drewtarahmadduxreese*

Worst Parade Ever

2012-01-15T20:00:00.008-07:00

3rd Marathon under my belt! Hallelujah it's over! :) It was rough, it was fun, and YES, I will definitely do it again!

Here is my usual play by play. I don't expect that anyone actually cares, but when I'm gearing up for #4, I'll love looking back on this, just as I have my other two!

Pre-race night: Had my superstitious pasta dinner with Drew (I have run ONE race since high school without have pasta the night before and the race went horribly!). Got all my gear out and ready and hopped in bed by 9! Maddux came in around 1:30 with a nightmare, high fever, and coughs. Drew was a gem and took him out on the couch after a couple of hours so I could get some much needed sleep.

Morning: Lauren, who I owe OH so very much, picked my friend Cindy and I up and drove us to the light rail station at 6am. It took us right to our starting lines. I had just enough time to wait my turn for the PortaPotty before jumping into my corral (5). Then they announced they would be postponing the start by 15 minutes. 15 minutes later, they postponed it again another 10 minutes!!

Race time:

Mile 1-2: Garmin GPS wasn't working! I pushed start as I crossed the starting line, looked down a few seconds later and my time was working, but not my pace or distance! I fiddled with the dang thing for 1.5 miles before I got it working! I was in panic mode. On the plus side, the distraction got me off to a good, fast start.

Mile 4: Took my first of four salt packets. I've NEVER done this in a race before and omigosh, it made the biggest difference! I was running between 8:35-8:45 pace

Mile 5-9: I don't remember much except my favorite sign on the course -"THIS IS THE WORST PARADE EVER!!" I was still averaging about 8:45.

Mile 10: All of a sudden I got a horrible, horrible sharp pain in my hamstring insertion (right behind the knee). I realized at this point that in my rush to make it to my corral (before the postponements), I had stopped and stretched my hamstring and only took the time to stretch the one side that gives me trouble. Well, idiot me...I stretched the wrong flippin side! Not sure how big of a difference it would have made, but it was really killing me. I was limping. At 10.5, I stopped, laid on the sidewalk, threw my leg up on a light post and stretched it out. The 4:00 pacer passed me while I was down and I was devastated, as it had been my goal to stay in front of them! I had slowed to about 9:15 or 9:20 just because of the pain. My lungs and heart felt great!

Mile 11-16: My body was feeling great! REALLY great, except my #!$@% hamstring. I made promise after promise to Heavenly Father that if I could just finish the race...if the pain could go away until 12:30...etc. Took more salt packets, shot blocks, water, oranges, and Gatorade...not at the same time.

Mile 16: Best part of my entire race!! My unofficial coach, running-mom, and new friend Jenny Lynn jumped in with me and started pushing me along. She suggested that I take the two IB Profin I had in my belt (duh! Seriously!? I couldn't think of that one on my own!? I'm so dumb!) to help my hamstring.

Mile 17-20: Hamstring pain gone. Finally I could give it my all and catch the 4:00 pacer! Jenny coaches and says, wait till mile 20...so glad! I enjoyed these two miles and started high 5-ing the kids and spectators. I was feeling great! Jenny: "Stop high 5-ing the dang kids and save your energy!!!". Yes ma'am. ;) I told her how much I loved high 5-ing people and so she said she would do the honors for me...and she did! She hit everyone with their hand out! That's love! Did I mention I was feeling GREAT?

Mile 20: Starting to inch closer to the 4:00 pacer. We decide if we speed up, just a bit, to 8:55 I could catch them and finish under 4! Piece of CAKE! All I have is a 10k left. Jenny kept saying "Turkey trot! Turkey trot! That's all we have left is the turkey trot!"

Mile 21: WALL!!!!!!!!! Sprinting as fast as my legs will move, everything I've got, surely I'm running an 8:30 and going to pass the girl in the dang tutu I'm trying to catch. Oh...nope...9:30...darn!

Mile 21-25: So over it. It seriously took every ounce of motivation that I could muster to put one foot in front of the other. And who the heck put a HILL at mile 24 anyway?!!? If Jenny wasn't right next to me, I would have walked. For sure. Tutu girl and 4:00 pacer are inching farther and farther from view and I finally realize I have to let go of that goal. DANGIT! More salt, ShotBlocks, and GU.

Mile 26: Hamstring decides to make an untimely comeback. Owie. But it doesn't last for long and my adrenaline starts to pick up as the streets start filling with spectators and loud cheering! I started to get a little emotional and soaked it all in. All of a sudden it was all worth it! THIS is why I run. THIS is why I do this! Jenny bailed off right after the 26 mile mark. My mom, Drew, Maddux and Reese were on the side cheering me in! I could see the clock displaying the gun time and it said 4:03. I was pretty sure I crossed the start about 4 minutes after the gun, so maybe I had a chance at being under 4. Maybe!!

26.2: I SPRINTED in as fast as I could (this time I actually got moving to a 7:30 pace!) Since my watch didn't' work for 1.5 miles, I wasn't sure if I'd made it or not! The finish line was bliss. I kinda felt like a rock star when they read my name out as I crossed! ;)

Grabbed my medal, runner's blanket, banana, bagel, JambaJuice, got some pics taken, and went out to search for my family.
Drew ran over and hugged me and said, "Good job honey! I'm SO proud of you! 4:01:30!!! Good job!!" AAAAAHHHH!!!! I missed it by 1 minute and 30 seconds! Oh well. I'm totally thrilled because I improved my time by 37 minutes and I missed a few runs from being massively sick and in the ER. So, I can't complain.

I'm so grateful for my family and friends because I totally would have quit training and/or the race if it weren't' for them!

PS- I'm sore as heck right now.

A few iphone snapshots until the official race pics come out...

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T09:48:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year

This is how Reese felt about the fireworks we did for New Years Eve. She hid in the garage, hugging the car the entire time. Any of them that made loud popping noises brought her to tears.

Maddux, on the other hand, was in little boy heaven! The louder the better! We had to draw a line for him to stand behind because he wanted up in the action with Daddy.

I don't understand the excitement of these snake things. But the boys love them...

For the record, I was asleep on the couch by 9:30. Now THAT'S that's my kind of celebrating! :)

Happy Birthday Maddux

2011-12-30T11:14:00.005-07:00

Maddux requested a Lego birthday party, and Legos are exactly what he got. Good gosh, I've never seen a kid so small with so many Legos! The sad thing is, he doesn't know how to put them together yet, so Daddy has been building Legos for hours!
This kid is loved!

Happy 4th Birthday Maddux!

The Best Christmas Ever

2011-12-30T10:46:00.003-07:00

CHRISTMAS EVE

My favorite Christmas Eve tradition is making gift bags for the homeless. We fill the bags and then drive them around and deliver them. This year we had a really great experience!

watching Elf and eating snacks...

CHRISTMAS DAY

Off to Church...

Big present from Mommy and Daddy...

Then to mom and dad's house for evening celebrating...

Reese found Vander's present a little early...

This was such an amazing Christmas because Maddux was SO into it. He was ecstatic from the second he woke up. In fact, he was SO excited, that I couldn't get a picture of him that wasn't completely blurry! Hence, the lack in pictures of Maddux this year. Sad.

Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-30T09:56:00.016-07:00

Maddux started at Bright Beginning's Preschool this year (and if you ever ask him who he will marry, it is Miss Jenny, his teacher). They had the absolute cutest Christmas Program and it was to die for.

Here are a couple of videos. There is one more, but it won't upload. I will try again soon!
I apologize for the horrific video skills. I was giggling so hard that my hand was shaking out of control. But you get the idea...MAJOR cuteness!

Pre-Christmas

2011-12-30T09:46:00.005-07:00

My favorite part of Christmas is the whole month that leads up to it. The carols, shopping, activities with the kids, Santa, I love it all! Here are a few pics of things we did with the fam this year.

Neighborhood Snow Party

As you can see, us Arizonans aren't equipped for playing in the snow. Bad mom! My kids were freezing, so we didn't last too long, but they loved it!

