In Memory of Dave Baugh

A few times I've sat down to write something about Dave, but it has been hard to start. So, I'll just start.

Dave Baugh was my first rowing coach at Green Lake. He taught me what it meant to be a coxswain, a teammate and a good competitor. When I showed up at Green Lake in 8th grade, I had no idea what a rowing shell was or what I would be doing as a coxswain. All I knew is that I had to be loud and small. Over the next five years, I learned everything I could about rowing and coxing from Dave. A coxswain's role in the boat is to be the eyes and ears of the crew, and to relay that information to your team and get them to push even harder than they think is possible. Even when you're behind, you still have to make your team believe that they can pull together to win. He taught all of us to never, EVER give up. Dave also taught me the value in learning how to steer a straight line. It doesn't matter if you've got the best crew team out on the water, if your coxswain can't get you across the finish line first- you're out of luck.

I will always remember my senior year and having Dave come to me to tell me that he couldn't decide between me and another coxswain. I had been the Varsity coxswain the year before and had a great boat. That was the year I had gone to Costa Rica for the summer to volunteer and they had gone to Nationals without me. They won that year- they were amazing. The following year was tough. We had some girls graduate and not return and some of the magic from the year before was gone. It was Spring season and the boat was trying to figure out the best lineup. That included my seat. No one was safe. I remember Dave coming to tell me that he would let the girls decide, since he couldn't decide on who would be best for the boat. Both coxswains had our pluses and minuses. I remember him saying to me "I wish I could just nail the two of you together." That is what sticks with me most about Dave. Whereas any other rowing coach would make a decision and not talk to you about it- saying "This is the lineup" and leave it at that. Dave genuinely cared about each of us and we cared about him.

Graduation from high school led me to the University of Washington where I started out on the Men's Freshmen team. A few weeks later, I had been moved to the Men's Varsity team. They were short on experienced coxswains and I was up for the job. It was intimidating, terrifying and overwhelming. But, I had faith that I could do this job that I had practiced the last 5 years for. I knew I could be tough even though I was intimidated. And, most importantly- I could steer a straight line.

Four years at the University of Washington and I returned to my old haunts- Green Lake. I coached Novice Girls rowing for three years. Every now and then I would see Dave and he would always have the same laugh, the same smile and ask me how I was doing. There are so many good memories that I have from the various crews I have been on and kids I have coached. I would never give up my experiences with Green Lake and the University of Washington crew teams and they have shaped me in the person I have become. Dave was instrumental in shaping my career as a coxswain and a coach and I will always be thankful for that. I don't know what my high school and college life would have been like had I had another rowing coach. For that, I am eternally grateful to have known Dave, and he will be truly missed.

Research

I've been doing some reading lately on food additives and how they affect our bodies. Another reason to get rid of the processed food; a quick little article on how food colorings can cause hyperactivity in kids:

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20080522/experts-revisit-food-additives-adhd

If you need another excuse to throw away the junk- that might be it.

The Un-Diet

Lately I've been having a lot of people ask me "Are you on a diet?" when they see me bring my lunch to work or when I refuse sweets at the office. It has made me realize what a skewed perspective we have on our own diets and how some people perceive healthy eating as being on a restrictive, no fun, calorie cutting, depressing diet. Don't get me wrong, I love my treats. But I think when treats become the norm and not "every once in a while" is when we have to step back and take a hard look at our eating habits. For a while my body was on a sugar craving cycle- I would immediately crave sugar after a meal. I had just finished a meal, and yet, my body was asking for another hit of sugar. I started to look a little closer at what I was eating and realized that the combo of what I was eating during the day had me on a little sugar roller coaster. First I was up, then I was down, then I was up...

So now I am taking charge and refusing to have all the cookies, cupcakes and delicious treats that people bring to the office each day. Cookies at home are pretty much non-existent, and treats that are not really worth it- get tossed into the trash. Harsh, I know- but it has helped a lot. And yes, I still indulge every now and then, but for the most part it is keeping them out of the norm that has helped me the most. Keeping myself focused on the the week has also helped a lot. Wiping off each day as a clean slate for bad food behaviors has gotten me into trouble in the past. Now I clump each week together and "treats" are more of special occasion.

I'm not being restrictive, I'm not denying myself. I'm changing my lifestyle. I feel that if I say I am on a "diet"- it implies that eventually I'll be OFF the diet. So really it is all about a lifestyle change and making improvements in my eating and exercise routines. The un-diet.

Hello World.

It's been a while. Since I primarily check Facebook every day, I've lost my desire to blog on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly basis. But lately, I've had a lot on my mind.

