Another minute...GONE

I walked/ran this morning. I've decided I will call it walk/run until I am actually running more than I'm walking, then I'm just gonna call it a run. I was SO sleepy and really not wanting to go-more than normal even! I had stayed up way too late playing with my brother's website for Chamber Ministries and was wide awake when I tried to go to bed...so I read my book for an hour (I have my book club meeting this Saturday night, so I gotta get it read!) and finally fell asleep around midnight...so when the alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, I was less than excited to go out in the heat...but I did, and I'm glad I did. I'm always glad when I'm done :)

I increased my running time today to running 4 minutes walking 4 minutes. It went surprisingly well. I even did one 5 minute stretch (but to be honest, I did a 5 minute stretch to make sure I was going to be walking up the giant hill...the day I can run while pushing the stroller up that hill will be the day that I know I have arrived...) The only moderately annoying part was that Eli fell asleep...he couldn't even be enticed by Cheerios, so we'll see if he takes a nap this morning. He slept for about 20 minutes, so a morning nap is not looking good.

When I finish my run it literally takes me an hour to stop sweating (gross..honestly, I stink today) so I gave Eli breakfast and a bath, and I am about to go jump in the shower while he watches his video-Baby Beethoven of course!

Okay, that's all. No big plans today-we might go grocery shopping if I get really ambitious. Oh, and Jenny...Chicken Pot Pie is on the menu for this upcoming week! :) Maybe I'll finally post the recipe and take some pictures :)

Have a fabulous day.

HA! I forgot to say that I cut another minute off my time...hence the title of my blog post :)

I wanna be I wanna be...like Kaz!

I know, I know...two posts in one day, but I couldn't resist putting these pictures up :) My friend Bri has a super cute kid named Kaz, and she always used to spike up his hair (as seen here). SO, tonight after dinner and a bath, I spiked Eli's hair as best I could (Randee! He needs a hair cut!) and took some pictures. Okay, honestly...as soon as he sees the flash light come on (ya know...the red light that come on right before the picture is taken) he poses...or makes a face. It's hilarious. I tried to pick my favorite, but I couldn't...so enjoy our little photo 'shoot'.

I'm suckin' it in!

*sigh* I love that kid!

Goodnight!

Playin' with Dominoes

I know ya'll have been missin' me. It's been like 3 days since I last posted... :) I've been trying to get some stuff up for the last day, but I have been busy.

Yesterday Ben & Carly came over while Ryan worked, and Jennifer recovered from working :) (she works nights :) ) We had big plans to go to the park and I would run/walk while Ben & Carly rode their scooters. Well, unfortunately, the sidewalks leading to the park are rather rough, so Ben managed to fall pretty hard on the way there...so we went back home.

When we got there we all had bagels (that makes everything better) and Ben fell asleep on the couch while Carly and I played with Dominoes.

This is what Carly said was 'Queen Carly'. I have no idea...

Ben woke up and started his own Dominoes project. He was getting pretty frustrated, because he kept knocking them down accidently.

And what, you may ask, was Eli doing through all of this? Why, playing with the Dominoes container, of course!

Below are a bunch of videos we took. The first two were ones I did. I tried and tried to spell out Carly's name, but, like Ben, kept knocking them over. I don't have the patience Ben has, because I gave up...The videos are really short-like 2 seconds...so enjoy :)

BEN

ELI

This was Carly's. Hilarious.

Okay...these last two are my favorite. The first one is the begining of Ben's, then I caught the rest of it in the second video.

...it gets better...

I was laughing pretty hard by the end. Apparently we all have some work to do on our Domino creating techniques...

We had a fun afternoon of dominoes, making chicken noodle soup (Carly helped me make the 'made from scratch' noodles....YUM!) coloring, and watching some TV.

