"Hello? Goodbye!"

Ever since Easter, plastic eggs have been a favorite toy around here (I hate it, because I have to clean up all the halves all over the place). We finally put them away but Taylor found a half left. It's now one of his most prized possessions.

One of his games he plays with it, is using it as a phone. I found him holding it up to his ear one day, so I played with something else and we "called each other" repeatedly. Now he does it all by himself and I will find him holding it up to his ear, talking to his imaginary friend on the other line.

He actually doesn't say words very often but I got him doing this cute game yesterday, it was awesome! "Hello? Ba-bye!" over and over, as we hang up and pick back up.

I just think it's so funny ... of course kids have been playing phone for ages. But in this generation, now when nobody talks on the phone anymore, and they still love this game!! Does he really understand?? How often has he seen anybody talking on a phone, now really?? I call my family once or twice a month and other than that I am rarely on my phone. And no, I haven't seen any toddlers pretending to text, but eventually I'm sure that will be the new game.

When Does Motherhood Begin?

this video is very sweet but in all honestly something REALLY doesn't sit right with me, in that first opening line: "Every time a baby is born, so is a mother."  The reason it bothers me is because without knowing it, the church is perpetuating one of Satan's lies he uses in his anti-life campaign: that life doesn't begin until a child is born.

On the other hand, read this AMAZING article. this article says you became a mother at the moment of conception. "if she is indeed pregnant, she is a mother. Forever. No matter what happens after this. Her only choice is what kind of mother she is going to be."  

Besides, I think would-be mothers who lost their baby ("fetus") in a miscarriage or stillbirth would argue to their own DEATH that they ARE a mother.  Motherhood begins far before the baby is born. Why else do we go through all the travails of pregnancy, if not for OUR CHILD?

Sorry, Mormonchannel, but I am have to side with Lifesitenews on this one. I am very disappointed.

Pretty Pretty Prince(ss)

 Elisabeth tried to dress him up but no luck!! Oh well, these shots are still ADORABLE, aren't they?

A New Basketball Fan

 Taylor is obsessed with basketballs!! Specifically, escaping the house anytime a door is left open and dashing down to the cul-de-sac to play with the balls that perpetually linger there.

 We had a nice sunny day last week, and I had some free time so I helped Taylor shoot some hoops! This kid won't be still, he is relentless. Continually chasing the balls (in the gutter!) and wanting me to help him shoot them. Well not so bad - Elisabeth wanted us to lift her up so she could dunk, and THAT got old fast. but Taylor is happy with me holding him in one arm, and shooting on his behalf with my other hand.

 Love this crooked smile!

(see that gutter ball? we dirtied TWO outfits this day)

update with no interesting title

I feel like I need to give an update or something. Life continues on, busy and crazy. Taylor is still being rambunctious, climbing on things, finding things he's not supposed to have, and finding things that shouldn't even be there in the first place, like the cat poop in the school room today (and playing with it, smearing it on himself, before we found him).... Gosh why am I public about this stuff? I'm sure everyone thinks I am such a neglectful parent. Also he recently figured out how to take pen lids off. He also figured out how to reach a can full of Sharpies. I will let you figure out how that one ended. It's a daily challenge for me to do schoolwork with Rychen while Taylor does all this, or climbs on us and tears the pages....

Rychen is doing chess club, geography, and space club after school at a local elementary school. It's nice to get involved, for both of us. He recently did a chess tournament and won 2nd place in his division (a group of beginners). He just started playing chess recently so that was a nice surprise.

..and of course we are preparing Rychen P. for his upcoming baptism! :-)  He and I have been reading the Book of Mormon and having good discussions every night before bed. I was thinking I really want him to have a good base of gospel understanding and know why we get baptized but also have his own recognition of his personal need for baptism and make his own choice to do so. Plus It's a nice tradition to get some one-on-one time after the younger kids are asleep. I want to do this with all the kids before they get baptized. 

So, this year Rychen (Sr) is looking at doing a couple more 1/2-Ironman Triathlons in addition to the Pocatello Marathon; and he is hoping to find several local halves.  I am signed up for the Seattle and Pocatello full marathons and will probably do some shorter races in the fall.

Taylor at 13 months

Taylor is growing up so much lately. He is much more stable standing up and taking steps without falling down. We joke that it's exciting for us, be he doesn't really care. He has been totally content crawling around--he's got a fairly speedy crawl. So he is joining Rychen P. in the ranks of slow walkers. (Elisabeth walked at 10 months! Interesting to see the differences)


 I took these pictures this morning because (a) I haven't photographed my children in a while, and (b) This is a milestone - actually playing with some things using HANDS rather than putting them in his MOUTH! He found a jar of coins and was asking to play with it. Being the cool mom that I am, I decided to sit down and supervise him to allow him to play with coins and see if he could do it...responsibly. and he did :)


 I recognize this phase - when play time is about putting small objects in a container, and taking them out again, etc... He has been doing this lately. It's cute because he will want to clean up his own messes. I tell him we are cleaning up and he puts his toys back in the box.

Sorry to brag, but my boy is just such a cutie!!

Taylor is a very busy child. Multiple times he has gotten into stuff (rather dirty, disgusting things) and we find the mess, or we find him in the mess. I share the funny stories but the worst ones I keep to myself out of sheer embarrassment for not being a better mom! But let's face it, it's just hard to keep track of a little mischief maker all day when there are so many other things I need to get done! 

Happy Birthday Taylor!

For Taylor's birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Madison. We baked a cake and ordered pizza, and let the older kids play. 

