The Stuart's

Runnin' with Santa

2011-12-14T12:33:00.000-08:00

High-five, Santa!

Saturday, Dec. 10th, we were fortunate to be able to spend the morning with Santa! Let me tell you, Santa has slimmed down! But I guess it's hard not to shed extra pounds when you're training for a 1 mile fun run! This was Chesapeake's 1st Annual Santa Run. Of course, we jumped right on board! It was a frigid morning, but nothing a little bundling and hot chocolate wouldn't cure. The kids each got their very own Santa hat and had an amazing time running with Mr. Clause.

Ethan is at such a fun age. He ran right up to Santa and gave him a huge hug! He was so excited to see him. Ethan was the first to notice Santa's vanishing cookie belly. He leaned over to James when we first got there and said, "Where did Santa's belly go?" Don't worry, E, I'm sure he has many a cookie to eat come Christmas Eve.

Here's AJ leading the pack of runners, yes he has left everyone in the dust. It may be a fun run to all of the other kids, but to this competitor, it's a race! Not quite sure who he gets that from :)

Ethan and I had so much fun running together. He even got to take a piggyback lap which was a great leg workout for me. He was such a great sport and never complained about being cold. This is definitely a fun, active, wonderful tradition that we were able to be a part of.

Turkey Trot 2011

2011-11-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

So, after a year and a half of ignoring this blog, I thought I'd make a New Year's resolution to start updating it. Because, let's face it, I'm not scrapbooking and need to somehow keep up on documenting our family fun. So I thought I'd start early.

Turkey Trot 2011!!!

AJ had such a great time at his 2nd Annual Turkey Trot at Russell Dougherty Elementary School today. It was a windy morning but the kids braved through the chilliness and had a great time!

Aidan got to ride the bus to the Children's Safety Village for the Turkey Trot.
This is a rare treat since our school doesn't have a bus system.

Warming up

And he's off!

So focused!

AJ's Biggest fans

Celebratory beverage

Celebratory hug from his favorite brother.

My Mama's Boy

2010-05-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

I love this three year old!

I can't believe how lucky we are to have Ethan in our family! I can't imagine what it would be like without him in our life. He is such a ray of sunshine that brightens my day, no matter how gloomy it may seem. He is so laid back and forgiving that he can take the sibling rivalry that AJ dishes out. He is always thinking of others' feelings. He LOVES to hang out with the big boys (AJ & his buddies), and has no clue that he is the younger bro. He has such a nack for sports! He can throw a ball far, catch it with ease, drop kick a soccer ball, walk on a balance beam without losing his balance, and shoot a basketball with excellent form. Ethan is so social and has never had issues with separation (when going to the nursery (at church or the gym) or other people's homes). On Family Night, he loves to "tun-duck" (conduct) and sings "I am a Child of God" so angelically. He is such a morning person (like me!) and runs in our room to see if we are awake. He gives me a great big bear hug to start the day. On days that I work, he always falls asleep on the car ride home. This sweet child lays his head on my shoulder and lovingly pats my back as I carry him inside the house to put him in bed.

I say he's a mama's boy because he loves to cuddle and hang out with me. But, don't get me wrong, he is all boy! He loves to play in the mud and pretend to do kung fu. He especially loves to hangout with Dad! He is so well-rounded.
WE ARE SO LUCKY!!!

For his third birthday, Ethan wanted to have his birthday dinner at "the pancake store". So on to IHOP we went where kids eat free! (Ya gotta love it on a law student's budget!). He enjoyed his pancake face dinner and the ice cream birthday treat. He had a blast celebrating over a 3 day weekend. He had a fun birthday party with his friends at the park, an overnight campout, and played in his soccer game. It's so fun that he is old enough to find his own individuality. He can decide what HE wants to do without riding on the coattails of big brother.
Happy Birthday big boy!

FIVE YEARS OLD

2010-02-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

5 things I love about you:

Your heart You are concerned when others are sad. You LOVE your baby sister with all the love you have in your heart. I love the way you have to touch her hand whenever your walk/run by her. You sing her songs and continuously talk to her throughout the day. Although you think you are too old & embarrassed to kiss your mom, you will give Avery a kiss in a millisecond. Although you may not show it as much, you sure love your play buddy bro, Ethan too. If he is not around, you want to know where he is and what he is doing.
Your Sincere Prayers First of all, you and Ethan will fight over who can say the prayer. If it is Ethan's turn, you say, "Mom, I can bless the breakfast tomorrow, right?" You try so hard to keep your eyes closed, you fold your arms every time and remind me to do the same. You thank Heavenly Father for our family. You ask Heavenly Father for so many wonderful things such as the happiness of your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and siblings. Sometimes you even ask to bless your toys.

Your obedience (I'm hanging on to this one, I know it will waiver the older you get!)
Your Sunday School teacher informed me that you are reverent in class, raise your hand to answer questions, are the first to help her put the chalk away. I'm so proud of you for being respectful towards your teachers. Although you are occasionally defiant, for the most part you do whatever Mom & Dad ask you to do. You put your dinner plate in the sink, your shoes on the red rug before walking on the carpet, your coat on the closet hook.
In the end, You Don't Quit Two years ago, you started playing soccer. You did not enjoy the spotlight on yourself. You did not want to play! You refused to play! But you didn't quit. Each season we would ask if you wanted to play, and you said yes. Begrudgingly, we would again enroll you in soccer. Each season you did better and better! When playing basketball, you were discouraged about not making a basket each time you practiced shooting. But you didn't give up. You kept practicing and had a great basketball season! Enjoying yourself the more you played! You love to play sports with your buddies no matter who is watching. You can get up in front of your classmates at school for show and tell and you can conduct our Family Home Evening without nerves getting in the way. You are really coming out of your shell and growing up!
Your example Although you fight over toys and Dad's attention, you teach your brother so much. You show him how to build train tracks, how to put things away, how to love broccoli, how to love sis, how to love reading and writing. He looks up to you and wants to do everything that you do.

I love you so much! You most definitely keep our life colorful. You have grown in so many ways this past year. You make me so happy, I love the sound of your laughter! We are so lucky to have you in our family for eternity!

Happy Birthday, AJ!!!

Weeks 9 & 10

2009-12-14T10:01:00.001-08:00

I've been terrible about taking pics each week! Here's all I have for weeks 9 & 10 of Avers life.

Week 9

How can you not fall in love with this child?!!

Week 10

Excuse the poor photo quality. Look at those sweet heart-shaped lips.
Love her!!!

Avery's Blessing

2009-12-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

We have the best family. Here's all that came for Avery's blessing.

Those included in the circle:
James, Jeff, Scott, Mike Hansen, Tyler Larsen, Joe Orgill, Donnie Waggoner, and our awesome Bishopric.

I wanted to show how much my daughter "LOVES" wearing headbands & bows.
Picture #1:
Early Sunday morning, just after waking her up and getting her dressed.

Picture #2
After placing the headband. Come on sis, it's not that bad!

And random cute pic of my parents, Avery, & cousin Abigail (this was taken at Gwen's b-day party).

Random shots of my cuties

2009-11-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Our Primary (organization for the children at our church) had their annual "Primary Program" last Sunday. This is when the children teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ through their words and song. This was Aidan's first year to participate. He has always been our timid one in public, so I was wondering how this was going to go. He did awesome! He went right up to the microphone and delivered his line which was answering the question "How does your mom or dad help your family. Aidan's line was "My daddy fixes things when they are broken." He came up with the response all on his own, and spoke right into the mic, no fear! We are so proud of him.

Ethan seems so much older than 2. He speaks clearly and understands more than I give him credit for. He keeps me sane by being obedient (unlike our other son who is going through a defiant phase) and is so sweet it is difficult not to give him whatever he wants.

I had to go to our church bookstore which is out near the Oklahoma City Temple in Surrey Hills. Aidan has not ever seen the temple so I took him with me while Ethan had some one-on-one time with his grandma. He really enjoyed seeing the place where his mom and dad serve sometimes and where we were married. He had many questions and loved looking at the gorgeous building with the Angel Moroni statue on top of the steeple.

He's demonstrating what "prayer position" is (arms folded, eyes closed).

James has been taking the boys camping when he can find the time.
It's been great father/son time and a nice break for me!

Here's a treat.....baby sister's gorgeous smile.

Avery's a-growin'

2009-11-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

Avery will be 8 weeks old on Thanksgiving day!!! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. She is growing so fast, I thought I would do a quick timeline of her growth week-by-week.

Newborn

This was her first time in the car seat, about to leave the hospital.
She looks so tiny here compared to now.

One week old

Picture taken after her bath. She loves bathtime; it really calms her down.

She has so much hair I was able to put a clip-in bow in it.

Two weeks old

Hmmm, no pics taken...this must have been a bad week :)
But her 2 week stats at the dr's office were:
8lb. 12 oz.
74% Height
33% Head Circumference

Three weeks old

You can already tell she's growing!

4 weeks old

I loved celebrating Halloween with our lil' pumpkin!
Above she is wearing a cute outfit /gramms bought her.It was so GORGEOUS on Halloween night, Avery got to go trick or treating with us!
She even dressed up as a cute tiger cub.

One Month Old!

Our family was blessed with two little Stuarts in October! Jeff & Julie had sweet little Noah on October 25th at 4 lbs 11 oz. Here's him and Avery when she was 1 month and he was 1 week old.

Five Weeks

Six Weeks

Avery's first excursion to church was when she was 6 wks old. Avery & Mom before church (notice I'm sans makeup...I was planning on putting it on in the car on the way to church. There's only so much time before 8:30 am church! Don't worry, James drove while I applied).Our first photo of our completed family!
And first attempt at using the camera timer!

Seven Weeks
I was blow-drying my hair while Ave was "playing". I looked over at her and found her like this.

7.5 weeksHere's my princess this morning! My big girl!
7.5 weeks

I "heart" Mylie Cyrus

2009-10-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

So James went to Tulsa this weekend to sell an old project car and he met up with a few of his buddies. When he wasn't paying attention, they left a little present on the front of his truck. He didn't notice it until the next day.

How did they know that he loves Mylie?!?!
I think it looks great on the front of a F250 diesel! I'm hoping we can keep it!

2009-10-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 4 weeks since the new addition to our family and...

the boys are still in love with her!

Melt my heart

2009-10-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos of my sweet middle child singin' away!

