One heck of a weekend- Part 2- Run for the Hills

A part of Aaron's job is appearing at races and sporting events to represent SWSI- luckily, that means we get to enter races for free and hear about the fun events in the city. Run for the Hills was the race we did this morning and we all got to do our own race! It was in the foothills of Albuquerque. It was a gorgeous day and we all survived feeling good, even after the long day at the lake!

Love our little running family today!

7:30 am at the beginning of my 10K start.

Here is the route- the red line is my 10K, the green is Aaron's 5k, and the yellow is Jaylen's 1K.

Jaylen loves police cars!

Jaylen was loving this ambulance!

Me running in to the end of my 10k.

Running into the finish- my favorite!

Aaron before his 5k in the hills.

Jaylen walking down a trail- this is what the race course was like most of the time-

Jaylen had a blast playing in a new playground.

LOVED this:

Jaylen did the Kid's 1k. We had no idea how this would go, but Jaylen did AWESOME! He was so excited when everyone took off running and ran the entire time!

He was confused what was going on at first, but once he looked around at everyone running he was off FAST!

I ran to keep up with him for awhile, but after a bit, he told me to "stand right there and watch!" He didn't want us anywhere near him, he wanted to "do it my myself!" We were impressed he did!


He kept saying, "I'm running! I'm running!"

Running into the finish:

He got a cute little ribbon for finishing that he was soo excited about! He got his own little cup and got a drink of water after finishing. He told the lady helping with the water, "I want to do that AGAIN!" We were all laughing. He didn't want to go home, he wanted to race all over again. I am super excited about this. In no time, we'll all be doing the same race together!

We drove right by the temple to get to the race, so on the way home we stopped by to show it to Jaylen. It was cute. He loved the fountains and walking all the way around. He said, "Jesus lives in here!"

What a fun day as a family!

One heck of a weekend- Part 1- The Lake

We had soooooo much fun at Elephant Butte lake on Saturday for Steve's birthday (51). It was awesome, like it always is. We've been totally spoiled this summer by these guys- 4 times down to the lake in 2 months. It has really wrapped up and ended the summer nicely (although I think we may have awhile longer of summer here- it's HOT still!). They always have the yummiest treats and food. Jaylen loves digging in the sand and swimming. We always love getting scared to death on the tube, water skiing, jetskiing and grilling hamburgers is the best!

Here's some fun pictures from the day:

These jet skis are SOOOO dang fun.

Steve, Alex (Steve's friend's daughter), and Kevin (works for Steve)

Steve, Alex, and Kevin

Steve and Ellie- how cute are they?!

Our campout

Me waterskiing

Aaron giving water skiing a shot.

It was an awesome day!

HUGE SCARE

I hesitate to tag this under "silly stories" but I hope it will be someday, instead of the horrible, scary incident it is to us now.

SO, we went to a ward party Friday night at the church. It was alot of fun. We were playing volleyball, shooting hoops, eating ice cream, and talking with friends. Jaylen was running around on the stage with all his little friends and was loving it. I was talking to some friends and was keeping a mental note on Jaylen, when I realized I hadn't seen him run around with the friends he was with. I set off to find him. I stopped briefly to talk to a new couple in our ward who lives in our complex. I excused myself to make sure I knew where he was, then said I'd be back. I went to the back of the stage where all the kids were running around, and didn't see him. His friends said they didn't see him. That's when the panic set in.

Unfortunately, I'd got caught up watching some terrible show on kidnapping earlier on Friday, so my brain was in worst case scenario mode. I started searching for Jaylen down the halls and in all the rooms. Couldn't find him anywhere. I went into the gym where Aaron was playing, to look again and tell Aaron. Aaron immediately ran outside to look around the building and out by the busy street. We searched everywhere and there was no sign of him. WE WERE FREAKING OUT. When do we call police? How do we find him, when we've searched everywhere?

I finally went back inside and ran into a lady, who I told that we were looking for Jaylen and couldn't find him anywhere. Immediately she yelled out to the party that Jaylen was missing and needed found. Everyone immediately scattered around the building, outside, ran along the street and searched for Jaylen. It was awful. I can't even begin to tell you the terrible feeling of not knowing and wondering whats happened with your son. He could be anywhere with anyone. Yikes- NOT GOOD. After 30 minutes, someone yelled out for me that they found him. I ran back into the church to hear he was in the women's bathroom. I bee lined for the bathroom where Jaylen was crying with his pants off.

Jaylen has been being REALLY funny about his potty habits the last 2 days, sneaking a poop outside, sneaking into the back bathroom to take a potty, and being really shy about it. Its been frustrating. I left him with his diaper off earlier on Friday, and kept asking him if needed to potty and he said no. Right after I asked him once, he pooped on the floor. I was NOT happy, so I put him in timeout, talked to him about being a big boy and using the toilet and he apologized and said he would.

