Keeping it Positive...with pictures

I have been aware that I have been slacking on writing.  But every time I thought I would sit down and write something profound, all the ideas flowing through me seemed so negative that I just couldn't do it.  Between vomit and mucus, the past couple of weeks have been rough around our house and I know that a lot of you are having the same problems.  So in a vain attempt to bring a smile to my face, and hopefully yours, I decided that I would post pictures from this past month of the one person who constantly brings a smile to my face and laughter to my dark days.

Why is the image of a messy face so adorable?  I get to see it several times a day and have to clean it up.  Yet it still brings a smile to my face.  This meal was french toast with a homemade berry syrup.

A look at the fun that a 14 month brings to my daily life.... I keep finding her in more and more "interesting" places.  These were just the few that I had a camera handy.

And of course this month's pictures would not be complete without the pictures from Lilah's first haircut.

Running...for fun?

So as most of you probably already know I am currently in training to run a half marathon in February.  Why, do you ask, would I decide to do such a thing and my answer is I am not quite sure.   I am not a runner - or so I used to tell myself.  After running 3 or 4 miles in Body Back and finishing the 5k with much better results than I expected, I apparently decided that I am now a runner.  So why the half?  I know several other Moms that will be running the race too and I am inspired by all of them.  The final straw was actually watching last season of Biggest Loser where the final four run the marathon, if they can do that, I can run half that far!

And now comes the part where I admit that I have NO idea what I am doing.  I have never been an athlete.  Not to the degree that running requires.  I am feeling ill equip for this challenge and it is quickly losing its appeal.  I WILL continue to train and I WILL finish the race, even if I have to walk, but at this point I am not sure I will ever set such a high goal again.  I am thinking a 5k or 10k sound great right about now.  Last weekend was the tipping point.  I tried my first 10 miler.  I made the first 5 no problem.  6 was hard simply because I knew it was just the start of the turn home.  And by 8 I thought I was going to fall over and die.  My hips ached, I had stabbing pain in my ankles, shin splints, my chest was burning, and I never want to feel like that again.  I made it home but cut the run short - 9.5 miles - and I was practically walking the last mile.  I made it in the door and burst into tears.  I was just worn out and feeling frustrated that I was going to fail this crazy goal I had set for myself.    Add to that all the things that I never realized were going to be a problem.  I have chaffing in odd places including my poor boobs which look like they have been through a war zone from all the bouncing in what I thought was a great bra.  I have a rash all over my body from what I am assuming is being in sweaty clothes pretty much 24/7 these days.  I am exhausted.  I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning because my feet are stiff and sore.  Today I can barely walk, can't bend over at all and feel like it is a first day of working out all over again after only 6 miles.  But to be fair I was sore before I left on my run thanks to a good workout yesterday at Stroller Strides.

So now comes the plea.   For all of you runners that follow this blog, I need advice and encouragement.  What are the secrets to running that I don't know that will keep me going and allow me to finish this half marathon?  What are the must have products, gizmos, and gadgets that I should not be running without?  And how do I keep myself motivated to try not only that 10 miler again but keep going through 13.1?

2010 and beyond

So I started this blog a couple of days ago, just home from a trip and still on the Christmas high.  I was having trouble remembering one single thing that went wrong in 2010 and was all set to write a blog for how perfect my life is.  And then reality struck.  10 AM, New Year's Day, on a below freezing morning, our heater which has been acting up for weeks, decided to stop working.  They came out, told us it needed a new part, and would be back to new soon.  BUT -  the parts store would not be open until Monday morning.  The coldest weekend Arizona has seen in decades and we had no heater.  Good news is that they came as promised this morning and got the heater working again.   It was just a reminder to me that things happen, lots of little things, that make life inconvenient for awhile.  But in the end, when I look back to remember my year, it is the good things that come to mind.  So now I will return to the original blog I intended to write.  2010 was a great year for us.  We had a great year in our comfortable little house.  We watched Lilah grow and change into an amazing little person and I am so excited for the next year of her life and more learning and discovering.  And, after two weeks with family, came the realization that Shannon and I are lucky to have two loving families, each with their own idiosyncrasies, that support and love us. I am hopeful that this year will continue on as last year did.  That I will be able to weather the little inconveniences so that they fade quickly.  And I will try and be better about taking care of things that need to be fixed - like heaters that are making too much noise!

And now for a look at our holiday season.

Lights going on our cute little tree

15 days later - finally decorated and presents were wrapped

We left the Valley of the Sun for rainy California the weekend before Christmas.  The car was PACKED with 2 adults, 1 child, 2 dogs, and a bunch of Christmas presents.  First stop was Visalia.  We stayed with Danielle and Kane in their very nice new house.   Lilah stayed with us half the week and with her Grandma Ya Ya the other half of the week.  It worked out very nicely for all of us.  Shannon and I even got out on a date night to a movie and beers afterwards.  Yeah for Grandma!

I did some running in the rain

Lilah the Explorer

She was helping wrap presents

Bath time with the girls

Heading down for dinner at Grandma Jeri's

Christmas Eve we opened all the presents and celebrated with Shannon's whole family.

The girls were not spoiled at all!