The Baby Story

2009-10-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

Pre-delivery pic
I worked a 12 hour shift on Wednesday. I felt pretty good, but could definitely tell that this would be my last shift to work pregnant. The last few hours of work, I was contracting every 1-2 minutes; this was nothing different than a usual work day (I contract every evening after work). But I was very very uncomfortable. I had someone at work check me and I was 5 cm (I had been 3cm the day before at the Dr's office). Later that night, the contractions were getting stronger and I could not get comfortable. I called my doctor and told him what had been occurring. He told me to head to the hospital, get my epidural, he'd break my water and we'd have a baby! Simple enough!
That's pretty much what happened. We got to the hospital at 10pm. I got my epidural at 11:30ish, my doctor broke my water at 12:30, and 1 1/2 hrs later, I was holding my baby in my arms! It was such an easy labor! I think it was well deserved considering the fact that I had painfully contracted from 22wks on.

It was love at first sight for James. Right before she was born he said that his dad was now handing her off to us for us to take care of her. I know that she has a personal relationship with her "Papa Dad". And now we have the chance to get to know her!

She was such an angel from the beginning. Her initial cry was so feminine and beautiful! She loved being held by her Gramms (who could quiet her down very easily).

The boys came to meet her the next day. Aidan wanted to hold her the whole time they were at the hospital. Ethan gave her a love pat, then his attention was directed to the dinosaur coloring book "Baby Sister" got for him.

She has quite a bit of black hair, just as Aidan did.
I don't want to speak too soon, but I think she scored and got Daddy's long thick eyelashes (keep our fingers crossed).

Here's her with our sweet doctor. He has delivered all 3 of our kiddos!

We didn't get discharged until after 9pm! I had a cute homecoming outfit for her, but at that point, I didn't care anymore! I just wanted to get home.

We put her in her crib in her room from the beginning. I think she actually likes it! When she does sleep, she sleeps very soundly in her bed.

I am so excited that James now has a daughter. I remember over a year ago (when we thought that weren't even close to being ready to have another child), he said that he heard a song on the radio and had a brief "lightbulb" moment. It was the Carrie Underwood song "All-American Girl". The end of the song, she asks her hubby if he wants a boy or a girl and he says he wants a girl of course, someone who is just like her. James said that he would love to have a "Little Allie" running around. That was the first time he ever said he wanted to have a daughter!

Meant to be siblings.
My two boys continue to pleasantly surprise me. They have been saying that they are excited to meet "Baby Sister". But I have been skeptical. Would they genuinely be excited about her arrival? Would Ethan still feel loved although he is not the baby anymore? Could I continue to show my love for each of them though my time is being stretched even thinner? My boys are so in love with their sister. Aidan wants to hold her ALL THE TIME. We got home from the hospital on Friday night after the boys were in bed. So, the next morning, they were surprised to see that baby sister was already home. Aidan came right up to her and asked if he could hold her. Every morning, before he says "good morning" he asks "can I hold baby sister?" He even informs me that he has washed his hands and is ready to hold Avery. I noticed today on 2 different occasions that I would give a fussy Avery to Aidan to hold and right away she would relax and stop fussing. Something about being in her big brother's arms would comfort her.

Ethan also loves her, but needs a little bit of time to adjust.
It's been a bit rough for him but he does better each day.
Today he even asked if he could hold her, which was major progress!

We are all so excited that she is here!

Our beautiful princess

2009-10-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

We'd like to welcome the sweet new addition to our family:
Avery Kate
October 1, 2009 2:12am
8 lbs 14 oz.
19 1/4 in.

30 Years Young!!!

2009-09-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

I want to forever remember what I looked like on my 30th Birthday! Who knew I would be so happy to be 25+ lbs overweight on this birthday! I think I would have been a bit depressed hitting this age milestone if it wasn't for my sweet baby girl! I know that things are only going to continue to get better and better! I'm 37 weeks today!!! I'm going to be having a belated b-day present in just a few weeks!!! I can't wait to meet her! My 20s were so eventful and great!!! But I'm excited to embark on the adventures of my 30s. I am content to be the age that I am.

Another Tiger Season!!!

2009-09-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

We just began soccer season #4 for AJ 2 weeks ago! I am amazed at the progress he has made! The first season, he was more of a spectator than a player. I think he was a little overwhelmed and wanted no part of playing. But he enjoyed watching his buds play. I almost didn't put him back in soccer the next season. But I'm so glad I did! He discovered how much fun it was to be out on the field with his teammates. He wanted to play around with the other kids more than he wanted contact with the ball, but he did score a goal!!! Season 3 he became a little more interested in playing but would get offended when other kids would take the ball from him. Now, he actually has much better control of the ball; and although genetically coordination is not a strength for our family, his coordination is really getting better. He's doing great at dribbling the ball down the field. AND he gets so excited to go to the games and practices! I am so proud of my big boy! Poor Ethan wants to play sooo bad but he won't be old enough until NEXT fall. The pictures above are of last Saturday. The YMCA's hardcore, they didn't cancel the game even though it was raining! The kids didn't seem to mind though. They were able to run around, get muddy, and were drenched from head to toe! It was great!

The Funnest Summer!!!

2009-09-17T19:19:00.001-07:00

We had the BEST summer. BUSY but SO FUN! This Summer, James stayed busy with two classes and working at a law firm as an intern. I continued to work 24 hrs/week along with hanging with my two little men, spending tons of time at the pool. Anytime we had a break, we tried to make it out to the lake. We usually go to Lake Arcadia, just because it's a short 15 minutes away. BUT it gets a little old...you have to pay and it's a tiny lake. We were ready to explore other lakes. We decided to try out a new lake every weekend I wasn't working. Along with many trips to Arcadia, we went to Lake Murray, Tenkiller, Skiatook, Thunderbird, and...another lake near Tulsa (I can't think of the name of it). It was so fun exploring new parts of the state and different lakes. I am so impressed with how go-with-the-flow Aidan & Ethan were. They are at the BEST ages. We can actually add a bit of spontaneity back to our lives (like pre-parenthood life) because they are at such easy going ages. We can just pick up and go! That lifestyle will change when Baby Girl comes :) Pack the bag, bottles, diapers, wipes, clothes, baby carriers, strollers, etc etc etc. But at least we had a nice carefree summer before we enter baby land again. Here's a few Lake Arcadia pics of the boys doing what they do best.

KEEP SCROLLING DOWN TO SEE OTHER SUMMER LAKE PICS!

Lake Murray

2009-09-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

My favorite lake this summer! I LOVED going to Lake Murray. We actually decided last minute one Saturday to make a day trip down to Murray. I'm so glad we did!!! It was HOT (+100degrees) but the water was PERFECT (not too hot, cold enough to keep us cool). The boys had so much fun and the water was sooooooo clear! I loved the sandy beaches. We spent a lot of time building sand castles, collecting seashells, and doing cannonballs off the end of the boat. I definitely recommend this lake.

I love this pic of the boys!!!
This was AFTER our day at the lake. They still look happy!

The boys (mostly Ethan) LOVED to play the game "Push Daddy in the water". Anytime we anchored the boat, the boys would automatically look for a parent to push into the water. The game never got old (at least, not for them!).

Having my 2 year old swim in the lake made me really really nervous. But we were constantly with him. And he really turned into a great swimmer (with the life jacket).
One of the many beaches we visited. EE is scoping out the seashells.
Check out that cannonball!!!

Did I mention the soft, sandy beaches?

There were tons of house boats, if that tells you what an awesome lake it is.

I was so amazed at the clarity of the water.
Makes swimming in a dirty, bacteria-filled lake not seem so disgusting!

Gotta love boat naps! They slept so well!

Tenkiller

2009-09-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July, the Stuart clan went to Lake Tenkiller. The Larsen's were kind enough to lend us their lake house for the weekend. I was only able to go up Thursday night, stay Friday then leave Friday night. I had to work on the 4th. :( But everyone had a great time. It was so nice having a lake house to take breaks in between trips out to the lake. I've never been to Lake Tenkiller, it was clean and big! It didn't seem that crowded even though there were tons of people there. It was a blast!

Look at those sweet feet!!! (Kodie & Ethan)

AJ tried tubing out with Aunt Hillary. He now knows the symbols for tubing (thumb up for "faster", thumb down for "slower", hand out for "STOP").

Daredevil Ethan jumping in the lake.
I swear, that boy gives his mom a heart attack every time he jumps carefree into the water.

Already following in Dad's footsteps. James' fav part of going out on the lake is driving the boat. AJ could control the boat pretty well, after some instructions from Dad.
Gotta keep that sunscreen on!!!Soon-to-be parents enjoying family time.Cute cousins!!

I'm so glad Gwen and Alex could come out with us!
They went back home with me after 1 day, I wish we could've stayed longer!

Who's that sexy blonde?!

Everyone had a great time! THANK YOU Larsens!

Been FOREVER

2009-08-30T20:14:00.001-07:00

So I have TEN THOUSAND pics to post, but just have had NO time lately!!! I've had to work full-time (and some overtime) the past few weeks so that I can qualify to get 12 weeks maternity leave. When I'm not working, I've been trying to get ready for baby, spend quality time with James & the boys, and doing normal household chores...PLUS Aidan started Pre-K and James is back in law school! I have been running from sun up to sun down! No wonder I contract all the time.

BUT I just had to post that I am SOOOOOOO excited for our baby girl's arrival! I'll be 34 weeks this week and the time has just flown by! I can't believe I only have 6 weeks until my due date! I cannot wait to meet her and see the dynamics of our family change a bit. I can't wait to introduce AJ & Ethan to her and see Ethan as a big brother. I have so much love for this child that has yet to even grace our presence. This pregnancy has been difficult compared to the pregnancies w/ the boys. But I still love being pregnant and feeling her move and seeing her all cozy on ultrasound. I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing miracle. I am so excited to meet her!!! But hopefully she'll stay in a few more weeks! (Ethan was born at 35 wks and 6 days).

24 weeks!!!

