My First 5K

I had this goal that I wanted to meet.  I'm not ever very good at meeting my goals.  I'll be honest.  After I had Elliot, I just wanted to get back in shape and lose my baby weight.  Well, I lost the baby weight within two weeks after delivery, but I was definitely not in shape.  I decided if I put some money into it, maybe it would give me more motivation to work on it.  I signed up for a 5K and made Leslie join in with me.  So while I was in Utah, I trained in the Utah altitude and ran my first 5K.

Here we are, ready to run! 

Right after we got there, we ran into these awesome ladies!  I love these girls.  A couple of them were my roommates back in my college days, some from high school... an all around amazing group of women if I do say so  myself!

We did it!  I knew we could.  After all, it was only 3-something miles.  We ran the 5K on the beaches of the Great Salt Lake.  Gross.  As you can see, it was also in the dark.  It was supposed to be glow in the dark with glow paint amazingness.  The paint didn't glow and I just felt nasty after painting myself.  Oh well.  We had a great time!  The best part?  Eating a burger from In-N-Out on the way home because I had tried to eat "healthy" for the few days before and was starving to death!  Did I mention I finished?  And yes, I did it in less than hour.  I actually finished in around 35 minutes (which for me and my untrained body is a good thing).  I know, you amazing runners are now laughing at my finish time.  Like I said before, I was just glad to have finished and have met my goal.  I'm definitely not where I want to be physically, but I feel better than I did 5 months ago.  

Friend Halloween Party

I have to admit that I have the most amazing friends and neighbors here in California.  Our little play group had a party for Halloween and it was SO cute!  Ashley (not me, but the amazing Ashley Alexander (a.k.a. Super Mom)) threw an amazing party for the kids.  It was full of throw the spider in the web, bingo, bowling for monsters, and tons, and tons of treats.  Scarlet was in heaven!  She keeps talking about the spiders too.

Doesn't that look just delicious?  

The treats!!  Witches hats and brooms, gummy worms that were so life-like I wouldn't touch them (good job Amber!), delicious apple mouths, hot dog mummies, and other assorted deliciousness.

I wish you could see her yelling, "GOOOOO Cougars!"  Just like her dad, she bleeds blue.  Love our little Cougar!

The Clipping

My poor child was born with what I like to call the "Dunn Tongue."  As you can see in the picture above, his tongue is very stuck to the floor of his mouth.  I had this unfortunate problem and so did my older brother, Josh.  We both had ours clipped when we had our wisdom teeth out.  Let's just say it was not a pleasant experience.  Right after Elliot was born, I noticed he had the cursed tongue.  Poor guy.  Not only that, but his was significantly worse than mine, and mine was really bad.

While I was in Utah, we found an amazingly awesome doctor who was willing to see us and clip the tongue.  The doctors in California wanted us to wait until Elliot was older, but from my experience, I wanted it done as soon as we could do it.

Here's how it went down.  I went to the doctors office with both kids in tow... and my dad.  Thankfully my dad was there to help me.  Scarlet was jolly, playing in the waiting room with a train set they had.  All I could think was, "what kind of sickness is she going to pick up from that toy?"

I went back and talked to the doctor.  He took one look at Elliot and agreed it needed a clipping.  He got all ready to do it and I jumped ship.  They took my baby,  held him down, and did their thing while I sat in the waiting room bouncing Scarlet in hopes that it would calm Elliot down.  I've noticed I do that a lot.  Hold one child and bounce them in hopes it will calm the other.  It doesn't really work, just so you know.

I felt like the screaming went on for like 5 minutes.  It was excruciating!  Finally the doctor came out and got me and told me he wanted me to hold Elliot and calm him down.  I went in the room and the nurse was holding my baby face down while blood was dripping from his mouth.  I then started to think, "what did I just do to my child?"  I felt awful!  I held him as still as I could while the doctor attempted to keep pressure on the underside of Elliot's tongue.

It was horrible.  I wanted to cry with Elliot.

Then two days later, Scarlet was sick.

And then Elliot got it.

What an experience.  I never want to go through that again.  Too bad our pediatrician in California claims it needs to be done AGAIN.  Are you kidding me?  I don't think so.  I think we'll leave it how it is now.  My oh my.

