Sunday Funny

Umm, my first week with baby??!!

For some reason Amazon thinks I just had a baby. News to me! 

Wonder if I should tell them their algorithm messed up big time? 

For those wondering, there are NO babies in the works here.

Weekly Mileage

we found a mossy old tree with offerings for fairies

This year it's our ward's turn to do the bulletin board in the Primary room (it rotates between the three wards in our building). We did the prep work last week, and this week we put it all together, and I think it turned out better than any of us anticipated.

We started it Tuesday evening, but didn't have time to finish it then. I'd planned on going for a hike Wednesday morning, but we spent the morning finishing the bulletin board, so I moved our hike to Friday.

The theme this year is "I am a child of God," so we found pictures of kids from all over, painted a picture of the earth, and printed out the phrase "I am a child of God" in a bunch of different languages. I'd gone to JoAnns to look for sparkly black fabric for the background, but found one that had a galaxy print on it instead.

I was a little worried about the repeating pattern, but once we got everything up, the repeating pattern wasn't nearly as obvious as I'd been afraid of. It's a stretchy "performance" fabric, but it hangs decently and had enough give to be a bit forgiving. We attached everything with cut-up pieces of Command sticky strips, but if those end up coming unstuck, we'll use hot glue.

Last week we went on two hikes, which means we only have to do one hike this week in order to reach our goal of 52 hikes in 2017. Woo hoo!

Thursday we went to the trail we've done twice before, but this time it was sunny instead of raining, which was a nice change. In fact, it was the winter solstice. We were hiking at midday, but the lighting made it feel more like afternoon.

It was a cold day, and Sunshine didn't want to risk falling in the stream at the crossing (a sensible concern), so we took the trail that branched off not too long before the crossing. It leads to a cabin, though we didn't go that far. We met several people on the trail, which is the busiest we've seen it (probably because of the nicer weather).

hah! love that smile!

once River started hugging the tree, we had to get the other two around it as well

Friday we went back to explore the trail we started a couple weeks ago. The trail branches in a couple spots, and the route we took looped through the woods and back to the main gravel trail. There's several more trails through the woods that I didn't realize were there, so we'll have to go back and do some more exploring.

Ocean with his handful of sticks

Saturday I thought about going for a run or something, but for once we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything, so I didn't. It was nice not to run around like crazy people and instead just sit around.

Weekly Mileage
Thurs- 1.80 miles hiked
Fri- 1.22 miles hiked
     total miles- 3.02 miles hiked

50th and 51st hikes towards #52hikechallenge
512.54 miles towards #365milechallenge (17.87 of that on the bike)

Sunday Funny

The boys are big fans of The Lego Batman movie, and after the first or second viewing, River went around saying "I'm Batman, I'm awesome, I've got a nine pack". Ocean picked up on that and goes around saying "I'm batman, I awehome. I cool." I'm not sure how to spell how he pronounces nine pack, but it's funny to listen to :)

Ocean has a water bottle that has the Batman logo on it (just like the one on his shirt above), and he refers to it as his "I'm Batman awdoe boddle". As in, "where's my I'm Batman awdoe boddle?" We know it won't last, but it sure is cute in the meantime.

Potty Training, Week 2

Ocean thought this bench (for sit ups?) made a great bike

Ocean has managed to stay dry several nights, but the key is for me to wake up in the morning before he does so I can get him on the potty right away. He's woken up in the middle of the night several times to pee and get a drink, but it didn't go well when I woke him up to pee. Lesson learned. We haven't managed to kick the water bottle in bed habit yet, but we're working on it. In the meantime, he still wears a diaper or a pull-up to bed (whichever I grab from the almost empty diaper drawer), though he's fighting that more and more.

At nap times I've been diapering him (he's got mixed feelings about the diapers, so he likes it when I put underpants on top of the diaper) but he usually stays dry. So we're just about ready to leave the underpants on during nap. I know I'll have more laundry to do, so I'm kind of waiting till things are a little less crazy :)

Last Friday we discovered just what a challenge it can be to go hiking when it's cold and you have a toddler who's early in the potty training cycle. Multiple overlapping layers do not make it easy to get him on the potty quickly.

We arrived at the nature preserve and I got him all bundled up after first asking if he needed to pee. He said no, so I bundled him up, and then we went to the porta potty so I could use it. And naturally he decided he then needed to go, which meant I had to pull all those layers off, make sure he didn't fall in, and then re-bundle him. It was a hassle, but at least he's not afraid of using a porta potty...

