Search Results for “IT band” – Page 2

21
Jan
2014

Cross country skiing

We made one rule for ourselves when we moved to frigid Minnesota: DO NOT HIBERNATE.

It is hard to follow this rule.

Let me tell you about our non-hibernating weekend.

Friday, we tried Minneapolis’ pizza at Pizza Luce, and it was amazing. They have a wide variety of unique pizza toppings and just the right amount of garlic. Mmmmm. We will be going back.

Saturday, our brand new couches were delivered. This was a dream come true for me, and a long time coming! My dream to have brand new couches is a blog post on its own, so I will spare the details now and just let you know that my life was made this Saturday when our couches were delivered.

After laying on the couches for 30 minutes in pure bliss, we rented a truck at our new favorite store, Menard’s. If you haven’t been to Menard’s recently, I encourage you to go and browse around. They have everything you can possibly imagine. How did I not know about this before?

We drove the Menard’s pick-up truck all around Minneapolis and St. Paul to pick up 4 pieces of furniture that we found on craigslist. All 4 pieces of furniture were free….free I tell you! For the low price of a Menard’s rental truck, we got a new dresser, new armoir, new desk, and new dining room cabinet. Well, maybe not new like my couches are new, but you know what I mean. Needless to say, we were in house heaven on Saturday. Finally our little 1892 rental house was feeling like home.

We broke down and hibernated on Saturday night, watching movies on our new couches and eating oreo pie.

After church on Sunday, we chanted, “Do not hibernate” and drove out to Carver Park Reserve to try out cross country skiing. It was a blast! Baby Hiatt must have been wondering what was happening in the world… it was a little shaky! This may sound strange, but we learned how to cross country ski by following children. Kids mess up all the time, and the adults around them give them pointers. So there we were, flipping up our ear muffs to listen to the tips the adults were giving the children. Here are some pics. Isn’t Minnesota beautiful? And my husband…..hubba hubba 🙂

Stay tuned for my next post: Important information you should know about your IT band! (What is my IT band, you ask??? Well…..like I said….Stay tuned!)

14
Jan
2014

Making cookies and what’s to come!

categories: Life, Marriage

Since Davey and I aren’t exactly elite members of Minneapolis’ social scene (aka we don’t have friends yet), we find creative ways to entertain ourselves. Last night, we made cookies!

Baby Hiatt and I had a difficult time restraining ourselves from eating the cookie dough.

Davey was shocked to find out that my “secret chocolate chip cookie recipe” was listed on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag.

“Davey, I have to sit down and take a cookie-eating-break. I’m pregnant.”

I had to put this picture in so you know we also eat fruit….sometimes.

I’ve had a lot of extra time on my hands lately since I have yet to secure employment (coming close, though!). Being unemployed is one of the strangest feelings, and I have a new appreciation for anyone who has spent more than 2 weeks looking for a job. It’s exhausting! I can only talk about my ‘strengths and weaknesses’ so much. But this extra time has allowed me to plan and brainstorm what exactly I want this bloggy blog to be. I have come up with 2 very different, but very exciting goals for this blog:

Document the story of #daveyandkaylee (and baby Hiatt!) that we can look back on for years to come.

and

Provide a resource for my peers that includes basic biomechanical, postural, and ergonomic lifestyle changes that can be made to avoid mechanical pain, injury, or early degenerative changes.

As a physical therapist, I am excited to use my knowledge to present fun and easy ways we can protect our bodies from harm and injury–ways you may not have considered! Sure, we’re young—but we won’t always be! Let’s keep our muscles and bones in the best condition possible to preserve our youth. Stay tuned to kayleemay.com to find out why certain shoes give you back pain, what’s the best position to sleep in, or why your IT band keeps getting tight even though you stretch it all. the. time.

I am so excited to develop an online community who enjoys love, learning, and lifestyle as much as I do!

09
Nov
2015

Tag, Mary. You’re it.

categories: Faith, Life, Seton

Something happened last night I want to put down so that I remember it for years to come.

After what felt like sleeping for 5 minutes (half-in, half-out) I woke up to the sound of a loud, quick noise.

I paused to see if I would hear it again.

Seton started crying.

She stopped crying.

Silence.

She fell back to sleep, but she must have heard it, too, right? I wasn’t just dreaming?

