Builder Jen

(Builder Bob sounds so much better than Builder Jen!)

It's Christmas a bit early around here!  I received my first gift from Dad, Thank You!!!  I then spent the rest of the day gluing, hammering and screwing the thing together.  Did all of it by myself, until the very last piece.  It just doesn't fit, so Mark is going to work his handy man magic to fit the top on and then we are good to go. 

BTW - It is far enough off that Mark confirmed it's not anything I did wrong that is making the last piece not fit.  But, it's not so far off that Mark can't fix it and it will be good to go.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have this! 

We will be able to hide the recycling in the tip-out bin, free up space in the pantry with the spice racks on the back side, get the paper towels off the counter, and have another counter top to work on!!!  Plus it's on casters so if I need extra serving space at the table I can move it into the dinning room and use it in there.  Anything that gives us a little more space, but doesn't take up the limited room we have in the kitchen is a great thing!  Thank you again Dad, I love it! 

Oddly enough we also received Dad's big gift yesterday, just after mine arrived.  But, I'm not posting a pic of that!  :) 

TGIF!

Been a week that's all I'm gonna say.  Thankful that Sky now seems to be back to 100% normal, and her happy fun self again. 

Great news...Welcome to the World Harrison!  I just got back from the hospital to visit Jodi, CW, and Harrison!  He is such a handsome little guy!  I didn't take a pic, really I just wanted to enjoy holding a new little baby and catching up with my friend!  Plus, he is their news to share, not mine, so will hold off posting pics for now.  It was a nice quick little visit.  Looking forward to the play-date on Monday and more baby time!

Holy cow I did a strength training workout yesterday...I am SORE!  I have gotten in the habit of running a lot, but not strength training.  Bad idea!  Now I will have to kick my own butt to get back into it, but I'm gonna do it!  Looks like I have a easy run on the schedule today...just to work out some of the soreness from yesterday's workout.  

Big steps were taken around here today...Sky has a new training potty!  She has been telling us when she is stinky, peeing or pooping for a while now.  Sometimes when she is peeing everything stops and she holds herself.  So thought it was time to get the potty and start letting her get used to it.  Not doing anything too serious yet.  Just getting her used to it being in the bathroom and something she can sit on.

 She likes sitting on it while fully clothed at least!  

  ...and climbing on it!  It's actually meant to be used as a step stool as well.  

Sky is really enjoying having Ollie around.  She even likes Ollie's food.  :/  Yesterday she managed to get Ollie to chase her around the living room and was thrilled.  Sky's loves being chased.  

Sky loves giving Ollie her toys to chew on!

She is really into anything that is her size for sitting on.  She will turn anything into a Sky sized chair...even our foam roller.  She backs her little booty up to the roller and plops right down on it.  Half the time she rolls right off backwards, pretty funny! 

Leaning on Daddy...

 ...and wrestling with Daddy.  

Looking forward to the weekend and an early morning scouting run Sunday.  Gotta make sure the route is ready for Wednesday's Stroller run!  

 

Thankful Thursday

There are a few things today...

-I'm thankful for a funny bathroom conversation with this girl! 

Snuggle Bunny Kiera

Kiera was a ballerina bunny for Halloween and  needed help going potty since there were several layers to her costume.  The conversation with this kid was cracking me up!  

Kiera - Jen I know your in there...I need to go potty. You have to help me, I can't do this by myself.  I need to go poop.  You have to help me wipe.  I don't do a good job by myself.  Potty talk is not ok. (as she wags her finger at me) 

Me - What?

Kiera - Ms. Suzie (daycare) says potty talk it not ok.  We can't say pee or poop.  

Me - What do you say when you have to go potty? 

Kiera - I just say it anyway.   Did you know that going poop in the middle of the floor is not ok?

Me - Yes I did know that. 

Kiear - (with a completely baffled look on her face) Really, I thought you didn't know that.  Umm, Mommy wipes me better than that, you better do it again.  

I swear she has never seen me poop in the middle of the floor!  I love the conversations I have with both the Beckham girls, they crack me up! 

-I'm thankful we have a camp trailer with a comfy bed, because I slept in it last night.  I think the snore monster I share a bed with keeps me awake way more than Sky ever has!  I couldn't deal with it last night, so went out to the trailer to sleep.  With the heater on and the sound of the rain I slept better than a baby!  

-I'm really thankful that Dodgeball has been so much fun this season!  We are 7-3 and even when loosing we are still having fun!  Love it!  

-Really thankful to have some spending $ designated for running stuff!  Thank you Dad!  

Here is what I have ordered so far...

E-Tip gloves so I can use my phone and not take my gloves off.  Half the time my phone rings I have missed the call by the time I get my gloves off.  And, I'm required to run with my phone for the stroller group, so these will be great!  

This top...with the cooler, rainy weather another long sleeve running top will be nice to have!  Maybe I won't have to do laundry every day now.  :) 

 

You'll have to click here: Race Bling to see the 13.1 bling I ordered.  While not essential running gear every girl needs a little race distance bling! 

I'm holding on to the rest of the $$ for the Fleet Feet grand opening next week!  The nice thing is none of these are items I would spend my own money on.  I want them, they will get a ton of use, but I tend to be pretty practical and am not spending money that I don't have to.  So this was a fun treat to have a little money to play with!  Thank you Dad!  

No running today...going to do a little yoga, P90X style! 

Frog and Kiwi

Sky and I had a surprise "last play date before new baby is here" play date with Reagan and Jodi this morning!  FYI - If all goes well Harrison should make an appearance tomorrow and Reagan will be a big sister!  Sending all my well wishes for a smooth, fast, pain free (well at least as little pain as possible!), easy delivery to Jodi! 