Ryan got back around 4:30, and offered to wait while I got the rental car. It worked out great, because I ended up running to the rental place-which, come to find out, was only 1 mile away. I didn't realize it was quite that close. I was a little disapointed that morning when I didn't get my walk/run in (can't wait until I can just write RUN instead of walk/run) so this worked out perfect. I ran .92 miles (wish I would have realized I was that close to a mile). I could have run the whole way there (2 more blocks) but I didn't want to be gasping for air when I got there.

I picked up my very red rental car and headed home. The car is okay. When I got in the seat was adjusted so low that I could barely see over the wheel. I was a little concerned...then Edgar informed me you can adjust that :) Now I can see perfectly.

I got home and ATE the soup we made (SO good!) and we played with Eli. After he went to bed I headed to the copy place and made 1400 copies. Literally. I had a bunch of stuff (0bviously) to copy for my classes that I teach. The stupid part of it all, was that I needed it all 3-hole punched...and...well...I was too scared to ask them for pre-3-hole punched paper...which they have...at no additional cost. They were really busy, and I didn't want to be a bother...so when I got home, I sat on the floor with my brand new 3-hole punch and punched paper for the rest of the evening. Fun times.

Today has been busy-I had my classes this morning, which makes the day so much busier it seems, but I think I'm done with all the 'busyness' of the day, and can just hang out with Eli (once he wakes up) and eat leftover chicken noodle soup for dinner.

And that is the end of my crazy long post. Hope your day is swell.

Just a quick running update!

This isn't going to be all that interesting of a post :) Just keeping y'all updated on my ever so slow running progress. I walked/ran my normal route and cut another minute off my time-so I'm now at 47 minutes 38 seconds for 3.4 miles. I walked 5 minutes, ran 3, walked 5, ran 3, etc., like yesterday. Today I really tried to focus on keeping my pace up while I walked, and I did pretty good. I only slowed down once, when I ran into a teacher I used to teach with 5 years ago. We walked and talked for about 5 minutes, so that little 5 minute stretch was a bit slower, but oh well.

My goals for next week:

Monday: Increase my running time to 4 minutes with 5 minute walk breaks...and not crazy slow walk breaks :) Ben and Carly will be with me on Monday, so hopefully they can 'scooter' with me :)

Tuesday: Off...I'm teaching :)

Wednesday: Run 4 minutes, walk 4 minutes

Thursday: Off (teaching again)

Friday: Run 4, walk 3

Saturday: Run 5, walk 3...we'll see :) My main goal for Saturday is to run 5 minute stretches...the walking might be longer than 3 minutes :)

This is all on using my 3.42 mile route.

Okay, so now you know :) Hopefully all will go well! I'm pretty proud of my very slow progress...every morning I wake up looking for an excuse not to go...and every morning I actually go. Registering for that race has been my motivation :) Well...and the fact that I've now not been pregnant longer than I have been pregnant, and still can't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes :( Pretty tired of the 5 outfits that fit me...

Eating, Playing, Running

Yesterday I had to teach...and since I'm without a car, Jennifer came to my house to watch Eli so I could use her car. I'm sure my students were thrilled that they didn't get the day off because of my accident :) Carly came over with Jennifer and helped her watch Eli. Carly got to give him breakfast, got him dressed, and changed his diaper. Nice work!

Eli looks thrilled...nothin' like some multi-grain cereal to help your day start out right :)

Yesterday afternoon Eli was playing with his blocks and being SO cute! He played with them for about a half an hour...and I took a zillion pictures :)

The blue and the red one have bells inside (the yellow one has a mirror...hence the very focused look in the picture above this one...) so he was shaking them to hear it. He was so fun to watch. (Side note...notice the disaster he is sitting in. That's pretty much what the living room looks like until about 5:00...right before Edgar gets home. Shhhhh! Don't tell!)

I've been playing around with Photoshop, trying to learn new stuff...these next pictures are a coupe of edits I've done in the last couple of days. I have loads to learn, but I am getting better at it!Which on is bigger? :)

Those crazy eyes....

