It's About Time!

Well it's about stinkin' time I update the ol' blog!! :) Life has been more than crazy and our internet/computer are super slow and so I dread having to update, especially if it's been for FOREVER since the last post. There's been way too much to catch up on so here's the condensed version.

• We got our family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago by a dear friend Randi Gardner at r.gardner photographs. Her website is randi@rgardnerphotographs.com. You should check it out and see her amazing talent! Here are a few of the awesome pictures she got for us.

(PS - I have the cutest kids ever!! Sorry everybody, but it's true!)

• Ray is in his second semester of his Masters Program and he is still the Elder's Quorum President. In other words....he's super busy and I cherish any moment he gets to be home.


• I'm still attempting to train for the Newport, OR Marathon that is in 8 weeks (yikes!!!). I got some major shin splints a few weeks ago that are extremely difficult to recover from and not to reinjure again. I dunno, I'm not going to trained the way I should be for the marathon but I'm still gonna wing it and see how it goes! :)


• Logan started his first year of soccer and Ray is the coach. It's quite entertaining watching these young kids "playing" soccer.

• Chase is officially potty trained and isn't biting anymore!!! Those are some major accomplishments for the little guy and he's still just as obsessed with ABC's, Lightning McQueen, and Woody as ever.

• Rylee turned 1 last month!!! I can't believe my baby is 1 and she's starting to walk. She's figured out how to stand up in the middle of the room all by herself and she'll take a few steps but it still kind of wobbly. She loves to play outside with her brothers and just makes our family feel so complete.

• We got stucco on our house and it turned out so good!! We're also in the process of relandscaping the front yard so the pictures aren't so great yet, but give us a few months and it'll be AWESOME!!

Front of the house after the stucco.

Front of the house after stucco...but BEFORE the yard is finished.

Backyard after

Front of the house before

Backyard before

Logan's views...

Logan just came up to me and so matter-of-factly said, "Mom, Jesus said to watch a lot of TV today."

"Really? Why?" I said through a smile.

"Because he loves me!"

It's so fun to hear how kids interpret things we teach them. I'm glad to hear that he does actually semi-listen to what I'm trying to teach him, but to see how they process it into everyday situations is comical sometimes. Love ya buddy!

Braggin' Rights

What mom can resist the opportunity to brag her children?! :) Today I am going to brag about how smart Chase is with his letters. He LOVES letters and points them out and identifies them everywhere we go. He can say the alphabet but also knows the letters out of alphabetical order. He also enjoys the numbers but we're working on those. I wish I could take credit for his talent, but he just kind of learned letters on his own...ok, and PBS Kids. He loves to watch the educational shows on PBS and I think this is where it all started. Once we noticed he was recognizing letters, we then started practicing with him, but he initially did it on his own. Here's a clip of him saying them, personally I think it's one of the cutest things ever!

Ok - can't help up but brag a little more! Here's a couple more pics of the kids.

So a little more on Chase: we were finally able to go back to the gym daycare after his 30-day suspension for biting too much and within a week of being back he bit again and is suspended again for another 30 days. Don't interpret this as anything bad because I am quite proud of my boy (not for biting!!!) but just documenting things that are going on. But also to take advantage of our time being home more I decided to potty train him and he's actually doing so good! We have accidents but today he's taking the initiative and telling he needs to go. Logan was so difficult to potty train that I was scared to start again, but it's going good so far!

Logan wanted a picture to show off his Buzz Lightyear collection. I hadn't even realized that he had acquired 4 of them!! Seriously, how many Buzz's do you need? But it makes for a happy little boy.

And little Miss Rylee! She is just the cutest stinkin thing ever!! She starting walk hanging onto furniture and yesterday decided to walk around pushing the kitchen chairs in the kitchen. She's getting so much hair and her bangs hang in her eyes but I don't want to cut them cause I want to grow them out with the rest of her hair. She's so much fun and we all love her!

2011 St. George Half Marathon

Yesterday was the 2011 St. George Half Marathon! This half marathon was a lot better for me than last month's. At the Hostess Half there were only about 30 and so I was running by myself almost the whole time and I didn't know the course at all. But yesterday there were over 3,000 runners so I was always with someone, which was fun, and then I was very familiar with the course cause it's the route that I always go running on. The weather was fabulous and everyone did a fantastic job putting the whole even together. My last race time was 2 hours and 4 minutes and my goal for this race was 2 hours...or under if possible. My time yesterday was 2 hours and 50 seconds!! Ray teases me and says that I technically didn't reach my goal but I say I did. I mean come on, after running for two hours I'm not too concerned about a few seconds!! :) But all in all, it was a fun race and I really want to do another one in the city that I live in next month, the only problem is that I don't have the $40 for the registration fee! So..I don't know what will happen but these are fun races and I'm enjoying the push it gives me to set and meet a goal.

Me and my sweet baby (or not so baby anymore) after the race.