2009-06-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to mark a special day for me. I've been counting down until 24 weeks gestation. Reason being, I am an overly-paranoid, worst-case scenario seeking, labor and delivery nurse who should NOT work in a hospital with a high risk labor and delivery unit. All of the other hospitals transfer their super sick "train-wreck" patients to us. I see anything and everything that could go wrong during and after pregnancy. I actually love it...but it's a HORRIBLE place to work while I'm pregnant! I've had a few minor scary incidents this pregnancy, but I've blown them way out of proportion just because I see the worst case scenario at work.
Anyhow, 24 weeks marks the "age of viability". If a child were to be born after 24 weeks gestation, the child would have a chance (though very slim) of survival. I have been counting down to this huge milestone this pregnancy, especially since I had a scare 2 weeks ago in which I began contracting every 3 minutes. After IV hydration, medication, and rest I was as good as new. But I'm glad to know that I made it to 24 weeks, I am over halfway there and hopefully I can carry her to term. I count each day as a tremendous blessing!

Wantilan Luau

2009-06-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Another fun thing we did in Orlando! Our hotel had a really fun luau. James, being the wonderful husband that he is, volunteered me to go on stage to dance with the hunk of love shown above (all 5 foot 3 inches of him!). I never realized how "white" I dance!!! And attempting the hula, wow my hips didn't move at all! Plus you throw in that I'm preggers and you get a pretty hilarious scene!!! You will NOT see footage of that embarrassment on this site; though james has it for all of his blackmailing pleasure :) BUT of course, the FOOD was sooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!! Good times...

ORLANDO!!!

2009-06-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm kinda on a modified bedrest today, so I thought I'd update my blog finally! The week after James finished finals, we got to go on vacation sans kids!!! Like I had said in a previous entry, we were GOING to go to Cancun with our friends Gretchen & Benj, but it continually did NOT work out for us. So we thought we'd stay in the states. We wanted to go somewhere where the prego ladies could just lay out and chill and the guys had plenty of activities to keep them busy. We decided to go to Orlando and enjoy Universal Studios. It was PERFECT!!! We stayed at the AMAZING Loews Royal Pacific Resort on the Universal campus. It was GORGEOUS!!! The pool was huge, the rooms were nice, and the breakfast buffet was gain-10lbs-in-a-week delish. Here are a few pics from the trip:

So the trip didn't start out perfect. When we got to the OKC airport, we saw on the weather channel that it was sunny and blue skies all over the US...EXCEPT for Florida. What??!! I had NOT planned on that. Oh well, we just figured we'd have a few light showers in between sunshine. When we got there it WAS blue skies, until the shuttle dropped us off at the hotel. It was POURING DOWN RAIN! It was raining so hard that the streets were filling with little minor floods. I don't know why rain didn't cross my mind when packing; all I brought were dresses, my swimsuit and shorts. We heard there were supposed to be "torrential thunderstorms" and "flash floods" throughout the rest of the week. So we had to get used to the idea of a rain-filled vacation. Here's a cute pic of Benj & Gretch strolling in the rain.

Like I said, the hotel was BEAUTIFUL. It had a Bali/India theme. It was actually one of the better-priced hotels on Universal and, I thought, had way better amenities. I really liked the fact that although it was kid-friendly, it still seemed like a peaceful, quiet retreat. We definitely want to take our kids there in a few years.

Shots of the pool:

After the first day of rain, we actually had a PERFECT day on Day 2. It was overcast but NO RAIN. The girls enjoyed dry poolside time all morning while the guys had a roller-coaster riding blast at Universal/Islands of Adventure. The boys cracked me up. They were like little kids. They kept calling with updates..."we just rode dueling dragons for the 3rd time!" "we're gonna do the hulk again." I think they ended up doing the Hulk roller coaster 7 times that day. I am SO glad that I had the excuse that I am pregnant so that I didn't have to suffer through that sort of nauseating agony that they were absolutely giddy over!

Did I mention the food yet? Oh man, I had to have eaten 4 to 7,000 calories PER DAY!!! The food was sooooooo good. One highlight of the trip was the brazilian churrascaria Texas de Brazil. The meat was to die for!!! Unfortunately our waittress was NOT Brazilian (I think she was German) so J didn't get to show off his portuguese skills. But it was still absolutely amazing!

Like I said, we lived it up eating at the hotel buffet each morning. Whatever you wanted was available: fresh omelets, pancakes, french toast, fresh fruit and yogurt, donutes, cinnamon buns, bagels, eggs, bacon, sausage, anything and everything!!! Oh and did I eat everything! The hot chocolate they had was the best I have ever had. We made the waiter tell us what brand they use and surprisingly, it was Nestle Rich Chocolate. What? No special gourmet blend that is unavailable in stores? Sweet! I know what I'll be stocking up on this winter!
It was so nice having a couples' vacation. Especially since I see James less and less through the school months. It was fun spending good, quality time with my eternal companion.
So there was a water taxi that took us from the hotel to Universal Studios where the theme parks and all of the fun restaurants were. We got hooked up by a friend who's brother works at Universal. We got 2 free tickets to the theme parks. The guys already had their tickets but this way Gretchen & I could go to the park one day and just see what it was like. We weren't allowed to do a majority of the rides, obviously, but we actually did get to see some of the Universal shows. We saw Twister and Shrek which were fun. And we got to watch the guys ride the Hulk like 3 or 4 times. Oh, another benefit of our hotel was the Express Pass. We show our hotel key card at the theme parks and were immediately admitted to the front of each line! No long waits at all!!! This made it easy for the guys to ride rides over and over again in a shorter period of time. I thought the Jurassic Park looked sooo much like the movie!We took this picture for Aidan who is really into dinosaurs lately. We thought he'd like seeing his dad posing with the scary T-rex.
Here's the Jurassic Park water ride that the guys did. Bummer I had to miss it [sarcasm]!!!
Who doesn't love a little Back to the Future memorabilia? LOVE the delorian!I couldn't get this picture to flip. Just look at it from a side view. Our kids thought it was funny.
As parents of 2 boys, we can't meet spiderman and not take a picture for proof.
We also went to Wet-n-Wild one day. It was so fun!!! We actually had HOURS of sunshine to enjoy. The guys loved the rides, and the pregos were able to do a few rides as well. There was one ride that I cannot believe they let us do. I was afraid I was going to fly out of the tube and land right on my stomach! Good fun though!!!
We had to celebrate Benj's 30th b-day (which was the Monday after we got back home)! We had a little b-day surprise at Hard Rock. Our waittress was this middle-aged, greasy-haired with purple streaks, too much makeup, smoker's voice, unfriendly unlady. The funny part was, after she made Benj stand on his chair for us to sing to him, she whispered to him, "I'd give you your birthday surprise but your wife's sitting right here." EWWWWW!!!! Creepy!!!! It was awesome!Looking back, I am so glad we didn't go to Mexico (aside from the whole swine flu epidemic). I think I would have gotten bored with laying out on the beach every single day. We livened it up by doing so many different things. We were never bored and the rain never got the best of us. It was the BEST trip!!!!

Boy or Girl? The verdict is in...

2009-05-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Aidan was right! Aidan and Ethan are going to have a baby SISTER in October!!! I can't believe it! A girl!!! My sweet daughter is coming into a home of two older bros who will surely be protective and a daddy who she'll have wrapped around her lil' finger. AND she's evening out our household---3 boys and now 3 girls (including Hondo). I can't wait to have a daughter to take shopping, get manicures with, teach how to bake our favorite desserts, and see grow into a beautiful woman. And while we wait, I can have fun buying pink clothes, bows and ribbons, and baby dolls. Wow, what a different world this is going to be! The ultrasound shots shown here aren't the greatest just because of the direction she was facing and the placement of the placenta. Everything looks, for the most part, healthy and functioning properly. Hopefully she will continue to grow and develop so that she'll be a healthy baby!

She's definitely related to us, her foot was HUGE compared to the rest of her body!!!

One final down, 3 to go!

2009-05-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

James took his Contracts final today. Only three more to go and then we get to go on VACATION!!! I'm counting down the days (16). We've had a rough year and are in desperate need of a vacation. I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait! We DID book a trip to Cancun (like back in Jan/Feb) before we realized how horribly dangerous Mexico seemed. BUT our reservations were nonrefundable, nontransferable. Then we heard that as long as you were on the resort you were fine. So we decided that the trip was still on. Well, in comes SWINE FLU!!! Now not only is the trip to Cancun off, our nonrefundable plane & hotel tickets were REFUNDED!!! Woohoo! Thank you Mr. Contagious S.Flu! I've never been to Mexico, but I'm very comfortable with waiting for that chance. We decided to stay safe in the U.S. and go to Orlando. More about our trip later! Study away James, the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight.

Even MORE Great News!!!

2009-04-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

Our family has really had it rough lately! Talk about being kicked while we are down... BUT we are FINALLY having a few visible miracles and blessings headed in our direction. Not only do James and I have our great news, but JEFF AND JULIE ARE PREGNANT TOO!!! We are 3 weeks apart :). I think I was more excited about their news than I was my own (well, our first response about our news was utter SHOCK, excitement came later!). They are going to make the best parents. I am very very very very very happy for them! Congratulations guys!

New Addition

2009-04-06T03:38:00.000-07:00

I thought we'd make it an "official" announcement. James & I are going to be welcoming a new little addition to the family in October! We are very excited now that we have had a bit of time for it to sink in! :) Aidan is convinced that it is a girl. I honestly can say that I don't care either way. A girl would be so much fun, then again I LOVE my boys and would love to have a third little man to add to the clan (plus the fact that we have clothes galore for a boy...). I am so excited!!!

Law School Widow's Field trips

2009-04-03T12:20:00.001-07:00

So, I've been a law school widow the past couple of weeks until James finished his appellate brief. He has been living at the library until midnight every night. Monday, we decided to take dinner down to Daddy so that we could actually see him! We went to a local park and the boys played while James ate his dinner. It was wonderful seeing James, even if it was just for an hour. We decided to do it again on Wednesday night. We went out to eat at Pei Wei's this time. Aidan continued to tell us that he didn't like his chicken until it turned into ongoing whining. And after eating a few lo mein noodles, Ethan began to throw food and chopsticks on the floor. It was a bit of a disaster. No nice conversation with my hubby, just attempting to control our messy children. We must have amnesia when it comes to taking our kids to restaurants. It's a disaster about 90% of the time, we say that we are never doing it again, and then weeks or months later we unsuccessfully attempt it again.