The first Sunday after we started potty training we didn't go to church because we were sick, so this past Sunday was the first time he went to church without a diaper. Mr M and I were a bit nervous about this, but he stayed dry the entire three hours! I took him a couple times, but he also told the nursery teacher that he needed to go.

He did have an accident at the ward Christmas party Saturday night, but he was wandering around when that happened and I didn't realize he needed to go until too late. Distractions definitely make the process more difficult.

At home he still has some accidents, but he's getting better about running for the potty, and the accidents are decreasing in frequency and severity. Good progress!

Weekly Mileage

the whitish part is the shallower, frozen end of the reservoir

Last week I had to push to get outside. I'm still under the weather (there's some never-ending crud going around, and I've still got it), but the end of the year is rapidly approaching and we were short two hikes that we missed because of being sick. I figured if we did two hikes last week and two hikes this coming week, we'd only have to do one hike the last week of the year to hit 52 hikes before New Year's eve.

It wouldn't have been too difficult to get outside while still sick (I've done it many times before), except we've had colder temps lately. I like cold weather, but when I'm not feeling well it's hard to be enthusiastic and motivated to spend time in the cold.

Despite that, we did manage two hikes last week. They weren't long hikes, and we weren't in the best moods (the kiddos are fighting some crud as well, though not as bad as mine), but we got outside and got moving.

our hike started on an exercise trail before moving to a dirt trail through the woods

the boys had fun climbing on all the exercise setups

Thursday we did just over a mile before history club. Since history club was outside, it was good to warm up before we spent a couple hours sitting and standing around (ok, there was some walking, but it's always 10 degrees colder under the picnic shelter where we meet, so it's easy to get chilled).

a tiny amount of icy snow in the fork of a tree

Friday we went hiking while it was snowing! It was hard, icy snow that didn't accumulate because there was so little of it, but it was still snow. We also checked out the reservoir to see how much of it was frozen. It's been interesting to see the changes that occur throughout the year as we've returned to the nature preserve over and over.

trying to catch snowflakes

Saturday morning I really had to talk myself into getting up and going for a run. It was 22* outside and I'm still fighting the crud. If it had just been me, I would totally have rolled over and gone back to sleep. Luckily, I was meeting my friend C, so that accountability got me out of bed and moving. Running partner for the win! C is fighting some crud as well, so we walked more than we usually do, but we both agreed it was good to get out and exercise again finally.

if you look closely, there's water beyond the white line of ice in the forefront

We did a good hill workout on a hill I'd forgotten was there. I ran in that particular neighborhood when we moved here almost 8 years ago, but I haven't run that road since then and I'd forgotten how long and steep the main hill on that particular road is. We ran down the hill and part way up the other side of the hill, then walked the rest of the way to the top. At that point we turned around and repeated the process. Even though we didn't run all the uphills, we could still feel the burn even while walking.

River wanted to take some pictures too!

Weekly Mileage
Thurs- 1.25 miles hiked
Fri- 1.13 miles hiked
Sat- 2.99 miles run and walked
   total miles- 5.37

48th and 49th hikes towards #52hikechallenge
509.52 miles towards #365milechallenge (17.87 of that on the bike)

Sunday Funny

It snowed last weekend, which is unusual for us. We don't usually get snow in December, so getting snow this early in the month was even more unusual. We're hoping this means we'll get lots of snow this winter, but we'll have to wait and see. We got several inches of snow, but it didn't stick around very long because it just wasn't cold enough.

River kept asking if Santa was coming because it snowed.

Apparently he thinks snow = Santa.

We don't really do the Santa thing though, so I'm not sure where he picked up on Santa and snow, unless it was from watching shows like Frosty the Snowman.

Potty Training, Week 1

he made me nervous here- I was afraid he was going to tip over head first into the stream bed

We've been working towards potty training Ocean for awhile now: first encouraging him to sit on the little potties, then getting him comfortable sitting on the toilet. The next big step was switching out diapers for underwear and focusing on using the toilet in a timely manner.

Last week we didn't have anything scheduled the first half of the week, which is unusual, so I took advantage of the lull to focus on getting Ocean more fully potty trained. That meant hanging out close to the bathroom, trading diapers for underpants, encouraging him to drink lots of water, and asking him every half hour if he needed to pee.

We stayed home all day Monday and Tuesday, then ventured out to the store Wednesday morning. He used the potty at Target and stayed dry while we were out and about. Thursday we ventured out again without any accidents, though I brought one of the little potties just in case we needed to use it. Friday we ran some errands and went for a short hike. While on our hike, Ocean had his first successful experience peeing outside. We'd actually tried peeing outside a couple weeks earlier when we were outside and he'd told me he had to pee, but he hadn't done anything then. He also peed in the potty in the car while we were stopped outside the post office.