I love how Ray and the kids are so good at supporting me, especially Ray. He's been so good at watching the kids on Saturdays while I do my long runs and then enduring the kids during the races. Couldn't do it without him!

This was about at Mile 9 and I'm the one in the gray jacket coming up by the two people in blue right above the first plant and I was so excited to see Ray and the kids. It was a great boost!

After the last race I was in pretty bad shape: my legs and knees hurt like none other and my stomach got sooo sick too. But after this race I feel so much better. My knees hurt a little but nothing bad, the only problem is this lovely blister, or should I say blister(s)!! I got new shoes a week ago and thought they were broken in enough but no. I had one blister already there from last week but then during this race I accumulated another one under the preexisting one. It hurts like crazy but I had Ray drain it today and it feels much better now.

How low can YOU go?!

Our snowman has(or had) some serious limbo skills! He used to stand so tall and then gradually kept tipping further and further. Ray and I were making bets several days ago on when we thought it would tip over but it just kept tipping more and more until today when I was out taking a pic of it, it finally gave up. I know it's a silly snowman, but we would just laugh about how it was still standing and we couldn't believe it! Here's how the limbo goes:

My boys will miss you snowman, I on the other hand, will not...nothing personal, I just enjoy the sunshine! :)

Trying to Catch Up

Life has just been too crazy to update regularly so here's another condensed version of what's happened lately:

• I successfully ran my first half marathon and it went pretty good. The weather was less than ideal unless you like super cold and rainy conditions! :) My goal was 2 hours and I finished in 2:04, so close! I might have finished with a better time but I missed a turn and got a little lost and so...well...ya know... But I've signed up for another half marathon in St. George on January 22 and hopefully I'll meet my goal this time!
  
  
  
  
  

  Ray and the kids made this cute poster for when I finishing the race. It says: Way to go Supermom!
  



• Christmas was fun and we all got spoiled pretty good. Both Ray and I's parents came to St. George so we stayed busy visiting with everyone. While my parents were here it snowed and so we went out and built a snowman. The boys thought it was pretty fun but I'm sooo ready for the snow to melt, but yet it snowed again last night and it does not make me happy. :( I live in St. George to avoid this kind of weather!

We reenacted the Nativity Story with Ray's side of the family with the kids. It was entertaining and sweet at the same time.

• Chase is still not allowed back into the gym daycare yet. They called and asked if he was doing better with the biting and they would let him come back but he bit me the day before on the neck when we were just playing and he's bit Logan a couple of time since so we have to wait longer. At this point I don't know what to do with him, I'm just trying to survive and hope he grows out of this stage soon! The poor guy also has some sort of illness that he can't get rid of though. He randomly gets hives, rashes and fevers. They only last a couple of days but just goes from one thing to the next. Now we're trying to get rid of a nasty cold that him, Rylee and I all have. The little guy just needs to get feeling better, it's so hard seeing him not feel up to par.




He's too cute!! So why can't he just quit biting? :)





• Logan is growing up before my eyes. He'll walk around the house or do something that I just look at him and go "when did you become a big boy?" I mean seriously, he's not just a little baby that I have to keep and eye on every second of the day. He's also becoming such a good helper around the house.










• And Rylee is doing so much better with the bottles. My milk has decreased rapidly and we only nurse about once a day. She doesn't mind the bottle at all now and is doing good with the baby food too. She's going through a big growth spurt and is eating a ton! She's also outgrowing most of her 9 month clothes and wears mostly 12 months. She is still small for her weight (25%) and height (20%), but she sure doesn't act like it. Rylee also has grown quite the head of hair and is so cute with I do her hair in little piggies!
  

Rylee was super hyper one night when Ray was playing with her. I got a kick out of it!!

In a Nutshell...

So things have been too crazy, but yet at the same time too boring to warrant a post. But in an effort to write something, here it is in a semi-condensed version.

• I've been training for my first half marathon that is on Saturday and I'm super excited!! Hope all goes well and I don't die!
• Been super busy my the new Primary calling
• I've lost all control over my boys, they're literally making me go crazy!
• Chase got kicked out of the gym daycare today for 30 days for biting too many times :(
• Rylee HATES formula...and bottles. This does not work well for a mama whose milk is going away and I've tried multiple remedies to try and get it back. The bottles are a work in progress, some feedings are better than others. I'm still nursing a couple of times a day.
• Logan is getting better with his counting, colors, and saying his alphabet. Grandpa and Grandma Miller are coming to visit for Christmas and promised Logan that if he could sing his ABC's when they got here that Grandpa would take him out for a milkshake, guess that was all the incentive he needed!
• Rylee is speedy little crawler and is pulling herself up to her knees with anything she can find and still just a happy little baby!!
• Ray is super busy...still! He finished his first semester for his Master's Degree and got super good grades. I'm way proud of him!

Well, I think that's it! I'm sure there's more, but my brain just won't process anything else right now, so this will just have to do. :)