Anyhow, on the way home from dinner that night, the boys had their windows down in the car. Aidan was playing with his Lightening McQueen car and it looked like he was tempted to toss it out the window. I gave him a warning, saying that I will roll up the window if he tried to throw his toy out the window. A few minutes later, I saw something fly out the window. I stopped the car, turned around and had a "little talk" with Aidan. The windows were rolled up and we silently drove home. Then I heard Ethan saying something under his breath. Aidan said, "Be quiet, Ethan!" I listened even harder to hear Ethan saying, "Aidan... time out... Aidan."!!!!! I was dying! I can just hear my brother and sister when we were younger saying to me, "You're in troooubblleee! I'm telling Moooom!" And now here was my two year old egging his older bro on! I was rolling!

Ethan Edward is 2!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

It makes me sad that time goes by so fast! My little baby is TWO!!!! Ethan definitely has style. He came into the world in full force. Just hours after I taught the Sunbeam (Sunday school for 3-4 yr olds) class at church, he was born! The labor was three hours total. You were a pretty laid back baby. You were so curious about your big bro. Even from the beginning, Ethan & Aidan have been best of friends. Ethan has always looked up to brother and loves having a built-in buddy.
Aidan never showed signs of jealousy, he loved Ethan unconditionally from the beginning.

6 weeks old
3 months old
First Birthday

What a handsome two-year old!!!

Ethan loves to play with the big boys. He knows all of his brother's friends' names! He is such a big talker and is always singing his favorite songs (Happy birthday, Once there was a Snowman, ABC's), he loves to play in the sand and jump on the trampoline, his favorite thing in the entire world (besides his mom :p) is BALLS, he can to count to 10 in order, and he loves his crib (I don't know if we can ever permanently get him in a big boy bed!). He says the sweetest prayers and loves his family so much. Again, I cannot believe Heavenly Father has entrusted me with such an amazing little spirit! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EE!

Happy Birthday Aidan James!!!

2009-03-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how time has flown! Just 4 years ago (on Feb 28th--I know, this is a late post!) I remember thinking, I cannot believe my doctor and the nurses are letting James and I take home this precious little man! And now he's mom's little helper and is still a James/David mini-me. He is such a good big brother (most of the time), always trying to keep Ethan out of harm's way. He has really started coming out of his shell this past year. Playing soccer, always wanting to play with his friends, and LOVING school. He's becoming so social and autonomous (my 4 yr old should NOT be autonomous!) :) But it's so fun to watch him reach more and more milestones. He always wants to be on the go. Every night before going to bed, he asks me, "Mom, what are we doing tomorrow?" And I better have a fun day planned or he will be greatly disappointed! I am so humbled that Heavenly Father would entrust us with such an amazing person to raise. Happy Birthday AJ!!!!!! Aidan really really really wanted a Pump-it-up birthday party this year. I'm glad I agreed because it was FREEZING that day; an outdoor party would have been a big mistake! He had soooo much fun with his family and soccer and church buddies. It was the perfect party for him. Notice how they spelled his name wrong (even after I emphasized AidAn to the baker at the bakery! ah well).

Hondo's drama

2009-03-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

Hondo is our first child, our only daughter. She's a 5 1/2 yr old blue heeler. She is sooo smart--she follows many commands, loves going on walks and ESPECIALLY loves playing frisbee. We take her to the cabin in Colorado whenever we go. She's our pride and joy!!! Well, James and I have argued for years about getting her spayed. I want her spayed and James doesn't. He would LOVE to breed her with another cattle dog and have a prodigy cattle pup. So, I have let him win that argument year after year, heat cycle after heat cycle.

PREGNANCY #1:

Low and behold, in '06 she got prego with Logan's (Scott's Siberian husky) pups. She was due around 4th of July and we were going to be at the cabin. We decided not to go since we didn't want to leave her behind. Everyone convinced us to go ahead and go, taking the VERY prego Hondo with us. Of course, she ended up delivering on the 4th, at the cabin. We had 6 live pups (#7 didn't make it) in a 24 hr period. So we drove home with 6 loud pups, a 17 mo old toddler, and a very tired Hondo...12 hours. The puppies ended up being really cute--they all looked a lot like Hondo, but 2 had Logan's blue eyes. We were able to give them all away, Logan got fixed, happy ending.

PREGNANCY #2:

That brings us to January of this year. We were eating Sunday dinner at Grams Melissa's house. Hondo comes inside looking all disheveled, we realize she's in heat and probably had just conceived. Blast! The spaying argument comes up again. We forget about the situation, a few weeks later she is showing big time! GREAT! I finally win the argument that after these pups, Hondo WILL get fixed. Here's where the drama enfolds:

Saturday, Feb. 28

4:30am: Hondo is panting and whimpering, I wake James and say she's probably in labor.

4:45am: Hondo goes into Ethan's room and wakes him, I go in to rock him back to sleep and see Hondo pushing, I yell for James to let her outside.

7:00am: We haven't seen Hondo since we let her out, James goes out to find her under a bush with a little nest she had made. James sets up a place for her in the garage because it is FREEZING outside.

Today is Aidan's birthday, so we head out to Aidan's birthday party.

1:15pm: We get back home to find Hondo with one delivered pup (who did not make it).

4:00pm: No pups yet, still contracting

7:00pm: No pups yet, still contracting

9:30pm: No pups yet, still contracting.

At this point, we are getting worried. She should have had more pups! Last time there was a 3-4 hr gap between pups. Not an EIGHT hour gap. I'm so frustrated b/c this is my area of expertise and yet I feel helpless. Of course it's Saturday night, so we can't call a vet's office and of all professions we do not know a vet who goes to our church (seems like all of our other health care providers go to church with us!). So we call the Emergency Animal Hospital, they say to come in IMMEDIATELY. Of course they're going to say that, how else will they get paid? But, my baby girl's health/life was in jeopardy so James took her to the animal ER.

10:45pm: James calls saying that there is a pup caught in the birth canal and the vet cannot extract it. Our options are: A) to put her under and try to remove the pup and then send us home to deliver the other pups (which would cost an arm and a leg), B) a C-section to deliver all pups (which would cost 2 arms, 2 legs, and a torso), or C) put Hondo to sleep (WHAT??!!). I was steaming mad. I couldn't believe he would throw the "put her to sleep" card into the mix. THAT's how vets make $$$$$$, they guilt us into procedures. My thought was if we chose option A, what if another pup is just as large as this pup and gets stuck again and we have to come back for a C/S anyway? Plus we go through the stress of waiting it out to see how many pups she was going to have. But it was cheaper... I figured we should go ahead with the C-section so that we could safely deliver all the puppies and, at the same time, get Hondo spayed.

11:00pm: Hondo gets her C-section. The stuck puppy was very difficult to remove and was dead, of course. And--the strange thing--there were NO OTHER PUPS. She only had twins! My poor baby not only had to endure a day of labor, a c-section and hysterectomy, but she had no pups to show for it! I was so sad for her. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that we won't have any to keep for 6 weeks then find homes for. But after all of this, she wandered around the house and outside sniffing and looking for her puppies. It was the saddest thing ever!!!

So now, I'm definitely backing Bob Barker! It has been so sad to see Hondo go through this!

Handsome Men

2009-01-25T11:18:00.000-08:00

The boys got their pics taken a little over a week ago and I am just now getting around to posting them. Aidan was such a cooperative child (getting his pics taken the past 2 years was like pulling teeth) and Ethan wanted no part of the whole experience. The boys wore their cowboy boots & hats in memory of PapaDad, plus the fact that they LOVE any excuse to wear them!

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-01-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

We were going to spend the holidays at the Stuart Cabin in Colorado. But with everything going on, we decided to stay home. BUT we really needed to GET OUT OF TOWN for a bit. So, thanks to Robyn, Donnie, & Blake, we got to take a short trip to the Grapevine/Dallas area right before New Year's. We went to the Rainforest Cafe--which we had never experienced.

Blake & AJ thought it was cool sitting next to an aquarium.

All of the animals came to life about every 10 minutes--which scared Ethan to death!!! We were sitting only yards away from this huge gorilla that was just in view for my little man...he would FREAK OUT each time the gorilla came to life. So we braced ourselves every 10 minutes! But it was a fun experience, aside from that! We got to celebrate Blake's 3rd b-day with a HUGE Volcano cake with ice cream (my fav) that we all devoured in less than 5 minutes.

We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge. It is an indoor water park. My boys LOVE water, so it was the perfect get-away for them. There was a lazy river, wave pool, little tikes area, slides for every age group. There was a massive bucket that dumped a huge amt of water every 8 minutes or so (we steered clear of that...the pressure from that amount of water was strong enough to send Ethan flying). We had good times.

The husbands went down the "Howling Tornado" slide, then they took the boys upstairs to our room and FORCED the moms to go do the same slide. We sucked it up and did it. It was frightening!!! I know, I'm getting weak with my old age but it was truly SCARY and FUN!!!

AJ & Ethan had a GREAT time!!! We needed the break!

Thanks to Robyn & Donnie for a great trip.

Feeling the Love

2009-01-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of those who have supported us during this difficult time. I can't believe the love that we feel from all our family and friends. You truly have been examples of Christlike love. Thank you for the kind cards and notes, the phone calls, the FOOD, the thoughts and prayers. We feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such caring people. Thanks to our friends who have distracted us and helped us to have a fun break ... the constant invites, the get-togethers, the last minute trip, hunting, shopping, EATING!!! I know Dave would want us to have fun, although that's not what we want, I'm glad we have so many people around us forcing us into it!
I'm so glad that we have testimonies that God has a plan for all of us. I don't know how we could get through this without that knowledge. We know that Jesus Christ lived and died so that we can return to live with Him and that we have the opportunity to be SEALED together as ETERNAL families. We WILL see David again! And right now, Heavenly Father has him hard at work...there's no way that sweet man could be sitting still even in the Spirit World!
Again, thank you so much for all of the love and support.

Til' We Meet Again

2008-12-21T13:42:00.000-08:00

Our sweet father and grandfather David passed away on Thursday, Dec. 18th.I've never known someone who has had a bigger impact on our life than our Captain Fun, David. He is James' best friend and Aidan's biggest hero. His fun-natured spirit and optimism is so contagious and it is so easy to gravitate toward him. I can see why Heavenly Father needs him. But it's hard not to be selfish and want him here with us. I'm still speaking in the present tense because it doesn't seem real. Here are a few precious memories of him with his two grandsons. I hope through this pictures the boys (at least Aidan) can remember how extraordinary their grandpa was and that he LOVED them with all of his heart.

