sits on that scale I pray for weight gain. It may be a matter of survival, Ryan is 20 pounds (and 31 inches tall!) at 10 months old. The boy is a monster compared to her. He shouldn't weigh more than his big sister before he's even a year old. She's going to have to learn some serious fighting moves to keep him from crushing her.

So, in preparation for her upcoming check up, I've been stuffing her with all sorts of yummy foods she won't turn away. Peanut butter, bread, chocolate, bacon, sausage, eggs, pork and cheese, lots of cheese.

All of this means that we've been keeping the house stocked with junk food. Now that we've started this high-impact eating regimen with her, I'm certainly not going to be able to stop after Thursday's appointment, right? That would be cruel.

This is no way for me to make a lifestyle change. We'll find out on Thursday if all my efforts to get her to gain weight have paid off. In the mean time, I have to figure out how to fatten her up without doing the same to myself.

Anyone know a personal trainer/chef that will come to my house and help get me in shape? For free.

***
After reading this post, my mom sent me the following e-mail:

Subject: You at 2
34 inches tall
22lb 8oz
Runs in the family!!
People used to think we didn’t feed you. At least Sophia will EAT. You wouldn’t!
Love, Mom

I also learned, thanks to a reminder call from the pediatrician, that her appointment is actually on Wednesday. That doesn't leave me any time to fatten her up!

You can read the update from her doctor's appointment by clicking here.

For anyone who might have missed my new badge on the right-hand sidebar, I have recently been added to Alltop. I am now listed with some other great bloggers, so if you have a couple minutes, check it out.

Wordless Wednesday

Motivation.
This year, I'll be crossing the finish line along side my husband. Yup, that's him, in the blue jersey.

Fighting MS one peddle at a time

In November 2001, my mother-in-law, Sonia, passed away. It was seven months after my husband and I were married. She didn't make it to our wedding because she was bedridden in a nursing home. She had multiple sclerosis.

When Sonia was 16-years-old, she was diagnosed with MS after suddenly going blind. She was behind the wheel of a car, learning how to drive. Shortly after her diagnosis, she became paralyzed from the waste down. Her sight eventually returned, but she would never walk again and she suffered tremendous pain and muscle tightening daily. At times she couldn't even swallow.

Several years later, Sonia met the man who would become her husband at physical therapy. When he was 16, he was pronounced dead for two minutes after his appendix burst. He was brought back to life, but was paralyzed from the waste down.

The two married, and despite tremendous odds and extreme disapproval from everyone, including her obstetrician, they had a child. My husband.

She was a month overdue when the doctors finally decided to perform a c-section. While lying on the table preparing for the surgery, the doctor asked her for the last time if she was sure she really wanted to have this baby. It was 1973, and the medical community didn't know what MS would do to a child. I can't even imagine how she must have felt.

My husband was born completely healthy. But having two handicapped parents meant Jon had to grow up fast. His childhood was far from normal. He had to learn how to do common household chores and simple emergency medical procedures at a very young age. At the age of 10, Jon had to perform a tracheotomy on his mother to prevent her from choking to death.

When Sonia died, my husband felt helpless. She could no longer speak, she couldn't move herself and she was in pain; and there wasn't anything Jon could do to help her. Five years after her death, in 2006, my husband learned about the MS150 City to Shore bike ride. It is two day, 150-mile bike ride that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This race became an opportunity for my husband to do something in honor of his mother, and I couldn't be more proud of his achievement. He finished the race with a respectable time and raised more than $2,000 for the MS Society.

His efforts inspired me to want to take part in the ride. Unfortunately, neither of us could participate in 2007 because Ryan was born just two weeks before the race. This year, with no baby on the way, Jon and I are determined to do it. We've formed a team, Team Sonia, and will be riding in the 2008 MS 150 City to Shore ride on Sept. 27 and 28, but we need your help.

You can help by by making a tax deductible donation to Team Sonia by clicking here or on the MS150 logo. If you live in the Philadelphia, Pa., area, you can also become a member of our team and ride in memory of Sonia Hoffman. No experience is necessary, but you must have a bike. If you are interested, please e-mail me or go to the donation site and click on the join Diane's Team button.

I will be tracking our fundraising efforts on this site. I'm currently working with the MS Society and hope to have a wigget on this site soon so you can follow our efforts.

Please help us raise some much needed funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society so that in the future, no one will have to ever suffer like Sonia. If you donate by clicking on this link, you will be making your tax deductible donation directly to the MS Society. I will not have access to any of your financial information. Please e-mail me with any questions or concerns. I will be happy to help.