I took a lap around the house. Nothing. Officially crazy town in my head. I could feel Davey rolling his eyes the way only a wife can feel the eye roll from her half asleep husband down the dark hallway.

Passing Seton’s door to get back to our room, I thought, “What if the noise was the sound of her head against the crib? What if she hit it in that fatal spot on the temple, and something terrible happened?” (just a normal fear, right? I don’t even know where I come up with these things.)

I decided to just peek in and check on her.

Seton awoke to the paranoid creak of her 1942 glass door handle turning ever so slowly, ever so loudly.

She was startled and began sobbing. I tried calming her, shushing her to sleep, and sending an eye roll RIGHT BACK ATCHA, DAVEY, THE NOT-SO PROTECTOR WHAT IF WE HAD AN INTRUDER OK FINE WE DONT AND I WOKE UP THE BABY BUT YOU DIDN’T DEFEND US.

Nothing worked to get Seton back to sleep. Books, songs, laying on the couch. I tried all my tricks, Davey tried all his tricks, and it seemed Seton was going to hyperventilate. I have never NOT been able to get her to stop crying. Usually just the sight of me calms her down. I was failing.

Davey turned on the light.

Seton’s sad, puffy eyes fixated on our little statue of Mary on the shelf in our room. She stopped crying.

“May-me,” she said. She pointed to Mary.

“You want Mary?” Davey said. He brought it to her. She touched her hands, her eyes, her veil. “Do you want to hold her?” Seton clutched her in her tiny hands and pulled her close to her chest. We sat there in silence for a few minutes.

I suggested to Seton to put Mary back on the shelf so Mary can go “night night.” Seton calmly placed her on the shelf and said through calmed sadness, “nigh nigh.”

I took her back in her room, changed her diaper, read a few books, then turned out her light. I felt myself tensing in fear that she would start crying again.

And she did.

WAILING.

The thought of starting the whole process over again was overwhelming. If there was a towel, I would have thrown it in. But there is no such thing as throwing in the towel on motherhood, is there?

I whispered to Seton–while simultaneously thinking she would never hear my whisper above the sound of her cries–“Mary.”

Seton stopped crying.

“Remember Mary? Hail Mary…”

Seton put her head on my shoulder, shuddered with a few deep breaths, and fell asleep.

I felt Mary’s presence reminding me that I will fail at motherhood. There will be times when I love my best, I give my all, and I still won’t be able to control my child’s joy. I won’t always be able to comfort her, stop her from crying, make her smile, calm her to sleep. I won’t be able to make everything ok.

Mary will step in where I fall short.

I feel so good about that.

15
Oct
2015

When it’s my time

categories: Life

Every day I am at work I get a very intimate view into someone’s life.

The tears welling in another’s eyes always ignite something in me, (empathy, is it called?) and I experience the emotions as well.

Loneliness is a familiar one.

A mom of four sits in a dimly lit room, filled with the stench of stale air, her head hung as she mourns the loss of her previous life and longs for what used to be. I kneel next to her hospital bed, and offer my hand on her lap.

I understand, I pat. Or at least I will.

When it’s my time.

“They brought things from home today.” She points to old pictures on her wall, one an image of her husband’s grave. Her smile, recognizable by her crooked teeth, beams beneath a bridal veil. Four kids all fit in her arms, on her lap.

What was your husband like?

She tells me her most fond memories, laughing at his old jokes.

The joy of her previous life pushes it’s way into her stories, and I realize she misses my life, this time in my life. She recounts her early years of marriage, raising small kids, starting their life on the farm.

Everyone says to enjoy this stage because it goes by so quickly.

I think they are really saying, “I miss it.”

It is a really good time, and I am reminded daily that it slips by until the only way we can experience the same joy again is through the sadness of missing it.

04
Oct
2015

Second Anniversary

categories: Uncategorized

Davey and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on September 27. People asked us what we did to celebrate, and I didn’t have just one specific answer. We really celebrated all weekend in the small ways. Sharing waffles together and going on a long walk and going to mass made the perfect anniversary for us.

I thought that I would always say that my wedding day was the happiest day of my life because on September 27, 2013, I couldn’t possibly imagine being happier.

I’ve been surprised that every subsequent day has brought more joy than the last.