Here's a few of our precious memories:

Aidan placed his (black) cowboy hat right next to PapaDad's.

Ethan has been learning how to say "PapaDad".

Aidan's last trip to Colorado with PapaDad.

Uncle Brian came into town last April.
Feeding Ethan a bottle, when Ethan was a baby.
Dave put Aidan on a horse as soon as he could walk.
This was last year, Dave wanted to help Aidan paint a Christmas tree for us (Mom & Dad).

It was wonderful having PapaDad (and Gramms, and Jolynn) go trick-o-treating with us this Halloween.
Aidan & "PapaDad" were attached at the hip...wherever PapaDad was, Aidan was close behind.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

2008-12-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

This is 2 days late, but our internet was down on Monday. I tried to load a wedding pic, but my scanner's not cooperating!

Happy Anniversary, J! I can't believe it's been SEVEN years!!! The years have flown by. It's seems like only yesterday when were married the day after finals! We thought that was stressful...now, our anniversary falls right smack in the middle of law school finals; in fact, you had a final the morning of our anniversary. Thanks for sacrificing a few hours from your civ pro studying to take me out! I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing person. I would have such a colorless life without your random spontaneity and constant dry humor. We'll be able to fully celebrate when we are at the cabin in 9 DAYS!!! I can't wait to hit the slopes (um, literally...on my bum) with you. Maybe someday I can figure out that carving business that you have perfected. Happy A, babe!

In Memory of Elder Wirthlin

2008-12-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles passed away Monday night. I feel like I have a relationship with the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles through their words of encouragement and counsel. Their messages all seem to be directed to me personally, which I know they are. Just as when President Hinckley died, it is so bittersweet to know that Elder Wirthlin is no longer with us here but will be greeted by the Savior and family on the other side of the veil. I was really touched by his talk given at the October session of General Conference. I had to work that Saturday, so I went back to read the talks given that day. The title of his talk drew me in and I'm so glad that I read it! I wanted to share some of my favorite parts of his talk.

Come What May, and Love It

"There may be some who think that General Authorities rarely experience pain, suffering, or distress. If only that were true. While every man and woman on this stand today has experienced an abundant measure of joy, each also has drunk deeply from the cup of disappointment, sorrow, and loss. The Lord in His wisdom does not shield anyone from grief or sadness.
"For me, the Lord has opened the windows of heaven and showered blessings upon my family beyond my ability to express. Yet like everyone else, I have had times in my life when it seemed that the heaviness of my heart might be greater than I could bear. During those times I think back to those tender days of my youth when great sorrows came at the losing end of a football game.
"How little I knew then of what awaited me in later years. But whenever my steps led through seasons of sadness and sorrow, my mother’s words often came back to me: “Come what may, and love it.

"How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."

How true is that? Our reactions and attitude toward the adversity we face in life can actually affect our success and happiness in life. Life is soooo unfair. There are things that we go through personally that make us think, "Heavenly Father, what did I do wrong to deserve this???" But I love what Elder Wirthlin points out:

"Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences...stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others."

Plus, he adds that the Savior understands our suffering and grief because of the great suffering he went through.

I love it that he points out that "the Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

I'm so glad that Elder Wirthlin was able to share this message before meeting his wife on the other side. We ALL face adversity in many different shapes and forms. It is necessary that we face sorrow, grief, and despair so that we can recognize the happiness, joy, and triumph in our lives. On the Lord's timetable, we will understand and see the blessings from our adversities. You will be missed Elder Wirthlin!

Don't mess with a Law student's Laptop

2008-11-18T05:58:00.000-08:00

Law school is so stressful in general. A few weeks ago James had to take his laptop to the computer lab at school to get it checked out before finals. You see, they take their finals on their laptops. After leaving the lab, James went back to work and turned his computer on. Well, his computer ended up crashing. FANTASTIC! Everyone had told James to back up all of his notes...but it was a brand spanking new computer, why would he need to back everything up? Besides, he already has too much to do! So he did not back up any of his information. Well, the lab couldn't bring back any of his info. Great. We took the laptop back to Best Buy, and they too could not find all of his notes for the entire semester. So after this experience, we can completely understand the feelings of the law student in this article...please read! It's great!

http://www.switched.com/2008/11/14/why-you-should-never-try-to-steal-a-law-students-laptop/?rss

James has less than a month left of the first semester at OCU! I'm so excited to get my husband back for a short time. All we have to do is make it through finals. Good luck honey!!!

Get my kicks on Route 66

2008-11-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I did it again. I ran my 2nd half marathon. The Tulsa Route 66 Marathon was this past weekend. James & I went down Saturday night, stayed in an awesome Marriott hotel, then I raced while he cheered me on the next morning.

I'm writing a detailed account of my experience with my 2nd half marathon. Please feel free to skip the details...I'm mostly writing them for my own record, so I can look back and compare future races to this one. This was definitely a different experience compared to my first half marathon. I've never felt more prepared for anything than I did this race. I had no idea what obstacles I might have to overcome. I was soooooo excited to start running to see what I could accomplish. TRAINING: I had slowly worked up my mileage (just as I did last time) but I ran quite a bit more. I usually ran a max of 20 miles per week last spring but this time around I would run up to 27 miles per week. Most of my training was outdoors (as compared to treadmill training in the cold pre-spring training). I'd run around 6:30am, before James left for school. On days that James had to get to school early I would put the kids in the jogging stroller around 9am and run the Lake Hefner trails. That was a new experience. It's a lot harder to run while pushing my two children. But over time, it got easier. I had worked up to running 6 miles while pushing the jogger!!! Of course, I would include an occasional kickboxing, boot camp, or toning class and run a few miles after the class. The last long run we did was 12 miles. We even tapered nicely that last week. I drank tons of water the whole week before the race, planned my pre-race meals, etc. Every "t" was crossed, every "i" was dotted, I was as prepared as I could possibly be.

One major difference between the OKC 1/2 and this one was that I trained with a partner. I've never ever ran with anyone else. I was always afraid that I would hold them back because I've always been such a slow runner. But I didn't realize how fun it would be to chat with someone as I was running. When I told her I was training for the Tulsa 1/2 marathon, Gretchen was totally on board. She awesomely worked around my work schedule. We did almost every run together. Our long runs were cake because we would talk the entire time...they run would just fly by. I was so excited to be able to run 10 miles and feel like I could easily run more. That was a first!!!

Race Day

I was PUMPED!!! I woke up at 6 am with major butterflies, but I knew that I couldn't be anymore ready to finish a race. Saturday was WINDY & COLD. But Sunday highs were supposed to be in the 60s and not as windy (like 10mph instead of 20 like Sat.). And surely by 9am it would start to warm up. It was chilly...the guys were wearing heavy coats and we had to jog around a bit to warm up. I was really worried about having to pee during the race, so we started looking for port-a-potties. Oh boy, I think everyone that was racing that day (all 1,633 of them) were in line. So we devised a plan (SEE THE FOLLOWING VIDEO):

Our Ladies' Room Renovation

The funny thing was that(aside from the fact that there was a huge gap right where I squatted, so everyone standing in line for the port-a-potties could most likely see my bum) a group of gals came up and asked if they could use our carefully designed ladies' room. It was awesome. The husbands started cheering us on as we left the facilities. So, now that we were relieved...we made our way to the starting line.

Let the race begin!!!

I love the way Tulsa does their marathon. The actual marathoners started at 7am, and then the 1/2 marathon began at 9am (got to sleep in!!!). That cut the crowd down significantly. We made our way as close to the front as we could...that would not have been possible had the crowd included marathoners. As we began, we were only 20-30 seconds behind guntime (as compared to 10 MINUTES in the OKC marathon). James couldn't quite figure out where we were in this video but it gives you a good idea how many people participated.

Miles 1-2

The first 2 miles were wonderful. I had great music playing on my IPOD, the cold breeze felt amazing, and our pace felt great. Let me back up, we had a certain average pace in mind for this race. We did not want to go too much faster or slower than that pace. So we set our GPS watches so that they'd alarm if our pace was 30 sec. faster or slower than that goal pace (if that makes sense). So, we wanted to maintain a 8:30 min/mile pace; the watch would alarm if we went faster than 8:15 or slower than 8:45. This ended up being a big mistake. It's hard to keep our pace within that 30 second window...the stupid alarm was CONSTANTLY going off. Our pace was pretty fast at first (like 7:30ish) but it felt GOOD. It didn't feel like we were sprinting, we were just running at a comfortable pace. Everytime we heard the alarm, we just smiled, not even thinking about slowing down. Our gloves and long-sleeved shirts came off after 1 1/2 miles. The first 2 miles were probably one of the big highlights of this run for me. It felt AMAZING.

Mile 3 1/2

Marcy (Gretchen's mom--in the yellow coat above) and the husbands cheered us on at 3 1/2 miles. Our pace was evening out to be a perfect 8:30 min/mile pace. We had just had the first water station. I grabbed the first cup I saw and started drinking before I realized it was Gatorade. Ugghhh! Don't get me wrong, I like Gatorade, but NOT during a run. I want clear, crisp, clean H2O. Something that actually quenches my thirst. For some reason, the first water station seemed to throw me off. My breathing was all messed up, my pace slowed, and after we passed the station, that is when we saw our families.
As soon as we passed our cheerleaders, I started feeling a bit of a stitch in my left side. Uh-oh. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a side stitch during a run. This was bad news. I ignored it and it seemed to go away. But then about a mile later, it came back with a force. It went from an annoying stitch to a full blown cramp. This is when I started grunting as I exhaled. Gretchen turned and asked if I was okay. I couldn't talk. I just shook my head "no." With her cross-country background, she always has good tidbits of advice. She said to inhale twice, then breath out with a force. It worked. In a few minutes the cramp lessened back to an annoying stitch.
The course looped the first 3 1/2 miles, then went straight down a highway and back up to make 7 1/2 miles. This is when our cheerleaders met up with us again.
Close to 8 miles

The last time the families saw us we were all smiles, this time they could tell we were tired. Although I had a smile on my face, they could see past that. I was hurting.

The left sided cramp was now accompanied by a right side stitch. What is going on??? This race was supposed to be cake, and here I am struggling to run a distance I've run many times before. I had a good morale boost when my darling husband began running next to me (see the video below). He handed me an opened package of Gu (orange is really good, by the way), and a mini pop-top bottle of agua. He asked how I was doing. All I could say was "Cramp" "Cramp in side" "Hurting." I did manage a "Thank you" and "I love you."