'I can hear the ocean!'

In other un-photographed news, I ran/walked today. I haven't had the chance to go since Monday because of my classes, and...well...a car accident (though I will admit, I wasn't planning on going on Wednesday anyway...I'm gonna use the car accident excuse as much as I can for as long as I can, though...). We went our usual route, and got home a minute and a half faster, so that's good. I walked for 10 minutes, and then ran 3/walked 5 the rest of the time. You would think with running for longer (3 min. instead of 2) I would have gotten home faster, but I'm pretty sure at the end I was walking faster than I was running...oh well. Tomorrow Edgar is coming with us, and he always makes me work harder :)

It's been a fairly eventful morning...not even noon yet, and I have edited photos, gone for a walk, given Eli breakfast and a bath, took a shower, put Eli to bed (and rescued his leg from the side bars...first time he's gotten stuck, and BOY was he mad!) read my Bible (Thought it was funny how 'The Lord APPOINTED a great fish to swallow Jonah...(Jonah 1:17) Not just a random swallowing...I don't know why that struck me this morning...) and updated my blog. Now if the next 10 hours of my day goes that well, I'll be thrilled :)

A New 'First' for Eli...

Well, today Eli had the unfortunate experience of being in his first car accident :( He wasn't alone in the car, of course :) I was driving with Eli, Ben & Carly and we were heading for the park for a fun day of playing in water and swinging. We were coming from Einsteins (more pictures from that later in the post...), buckled in nice and tight, when a giant Ford SUV ran a stop sign. I saw it coming, and tried to stop, but I couldn't. Fortunately no one was hurt...at all. Not even Carly, who was sitting closest to the impact-though her cute pink outfit is probably ruined from some chocolate milk...It all happened so fast! I'm sure anyone that's been in an accident knows that weird, time slowing down feeling. The 'bracing yourself for impact' feeling. The 'oh my word! I hope no one gets hurt' feeling...As soon as it was over, I turned around and just started yelling 'Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay?' Okay...so the yelling probably didn't help...but I can't do anything about all that adrenaline running through me :) Carly said she was okay, so I jumped out and ran around to the back to check on Eli. He was crying, but seemed to be okay, so I went ahead and pulled him out of his car seat. He was crying, but didn't really cry very long. I called Edgar (my hands were shaking so bad!) and just said 'We got in an accident. We're fine. Can you come NOW?' He, of course, came right away. I really couldn't believe how fast he got there...I have yet to ask him how fast he went. Don't want to know...Ryan was also nearby at a teacher in service, so he came and got the kids. The paramedics came and checked everybody out, and they said everyone looked fine. We didn't go to the hospital or anything, so all in all, we are VERY thankful.

This is our car... I can't help but think that if we were a couple of feet farther ahead, that SUV would have hit right on Carly's door, and this would be a very different blog post...Amazingly enough, with 4 people in the car, we got hit where no one was sitting...

One of the things that was so neat to me was how perfect strangers came to help. I'm pretty sure when someone sees an accident and three kids pile out of the car that causes them to volunteer help more readily, but there were so many people around. I don't even know who drove my car out of the street onto the grass. I was holding Eli and couldn't do it. There was quite the crowd around Carly, checking to make sure she was okay. One lady ran across the street just to get Carly a cup of water. Ben was pretty cute...I heard him say 'Thank you for thinking about getting some water for my sister'. It was so sweet. I don't know if the lady heard him, but I did :) It's good to know that there are people out there that want to help, and really want nothing in return.

Edgar got there and so did Ryan. Edgar cleaned out the car (completely. Seriously...I thought he was going to get the spare tire, just to be thorough. There wasn't a thing left in the car. I love my husband :) ) As you can see, everyone is fine. We headed home, and Edgar spent the rest of the afternoon dealing with the insurance. Now the real fun begins, right?! We'll find out in a couple of days if the damage was enough to total the car or not. We might be car shopping this weekend...we'll see.