There've been plenty of accidents (having to wash out Ocean's rain boots because the pee ran down his legs and into his boots was fun), but he's getting better at recognizing when he needs to go, so we're making it to the toilet earlier and earlier. Right now he mostly tells me he has to use the potty while he's peeing, though he did tell me before he started peeing when we were on our hike.

I think once we get to the point where he's recognizing he needs to go and then running to the bathroom and using the toilet, we'll have cleared the main hurdle. He's pooped and peed on the potty multiple times, so at least he doesn't have any hangups with using the toilet. He also doesn't seem to mind using public toilets or the great outdoors.

collecting all the sticks he sees

we were a bit further up this trail when he told me he needed to pee

I know you're not supposed to compare your kiddos, but I can't help comparing the potty training processes of the two boys. It's been just under two years since River went through the process, and it's interesting to see the similarities and differences.

Ocean hasn't taken off his diapers like River did, but he has taken off his pajamas and his pants, and then told us he has a dirty diaper.

I was thinking that River had potty trained in just a couple days, but in reading back through the posts I wrote about his potty training experience, I realized that wasn't the case. It actually took about a month before I was confident about his ability to stay reliably dry night and day. That's still pretty quick, but not as quick as I'd thought.

River potty trained at night quite early on in the process, and I thought Ocean was going to take longer. He really likes having a water bottle in bed with him, which means he's peeing a lot during the night/nap time.

However, despite drinking water during nap time and at bedtime, he's stayed dry during nap time the majority of the first week. Even more surprising, Sunday night he woke up in the middle of the night to pee, and stayed dry all night. The same thing happened Monday night. Monday he also went much longer stretches during the day in between potty breaks, yet didn't have any accidents. So the internal switch might have been flipped that says 'don't pee every five seconds, you can hold it a while longer.' <crossing my fingers and knocking on wood>

We're now working on week 2, but I'll talk about that next week.

December 5k

all bundled up for a chilly hike

As I mentioned last week I was supposed to run a 5k the first Saturday of December, but wasn't feeling well enough to actually do it. So I registered for a 5k the following Saturday, thinking that I'd be feeling well enough to run that one. While I did feel better and did run the race, I wasn't feeling great and I was fairly conservative in my running so I wouldn't make myself sicker.

I was dragging all week with the crud, and actually felt worse on Friday, though we did manage to get out and run some errands and go for a short hike. After the hike I decided that if I wasn't feeling better on Monday it would be time to go to the doctor to make sure I don't have bronchitis or something.

We were supposed to get snow Friday afternoon, but it didn't actually start snowing until about 7 am Saturday. I woke up at 7 to see what the roads looked like and discovered there was barely a dusting of snow. I was feeling better than the day before, so I started getting ready. By the time I was done showering, dressing, and eating, the snow was starting to accumulate on the grass, but it was too wet to collect on the roads.

It snowed all morning, so I got to run the race in the snow, which I don't think has happened since high school. Though that was dry snow, and this was wet snow that kept getting on my glasses. Despite that, I do like running in the snow- I think it's peaceful.

This race is one I've run before (here, here, and here), and it's a good one because it raises funds for veterans groups and military families. They tried to play the national anthem before the start of the race, but there was some technical difficulties with the sound equipment. We all stood quietly facing the flag, and after a minute or two of glances over at the sound tent, a group of runners behind me started singing the national anthem. Everyone else quickly joined in. We weren't the most talented group of singers, but it was still a moving experience.

Because I was worried about making myself sicker (been there, done that, don't want to do it again), I dressed a little warmer than usual, ran slower than normal, and focused on not pushing myself too hard. It's very counterintuitive to not push myself in a race (there have been many occasions when I start out saying I'm going to take it easy, and then I don't), but in this instance I actually managed to follow through with my intention. While I didn't feel great after the race, I also didn't feel anywhere near as bad as I was afraid I would.

I ran 3.00 miles (the course is a bit short) in 37:36. Surprisingly, this isn't my slowest 5k. While this course is hilly, they're not super steep hills, so it wasn't the most challenging course I ran this year (that would be this one or this one). Running conservatively did slow me down a bit, but not as much as the steep hills in those races did.