The Hills are Alive

(This is a down hill section of the race. I wish we could have gotten a picture of one of the main hills!)
So really, the course was flat the first 8 miles...then the fun began. Once we got past the straight highway that paralleled the Arkansas River, we started going through neighborhoods. The one thing I heard about this course was "It's pretty hilly toward the end. Especially one particular hill." I took that to be a challenge, but now it seemed to be my worst enemy. As I'm struggling to keep running with my left cramp and my right stitch, we begin the first incline. Gretchen said "Don't look up, just look at your feet." I did as coach told me. This is when I felt those muscles I used when training with the jogging stroller. It actually felt pretty good. My leg muscles ached so bad that it distracted me from my abdominal cramping! The downhills were amazing!!! I felt like I was flying again. It was wonderful, feeling GOOD again as I ran. I thought it was just going to be small rolling hills from then on out because someone had informed me that there was only one large hill. Um, I'm not sure how she could have forgotten about this next hill. I blurted an obscenity as I looked ahead(I'm already breaking the sabbath, I was just adding to my list of things to repent about later). I then see some men that had passed us that were now walking. I had to tell myself that this is a mental game. When seeing others walk, it automatically makes me think, "This is too difficult, I need to walk as well. Especially with this side cramp." But some stubborn side of me screamed "RUN!" "DON'T STOP!" Then I saw a wonderful crowd of people cheering us on. At the top of the hill, there was a band rockin' out. It was just what I needed. We continued on our way. But so did the stupid side cramp. By this time, we were at about mile 10. I knew I'd see my sweet husband soon. I had to put my poker face back on.
Mile 10--Agony

This was as good as it got. A wave. No fake smile. Just a wave. I couldn't do anything else.

Off we went to battle 2 more miles of hilly terrain.

The End is Near

I had memorized the elevation chart of this course before the race. I knew that the last mile was flat and down hill. That should be a great time to pick up the pace and finish strong. I had nothing left. I had used most of my reserves. At this point, I kept telling myself that if I stopped running and started walking that the agony would continue for a longer period of time. "Keep running and the misery will end sooner." Gretchen's pace would begin to increase, I would drop back a foot. Then, something inside me pushed me forward to run beside her. I started to watch her feet. "Left, right, left right." I then mimicked her pace "Left, right, left, right." There was a couple ahead of us wearing fluorescent yellow. Coach Gretchen said, "Keep your eye on the girl in yellow." That's what I did. I didn't let the girl in yellow out of my sight. I seemed to have multiple personality disorder at this point because my head is screaming a hundred different commands at me: "STOP!" "KEEP GOING!" "Inhale twice, exhale strong" "The side stitch is the perfect excuse to quit" "Left, right, left, right." "WALK!" "Don't lose the girl in yellow."
I wanted to tell Gretchen to go on ahead of me, but I had no extra breath to utter a single word. At one point, I looked up to find my fluorescent yellow focal point to see that she was just a few yards ahead (instead of a few 100 ft as she was before). She was slowing down, we were speeding up! We had 1/2 a mile to go. "I've done so many 1/2 miles before, I can make it." But this half mile was different. I was in total excruciating pain. I had now had a side cramp for close to 10 miles straight. I had also rubbed a blister on my right arch (with shoes I've worn on every run with no problems for the past 8 months), which was not even an issue at all in comparison to the cramping. I would have been in tears if I had any energy left to cry. But then I could hear the overhead speaker. I could hear the crowd at the finish line. The end was near! I couldn't WAIT to see that finish line. I started thinking to myself, with each step, "one forty-nine" (that was my dream goal time 1 hr 49 min). The last 1/4 mile, Gretchen said "This is it." I motioned for her to go ahead. She had this look about her...like a true athlete. Although tired, she was so focused on her goal. She lowered her head, picked up the pace, and SPRINTED to the finish line. As I kept my pace, I could see the finish line. But I knew I wasn't doing well because there were 2 blurry finish lines ahead of me. I was actually seeing double! I heard overhead the announcement that "Gretchen Bowman" had just crossed the finished line. I was so excited for her. Then, there it was! The chip mat! I stepped across it only to discover that it was 1 of 2 mats. I trudged on (I'm really curious what I looked like at that very moment! ha!) to the actual finish line. There it was! I did it! I did it! I ran 'til the end! A blurry version of Gretchen was ahead of me. She asked if I was okay. NO, I was not. I practically fainted on her. If she wasn't standing at that very spot, I would have been on the ground. As she caught me, a medic came to my rescue. He lead me to a chair. My heart was racing, my head was pounding, my respirations were rapid & labored and not slowing down. But all I could do was SMILE. I've never had an experience where I could be in such excruciating pain but be extremely exhilirated at the same exact time. This must be what natural childbirth is like (though birth is so much worse, of course). I wouldn't know because I had easy labors and great working epidurals with both children.

As I sat in the chair, I watched as half marathoners and marathoners crossed the finish line. They had such triumphant expressions on their faces. I even saw fluorescent yellow man cross. I didn't even notice that I had passed him!!! (By the way, Gretchen sprinted ahead at the end to beat the early 20-something girl in yellow) I gulped 2 bottles of water and 1 gatorade as my breathing slowed. The nurse then moved me to the tent because the beating sun was making me nauseous. I then gulped another bottle of water and was working on my next gatorade when James came to the rescue. It was so good to see him. I was crying. I had to keep telling them that I was okay, they were tears of joy!!! My body language would not have been defined as a description of "joy."

Oh yeah, where's my metal?

After 30 minutes (and a first class trip to the port-a-potty...no line, woohoo!) of "recovery" I got up. Gretchen then informed me that I had not walked far enough past the finish line to get my chip clipped off and receive my metal. I totally forgot all of that was waiting for me! I excitedly perched my foot up on the bar for the volunteer to cut off my chip. Then, with wobbly legs and a huge grin, I got my metal.

This was not the experience I had 7 months ago. My first half marathon, I never hit a wall, I enjoyed my surroundings, and felt an INCREDIBLE since of accomplishment as I crossed the finish line with my final time being an astounding 1 hr and 56 minutes. Less than 2 hours!!! I had accomplished all of my goals and then some. This time, I felt incredibly prepared, had a great running partner, and an agonizing journey. But I'm not writing about all of the negative aspects of my experience to talk myself out of running. No, that's not what I took from this at all. I can think of times in my life when I have quit. For one reason or the other, I have made an excuse and gone a different path. I had many opportunities to quit in this race. But I continued to endure. I don't know why this race was so painful, when I've been comfortably running for the past year. But although I had a rough time, I ENDURED! I am so proud of myself. Not just for completing 13.1 miles in a race. But for doing it under poor circumstances beyond my control. And by doing so, I shaved 6 minutes off my best 1/2 marathon time, I got 15th place in my age group (out of 147), and hopefully the next race won't be so agonizing!!!

James took this picture of us walking the 2 miles back to the truck after the race.

Thank you, James, for supporting me in my early morning runs and my OCD behavior about the race. Thank you for joining me this weekend in Tulsa to watch me suffer doing something I am really starting to love. I love you so much.

Swim Lessons

2008-11-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

AJ's been taking swim lessons again recently. He's in a class of 5 boys. Bonnie (teacher) is getting them used to swimming without their float belts. Aidan swims really well with a little assistance from the belt or a noodle. But once you take them away, his treading needs a bit of work. I'm so proud of him, he's been a trooper and really likes to swim. I'm hoping he can learn to swim without any flotation device by next summer.

Trick O' Treat!

2008-11-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Halloween night, the Kuykendalls' were gracious enough to let us into Oak Tree to go trick or treating in a safe, gated off neighborhood. It was so warm! The boys were in great moods! And so many houses handed out huge candy bars! Score!

My James and the James mini-me, AJ (aka Batman).

We had a blast with the Bowmans' (Brooks stayed home with Nana because of his hurt leg...he ended up having surgery 2 days later), Grams & Grandad, Heidi & her fam, and Jo Hollingsworth. We went around dusk, so that we had a bit of time with sunlight and enough time in the dark for the boys to have the whole t-o-t experience.

AJ & Yadon RAN house to house, rang the doorbell like 5 times, then attempted to go INTO each house. I didn't realize the mixed signals trick or treating gives...you try to keep your kids safe by telling them to not talk to strangers or take candy from strangers, don't go into strangers homes, then turn around and let them go house to house to get candy from complete strangers.

That must be confusing for 3 yr olds.

It was fun to see T.O. He was a cute 3 Horn. Ethan was also one of the big boys. Again, he would NOT let go of his treat bag or the pirate sword.

But both of those items weighed him down so that he could not run as fast as the big boys.

Trick Or Treat!!!

Best Costume!!!

2008-11-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

We went to a FUN halloween par-tay this year. The 1L group got together at Paul & Amanda's to celebrate. Only one problemo...costumes were mandatory. Ugghhhhh!!! Stuarts, at least these Stuarts, don't dress up. It's in our instruction manual. We must be party poopers. We'll go to Halloween parties...but in street clothes. But now that we are stressfully getting through our first year of law school, we needed a little comic relief. We went to this great costume shop and had a blast trying on costumes. I liked the idea of Cleopatra and Marc Antony, with the heavy eyeliner for me and the roman helmet for J. But what really sealed the deal was when James donned the sexy-rexy breast plate. Oh my, that was it for me! I didn't realize the attention the breastplate nipples would receive. We had so much fun dressing up! I can't believe we haven't done it in the past. We even won BEST COSTUME!!! Not bad for costume virgins.
The hosts...Paul & Amanda were Jane Austin characters (Darcy and Elizabeth...I think).

Amanda is so amazing; she made BOTH costumes in their entirety.

They should have won best costume...but there's some rule that the hosts can't compete.

Of course, there had to be a Bella & Edward (aka Chelsea & ).

Way to support Steph Meyer, Chelsea!

Lindy & Holt were Idaho State Penetentiary Inmates
(There's an inside joke to this one, I won't share...)

Dan was "Wonder Boy" & Leisel dressed up as "Dan".

It was impressive how many mannerisms of Dan's that Leisel mimicked.

Willow & Andrew had great makeup! Nobody recognized them.

It was funny how many people took double and triple takes before realizing WHO they were.