"Uhm..what am I supposed to do with all this stuff?"

Lilah, Rylee, and Peyton

Enjoying the Christmas Eve weather

Our Family

Then Christmas morning came with a visit from Santa and a car trip up to Modesto to visit my family.  My whole family was in the same house Christmas night and it was busy, loud and wonderful.  Next year I am hoping we can all do it again and I can be there a little longer with everybody.

Opening presents 

Grandpa's Great-Grandkids - what a gorgeous bunch!

"Why am I wearing this?"

Then the chaos died down, Shannon left to drive home with the dogs and head back to work, and Lilah and I spent four days in Modesto with just my parents and Grandpa.  It was a great trip overall, but I was worn out by the time we got home.  I am still debating which made me more tired - the 10 hour car trip or the 6 hour car to air to car trip.  We returned on New Year's Eve.  After Lilah went to bed I made it until 10 PM and then decided on a shower and bed instead of a ball drop.  We left the TV on in the bedroom and both murmured Happy New Year to each other when we heard the celebration.  And then turned off the TV.

All bundled up and ready to go to the park

New Year's Day stroll to the park in the new trike

"Is it time to get back in yet?"

"Thanks Rylee for my new chair!"

Where's Waldo?  She has been having a blast with all her new toys

A Momma's wish...

I have two wishes at this point in life.  First, I wish that my baby could tell me what is wrong when she is hurting or not feel well so I knew what to do for her.  Second, I wish that I could stop worrying about what Lilah is eating and what we are eating and just be able to cook for all of us.  But then I remind myself that we are making huge strides on both fronts, especially in the last few weeks.

At 13 months Lilah was getting a little confused with her words.  Even words that she had been consistently using were a little muddled as she tried to figure out sounds and I felt like she was regressing.  I know, I know, no need to panic.  But at 13 and a half months we have made some breakthrough and have a vocabulary of about 5 words!  Dog, her first word, is pretty much the word she uses for all animals.  She is good at saying Daddy or Da! when Shannon walks in the room.  She likes to repeat "Done!" when we ask her if she is done with her dinner.  And she says "dow" when asked if she wants down.  Can you see the trend - she loves her D words!  Her one word she says consistently without a 'd' is nose which comes out more like "NO!"  Now if we can just get to "Mommy, my tummy really hurts" or "I have two teeth coming in and my mouth is sore.  Can I please have some Tylenol?"  Ha!

The food front is going fantastically the past couple of weeks.  We have discovered that if we put some sort of carbohydrate in some sort of creamy or cheesy sauce, throw in a few veggies and some meat and we have an eating machine on our hands.  See even babies know that Macaroni and Cheese is the stuff of life :)  In the past couple of days we have had several meals that we all ate together like a real family.  And it makes me so happy.  Mostly because I am not cooking twelve things between all of us.  Homemade Mac n' Cheese with corn, peas, and spinach was the first big success.  Then there was a stroganoff with ground turkey, mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper over rice.  We tried risotto with butternut squash.  And finally Mexican rice and beans with shredded chicken.  She also loves french toast and banana bread for breakfast.  What can I say, Lilah and I are going to be eating buddies!

So progress is definitely being made on my wishes.  And I am so grateful for how healthy and happy, stubborn and independent, my little girl really is!

A little behind...

on everything!  Well, not really.  I have purchased most of my Christmas gifts, not a single thing is wrapped.  We have a beautiful tree up, with lights on, and it is smelling up the house.  But it only has 5 ornaments on it with a pile of ornaments in boxes where the wrapped presents are supposed to be.  I just wrote cards today - Lilah's thank you card for her birthday (um, that was two holidays ago)!  I have Christmas cards on order and they will probably all just go out together.  I have just come to the realization that while Christmas is only going to get more and more fun with little ones, somehow it is only going to get more challenging pull it all off.  So tonight I am feeling a little behind, and instead of decorating or wrapping, here I am on the computer.  Ah, procrastination.

November

I think that November is going to become my new favorite month.  Over the past four weeks I have come to realize all the wonderful things the month of November has to offer, especially living in Arizona.  October is great, well, because it is my birthday month and now Lilah's birthday month.  December is great because of the holidays, family, friends, parties, food, and drink.  And November used to the the month in the middle that I just skated through.  But now I will look forward to November.   It means the end of the heat.  It means the beginning of winter.  It means beautiful sunny days that we can go outside and play (finally!) after the dreaded heat is over.  It is a month that reminds you to be thankful, something that I never quite understood fully until I had a family of my own.  Enjoy some pictures from my new favorite month. 

Lilah enjoying some of her birthday presents

 A few afternoons outside with Calvin (she could care less if we are with her!)

Out for a family hike at Thunderbird Mtn.

Taking after her Mommy - she LOVES Mac n' Cheese.  Here she is eating her first homemade version!  She was too busy shoveling it in to smile for the camera.

Daddy says Go Raiders!  Hopefully Lilah will make her own mind up on what team she supports :)

Getting ready for winter

 Thanksgiving Weekend  - started off with the 5k (I finished 346 out of 1118 and ran 8:59 min miles)

 Lilah loved being outside with Daddy and Calvin all afternoon, he is going to have a helper on his hands.