Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Marathon Training Update

I thought I would take some time to post about the status of my marathon training as I am nearing the end. I have just under three weeks until race day and only one more long training run this weekend (20 miles). I'm not going to lie, it's hard. Running this many miles is new to me and its definitely catching up to me. Our run this weekend will be over 3 hours long. I am starting to have some IT band issues but am working on keeping my legs strong at the gym, stretching, foam rolling, and even added in some dry needling this week. There is no doubt it my mind that I can do it, but I can definitely see more know what it would be like to hit that wall. I haven't really hit it yet, but I know on race day, I will hit it. Thankfully, I have a running partner and hopefully we can talk each other through those walls. One of the upsides to running this much is all of the food I get to eat! So much food! I am already looking forward to my bagel and coffee after I run Saturday. This whole process has been kind of surreal for me. Sometimes when I am running I still can't believe that I am actually doing this. My parents weren't runners and my sister's weren't interested in running a full marathon with me. Running has never come "easy" to me and especially post-pregnancy so I am really proud of myself for working towards this goal. I am definitely dreaming about how awesome it is going to be to cross that finish line in a couple of weeks!
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Pre 18-miler
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Electrolytes and stretching around 11 miles
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Things got a little ugly at the end but the views were pretty
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Justin and the girls waiting for me to finish
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the girls with me while I stretched
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Ev thought my ice-bath pain was funny. She brought me a Barbie.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Happy Birthday Roi!

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This past weekend our baby beagle Roi turned 6! He's a crazy little beagle but we love him. He is actually pretty calm compared to Minnie but that doesn't say too much. He really is a good dog for the most part. Understandably, he gets less attention now that we have two kids but thankfully he at least has a big yard to play in now. I try to give him some attention and belly rubs because I feel bad about that but then I catch him on top of the kitchen table licking up scraps and I feel less bad. He is a little chunky and mostly lazy but we love our chocolate brownie! Happy Birthday Roi!

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Weekend in Review: Lots of Sports!

Our long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend was great and filled with lots of sports. It started off Saturday morning with an Itty Bitty Golf Tournament put on by Phoenix Parks and the Junior Golf Association of Arizona. Teddy actually got a golf set for Christmas and Ev liked playing with it too so they were pretty excited. It was cute and they tried to teach the kids about the sport of golf but their attention span is still short, haha. It was a bit cold for Cam and Aspen to really enjoy it but we got to take the clubs home so they can play more whenever they want. They also got free snacks afterwards too which was nice because I feel like Everly is ALWAYS hungry now. After the golf tournament I headed out for 2 of my 3 soccer games for the weekend. On Saturday night we went to my sister-in-law's house to watch the Cardinals game. It was a very exciting and eventful game and she made yummy shredded beef so it was a fun night. On Sunday morning I had my last soccer game because we did not move on through the tournament. It was good exercise though and I got Monday off so I wasn't to mad about it. On Sunday night I took my first restorative yoga class and it was really good but intense. You hold the seated poses for 3-5 minutes and I think my body needed that. On Monday morning I slept in a little but still got in a 10k and 45 minutes of lifting at the gym. It was nice to take my time and not have to rush. We also got a lot of cleaning done on Monday which always makes me feel better. I was even able to sneak in a hot yoga class last night. Usually we plan something for the kids on our day off so it was nice to just take that extra day off and do what I wanted to. Looking forward to the short work week.

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Go Cards!
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Of course we saw the Nebraska fans at the Cards game.
 
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Saw a coyote during my run Monday!

Friday, January 15, 2016

Frozen on Ice

For Christmas my mom got the kids tickets to Disney on Ice presents Frozen and the show was last night. We have seen a handful of Disney on Ice shows now and this was even Aspen's second show but we had been waiting for Frozen to come. I thought it was a really good show despite the fact that Aspen didn't want to sit in a seat (two big teeth coming in). The boys both did really good as well which is no surprise because they love Frozen. Also, they were treated with pretzels and popcorn and Teddy got a buzz lightyear which he loved and Aspen wasn't allowed to touch, haha. Everly really enjoyed it too and said Elsa and the snow was her favorite part. I am not used to being out on weeknights so I was super tired by the end of the night but they had fun! Here are a few pictures and a little video of the night.

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Frozen shirts we already had ready for the girls.
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Sometimes they are just the sweetest and this night was it. Both boys were giving me hugs and kisses.
 
