I've heard friends from church talk about blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, and peach picking in this area, but we've never gone and taken advantage of this fun and yummy opportunity. This past weekend we decided to brave the heat with two kids in tow and go blueberry picking. We had so much fun! We were all sweaty and tired by the end, but Caleb was a great helper. He would add a blueberry into the bucket, while simultaneously pulling two out of the bucket to eat. He ate a ton of blueberries and really enjoyed the experience. I just barely had fresh blueberries for the first time in my life a few months ago and quite liked them. I've enjoyed experimenting with some new blueberry recipes. The only one I've tried so far is a blueberry cobbler, but I was surprised with how yummy it was. I've also enjoyed fresh blueberries in my fruit smoothies in the morning. I can't wait to try blueberry pancakes (never had them), blueberry coffee cake, and homemade blueberry muffins. We're definitely going to be better about taking advantage of more fresh fruit picking in the future.
I've also started up running again. Since we don't have a double stroller yet (no point since Carter can't sit up), I've had to start running at night. I enjoy running best on an empty stomach, so it's definitely not what I'm used to. If I'm feeling overly full from dinner then I'll end up rollerblading instead. My sister has a double running stroller, so when she's available to run, I'm able to run in the mornings with her (we have our two toddler boys in the double which is 60 pounds of boys plus stroller and Carter in my walking stroller). I started running again 5 weeks after Carter was born, and it was not fun starting up again from scratch. I undertstand now why people say they hate running. It definitely felt like a chore. I've run 3 miles consistently every other day, but I have struggled to push myself to run further or faster. I finally pushed through and ran 4 miles this last Saturday, and tonight I did a two-mile "sprint" as it was getting dark and was able to average 8.5 minute miles. It felt great, so hopefully I'm at a break-through point and will be able to start adding on the miles and get to the point where I enjoy going out and running again. Even with starting up running again, I have not been able to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have just under 10 pounds that refuse to come off. I hope it doesn't continue to get harder with each child.Since January, my sister, a friend, and I have been doing a rotating preschool with our boys. It's my month to teach, so I've been busy with that and learning the delicate balance of teaching 3 toddlers with a 2 1/2-month-old baby. The theme I chose for the month is nursery rhymes/fairy tales, and we've been having a blast reading fun books and doing fun crafts.
And finally, here's my chunky monkey sporting his Alaska onesie that my parents bought him on their vacation to Alaska. He's growing bigger before our eyes (maybe fatter is the more appropriate word), but we love having him in our family. As of tonight, he weighed 16.5 lbs. and he's 2 1/2 months old. He sleeps better at night than my almost 3-year old. Carter goes to bed at 8 pm and is only waking up once a night now usually around 5:30 am. This is definitely manageable, and I'm a better and happier mom when I have some consecutive hours of sleep! Because he's such a good baby, I'm worried that he's going to spoil it for the rest of my babies. My expectations are high now! We're able to get out and do fun things during the day for Caleb now too like we used to before Carter came along. We'll go rollerblading as a family once or twice a week...Matt pushing Caleb and me pushing Carter. We're loving being a family of 4!