I had just snagged a coupon offer for 1/2 off visits to the Frog and Kiwi, an indoor playground located next to the library we do story time at, last week and was excited to start using our discounted visits!  It's not a huge space, but great to get out of the rain and there is a big climbing structure on the back wall and a small area for babies (that's what the yellow and orange mats are next to Sky).    

 Sky rummaging through the shopping cart Reagan filled with groceries.  You can see Reagan watching her in the background. 

 

Yummy grapes!!! 

 

Since we were concerned her Wicket costume caused her rash I found these black skeleton PJ's on clearance, and they glow in the dark!  I wanted her to be festive if we went out and about.  Best part is, I can give them to Jodi for Harrison once Sky is done with them!  

 

A few other random Sky pics from Monday, we made a dash to the store even though she was still pretty sick.  I bundled her up with a hood even though it wasn't raining, just to hide the red blotchy rash she still had going on. 

 

 I'd rather play with the bag than the blocks!

 

I see you taking my picture.  That is actually her "I have been up for a while and now need to cuddle and take another nap because I'm sick" look. 

 

She has been into stacking things lately, so it was time for some building blocks.  Nothing like a new toy and being naked to get over being sick!  Only problem is she keeps giving them to Ollie, who promptly chews them to pieces.  Good thing there were on sale!

 

On the running front, I snuck in a quick little run with Ollie last night...3.2 miles in 27:11 minutes...better than 5K PR pace!!!  Ok, only better by 20 ish seconds, but there is an extra .1 mile thrown in there!  That was with practically dragging Ollie along, at one point she sat down and flat our refused to move.  But, I got her going quickly and booked it home.  Still having blister issues, but am choosing to manage it the best I can while running through it.  I can't sit it out forever! 

 



BIG NEWS!!!!

I just signed the agreement about 30 minutes ago to be the Coordinator of the Stroller Running Group at the new Fleet Feet Sports Tacoma location!!!! 

Every Wednesday at 10:00 am Sky and I will be running with other running mommies (or daddies!) in the area, and we will be supported by Fleet Feet Sports!!! 

I am so excited I can hardly stand it!  Every week I will determine routs, coordinate with the store for events and education the group is interested in, make sure everyone makes it back to the store at the end of every run, and hopefully play a part in helping others become strong healthy runners! 

No, I'm not getting paid, it's a volunteer gig, but there are some pretty great perks that while totally unexpected are very much appreciated!

Check out the store site here!

If you are a stroller runner, or know a stroller runner that is interested let me know!!!

Next week is the grand opening week, and the first Wednesday we will be meeting!  There will be swag for group members, bra fitting after the run along with coffee and treats!

-Wednesday 11/7/12
-10:00 am
-Fleet Feet Sports
3812 N 26th St, Tacoma, 98407.

Please join us for the first Stroller Group run...I really don't want to be the only one there!!  :)  

Weekend Update

Was a busy weekend of trying to guess if Sky was still sick, or getting better and feeling well enough to not cancel our plans.  We tried to lay low Saturday so she could rest and be ready for Bob and Michelle's Halloween party.  We were able to go to the party for a couple hours and then came home early to get Sky to bed.

We heard there was a rebel rebellion at the party...

 Mark and I had fun putting together our Planet Endor Rebel Soldier costumes.  Mark did all the work really, painting his pants and our ponchos, guns, belts, his hat.  All I did was help shop the army surplus stores for the ponchos and cut the sleeves off.  And, scour the Star Wars forums for pictures and commentary on replicating the outfits.

Wicket showed up as well...

 She makes a cute Ewok!  

There were some other party peeps as well...

 The gang

Notice that we are on one side of the room and Bob and Tina on the other?  Sky was not ok with either one of them.  She was really concerned with Bob in particular.  She would peek around corners and check to see where he was before deciding where she was going sit down, play etc.  If he looked at her she started crying.  She was a champ though...I was ready for her to lose her mind with all the decorations etc.  But she did pretty good!  

 Sky won best costume!  I think she got the cute vote.  

We went to Nolan and Michelle's to watch the Steelers game.  It was a fun game to watch despite the horrid throwback uniforms!    

 

Bumblebees or jailbirds?

The uniforms did grow on me a bit.  By the end of the game my eyes weren't crossing anymore.  They won in them though, so I'm not complaining.  And, I liked the socks.  

We were even able to sneak away last night for an adult evening of wine tasting and a quick dinner after.  We got a couple of bottles of Fire Breathing Mead.  It's a mix of Honey and Jalapeno wine sounds yummy no?  We were skeptical too, but it is good and it's screams to be pared with a Mexican meal.  Since I love cooking Mexican food we got a couple bottles to enjoy!     

Thank you to Grandpy and Grammy for watching her for us.  She was not in top form as she had a slight temp and a cold related rash from head to toe,and tired from the active weekend.  

She is better this morning, the rash looks like it's on it's way out, but we are laying low today just in case.  Originally we thought the rash was from her Wicket costume as it only showed up where the costume had direct contact with her skin, but as the day went on it got worse and worse and spread over her whole body.  To be safe she won't be putting the Wicket costume back on...glad we got a couple of pics of her at the party! 

The good news is I can still stick her in the jogger and go for a run even when sick.  As long as I bundle her up, give her snacks and toys she is good to go.  It's a nice way to get out of the house without sharing germs with others!  After taking a week off for the blister situation I'm really looking forward to getting a run in!  

Speaking of running...check back tomorrow.  I have some BIG exciting news to share!!!