M-m-m-marathon: week two

I'm loving this goal--it's so nice to have something tangible that I'm working towards every day, something I've wanted to do for a long time. Mostly it makes me feel more excited and ready to have kiddo #3 because I'll be in shape and on the right track to stay in shape. I've been cross-training every other day at home with P90X when David's playing tennis. I forgot how hard P90X is. I hate pull-ups. Other than that, thing are good so far.

So the marathon in Phoenix is in January; my bad. I'd really like to run in December so I'm leaning towards the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll marathon on December 6th. I think my cousin Marlene is already running the half there (Marlene, we need to talk!) and I think it would be pretty interesting to run in Vegas. My mom's only a few hours away so she might be available to come and support as well as one of my best friends, Janelle Willis. (Wanna run with me Janelle?) Yup, feeling pretty good about Vegas. It's closest, soonest, and sounds pretty exciting. I'll be making a final decision soon.

I missed my run this morning because I have an itchy-throat-and-stuffed-up-head thing going on. Should probably get to bed right now, but just wanted to solidify this ambition of mine a little bit more by writing out the when and where. Vegas, here I come.

ashton, fudge, and bon jovi

I love this movie. It is one of my favorites. Not only does it have Ashton Kutcher in it, but his name is Oliver and he sings Bon Jovi's "I'll be there for you" to Amanda Peet. Whenever I've had a long day or David's out of town, I want to curl up with Ben & Jerry's and this movie. I wish I owned it. I usually can't justify the $5 to rent it, so it's a rare treat. Maybe that's what makes it so good. Like Ben & Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie. Ashton Kutcher, Bon Jovi, and fudgy brownie goodness. THAT'S what makes this rockin' world go round.

p.s. I love you too, David.

I have this friend...

So I probably write more public "thank you's" to Camille Garrison than anyone else on my blog. She's taken some amazing pics of my family and we just LOVE her and her husband Ben who was one of David's mission companions in Africa. They are the only couple we do slumber parties with and laugh so hard we can't see straight. This particular thank you is two-fold.

1. Thank you for making my blog beautiful. I've received a few comments already from friends asking me where I got my ideas and new additions for my blog but (it wasn't me!). That was all Camille. Isn't it fun?? I gave her my password and told her to liven it up a bit and she did an amazing job. So, I'm sorry I can't answer your questions about how she did it. You can find her blog here and ask the pro herself.

2. Thank you for being one of my best friends ever. I've only really hung out with Camille a handful of times and yet we email back and forth almost every day and I can tell her anything. So, this is my small Ode to Camille. Thanks for being a phenomenal friend.

P.S. Writing this post has made me think a lot about the good friends I've had in my life. My best friend Heidi who has put up with me since high school and we can always pick up where we left off; my incredible group of girlfriends from BYU whom I look up to in so many ways; Ruth, Ruth, and Ruth--you're the best; my mission companions who know a part of me that no one else understands like they do; the wives of David's mission buddies--I love you all; our friends from Sugar House ward are probably the coolest people I know and the ones we still want to call on a free weekend to hang out; friends from my mission (um, Jackie Larson) who make me want to live in California so bad to be close to them; and the current friends I have around me now in Ogden who make life easier and simply more fun. I'm so grateful for all of you. Really.

drumroll, please.

I am proud to announce that Charlotte slept through the night for the first time in her baby life. She slept from 7:30 pm to 6am.
There is hope.

I commit

I am running a marathon. I set this goal after Charlotte was born and David joined in; we were going to run in the Top of Utah this September which means we had to start training in June. However, our little baby decided that she wanted to continue eating every two or three hours throughout the night which put our marathon WAY out of the picture.

So now, Charlotte is moved into another room and we're teaching her to soothe herself back to sleep. There's still bad nights when she's up every few hours and I want to pull my hair out, but I have confidence that we can get her to sleep through the night. We're going to have to face that unnerving "letting her cry" phase, but we can do it.

I am running a marathon. I'm just going to keep repeating it until it sinks into those crevices of my brain that whisper back, "Yeah, right."

Today was my first day of training. Last week I ran two days, only about a mile and a half or so just to get my body used to it again. I've run throughout middle school, high school, college, mission--up until I had Hazel. But I've always been a jogger. I'm ready to be a RUNNER.

