I thought Saturday's were for sleeping in.

Man! Cooper was all over me last night! Every time I woke up his bum was in my face or his head was on my chest or his feet were on my head. You get the picture. So, it's Saturday morning and I'm up by 7:30 am! I should be sleeping right now. Oh well, so goes a day in the life of a mother...

In other news, this diet that the doctor put me on is no joke! I thought it would be more of a struggle to cut the sugar out but I've only had a couple sugar cravings and I've been able to get through them without buckling. And I've lost 4 lbs in the past week and a half! I knew there would be an upside to all this!

Update.

I found out what my official diagnosis is. Neurally Mediated Hypotension. The link will tell you more about it. It's nothing life-threatening. Just generally annoying. I have to say, though, I feel much better since I started paying particular attention to my salt and water intake. No more major lightheadedness. And my heart palpitations seem to be lessening. I'm still sad about the running thing but I haven't given up all hope that I'll be able to train again. Just not right now, I guess. So, I'll continue to exercise, just reign it in a little. I'm so glad the Australian Open has been on TV because it's got me excited about tennis season. I have no doubt that I'll be okay to play by spring. Can't wait to try out my new racquet!

In other news, I've made another birthday cake. This one was for my neighbor Jenn's little girl, Madi, who's turning 3. Her party was tonight. She just loved it. Her jaw dropped when she saw it. That's why I make them! This one was very girly and I just *love* to make the girly cakes. Happy Birthday, Madi!

We had a heart to heart.

I saw the cardiologist yesterday. After having another morning of major lightheadedness and general haziness I knew that I needed to see him. The low blood pressure is definitely the culprit but the real problem is the fact that I have the Epstein-Barr virus and the two combined are just wearing me out. I told him that it seemed that every time that I try to workout harder and push my fitness level I start getting palpitations. And he told me that I'm pushing myself too hard. He said I'm not the same person I used to be. What I can do and what my body will tolerate are two different things.

I know it's lame but I nearly broke down and cried because I really love to run. I think I'm addicted to the feeling of pushing my body past my limits- you know, that runner's high that people always talk about. I was looking forward to racing this summer but I guess I have to put a halt to all that. Will says I should keep running just less often and maybe at a more leisurely pace. I guess I'll just have to feel it out. At least tennis and golf are still ok. Wish it were warm...

The doctor reiterated that I really need to cut all sugar out of my diet. Well, he said fruit is fine but no refined sugar. He said to keep adding salt (to everything!) and he prescribed some medicine to push my blood pressure up. Anybody that knows me knows that I hate medication! I have a hard taking an ibuprofen when I have headache so this will be a challenge. At this point, though, I'm willing to do anything he tells me to do. Let's just hope that this takes care of the problem. Here's to a healthy heart!

With every beat of my heart.

This always happens. I start to up my exercise routine (trying to be in great shape for tennis and race season) and my heart starts to go crazy. I've had palpitations for practically the last 4 days straight! I even took a couple days off from running but it hasn't really helped. This morning as we were running out the door to church, I got really light-headed and dizzy. I figured it would pass so I went to church anyway but after sitting down at church I realized that it wasn't going away. I just felt disconnected. So we came home after sacrament and I laid down and had some Ramen noodles (for the sodium content) and took a nap. I have felt okay since but just a bit weak and tired. If I'm not feeling better by tomorrow, I'll see if I can get in to see the cardiologist. Not sure exactly what's going on. Just know that i don't feel quite right.

Happy Birthday, Tyson!

Here's a pic of the birthday boy with his cake. He wanted a pirate cake so that's what I gave him. I had to make sure that I had a treasure chest with chocolate gold coins. That was Tyson's only "requirement." So, along with the treasure chest, I made a pirate ship covered in fondant "wood" and an island covered in nilla wafer "sand" and blue water made from royal icing. Amy kept coming over to the cake and nibbling on the "water." I think she got a kick out of being able to actually eat it. The birthday party was at Carl's Jr. and the kids had a blast playing in the playplace there. What a great way to tire your kids out- feed them food with no nutritive value and them let them wear themselves out in the playroom. Coleman should sleep like a baby tonight. Not to mention the sugar crash...

Christmas 2006.

What a great Christmas holiday it's been this year!The boys had plenty of presents under the tree and we were blessed with a big snow right before Christmas. Here's Coleman knee deep in our front yard.

We've had plenty of family time with Will off the past couple of weeks. It's always great to have him at home. I also got a chance to make 3 cakes in the past 2 weeks. The pillow cake from my last post and two other cakes I didn't get pictures of but one was a 2 tiered stacked cake with musical notes all over it (for my neighbor who's a singer)and the other was a half sheet cake I made for Christmas day with snowflakes piped onto each slice. The pillow one was my favorite.


Oh, and it looks like I'm going to get to go golfing a lot this summer because Will bought me a full set of golf clubs for Christmas! I think I'm on my way to the LPGA tour. And I bought Will a new standing heavy bag for Christmas to help him get into tip-top shape. He wants to train in Mixed Martial Arts but says he has to be in shape before he starts. Go figure. I keep trying to tell him that the training will help him get into shape! Anyway, I love kickboxing, too, so I plan on using it often.

Happy New Year! Here's to a clean slate and accomplishing all that we set our minds to this year!