Family Photos 2012

 

I can't even remember when we had our family pictures taken last.  I know we did a few after we had Scarlet, but we haven't had a family photo with all my siblings and our spouses in years.  We started off the morning with me, Ryan and our kiddos. 

 

The boys.

 

The girls.

 

I love Bella hiding at the bottom of this one.

 

And here we are at meltdown moment.  Scarlet had had enough, plus she had just fallen on the cement and had blood literally dropping from her knee.  If you look close enough, you can see her lovely little scrape.  Poor girl.

 

The two photos above had me laughing so hard!  This is what happens when you try to use the self timer with a remote, but you have to get a little closer to press the button so the camera will sense it.  Haha.  I love the one of Josh.  It looks like he's just trying to run in front of the camera. 

 

Our "normal" family photo.

And of course, the all too awkward family photo.  No, my dad is not grabbing Megan's bum.... or is he?  We roll like that around here.  

An Eagle Scout

Here is my proud sister moment.  On August 26, 2012, we all witnessed my little brother receive his Eagle.  What a great achievement!  Nathan wanted to wait for Ryan to come to Utah so Ryan could be a part of something so special. 

Nathan's project was making blankets, buntings, bracelets, and poem books for parents who have lost their children.  He did it for Angel Watch, whom I have mentioned before because they were so integral in our life with Kingston. 

My three brothers and my awesome husband, ALL eagle scouts!  Like I said, proud sister (and wife) moment. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention.  There is a new pin the eagle scout can now give out when he receives his eagle.  There's always been the pin for mom and dad.  Now they have one for their mentor.  My brother was so adorable and gave ME that pin!  I've never thought of myself as a mentor, but I feel so special he thinks of me as one!   

Scarlet's "Special" Treat

You know when you have those moments of thought when you're thinking, yes I am really that great of a parent.  Well, I have one of those. 

My parents live in the mountains.  The deer make frequent visits to their yard and leave little presents for all to step in.  Most of the time I don't even think twice but to just walk around it when I see it and leave it at that.

I can't even remember what I was doing, but I was probably feeding Elliot, because that's all I do.  Scarlet had gone outside with somebody (like I said, I am that great of a parent).  She comes in with this look of disgust on her face.  In my head I'm thinking, oh no, what did she get her hands in.  Oh no, it's better than that.  I see it not all over her hands, but her teeth. 

Deer poo in the teeth.  Yep, parent of the year!  Let's just say she got the all-time scrub down with her toothbrush, which I then tried to sanitize as best I could.  I still shudder at the thought of what as in her mouth. 

Blog Overload

Like I mentioned previously, I have been MIA for a while.  It was dreamy.  I was busy, busy the entire month of September and we had so much fun!  Here's a list of what will be coming in the near future:

• Scarlet eating deer poo (I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am that great of a parent)
• Nathan getting his Eagle
• Family pictures
• 29th birthday.... again
• Elliot's blessing
• Megan's/June's baby shower
• Baby June-Bug
• Elliot's clipping of the tongue (sounds as exciting as it was)
• Girl's trip to Park City
• Zoo
• 5K
• Josh and Megan getting sealed
• June-Bug's baby blessing

Keep watching for all of this.  Like I said, we were really busy and it was so worth it! 

She's 2 and He's 4

I have been MIA from blogging for a while.  I have a good excuse.  I have been away in Utah for a little while.  I tried to download my photos while I was there, but the laptop ran out of room and I couldn't do much with them.  I have about 10 trillion things to update as soon as I download the photos. 

In the meantime, here's a little update from Scarlet's2-year checkup and Elliot's 4-month checkup. 

 (Horrible iPhone photo)

Scarlet at 2 years:

Height:  32.5 inches

Weight:  21 pounds

Head circumference:  18 inches

She's tiny, but her height is finally on the growth chart.  Her weight, however, is not.  She is still 0th percentile for weight.  She's our little mini -- a sassy little mini at that!  She is saying a million words and copies everything we do and say.  She has become very hilarious and so much fun to be with. 

Elliot at 4 months:

Height:  24.5 inches

Weight:  14 pounds 14 ounces (only 6 pounds less than Scarlet)

Head circumference:  17 inches (1 inch less than Scarlet.  His noggin is gigantic)

Elliot is our healthy, chubby, big-little guy.  He is the happiest baby I have ever seen.  He is always smiling and laughing.  He has been such a joy and blessing in our lives.