11 years ago
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Elea Laughing
I think this is the hardest I have ever heard Elea laugh.
It's sort of unfortunate that her giggling stems from thinking she is kicking me in the face.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Provo River Trail- 1st Half Marathon
Angie and I ran in a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday morning. I didn't get as nervous for it as I have for the triathlons, at least until I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep before my alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m. We had to be at the Shops at Riverwoods at 5 in the morning to take a bus up to the starting point up the Provo River Trail. Too early in the morning. WAY to early in the morning. We were both sort of slap happy (I will post pictures tomorrow proving as much). The race started at 7 a.m. and by that time my toes and other appendages were pretty numb. There were a lot of people-- it was a different atmosphere from the triathlons since people weren't busy messing with their gear-- everyone just stood around talking.
Anyway, the race started and I ran. And then ate some GU. Then ran some more. Then ate another GU. Then finished running. My time was 1:59:??. I think. Our (mine and Ang's) goal was 2 hours and 20 minutes. But then at about 9.5 miles I realized that if I kept my pace I could finish in 2 hours so for the last 35 minutes of the race that was my new goal. :) I "sprinted" the last half mile or so to make it. Hopefully they will post our official finish times soon.
Angie made it a couple of minutes under our goal too! Yay!
Anyway, the race started and I ran. And then ate some GU. Then ran some more. Then ate another GU. Then finished running. My time was 1:59:??. I think. Our (mine and Ang's) goal was 2 hours and 20 minutes. But then at about 9.5 miles I realized that if I kept my pace I could finish in 2 hours so for the last 35 minutes of the race that was my new goal. :) I "sprinted" the last half mile or so to make it. Hopefully they will post our official finish times soon.
Angie made it a couple of minutes under our goal too! Yay!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Elea's 1 year Dr. visit
She's getting taller!! Elea weighed in at 19 lbs 1 oz so she is in the 14th percentile for weight but she is 29.75 inches tall so now she's up to the 64th percentile for height. Her head circumference measured 18.5 inches but the girl measuring her didn't take off her cloth headband so I think it's actually less than that. Regardless, her percentile at that measurement is 91%!! That is so funny to me. Our little midget.
Everything else was good- I didn't realize that she should be able to point to her eyes, nose, etc. by now. I haven't ever even pointed those out to her. BUT, we did have a break through with the sign language. She was drinking from her sippy cup and her doctor said something to her about her drink and elea took one hand off the cup and did the open fist/close fist sign for milk. Now ask me if she's done it since then. NOPE. But, she is atleast recognizing the signs when we do them. If I sign "eat" she says "yaaass" and walks over to her high chair. Also, today in church she had a little zip lock bag with crackers and such in it. I would open the bag, she'd grab one, then I would zip up the bag and hand it to her. She would play with the bag until I did the sign for "more" then she would automatically hand me the bag to open up for her to get "more." Pretty fabulous-- it made me feel telepathic not having to talk out loud to her during church! ha.
Back to her doc appt., she had the 2nd to last round of immunizations for awhile. They also pricked her finger to draw blood for an anemia test. She wasn't too appreciative of either of those things but at least they are over with for now and the immunizations didn't seem to affect her the way they have in the past.
OH WAIT!!! GOOD NEWS!!!!
I almost forgot! Anyone who has been around Elea for longer than 5 minutes since she was born has probably noticed her nose running. All. the. time. So I finally took her to the N.A.E.T. (allergy doctor) in St. George last week. He tested her for a milk allergy since the runny nose is a common side effect and she was allergic so he treated her for that and sent us home with the vial to wear for 24 hours. So her nose was still running that night but not as bad. Then the next day it was still running but not near as much. But by Friday it wasn't running at all!!!! And she isn't snoring anymore either! Which kind of freaks me out because I'm used to being able to hear her in her room when she is asleep-- but I'm getting used to it because I can tell she is sleeping better even though I can't hear her sleeping. If that makes any sense at all. So yeah. It's pretty amazing. Sitting in church today I realized it was the first time I'd left the house without grabbing kleenex or some other nose wiping utility for I do not even know how long.
Everything else was good- I didn't realize that she should be able to point to her eyes, nose, etc. by now. I haven't ever even pointed those out to her. BUT, we did have a break through with the sign language. She was drinking from her sippy cup and her doctor said something to her about her drink and elea took one hand off the cup and did the open fist/close fist sign for milk. Now ask me if she's done it since then. NOPE. But, she is atleast recognizing the signs when we do them. If I sign "eat" she says "yaaass" and walks over to her high chair. Also, today in church she had a little zip lock bag with crackers and such in it. I would open the bag, she'd grab one, then I would zip up the bag and hand it to her. She would play with the bag until I did the sign for "more" then she would automatically hand me the bag to open up for her to get "more." Pretty fabulous-- it made me feel telepathic not having to talk out loud to her during church! ha.
Back to her doc appt., she had the 2nd to last round of immunizations for awhile. They also pricked her finger to draw blood for an anemia test. She wasn't too appreciative of either of those things but at least they are over with for now and the immunizations didn't seem to affect her the way they have in the past.
OH WAIT!!! GOOD NEWS!!!!
I almost forgot! Anyone who has been around Elea for longer than 5 minutes since she was born has probably noticed her nose running. All. the. time. So I finally took her to the N.A.E.T. (allergy doctor) in St. George last week. He tested her for a milk allergy since the runny nose is a common side effect and she was allergic so he treated her for that and sent us home with the vial to wear for 24 hours. So her nose was still running that night but not as bad. Then the next day it was still running but not near as much. But by Friday it wasn't running at all!!!! And she isn't snoring anymore either! Which kind of freaks me out because I'm used to being able to hear her in her room when she is asleep-- but I'm getting used to it because I can tell she is sleeping better even though I can't hear her sleeping. If that makes any sense at all. So yeah. It's pretty amazing. Sitting in church today I realized it was the first time I'd left the house without grabbing kleenex or some other nose wiping utility for I do not even know how long.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Scofield Triathlon Adventures
My friend Lisa & I drove up to Scofield, UT yesterday for the triathlon today. We spent the night in Price and then drove the half hour to the reservoir this morning.