We rewatched this video and looked through these photos to remember our wedding day.

But it’s really in the small things that we celebrate our marriage.

09
Sep
2015

Chris, Lauren, and Skylar come to MNPLS!

categories: Life

Seton’s finally ( I say ‘finally’ but I guess it’s only been 13 months…) at an age where she can sit still and focus on something for a few minutes at a time. She loves to stack her blocks now rather than just knocking down MY stacks!

And she gets very serious at our public library. She is in a phase where she takes one object at a time and moves it from point A to point B. It’s like she has a really important job to do–ha! (It was really cute until “point B” was once the toilet. ;))

She has turned into quite the climber! We can’t turn our backs or she is on top of the foot stools or standing on her rocking chair.

We had some fun visitors over Labor Day weekend! Chris and Lauren drove up from Chicago, and we had a blast showing them our town! We started off Saturday with a walk around our cute town of Hopkins, MN. After morning naps, we headed to Mall of America!

The back seat babes:

I only had about 5 heart attacks watching Davey and Chris on the escalators with the strollers.

Chris is a great dad!

After afternoon naps (during which the parents watched Ninja Turtles, much to Davey’s delight) we headed to Lake Harriet Band Shell for a little picnic, drinks, live music, and chasing of a one-year-old!

I love that these girls are little buddies!

Why is it that she cries when I leave the room in our house and doesn’t let me shower or use the restroom without standing outside the door yelling, “Mommy!” but she is VERY happy to walk-run away from us in a crowd of people?

The Little Stinker.

I don’t have pics of Sunday (what was I thinking!?), but we took them out to the town diner for breakfast, played at our local playground and finished the day with Juicy Lucy’s at the 5-8 Club.

We were so sad to say good bye to them!

All our friends are probably getting a little tired of us begging them to move here.

24
Aug
2015

Monday Musings |Why you should marry a good man (and what I mean by ‘good’)

categories: Life, Marriage

The combination of a wedding at the end of this week and my husband’s birthday yesterday has me thinking of love and my husband…and how much I love my husband.

I do some really dumb things, but marrying him was one of my more brilliant ideas. Here’s why:

He knows how to say, “I’m sorry”…which ends up getting said a lot in marriage. He recognizes he isn’t perfect. He admits he’s wrong when he’s wrong.

He doesn’t let me always be right. Even though I am. (j to the k). He rarely gets really upset, so when he does, I find myself hanging my head because I know I did or said something wrong.

He’s energetic. Energy in a grown man translates to the lawn getting mowed, the groceries getting shopped, the bills getting paid, the baby getting bathed. Things get done around here. (well, he always starts them and does the hard parts, and I usually finish them)

He sees marriage as something that is more than him and me. He treats me well because he considers it his vocation, not just because he thinks I’m pretty or witty or interesting (because sometimes I’m not any of those things).

He is fearful in a manly way. He is fearful of not being able to provide and in his fear, I find stability. And he finds motivation. I know my career isn’t the only thing upholding our family financially, and that’s pretty awesome.

He respects me and tries to love me the way Christ loves me.

He talks to me. If he hates doing dishes, he tells me. If he needs to be alone and watch some show (usually with people wearing dirty brown clothes i.e. Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders), he tells me so.

He thanks me for loving him. He doesn’t expect love or feel like he deserves love. He recognizes his faults and sees that I love him regardless.

Which I do. I love him so much.

I wrote about 5 Things to Consider When Looking for Mr. Right 4 months after we got married! Check it out!

10
Jul
2015

Friday Favorites | Baby Gear

categories: Life, Seton

When Davey and I went to Babies ‘R Us to set up a baby registry, I was hormonal and overwhelmed. We left as soon as I saw the carseat department and realized I AM ALREADY A TERRIBLE MOM BECAUSE I NEVER RESEARCHED WHICH CARSEAT IS THE BEST, AND I AM ALSO CRAVING A TACO RIGHT NOW. I felt like it would never be possible to research the best stroller, the best car seat, the best crib…you get the point. Davey still laughs about it.

I ended up completing the full registry online while snacking on Taco Bell. I allowed myself to look at ONE PAGE of options. Babies ‘R Us has 4 pages of carseats with 24 seats to a page! WAAAAAY too many choices.

