Random randomness 5.20.11

What the ...: I ran a 5K two weeks ago. It was a gorgeous morning to run, and the course started and ended at a beachy, water-front park on Anna Maria Island, which is uber cute. Despite the fact that I had only gotten four hours of sleep the night before, I was eager to run and push my time (largely because I needed to get home fast, shower and head off to a bridal shower I was cohosting, but I digress). There were probably 250 runners, and as the pack started to break up a bit, I realized something about a woman running in front of me: She was barefoot. I've never seen it, and I maybe could have understood if it happened on a beach course, but this was road. Asphalt. Florida pavement.

Bizarre.

The view before the race.

She ended up finishing the race, and I really can't imagine that was a comfortable (or healthy) way to run, but maybe she had a purpose or was trying to make a statement. There was another runner who was wearing a veil. I asked her why she was wearing the veil, thinking maybe she was getting married that day, which would be really cool. But apparently she was engaged and planning an August wedding. Her maid of honor was running with her and suggested they run a race the morning of the wedding, too ... Still kinda puzzled why the veil was a key part of this May race, but an interesting people-watching moment regardless.

I'm old AND lame: For my birthday last month, I got some money. And while I'd love to blow it on all sorts of fun stuff or stash all of it in our savings account, I thought carefully about how to designate each dollar. One of my chosen purchases? Electric toothbrushes for Tim and I. They've been on my Amazon wish list for months, and I finally decided that they'd be worth the investment (I mean, if you've got good teeth and gums, surely you're saving on dental care in the long run, right?). Lest you all think that I'm a hopeless cause, please know that I did order a new pair of sandals (they were desperately needed, as sandals are year-round attire in Florida) and buy some makeup. The rest, though, *did* go in to savings.

Because I'm old, I'm loving this: This primer rocks. I saw an ad in a magazine for it a few months ago, had a few coupons and bought it on sale, figuring I didn't have much to lose if I didn't like it. I big pink puffy heart it. It makes my face incredibly smooth, and it feels so soft and silky going on. Sometimes I'll just put my moisturizer, primer and a dust of powder on, and I'm ready to go, sans foundation. It lasts a long time, too - I'm just now starting my second little jar.

Texts you don't expect to receive from your husband while at work: "What are you feeding this child?! Another huge poop just happened."

Birthday bonanza: Happy birthday to my beloved sister Marti and dear friend Meghan! (You can read more about them in a birthday post from two years ago here.) Our friend Kelly is also celebrating her birthday today at work with Tim (with these yummy cookies - one of her favorites, muah hahahaha).

Pear-fectly unacceptable: I have developed quite a love/hate relationship with pears. I'm not a huge fan of the fruit myself, but Elle L-O-V-E-S them. My problem is that they stain cute baby clothes like nobody's business. I've had great success getting all other stains out of Elle's clothes since birth ... except the pears seem to have outsmarted me. (Cantaloupes are problematic as well.) Elle always seems to be wearing cute, white onesies when she eats pear, and the stains are a light brown. Not. Cool. The stains are hard for me to see *before* washing, so by the time the clothes are washed they've been pretty set, but I'm going to try to be a bit more proactive on the pesky buggers.

Best trainer ever: I was playing Zumba for Wii yesterday morning while Tim and Elle were in the other room. Tim brought Elle in and told me I was getting a standing ovation for my performance. I turned around and saw Elle Belle clapping enthusiastically. Quite the encouragement to continue my workout :)

Ch-ch-changes: Just a heads up, abundance of faithful readers: We're going to be changing our blog name, address and design in the next few weeks. I'll give more of a heads up before it's about to happen, because things will likely be kinda wonky for a few days as we make the switch, but typing in the old address should automatically redirect you to the same page, old links should work the same, etc. I *think* the only thing that changes is you might have to update the site if you read through Google Reader, but again, more info as the time approaches. I'm excited :)

Squeaky Sophie: As I mentioned in a previous post, Sophie was missing, so we ordered a replacement Sophie. (Amazon's price on Sophie is the lowest I've found, and free two-day shipping because of Amazon Mom? Thankyouverymuch.) Replacement Sophie's squeaker is in hyper drive. The old Sophie squeaked, but you had to definitely squeeze her to produce noise. If you look at Replacement Sophie the wrong way, she squeaks loudly. If you breathe in her vacinity, SQQQUUEEEEEEAAAAAKKKKKK. Elle finds this amusing. (And judging from the consistent, enthusiastic squeaks I heard from Elle and Tim playing while I was trying to sleep yesterday morning, Tim finds this amusing as well.)