I had never swam in the reservoir, or rode the bike course or anything so it was all new. We drove the course last night but it turned out that what felt like uphill in the car was actually downhill and vice versa. Last month when I did the Utah Summer Games I was planning on that being my last triathlon until the half marathon in August was over and then I would do the Kokapelli Triathlon at Sand Hollow at the end of September. But then I got the flat tire so I decided to do a tri this month to redeem myself on the bike portion of the race (and because I stick to my training better when I have a closer race goal!). Luckily, my friend Lisa was a peach and registered for the Scofield race and made the trip with me since I didn't want to drag Jeff and Elea up to the middle of nowhere to stand in the hot sun for hours.
So last night I was actually able to sleep. It was strange being away from Elea and not worrying about if she was going to wake up in the night or whatever. So I actually slept better than I normally do the night before a race. And it actually started at a reasonable hour- 9 am instead of 7:30 or 8 am. We actually were a lot more relaxed about getting there early to set up our transition area but then once we got there I was worried because there didn't seem to be any space on the racks to fit our bikes and gear. But luckily we found some spots so that turned out okay because I got to sleep in a little, eat breakfast, set up my gear, and get in the water without a ton of down time to get more nauseaus and nervous than I already was!
The water was pretty cold but thank goodness for wetsuits because it makes it manageable (and it makes me float!!) It wasn't a huge group of women so they had us all start in the same wave. I have learned to head out to the front of the group to begin with so that I don't get stuck in a school of fish- there was just a short time after the start buzzer went off that I was swimming over other girl's legs and stuff. But luckily I managed not to get kicked or anything traumatic. It was probably about 50-100 yds out that I was pretty much alone on my way. I could see a couple other yellow swim caps in the water on my right as I headed to the first buoy. I made it around the first buoy and and about 25-50 yds later I started seeing blue swim caps. At first I got confused and then I realized it was the men who had started 5 minutes before me. As I was making my way down the longer stretch to the second buoy (it was a triangle shaped course) I kept coming across more and more men in their blue caps. Some were side-stroking, some were doing breaststroke, I even saw one guy who was either incredibly double-jointed in his shoulders or he was doing backstroke! I was definitely jealous at that point. It would be nice to know that the 2nd and 3rd legs of the race were my strengths so that I could take it easier on the swim!
Anyway, I made it around the 2nd buoy and headed back toward the boat dock area. I kept dodging the guys in blue swim caps doing breaststroke and such and luckily made it throught the 700 yards and out of the water unscathed. As I was running up the boat dock some lady said, "really good swim," to me and then I looked up and realized I hadn't seen a green swim cap in awhile and as I ran up the transition aisle I only saw 1 girl. So that was pretty exciting for me- but I wasn't sure that more women had already made it out of the water and out of transition too. The very first part of the bike course is a very steep hill. They warned us to put our bikes in the lowest gear possible and even then when I clipped in my right foot I couldn't get the momentum to get my balance while clipping in my left foot. So I just got off the bike and ran it up the hill. Once I did mount the bike I started moving, went over a speed bump I hadn't noticed, passed the state trooper car parked on the main road, barely swerving in time to miss a parked car and race mile marker sign on the opposite side of the road. It was awesome. I can just imagine what the state trooper was thinking as I came barreling through. ay ay ay.
After getting myself back over to the appropriate side of the road I said a quick prayer of gratefulness that I didn't completely smash myself and my bike in the first half mile of the race. The first almost half of the race was fabulous. Rolling-ish hills, no crazy steep hills or cattleguards, the weather was beautiful, the road was right alongside the lake, it was pretty perfect for me. I wasn't even feeling the 7600 foot elevation like I thought I was going to either and only 2 girls had passed me on the bike thus far so it was a great improvement. I only still saw the one in front after the swim too so I was feeling good about things. Then I look up as I get past the lake and ahead of me and to the right I see a train. And this isn't a short train. And I am too far away to evil-kenevil my way across the tracks and beat it. So I start to coast hoping that maybe it will pass before I have to stop and completely lose my momentum like the few people I see stopped at the tracks in front of me. But alas, twas not meant to be. I get up there, unclip one foot, and stop. And wait. And wait some more. And then I look back and there are now 10 people waiting. And then some of those 10 people start to walk their bikes past those of us who had been there first. So I started moving forward as well moving over to the inside of the road to have some space. The last time I looked back there were probably 30+ people smashed together- like a stand-still-less-impressive tour de france pack. 30+ people that I had been beating and now my lead from the swim was completely obliterated by the stinkin' train. Awesome.
Wait. Was I or wasn't I doing this race to vindicate myself after the flat tire on my last race? Well I guess that just wasn't meant to be. So finally the train was coming to an end so we start to move forward as it passes the right side of the road, just in time to look up and see all the olympic-distance men racers coming at us on the left side of the road! In case you don't remember, I was practically on the left side of the road, at the front. So all of a sudden it felt like I was a little bug swerving to miss the rocketeers coming at me the opposite direction. Did I mention they were mad rocketeers? How none of us had predicted that if there was 30+ people on one side of the train, there would probably be 30+ people on the OTHER side of the train waiting as well, I do not know. So anyway, I then preceeded to get passed by more and more cyclists as we came to the turn around point and back around. Although, I was surprised at the number- it was smaller than I expected it to be. I had talked to Lisa on the ride there about how hard she pushes herself-- whether it's an "I can do this all day" pace or a "okay this is painful but I can hold it for the next x number of miles" pace. She said she aims more for the latter so that's what I worked for this time around because she always kicks my trash. She caught up to me with about 3 miles left of the bike course instead in the first 3 miles so I knew that I was doing better than in the past.
