An Afternoon at the Park!

This little cutie came to visit me for a few hours on Wednesday! She mostly just sat their and chewed on silverware from Rachel's play kitchen.

This little nut runs to the corner behind Daddy's dresser anytime she is being called and doesn't come and Mom is coming to get her.
Matt went to do a few things after work yesterday and the day was so nice that we just had to get out. Not to mention, we had been hanging around the house the entire day and I just really didn't have anything to do. So, we walked over to Sadie park. I am really grateful to live within walking distance from a park. Otherwise I probably wouldn't go as much. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of kids there from afterschool programs, but they were really nice to her. The boys were kind of annoying.

She is a little timid around lots of other new kids and she was just trying to figure out if she wanted to go up there around the other kids. She did because she loves going down the slides!
Swings are still fun, but she doesn't want to stay in them as long as she used to.





She must have gone down the slides about 20 times. No slide to big for this little daredevil.
She realized that she can get really dirty and dig her hands and feet into sand. Kids will be kids!
I let her have a snack at the table because she high chair tray was still dirty. She seemed very proud of herself being up at the big people table.


Some new words this week are okay, side (I think she uses it more for inside than outside), pee-pee and poo-poo. Last night after her bath, I let her run around in her diaper. She kept touching her diaper and saying "ewww." I ignored her and she then proceeded to take her diaper off. I decided to sit her on the potty and told her to go pee-pee and she did. She loves getting to tear toilet paper off and wiping. I was so proud of her. She went again a little later, but I initiated it. She is very interested in going potty, so I might start potty training soon. Don't worry, I do not expect much nor do I think she is capable of holding her pee super long, especially at night. This girl loves to drink though, so hopefully getting her to pee won't be too hard.

I am feeling much much better than last week and am starting my running routine again on Monday. Two weeks off makes it really hard to get my butt back in the gym. I am giving my midterms in school and I cannot believe we are around the halfway mark. I am really looking forward to winter break though because teaching three classes on top of everything else I am doing is kind of kicking my butt.

Matt and I went to the post office today to get our passports applications processed. Yea and it was as painful as I had been anticipating. I hope to go out of the country next year, but probably just on a cruise. We will see. That is it for now.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Actually...the proof is in the yogurt. She is not ready for silverware. I don't know who thinks 18 month old kids are ready to be using a spoon. Maybe she is weird (probably), but she would still prefer to use her fingers to eat yogurt.





We had some nice cooler weather in Florida (at least in the morning), so we broke out some pants and long sleeves. It seems to have passed, but was really nice while it lasted.








I don't know how she got herself into this little corner or how she planned to get out. I just thought it was really funny. She entertained herself with diapers. I had to help her out.

I have been battling some kind of stomach bug for almost a week now. It has been very weird and I am feeling pretty good today, so hopefully it is almost over. We went to a wedding last night and had a nice time getting out. I should not have eaten the food with my sensitive stomach, but I was hungry. I paid for that mistake an hour later in a really bad way. This illness has really hampered my ability to run, so I have been taking it easy and not running my miles. I will get back on it next week. Rachel has her own form of tummy troubles with runny poo. Otherwise, she is acting just fine and thankfully no puking with her. She is starting to repeat more words like "okay" and other words we use a lot, especially NO. She eagerly awaits the "choo-choo" and gets excited when she looks out the window and sees it coming. She is getting better about saying "ewww" when she is about to or has already pooped. I have thought about borrowing a potty chair in the near future. Matt is doing good and has been busy with some side work. He has managed to stay healthy!

This picture is of Matt and I right before the wedding last night! You will rarely find us dressed up. We have another wedding on the 23rd for our good friends DJ and Beth! Matt is the best man, so he will really be dressed up. We are so excited for them!

18 months in a few days!

This girl will turn 18 months old on October 6th and I just can't believe it. Although she does act like an 18 month old (fits, climbing, saying no...) I still love her and think she is a good little girl!