Here’s where I share with you our favorite baby gear we have used over the past year.

The stroller || They see me strollin’…they hatin’… Davey came home with this stroller from clearance at Babies ‘R Us when I was about 6 months pregnant. It was about 75% off–awesome deal–but I was worried because everyone told me I would want to fit my carseat right to the stroller. I wasn’t able to find a good adapter for our Chicco car seat we had already gotten. But, guess what? It never mattered. We live in a walkable town, so we rarely drive somewhere to walk. We just head out our front door. I have never really been in a situation where I wanted to transfer her from the car seat straight to the stroller. All in all, I am so happy with the stroller. It runs well, walks well, and even hikes well on uneven ground.

The car seat || Our little peanut still fits in this car seat. We have never had any issues. The base snaps easily into the car seat buckles in both our cars (we each have a base so either one can pick her up from day care).

The crib || If you know Davey, you know he likes a good deal. We found the best deal by ordering our crib from Walmart.com. It included a mattress and free shipping right to our doorstep. I wanted something fairly light (some cribs are so bulky), simple, and easily converted to a toddler bed. I was worried about the mattress, but so far so good. Seton isn’t complaining. 😉

The Baby Carrier || One of my coworkers gave me a hand-me-down Moby wrap that has worked quite nicely. I also used the K’tan which I really liked until Seton was around 8 weeks old, and it got too small for her. It’s a fixed amount of fabric (The Moby has loose ends you tie), so as Seton grew and the fabric stayed the same size, it no longer worked. If we have another baby, I might try the Ergo because I have heard good things. I imagine I will use a carrier more with the second since I will need my hands free for Seton.

The Swing || I am a huge advocate of not putting your baby in a “container” all the time (exersaucers, swings, jumpers, etc) but I am also a HUGE advocate of Happiest Baby on the Block (best thing EVER we will swear by it to everyone we know) where I learned that the swinging motion is calming and natural for babies. I used a swing similar to this one from 0-3 months (the ‘4th trimester’) to soothe Seton. I only let her in there for short periods and never let her sleep in it all night. It was a sanity life saver.

The pack ‘n play || This is our exact pack ‘n play that we have LOVED. The first few weeks of life, Seton slept next to our bed in the “newborn napper,” then transitioned to the “bassinet” around week 5, then to the crib (above) by week 8. With each transition, I would worry that she wouldn’t sleep well. She did fine! It also packs up easily for travel. Every baby is different though; this is just what ended up working for us.

The swaddle || One reason she transitioned so well was because swaddling was a sleep cue for her the first 3 months. We used this swaddle and followed the guidelines from Happiest Baby on the Block….and she was the happiest little baby on the block. We stopped swaddling at 3 months.

The diapers || Have I mentioned my husband loves good deals? He has compared the prices of Costco, diapers.com, Walmart, Target…and the cheapest diapers are….drum roll, please…Babies R Us brand diapers. Shocking, I know. I would have never thought. It’s not really “baby gear”, but just thought I would share.

What’s your favorite baby gear? Anything I am missing or should know about?

29
Jun
2015

Monday Musings | On Motherhood

categories: Baby Story, Life, Seton, Uncategorized

As we approach Seton’s first birthday, I find myself reflecting on how motherhood has changed me.

The instant Seton was born, I didn’t feel the overwhelming sense of love that I had expected. I felt physical relief that labor was over. The doctor handed her to me and as she lay on my chest, I thought, “I can’t hold her.” I was shaking, slightly terrified at the experience of labor and numb to any emotion that may be deemed maternal.

Davey recognized I {didn’t want} to hold her –I feel so weird writing that — and he willingly scooped her up and walked around the hospital room with her.

I remember watching him thinking, “how is he already this good? How does he already love her?” I had never seen him hold a baby before. It looked as if he had been holding her his whole life. She fit perfectly into his arms. I was jealous of my husband who seemed to be feeling everything I wanted to feel.

The one emotion I remember strongly was the new sense of responsibility. I knew I had to keep her alive. A nurse told me that Seton had some fluid in her lungs because she was coughing it up. It was really not a big deal, but I became paranoid about watching to make sure she was breathing. So I didn’t take my eyes off of her that first day. Looking back, I guess I was thinking that the least I could do (if I couldn’t love her) was make sure she kept breathing.