Gingerbread Houses
We had a little contest between Kasey & Joel, Mom & Dad, Drew & me (& Maddux). Kasey and Joel won, but they were the ONLY ones who didn't have Maddux "helping" them. Can't wait to see their house next year when Vander is helping. ;)

Pre-Christmas with the Ingram Girls

Wendy, Jess, and Sam went to Utah for the week of Christmas, so we celebrated early with them. We played the family Christmas games (I won again...woohoo), ate yummy dinner, and opened presents. Fun night!

Reese @ 18 Months

2011-11-22T14:52:00.006-07:00

Well, we've got a little peanut on our hands. I knew she was small, but I didn't know she was 3rd percentile small!

Reese's 18 month stats are:
weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (3%)
Height: 32.5" (75%)
Head: 18.5" (70%)

We have to take her in for a weight check next month, and then if by 2 years she isn't back on the growth curve, we will have her tested for allergies, thyroid problems, and a few other things that I can't quite remember.

She definitely does NOT lack in energy though. She was born ready to keep up with her crazy big brother. These two do not sit still for 5 seconds around here!

A few things about Reese right now:

*She loves shoes.

*She loves singing and having people sing songs to her. Her favorites are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, and If You're Happy and You Know It.

*We call her "monkey", and she IS a monkey. The girl climbs and crawls on everything. She actually has her brother beat in the bumps and bruises department.

*She loves to be chased and loves to hide.

*Her sassy attitude is still going strong. She has mastered the art of glaring.

*Even with her sassiness, the girl knows how to melt mommy's heart. She gives hugs and kisses at the perfect times.

*She talks a lot, new words everyday and even full sentences. But... I'm not sure anyone but us can understand her yet. Her current favorite word is "mine".

*She is a most definitely a Daddy's girl. She really likes men better than women overall, but Daddy is her favorite person in the whole world.

*She loves books. She gets to choose a book from Maddux's bookshelf every night for bedtime.

*She is a pretty good eater. There are a few things she doesn't like, but for the most part, she will eat anything and make a good mess of it!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:10:00.002-07:00

My sparkly witch with an attitude...My muscle man Captain America...

For those who AREN'T sick of hearing about the Ragnar yet...

2011-10-26T11:51:00.005-07:00

This last weekend I ran the Las Vegas Ragnar with 11 of the coolest girls you'll ever meet. It was worth every second of early morning training and planning that went into making it happen. Truly one of the most challenging and fun things I've ever accomplished!!

I want to be able to remember so many of the details from this race, but I would have to write a book to get it all down. I'll just jot some of the highs and lows (because there were certainly both)

LOWS:

Getting only 1 hour of sleep from Friday morning at 4:30am until Sunday at 1:00am. This was the most uncomfortable hour of sleep in my life. In the driver's seat of a 15 passenger van. Steering while in my knees, and no room to stretch my feet through the gas and brake.

Aubry eating the asphalt/dirt/rock at the end of her 3rd leg. She was rocking it down the hill so fast and lost her footing at the exchange. She went down faster than anyone had a chance to figure out who it was. She sprained her ankle, got road rash up her leg, cut open her elbow, and ripped open her awesome zebra pants.

Eating dinner at the Cheesecake factory between runs #2 and #3. Why is this a low, you ask? I ordered my absolute favorite meal (Shrimp Franschese) and didn't get to enjoy one second of it because it was taking every thing I had to sit up at the table. It's not fair to not be able to appreciate a meal like that!

Getting lost as the driver when we got on the freeway going the wrong directions for 20-ish miles trying to get to the next major exchange.

My 3rd leg. 6.4 miles on a "dirt" road. It was more like a gravel/dirt/rock road. My headlamp was going out and it was pitch black (about 3 or 4am). Twisted my ankle more times than I was able to keep track. When vans drove by in the dirt, it was like running through thick fog and the dying headlamp didn't help. I ended up mooching light off of a fellow runner as I ran next to him for the last mile or two.

HIGHS:

Spending time and laughing with 11 of the most amazing girls I've ever met. You would think that a 5-6 hour drive to Vegas and back with 12 girls in one van would equal disaster, right? Not even! We had a great time and even cried together (happy tears)!

Getting up at 4:30am to drive to the starting line with my van. We got to cheer on Lauren as she started the whole adventure out for our team. I got a little choked up!

Running through the finish line with Sarah (our final runner) on the very last leg of the whole 188 miles. Our team met up with her for the last couple hundred yards and we all ran in together. Again...choked up (what a baby!?).

My 1st Leg. 7.4 miles in blistering miserable heat with 1 unmanned water station. The hills were killer and it was still the best 7.4 mile run I've ever had. I felt strong and pumped up! Loved it!!! PR 8:18 average.

Getting all gussied up for a night on the strip in Vegas. We all showered and got cleaned up at Planet Hollywood, then walked to dinner at Serendipity. Bit of a mistake though because we ended up as 12 hobbling girls trying to get up and down the stairs and the Strip. We called it good after dinner and hung out in the hotel instead. :)

Ragnar Amnesia. I'm pretty sure I heard at least half of the girls (myself included) say we would never do this again. Who's idea was this anyway? On the drive home, we are all figuring out when we can plan our next Ragnar. It was that amazing.

A few of my favorite pics:

Busy Bag Swap

2011-10-13T08:11:00.005-07:00

We had a Busy Bag Swap at my house last night. I'm so excited about all these new activities for my kiddos.

13 of us chose an activity that fits in a ziploc bag (easy to grab on the go). Everyone made 13 of their activity and brought them to the swap. We all left with 13 new things to keep the kids occupied!

My kids have been playing with this stuff all morning. Now I've got to hide them so they are still exciting and new at church and doctor appointments.

First Field Trip

2011-10-09T13:54:00.003-07:00

Maddux had his very first field trip last week. His class went to Vertuccio Farms and it was so cute! The kids had a blast and even the moms got to get in on the fun.
I cannot say enough how much I love Maddux's preschool and his teacher, Miss Jenny!

This thing was pulled by a tractor all around the farm...

Powell

2011-09-19T20:07:00.011-07:00

In August we met my parents and Kasey and Joel at Lake Powell for 4 days. We had a blast and 4 measly days was NOT enough time there. There were so many fun, hilarious, relaxing, and scary parts to this trip, there is no way I can document it all on the blog, but here's to trying...

Maddux and Bop Bop swimming. We all did a lot of this with the kids...

It has been a LONG time since Drew has wakeboarded or I have skied. If felt so good to be back at it again...

future wakeboarder...I hear, "um mommy, you come help me please?"Reese and Vander were such little buddies. It was so cute. Both lived in a diaper and they played all over the inside of the houseboat...It was so great to spend time together without work or school :) Family hike to Rainbow Bridge. When we got home, Maddux told Aunt Jessica that he got to walk to a rainbow! Reese exploring... (quite the outfit, eh?)
Brave little boy. I know this doesn't look high...but for a three year old, it was about 3 times his height. I seriously could NOT believe he loved doing this so much!

The slide was his absolute favorite part of the entire trip. It was also the scariest part of the trip. He was running from Uncle Joel and jumped onto the slide so fast that only one leg made it on and the rest of him was hanging off. He cartwheeled from the top of the houseboat to the water hitting the slide, poles, and the railing all on his way. We were SO lucky that everything hit on his life vest and his worst injury was a severely bitten tongue. It was one of my most terrifying mom moments. The mouse debacle of '11. We found one of these guys on the deck one night. Then we saw more on the deck. Then the suckers started figuring out how to get IN the houseboat. The boys had fun trying to outsmart the mice :)

Dentist

2011-08-10T15:47:00.004-07:00

Today was Maddux's first ever dentist appointment. We have been talking about it for weeks. Yesterday we even watched Sid the Science kid - an episode about teeth! He has been begging - BEGGING to go to the dentist. He woke up this morning and asked me every hour if it was dentist time yet. I started to get a little worried, because even though I had painted the most realistic picture of the dentist for him, I don't think he really understood.

I was right. We got there and he was SO excited to see a room full of toys. He played for a few, then came over, opened his mouth and asked me if his teeth were clean. I answered yes (we had brushed them just before going in). When the hygienist came to get us, he immediately started crying that his teeth were already clean and he didn't need to go! This was just the start.

