A Long Way, Baby!!

8 Miles!!!! E-I-G-H-T MILES!!! That's a whole 8 mile long, "long run," completed!! Am I excited? YES! Am I nervous that the half marathon is only a little over two months away? YES....very!

I started the Couch to 5K program this summer and was huffing and puffing just to finish the requirements of the first week. (Yes, I was really that out of shape.)

When I was able to run 30 minutes at the end of the program, I was thrilled!!

Now J and I are training for the Disney Half Marathon during Marathon Weekend in January! I'm having to work a little (maybe a lot...) harder than J is, but hey ya gotta start somewhere!

In true Disney fashion, there are also kids races! So...Kendell will be doing the 100M dash and the Mickey Mile. We're not quite sure if, with all the excitement, she'll run or just stand there and look around! Never know with a two-year-old!
Couch to 5K W1D1 to completing 8 miles Galloway style

With 6 more miles to add to the training (and 5.1 for the race), I've got a lot of running to do!

But, with 8 miles under my belt!?!?

I've come a long way, baby!! :)

Today's Theme: Discovering the Environment

Lesson #1: Liquid does not wait for a diaper. It will appear...even if it's on the carpet.

Lesson #2: It doesn't matter how many times a toddler very nicely walks out on to the patio to look around. When you're not looking, they will no long just stand on the patio.

Lesson #3: When said toddler explores past the patio, dog poo is probably the most interesting thing to look at.

Lesson #4: Said toddler will no doubt want to share their find with the household, and will devise a plan to do so.

Lesson #5: The plan might include grabbing a couple logs for the patio for easy hauling into the house. This is being efficient.

Lesson #6: The mom of said toddler is to chalk it up to environment exploration when she comes out of the bedroom with an outfit to clothe the freshly washed child in, just to see the toddler wiping her hands together after dropping a crumbled log on the living room floor.

Lesson #7: When trying to hurry because your toddler is "suppose" to be on the patio and you don't pay attention to what you're putting on, you might do what I did.....

Discovered that the crotch of my yoga pants had a hole in them after you've already sported them outside! A medium sized hole!! Thankfully, I discovered this prior to going outside the yard!



Here's to not having the crotch of YOUR pants rip out while you're in public!!

Kelli :)

Quick Study

J and I have stayed busy attempting to keep Kendell's curiosity for the Christmas decorations in check. She was very drawn to the Advent Calendar Box in front of the tree (especially after a certain someone {me} showed her that the doors open). After she knew how it worked, it became her mission to get the doors open, pull out a couple drawers, and tap them together. Of course, she knew she wasn't suppose to, so once I noticed and said something, she was quickly trying to shove the draws into their spot (unsuccessfully) or quick shut the doors and move away. Sneaky little thing! Anyway, she finally got the hint that this wasn't appreciated, and stopped.

Apparently, I was looking for something else naughty to teach her, because that's exactly (not purposefully) what I did.
When the gifts from J's parents arrived, one squishy item's wrapping paper had gotten torn. Because of this, we put the gift towards the back of the tree. No problem. Kendell didn't bother it, or any of the other gifts for that matter.

Until....

I decided to take a look at the torn paper gift and jokingly explained to Kendell how to guess your gifts. I showed her how the squishy torn paper gift was soft, we picked up a couple others that were soft, shook others, etc. One box caught my attention and I started using the usual tricks to figure it out (looking between the pieces of wrapping paper where it's taped, shaking, feeling, etc), while Kendell took off to do something else. That something else ended up being that she walked back over to the torn paper gift, and in just a couple well placed teeaaarrrr's, she effectively exploited it's weakness!

Yes, little Miss Kendell tore open a present early, and I'm afraid I'm the one to blame for the deviant behavior!

After she was done checking it out, she brought the torn pieces of wrapping paper over and placed them back on the frog! Too funny!

On a good note - she loved it (a big stuffed frog) and seemed very pleased with her accomplishment.

Pictures...

Look what I found...

Sooo soft. I love it!

How many licks...

It wasn't a Tootsie-Pop, but was Kendell's first sucker nonetheless! The pictures say it all...

Halloween

After a three month blogging break, an update is definitely in order. What better way to get back to blogging than with some pictures of our little diva Trick-or-Treating for the first time?

What have we been up to.....????

Celebrating!

Kendell turned 1 on August 5th! We had a great time getting ready for it. I learned how to decorate a cake with icing, and make (and decorate with) fondant. My skills in that department are still a work in progress, so I use the term "learned" loosely. I love, love, love doing it though, so I'll have to keep practicing! J loves it when I practice, so he's very supportive of my cake decorating ambition. He kept himself very busy as a taste tester.