Exhaustion has a weird power over a human, and the more I watched Seton’s small chest rise and fall as she lay in her bassinet, the more I felt pulled toward sleep. She was born at 3:21am and as the next night approached I felt I couldn’t even watch her to make sure she stay alive.

I asked them to keep her in the nursery that night.

I felt so ashamed.

I am a rational and loving person, I kept telling myself. I will grow to love her.

And I did.

After the first week at home, I told Davey, “I can’t believe it, but I love her.”

He thought it sounded funny because he giggled and said, “of course you do.”

And now, almost a year later, I am completely shocked by how much I love her. I’m even more shocked that the love does not stop growing.

My life used to be my life. Every decision I made was based on what would make me the happiest.

What job makes me happy? Which friends make me happy? Which TV show make me happy? What book should I read to make me happy?

Now, each and every decision I make, I make for Seton. If I seek happiness for myself, it’s because I want to radiate joy to her.

In many ways, I have matured. I imagine other people reach this maturity sooner in life than I did. I used to care so much about what other people think.

I used to get upset that old ladies in the grocery store would criticize me for not having socks on Seton.

But, now? I don’t care what they think. I know she pulls her socks off.

I used to care about upsetting people in church because Seton is a distraction.

But, now? I don’t care what they think. I know it’s more important for me to bring Seton to church than it is to worry about other people being distracted.

I used to feel so guilty about leaving work in time to pick Seton up from daycare.

But, now? I don’t care what anyone thinks. I know it’s more important that I spend one more waking hour with my daughter than finish discharge summaries or return a phone call from a patient I’ve already spoken to twice about confirming his appointment.

It took becoming a mother for me to fully dissociate myself from others’ concerns and criticisms.

It’s only been one year, and I feel like the person I am and the direction my life is going has completely changed.

And I love it.

17
Feb
2015

Let us chat about food

categories: Health

Life has been oh so good to us lately. Seton’s personality has decided to emerge, and I am happy to announce she is a crawler and a puller-upper. I am unhappy to announce she is a morning person and a pea-hater. But such is life.

We have also been playing a lot of peek-a-boo…

which I tend to enjoy more than her.

I’ve also jumped on the #whole30 bandwagon. I feel like I’ve just been hanging off the back of the bandwagon by the tips of my fingers while my body flails in the air and slaps on the ground day after day, but that’s neither here nor there.

I guess it’s not that bad.

But I am going on no support in this household. Davey said he would do Whole30 if it meant eating a whole pizza in under 30 minutes. So, yeah.

BUT!

He has envied my meals and now requests that I make them for TWO! Small victory for me.

I have learned a few things since cutting out all dairy, grains, legumes, yummy food…

–I used to eat a LOT of sugar. I thought I was a healthy eater, but having to really spend time THINKING and DISCERNING about what I am eating, I realize I used to eat a lot of breads and sweets.

–The first few days of whole30, I would day dream about food. Maybe I used to do this anyway, and I just recognize it more now? Unsure. But I had visions of pretzels, bagels, and my favorite snack: dry cheerios with chocolate chips.

–Cooking healthy isn’t hard. Baking a sweet potato, frying an egg, cutting up an avocado is all very easy. It’s the planning part that’s tough, but it’s time I learn how to plan out my meals anyway. Without planning, I end up eating whatever is in sight as soon as I walk in the door from work which leads me to unhealthy choices.

–Cooking healthy does require a lot of trips to the grocery store, the loathe of my life. And I loathe the grocery store even more now that I can’t eat 99.99999999% of the food in it.

which leads me to…

–As a country, we eat a lot of chemicals. We eat a lot of things that are put in our food just to make it last longer on the shelf or taste more palatable to us WHEN IT ALREADY TASTES GOOD ANYWAY! You’ll see what I mean if you look at the label of everything you put in your cart the next time you’re shopping. Just check out how many foods have ingredients you can’t pronounce.

Ah, so many reflections on food.

Here are the stats so far:

Whole30 day: 14
Times I’ve cried because I felt sorry for myself: 1
Times I dreamed I was eating a bagel: 2
Times I have given into cravings: 0!

Anyone else doing whole30? Comment or email me your thoughts!

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