Monday, November 30, 2009

I Can Take this off my To-do List

The Christmas Tree is UP! And I'm ready to hang your family Christmas card here.
Our Tree
Trey watched Cheyenne, while I decorated the tree.
The Tree is Up
So, far Cheyenne isn't too interested in the tree. We were home most of the day and she didn't even go near it.
Decorating the Tree

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Growing Growing Growing

In case you don't know why we're in the closet, Cheyenne is pointing to the chart.
Growth Chart
Saturday, Trey went on a 10 mile bike ride with Adam. I was very impressed.
Trey before his 10m bike ride
Friday, when they went out, Trey discovered it was difficult to ride the mountain bike on the paved trail, so he bought a kit to convert his mountain bike to a street bike. The wheels look a little funny, but he says it's much better.
Trey before his 10m bike ride
He biked from the house to the trail and then turned around and biked back home. He knows, when we're in town, if I'm not running the lake, I'm running the trail, so he asked me if I ever run that far. I said, "Yeah!" and he said, "You're crazy!"

This is right on the trail. Trey took it while he took a moment to catch his breath.
Trail Riding

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Running Lakeside

Distance: Over six miles
Temp: 53 degrees
6 Mile Run
This morning, I took it nice and easy. I didn't worry too much about time and distance. I ran to the lake and back and made it home before Cheyenne woke up.

I thought I'd share this image. This is in the laundry room, it's a collection of my race bibs.
My Collection of Race Bibs

Friday, November 27, 2009

Black Friday with Experienced Shoppers

This morning my alarm went off at 4 am and by 4:30 Lacy and her mom came by the house and pick me up, for some black Friday shopping. It wasn't too hard getting out of bed that early. I had my coffee ready to go, so that gave me lots of motivation to get out of bed.

Lacy and her mom did most of the shopping. I purchased a few items, but nothing to brag about. It was nice going with experienced black Friday shoppers. Last night, they went to Wal-Mart and scoped it out---making sure they knew where everything was located. I'm telling you, they had their stuff together. Before we hit up Wal-Mart we talked about our game plan. I was in charge of the basket. Considering the crowds and the hype, all the shoppers, I came across were extremely polite. Once we finished shopping, sometime around 11 am I meet up with Trey and Cheyenne back at Lacy's house and from there we went back home and I napped with Cheyenne on the sofa, while Adam and Trey went for a bike ride.

After my nap, I found time to pull out some of the Christmas decorations. Now, I need to put up the tree. I hope Cheyenne doesn't pick at it.

For the random photo of the day, here is my clean fridge. I finally made time to clean it out. It looks so nice and organized.
Fridge Cleaning

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving & Turkey Trotting

Our Thanksgiving morning started early with the 10K Turkey Trot. IMG_0035
What a huge turn-out. I think a lot of runners over dressed. It was only 50 degrees, perfect running weather.
Runners Waiting @ The Start LineI heard there were over 12,000 runners. I decided to run with Cheyenne so we waited until most of the single runners ran ahead. When it was finally our turn to start, it was so hard to weave past the slow runners, with the baby jogger. Any chance I got I weaved through, but believe me there were also a lot of runners whizzing past me too. The course went through residential neighborhoods, so I saw a lot of families gathered out in their driveways and porches waving and cheering us on. Even the streets smelt like Thanksgiving! It was truly a unique experience. Originally, I was concerned about running with Cheyenne. I didn't know how she would do on a long run, but to my surprise she napped for the majority of it.
Dom and Chey
Here are the race results
Distance: 6.2 miles
Chip Time: 1:01:15
Average Pace Per Mile: 9:52
In my age group I placed 52 out of 94
Not everyone who ran the race paid for the chip timing, but I always like to have the chip if it's available--so the age group results is only relevant to those who paid extra.
About to cross the finish line
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While I was running Trey was walking around and signed us up to win this truck. I like the idea of winning a free vehicle.
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All bundled up in the jogger
Cheyenne
Trey and Chey
Trey and Chey
After the race I tried to get as much free stuff as I could, but by the time I made it over to the tents, people were taking down tables and boxing up everything. I did manage to grab these three items. I say free, but really I paid for them with my registration cost. Talk about expensive race snacks.
Free Running Snacks
After running, we headed back to the house, cleaned up and headed over to Lacy's and Adam's house. Here's a shot of their family. Today, I'm thankful for friends!
Thanksgiving 2009
Trey and Chey ready to dig into some food
Thanksgiving 2009
Here are the deserts I made
Peppermint Chocolate Jello Pudding Pie
This cheesecake is a little pathetic. It's called supreme cheesecake, but for today I called it earthquake cheesecake, either way it tasted great and it was made from scratch with a lot of love.
Supreme Cheesecake AKA Supreme Earthquake