1st mile: 11:26
2nd mile: 13:32
3rd mile: 12:39

Weekly Mileage
Friday- 1.02 miles hiked
Saturday- 3.28 miles run and walked
     total miles- 4.30 miles

47th hike towards #52hikechallenge
504.15 miles towards #365milechallenge (17.87 of that on the bike)

Sunday Funny

Ocean's vocabulary is growing every day, but he tends to swallow the first sound of a lot of his words, which makes for some interesting results.

hunkins = pumpkins
hoft = soft
hame = game
aw be see you = happy birthday  --> not sure how these correspond, but they do
ha-had = iPad
nonald da da duck = donald duck
oofee = goofy
deedee mouse = mickey mouse
hissmas tree = christmas tree
nownstairs = downstairs
unnerhants = underpants  --> yep, we've started potty training- more on the later

November Mileage

the lighting wasn't great, so I can't zoom in, but if you look closely, you can see Ocean's smile

Despite being sick the last week and a half of the month (and the first week of December- I'm still sick), my mileage in November was higher than my October mileage. My two bike workouts contributed to that- bike miles happen so much quicker than hiking or treadmill miles.

Unfortunately, we missed two hikes while I wasn't feeling well, so now we're close to the end of the year and two hikes short. So we'll be doubling up hikes the next couple weeks to get caught up and hit our 52nd hike before the end of the year. I'm really hoping I can kick this crud once and for all- it's been dragging on too long.

November mileage:

1 treadmill workout + 3 hikes + 2 outside runs + 1 race + 2 bike workouts = 37.26 miles

52 hike challenge: 46 hikes

365 mile challenge: 499.85 miles

October's mileage:

 1 treadmill workout + 5 hikes + 0 outside runs + 1 race + 1 bike workout = 20.41 miles

52 hike challenge: 43 hikes

365 mile challenge: 462.59 miles

September's mileage:

7 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 2 outside walk/run + 1 race = 40.42 miles

52 hike challenge: 38 hikes

365 mile challenge: 442.18 miles

August's mileage:

5 treadmill workouts + 6 hikes +1 outside walk + 1 race = 36.66 miles

52 hike challenge: 34 hikes

365 mile challenge: 401.76 miles

July's mileage: 

3 treadmill workouts + 1 hike + 0 outside runs + 1 race = 13.65 miles
52 hike challenge: 28 hikes
365 mile challenge: 365.1 miles

June's mileage:

0 treadmill workouts + 10 hikes + 3 outside runs + 3 races (1, 2, half) + 2 walks = 81.25 miles

52 hike challenge: 27 hikes

365 mile challenge: 351.45 miles

40 by 40 goal: 50 races

May's mileage:

11 treadmill workouts + 3 hikes + 1 outside run + 2 races (1, 2) + 1 field trip = 94.37 miles

52 hike challenge: 17 hikes

365 mile challenge: 270.2 miles

40 by 40 goal: 47 races

April's mileage:

15 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 0 outside runs + 1 race = 73.58 miles

52 hike challenge: 14 hikes

365 mile challenge: 175.83 miles

40 by 40 goal: 45 races

March's mileage:

3 treadmill workouts + 3 hikes + 2 outside runs + 1 race = 25.45 miles

52 hike challenge: 10 hikes

365 mile challenge: 102.25 miles

40 by 40 goal: 44 races

February's mileage:

12 treadmill workouts + 3 hikes + 3 outside runs + 0 races = 54.70 miles

52 hike challenge: 7 hikes

365 mile challenge: 76.80 miles

January's mileage:

4 treadmill workouts + 6 hikes + 1 outside run + 0 races = 22.10 miles total
52 hike challenge: 4 hikes
365 mile challenge: 22.10 miles

Weekly Mileage

River had fun playing in the leaves at twilight

Ok, so there was no mileage last week to record. I just wasn't feeling well enough. I've been fighting some crud since before Thanksgiving, and instead of feeling better like I thought I'd be, I've been getting worse :(  Since I wasn't feeling well I didn't get a lot accomplished last week, and we didn't even manage our weekly hike.

In fact, I was supposed to run a 5k Saturday, but I just couldn't do it. I felt too crummy, and I knew if I ran the race, I'd end up a lot sicker. This happened with my March 5k, and I did not want a repeat. I was disappointed to skip the race, as it's one I haven't done before, and it looks like a good one. In fact, it's in the same area as this race and this race, both of which I ran this past spring. This race has been on my radar for a couple years, but the timing has never worked out until this year. Or next year, I guess.

Sunday Funny

So this is one of those things to file away for future embarrassment:

Ocean thinks wrapped tampons are packages of string cheese.  He keeps digging them out from under the sink in the bathroom and bringing them to me to open for him: "cheese? cheese?"

Sorry kiddo, but no.