So after making it to the end of the bike course and slowing down enough to dismount on the downslope of the steep hill into transition without completing biffing it- I tried to walk my bike more than run through the transition aisle to my spot but it was a steep enough grade that I couldn't stop the momentum well in my slick cycling shoes so I just went with it. I managed to get through the transition pretty quick and then headed down the transition aisle and then back up a hill to the main road again. I was tempted to walk up that hill but I just kept thinking, grandpa shuffle, grandpa shuffle, and made it up the hill. The run was on the same course as the bike, except instead of 6.2 miles before the turn around it was just 1.5 ish miles to the turn around point. I completely missed the 1st mile marker sign so when I looked at my watch and it said 11 min 30 sec I was thinking that my run was really sucking. But then I looked up and saw the turn around point not very far ahead and realized I had missed the mile marker somewhere back there. At the 2 mile mark I was at 17 minutes and 30 some odd seconds. So I was excited because that was definitely faster than any of my previous times. I figured that if I pushed it I could make it to the finish in about 10-11 minutes and beat my last 5k time by a 2 minutes or more.
I pushed harder at the end then I ever have in the past. I caught up to some random guy about 100 yards from the finish line and we raced in. At that point I couldn't really feel my legs and so there was a moment where I felt like I was gonna completely trip onto my face but managed to make it across without any drama. So I honestly was more relieved about that than anything else the first 30 seconds or so after finishing. I made it through the run in the 28 minute range but they haven't posted the splits on-line so I am unsure.
Supposedly the race organizers had signed a deal with the train-people so that there wouldn't be any trains during the race time. Somehow that got messed up and so there was the train. But so there wouldn't be any more drama, the race organizers decided to just go with finish times for the placings. I heard some people say that they took 5 minutes off of everyones finish times but I am unsure if they did or not. I don't really see the why they would, but my point is that my posted finish time was 1 hour 32 minutes and I don't remember the seconds. But if that was after they took 5 minutes off because of the train then including the train my time was 1 hour 37 minutes, etc. Either way, that means that I finished today's race about 15-20 minutes faster than my previous races. Yay!
It's amazing what some consistent training and a bike course without a giant hill can do for a girl. I found out when they posted the results that I really was the 2nd girl out of the water and I placed 3rd in my age group. Granted, there wasn't near as many people competing as there have been in the other triathlons, but my goal was to be in the top 50% and I beat that so I'm happy.
Okay, let's be honest, Scofield is my new favorite course.
Train or no Train.
I had never swam in the reservoir, or rode the bike course or anything so it was all new. We drove the course last night but it turned out that what felt like uphill in the car was actually downhill and vice versa. Last month when I did the Utah Summer Games I was planning on that being my last triathlon until the half marathon in August was over and then I would do the Kokapelli Triathlon at Sand Hollow at the end of September. But then I got the flat tire so I decided to do a tri this month to redeem myself on the bike portion of the race (and because I stick to my training better when I have a closer race goal!). Luckily, my friend Lisa was a peach and registered for the Scofield race and made the trip with me since I didn't want to drag Jeff and Elea up to the middle of nowhere to stand in the hot sun for hours.
So last night I was actually able to sleep. It was strange being away from Elea and not worrying about if she was going to wake up in the night or whatever. So I actually slept better than I normally do the night before a race. And it actually started at a reasonable hour- 9 am instead of 7:30 or 8 am. We actually were a lot more relaxed about getting there early to set up our transition area but then once we got there I was worried because there didn't seem to be any space on the racks to fit our bikes and gear. But luckily we found some spots so that turned out okay because I got to sleep in a little, eat breakfast, set up my gear, and get in the water without a ton of down time to get more nauseaus and nervous than I already was!
The water was pretty cold but thank goodness for wetsuits because it makes it manageable (and it makes me float!!) It wasn't a huge group of women so they had us all start in the same wave. I have learned to head out to the front of the group to begin with so that I don't get stuck in a school of fish- there was just a short time after the start buzzer went off that I was swimming over other girl's legs and stuff. But luckily I managed not to get kicked or anything traumatic. It was probably about 50-100 yds out that I was pretty much alone on my way. I could see a couple other yellow swim caps in the water on my right as I headed to the first buoy. I made it around the first buoy and and about 25-50 yds later I started seeing blue swim caps. At first I got confused and then I realized it was the men who had started 5 minutes before me. As I was making my way down the longer stretch to the second buoy (it was a triangle shaped course) I kept coming across more and more men in their blue caps. Some were side-stroking, some were doing breaststroke, I even saw one guy who was either incredibly double-jointed in his shoulders or he was doing backstroke! I was definitely jealous at that point. It would be nice to know that the 2nd and 3rd legs of the race were my strengths so that I could take it easier on the swim!
