Our Christmas Tree 2014

Thanksgiving 2014- Breckenridge

For Thanksgiving this year we packed up our bags and headed to the mountains with my family.  It was Lucas's first long road trip, and overall, he did great!  We had a great time skiing-- it was the PERFECT weather, and a great time with family.  I savor these family trips and the extra special holiday time in the beautiful mountains.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Lucas is ONE!

Lucas

12 months

written Sunday, December 28th. 

Happy Birthday, Lucas! This has been the craziest and most fun month.  Between our trip to Breckenridge for Thanksgiving, your first birthday, and a slew of Christmas celebrations, we have had LOTS of fun.

I never realize how much you have changed in one short month until reading through these posts.  Granted, it has been closer to a month and a half between this and your last post.  You are listening so carefully to every word your dad and I say.  You smack your lips when asked if you're "hungry", or want "breakfast", "lunch", or "dinner".  You wiggle around when we ask if you're "all done" and flail your arms about when we say "go crazy!". You point to everything, usually say "BAH!", but I'm starting to notice differences.  When asked to get a book you go to your book basket saying, "Buh" and will pick out one of your favorites and bring it for us to read.  You LOVE all things ball, "BAH", especially all the "bah's" on the Christmas tree! You are also getting quite good at identifying your head, ears, nose, belly and toes.  Playing peek-a-boo and clapping are also fun games, especially in the car.

Another huge milestone met this month, you're walking! December 10th you came home and were taking steps across the kitchen. You had taken steps here and there before, but on this day you were confidently WALKING.  You haven't stopped since, and are practically running across the room at this point.  

Weight: 24 lbs (67%tile)

Length: 31 inches (75%tile)

Diaper Size: 4's, but considering switching to 5's very soon.

Clothes Size: 12-18 and some 18-24 month.

Hair Color: Looking more blonde, less strawberry.

Eye color: Blue, although sometimes your eyes look very green.

Health: A little cold, but nothing terrible, thankfully! You also seem to be teething like mad, but I haven't seen any new teeth poke through in a while.  You're still rocking 4 total at this point.

Eating: This month we've transitioned to all solid food, i.e. no purees.  For the most part, you'll eat just about anything, however you definitely love sugar.  After your birthday cake you refused pretty much all dinners for a few days.  Luckily, you're past that now!  We started supplementing formula at the beginning of December-- about  6-9 ounces each day.  After your birthday, you've easily transitioned to whole milk.  We're now slowly transitioning away from the bottle completely.  It all happens so fast!! You still nurse once each day at the very first feeding of the day.

Milestones:

Walking 12-10-14
Whole milk bottles 12-15-14

Your favorite toy:

The "Bat-mobile" ride-on

Shape sorter

Balls

Books

School Picture

Firsts:

Road trip
Steps
Birthday
Cake
Whole Milk
Christmas

Love, M

Reflecting on Running.

Although I haven't had much time to blog about life lately, I decided I needed to at least do one post on my thoughts on running as of late. It is strange, in a way, how running has evolved for me.  Running has been my everything from a demise, an escape, an obsession, a chore to a feat.  As it turns out, each of these feelings has much more to do with ME than has to do with RUNNING.  This "sport" is all mental.

In general, I wouldn't consider myself especially competitive.  I don't race to win, and I don't feel bad about it. That being said, I am a goal-setter, and I like to follow through.  Each race, each run even, has a different story, a different purpose, a different goal.  

From the beginning of the year, my goal has been to finish a half-marathon in the fall.  I didn't start back into running consistently until nearly July, when my schedule was more free and I felt "ready".  It took me about a week to run a mile without walking, and about 2 weeks to finish 2 miles without walking.  SLOW miles.  But, it felt good.  In a way, I enjoyed starting back at nearly zero... it meant I had somewhere to go, and that is much less boring than status quo.  I maintained a 2-3 mile walk/run until early September when I decided to get serious.  

I signed up for a half on Nov. 9th.  That meant three months to go from 3 miles to 13 miles, all while working full time and spending time with my husband and baby.  I decided that my schedule could only really allow for 3 runs a week, so I made that work.  That meant 2 "short" runs during the week, and one long run on Saturday.  I absolutely could not have committed to this without the support of my husband.  Fast forward about one week, and our entire family got sick... for nearly 3 weeks.  GAH! I continued to run here and there, but was not making much progress.  October came and I kicked it up. 