He cried through the x-rays, cried when they had him lay on the table to watch Dino Dan on the ceiling(which is his absolute favorite show), cried when they tried to polish his teeth, cried when they tried to just brush them instead, then went absolutely hysterical when the Dentist had to put "medicine" on his teeth (fluoride maybe?). In the middle of all of it, there were a few quiet times when he let the Dentist "count" his teeth. But I had to be holding on to him and he had to be standing up on the table. It was his way or the highway. I was willing to hold him down, but the hygienist said not to make it a traumatic first experience. I think we failed there. Traumatic for me or for him!?

Before:

Can you tell he is terrified? (below)He is STANDING on the table and I'm holding on to him with one hand, taking this pic with the other...Can't wait till February to do it again! :)

Organizing - one step at a time

2011-07-31T09:55:00.006-07:00

Ever get that chaotic feeling like your house is a mess no matter how much you clean it? I'm there. I have decided it's because everything that you CAN'T see in my house has become completely unorganized. So, my new goal is to fix it. One room at a time, one week at a time. Project #1- My office. It was the WORST room in the house, by far!

I didn't even dare to take pictures of the true "before" because the piles stacked all over the desk and the floor were just humiliating. The bins on my shelves were overflowing with who-knows-what and I could never find a thing!

My amazing mom came over and helped me conquer this one. It really did take us ALL day!

Before (but more like halfway through):

After:

Camping

2011-07-10T19:31:00.006-07:00

We took our kids camping for the first time this weekend. It was an adventure. Maddux and Reese were in pure heaven. Dirt, bugs, sticks, rocks, pine cones, hikes, and all you can eat junk food....pure. joy.
We had a total blast...until bedtime! It took 2.5 hours of crying, whining and begging before they finally asleep. Our brand new tent leaked horribly and we got hit with a nasty storm. I ended up drenched and we got up at 1am to rearrange the tent so I was no longer laying directly under the leak.

It was totally worth every second of the awful night to watch the kids have so much fun during the day! We will definitely be doing it again soon (with a new tent).

Bop Bop blowing bubbles with the kids...

Group hike...

camping = sitting on a muddy ground and eating dirty M&Ms, right?

Lightsaber fight with Uncle Joel...

Blue teeth from M&Ms with Grandma...

When they finally gave up...

Drew and I played a game after we finally got the kids to sleep. The rest of the fam was passed out by then....

Maddux helping Daddy take the leaky tent down...

Checking out the fish at the Fish Hatchery...

I have the cutest kids on this planet. period.

2011-07-07T09:01:00.004-07:00

:-)

I know I'm a little biased, but I'm ok with that. The always amazing Aubry (startinphoto.com), took these impromptu pics for me and I cant' wait to get them up on my wall!

This shows my kids personalities (and vastly differing skin tones) in a nutshell!

LOVE it!

4th of July

2011-07-05T14:21:00.008-07:00

4th of July is my all-time favorite holiday.

Since moving to Arizona 9 years ago, the heat has put a damper on the holiday for me. This year I decided I was going to change that. I was planning for weeks, maybe months in advance to camp in Heber to get out of the heat for the weekend. The plans failed. Plan B - drive to Heber for the day, watch the Saturday fireworks show and hang out in the cool weather. Fireworks were canceled and I failed again. Plan C, watch fireworks from Drew's office building that overlooks Tempe Town Lake. Good enough, right?

I woke up in the morning Monday morning feeling absolutely terrible. Drove straight to the Urgent Care and found out I had Strep. UGH!!! Plan C, cancelled? No way! By evening Drew also had a sore throat, but he is a trooper and went along with our original (plan C) plans. We drove to Tempe and made every effort to avoid direct contact with any other people.

It was awesome. We parked for free in the $10 parking garage, walked to a sub shop to eat, back to Drew's office with AC, 25 cent sodas and waters (outside was selling for WAY more), free arcade games to keep the kiddos occupied until the show started, and only one other couple on the whole floor with us. (Oh how I LOVE LifeLock) We could even hear all the patriotic music that was playing along with the fireworks show!

Definitely the way to watch the fireworks! We will hopefully do it again next year and be feeling a little better!

Bowling

2011-06-26T18:58:00.002-07:00

We took Maddux bowling for the first time 2 weeks ago. This video says it all... SOOOO much waiting and all for a gutter ball! :)

Swimming Lessons

2011-05-27T13:40:00.004-07:00

Maddux and Paisley took swimming lessons together this year. The first 3 days were basically a cry fest. But, miraculously on day 4, both were happy and did awesome the rest of the time! Ms. Pam really knows what she is doing and hopefully now our kids will both be little fishies in the water.

Maddux's favorite thing to do in the lessons is to jump off the side and swim to the edge by himself.

walker

2011-05-22T20:05:00.003-07:00

I'm a bit behind on this because Reese has been walking since right after her birthday. Just last week she gave up crawling completely and now walks everywhere.

This first video was when she was first figuring the walking thing out. In the second one, she is definitely more confident. :)

Date Night

2011-05-08T15:20:00.006-07:00

In the last year, I cannot think of a single time that Maddux and I have spent time together, just the two of us. So, I took advantage of this Mother Son Date Night at Chik-Fil-a. I LOVE Chik-fila. Their food is ok (definitely better than most other fast food places though), but I mostly love that it's so kid friendly and the employees are SO awesome.

So, to start our date off, we got to have a little carriage ride behind a big white horse. Maddux was SO excited. I think he felt sooo special! We had a little table for two with a server and everything.

Dessert included...

Craft table...The kids were supposed to make this hanging heart for their Mom's that said, "#1 MOM" However, Maddux insisted it would be for Daddy, so we left the "MOM" part off. ;)

They even had a relaxing corner set up for moms to get a chair massage while the kids played.

It was an awesome night and I loved spending time with my little bud!

one

2011-05-04T10:59:00.014-07:00

My baby girl is one! I can NOT believe it!

She started out her bday by waking up at 4:30am to play for a couple of hours. She must have been REALLY excited. ;)

We threw her a balloon themed party last night and I think she loved it!

the set up...

instantly her favorite new toy...

this girl got spoiled! She has had to fight off her big brother from all her new toys!

Sweet big brother giving her a spontaneous hug...She didn't mess around with her cake..

she shared with Daddy..

She had her 1 year appointment today and these are her stats:
Weight: 19 lbs, 7 ounces- 25%
Height: 30.25"- 80%
Head: 18"- 70%

Reese...

**takes a few steps before she decides to sit down and crawl, but I know she could keep going if she was brave enough.
**loves to blow kisses.
**dances EVERY time she hears music.
**loves to call Daddy on the phone, or anything that she can pretend is a phone.
**eats anything and everything she can get her hands on.
**gets really shy when strangers talk to her

Newport

2011-04-25T22:27:00.012-07:00

My parents took the fam to Newport to celebrate my mom's big 50th! It was so fun and having ALL the cousins together was amazing/chaos. I loved every minute of it! We stayed in a house that was just steps from the beach. I took WAY too many pictures and had a really hard time narrowing it down. (This is a long post)

My mom opening her book that Amber worked so hard putting together(Letters and pictures from all of us...

Maddux whacking a mole...

LegoLand...We took our giant strollers all the way to the top, only to find out there was no way down but the way we came. My parents were so nice to push them ALL the way back down AGAINST traffic...

the beach...

walking with Bop Bop...

The boys, crab hunting...

Ferris Wheel at Spectrum...

Hot tub on the roof of the house...

Ferry ride on Balboa Island...

Easter Egg hunt on Easter Morning...

Thank you mom and dad for an amazing trip!! Love you!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T22:11:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Easter a week early this year.

Egg dying...

The Easter bunny was really nice to them both...Look how excited Reese is about all her new flower clips! ;) The egg hunt...

Pat's Run

2011-04-25T21:23:00.004-07:00

This is a proud mom moment....