Anyway, I made it around the 2nd buoy and headed back toward the boat dock area. I kept dodging the guys in blue swim caps doing breaststroke and such and luckily made it throught the 700 yards and out of the water unscathed. As I was running up the boat dock some lady said, "really good swim," to me and then I looked up and realized I hadn't seen a green swim cap in awhile and as I ran up the transition aisle I only saw 1 girl. So that was pretty exciting for me- but I wasn't sure that more women had already made it out of the water and out of transition too. The very first part of the bike course is a very steep hill. They warned us to put our bikes in the lowest gear possible and even then when I clipped in my right foot I couldn't get the momentum to get my balance while clipping in my left foot. So I just got off the bike and ran it up the hill. Once I did mount the bike I started moving, went over a speed bump I hadn't noticed, passed the state trooper car parked on the main road, barely swerving in time to miss a parked car and race mile marker sign on the opposite side of the road. It was awesome. I can just imagine what the state trooper was thinking as I came barreling through. ay ay ay.
After getting myself back over to the appropriate side of the road I said a quick prayer of gratefulness that I didn't completely smash myself and my bike in the first half mile of the race. The first almost half of the race was fabulous. Rolling-ish hills, no crazy steep hills or cattleguards, the weather was beautiful, the road was right alongside the lake, it was pretty perfect for me. I wasn't even feeling the 7600 foot elevation like I thought I was going to either and only 2 girls had passed me on the bike thus far so it was a great improvement. I only still saw the one in front after the swim too so I was feeling good about things. Then I look up as I get past the lake and ahead of me and to the right I see a train. And this isn't a short train. And I am too far away to evil-kenevil my way across the tracks and beat it. So I start to coast hoping that maybe it will pass before I have to stop and completely lose my momentum like the few people I see stopped at the tracks in front of me. But alas, twas not meant to be. I get up there, unclip one foot, and stop. And wait. And wait some more. And then I look back and there are now 10 people waiting. And then some of those 10 people start to walk their bikes past those of us who had been there first. So I started moving forward as well moving over to the inside of the road to have some space. The last time I looked back there were probably 30+ people smashed together- like a stand-still-less-impressive tour de france pack. 30+ people that I had been beating and now my lead from the swim was completely obliterated by the stinkin' train. Awesome.
Wait. Was I or wasn't I doing this race to vindicate myself after the flat tire on my last race? Well I guess that just wasn't meant to be. So finally the train was coming to an end so we start to move forward as it passes the right side of the road, just in time to look up and see all the olympic-distance men racers coming at us on the left side of the road! In case you don't remember, I was practically on the left side of the road, at the front. So all of a sudden it felt like I was a little bug swerving to miss the rocketeers coming at me the opposite direction. Did I mention they were mad rocketeers? How none of us had predicted that if there was 30+ people on one side of the train, there would probably be 30+ people on the OTHER side of the train waiting as well, I do not know. So anyway, I then preceeded to get passed by more and more cyclists as we came to the turn around point and back around. Although, I was surprised at the number- it was smaller than I expected it to be. I had talked to Lisa on the ride there about how hard she pushes herself-- whether it's an "I can do this all day" pace or a "okay this is painful but I can hold it for the next x number of miles" pace. She said she aims more for the latter so that's what I worked for this time around because she always kicks my trash. She caught up to me with about 3 miles left of the bike course instead in the first 3 miles so I knew that I was doing better than in the past.
So after making it to the end of the bike course and slowing down enough to dismount on the downslope of the steep hill into transition without completing biffing it- I tried to walk my bike more than run through the transition aisle to my spot but it was a steep enough grade that I couldn't stop the momentum well in my slick cycling shoes so I just went with it. I managed to get through the transition pretty quick and then headed down the transition aisle and then back up a hill to the main road again. I was tempted to walk up that hill but I just kept thinking, grandpa shuffle, grandpa shuffle, and made it up the hill. The run was on the same course as the bike, except instead of 6.2 miles before the turn around it was just 1.5 ish miles to the turn around point. I completely missed the 1st mile marker sign so when I looked at my watch and it said 11 min 30 sec I was thinking that my run was really sucking. But then I looked up and saw the turn around point not very far ahead and realized I had missed the mile marker somewhere back there. At the 2 mile mark I was at 17 minutes and 30 some odd seconds. So I was excited because that was definitely faster than any of my previous times. I figured that if I pushed it I could make it to the finish in about 10-11 minutes and beat my last 5k time by a 2 minutes or more.
I pushed harder at the end then I ever have in the past. I caught up to some random guy about 100 yards from the finish line and we raced in. At that point I couldn't really feel my legs and so there was a moment where I felt like I was gonna completely trip onto my face but managed to make it across without any drama. So I honestly was more relieved about that than anything else the first 30 seconds or so after finishing. I made it through the run in the 28 minute range but they haven't posted the splits on-line so I am unsure.
Supposedly the race organizers had signed a deal with the train-people so that there wouldn't be any trains during the race time. Somehow that got messed up and so there was the train. But so there wouldn't be any more drama, the race organizers decided to just go with finish times for the placings. I heard some people say that they took 5 minutes off of everyones finish times but I am unsure if they did or not. I don't really see the why they would, but my point is that my posted finish time was 1 hour 32 minutes and I don't remember the seconds. But if that was after they took 5 minutes off because of the train then including the train my time was 1 hour 37 minutes, etc. Either way, that means that I finished today's race about 15-20 minutes faster than my previous races. Yay!
It's amazing what some consistent training and a bike course without a giant hill can do for a girl. I found out when they posted the results that I really was the 2nd girl out of the water and I placed 3rd in my age group. Granted, there wasn't near as many people competing as there have been in the other triathlons, but my goal was to be in the top 50% and I beat that so I'm happy.
Okay, let's be honest, Scofield is my new favorite course.
Train or no Train.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
1st Birthday Party Pics
Jordyn & Sam on the slide.
Katie Kate.
Annie.
Elea couldn't quite figure out why everyone was singing at her.
Grandpa O got her this cute little hat with her name monogrammed on the back.
Me & her. Obviously. (Notice the empty capri sun in her hand!)