I've learned that I HATE maintenance runs during the week.  Those runs are chores.  Short, fast, and definitely not cathartic. However, I have also learned that I LOVE a long run on Saturday.  I would look forward to those early mornings watching the sun come up, spending an hour in the fresh air, with nothing hanging over my head for the day.  It is the best way to start a weekend!

Fast forward, November 9th, race day!  Long story short: I did it! My goal for the day was not to walk, and to finish between 2:15 and 2:20.  Official time for me: 2:19:30!  It was a good run... not one I'm looking forward to doing again anytime soon, but I did feel ready, and I survived a fairly nasty hill.  

Justin ran, too! Stud...

So where to go from here? I'm not quite sure. I'd like to keep up my longer Saturday runs, and probably run here and there during the week, when I have time.  I don't want to lose my momentum, but I am also looking forward to some more free time.  Running 10 miles takes a long time!!  I'm thinking a short hiatus is in my future, but I hope to do another race late spring. It's all about balance right? :)

To any one of you 3 people reading this, if you are considering a race, do it!  There is really nothing quite like accomplishing a goal you've worked hard to earn.  

Lucas :: 11 Months

Lucas

11 months

written Friday, November 14th. 

One month and you'll be a whole year old.  Being your mom is just THE best.  I went in your room this morning to get you up (6:15am) and you were just standing and talking to yourself, happy as could be.  I can not help but smile when I am with you!  As I reached down to lift you out of your crib, you cooed and threw yourself back down on the mattress, rollled over and grinned at me.  I just LOVE you so stinkin much, my man.  

Your mind is growing and I love watching you learn new things.  You can touch your head when we ask you to, clap your hands when we say "yay!" or "clap!", you will point to you ball and say "ba!!", because it is one of your favorite toys. Mimicking our voices is fun for you, too.  You can smack your lips, click your tongue, blow "bubbles" (aka, fart noises), mama, dada, baba (top fave), jaja, nana... We are starting to see your naughty side, as you try to touch the curtains while eating in your high chair, and I can see in your eyes that you know that's a no-no.  Recognizing words like "cheerios", "bath", "bye-bye", and others astonish me each day. 

My favorite, favorite of all this month is your love for the book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear".  If I ask you if you want to read a book, you will search the room for a book, then bring it to me, sit on my lap, and wait for the story.  If you have choices, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" is always top of the list.  Your dad and I read this book to you multiple time a day, each time stopping on the goldfish as you pucker your lips like a fishy.  Heart. Explodes. GAH!

Weight: Not sure.

Length: 

Diaper Size: 4's, but considering switching to 5's very soon.

Clothes Size:  Definitely 12-18 month clothes now.  It's officially chilly so we've broken out the warm weather clothes. Hats are just the CUTEST.

Hair Color: Looking more blonde, less strawberry.

Eye color: Blue.

Health: Other than a bout with pink-eye and a few bumps and bruises, all is well!

Eating: Your love for all food is still running strong.  Cheese is a new added favorite, and it seems you can't get enough.  You much prefer solid food to breast milk, but you are still getting a few bottles a day and will have about 1 good nursing each day, too.

Milestones:

First word-- BA! (Ball)

Your favorite toy:

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear"

"The Littlest Puppy"

Stacking Cups (and you stack them now!)

Anything that you can push across the floor :)

Firsts:

Blowing kisses!

Fat lip :( (You had a tumble when walking with your wagon)

This year has been my favorite of all.  You're just the best, Lucas.

Love, M

GIVEAWAY!!

Yep, you read that right.

Okay, loyal readers, I've got something awesome for you today!  One of my friends, Amanda, is a stylist with Stella & Dot. To help get her business going, she has graciously offered to host a giveaway for a pair of FREE Stella and Dot earrings here on my blog. Also, another lucky winner will get a FREE catered Trunk Show.

I recently picked up these Adelaide Hoops and have been wearing them non-stop.  They are light weight and great quality.  I'm also loving all of the engraveable pieces they have available right now-- love the personalizing!

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is LIKE Amanda's Facebook page HERE.  The winner will be announced on her Facebook page Friday night!

Good luck, ladies! :)

-M