Thoughts and prayers: A little baby girl is in the hospital and facing an uphill battle. The baby is the daughter of two people I work with, and while I don't know them personally, their story has hit me hard. The baby was born when the mom was 23 weeks and 6 days pregnant - viability is 24 weeks. She's teeny tiny and fighting hard but has already had several procedures and surgeries and is being closely monitored for various complications. Her parents are essentially living at the hospital, immersed in the beeps and hums of the monitors and machines keeping their daughter alive. Her mother has only been able to hold her twice - in the more than five weeks since she was born. Twice. If you have any extra thoughts and prayers to spare, please consider sending them to this family.

Baby stuff

Sophie is missing!: We've issued an APB for everyone's favorite over-priced giraffe teether. We've looked high and low, but we're continuing the search - I mean, a rubbery giraffe can't just vanish in to thin air, can it?! My best guesses are that Sophie is hiding in one of our cars (although we've both looked several times) or went for a walk or grocery shopping adventure with Elle ... and didn't come back. Either way, it's sad. I felt like it was worth the investment to get another Sophie (especially since the Orajel option is now out), and then if we find the original Sophie, we'll have a backup.

Sucker: Elle is sick. (I am, too, but at least I can blow my nose.) So we've been dealing with her congestion, and like many babies, she's not a fan of saline drops or the bulb sucker. While she isn't sick very often, I hate seeing her in agony, and I also hate wrestling my own daughter just to get within bulb-sucking distance of her nose. Enter the Nosefrida (aka "The Snotsucker"). I'd heard about this and read about it and was totally grossed out by it, so I dismissed it, chalking it up to "something that might work for other parents but we definitely just did not need it." With this latest round of snot, I asked some other mom friends, though, explaining that Elle a) hates having her face messed with, b) doesn't get sick often and c) has a promising career in martial arts with all of the defensive moves she puts up to keep me out of her nose.

The consensus was Nosefrida for the win. While the concept is gross, they agreed, they say that is it less intrusive (doesn't even go in the actual nostril - you just hold it up to the end of it), and it's much more effective, so you don't have to use it as often, which I know Elle will appreciate. And my favorite review on Amazon mentioned "examining it for a long time to make sure snot wouldn't go up my nose."

I'll report back on our snotsucking adventures, although I'm hoping by the time it arrives Elle will be over this cold.

Anyone have a Nosefrida experience to share?

Also baby-related: I'm holding out hope that someone will walk in the Blogger office on Monday morning and decide to restore my "Elle's nine month stats" post, but if it doesn't happen, I'll re-publish it soon. I rescued most of it from Google Reader but need to reformat some of it, so fear not! The story of my big-headed daughter will return.

Impulse buying

A fellow blogger posted about how she had bought her son a "Sophie." Her son is due the same day as Elle, and while I've heard about how great these Sophies are, I never felt a pressing need to get one. The baby chew toy is 100% natural rubber (phthalate free) and decorated with food paint, so you get a good, natural giraffe-shaped teether toy, but I figured since it was a teether, there was no rush. You know - teething. Something kids don't do until they have teeth poking out, not something to worry about when they're chilling in the womb for another few weeks.

Buuuuttttttttt ... they were on sale on amazon.com. This isn't something I'd want to buy used. And I started to think that this is more than just a teether - it can be a toy long before Elle starts teething. I haven't bought any toys for her (we've gotten plenty as gifts, and she's not going to need a ton of toys at first). And this way I don't have to worry about finding a deal or ordering or paying for one later, right? I mean, I've blogged about saving money on cloth diapers and finding deals, and this is a money-saver.

So I texted Tim to tell him of my impulse purchase: "I sorta kinda maybe just bought a teething toy for Elle."

Tim's response: "Ahead of ourselves much?"

She'll have teeth soon enough! And when that time comes, we'll be ready with Sophie! I'm starting early with a focus on dental health! Because she - and her gums- could be here in the next 2.5-6 weeks!