After she got all messy in her cake I rinsed her off in the splashpad and ended up using her swim top as a washcloth so she was half nakey the rest of the party. The wind died down a little later and she actually wanted to walk around on her own.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Elea's 1st Birthday
Yesterday went really well. If the wind would have stopped for her party I would call it a perfect day. But it didn't, and in the end it just saved us money on some tablecloths and crepe paper we couldn't use.
For her birthday we rented a bouncehouse-slide combo and had it at a park in St. George that has a splashpad and sweet playground with rubber under it instead of sand or woodchips or whatever. Anyway, Jeff and I were able to run around and get all the food and decorations, etc. while she took a nap so that worked out perfect. It was fun to get to spend that much one on one time with Jeff too, just running errands or whatever.
The party started around 4-ish and the slide was in constant use except for a break long enough to eat. The kids all loved it and the adults with swimsuits (and even some with regular clothes) had fun on it too. We had checked to make sure there was a water faucet at the park but were dumb and didn't check to make sure that we could actually turn it on. So we weren't able to connect the slide to the water, so instead the guys would go fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water at the splashpad and then throw the water at all the kids waiting at the top of the slide. So it worked okay and I think the kids got a thrill out of getting blasted in the face with the freezing cold water.
We took Elea down the slide a couple of times-- she didn't hate it but she didn't love it either-- we hung out in the bounce house a little bit but I think she preferred sitting in her highchair getting to squeeze a capri sun out all over her rolls and sandwich meat more than anything else. For dinner we just did some meat & cheese trays, veggie trays, fruit bowls, and some chips. Nothing too extravagent and none of it involved cooking!
I made her a little 4 in. square cake to devour. Or touch. She's not a fan of sweets so I didn't think she was really gonna dig into it. AND . . . she didn't. She got her hands into it and then was annoyed that they were all covered in frosting. We tried to get her to at least taste the frosting--- yeah, she wasn't a fan of that either. In the end she ended up with frosting all over her face and in her hair, but I don't think she ate any of it. We got the obligatory "1st birthday cake" video and photos though. :) Angie was a champ and took a lot of the pictures during the party for us. So this time I am actually documented as present in my daughters life but her closest aunt isn't, once again. Almost everyone stayed and played hard until after 8 pm and the kids probably would have lasted longer but all the adults were tired.
Elea opened her presents after we got home, way past her normal bedtime. I was sort of embarrassed that people brought her presents in the first place-- I should have made the disclaimer ahead of time not to bring gifts. It was fun to watch her pull the tissue out and try to rip the paper off. (It made me really excited for this year's christmas 'cause I can tell she's gonna have so much fun opening presents).
So it turned out to be a great day-- I am determined to make a big deal out of my kids' birthdays. Not that we're going to throw a big shindig every year or anything, but I want them to feel special on their birthday somehow, in someway. This year, let's be honest, this was more for me and Jeff- she won't remember it and wouldn't have noticed if we never sang her happy birthday-- but it is going to be a good memory for the rest of us. Thanks to all the friends and family that were able to come celebrate with us- it made the day better to have all of you there with us.
Now the senimental. I'm not usually big on birthdays or anniversaries- I don't usually get all excited about them. But yesterday I was more excited about Elea's birthday than I think I was about our wedding reception (not our wedding, just the reception). I am so grateful to have her in our family. She's a smart, beautiful, good-natured little girl. I am always getting comments about how there is just something different about her, that she's special in some undefinable way. It's been awesome getting to be her mom and having the joy that comes with knowing her little personality and quirks better than anyone else in the world (except maybe Jeff). It took so long to get pregnant and when I found out that I was pregnant I was sure that I would never be able to be in a bad mood ever again, that's how thrilled I was. (But we all know that by the end of the 1st trimester that wasn't the case!) Anyway, while we were trying, I spent a lot of time and energy obsessing over it and being upset-- but now I am grateful that Jeff and I had those years of being married and our relationship improving and I was able to experience working full-time, etc. so that now that I am home with her I am happy with it and not resenting it or wondering if I would be happier going to work somewhere all the time.
Yesterday throughout the day I was remembering where I was a year ago-- at what stage of labor, etc. I'd always heard that you don't know how much love you are capable of until you have a kid. It's possibly one of the truest statements I have ever heard. I am so grateful that she is healthy and developing well. I know that she knows she is loved and is growing up in a good environment and hopefully we'll be able to keep it that way her whole life.
But in the meantime, yay for 1st birthdays.
**pictures will come later-- oh, & if you were at the party & took pictures will you let me know? thanks!**
For her birthday we rented a bouncehouse-slide combo and had it at a park in St. George that has a splashpad and sweet playground with rubber under it instead of sand or woodchips or whatever. Anyway, Jeff and I were able to run around and get all the food and decorations, etc. while she took a nap so that worked out perfect. It was fun to get to spend that much one on one time with Jeff too, just running errands or whatever.
The party started around 4-ish and the slide was in constant use except for a break long enough to eat. The kids all loved it and the adults with swimsuits (and even some with regular clothes) had fun on it too. We had checked to make sure there was a water faucet at the park but were dumb and didn't check to make sure that we could actually turn it on. So we weren't able to connect the slide to the water, so instead the guys would go fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water at the splashpad and then throw the water at all the kids waiting at the top of the slide. So it worked okay and I think the kids got a thrill out of getting blasted in the face with the freezing cold water.
We took Elea down the slide a couple of times-- she didn't hate it but she didn't love it either-- we hung out in the bounce house a little bit but I think she preferred sitting in her highchair getting to squeeze a capri sun out all over her rolls and sandwich meat more than anything else. For dinner we just did some meat & cheese trays, veggie trays, fruit bowls, and some chips. Nothing too extravagent and none of it involved cooking!