Things have been great recently. We've settled into our new place, got more furniture but haven't unpacked half the garage or emptied our storage unit. I guess that will get done eventually- I hope. Isabel turns TWO next month, and someone - please tell me where the time has gone. Actually, I think we've already launched ourselves into the Terrible Two's as Little Miss Iz has become Little Miss Independent. Not a second goes by that I don't hear "Isabel do it!" or her pushing a stool over to climb up and see what I am cooking. Lately, she's been trying to dress herself- and this morning it resulted in her trying to put on a dress upside down. Legs went through the bottom of the dress and through the neck. Unfortunately, she was only able to pull it up to her waist.

As we are seeing Isabel grow, it has resulted in a lot of changes in our lifestyle. J and I are trying to get rid of a lot of chemicals from our house- cleaning agents, detergents, hair care, lotions, you name it. Does it have parabens and phthalates in it? Unnamed "Fragrance"? Chemicals that you wouldn't dare ingest because it causes cancer in rats? Toss it in the garbage. We've decided to try and eat organic as much as possible. We're trying to avoid as much processed food as possible, because frankly- most processed food is loaded with chemicals, and really what that amounts to is poison in our bodies. Having a child and realizing that we are responsible for her health and well-being has really been a "Come to Jesus" moment for both of us. I am trying to give her the best possible life I can while I can, and when she's old enough to make decisions for herself- I hope that she will continue on a healthy lifestyle. Seeing the rise in cancers, disease and obesity in this country has made me a little crazy- but I hope that it is for the best.

I'll climb down from my soapbox now, but I do hope that I can instill in her the courage to question the norm. I recently read some disturbing articles that are linking high consumption of dairy with cancer, osteoporosis, and many other diseases. It seems so contrary to what we've heard from the Dairy Farmers of America. "Milk Does a Body Good". I've even heard doctors say that children need lots of milk for growth. But I rarely hear them talk leafy greens and vegetables and other sources of calcium. I know that expecting a toddler to eat all sorts of leafy greens might be a little out of the ordinary- but if we don't start them eating a vegetable rich diet from the start, when will we?

Again, like I said- I've had a lot on my mind. Kids will do that to you. In the meantime, I invite all of you do to a little research and see how you can improve your health. Your life depends on it.

Thankful Thoughts

I am thankful for a lot of things every single day. The fact that I have a wonderful family, a wonderful husband and amazing little girl. I am thankful that I am healthy, our family is healthy and have wonderful people in my life who make each day fun and exciting.

However, there are some other random "thankfuls" that I should mention on this glorious day of Turkey and Thanks.

-I am thankful that Sesame street is only on once a day and that Isabel hasn't figured out the "On Demand" setting on the remote quite yet.

-I am thankful for my coffee, it is the fuel that keeps me going.

-I am thankful for the fact that Miss Kitty is so tolerant of Isabel wanting to "pet" her. Lately, this has involved a stick.

-I am thankful for OxyClean. 'Nuff said.

-I am thankful for Starbucks Pumpkin loaf. I am NOT thankful for the extra pounds it brings me each year, but this leads me to my next one...

-I am thankful for my trainers who help try and keep the Pumpkin Loaf from adding to me...

-I am thankful for my husband who changes diapers and helps around the house.

-I am thankful that the simplest things are the most entertaining to my daughter. The Squirrel Superhighway in the backyard has been awesome.

-I am thankful for a good glass of wine and a quiet house. Either in the morning or evening. As long as it is quiet. Wine doesn't even have to be that good.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

October November Happenings

This October has come and gone and we finally moved into our new place. However, we moved Halloween weekend and it was a whirlwind of activity, but we finally did get our act together to take Isabel out trick or treating. Two houses and the Grandma's, perhaps next year she'll bring in a bigger haul for Mommy and Daddy.

Isabel also got her first haircut last weekend and it was a great success. We took her to see my hairdresser and let Isabel sit on my lap and read books while Caryn did her magic. It was great! Isabel had a fun time at the salon and I got my locks trimmed as well. Bonus for all!

We're still settling into the new house and it still looks like a mess. It is hard when the weekends are spent trying to get normalcy back into our lives, but still trying to tackle the boxes that are sitting around. Yuck. And to top it off, the Piggy Flu seems to be looming around the family. Thankfully, neither Jeremy or myself or Isabel has caught it- but it is getting frightfully close. I think if we eat enough bacon, we can probably convince it to be on it's way. Nothing to see here! Move along!!

At 18 months, Isabel is doing a great job of stringing two words together. "Buh-Bye Mama" and "Hi Daddy" are popular as well as "Uh-oh Shoe" and "Hi Keeee" (Kitty) or any number of those combinations. After her last appointment, Jeremy and I sat down and made a list of all the words in her vocabulary and were stunned at the result. It was way more than I expected, and those items that she has very simple words for are the most surprising. She may not be able to fully say "Robot" but she certainly knows what it is. It sounds more like "oboe" than Robot, but we know exactly what she means.