So apparently, he had gone into the women's bathroom, took off his diaper, and was sitting in the dark on the toilet taking a poop. A lady went in to nurse in the mother's room that is attached, and said it was dark in the bathroom and he didn't make a noise while she sat there nursing. Minutes later, she said she heard him ask, "Mommy?!" So, we found him, and he was still in the building, safe, and actually doing something I'd asked him to do.

We didn't know what to do. We wanted to strangle and put him in timeout for the rest of his life, yet was pleased he thought to sit on the potty and take his first poop in a public toilet. We gave him hugs and kisses and talked to him about us needing to know where he was, especially if he needed to do something on his own.

The more I thought about it, I was just disappointed about the trust I have in him. He would totally be the kid to wonder out a door by himself and wonder across the street with cars whizzing by. The kid is curious, independent, and just brainless sometimes it seems. He does what he wants, when he wants, and doesn't seem to really realize what he's doing sometimes. He is getting more cautious about certain things, but he's definitely in the "I DO IT!" stage and I still don't trust him to be out of my eye sight at all (unless we're in a secure, walled, gated environment). Ugh. Maybe someday. This has always been a struggle with him. He's so dang curious and just untrustworthy with his common sense sometimes- and wonders off like nobodies business.

So that's it. Our first missing child experience (hopefully our last!), and it was NO fun. Jaylen had the whole ward searching for him, while he sat on the potty taking a poop. Priceless. Thanks Jaylen for the amazing amounts of patience you stretch us too!

Super Silly

Jaylen is soooo FUNNY! He's definitely getting into his independent 3s stage, but what comes out of his mouth is so random and funny sometimes. Here's some stories:

Jaylen said to Aaron as he was kissing him before bed, "Daddy, you're awesome!"

I told Jaylen after work one day that we were going to pick up Daddy to go to lunch. When we got to Aaron's office, Jaylen was SO upset. I asked, "Jaylen. What is the matter?!" He said, "I want to EAT Daddy's lunch!!!" SILLY KID! He was all smiles when Aaron came out, but man it was funny. When we dropped Aaron back off from lunch, Jaylen giggled and said, "Ohhh, I love Daddy.... sooo much!" It was adorable.

We have this bed time thing going where we set up a blanket over 2 stools, get on all fours, and act like trains running around the room saying, "Chugg-a-Chugg-a-Chooo-Chooooo!" Jaylen LOVES IT. Then we play duck, duck goose (which Jaylen is hilarious at), say bedtime prayers, and end with singing songs or some books. Jaylen dies laughing at Baker's man still. Aaron got Jaylen laughing so hard tonight, he dropped to his knees and rolled on his side. We love that he gets jokes and stuff now. He's so fun to crack up.

We told him awhile ago that Mommy can't hold him all the time because her belly is too "ouchie." (He's a mommy's boy big time, so this hasn't been easy). Jaylen was getting upset at Aaron holding him the other night, and said, "Mommy doesn't have an OUCHIE belly ANYMORE!" Poor kido.

It was raining like crazy today and we ran in with Jaylen. He was giggling like crazy saying, "Ohhh, its so sprinkly! Ohhh, its so slippery (slipper-lee)!" He loves it.

I was carrying in a box of groceries so Jaylen was meandering along the grass on the walk from the car to home. After I put the box down in the house, I looked outside to see what he was doing. I saw him through some trees, with his pants around his ankles and his diaper off. Never a good thing. So I went out to find a pile of poop on the bush (and everywhere else- GROSS!). Kid has been so stubborn about going in the potty lately, but I think it's time I pushed him a little bit more. The expression on his face was priceless!

Current obsessions: trash trucks, trains, and police cars/ambulances/fire trucks right now.

When did Jaylen get so big?

September 2010

December 2008

Wow, he's growing like a weed!

Play date with Julie and Tess!

Friday my good friend, Evelyn, came over for some ice cream making/play date/plan a friend's baby shower. Our kids had a blast. They helped make the ice cream, played at the playground, then got crazy dirty and muddy in the rocks and trees.

That led to this:

Aren't they such a cute group?

Lesson learned: if you put enough bubbles in, there are no questions asked pertaining to anatomy.

We couldn't find the girls panties anywhere, so while we looked for them, they all enjoyed naked ice cream. They were so silly and fun!

I love having good friends with such cute kids to play with Jaylen. Jaylen's getting a lot better at interacting and playing with friends- these 3 are such a fun combination!

Country boy Jaylen

Wow, what a nice weekend. Steve told me last week that they wanted to take Jaylen overnight so they could take him to the New Mexico state fair. Jaylen loves being with Steve and Ellie, so we were happy he'd have the chance to go with them and have fun. That meant Aaron and I had 27 hours of just US! Got some temple time in, used a gift card to a nice restaurant, played games, and went to bed relaxing!

