Sometimes my shoulders hurt so much that it is hard to put my shirt on

So...CrossFit. I started it about 4 weeks ago. Here's a link to give you a better idea of what CrossFit actually is.

Today I am feeling like a better name for it might be Stuff That Sara Really Sucks At. That sums it up nicely as well. Sigh.

So every time that you go to CrossFit the workout is different, and you never know what to expect. Today this was the workout: Do 3 reps of shoulder presses 5 times. Then do 10 "toes to bar" (hanging from a pullup bar and bringing, yep, you got it, your toes to the bar) 4 times. Then, in 8 minutes, do as many rounds as possible (I am learning this is called an AMRAP) of 7 handstand pushups (just like they sound) and then 10 overhead squats.

Um.

Friends, I have no upper body strength. I seriously don't know how I care for two small children that want to be carried quite a bit, but I will say that carrying Josie around in her carseat makes me real tired. So my shoulder presses were pretty funny/sad. I can't get my toes to the bar, so I make do with my knees getting to my armpits...or at least that's the goal. It's still hard for me. And let's talk about my handstand and how I kicked Tim in the face when practicing at home, because for some reason getting upside down induces sheer panic to my body and I flail around like an idiot. The coach kept scaling the workout down, down, down, until... Sigh. It's embarrassing, but for 8 minutes I did 10 overhead squats with a PVC pipe (I know, couldn't even do the bar) and 7 girl pushups, on my knees. Over and over again.

And it was hard for me.

Tim and I did enjoy nicknaming this workout "Senorita Sad Arms" and imagining me at a CrossFit competition looking around for the PVC pipe. But really? I have been trying all of these new things recently: guitar, mountain biking, CrossFit. Sometimes it does get a little old feeling like you suck at everything you're working on. It's not easy to learn something new! But I will keep you updated on improvements...I mean, obviously there's LOTS of room for improvement.

I still can't believe I can only overhead squat a PVC pipe. Oh the shame...

Self-Absorbed

I don't know about all of you, but it's very easy for me to get caught up in my own little world here at the Rauch homestead. Of course these little ones consume most of my waking hours.








Sometimes I look at pictures of my girls after they've gone to bed, or even just think about something cute they did that day, and I want to run in and scoop them up and love them just a little bit more. Then I remember how happy I am that they're asleep and I resist, but still...love being a mom. I continue to be in awe of what an incredible blessing and responsibility it is to be a parent.

At the beginning of January I took the girls to my mom's house in Northern California. My mom lives in McKinleyville, which is waaaaay up in Northern California, almost by Oregon, on the coast. I was pretty stressed about flying with the girls by myself but was saved by this and this . To be honest I have no idea how the pioneers made it across the plains without these items. Well, those and Dora the Explorer, which is how Lily was occupied for much of our travel time, along with copious snacks. Allow me to describe my method of travel. I had the single stroller, pushing Josie, then was wearing a backpack, then was pulling Lily in her car seat on wheels getup. The only hitch was when I was in the Albuquerque airport which has these stupid revolving doors that you have to go through, and Lily's car seat got stuck in them and Lily freaked out and I freaked out and bad words were said. Other than that things were fine.

We had a great time. We were there for 6 days and had us a little New Year miracle in that it didn't rain there once. It was so beautiful and so nice to be among trees and near the ocean again.














In other news, I will be waking up at 5:20 am for Crossfit tomorrow, so I'm signing off. Talk to ya more about that later...

A Couple of Items

1. I am starting to realize that, as a mom, I really don't care that much about germs. Probably a good thing since Lily is gross. This thought struck me when we were at the zoo the other day and I realized I hadn't brought any teething toys for Josie to busy herself with during our outing. So I dug real deep in the diaper bag and found a doll that Lily got from a McDonald's Happy Meal, oh, about a year ago. Said doll spent all summer alternately submerged in Lily's water table out back or in Dirk's water bowl, which, since I never was able to keep Dirk from drinking out of the water table, are basically the same thing. Then I watched Josie suck on this doll's hair as we strolled around the zoo. Every once in a while I would shudder but the idea of Josie's reaction to me taking the doll away kept me from taking any action. Maybe Lily's gross because I'm gross? Further introspection is needed...

2. Tim continues to say crazy stuff as he's falling asleep. Last night he said, "If I were going to start a street gang, I'd call us the leopards."

"Ok hon. Go to sleep."

"Not the jaguars."

I'm so glad we got that straight.

3. Lily hasn't slept through the night for the last 6 months. No exaggeration. Every night before she goes to sleep she talks and laughs hysterically to herself for anywhere from 1-3 hours, then will wake up in the middle of the night and do it some more.

I have tried:

Taking away all of her stuffed animals in her crib. All she has is blankets.

Taking her on really long walks before bed.

Threats (mostly idle).

Benadryl.

Reading a ridiculous amount of books before bedtime.

Putting her to bed earlier.

Putting her to bed later.

I'm convinced it's kind of a hopeless case.

4. I started taking guitar lessons. That's one reason why the blogging has been so pitiful recently. It's annoying for me to be such a beginner and have to play "baby songs" so I've been trying to practice diligently and therefore move on to more interesting fare. The other day I went to the guitar store to get a capo. I thought it would be a pretty quick trip and I'd just bring the girls and be in and out. I gave Lily strict instructions before going in: "You may LOOK at things inside the store but you MAY NOT TOUCH". Of course she's two years old so all she heard was "LOOK and TOUCH". Which she did. Then I had to stop her, which was tricky because I was also lugging the car seat with Josie, who was giving loud stacatto yells for no apparent reason. Meanwhile I'm asking the guitar store guy where I can find a capo? And what kind do I need? Beginner over here! And everyone that works in the store is looking at me like I'm crazy. And then I realize that I am wearing a turtleneck. Ohmygosh did I really just bring my two kids to the guitar store in my turtleneck? Yes. Yes I did.

5. I will leave you with this old post that I read today while looking through our archive. Cheers and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

If this doesn't make you merry, I don't know what will! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Portrait of a Sunday Morning

So recently...we have started getting to church on time. You wouldn't think this would be such a challenge for us SINCE CHURCH STARTS AT 11. I mean seriously. But all of this being on-timeness has required getting for church nice and early, which has left some time for getting beautiful pictures of our sweet girls.

Since I Didn't Deliver the Halloween Goods

Taken by the lovely Liz Evans.

If I Were a Good Mom You'd Be Looking at Halloween Pictures Right Now

But luckily I'm not a good mom, and I canceled Halloween this year. Yep, flat out vetoed it with my executive mom power after Lily threw an epic tantrum over not getting to eat candy before dinner. There was weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and to complete the Biblical visual, me in sackcloth and ashes wondering what I did to deserve this. Oh right, I kept her up past her bedtime for like three nights in a row prior to Halloween. Woops.

So Halloween was canceled and we didn't get her in her costume or trick or treat, and I was such a buzzkill that I didn't even put a bowl of candy out for the other kids so now I have a bunch of Halloween candy that I don't want. So come to my house and eat some.

I'll try again next year.