I made her a little 4 in. square cake to devour. Or touch. She's not a fan of sweets so I didn't think she was really gonna dig into it. AND . . . she didn't. She got her hands into it and then was annoyed that they were all covered in frosting. We tried to get her to at least taste the frosting--- yeah, she wasn't a fan of that either. In the end she ended up with frosting all over her face and in her hair, but I don't think she ate any of it. We got the obligatory "1st birthday cake" video and photos though. :) Angie was a champ and took a lot of the pictures during the party for us. So this time I am actually documented as present in my daughters life but her closest aunt isn't, once again. Almost everyone stayed and played hard until after 8 pm and the kids probably would have lasted longer but all the adults were tired.
Elea opened her presents after we got home, way past her normal bedtime. I was sort of embarrassed that people brought her presents in the first place-- I should have made the disclaimer ahead of time not to bring gifts. It was fun to watch her pull the tissue out and try to rip the paper off. (It made me really excited for this year's christmas 'cause I can tell she's gonna have so much fun opening presents).
So it turned out to be a great day-- I am determined to make a big deal out of my kids' birthdays. Not that we're going to throw a big shindig every year or anything, but I want them to feel special on their birthday somehow, in someway. This year, let's be honest, this was more for me and Jeff- she won't remember it and wouldn't have noticed if we never sang her happy birthday-- but it is going to be a good memory for the rest of us. Thanks to all the friends and family that were able to come celebrate with us- it made the day better to have all of you there with us.
Now the senimental. I'm not usually big on birthdays or anniversaries- I don't usually get all excited about them. But yesterday I was more excited about Elea's birthday than I think I was about our wedding reception (not our wedding, just the reception). I am so grateful to have her in our family. She's a smart, beautiful, good-natured little girl. I am always getting comments about how there is just something different about her, that she's special in some undefinable way. It's been awesome getting to be her mom and having the joy that comes with knowing her little personality and quirks better than anyone else in the world (except maybe Jeff). It took so long to get pregnant and when I found out that I was pregnant I was sure that I would never be able to be in a bad mood ever again, that's how thrilled I was. (But we all know that by the end of the 1st trimester that wasn't the case!) Anyway, while we were trying, I spent a lot of time and energy obsessing over it and being upset-- but now I am grateful that Jeff and I had those years of being married and our relationship improving and I was able to experience working full-time, etc. so that now that I am home with her I am happy with it and not resenting it or wondering if I would be happier going to work somewhere all the time.
Yesterday throughout the day I was remembering where I was a year ago-- at what stage of labor, etc. I'd always heard that you don't know how much love you are capable of until you have a kid. It's possibly one of the truest statements I have ever heard. I am so grateful that she is healthy and developing well. I know that she knows she is loved and is growing up in a good environment and hopefully we'll be able to keep it that way her whole life.
But in the meantime, yay for 1st birthdays.
**pictures will come later-- oh, & if you were at the party & took pictures will you let me know? thanks!**
Saturday, July 11, 2009
2 MONTHS???!!!! OUCH!
I hadn't realized that it had been 2 months since my last post . . . I knew it had been awhile, but 2 months?!
UPDATES- sorry for the quick and dirty, but it's either this or nothin' because I doubt I'll ever have the fortitude to fill it all in in detail. :)
May 7th- moved into new place. LOVE IT. :) Actually have decorations up on some of the walls. woot woot.
May 9th- St. George Triathlon. I competed in the sprint distance again. Except that morning was windy and that kayaks couldn't hold their position in the lake so the swim was cancelled. SO- we did a Duathlon instead. Which was about a billion times harder for me. Run 5k, Bike 20k, Run 5k AGAIN. So basically I wanted to die. I was ready to leave when they announced the change-- if Jeff hadn't been there I probably would have! So needless to say, my time wasn't fabulous, but at least I finished it.
May 13th- 23rd- flew to Omaha for Derek's graduation from Law School. Then from there we flew to Kentucky to visit my parents for a week. The whole trip was fun- things were a little more interesting at my parents house since Elea could walk and get into (every)things!
Sometime in here my back got messed up. I had started upping my run mileage because I've agreed to do a half-marathon with Angie in August. Anyway, so it was making me incredibly ornery and the picking up and putting down of Elea and everything in between got to the point that I could hardly stand it anymore. I went to the chiropractor and it didn't help at all. Then Jeff had been shadowing at the Physical Therapist office so they told him to have me just come in. So I went in and did all the different movement tests, and he meaured this and that, etc. The determination was a) he had no idea what exactly was wrong and b) my hips/back/legs are all so squeewampous that he said that he was surprised I could even run at all, physically. AWESOME thing to hear when you've become addicted to Triathlons, etc. So did the hot zapper then the cold zapper and took a few days off of running. Then I went back in and the 2nd physical therapist came and took a look- same thing, neither could figure out exactly what was going on. So they gave me a heel lift for one shoe and an SI belt to wear around my hips when I run. So then on my runs for the next 2 or 3 weeks I wore them. My back stopped hurting but then my hips/legs started to ache really bad. Angie and I did our first "long" run one saturday and by the end I was aching bad- frustrating as heck. So I rebelled a week or 2 ago and didn't wear the SI belt. PRESTO! My back doesn't hurt, and my hips don't hurt- so I'm a happy girl.
MOTHER'S DAY- I don't remember the exact date of mother's day . . . but it was a good day. Jeff is always good about remembering "gift" days and making them special for me.