My boy ran his first race! It was 0.42 miles .I am such a sap and I got so choked up running behind him. I took 3 videos and I have no idea how to turn them, so I chose one, but apoligize for having to watch him run sideways. My favorite part of this one is how he runs out of his way to the left to kick an orange peel. :) SOOO Maddux...

chillaxing before the race...

Before running with Maddux I ran the 4.2 mile race with my friends, sister, and mom and dad. It was SO fun! I absolutely LOVE this race. My goal was to finish faster than my best time (33:12) I finished in 33:46, so I was happy enough! I was mostly so proud of my mom and dad for running it and doing awesome and SUPER pumped to have my cute boy running!

11 months

2011-04-11T21:00:00.007-07:00

I've never been this behind with my monthly baby updates! Oops!

Reese is 11 months and I'm so excited to be thinking about her first birthday party!
I can't believe it's all gone by so fast!

Reese....

*grew about 3 whispy pieces of hair in the last month
*still has 6 teeth
*waves bye-bye
*blows kisses
*is at your feet in a matter of seconds if you start eating something
*drops everything when she hears her daddy come in the door
*turns her head bashfully if anyone smiles at her
*can stand on her own for a LONG time
*tries to take steps, but always chickens out and goes down to her knees (ANY day now, I'm sure of it!)
*dances when we play music
*says mama, dada, and bye bye and finally knows what it means
*will not hold still (must run in the family)

Urban Dare

2011-03-27T10:59:00.012-07:00

My sister and I talked our hubbies into competing in Urban Dare with us this weekend. They were reluctant, even 5 minutes into it! By the end, all four of us agree that it is a blast and we will SO do it again next year. Definitely a memorable experience. Think scavenger hunt on steroids.

We had a LOT of people stopping us asking what the prize is for the winners. To be honest, I'm not even sure. I didn't care. We competed Kasey and Joel vs. Drew and me. Losers buy dinner.

We started at the Tavern on Mill in Tempe with no idea what to expect. A little after 12:00, there were a few hundred of us gathered and they quickly handed a sheet of clues to each team. They were to be completed in any order. We needed to take a picture and/or get a stamp at each stop, depending on the location, then finish back at the Tavern on Mill.

1. Get your picture with: Waiting for a Date.

2. Go to celebration by Jerry Peart for your wheelbarrow dare.

3. Get your picture with a neon sign that says: free smells.

4. Get your picture with a sculpture of Charles Trumbull Hayden.

5. This was the official office of the Catholic Church until Pop John Paul II abolished it in 1983. Get your picture in front of the establishment that goes by this name.

6. PHOTO HUNT - Get a picture of 2 people, not in the race, reenacting the famous WWII photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Get a picture of 3 people doing see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. You may not use the same person more than once.

7. A historical novel written by Henry Sienkiewicz during the time when Nero was emperor. Get your picture in front of the bookstore which goes by the name of this book.

8. Go to Birchett park for your scrabblestick dare. Get the point value for the word on your passport by using the letters with numbers in the park.

9. Get your picture with a billboard that says "Legalize Marinara".

10. Go to the giant hands by Suikang Zhao for your balloon dare.

11. Get your picture with Devil Dancer.

Finish - Go to the Tavern on mill for the finish

5 minute bonus, Get a picture of a group of 6 people posed as if they were all shooting bow and arrows.

We were stumped!! Yikes! Drew and I decided to spend a lot of time at the start sitting and working out all the clues. So, we pulled out our phones and started Google-ing. We figured out the answers to most of the clues and then started plotting them out on a map. We ended up ALL over Tempe. Running, walking, sprinting, backtracking (too many times), wandering, asking clueless people, and sweating our brains out, we ended up traveling 7 miles on foot before we got to the finish. We finished in 1 hour 56 minutes and earned a free dinner by beating Kasey and Joel. LOVED it!

If you are as stumped as we were about the clues...here are the answers and pictures to go along with each.

1. A Bench on University2. A sculpture on ASU campus where we completed a wheelbarrow race and get a stamp
3. Jimmy Johns sandwich shop4. A sculpture by the Police station on 5th st.5. A bar called Devil's Advocate.6. photos
7. A store called Quo Vadis Books.8. Park on Apache and Mill to do a word game and get a stamp

9. Billboard on Apache for Oreganos. (Unfortunately we ran all the way TO Oreganos to get the picture before realizing on the way back that the billboard would have saved us 1/2 mile or so)10. Sculpture along the lightrail to make a sword out of balloons and get a stamp
11. Sculpture on ASU campus. 7. 6 People shooting Bows and Arrows.

Kryptonite

2011-03-22T20:05:00.006-07:00

This is Maddux's Kryptonite.
He has slept with it every night since he found it in our front yard two and a half weeks ago!

2011-03-04T14:25:00.006-07:00

My baby girl is 10 months old!

This girl is so full of personality. I just can't get enough of her and those chubby cheeks!

This month Reese:

*Has 6 teeth
*Walks along all the furniture and can stand for a few seconds on her own.
*Loves to play with (next to or on top of) Maddux
*Waves
*Claps
*Dances
*Refuses to sleep anywhere but her OWN crib or carseat
*Squeals with excitement when she sees Daddy
*Poops way more times a day than a kid her size should (3-4?!?!)
*Nibbles on all our food

*Still has no hair!

Surgery

2011-02-23T18:46:00.006-07:00

Maddux had surgery this morning on an inguinal hernia. He was such a trooper and did amazing through the whole process. All he cared about was NOT getting a "pokey". Every time we would go in a new room, or a new nurse or doctor would come in, he would tense up and say, "I can't need a pokey!" The kid HATES shots.

He was at Cardon Children's Hospital and they were so great with him. He got to wear a mask to put him to sleep and they let him sniff all the scents and pick his favorite to paint on the inside of the mask. He also got to decorate his mask with stickers, then choose how he wanted to get to the operating room. He chose a car. They had a binder with pictures for him to look at of everything he would see while at the hospital (check in room, admitting office, nurses, the operating room with the table and lights). They did awesome at making him feel comfortable (and us too).

He went in like a champ and the nurses said he was talking up a storm while the silly gas was pumping. Once he was asleep, they gave him an IV and the whole surgery took about an hour.

When he came to, he did a LOT better than he did with his ear tubes. He was a little sad for a few minutes and he was numb from the waist down and wasn't a fan of not being able to walk for a few hours. Other than that, he did great.

waiting room...

pre-surgery...ready to head to the operating room...
(he chose the yellow hat with kittens rather than the white hat with sports balls) ;)post surgery...At home with balloons from his bff Paisley...

Bath

2011-02-18T17:11:00.001-07:00

3.5 hours at the park requires a nice long bath for both kiddos. Lucky for all of us, my kids LOVE the bath...

1 of a Zillion Reasons I LOVE my son...

2011-02-08T19:47:00.006-07:00

Monday morning Maddux and I had a "cleaning/dance party" together. I blasted some awesome dance music and we danced and picked up toys for about 15 minutes. It was a total hit and we actually got a lot done together!About 10 hours later, it was bedtime and I insisted that Maddux clean up his play area before bed. We went in to pick up and at a closer look, I noticed his "mess" (above) was actually this...

A pile of Lions and a pile of Tigers...

Bugs...Not just dinosaurs, but all of his Brachiosaurases...

Anyway, there were like 10 different piles of animals. He had been sorting for an hour or two. I was pretty impressed!

I let him keep his hard work out and they are still strewn all over the floor in my entry. :)

9 Months

2011-02-03T16:31:00.009-07:00

Today my baby is 9 months. Before I know it, she isn't going to be a baby anymore! Depressing.

Her stats are:
Weight- 17 lbs, 11oz - 25%
Height- 28.75 inches - 85%
Head - 17.5 inches - 73%

We have been calling her our Chunky Monkey for months, but I think we need to come up with a new nickname. I had no idea she was such a peanut!

This month she:
*Crawls like a big girl
*Has 5 teeth
*Claps
*Dances
*Stands (holding something) for prolonged periods of time (usually until Maddux knocks her over)
*Says "dadada", "mamama", and "bababa"
*Eats any baby food, rice, formula, AND anything and everything we eat
*STILL has no hair
*Loves Daddy a LOT
*Looks more and more like Maddux everyday

LOVE this girl!