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Thursday, January 14, 2016

iphone Repair

Last month while on a hike I dropped my iphone straight down on a rock and cracked the corner of the screen. I did not have a case on it because it fits better in my waist belt without the case but normally I have an OtterBox on it. I was bummed but lucky the crack was only in the corner and when I put my case back on you could barely see it. I knew I would fix it eventually so I could trade it in when I get a new phone next fall but wasn't in a super rush. Then a week or two later, I was tossing Justin's phone onto the table behind our couch and it just slid right off and onto our tile floor. The ENTIRE front shattered. I felt like an idiot and I felt even worse because I had now shattered two iphone screens. I told him I would fix it but then as the weeks passed I was having trouble finding the time to take it and get it done. I have like zero extra time during the week and the last thing I want to do on the weekend is wait around for my phone to get fixed. Luckily, we were recommended to go to Mobile Matrix Repair because the owner used to work with my brother-in-law. I should have gone sooner. Zack was super nice and fast with both phones. No, it is not cheap, but it is cheaper than filing an insurance claim on your phone and definitely cheaper than a new phone. Unfortunately, these parts are expensive, but to help prevent this from happening again, Zack put tempered glass screen protectors on both of our phones so we should be set! Also, he does fix other phone brands and tablets as well if you need to fix one of those and is located in the Fry's parking lot at 59th Avenue and the 101. Here is our before and after:

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Justin's on the left and my little crack on the right.
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New screen and screen protector!

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Aspen's Ear Surgery Update

It has now been 2 weeks since Aspen had her ear surgery. Yesterday she had her follow up visit with the ENT Specialist/surgeon. Justin picked up Aspen and then they picked up Everly and headed to the appointment. The doctor said her infection has cleared up and everything looks good. In these past two weeks she has clearly started hearing better. She is making more sounds and trying to say new words. She will now pretty much try to say anything we ask her to. She always says "kitty" when she sees Oscar and sometimes says "meow" too. She yells mama and papa all the time and loves to make noises when she plays with her cars. Before the surgery, we knew Aspen was more quiet then her sister but now after having it, we know she was not hearing well. Hopefully we caught it soon enough and her speech continues to develop. While surgery is never an easy decision, especially for kids, I am so glad we made the decision to have tubes put in her ears.

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we love our squishy Aspen!

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Weekend in Review

Another busy weekend for us! Of course it started with a run for me early Saturday morning. I was a little worried since I tweaked my knee last weekend but I ran through it and I was really proud of myself for finishing it. We don't have a long run scheduled for this weekend since we have a soccer tournament so I am looking forward to the break (and my knee is too). While I was running my mom and sisters took Everly to the Playoff Fan Central since we have the College Football Championship in AZ tonight. They had gone to the NFL one last year when we had the super bowl and had a lot of fun. I wanted to go too but I am glad they could take Everly since I had to run. After that we met my sister at a birthday party out at Makutus Island. It is a wacky little place but the kids loved it. Everly insited on doing the bungee rope jumping trampoline thing so I let her. She had fun but could use more practice, haha. I could have used a nap after that morning! We stayed at home Saturday night and then slept in Sunday morning! We got some cleaning and shopping done and then I got in another hot yoga class which I am hoping will help me recover faster from my long runs! Hoping this week goes by fast because then I have a 3-day weekend!

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Pre and Post run.


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Making sure we stretch this time!



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Thanks for taking her with you guys!
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Had to bungee jump!
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Sunday Morning Brekkie!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Toddler Talk

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Unrelated photo of Ev with her American Girl doll in matching jammies.
Apparently it has been a year since I posted one of these. You can see old ones here. Everly has been saying funny things for a year, don't worry, I guess I just got occupied with the 2nd child and wasn't documenting them enough. Anyways, there were a couple of funny things she said recently that I made a point to document so enjoy:

-While I was trying on bras at Victoria's Secret last week she commented on the different bras as "gorgeous."

-While in the backseat of my car, she referred to her sister as "mamacita."

-While napping on the top bunk of her bed I woke her up and she said:

E: I was pretending I was at church. (Points to a Stich (Lilo & Stitch) figurine). This is Joseph and I am Mary.

Me: Where is baby Jesus?

E: In my belly.

-While holding my hand and walking in to school Monday morning:

E: This is fun. (Not funny but super cute/sweet).


Monday, January 4, 2016

So this is the New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe New Years. I am not really ready to be back at work with a full week ahead but such is life (thankfully I get MLK day off in 2 weeks). It was fun to have my carpool buddy back with me again this morning. She did pretty good too considered she has been off from preschool for 2 weeks. She was excited to pick out what to put in her lunch so I am like, hey, whatever you want! I think we were in bed by 10:30 on New Years Eve. I'm not even sad about it. I like to sleep. The kids had fun and when I brought Everly into school this morning she was telling her teachers all about  the balloons that my sister had for the kids on our fake "midnight." There is a little video below of the night which included kids games, scrabble for adults, sparkling grape juice, and some little firework snappers. On New Years morning I slept in until 7 AM !!! We took the girls to the zoo in the morning, put away Christmas decorations, and then went bowling at night. I can't believe the holidays are already over! I ate too much but had a lot of fun and hope the girls did too.
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Mae approved of the sparkling grape juice and lots of New Years swag.
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Papa and Aspen and scrabble. I killed it in scrabble but then Alex killed everyone in bowling the next day so its all fair.
 
The NYE video:
 
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sleeping baby fox and the carousel Aspen was not into
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baboon eating a corn on the cob
 
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The mantle has been de-christmasified but I have a new lantern and picture of the girls so I am happy.

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toddler bowling shoes are the cutest!

Weekend in Review

Summer is basically here and we are already in full on pool season. On Friday I had the day off so I spent some time with Aspen and took he...