We've also said "Buh-bye" to the bottle, although it has been really hard for her to adjust to the fact that milk isn't coming with a nipple on top any more. We've switched to the sippy-cup top on her bottles and she sees that coming towards her and gets mad. It's funny how kids get into their routines. She's perfectly fine drinking from a sippy cup, not a problem. As long as it is WATER. If it has milk in it- she gets mad and tosses it and demands "WAH-ER". I've even tried to trick her into taking a sip by getting sippy cups that you can't see through. Nope, that just makes her more annoyed. I just have to remember that this too, shall pass. And sooner or later, she'll get used to it. But for the meantime, annoyed that my child is cemented in her routines!

Curious George continues to be her favorite books- so in an effort to save my sanity from reading the SAME BOOK OVER AND OVER, I practically bought out the toy store by my work with all their George books. Some are better than others, but after really reading these books you start to realize how it's not George's fault he's a naughty monkey, but really The Man with the Yellow Hat's fault. He's certainly not paying attention when George gets into trouble and who could blame a monkey for an adult's lack of supervision? And when is TMWTYH going to learn? Honestly. Don't even get me started on the fact that George doesn't have a tail...

Swimming in a Sea of Cardboard

The final countdown is on and I am packing up our place. This is the time when you start to ask yourself things like "What the hell is this?" or "Why do I need 57 different kinds of tea?". I am not kidding, I just filled an 11 gallon container with all sorts of tea.

The closer our moving date gets, the more I feel a little sad about leaving our little place. This was the place we brought Isabel home for the first time, the place she learned to crawl and walk, and lots of good memories of Jeremy and I starting our life out together here. However, I am excited by the prospect of our new home and can't wait to start a new chapter there. For a while I kept saying that this new house wasn't my dream house, but a good stepping stone for us. Now I am excited about being able to have my family over for holiday dinners, having Isabel grow up in a house with a yard, the potential of her being able to learn how to ride a bike in front of the house and more time spent with my family instead of commuting. So this house IS my dream house- a place where we can make all those dreams reality!

October? Huh?

Has it really been two months since I lasted posted something? Huh?? Is Facebook replacing blogging? Possibly. But at the same time I don't really feel like I have time to blog about anything exciting!

Well, now I do! WE ARE MOVING! Jeremy and I are in the process of selling our house (by the way, it has probably been the worst experience EVER- but let's not focus on the bad stuff, shall we?) Our closing date is October 26 and we have yet to find a house. Oh well, details, right? I am very excited about finding a bigger house- we're outgrowing our condo and it will be nice to have a little more space. Isabel needs more room to run and climb and be a kid- and in our place she's constantly restricted by gates and sharp corners. Yikes.

Isabel has been growing at lightspeed- I had to go through her clothes again this week and fish out all the 18-24 month sizes and put them away. On to 2T! I tried to put some PJ's on her this week and had a hard time zipping them up. Her little feet were squished in and as Jeremy put it- she looked like a "Baby Sausage".

Hopefully we'll have more of an update soon about a new house and location- but if anyone wants to help us pack... just let me know! :)

I love her hair...

This chica has the best hair. Hands down. When she gets up in the morning, she looks like sheepdog with her messy, crazy hair. It makes me laugh everytime.

Things have been so busy lately- we've finally put our house on the market again and now we are just playing the waiting game. And cleaning a lot. I can't wait until we finally get a buyer- then I don't have to worry about keeping every single thing completely spic-n-span every day. Not that I don't love my clean house- it actually feels wonderful to not have to a lot of stuff lying around. Just tired of the constant stress of people coming through my house.

Isabel is really close to saying her first word. Well, other than MAMA and DA and KA-BOOM. (which is what she says when she wants to slide down the stairs on her tush). She says PA when I ask her to say Grandpa and G'MA when I ask her about Grandma. But she's also been using the B sounds and will say B'AH when referring to a ball or a balloon. (She LOVES balloons). She pretty much can understand everything we say to her- however there are the exceptions. Don't expect her to explain to you the theory of relativity, but I have to remember there are little ears in the room now.

One of her favorite things lately has been Curious George. Auntie Nicole bought her some George books before she was born and she finally is old enough to sit through stories with a little more meat to them. She also has a Curious George stuffed toy which she loves to cuddle with when we read about George. Let's just say I can pretty much recite the stories about George from memory we read them so much. But she loves them, so I am happy to do whatever it takes to make her sit for a story.

I can't wait for a house that is big enough for Isabel to run around in- and doesn't have so many evil stairs. Crossing my fingers that soon we'll make this dream a reality!

Mmmm Yogurt.

Eat to Live

Recently, I've been reading a book called "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Furhman and have been taking a serious look at the kind of foods I've been eating in my diet. Having a child puts a new spin on your life- it changes your priorities, your responsibilities and ultimately, your long term goals.