2011-01-16T12:52:00.003-07:00

Peeked in on Reese during naptime. I was certain she was asleep, she hadn't made a peep in 15 minutes.
Wrong...

silly girl

"it ok mommy"

2011-01-13T14:32:00.003-07:00

This morning I went in to wake Maddux up for school (at 9:05!!). He was completely incoherent when I went to lay Reese down on his bed. Then I notice, on the top of his comforter, a giant wet circle. Ew. "Uh oh, Maddux, did you have an accident??" He leaps out from under the covers and says, "it ok mommy. I got new pants" Stands up to show off the fact that he had changed his pants after peeing the bed...

As if all problems are solved by the fact he simply changed his pants and threw the nasty wet ones on the floor, then went back into a deep sleep.

If you can't tell, his waist is in a leg hole and the top of the shorts is on the right side of his hip.

8 months

2011-01-07T14:21:00.005-07:00

I'm way behind! Little Reesie is already 8 months and not so little anymore! She is ALL over the place. She still army crawls on her tummy, but she seriously can get anywhere in a matter of seconds. AGH!

Yesterday I put Baby Einstein on for her and went to put some toy's away, I came back just seconds later to find her trying to get under the table. I put her back on the rug and left the room again...

this was about 45 seconds later...

this is a little video of her in action...

Here are a few other fun things about Reese at 8 months:

*Has two teeth on the bottom
**Will eat absolutely ANYTHING we give her
*Still adores her big brother and vice versa
**Has almost no hair, just a few whispies
*Jabbers constantly. Drew says he will never be able to get a word in with a house full of three big talkers
**A pretty big scaredy cat. She is scared of a lot of things: loud noises, Santa, some people she doesn't know, Maddux pretending to be a dinosaur, etc...
*Loves books, looking at them, flipping pages, and chewing on them
**She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but when it comes time to move, it's back to the tummy

11 in '11

2011-01-03T14:02:00.004-07:00

This year, instead of making a new years resolution, which I can never manage to keep up more than a few months, I decided to make a list of goals. Something about checking stuff off a list makes it so much easier for me to do!
11 goals to accomplish sometime, anytime, in 2011.

1- Run a 10K in 45 minutes
2- Read a book to my kids every day
3- Read the Book of Mormon
4- Complete a Ragnar
5- Be on time
6- Find 15 new healthy recipes to add to my mix
7- Read the Ensigns each month
8- Complete a triathlon
9- Go to the temple once a month
10- Make more $ than I did in 2010
11- Do a RAK everyday

3

2010-12-30T14:19:00.007-07:00

Maddux turned three yesterday and we celebrated with all things super hero!

I didn't get many pictures during the day. But, Daddy took the day off to celebrate.
We started with doughnuts for breakfast, Bounce Jungle, and then lunch at Chik-fil-a.

Super Hero Party...

I had no intention of having a bounce house IN my house, but of all days for it to rain in Phoenix.!!! So, we made due inside!

Super hero capes for each kid...Vander and Reese sporting their mini- capes...This was the stash of gifts that I have to find room for in the house. (We barely found room after Christmas!) Yikes!!!
Thank you everyone who made Maddux's birthday so fun!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T08:07:00.008-07:00

Christmas Eve....

We took the kids to Build-a-Bear and let Maddux build a Rudolph. We watched Rudolph and the Island of Misfit toys at least 81567354 times this Christmas Season. He LOVES "Reindeer Red Nose", as he calls him.

Dinner at Kasey and Joel's. This was Maddux's first present of Christmas. His face quickly went from this....To this.... when he realized it was pajamas and not clothes.

Here is our elf Doodle. Santa hid my stocking because the cute basket for my bike wouldn't' fit INSIDE of it.

Christmas Day....

All Maddux wanted for Christmas was a "Cool Blue Shoot Gun". Turns out his little hands have a hard time holding up his gun, so he traded for the smaller, yellow one Santa brought Daddy. Santa is so smart!

Reese's toy from Santa...

All I wanted for Christmas. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE it...

Talking to Elder Ingram aka Uncle Bo...

Maddux was SHOWING Bo his cool toy over the phone...

On to my parent's house...

more toys...

Batman playing with his new tool set....

Our attempted sleepover in the tent next to the Christmas tree. Ended up in Maddux deciding he'd rather sleep in his own bed. But check out his cool new Batman sleeping bag!

Christmas was soooo fun this year. I absolutely loved it and I'm sad it's over. My kids were over-stimulated, under-rested, and big time spoiled but I wouldn't have changed it for anything!

2010-12-23T23:11:00.006-07:00

Kasey told me yesterday that Reese looks like a toy from Toy Story.
Then she pulled up this picture of the toy and I was dying laughing!

Gingerbread House

2010-12-20T20:43:00.002-07:00

This year Maddux was way more into eating the candy than decorating our gingerbread house.
I still think it turned out pretty cute.

This is how Reese helped to decorate the gingerbread house... ;)

Christmas Dress

2010-12-19T20:28:00.002-07:00

I have two favorite Sundays every year...Primary Program and Christmas Program! I have always loved the Sunday before Christmas. I love Ooohing and Aaahing over all the little girls' Christmas dresses. I love the music, the program, everything. This was my first year to dress up a little girl and I have been SOOOO excited. I'm definitely a newbie because her tights were way too big, I forgot to get black shoes, and thank goodness it was warm enough to sport this sleeveless dress because I didn't think about a plan B if it was too cold.

I tried to take some pics of my two kiddos together and unfortunately, most of them ended up like this...So, Daddy distracted the big dude and I tried to get a couple of Reese's cute outfit.

3rd Annual Sweater Palooza

2010-12-19T17:47:00.009-07:00

Friday night we helped host our 3rd Annual Sweater Palooza. Unfortunately the Theurers had to miss the party, but if there is any excuse to miss it, having a baby is it!

Welcome Baby Boy Theurer!

white elephant gifts...people seem to get a more and more brave each year...

some of the yummy grub...

this pic is everyone being sad that Nate and Becca weren't there...We ate, had a white elephant gift exchange and then played Minute to Win it games. Seriously the highlight of the night for me!
I can't get the videos to upload here, but I did get them up on Facebook if you'd like to see us all humiliate ourselves! :)

Santa

2010-12-13T15:35:00.006-07:00

My kids had their picture taken 3 times with Santa here.
Take #1- Reese Screaming, Maddux smiling.
Take #2- Me holding Reese standing next to Santa, Maddux smiling.

When I told the lady that I wanted the screaming picture not the one with my happy smiling child, I found out she had deleted it (what crazy mom would rather have the crying pic anyway!?!) So, back to Santa's lap for a redo...

Take #3- Reese screaming harder, Maddux smiling, Santa confused. :)

12k's of Christmas (or 6...)

2010-12-13T15:07:00.003-07:00

My friend and I ran the 12k's of Christmas race here in Gilbert this weekend. We decided during the week before the race that we'd rather do the 6k...so we did! :)

I'm NOT a fast person and never have been, but I'm kinda proud of this race! I still have a LONG way to go...but I'm glad that these early mornings are starting to pay off!
I was the 8th female finisher and 4th in my division....26th overall (478 total runners).

It was a fun race and I've loved getting to know Alicia so well, we are run-aholics together. :)

my socks have snowflakes and a red bow in my hair. This is as Christmasy as I got, some people had full santa costumes on, bells, elf shoes, santa hats. wow!

Maddux

2010-12-07T17:10:00.007-07:00

Here is a little Maddux update....

*He has no lack of energy, still going strong...
*Adores his baby sister and is very protective of her.
*His diet consists of pizza, taquitos, quesadillas, PBJs, yogurt, chicken nuggets, and junk food. I seriously need to work on this!
*He loves the park, play areas, walmart and target.
*He can be very helpful, when he wants to be.
*He is very polite and says Please, Thank you, and your welcome and is quick to remind us if we forget to do the same.
*Is always pretending to be a super hero. Sometimes it is a well known superhero like batman, spiderman, the hulk (when he takes his shirt off). And sometimes he makes up his own -"jumpy guy" is a favorite.
*Loves everything Christmas. EVERYTHING!
*Cannot (or will not) sit still for anything. Not for dinner, prayers, church, shows... nothing.
*Says the cutest and funniest things on a daily basis. I should start writing them down.