June 13th- Utah Summer Games Triathlon. This is almost identical to the St George Tri, except the run portion is on the pavement instead of dirt. Jeff had to work so my sister was a sweetheart and came to cheer me on. The weather was a little sketchy again but we made it in and out of the water before the rain so it was all good. It was my first race swim in the lake. I actually handled it a lot better than I expected too. I was 3rd coming out of the water in my age group so I am happy about that. Then the bike portion came-- As I was headed up the big hill it started to rain, at about that same time my front tire started to make this obnoxious squealing noise. I thought it had something to do with the water on the tires or something but I am an idiot and I actually had a VERY FLAT tire. However, I didn't even know this until I was headed DOWN the big hill at 30+ miles per hour and one of the refs off to the side at the bottom of the hill yells out- "YOU'VE GOT A FLAT TIRE!!" So I get over the cattle guard safely, pull over, and then begin to take the wheel off, etc. LUCKILY, that same guy came down and took care of the tire for me. I had stopped to by a tire pump for my bike the night before, but kind of like the 10 virgins, I was too late and so I didn't even have a tire pump. If he hadn't came along, I would have been stuck walking my bike until some kind hearted competitor pulled over to let me use their air pump. Anyway, after finally getting that tire taken care of I finished the bike course- the flat tire added a ton of time- so I'm not even paying attention to my time on that leg of the race. Then the run- I actually managed to run the entire 5k without walking AND I kept 10 minute per mile pace so I was happy with that. At the end when Angie gave me a hug I had an emotional breakdown for about 10 seconds. This was the first race that I actually felt like I ACCOMPLISHED something, so that combined with the realization that a million things could have gone horribly wrong with that flat tire (i.e. completely crashing into the wet pavement)- I had to cry for a sec. So in the end I finished 16th-- which is has about zero bragging rights attached to it, BUT all things considered- I'm okay with it. I wasn't planning on doing another tri until september, but I wanted a redo, so I'm doing the scofield tri next weekend. :)
June 19th- 2 of my nieces got baptized so my parents came to visit for a few days. It was fun to have them here. We went to the splashpad in downtown st. george and elea LOVED it.
June 21st- Father's Day. I got jeff the standard father's day ties-- I was inspired the friday before because he had me bring his church clothes for the baptisms and I couldn't a) find a tie without a stain on it, and b) figure out what were his real ties and what ones were his ugly tie contest ties from his mission. So my mom helped me find some sweet ties that I am going to confiscate if I ever see them within 10 feet of food or liquid.
During that time there was a bunch of birthdays so it felt like we were driving down to St. George about every other day! Angie & her fam are in St. George for the summer so that is pretty fabulous. It's gonna suck when she moves to AZ, not thinking about it, not thinking about it, not thinking about it.
Elea is walking like a pro now. She is such a fun kid- I spend half my time at home calling out "where's elea?? Whhheeerrrreeee'ssss EEELLLLEEEAAA??" and then she comes hurrying out from wherever she is in the house with a giant grin on her face. She's started eating more and more big people food. I love it. It's great to be able to put her in her highchair with a piece of bread and then unload and load the dishwasher in one attempt while she's eating. She turns 1 on the 13th and I'm so excited for her birthday. Jeff gets sentimental every time he thinks about her growing up-- I get excited because I love her little, I mean big, personality developing a little more everyday- it's fun for me. Oh, one other thing, I've taken her swimming a few times and the first couple of times she wasn't thrilled, but now she loves the water, and not just at bathtime!
Jeff is going to go to Occupational Therapy school instead of Physical Therapy school. What this means: Less pre-reqs, less school because it's a masters not a doctorate, less competition to get in to a good school, AND more stability job wise because face it, there are gonna be a lot of old people the next 30 years. (Occupational therapists work in a lot of different settings, with kids, babies, adults, disabled, etc.- so there are a lot of potential paths career wise). He did a semesters worth of Trigonometry during the first 5 week session of summer school. Let's just say we are ALL glad that is over. He got an A- which really isn't a surprise because he is a perfectionist so he studied like crazy the entire 5 weeks. And he is smarter than he gives himself credit for. :)
My sister-in-law Shanna taught me how to use coupons effectively. So if "couponing" is a skill then that's been my latest project. At first I started because it made grocery shopping more exciting for me, now I think I have become a snob-- I look down my nose at a box of cereal that's going to cost me more than 75 cents. This week was my first real trip to the grocery store that I only had to get produce and milk. It was almost a let-down in some twisted way because there wasn't the thrill of buying 5 things and having the total be $1.06--but I guess that's the whole idea.
UPDATES- sorry for the quick and dirty, but it's either this or nothin' because I doubt I'll ever have the fortitude to fill it all in in detail. :)
May 7th- moved into new place. LOVE IT. :) Actually have decorations up on some of the walls. woot woot.
May 9th- St. George Triathlon. I competed in the sprint distance again. Except that morning was windy and that kayaks couldn't hold their position in the lake so the swim was cancelled. SO- we did a Duathlon instead. Which was about a billion times harder for me. Run 5k, Bike 20k, Run 5k AGAIN. So basically I wanted to die. I was ready to leave when they announced the change-- if Jeff hadn't been there I probably would have! So needless to say, my time wasn't fabulous, but at least I finished it.
May 13th- 23rd- flew to Omaha for Derek's graduation from Law School. Then from there we flew to Kentucky to visit my parents for a week. The whole trip was fun- things were a little more interesting at my parents house since Elea could walk and get into (every)things!