We sure missed this little face though..

When they dropped him off, he was wearing Wranglers, a PBR shirt and some leather cowboy boots. It was cute (I thought, not Aaron :) and he looked so much older in his cowboy gear. Don't worry, he's drinking a root beer. :) He was saying, "Ohhh, its sooo carbonated!" after taking a drink. He's so silly and we're amazed what he says now days!

He was a little shy about getting his picture taken when he first came in..

He had a good time. He's been talking about trains, animals, cotton candy and lemonade he had at the fair. We all had fun- Thanks Steve and Ellie- You're the best!

Cooking, Running, and feeling human again

WOW! It feels great to feel human again. That was a brutal 14 weeks. I've never been so tired, nauseated, light-headed, and so sick feeling. But, for the past 2 weeks I've been feeling MUCH better. In fact, I actually am back to cooking (see Family Recipe blog- allithinkaboutisfood.blogspot.com) and my newest thing is finding recipes for green chile.


Last weekend was awesomely fantastic. We went out to Elephant Butte lake for another awesome day on Steve and Ellie's new BIG boat and jet skis. It was exciting. I haven't been that sore for a LONG time- not sure if it was the water skiing or flipping 3 times in the air off the tube a few times. We had a blast. I think we're going next weekend for Steve's 51st birthday.

Sunday I was officially adopted in as a New Mexican. Ellie and I roasted, peeled, and bagged 60 lbs of green chiles. It smelled soooooooooooooooooo good and now I have a freezer packed with Big Jim green chile. I've already had Chile Rellano casserole, a tomato/green chile sandwich, and contemplating green chile mashed potatoes (I've heard its really good!). People are nuts over green chile here. By the way, I'm totally conflicted if it's chile, or chili? Hmmm. I'm posting my green chile recipes on the family recipe blog.

Now that I'm finally somewhat "back to normal," I've been really enjoying running again. Oh, I hated not feeling up to running the past 3 months. Nothing gives you the same feeling as running, and oh I missed it. Aaron signed us up for a race next weekend called "Run for the Hills" and I'm doing the 10k, Aaron's doing the 5k, and Jaylen's doing the 1k. Yes, Jaylen's doing a race. It'll be so adorable and cute. He keeps asking me to practice running with him and asks to go "run for the hills" all the time. We'll see if he actually pulls it off. I have no doubt energy wise he can do it, its all about staying on 1 path for that long. Its all in the foot hills, which will be intense, but I'm excited to have something to train for again. I hope to keep running as far as I can- I feel so much better if I keep active!

Besides that, time seems to be going much more fast with the pregnancy. I'm definitely showing a little more, but still in an awkward stage. I'm guessing in the next few weeks I'll switch to some maternity clothes. For some crazy reason, I'm thinking it's a girl. Maybe I'm thinking worse case scenario- hehe- I'm kind of kidding. I think a girl would be definitely fun and different in our family and I'd love to see Aaron and Jaylen with a girl, but woooo. I know what I was like as a teenager, and I'm not excited to deal with that. Anyways, come October we'll find out.

Until then, I need to catch up on much neglected things from the past 3 months!

Easy?!?!

I was totally caught off guard yesterday when one of the ladies that works in child care at the Del Norte gym asked me when I picked up Jaylen, if Jaylen was always an easy baby.

"HUH?! My son?! Jaylen?!"

But then I thought about it, and wow, he is definitely nothing of a challenge like he used to be. He really is such a GOOD boy now days. Since he's been able to talk more, he is super polite, says thank you to all the ladies in childcare before he leaves, gives hugs and kisses all the time, no more biting, says sorry, and admits when he does something wrong. He still is curious and wonders around, but listens MUCH better and knows better (most the time!). He's usually really good at laying down for bed, sleeps through the night, watches cartoons and SITS STILL (WOW!), doesn't try to get into EVERYTHING. He's totally into books, so he easily entertains himself by reading and looking at his books in his chair.

I'm really pleased with our little boy. I must admit, I was awfully worried about our future with this little boy when he came into our lives. I wondered if we'd ever be able to "contain the beast" but 2 years and so later, I'm much more optimistic. Obviously, or I don't think having a #2 would ever have happened. I tell you what, those first 2 years were exhausting, worrying, and just plain depressing. I'm sure most of it wasn't anything of Jaylen's doing- I just didn't handle having a new born, so many changes with and without dealing with Jaylen, and having my life turned upside down. I cried all the time when he was a newborn, missing myself and trying to figure out what my future had in store.

Life is so different now. I couldn't imagine life without our sweet boy. He has brought so much into our lives, and has deepened Aaron and I's relationship. I feel bad for my bad experience when Jaylen was a baby, and am optimistic about how I will handle this new baby coming into our family. Seeing and being a part of Jaylen's life has made me so excited about seeing another sweet baby come into our family. It is such a relief to feel like I genuinely enjoy being a mom.