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

These are the chocolate pieces I'm putting on my pie. Okay, we're on
our way to the race.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

New & Old Traditions

We will be spending Thanksgiving in Ft. Worth with friends, since Trey is on call and our family is staying in Abilene. Trey and I thought it might be depressing, spending the day alone, but fortunately we have great friends who will have us over tomorrow for lunch. And as we are getting older and we have our own little family, it has me thinking about our new family traditions. Tomorrow morning, I will run a 10K Turkey Trot. I would love to do that every year and the good thing about that is Abilene also has a Turkey Trot every year. Last year's Thanksgiving we spent in NICU, so this Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for.

Today, I'm thankful for holiday traditions. Here are a few traditions I've started in the last four years:
I've made a cheese cake and a peppermint jello pudding pie. Tomorrow, that is the only thing I'm taking over to Adam and Lacey's house.

So, tomorrow I will be running a 10K race, then we'll meet up with friends at their place for a traditional Thansgiving lunch, then we'll watch the Cowboys Win the football game...and maybe I can persuade Trey to start putting up the Christmas lights.

Earlier today, when Trey got off of work, we went to the park and played. Again Cheyenne had a blast.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Twelve Months and Two Days

I have a little one crawling around and soon she’ll be walking. I can’t help, but reflect on the past twelve months. She is changing from a little baby and growing to be a little person.

I’m pleased that Chey made it a full year on breastmilk. YAY! We had a rocky start, but I was committed to it and I’m sure Trey is very pleased that I stuck with it too. Especially, since he didn’t have to clean bottles and he didn’t really lose much sleep, since I had to do all the feedings. It’s funny to hear him chat with first time fathers. He always encourages them to encourage their wife to go with nursing and then he’ll list all the benefits. It’s really funny. He’s thanked me multiple times for sticking with breastfeeding and it makes me feel appreciated. So, husbands out there let your wife know you appreciate what they are doing for your baby because there were days I wanted to throw in the towel.

As much as I thought nursing a baby (at least in the beginning)... was painful, inconvenient, time-consuming, a chore, and even complicated ---all that freezing and thawing and heating and special equipment and pumps and tubes, etc----all that changed as time went by. I also learned a new language in the process. Let down reflex, colostrum, engorgement, mastitis, and thrush just to name a few.

I told myself, try to make it until Cheyenne is three months, now try to make it to six months, and now we are at twelve months and I'm ready to wean her. I've been working on it for two weeks, but we are about to go into the holidays and she will be with me more often. I just need to stand my ground and continue to offer her whole milk during the daytime and gradually wean her. I'll do mornings and nights and before you know it, she won't even notice, at least that's what I'm hoping. I read Baby Steps, it's a blog that Lisa Jhung writes. She is a contributor to Runners World. She wrote an entry titled When to Wean. She talks about weaning her 10 month baby and I can completely relate to that entry as a working-running-nursing-mother. Here is the link if you'd like to read the entry.