7 months

2010-12-07T16:52:00.003-07:00

Reese is now 7 months old. Craziness!

*She got her first tooth this month and now has another one poking through.
*She eats anything and everything we offer her. If we are holding her and take a bite of something, she has her mouth wide open like a bird, just waiting!
*Bananas are her favorite.
*She shrieks soooo high pitched ALL the time
*She is trying so hard to crawl but can get anywhere she wants by rolling.
*She went through a stage this month of waking up in the night again. We've finally taken care of that by adding formula to her diet.
*She weighs 16 pounds, according to my less-than-accurate bathroom scale.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T14:14:00.008-07:00

I loved Thanksgiving this year. My friends and I ran a 10k Turkey Trot in the morning, we had the Ingrams, Craigs, and Carlsons all together for dinner, and we did a few crafts with the all the kids. It really was a fun day with lots to be thankful for!

All the cousins, except for 6 day old Baby Vander, Talie, and Reese
(their Turkey hats didn't fit them) ;)

7 years!

2010-11-07T15:08:00.009-07:00

Happy Anniversary to my BFF! I couldn't love this guy more.
He is a great dad and an awesome husband!

7 years ago, this is the only taste we got of our wedding cake. We thought, like most couples, we'd eat the top layer of our cake either after the honeymoon or on our 1 year anniversary. WRONG. My fam busted it out while we were away and it was gone before we got back! We have teased them about it for years!

This year I thought it'd be fun to surprise drew and order a replica of our cake for our anniversary. It didn't work out exactly how I had planned it in my head, but it was still fun!

the original...
the duplicate...(kinda)...
This is what Drew surprised me with...My gift to Drew...Celebrating at the most delicious dinner ever...

6 months

2010-11-03T12:56:00.009-07:00

Reese is 6 months today.

*She is going to be our drama queen. The girl knows what she wants and lets us know it! yikes!
*She smiles at anyone who glances her way. She is a super happy baby.
*She has started eating rice cereal and some green vegetables.
*(Usually) sleeps 12 hours a night.
*Still adores her big brother.
*Rolls all over the place & loves to roll to the end of the rug and stomp her feet on the wood floors.
*She is very strong- necks and legs. She loves to stand up.
*Has mastered a killer whine. Not my favorite sound.
*Drew swears she won't be able to see out of her left eye when she grows up because it's always half covered with a giant flower. ;)
*She squeals, laughs and makes noises that I'm fairly certain she thinks we understand.
*Still has no hair, just a few wispy strands that have sprouted.

She weighs 15lbs, 9 oz - 45 %
She is 27.1" tall - 92%

Current nicknames include: Reese Monkey, Reesie bug, and Chunky Monkey.

Halloween

2010-11-01T14:57:00.004-07:00

This was the Halloween that wouldn't end. Don't get me wrong..I love the holiday. We had so much fun. It was just TOOOO LONG. The past 2 weeks we had: Halloween birthday party, Halloween preschool party, Halloween playdate, 2 other Halloween parties, a ward trunk or treat..and THEN Halloween.

Our family dressed up with a Super Hero theme (Maddux's request), He was, of course, Batman. Reese was Catwoman, I was Supergirl, Daddy was Clark Kent/Superman (Maddux is still confused by this because Joker was his request for Daddy), Joel was Mr. Freeze, and Kasey & Vander were Batman. :)

Ward Trunk or Treat

Other Halloween parties

Saturday

2010-11-01T14:41:00.002-07:00

Saturday we woke up and realized we had nowhere to be and nothing we HAD to do. (of course we had plenty of chores and errands that we should have done, but nah) We took advantage and took off for an awesome family day.

We scoped out the coolest McDonalds play place for lunch (gag), drove to the "summit" of South Mountain and played, shopped a bit, met up with the Ingrams and had dinner, played at the play area at Chandler mall.
We wore the kids (and myself) out really well!

Pumpkin Masterpieces

2010-10-25T22:30:00.002-07:00

We let Maddux go to town on his pumpkin with 3 sharpie markers. He concentrated so hard on all that scribbling. :) This was drew's look of surprise when he pulled the top of his pumpkin off to find that I pulled all the goo out for him while he was at work. He told me yesterday that de-gooing pumpkins is the worst thing all year. Yes...all YEAR!Here are our Superhero-ish themed pumpkins.
(my cat is supposed to be for Reese for Catwoman)

Schnepf Farms

2010-10-17T09:26:00.010-07:00

We went to Schnepf Farms this year for a little family Halloween celebrating. Maddux was in heaven and we definitely needed more time to do everything. We stayed until the 9:30 fireworks show, and poor Reese was completely exhausted. We had her in the Baby Bjorn the whole time, next year we are taking the wagon.

face paintingthis face CRACKS ME UP!airplane ride
honeybee ridehay maze
(also attempted the huge corn maze Maddux ended up on Drew's shoulders because there were big kids hiding in the corn shaking it, yelling and making ghost noises. Maddux freaked).
carouselpetting zoopumpkin patch watching fireworks show from the parking lot

Kasey's Shower

2010-10-15T15:11:00.007-07:00

I hosted a baby shower for cute prego Kasey last week. I told my self a zillion times to take pictures of everything BEFORE it started. But when the first guests arrived and my hair was still wet, food wasn't out, and my table wasn't set up yet...pictures were quickly forgotten. I remembered only after the food was half eaten and the drinks were almost gone. I think it looked a lot cuter before.
Oh well!
Can't wait to meet Baby Vander in just one more month!

Reese would NOT let go of this Butterfinger. And if anyone tried to take it away, there was a full blown meltdown involved. yikes!

Girls Trip

2010-10-06T17:42:00.004-07:00

Drew couldn't make it to the marathon (see below for highlights), so Becca, Steph, and I decided to make it a girl's trip instead! We had a ton of fun together.

My car started making a horrendous noise while we were over the Hoover Dam, we made it to pick up my packet with only 25 minutes to spare, got lost in St. George trying to find Olive Garden, got lost in St. George trying to find our hotel, got the car to Big O just before the alternator went out ($535 fix), got stranded after the race because we had to check out of the hotel but the car wasn't done, went to lunch at Cafe Rio with all our luggage in tow, almost ran out of gas on the way to vegas, shopped, ate, shopped, and ate some more, almost ran out of gas on the way home, went the wrong direction for 30 miles, got to the Hoover Dam and then decided to turn around and take a detour when we saw the traffic, enjoyed some 5 hour energy, and laughed non-stop for about 3 days. ADVENTURE would be the perfect word to describe it.

walking in st. george while temporarily stranded

dinner at RASteph modeling one of the beds in Vegas

The Hash- House -a-Go-Go...big menu = even bigger portions

yum yum yum

Marathon- Take 2!

2010-10-06T16:33:00.012-07:00

So, my most questionable idea of 2010 has been to run a marathon with only 3.5 months of training time.
Two years ago, I was privileged (not) to run the COLDEST St. George Marathon in it's history. This year I said so many prayers that I wouldn't have to run in the wretched cold again. Well...my prayers were answered. It was the HOTTEST marathon they have had in history. YUCK!

Below are highlights of the race. I attempted to make it positive, but I decided to go with honesty. I am still SO glad I did it! And I'm almost ready to sign up for another!

Race Highlights:

*Got up after only 4 hours of sleep

**Hung out at the starting line alone for a few hours (next time, I'm dragging someone down with me)

*Finished the first 13 miles with a time faster than most of my half marathons!