I've also been witnessing how a person's diet can affect their body and it is an extremely serious topic with me these days. I feel strongly that we should be aware of the kinds of things we put into bodies- I mean, we're so concerned if we're around people that smoke, take drugs or drink too much, yet we don't pay the least bit of attention as to what we put into our mouths on a daily basis. Most people don't read labels close enough nor do we get enough of the good stuff into our bodies. The most important thing we can do to ensure our good health is to make sure we're getting enough fruits and vegetables in our diets each and every day and keep the amount of processed foods to near zero. End of story.

With Isabel, I look at baby food and am shocked and appalled as to what is made for babies to eat. I looked at some Gerber Wagon Wheels the other day and found that they were made with high fructose corn syrup. It is no wonder that over 30% of children in the United States are obese. That is a very scary number to me.

The book "Eat to Live" has some very interesting view points and some may seem a little over the top for some. However, Dr. Furhman's bottom line is this- we need to eat more fruits, vegetables and beans and less meat to be healthier individuals. I've made a conscious effort to eat more of these each day and I've been more energetic, lost a few pounds and have felt better over all. I haven't followed his diet strictly, as I don't think I really am there yet. But a few small changes have made a big difference.

As I grow older, I am seeing more and more people close to me with cancer, heart disease and other ailments. You start to wonder if people die of "old age" anymore. I saw an interesting article on Oprah's website the other day about "Blue Zones". Blue Zones are places in the world where people live to well into their 80's, 90's and 100's. Some of the common factors in the health of the people that live there are moderate exercise, legumes and a plant based diet.

You are what you eat. I don't think there could be anything more true than that.

Boogie Woogie Disco

Isabel shows us a few of her smooth moves. 

1 Year Check Up

Little Isabel had her one year check up today. She did ok- screamed bloody murder after getting two shots in the arm, but I don't blame her.

Weight: 23 pounds 7 oz (85%)

Height: 31.5 inches (97%)

She still is a little low on iron, so we have to keep giving her the supplements. I hate to do it, but I also hate to have my little monkey anemic. 

Lovely Afternoon

"Mommy, here is where we should build our beach house."

Today we took Isabel out to Alki beach for a lovely late morning stroll. The tide was out and the weather was perfect. It was a great way to spend Mother's Day, with my two favorite people and a nice Seattle day.

Yes folks, we have a walker!

She's been walking for a couple weeks now, one or two steps here and there. But today she's been taking more than just a couple of steps and it won't be long now before she's running through the house. 

Sickies All Around

Yes, we all caught the sickness that is going around. Isabel had a temperature yesterday of 103 and was the most pitiful thing you've ever seen. Today she's been pretty cling/crabby/cranky and doesn't want to nap unless she's in my arms. Sigh. The worst part is that all of us are sick- so it is really hard to get any rest.

How Fast a Year Goes By...

Amazing what 365 days will do to a human being.

Zoo Day!

Today we took Isabel to the zoo on a fun family outing. Finally, she is old enough to have fun seeing the animals. The first time we went to the zoo with her, she slept through the whole thing. :)

The zoo is a funny place to go if you want to observe not only animals, but social behavior in humans. It seems like parents get really cranky when taking kids to the zoo and it's like they are the only ones not having any fun. There were a ton of photographers there today, with their huge lenses and their tripods. There were some who were really rude- this one lady was telling kids "not to kick her tripod" and pulling them away from the window when she was trying to take pictures of the lion. She was plain awful- what do you expect when there were a ton of munchkins trying to see the lions too?

Tired monkey.

Looking at the elephants!

We had a great afternoon- maybe next time we'll go to the Aquarium. :)

No Crying Tonight!

Sleepy baby girl chugged back a full bottle, said goodnight to her peeps and passed out. She stood up once to grab for me, but I just laid her back down again and handed her Bob (her ducky friend, thank you Rachel and Katy!) and she went down quietly.

We went to Tokyo restaurant again tonight and she made eyes at the sushi chefs with broccoli and rice all over her face. She's a charmer, that's for sure! There was one little girl in the restaurant who was being kind of wild, running around the restaurant and screaming. Isabel sat in rapture, watching this little girl. Man oh man, I hope she was not getting any fancy ideas or else I am going to have to invent velcro pants for highchairs.

Teaching the Girls the Finer Points of Life...

The finer points of life definitely includes a beautiful Sunday walk to the French bakery on Eastlake. 

Today Eryn and I took the girls with us for a lovely Sunday stroll through Montlake to Le Fournil. Can you say NOM NOM NOM? Isabel loves strolling along and looking at all the cars and she is so interested in people watching these days! 

Face full of croissant!

Lovely Mama E and Baby E

I wish for my next house to be in a nice neighborhood and have a French bakery near by. Oh, and if we could live next door to Ina Garten, that would be awesome too.