School Halloween Party

2008-11-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

At school, they had a Halloween pizza party. They ate pizza and got to go trick or treating.

Aidan got to show off his Batman. He was so excited.

These are some shots before leaving for school.

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!!

2008-11-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

AJ loves the story of the 3 little pigs. He likes the part where the wolf huffs, puffs, and blows the house down! And he also likes to repeat in a high pitched voice, "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!" That story is one of our bedtime staples.
Check out that arm!!

Batman Yadon sure can throw!

Yadon & Brooks' nana made them their cute batman & superman costumes.

Storybook Forest

2008-11-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

Storybook forest was a big hit. It was so warm and the boys were in good moods (except in this picture. Aidan's laying on the ground, in his standard shy pose). We did the hayride first, while it was still light out. Then we hit the forest...they did a great job displaying the different nursery rhymes and classic stories. The boys were running from candy bowl to candy bowl. I think AJ's favorite part (besides sword-fighting with Yadon) was roasting hot dogs over the fire. He loves anything that has to do with food.

Arrrrgghhhhhhh Matey

2008-11-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

My sweet lil' PIRATE! What a handsome guy! He LOVED being a pirate. He would NOT let go of the sword for the life of him. He wouldn't let go of the treat bag either. If I tried to take the bag away, he would throw a massive tantrum.
He likes to be one of the big boys. When they played games at Storybook Forest, he was standing in line with them. He loved the bean bag toss. He actually threw the bean bag through the hole! Mom is so proud!

Brooks' leg was hurting too bad to walk through the forest, so him and Ethan got a free ride in the stroller. It didn't last too long because they wanted to run around with the big boys.

Look at that face!!!!

Now, aren't pirates supposed to be cranky? There's no way Ethan would pass for a gnarly, disgusting, treasure-stealing, angry pirate (though missing a front tooth does give him an advantage).

More Soccer Pics

2008-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

What a fun soccer season! AJ had such a great time this year! He actually played! And though dribbling the ball was not his number one priority, he really liked being out on the field, running, and playing around with his buddies. I'm glad we stuck it out and he actually ended up having a good time. I'm sure he's going to miss practicing and game day with his buddies. He's taking swim lessons again, maybe that will keep him busy until the holidays. Thanks for the great season Tigers!

Go Tigers!

2008-11-03T11:41:00.000-08:00

These are a few of the sweet pics from Picture day. I was a little bummed that the photographer only snapped one pic of Aidan. He didn't even have a chance to crack a smile (not that he would have for the camera). Oh well. Everyone looks great!

He Shoots, He Scores!!!

2008-09-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here's the video of AJ's first goal! Check out how Dyson takes the ball across the field, has the chance to shoot, but then stops and passes it to Haley. Then Aidan ALMOST picks up the ball, but decides to use his feet instead. What a solid, strong kick, AJ! Good job!

Secret Weapon

2008-09-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

Who IS that handsome boy in the red socks on the Tiger soccer team? Did they get a new player? A secret weapon? That's right folks...Aidan Stuart decided to grace the YMCA soccer world with his presence. No longer a spectator from the sidelines. No longer a cheerleader. He BROUGHT IT on Saturday. He decided, after 1 1/2 seasons, to show off his soccer skills in public at an actually game! As parents of this timid child, we received some grief from others (and secretly felt it as well) about why we were forcing our child to do something he OBVIOUSLY did NOT want to do. But I knew that with Aidan, everything takes time...Aidan's timing. He has to test the water before jumping in. But once he's in, he can't help but splash around and have a blast. He was not only out on the soccer field, but he was basking in the moment. He was playing around with his buddies, running after the ball, and--best of all--he was SMILING and LAUGHING and having a great time. I wanted Aidan to try soccer again this season because I knew that if he tried it, JUST ONCE, that he would have fun. I just wanted him to have a good time!!! Quite frequently, the boys and I go to the gym and Ethan & Aidan get to play with some of his Tiger soccer teammates pretty consistently. He gets excited to go to the gym to play with them. I KNOW without a doubt that this has made him realize how fun it is to play on a team with his friends from the gym. Sam and Ben ran up to him at the beginning of the game on Saturday and asked him if he would go out on the field with them. At first he said "No, not yet." Then as soon as they ran out onto the field, he said, "I wanna play soccer." At first, I was thinking, "No, they already have 4 on the field." then I thought, "What the heck am I thinking, GRETCHEN! Aidan wants to play!!!" Out he went! He threw the ball in from the sidelines, he ran after the ball, and...he SCORED A GOAL!! His first official game and he SCORED!!! My little secret weapon. I am so proud of him. He overcame one of his fears! What a great accomplishment at 3. Thanks to our fair coaches and the whole team for supporting Aidan in being a time hog the entire game.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-09-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

Grams & I took the kids to a pumpkin patch in Perkins last week.

There were soooo many healthy sized pumpkins, I was so excited!!

Ethan loved picking out pumpkins, which of course he called "balls".

Aidan slept through most of the trip, so I didn't get any shots of him.

But Aidan thought it was fun too.

Kodie & Ethan

My Supermen

2008-09-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

I found these darling jammies at Target. Aidan is really into super heroes right now, so they are perfect. They even have detachable capes! The boys have been running around the house with their capes flying in the wind.

Opal Lake

2008-07-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post one of my favorite parts of the trip. Opal Lake is a beautiful spot which was one of James and my camping spots from pre-parenthood. It is beautiful! The surrounding mountains and lush green trees reflect into the beautiful "lake" (large pond). And there are nice flat areas perfect for camping. We decided to take everyone there on a day hike. It is a mile hike straight up the mountain. Half went by horseback and the other half went on foot. James and I enjoyed walking (with James toting along little Ethan in our Kelty backpack) and of course Aidan rode good ol' Gunner. I am absolutely amazed at Aidan's skill at only 3 years old. He was able to ride via horseback through the rough terrain the entire hour and 15 minute hike without use of the stirrups. He never lost his center, keeping his balance through the steep inclines and decents. He was so comfortable, he even sang as we went! Ethan LOVED riding in the backpack. He could actually see the world from our level without exerting any energy! Just as Aidan did when he was small, Ethan fell asleep a few times while hiking. Opal Lake is one of my favorite places!

Exhausted after a long trip!

2008-07-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful time in Colorado this summer. We spent hours soaking in the hot tub, went on peaceful walks, painful runs uphill from the Allen's cabin, had time to shop (Allie) and golf (James) and horseback ride (Aidan). We saw many wild animals--elk, deer, raccoons, marmots, hummingbirds, and we even saw a BEAR jet across the road in front of the bus the day we left! We enjoyed spending time with family and friends.
We can't wait until the Blanco Basin is covered in blankets of snow.

Maybe it will be a good time to get Aidan in a pair of skis.
But until then, we're gonna get to bed. We're exhausted!

Our Spot

2008-07-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a small memory of where our little family began. In August of 2001, James and I knew we loved each other and wanted to begin a life together but it wasn't official. I was able to take a trip to the cabin with him and one Sunday morning, we grabbed a fishing pole, threw our scriptures in a backpack, and took the ten minute hike from the cabin to the river. We found a spot on the rocks to sit and read scriptures for our impromptu "church". James then asked, through tear-filled eyes, if I would be his eternal companion and begin a life with him. I realized he was holding an open box with a sparkling solitaire engagement ring. It was so peaceful with the flowing water rushing by and so romantic with the gorgeous mountains surrounding us. There was no other place in the world that I wanted to be at that moment. We now have this wonderful spot to always remember and come back to. And now we are able to share it with our children.

Life is a journey, not a destination

2008-07-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Here's an awesome shot of the sunset from the sideview mirror.
Aidan and Ethan were good sports.

They never complained, they just went with the flow.

We did hit a pretty good afternoon rain storm on the way back home before Angelfire. It lasted, oh I don't know, 15 minutes. It was perfect.
There's our three children cozy in the back. The way back home took us about 20 hours. Once we got to the Panhandle of Oklahoma, it was torturous. That part of the drive is booooooring. I'm not sure I'm up for such a long trip in the green machine anytime soon.
But I wouldn't trade our experience for anything. It was so worth it.

Goin' Green

2008-07-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

James has always wanted to make the drive to the cabin in the bus. It has always been vetoed because either I was pregnant or our kids were too young. But this year was the perfect time with the boys being such sturdy ages...they could handle a little heat (NO a/c).
We took the longer, scenic route through Taos instead of the standard I-40 route.

James had SUCH a good time driving the bus through the scenic passes.

Okay ladies, you know how it is with the window rolled down and your hair blowing in your face? I was such the trooper b/c I had my hair in my face the ENTIRE drive. I couldn't even run my fingers through it when we arrived to CO. BTW, in this pic I'm reading Stephenie Meyer's "The Host", anybody read it?
My favorite part was when it rained for a split second and then smelled like pine trees and fresh rain, we wouldn't have experienced that with the windows rolled up and the a/c blasting.
Normal Estimated Time to Arrive to Pagosa Springs: 12 hrs

Stuart's Total Time to Arrive to Pagosa Springs: 16+ hrs

Memorable Family Road Trip: Priceless

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive."---Robert Louis Stevenson

4th of July

2008-07-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Since we were in Colorado for Independence Day, we went to the Pagosa Springs parade. There was a pretty good turn out and it was HOT (well, when I say "hot" what I mean is like upper 80s- early 90 degrees! NICE!). The boys had a great time and loved all the free candy.
Ethan wanted to check out the crowd, he kept walking off toward the people across the street. We should have brought Hondo's leash for him.
After the parade, we ate at this great deli, checked out the river in town, and then had ice cream cones on the way out of town.
Ethan LOVED his cone. We tried to take it a few times since it was melting rapidly, but he threw a massive fit. It was one battle we let him win and he was a big ice creamy mess.

Aidan went to the rodeo that afternoon with his grandparents and everyone else. James & I took Ethan back to the cabin to take a nap. We then met everyone in town for mexican food and soaking at the hot springs. We watched the fireworks from the hot springs. I was in the 98 degree swimming pool with Ethan. It was perfect. We had a great 4th of July.

S'more Fun

2008-07-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

We made a fire pit in the front yard.

Aidan was sitting in his co-pilot chair next to his best friend "Papa Dad". Ethan wanted to get as close as he could to the fire,

so we had to distract him with pieces of graham cracker.