(Everytime we go to Chuck E Cheese I say we are never coming back, but somehow we always find our way back there...)

Taylor is doing well eating solids. We finally bought an actual high chair and have him sitting with us at dinner time. For a while there we were holding him in one arm and eating/feeding him with the other...and that was ridiculous, not to mention embarrassing when we had guests over. Sometimes we are just real bums! But I found a cheap-o high chair since we are so cheap. I am not a big fan of feeding babies, if you know me. I breastfeed for as long as possible because it's just the easier, CLEANEST way to feed a baby. I hate when they start throwing foods and smearing it everywhere... so Taylor still doesn't eat with us every day. He usually has a fruit meal early in the day and may or may not join in for dinner. His favorite foods are avocado, dates, and potatoes. Still pretty limited repertoire because he only has a couple teeth, but we have mastered the soft foods (if you ever lose your teeth and don't know what to eat, I will share my list with you!)  Potato wedges are a pretty good food that he can hold in his hand and take bites of, without needing to chew--only producing a few crumbs. The birthday cake actually worked pretty well for him too, and we have done other flour products a few times. We are still going easy with the grains because he tends to get constipated; I suspect he is gluten-intolerant like his brother, we'll see... This week I started feeding him mashed beans which appear to be a good food choice for him as well.

Hoover Dam Marathon re-cap

I don't feel I have as much to say about marathon #2 at Hoover Dam, compared to my long analysis of marathon #1! I think it might be like childbirth, or the first time you do anything huge you weren't sure you'd succeed at. There is so much excitement and re-living of the first time, and after that there are a few new details but other than that, you've done it before, right?

I will say, it was a Stunningly Beautiful course. Rychen says the best course he's done, scenery wise. It was at Lake Mead, along some sidewalks and then an old dirt road with railroad tunnels, leading up to the Dam. You overlook the dam and then turn back, and do this loop twice. 

Again I did not feel 100% - marathons just aren't the same for me as training runs, energy-level wise, and maybe it's all the excitement, I use my adrenaline up the day before and then I am lethargic during the run. Who knows. 

Well the night before we ate out, and I wasn't very smart... I ate something I don't handle well (soy in mayonnaise) and felt icky. I woke up at 3:45 feeling sick and wasn't able to sleep after that. By 6 am my bowels were ...all cleared out... but at 7 I was still very nauseas and I was starting to feel uneasy about how the run would go. I run because I enjoy it - and running through pain is NOT my idea of fun. (this is where Rychen and I differ) I asked for a priesthood blessing which Rychen promptly administered, in his running clothes :)  The blessing said I would be comfortable for the race, and all my bodily systems would work properly.  Immediately afterward, the neausea left me. I felt stable, strong, and confident. wow!  I felt comfortable the entire race, although like I said I was a bit sluggish, slower than usual. I ran an average of 30 seconds slower per mile than my training runs. 

I ran strong until about mile 24. I do walking breaks the first hour for my warm-up to prevent going out too fast, but after that I jogged mostly (except for the steep switchbacks). I felt great knowing I was still running at 24 miles. But gradually I got slower and slower, until the last mile I really had to force myself to do a slow jog!! As I rounded the corner to the finish chute (last .2  miles) I suddenly picked up speed and sprinted through the finish, grinning from ear to ear!! I really enjoyed that race, there wasn't anything real challenging for me, I was in good spirits mentally the whole time, enjoying myself. I finished in 4 hours, 19 minutes. 

My time at marathon #1 was 4:17 but that was a downhill road course. This one had long hills, switchbacks, and lots of rocky dirt road. Marathon #1 I felt depleted and depressed, it never ended. But this time I felt strong the whole time. So I have improved, it's great to see. (Now I need to do another good flat course and cut some significant time off!)

As soon as I finished, I felt sick again!! How funny is that. Either the blessing was complete (for the time I needed it) or the marathon itself made me sick. I was using lots of gels which were based in corn (maltodextrin) and that's a food I don't tolerate well... I don't know why. But I couldn't eat much. It took me about 45 minutes, then I felt better. I was a little paranoid about missing my glycogen window (recovery is much quicker when you can get in a good carb meal after a long workout) but it all worked out.

after marathon #1 i felt totally weak the rest of the day, even mentally if I thought back to the race I would tense up and feel bad... I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again. But after this one, immediately I was looking forward to my next marathon!! I just felt it was so awesome. Thinking over exactly what was so great, it was hard to put my finger on. It wasn't adrenaline or a rush, it was a more true feeling of enjoyment. I think it's just so wonderful to be out in nature for 4 hours while under rigid physical and mental discipline, among many other people sharing the same experience. Hard to describe, but I am really looking forward to doing many more. I want to travel around the country, seeing new scenery and cities... this is just a mode of tourism. You tour a city by running through it, or running at key natural or historical sites. 

Marathons in that sense are more recreational than shorter distances. Shorter distances I run hard and don't notice my surroundings very much. But a long run, you don't breath hard much at all, you can visit with people, you can look around, and really enjoy yourself. I do like both types of running.

So what's next for me? 

Jan. I have a 20.13K race (12.5 miles) I would like to run in 1'45" and a 5k race I would like to run in 22-1/2 minutes. 

Feb.  I am running a trail half marathon. I have discovered that I LOVE TRAIL RUNS!!! Aiming for 1'49"

June - either Newport marathon or Timberline 14-miler... hmmm a flat, fast full or a trail? Don't get too many opportunities for trails... I don't think I can handle the trail full yet.

August- Pocatello take 2.

October - Hagg Lake and/or St George marathon

November - Silver Falls, probably the full marathon this year