For her first birthday, Kendell's grandparents came, which was very exciting! It was the first time they have come to visit since we moved to GA last year. She went from a newborn, to a walking (with help from her "princess mobile"), and baby-talking little girl between visits. Thank goodness for Skype, it really helps us all stay in touch!

Then, on September 7th, we celebrated J's 30th birthday! It feels like we just graduated from high school. This makes me think of the line from Strawberry Wine , "I still remember when 30 was old."!!

Remembering
October 8th marked the one year anniversary since Dad passed away. This year has been so busy that it absolutely does not seem like he's been gone that long. We got a Vonage number a few years ago when Dad went into the nursing home, as it enabled us to have an Ankeny number (local to him), so that he could call. It took me until this spring to actually cancel it, even though we didn't even use the service after moving in November. Canceling that number meant cutting off the link of communication that we previously had, and really forcing myself to accept he was gone. I suppose it's a step towards healing.

Here are a couple pictures of some fun times!

Dad's last time traveling to FL in Aug. 2005. We were eating at Destin's Hard Rock.
This is my absolutely favorite picture taken the last time we were all together at Christmas (December 2006). I wish my Grandma Miller would have been there, too! I love that it has the whole family...dogs included, and that my Grandma Lichtenstein is there.

Jobs

My sole employer is still Kendell. She's a great boss! She is pretty fair on hours, and agreeable most of the time. Plus, this CEO is A-DOR-A-BLE! :)

J is liking his job and is getting acclimated to being a Army RN. From airborne infantryman to nurse...who would have guessed? The good thing is that he loves it, and just got a fantastic review! Way to go, J!

Trick-or-Treat

We took Kendell out for her first Trick-or-Treat experience. Well, first "official" Trick-or-Treat, anyway (last year she dressed up and went to the neighbors'). After a few houses, she was really getting the hang of things. Kendell started taking a piece of candy from the bowl, putting it in her bag, and reaching in for another piece! Yes, you read that correctly, my one year old is just as greedy with the candy as the older kids! With a quick reminder that it was time to say thank you and wave "bye-bye," she was okay with not grabbing another treat.

We had so much fun taking her around! We couldn't be more proud of our "Oatmeal Bear!"

Last year...

This year....

If you've read all of this...whew!! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Picture Game

YEA!! I get to play my first "blog" game!! :D Thanks, Missy!

Here are the rules:

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer.

2. Open the 4th picture and post it on your blog.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag people to do the same

Here's the fourth picture in the fourth folder.....

This picture is Kendell and me at the pool this summer. She likes it, J likes it (sometimes), and I like it; It's a great activity we can all do together!

Kelli

Splashing and such....

Anyone who knows me is probably aware of my love of swimming; Rain (sans thunder/lightening) or shine, it's a pool day in my book! I have been anxiously awaiting this swim season so that I could start working with Little Miss Kendell probably since before she was born!

We take Kendell to the pool a few times per week (usually), but I still wanted to have a little pool here for her to splash around in. So...what's the right baby pool for our Little Miss Kendell??? Don't ask me, we haven't found it yet.

Baby pool #1: The Lady Bug Sandbox/Pool combo thingy mabob. I figured she could use it during the summer to swim in, and then in the fall as a sandbox. So, before it was even warm enough to swim outside, I ordered this fabulous, cutely molded piece of plastic. Great part???? Kendell splashed in the kitchen while the weather was still too cool, and again outside once it was warm enough. Not so great???? When it's hot outside, that cute little lady bug isn't big enough for a baby and an adult. So what does one do with the plastic lady bug??? Good question. The lady bug is waiting to become a sandbox, and we went looking for a different baby pool.

Baby pool #2: One of those flimsy larger round pools. I can't find an exact picture online at the moment, but here is a fancier version of something similar. Great part???? It's big enough for a baby and two adults (yes, that's right, now J is part of the baby pool equation)! The bad part??? This is GA, and we're in a housing development that apparently doesn't believe in level lots. That being said, this pool became a mess. It took lots of water to fill it, lots of time to heat up, and had to be dumped out every day. So what does one do with the flimsy larger round pool??? We're keeping it. Kendell liked this pool and could enjoy it as a toddler if we move to a more level lot.

Baby pool #3: Small inflatable baby pool with inflatable toys. (here is a larger but similar idea). We went back to a small pool because of the non-level lot issue. Great part???? We thought Kendell might enjoy this pool more than using the lady bug because it had a little ring toss thing and starfish with bells. Fun, right???? Also since it's inflatable, it could be used on the cement. The bad part???? Kendell promptly crawled right out of this pool. It probably took J longer to blow this pool up than the length of time she played in it. So what does one do with THIS pool?? We took it back. After all, it's a baby pool, and my baby couldn't care less about it.

Has anyone else found the "perfect" baby pool?