Eli is COMPLETELY fine, and has been laughing and talking all afternoon. I think he's been enjoying the extra attention he's gotten-daddy's been home...on a Wednesday!

We're so thankful for God's protection. I know that sounds cliche, or incredibly obvious, but it's so true. The fact that we all walked away and are FINE is amazing. I've been thinking today a lot about how we don't deserve all the good that God keeps giving us...yet he showers His love on us daily. On days like today I really remember that...I need to remember that every day...

----------------

We did have some fun today before all of this :)

We went to Einstein's and got brunch. This was our attempt to get a 'cousin' picture...notice Carly's hands, trying to turn Eli's head :) Silly cousin, don't you know that if there are puffs on the table Eli will only pay attention to THAT?
We went to the Einstein's I used to work at-which definitely has its perks. Yve, a friend of mine that still works there, kept bringing us free stuff. Below, Eli is holding a container of 'Bagel Bites', which are like donut holes...only bagels. Yve brought us 2 containers...which we ate in addition to our bagel and smear.

This is Yve. She's such a sweet person! I love getting a chance to go see her.

----------
One last thing, then I'm done...well, I think I'm done :) Yesterday Abuela got to watch Eli for the first time :) I started teaching my classes yesterday, and mom had the day off, so she came over and watched him. She took him for a walk, gave him breakfast, gave him a bath, played with him, and put him down for a nap. I think I need her to come over every day... :) Eli didn't cry at all while I was gone-he was completely entertained by his Abuela!

She did snag my camera and took some cute pictures and videos of him. The picture below made me laugh :)

Okay...this is the end of my crazy long post. I think I'm going to head to bed early tonight...I'm starting to get pretty stiff...tomorrow should be fun. If only insurance covered a massage...

Yup, I walked today...

...and I can't believe I did. I was looking for every excuse possible when I woke up, but I couldn't find one...BUT, I did it :) In fact, I did more than just walk-I started the long road towards running. I started off by walking for 10 minutes, then I ran for 2, walked for 4, ran for 1, walked for 6 (hey...there was a BIG hill) ran for 2, walked for 4 ran for 2, walked for 5, ran for 2, then walked the rest of the way home. Okay...at least I think that's what I did :) All in all I did my 3.42 mile route and it took me 50 min. 42 sec.-almost 10 minutes less than last time doing the same route. I was pretty pleased, and very hot and sweaty when it was done. Eli did pretty good-he fell asleep for the last 10 minutes, but seemed to enjoy the fresh air. I am really looking forward to going to Michigan in a couple of weeks so I can run in the cool air up there!

-------------------

In other news...have you brushed your teeth today? Well...I hope so :) Eli has been 'brushing' his teeth for about a month now...and he LOVES it!

I brush his 6 little teeth for him, and then let him play with his brush while I brush mine.

He does pretty good!

He does get mad when I take it away, though. Must get that from his oral hygiene lovin' dad...

Eli has also attached himself to his bottle of lotion. He gets so squirmy while I change his diaper, that I started handing him his lotion to distract him...well...he loves his bottle of lotion, and tends to keep it with him after diaper changing is done :) He cries when it's taken away too :)

We're trying a new schedule today. I'm still trying to figure out how to best work this new 'nursing 3 times a day' schedule. SO, today we cut out the morning nap...he did pretty good, but didn't make it to 2:00 when his normal afternoon nap is. We ate lunch at 11:30 and then he nursed at 12:45. He fell asleep while nursing, and is out now. Hopefully he will take a nice long nap this afternoon. We'll see how it goes with him not nursing again until 7:30...we may or may not make it :)

I have a bunch of stuff to do because tomorrow is my first day back to teaching. Fortunately my mother-in-law is coming with me tomorrow to watch Eli then we are going to go look at some houses. I can't believe it is time for school to start...

Alright...I have stuff to do!!