Today was a long day. Last night I went to bed at 11pm and got up with the baby at 12am, 2:30am, and 5am. My alarm went off at 6am to run and I didn't even hear the Mexican Banda thumping through the radio on my nightstand. I didn't hear David get up, and I barely heard Lottie at 7:30am. We had a relatively mellow morning until we went to the library and had to leave early because of a pre-naptime meltdown by Hazel in the restrooms (today was her first full day in big girl princess Belle underwear by the way). The bathroom door was automatic and she wanted to close it herself. Understandable.

Got home, put them down for a nap, worked on my job until they woke up; started on dinner while wrestling with a fussy baby a toddler with paint. Went to young women's at 6:30, came home to nurse and bathe Charlotte at 7:30, went visiting teaching at 8pm, came home, changed and finally...went RUNNING. I ran two miles this time and it was probably the best part of my day because...

I'm running a marathon. In December, probably in Phoenix. I commit to you, I commit to me. Hold me to it, please.

thank goodness for cute photographers in south africa

A HUGE thank you to our dear friend Camille for taking the time to take these pictures of our family before she headed back out to South Africa. Check her out HERE. She's amazing.

A Tea Party

For activity time last week, Hazel and I had a tea party together. One of my good friends (and someone I've worshiped since I was 12), Barbara Barrington Jones, sent me this tea set when Hazel was born. So we pulled it out, filled it with our favorite tea (water), pulled out some crumpets (Ritz crackers) and raisins and had a great time. You can see in the pictures that we dressed up for the occasion with our scarves, hats, and necklaces. I love love love having little girls.

See what I do all day?

I take pictures of my girls...Lottie is pushing herself up on her hands and straightening her arms now. She'll be mobile soon! Then we're really in trouble. Yesterday I came downstairs in a rush to get Hazel to her first dentist appointment and saw that she had "let loose" in her princess panties onto our rug (I am really not a fan of this potty training phase), and then found my make-up case and put mascara on her eyes and eyeshadow all over our couch. Hm. We missed the appointment and they were full until September. ha. That was yesterday and today I was so exhausted that I slept through Lottie's six month check-up. Oops.

This is just such a sad face.

And then Lottie went at it again. You can see how much Hazel likes it.

Love these girls. All day. Who needs to go to the doctor or dentist anyway?

Ah....the pool

(July 25th)
So we discovered at Lake Powell this summer that Hazel has a slight fear of water. Probably normal since we hadn't exposed her to it very much this summer or last. So we decided to take advantage of free Saturdays at the pool here in Ogden. We started going to Lorrin Farr, which is where Sandlot was filmed (go Kate Anderson!), and had a good time. Then one Saturday we headed up to the North Ogden pool which--no offense to Lorrin Farr--is SO much nicer. We had a blast. We got there fifteen minutes after it opened and there was already a huge line. They had waterfalls, frog slides, great kiddie pools and everything was clean. Hazel went underwater for the first time, jumped off the edge of the pool into David's arms, and swam by herself in the shallow part of the kiddie pool where she could still touch the bottom. Lottie did better this time because the water was so warm and passed out by the end. What a great day and a fun memory.

This was Hazel posing for us before we left the house.

And THIS makes me laugh so hard. After lunch, Hazel was dancing to the music they were playing at the pool. She was showing off this move where she stretches her arms out behind her. I thought it was worth sharing.

pioneer days...whoopie!

On the 24th we went to the Ogden Pioneer Days parade. It's been quite a while since I've sat through a parade this big and we loved it! We saw horses, fire engines, great bands, dancers, clowns, and sweet cars. Hazel's favorite part (mine too) was when they threw candy at us. And next to that was seeing about fifty missionaries singing together and handing out pass-along cards. It was so powerful to see them walking together in their white shirts and ties. Happy pioneer days!

The Budweiser Clydesdales

Before the parade I tried to get some shots of the girls together. I love this first shot because this is always what happens when I get the girls together for a picture. Charlotte turns and tries to suck on Hazel's face or pull at her hair.

Little Helper

Hazel decided that she wanted to help me feed Charlotte. She did a pretty good job until (after this video, luckily) she stuck the spoon a little too far into Charlotte's mouth and then we were done. But it was cute and fun while it lasted.

Blue Buddies

(July 13th)
So this is Hazel's favorite cousin, Sam. He and his family just moved to Colorado and she asks about him all the time. This was one of their last times playing together before the move. As Stacy and I were visiting, the kids found our sidewalk chalk and decided to try it out on their entire bodies. Sam, Kate, and James--we miss you!

P.S. On July 30th, a little baby Henry was born into Sam's family--congrats Phipps!

P.P.S. And this is why our little kitty is now named Nacho.