**Then the 3:50 pacer passed by me

*Eventually the 4:00, 4:10, and 4:20 pacers all ran by

**Ran shoulder to shoulder up Veyo Hill with a guy who was walking at a leisurely pace

*Decided at mile 15 to try some Icy Hot on my calves that were throbbing

** Stopped every 2 miles from then on for Icy Hot from my hamstrings to my ankles

*At mile 23 I could taste the Icy Hot in my mouth- oops! (later read not to apply more than 3
times a day, so 5 times in a few hours may have been a bad idea)

**Favorite sign along the race: "running takes balls, other sports just play with them"

*Favorite t-shirt: "if found on the course, please drag across finish line"

**I high-fived every kid standing along the race with their hand out. Sometimes this meant running from one side of the road to the other very quickly

*Used my inhaler 4 times during the race. I was really worried because I didn't know if there was a limit on acceptable number of uses in a period of time.

**Told myself at mile 18 that I could run at a comfortable pace as long as I picked it up for the last 4 miles

**Told myself at mile 22 that I would just pick up the pace at mile 23 instead

*Convinced myself @ 23 that it was really ok to take another slow mile and REALLY push it for 2

**With only a half a mile to go, my brain and my muscles just didn't want to push it at all. No "pushing" ever happened

*Steph and Becca stood at the finish line holding signs and cheering for me. First signs I've EVER had made in my behalf!

**Found my amazing friends and we agreed to meet in 10 minutes so I could cool down. I sat down to stretch and my tibialis muscle on both legs started to spasm. Then the arch of my foot and then my calf. I was screaming and yelling and pounding the ground with my fist. A nice guy came and helped me for 20 minutes while my legs continued to convince me never to do this again. torture. absolute torture. In the meantime, friends can't find me because I am stuck laying on the ground.

*Walked with said amazing friends back to the lovely motel we were staying at an approximate pace of a quarter mile/hr. Poor friends!

**My time was 4:44, which is 6 minutes slower than last time. Which also means I WILL be running another marathon because I WILL beat my time. Next time- 5+ months to train and praying for NORMAL St. George weather!

the hill of death....Veyo Hill. just when you think it's over...you've got 3 more miles of it!

5 Months

2010-10-06T15:43:00.004-07:00

Here is an update for my growing girl:

*weighs about 14 lbs, according to my less-than-accurate bathroom scale
*is finally rolling all over the place. gone are the days of laying her on the bed while i get ready
*tries to grab her bottle and hold it herself
*still nursing like a champ
*can find her pacie and put it in on her own most of the time (yay!!!!!!!!!)
*talks and screams like a girl (loud and NONstop)
*smiles at absolutely anyone that will give her a second of attention
*adores her brother
*turns her crib soother on and off by kicking the button

*puts all things directly in her mouth

this month's goal: take more pictures! I don't have any good pics of her this last month! sad!!! :(

The Bat Cave

2010-09-30T15:44:00.005-07:00

Today my mom and I spent the day transforming Maddux's room into his "BatCave". As he would say..."TaDA!!!!"

before...

during...
AFTER...
we have a few more small things to add, but this is a hefty transformation for one day.

2010-09-14T08:58:00.003-07:00

Most people go to bed, lay their head down and wait to fall asleep. NOT Maddux. He doesn't have the patience to just lay there. So, instead...he runs around his room jumping and playing until he uses the very last of his energy and then just passes out wherever he might be at that moment.

4 months

2010-09-09T15:22:00.005-07:00

4 months = a lot of fun!

Reese has become so fun and interactive this last month!

*She giggles, squeals, and jabbers.
*She absolutely adores Maddux and smiles at the very sight of him.
*She holds on to toys and shoves everything in her mouth.
*She ALWAYS pulls her blankie over her face to fall asleep - freaks. me. out.
*She sleeps through the night (8:30-7:30)

*Weighs 13 pounds, 12 ounces, which is 50th percentile
*Is 25 inches long, which is the 90th percentile!

One of those days...

2010-09-08T13:16:00.003-07:00

I think it's safe to say every mom has "those" days. Yesterday was one of mine. Nothing super explosive, just work calls starting at 6:45am, whiny kids, dumped goldfish piles, massive to do list on which nothing gets accomplished, a two year old shoving his sauce covered hand into the last purified glass of water I could muster out of the dispenser.
Just one of THOSE days.

I was counting down the minutes for Drew to walk in the door and save me from a near-meltdown. Instead my phone rang and he called asking if he could to go to a Dbacks game after work. I thought I hid my disappointment well when I told him to go ahead and go. Instead, he called his mom to babysit, drove home, picked me up and we went to the game together. We got sweet box seats with the servers who take your order and wait on you. Thank you LifeLock and Thank you to Drew for making my day SO much better!
I LOVE my husband!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-07T16:05:00.004-07:00

We tried to make the best of living on the face of the sun (it's still 102 here) for our Labor Day weekend. Here are a few pictures of what we did to keep us busy...

2010-09-01T11:50:00.003-07:00

My grandparents got me this piano when I was about 8 years old. It was an antique even then, but I am so excited to finally be able to have it in my own house! We had it moved yesterday and Maddux may have been as excited as I was! Let's just hope that when he has lessons, he retains a LOT more than I did.
Having this here is a reminder of how badly I practiced growing up and how well I do NOT play now.

2010-08-13T13:28:00.010-07:00

Remember THIS?

I decided it would be fun to do it again because:

1) It would help me lose the baby weight
2) It'd jump start me back into my favorite (and only) hobby
3) Training would be my "me time"
4) I wanted to beat my previous time

I may have been wrong because:

1) Even with 20 miles/week right now, there are 8 pounds just clinging to my body for dear life!
2) I'm exhausted chasing a 2 year old and tending to a 3 month old as it is! Those extra miles aren't helping the prob
3) My "me time" is at 5:45am and my long runs are followed by a not-so-relaxing bath shared with a 2 year old and 9 plastic dinosaurs. :)
4) I will NOT be beating my previous time. My goal for now is survival.

To be more upbeat, I just read through my blog from the first time I ran it and it got me REALLY excited again.

SO....49 days..16 hours...53 minutes...32 seconds till the start of round 2!

3 months

2010-08-03T13:10:00.007-07:00

My baby is 3 months today! It's crazy how fast time is flying and how quickly she is growing up already!

*Reese weighs about 11.8 pounds
*She has outgrown her first round of clothes and now wears 0-3 month.
*She loves to suck on her hands.
*She smiles at everything (Maddux, mommy, daddy, lamps, fans, toys, etc).
*Her favorite toy is her Lamaze Giraffe and she gets a huge open mouth smile when she looks at it's eyes.
*She poops a LOT.
*She wakes up only once a night (4am-give or take 10 mins).
*She will only use ugly green hospital pacifiers and refuses to suck on a "cute" one, even though I try every day!
*She has a very strong neck and looks around and everything.
*She still insists on being bounced to fall asleep. It's a bit of a nightmare! (suggestions???)
*She has a few rolls on her legs. This is so fun because Maddux has NEVER had a roll of baby fat. We call her our chunky monkey! :)
*She is in the top 50 for the Baby Idol contest, you can click HERE to vote for her!!

Future Photographer

2010-07-30T20:06:00.003-07:00

What do you think? Does Maddux have a future in photography?

This is what happens when I'm not watching and he finds my camera! :)

Earrings

2010-07-26T14:14:00.006-07:00

Reese got her ears pierced today. I was a nervous wreck once we got there but I think I may have been more traumatized by it than she was. She cried for about 30 seconds and has been happy ever since.
I think it looks sooooo cute!

changes

2010-07-23T16:03:00.010-07:00

So far, 2010 has been a year full of changes for us. Change is good, right? :)

new baby, new house, new job

new baby....
new house...

Two days after we got home from Denver, we moved a couple of miles south to San Tan Ranch. We sold our house and we are doing the rental thing for a while. It was really sad to leave our ward and it's a hard adjustment not having so many friends within walking distance. But, I'm loving having a single story and a lot more space and Maddux loves having a yard.

new job...

Today was Drew's last day working at Honeywell! He was offered a great job as a Senior Financial Analyst for LifeLock and we think it will be such a blessing for our little fam. I'm super proud of my husband. He is a hard worker and deserves to have a job he enjoys!