I feel very thankful for the situation we have, were I can be with Jaylen the majority of the day. Parenting is so much consistency, constant shaping, plenty of loves and hugs, and who can really provide a constant flow of that like a mom (or dad)? I love my relationship with my boy and I'm glad I can spend plenty of time reading, hugging, kissing, playing, and listening to him throughout the day. I feel like this has really helped Jaylen become the "easier" boy he is today- maybe we are doing something right?!

Anyways, I had this on my mind from preparing to teach a lesson on families to my Laurels on Sunday. Which speaking of, how ironic is it that the week that it worked out to tell the girls about me being pregnant is the week the lesson is on the Power of Procreation? A little awkward?

Labor Day weekend

We had a fun weekend. We had a fun morning at the zoo- rode on the trains, feed the giant goldfish and ducks, played in the playzone, and saw animals (totally a side note to Jaylen). We decided to take Jaylen to Chuck-E-Cheeses. I've never been there and neither has he, so we thought it'd be fun to do as a family! Here's some pictures from Saturday:

Jaylen is in this crazy, obsessed stage over trains right now. We were above the train, looking at the monkeys, when all the sudden we heard the train bell. Jaylen yelled, "ON NOOO!" and took off running like a bat out of hell. It was hilarious. We couldn't even catch him- I've never seen him run so fast. We couldn't stop laughing about it- we did catch the train and he was the happiest little boy sitting on it all the way around the zoo.



Oh how I love these eyes! The 1 thing I really wanted Jaylen to get was Aaron's deep brown eyes, he got them! LOVE THEM!

Gosh, I remember pictures of him on this lizard over a year ago. He has grown so much!

Jaylen would hardly sit still to eat at Chuck-E-Cheeses. He was hilarious. He tried out most the games and was all over the place. It was definitely fun!

We also went to dinner at Steve and Ellie's on Monday. She made the best fajitas ever! Wow, I'm still drooling over them. We also got a peek of their awesome 12 seater boat we're playing on this weekend. We can't wait! Jaylen loves running around with their 5 dogs and 2 cats, and explores outside all over. It was a fun time with good friends.

Jaylen is just so funny right now. I really LOVE the 2s. I can't get enough of my little boy. He's getting his own little sense of humor and gets things. Its really fun.

Our first hint of this was when Aaron came into the kitchen, where Jaylen was eating a bowl of frozen berries (which he's been crazy about recently), and Aaron said, "Jaylen, you're like our little bear, eating all your berries." Jaylen busted up laughing. Its amazing to see him laugh and get jokes and such. He'll say, "Ohhh, that's soooo funny!" and bust up laughing. Its really cute.

Jaylen is such a sweet little guy too. I came out from getting ready, and when Jaylen saw me he said, "Oh mommy! You're sooo pretty!" It was so sweet.

I know there is another story I've been meaning to write, that I'll jump back on and put here when I remember.

This is Jaylen during his nap yesterday. He played and played and played. I finally went in and sat on the rocker and he held still for 2 seconds to drift off to sleep for his nap. What a cute snuggle bug!

2 little monkeys....

Here we go again!

We had our first ultrasound on Monday morning and was excited to see baby moving, heart beating, and everything was healthy (that they could tell!). Baby was really active moving around and had a very fast heart beat. I had blood work done to check for any possible abnormalities, and got a call yesterday saying my blood work was great and was not at risk. I was happy. The ultrasound put me a few days earlier of my due date, but I'm sticking to March 9th.

After hearing the heartbeat at my checkup last Friday, and my ultrasound on Monday we finally let the cat out of the bag to coworkers, clients and friends. My growing belly is beginning to show more and more too. I'm 14 weeks along and hoping to feel better soon. Its been a rough 3 months. No throwing up, but constantly feeling tired and feel like my stomach is in hungry pain knots ALL the time. It seems to be much worse than the go around with Jaylen. Luckily, I haven't missed any work and been well enough to continue on with all the things I need to do, and plan on continuing to do so until I pop. I'm starting to feel A LOT better, and am planning to do another triathlon before the end of the season is over. Its nice to feel somewhat human, instead of a weird science experiment, again. Next ultrasound is in October to find out what we're having!

Jaylen's been super cute about the baby. I don't know exactly what he understands, but he loves to kiss and hug my belly button, calling it baby. Through the ultrasound, he'd say, "Ohhh, such a cute baby!!" It was really sweet. Lately, when we ask him what he wants, he says a baby sister. Honestly, we both want a boy- we know boys and the emotional side of girls is just plain scary. BUT, Aaron would be super cute with a girl and we do have a girl name ready to go. We'll be happy either way. Jaylen will be an awesome big brother. He's such a loving, cute, snugly little boy. He'll be adorable with a baby!