She has really figured out to get rocking on this horse and loves it!

She has also really started liking her flip-flops even though she hardly ever gets to wear them. She still takes off her shoes and the flip-flops are just a little more unstable than the rest. She loves to chew on them though and they actually have some teeth marks.


I was wearing my glasses one morning and she wanted to try them on too. I let her and she actually smiled for a picture!
We are working a little more with her feeding herself with a spoon. We did yogurt today and she did well, but still makes a huge mess. We saw an allergist this past week because her pediatrician thinks she is on antibiotics too much. So, we are trying to figure out if Daddy passed on his allergies to her or what. He said she has large tonsils, but they are not inflamed or infected. So, he is thinking she might also have large adenoids. We are trying to keep those from getting inflamed by using a nose spray for 6 weeks. She is also supposed to get some blood drawn to check her immune system and for some common allergies. We will know more in about 6 weeks. However, she is not sick at the moment! We have been busy with Hannah and Kate this week (helping out Lauren when we can) and I have been busy with running.

Katie and I decided that we had so much fun last weekend at our 5K that we wanted to run the Disney Princess half marathon in February. So, we started our training schedule this week (week 1 out of 22). We also thought it would be fun to make a little mini vacation out of it and use our timeshare to hang out in Orlando for a few days before the race and a day or two after. It is on a Sunday morning. Anyways, we ran 3 miles 3 times this week and then today, we ran 4 miles. I did it in 41 minutes! It felt really good to run 4 miles without stopping. I am proud of us! We are running a 10k on Thanksgiving Day over in Clearwater. We are supposed to be running 8 miles that week for our long run, so we figure 6.2 shouldn't be so bad.

I am currently filling out our passport applications in hopes of going on an Eastern Caribbean cruise during my spring break. Carnival had pretty good prices and we have been really wanting to go on one for many years. I figure if we have the passport already, we cannot make excuses to not go out of the country.

Matt is doing well and from the sounds of it today, we are owners of yet another home. This one is in Riverview (just a little south of Brandon). The house looks great from the outside, but needs major cosmetic work on the inside. Think kids, crayons, exploding soda can, and tons of dirt. Nothing he can't handle!

School is going well and I do actually have some tests to grade. Between running and those long school days, I am sleeping great at night these days. Maybe I had too much energy before because I would find myself wide awake at 3am for like an hour. Ugh. Not anymore.
The weather is cooling down in the morning and at night. We are thinking bonfire weather in the near future. I am looking forward to it and winter break!

We Did It!

Katie and I headed to Lowry Park Zoo this morning at 6:30 for our 5k run. We registered and then stood and walked around making fun of some of the old men who were going to beat us. We finally started the run and the first mile was pretty easy. It took us by the river (I don't know which one) and back through the parking lot. The second mile was very long and twisted and turned through the zoo and by the animals. The third mile was rough and took us backwards through the course of the first mile. I was starting to want to walk, but my brain just kept me pushing on. I felt like I was going to pass out a little, but kept telling myself that I could run the whole thing. Knowing it was 3.1 miles, when I saw the sign for mile 3 done, I sprinted the last tenth. I have no idea what my time was, but guessing based on Katie's time that it was around 33 or 34 minutes. I am very proud of myself for running 3.1 miles straight with no breaks because I have never run that much, even before I had Rachel. We had a good time and will probably sign up for another. This is the only picture we got and we had to use the camera timer to get it. We are official runners!

Nothing New

Here are some pictures from the last week of so. Nothing new or interesting is really going on here. I will be running a 5k with Katie on Saturday morning at the zoo. It is about 3.1 miles. I am not great at running or fast, but I could do it if I had to and I don't get a cramp. I will let you know how it goes.








She was eating chicken, broccoli alfredo and I just let her eat it however. Left to their own devices, kids always choose the messiest route and she was no exception.

She is also been a little more interested in her nose and what is inside of it. Ewww, especially since it is not always clean.