Denver

2010-07-23T14:41:00.015-07:00

We got the fly to Denver to spend a week with Amb and Tye and the kiddos. We had SO much fun! I really wish they lived closer. Maddux was entertained 24/7 by the older cousins.

Here are just a few of the highlights from our trip!

THE LAKE (Thornton)

BRECKENRIDGE

STEAMBOAT

KEYSTONE

Cousins...

The Flight Home

Stopping to see fireworks on the way home from the airport

Children's Museum

2010-07-23T14:37:00.003-07:00

One of my favorite things to do with Maddux is go to the Children's Museum. A few weeks ago they had a Member's Only Night and it was fun to have Daddy there to play with us too!

BFFs

2010-07-23T14:32:00.002-07:00

Maddux cannot get enough of his baby sisser, Reese! She is the first thing he asks for him the morning. He tries to give her her pacie and is always saying, "Reese, you be so happy! Be so happy Reese" when she cries. He shows her all his new toys, his food, his shows, everything.

I hope they are friends like this forever!!

Maddux

2010-07-22T06:48:00.004-07:00

Reese has been at the top of the blog for so long now, due to my lack of a desire to blog. So, until I get the motivation, time, and energy to catch up on this past month...here is my other cutie to share the spotlight for a bit.

But... you can still click the link below to vote for Reese in the baby contest ;)

Round 2

2010-06-28T14:15:00.004-07:00

I entered this pic into Mix 96.9's Cutest Baby Contest. She is now in Round 2!

Click Here to vote!You can vote once per day!

2010-06-25T07:22:00.002-07:00

Isn't it hilarious that kids have an obvious personality from birth? I love it...

Swim lessons

2010-06-18T14:21:00.006-07:00

Maddux started swim lessons this week. We have done the mom n tot classes the past two years, but we are trying a new lady , Miss Pam and she is great! It amazes me what he can do after just a week! Today was the first day that he didn't get sad at all and he talked poor Miss Pam's ear off!

I will probably post more pics and videos after next week when he is even better at swimming to the ledge by himself. That's my favorite part!!

I love how on this first video, Maddux says "Thank you!!" right as she is pushing him down under the water the second time.

2010-06-10T12:00:00.002-07:00

Maddux randomly started throwing up last night...a LOT. He had no fever, no other symptoms, just a LOT of throwing up. We decided to have a big sleepover in our room. We pulled his mattress off his bed and he got to sleep next to our bed. With a 5 week old on one side, and a sick 2 year old on the other, Mommy and Daddy didn't get much sleep. :)

He is feeling much better today! :)

Big Day

2010-06-09T09:18:00.004-07:00

Sunday was a really big and busy day for our family. Bright and early we started off with Reese's baby blessing. Drew did a great job. I feel so blessed to have a worthy priesthood holder as my husband. I was a proud momma and wife! I am grateful for all the friends who came from near and far to be there with us! Thank you so much!

Then my dad got sustained and set apart as the 2nd counselor in the Elliot Groves Ward Bishopric. It was an awesome experience to see my dad up on the stand and to see him share his strong testimony with the congregation.

From there we went straight into my brother in law, Bo, being set apart as a full time Missionary. He is serving in the New York- Rochester Mission, Spanish Speaking. We each got to give him a piece of advice and he shared his testimony with us. Even with Maddux running circles around the room, it was a very spiritual experience and I know he is going to be a great missionary!

Reese at 1 Month

2010-06-03T12:30:00.003-07:00

It's been a month! Time is already flying too fast!

*She is finally in 0-3 onesies and even in a couple of Newborn outfits
*Still in Newborn size diapers
*This past week has been rough on her baby acne. (Maddux heard me call myself "pizza face" and lovingly repeats it, telling me that "Reese is Pizza Face -Mommy is Pizza face". Nice.)
*She is the gassiest girl I know. Poor thing cries in pain! I have recently gone off dairy and it seems to be helping. Breaks my heart (for both of us ;) )
*She is a much better sleeper than Maddux was at 1 month.
*I can still count how many times she has spit up so far, which I am soooo grateful for!
*On the flip side, I have completely lost track of how many blow-outs we have had. Gross.
*She loves to stare at the blinds
*She loves her pacifier, but can't keep it in her mouth for long.
*Her eyes were obviously hazel when she was born and I was so disappointed. They have since changed to a dark blue. I couldn't be happier!
*Her favorite way to be held is the sitting-up-burping position.
*She melts my heart every day...Everyone was right...I DO love having a girl!

Talie Rae

2010-05-26T13:43:00.006-07:00

Tyler, my awesome bro-in-law, flew Kasey and me out to visit Amber for her birthday, see the kiddos, and meet Talie!
My camera didn't make it out of my bag until the last night we were there. But just picture us eating and laying around and eating...it was amazing!
Thanks again Tye!

So, Talie is just 11 days younger than Reese and they are definitely going to be bff cousins (they don't have a choice)!
You can see here though that my tiny little Reese is a total CHUNK compared to Talie. She really is a little tiny peanut and soooo cute!ps- taking pictures with two newborns is virtually impossible!!

my bud...

2010-05-21T16:21:00.007-07:00

This kid is a crackup and he gets me laughing every day. I'm so grateful that he has adjusted so well to "baby sisser" (who he still thinks is named Camden) being home.

We took him to watch the planes the other day, but he ended up being more interested in the rocks than anything else.

Helping mom make cookies....

2010-05-08T12:00:00.005-07:00

I got some more pics from my family...so here are just a few more :)

Birth Story:

I started having serious contractions on Friday morning and they were completely playing games with my head. They would start, get strong and closer together then stop. Sometimes they were 40 mins apart and sometimes they were 10. Talk about frustrating! By Sunday when nothing had happened, and I was still in on again off again pain, I decided I was going to walk myself into labor. I walked and walked and walked and then when it wasn't doing anything...I started running! I'm sure it was quite a sight, giant prego lady running around! :) Later at night they started getting closer and stronger and when I finally realized I needed to start timing them, they were down to about 5 minutes apart and VERY painful. YIKES!

Jessica dropped everything and headed over to watch Maddux and we zoomed off to the hospital. I was praying the whole way that we wouldn't get there and find out I was dilated to a 1, like when I was in labor with Maddux. Lucky for me, by the time we got there I was a 6! They got me right in at 10:00 and started the process to get my epidural ASAP. It was amazing. Everything went so smoothly and my family and Wendy came to be with us. By about 3:20am I was ready to push and at 3:55, Reese was born. The only problem that we had was when the nurse had me pushing and Reese started coming before the doctor was ready. There is NOTHING worse than feeling that "pressure" of crowning and having them say "Ok, don't push anymore! Whatever you do, don't push!". Ouch.

Everything has been amazing since then and I am one happy momma!

Happy Mother's Day! :)

*drew*tarah*maddux*reese*

Worst Parade Ever

Happy New Year

Happy Birthday Maddux

The Best Christmas Ever

Preschool Christmas Program

Pre-Christmas

Reese @ 18 Months

Happy Halloween!

For those who AREN'T sick of hearing about the Ragnar yet...

Busy Bag Swap

First Field Trip

Powell

Dentist

Organizing - one step at a time

Camping

I have the cutest kids on this planet. period.

4th of July

Bowling

Swimming Lessons

walker

Date Night

one

Newport

Easter 2011

Pat's Run

11 months

Urban Dare

Kryptonite

Surgery

Bath

1 of a Zillion Reasons I LOVE my son...

9 Months

"it ok mommy"

8 months

11 in '11

3

Christmas 2010

Gingerbread House

Christmas Dress

3rd Annual Sweater Palooza

Santa

12k's of Christmas (or 6...)

Maddux

7 months

Thanksgiving

7 years!

6 months

Halloween

Saturday

Pumpkin Masterpieces

Schnepf Farms

Kasey's Shower

Girls Trip

Marathon- Take 2!

5 Months

The Bat Cave

4 months

One of those days...

Labor Day Weekend

3 months

Future Photographer

Earrings

changes

Denver

Children's Museum

BFFs

Maddux

Round 2

Swim lessons

Big Day

Reese at 1 Month

Talie Rae

my bud...

drewtarahmadduxreese*