Today, I'm thankful that I was able to breastfeed Chey for the first year of her life. Yay for milk! Soon, I will no longer be a walking milk factory.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Play Time @ The Park

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First thing this morning, I took Cheyenne to the doctors office for her 12 month check-up. She got so many shots today. Nothing says happy birthday like a needle. She cried and cried and it took me a few minutes to calm her down. This is the worst I've ever seen her, but my goodness she got so many vaccines. While I was there, her doctor asked me if I wanted to give her the H1N1 vaccine. I said absolutely and then he said the nurse could also give me the adult shot---if I wanted. So, I hope it makes Cheyenne feel better, knowing that mommy also got a shot.

The main thing I talked to the doctor about was her dental hygiene. I need to find her a dentist, if you have any recommendations let me know.

Later in the day, I took Cheyenne to the park. We never go to the park and I'm not sure why. I think we need to go more often because she loved the swing and slide. Trey will go with us next time. I was showing him the pictures and he seemed disappointed that he missed out on all the fun. I'm not going to lie, it was fun!

Today, I'm thankful for the beautiful weather!
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Swinging

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I didn't pick her up fast enough, so she started to climb her way to the top of the slide.
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Today was my first day to really introduce sign language to Chey. The first sign I'm teaching her is MORE. I want to teach her things that will make life easier for both of us. So, when she's in her high chair she can sign MORE when she's ready for another bite, instead of whining. It's only been a day, but she seems to be picking it up fast. The next sign I'm hoping to teach her is MILK.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Happy Birthday Cheyenne!

Today, we celebrated Cheyenne's birthday---Dallas Cowboys Style. In between cake time and presents we watched the football game. Some of our family from Abilene came and friends from church helped us celebrate. Thank you to everyone, it really meant a lot to us. You've helped us tremendously in the past 12 months.
Say a Wish
The icing fell off the cake....Really.
The icing just feel off the cake. Really.
CAKE
Happy Birthday
Friends & Family
The birthday song
I was very surprised Cheyenne didn't jump into her cake. When we put it in front of her she didn't know what to do with it.
What is this?
Trey even tried feeding her some.
Ahhhhh
He thought it would be cute to smear the icing on her face and then he tried offering her more.
Daddy Helps make a Mess
I thought everyone loves cake.
It's hard being a baby
She was so tired, today. It's hard work being the birthday girl.
Family Photo
After cake time, it was time for presents. I opened her gifts and as you can see, I'm very excited and she is busy playing with the tissue paper. So, typical.
Christmas Clothes
And again....She was very distracted with something.
Blender
Okay, Trey wanted me to include this. He went out of his way to find this Washington Redskins sticker, so he could stick it to the toilet bowl. So, every time someone used the toilet they would be pissing or pooping on the Redskins. Hilarious, I know. After about four flushes the sticker had enough and the toilet ate it up. I guess even toilets---hate the Redskins, which I find very amusing. Today's game wasn't pretty, but I'm glad the Cowboys won. They had to, it's Cheyenne's birthday.
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Today, I'm thankful for the past twelve months. Motherhood is an amazing journey. Some days it's hard, some days it's fun, but everyday it's rewarding.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Soggy 8 Mile Run

Distance: 8.29 Miles
Total Time: 1:25:41
Average Pace Per Mile: 10:20
Temp: 55 degrees (Wet, drizzling rain)
8 Mile Run
I should know better, but for some reason, I over dressed. Since it's been raining and we've started using our heater this week, I thought it was much colder outside. But it was only 55 degrees this morning and I ran out of the house dressed for 39 degree weather. As I ran, I started shedding the layers. The thick headband/ear covers were the first to go. The run this morning seemed hard. I'm thinking I may need to change something up. Maybe next week, I'll run the lake. This morning I headed out a little later than normal and I saw more runners on the trail. I was surprised considering the nasty-gloomy weather. I had to run about a mile in the grass, before I reached the paved trail, so my socks got soaked.
8 Mile Run
Well, I think we're all ready for Cheyenne birthday tomorrow. Can you believe it? A year has flown by! I want to savor and cherish these years. A part of me is sad that Cheyenne is getting older, but at the same time I'm so excited to see her grow and learn new things everyday. No matter how older she is, she'll always be my baby. I love her dearly.
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Today, I'm thankful for Trey doing ALL the laundry. I'm a busy momma and that's one less thing I have to do.