Sometime in here my back got messed up. I had started upping my run mileage because I've agreed to do a half-marathon with Angie in August. Anyway, so it was making me incredibly ornery and the picking up and putting down of Elea and everything in between got to the point that I could hardly stand it anymore. I went to the chiropractor and it didn't help at all. Then Jeff had been shadowing at the Physical Therapist office so they told him to have me just come in. So I went in and did all the different movement tests, and he meaured this and that, etc. The determination was a) he had no idea what exactly was wrong and b) my hips/back/legs are all so squeewampous that he said that he was surprised I could even run at all, physically. AWESOME thing to hear when you've become addicted to Triathlons, etc. So did the hot zapper then the cold zapper and took a few days off of running. Then I went back in and the 2nd physical therapist came and took a look- same thing, neither could figure out exactly what was going on. So they gave me a heel lift for one shoe and an SI belt to wear around my hips when I run. So then on my runs for the next 2 or 3 weeks I wore them. My back stopped hurting but then my hips/legs started to ache really bad. Angie and I did our first "long" run one saturday and by the end I was aching bad- frustrating as heck. So I rebelled a week or 2 ago and didn't wear the SI belt. PRESTO! My back doesn't hurt, and my hips don't hurt- so I'm a happy girl.
MOTHER'S DAY- I don't remember the exact date of mother's day . . . but it was a good day. Jeff is always good about remembering "gift" days and making them special for me.
June 13th- Utah Summer Games Triathlon. This is almost identical to the St George Tri, except the run portion is on the pavement instead of dirt. Jeff had to work so my sister was a sweetheart and came to cheer me on. The weather was a little sketchy again but we made it in and out of the water before the rain so it was all good. It was my first race swim in the lake. I actually handled it a lot better than I expected too. I was 3rd coming out of the water in my age group so I am happy about that. Then the bike portion came-- As I was headed up the big hill it started to rain, at about that same time my front tire started to make this obnoxious squealing noise. I thought it had something to do with the water on the tires or something but I am an idiot and I actually had a VERY FLAT tire. However, I didn't even know this until I was headed DOWN the big hill at 30+ miles per hour and one of the refs off to the side at the bottom of the hill yells out- "YOU'VE GOT A FLAT TIRE!!" So I get over the cattle guard safely, pull over, and then begin to take the wheel off, etc. LUCKILY, that same guy came down and took care of the tire for me. I had stopped to by a tire pump for my bike the night before, but kind of like the 10 virgins, I was too late and so I didn't even have a tire pump. If he hadn't came along, I would have been stuck walking my bike until some kind hearted competitor pulled over to let me use their air pump. Anyway, after finally getting that tire taken care of I finished the bike course- the flat tire added a ton of time- so I'm not even paying attention to my time on that leg of the race. Then the run- I actually managed to run the entire 5k without walking AND I kept 10 minute per mile pace so I was happy with that. At the end when Angie gave me a hug I had an emotional breakdown for about 10 seconds. This was the first race that I actually felt like I ACCOMPLISHED something, so that combined with the realization that a million things could have gone horribly wrong with that flat tire (i.e. completely crashing into the wet pavement)- I had to cry for a sec. So in the end I finished 16th-- which is has about zero bragging rights attached to it, BUT all things considered- I'm okay with it. I wasn't planning on doing another tri until september, but I wanted a redo, so I'm doing the scofield tri next weekend. :)
June 19th- 2 of my nieces got baptized so my parents came to visit for a few days. It was fun to have them here. We went to the splashpad in downtown st. george and elea LOVED it.
June 21st- Father's Day. I got jeff the standard father's day ties-- I was inspired the friday before because he had me bring his church clothes for the baptisms and I couldn't a) find a tie without a stain on it, and b) figure out what were his real ties and what ones were his ugly tie contest ties from his mission. So my mom helped me find some sweet ties that I am going to confiscate if I ever see them within 10 feet of food or liquid.
During that time there was a bunch of birthdays so it felt like we were driving down to St. George about every other day! Angie & her fam are in St. George for the summer so that is pretty fabulous. It's gonna suck when she moves to AZ, not thinking about it, not thinking about it, not thinking about it.
Elea is walking like a pro now. She is such a fun kid- I spend half my time at home calling out "where's elea?? Whhheeerrrreeee'ssss EEELLLLEEEAAA??" and then she comes hurrying out from wherever she is in the house with a giant grin on her face. She's started eating more and more big people food. I love it. It's great to be able to put her in her highchair with a piece of bread and then unload and load the dishwasher in one attempt while she's eating. She turns 1 on the 13th and I'm so excited for her birthday. Jeff gets sentimental every time he thinks about her growing up-- I get excited because I love her little, I mean big, personality developing a little more everyday- it's fun for me. Oh, one other thing, I've taken her swimming a few times and the first couple of times she wasn't thrilled, but now she loves the water, and not just at bathtime!
Jeff is going to go to Occupational Therapy school instead of Physical Therapy school. What this means: Less pre-reqs, less school because it's a masters not a doctorate, less competition to get in to a good school, AND more stability job wise because face it, there are gonna be a lot of old people the next 30 years. (Occupational therapists work in a lot of different settings, with kids, babies, adults, disabled, etc.- so there are a lot of potential paths career wise). He did a semesters worth of Trigonometry during the first 5 week session of summer school. Let's just say we are ALL glad that is over. He got an A- which really isn't a surprise because he is a perfectionist so he studied like crazy the entire 5 weeks. And he is smarter than he gives himself credit for. :)
My sister-in-law Shanna taught me how to use coupons effectively. So if "couponing" is a skill then that's been my latest project. At first I started because it made grocery shopping more exciting for me, now I think I have become a snob-- I look down my nose at a box of cereal that's going to cost me more than 75 cents. This week was my first real trip to the grocery store that I only had to get produce and milk. It was almost a let-down in some twisted way because there wasn't the thrill of buying 5 things and having the total be $1.06--but I guess that's the whole idea.
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