Friday, November 20, 2009

What Cheyenne Does--When She Doesn't Have Toys



Here is another video of Cheyenne. This was over at my mom's. Amy let Chey play with her cell phone and Hillario called it, so the ringer would play.


Today, I'm thankful for this nice cool weather. It makes me want to put on my PJs and cuddle up on the sofa. Tonight, is pizza and a movie, so I think I will do that. Tonight, we're watching Pineapple Express. I hope it's good.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Good Hair Days

Today, I'm thankful for good hair days. It's been over a month (maybe two) and I've been wearing my hair natural. Multiple co-workers have asked me if I've permed my hair. I tell them no, I just finally learned how to style it....It took me long enough!

As silly as it sounds, it's one of the best lifestyle changes I've made. Now that I'm not blow drying it to death, I save so much time. I'll shower at night, put a little bit of mousse, a pinch of hairsray and twist a few stands with my fingers and then put my head on the pillow and in the morning my hair is DONE. My mom says my hair didn't use to be this curly (and I agree) and she thinks that maybe it has something to do with my hormones, specifically after giving birth to Cheyenne. Maybe my hormones shifted, which in turn effected my hair. Whatever it is, I'm thankful that I finally know what to do with it and that it's not one wavy mess, it actually has some curl to it. Good hair days make me very happy.

Some Things Never Get Old

Cheyenne likes it when I run around and act like an Indian. Actually, I think I had more fun than she did.


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Brushing Teeth

Last week, Cheyenne was doing some serious teething, but this week has been much better. She's actually sleeping through the night again. Here are some images of Cheyenne brushing her gums. Well, we were brushing them, but it's all the same.
Brushing Teeth
Okay, she has at least five teeth and one more making it's way through.
This was right before bedtime, so she looks a little out of it.
Brushing Teeth
Bubble gum flavored toothpaste, yummy.
Brushing Teeth
Brushing Teeth
Cheyenne is about to be one and we've already started the discipline phase. It's not easy. The first time Trey corrected her, in his stern fatherly voice, she started sobbing. It broke my heart and it made me tear up---and then she kept acting up and I got over it. We mainly have to correct her or discipline her during dinner time. Sometimes, she likes to throw her food on the floor and it can get messy. We're working with her and it's getting better.

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Today, I'm thankful for my church family. Everyone at church has blessed our family. Thank you for your generosity, love and support.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Counting My Blessings

Today, I'm thankful for my job. I enjoy doing video and photography work and feel blessed, the job I have allows me to be creative. I also enjoy working around nurses and students. Oh, and I love the free medical advice.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Little Curlies

Thanks to my mom and Grandma, I think Cheyenne might be blessed with some curls. I can only hope they stay, as her hair grows.
Little Curls
I finally, upgraded her sippy cups. She was using the soft Nuby kind, ever since she learned to drink from a cup. She's had so many leaks, I knew it was time to upgrade to the hard tops. This cup looks mamoth compared to her, but she seems to know what to do with it and so far no leaks.
Big Girl Sippy Cup
And I think she likes it too.
Satisfied
We are really having a good day.
Pretty Girl I got up early and got a head start on everything. While Cheyenne was still sleeping, I made my gronala bars for the week and by 10 am we were out the door running errands. I've been reading her the same books for months and I thought she might like to have some new books read to her, so we went to the library. I found six books and two of them are about baby sign language. Erin and Leah's babies are doing a little bit of signing and I think it's a good idea if Cheyenne could learn some too. We'll give it a try, but I won't spend too much time, if Cheyenne isn't into it.

Today, I'm thankful for Monday's. It's one day of the week, I feel like a stay at home Mom. It's just enough for me to get some quality time with Chey and then by the end of the day, I'm ready to go into working Mommy mode--the best of both worlds.