Hare Pasture

2008-07-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to go in the Blanco Basin is the Hare Pasture. It's very close to the cabin. It's a huge open meadow surrounded by massive gorgeous mountains. Right now, as you can see, it is lush and green. It's leased out to cattle ranchers who need a good feeding ground for their cattle. In the winter time it is a BLAST to take the snowmobiles out there to make fresh tracks and sometimes find good jumps.
Having the horses there made it a fun way to explore.
Patriarch Wade just loves that horse of his, Rusty.

He kept saying, "I feel like I've died and gone to heaven."
GOR-GEOUS

4 Wheelin'

2008-07-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Aidan looks more like James every day.
While at the cabin, we loved taking the boys on scenic 4 wheeler rides.

Aidan has grown up on these things, he knows exactly how to start it...

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

One of the many views of the mountains in the Blanco Basin.

Look at Mom go!

If we ever have trouble getting the boys down for naps at the cabin, the 4 wheeler or the snowmobile do wonders!

Premature Toothfairy Visit

2008-07-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Aidan & Ethan love to play together. Aidan is a great big bro and Ethan follows Aidan wherever he goes. Tuesday, June 17th the boys and James were at my parents house waiting for me to get off work. Ethan was playing in front of the fireplace. He bent over to pick up a toy (in front of the stone step of the fireplace) and just at that moment, Aidan came charging to give a bear hug or tackle him or some other playful gesture. Ethan rammed into the stone step, with his front teeth catching his fall. From what I heard, it was mass chaos with blood everwhere and both boys crying uncontrollably. When I got there, James was rocking Ethan on the front porch swing with Ethan sound asleep and James' entire shirt covered in blood. We knew his 2 front teeth were knocked out of place but we didn't know the extent of the damage. They looked like they were pushed back toward the roof of his mouth, but he was in so much pain that we couldn't see very well. We were on the phone with every dentist we knew: Mike Hansen, Johnny Jeffrey, Mark Allen was out of town, and Benj Bowman was luckily in town and just happened to be across the street from our neighborhood eating dinner when we called. He came right over and was able to look at Ethan's teeth and pull them forward back into place again. He recommended making an appt with a great pediatric dentist, Brent Moody, who we were able to see the next morning. Dr. Moody noticed that three of his four front teeth were totally loose, but said not to do anything but wait and see what happens.

So, here's what happened....

His front right incisor kept coming out little by little until he looked kinda snaggly-toothed, like he does in this photo! When it first happened, I was so upset that he might lose a tooth at such an early age. But then I realized how silly that big ol' tooth looked in his tiny cute mouth, I thought "LET'S PULL IT OUT!!!". While in Colorado at the cabin, James wanted to see how loose the tooth was. As he touched the tooth, Ethan promptly turned his head and POP, the tooth came out. James distracted him with a popsicle and he didn't even cry.
The other two teeth popped back into place and are no longer loose. Here's our toothless child.

I think he looks so cute without that front tooth!

And he's most definitely happier since that tooth came out.

We'll be comin' round the mountain...

2008-07-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

Look at that scenary!!!
I see it every year and yet it seems more beautiful each time we visit.
Me and Chama had some good bonding time on this trip.

Aidan is more comfortable on a horse than I am.
Here he is on Gunner.

Grams & Papa Dad have both loved horses since childhood.
Grams, Aidan, and Chaco.

Here's the 3 1/2 amigos...David on Gunner,
Melissa & Aidan on Chaco, and Arnold Wade on
his horse, Rusty.

Stacy's Wedding Shower

2008-07-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Stacy's shower went really well. Rhonda Clemens generously let us host Stacy's shower in her home. There was an excellent turn out, great food, and Stacy scored some good gifts. All the ladies that came are dear friends of the Stuart family and graciously support us in all of our life changes. I remember one of my showers was at Jan Larsen's and there were TONS of people there. I still use the great gifts I received 6 1/2 yrs ago. I love it that we have a community of caring friends and family to help us celebrate life!

Family pics from wedding

2008-07-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

Ethan Edward, one of 3 loves of my life.

Scott and Stacy's Wedding

2008-07-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to have new additions to our family. Scott and Stacy were married on June 6th and now we have a great new sister-I-L and two beautiful cousins for Aidan & Ethan. We are so glad Scott has found someone that makes him happy.
There's Father-in-law David on the left and her dad Tom on the right.
Scott and his daughter, Kody.
The bride's mom and sisters.
Her dress was amazing! I wish I had better pics of it.

(Tom is carring Jonte.)

Lil' Fish

2008-05-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

That smile explains it all. Aidan loves being in the pool. He has done really well with his swim lessons (especially compared to soccer). He's the youngest in his class, but he keeps up pretty well. His last lesson is the Thursday. He'll be sad for them to end, but the neighborhood pool opens this weekend, woo-hoo! We'll be doing a lot of swimming this summer for sure.
Kick those feet!
Splash! Splash! Splash! He kept his chin in the water, like he was told, with no fear.
I think his teacher had a crush on him.

More Swim Lesson Pics

2008-05-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Aidan jumping in the pool.

Each time he goes under water, he comes up with a huge smile on his face!
Water baby.

Gorgeous Oklahoma lake water

2008-05-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend was sooooo nice! I love it that it's getting warm now. So, my boat is supposed to be sitting on a street corner with a "For Sale" sign in the window to get us ready for law school, but we just couldn't resist taking it out to Lake Arcadia on Saturday. In fact, it's not even up for sale yet (what are we doing??!!). Even though the water was ice cold (and disgustingly brown), we loved riding around on the boat and James loves to be the captain of the ship, so to speak. I'm so glad Gwen (& Alex, not pictured) could come with us! Gwen was the brave one who got in the ice cold H2O. Way to show us wusses how to do it girl! Alex, Jeff, and Julie were conveniently not dressed to get in the water. But I soon had to take the plunge because Aidan was practically jumping in to Gwen and she needed a bit of help. I know, I'm sure many would not be caught dead swimming in water that looks like that, but I just tried not to think about it. After I got in the water, Ethan was crying real tears because he too NEEDED to get in the water. As soon as Julie lowered him down to me, he went from crying to laughing in no time flat. He loves water no matter the temperature (or the cleanliness). James tried to talk me into wakeboarding, but I was so cold that I didn't think I could hold on to the rope while shivering. I guess I am getting old.
Look at those blue skies, oh my goodness it was such a perfect day!

(The water doesn't look so bad in this pic either.)

Uncle Jeff & Aunt Julie
Ethan just had to take over the wheel.

The Perfect Family Sunday

2008-05-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Papa Dad loves taking the grandkids on a four-wheeler ride. That's Kody in the middle, she's Aidan & Ethan's future cousin (Scott and Stacy's wedding day is in less than a month!).
Here they are tooting their horns.

I love Sundays. They do seem hectic with getting the kids ready and not being able to hear a majority of the sacrament talks because our kids are so distracting, but at the same time I really enjoy the fact that we can partake of the sacrament each week and feel the spirit. I especially love Sundays because we get to spend time with our extended family. After this past Sunday, I've been reminiscing about how wonderful it is for James and I to live near both of our families. Our children have both sets of grandparents within 20 minutes of each other that they can see at the drop of a hat. Every Sunday, after church, we get together with either Papa & Grandma T-sa or with PapaDad & Grams. Whenever we see the Pruitt's, they also get to spend time with their older cousins Gwen and Alex and Aunt Grace. Ethan has shown a new adoration with Alex. He just laughs and laughs everytime he sees Alex. And Gwen just brings such light and spunkiness to our family. It's always fun to catch up with Grace and all of her work drama and new books she's in to.

When we go to the Stuart's, here is a rundown of our Sunday evening:

1. Grams: effortlessly cooks up a great meal with some amazing dessert that includes fresh fruit of the season.

2. Papa Dad: we can never find "Captain Fun" when it's time for dinner because he has some great project or adventure lined up for us. And when we do find him, he's covered in dirt from head to toe (from feeding the horses or some such thing).

3. Jeff: laughs at his own jokes

4. Julie: always has a witty comeback to James' teasing

5. Hillary: is the light of her nephew's eyes, they are always so excited to see her.

6. Scott & Stacy: their budding romance is fun to watch! It's especially fun to watch Scott interact with little Kody and Jante.

7. James: just like his Dad, we can never find him because he's off doing something else somewhere. But once we do find him, he is quickly taking on the "Captain Fun" role, by taking the kids fishing or out on the four wheeler.

8. Allie: chasing the kids, trying to keep them out of trouble.

9. Aidan and Kody: running around, loving the outdoors.

10. Ethan: trying to keep up with the big kids.

11. Jante: wanting to be mobile enough to keep up with the big kids.

I love sitting on Dave & Melissa's back porch, watching the kids play while we converse next to the burning chiminea. We are so blessed to have our family so close. I'm glad that James' was accepted to a law school here at home so we don't have to move away from our extended family. I always wanted to live closer to my grandparents, so at this time that is possible for my kids. I cherish the times that we are able to spend with our family and am so grateful to know that we will be able to live with our families together forever. We'll have all of these great little moments--and then some--to look back on and to continue to have in the future.

2008-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

It's not a perfect Sunday without Hondo's presence. She's our first baby. We were blessed with her back in '04 (she's now almost 5 yrs old). My boys love her so much. She loves to egg on the horses and, like any good cattle dog, she has NO interest in the cows whatsoever (that's our girl!), and most of all, likes to run around with her boy toy Logan (Scott's husky), who was once her "baby-daddy".

2008-05-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ethan bonding with Jante (way to share, big guy!).

2008-05-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

This kid is BRAVE. He fears nothing! When AJ was his age, he would cry when we'd bring him this close to the horses.
Bonding with Chaco.

2008-05-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Big man driving the big wheels!

2008-05-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Aidan is in LOVE with music. He sings in the car, plays the piano, and recently has really enjoyed strumming the guitar. Don't look too close, he's not wearing anything from the waist down (potty training and all).

2008-05-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the great season, Blue Bombers!

Half Marathon -- I did it!

2008-04-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm the one in the lime green top.

Well, I did it! I ran THIRTEEN miles!!!! Wow, it feels great. I was nervous all week, then the day came and I woke up at the butt crack of dawn to find rain and 40 degree temps (with wind chill in the 30's)! I was NERVOUS. Luckily the rain stopped just before the race began. As soon as the gun was fired I realized that I had my cell phone in the pocket of my hoodie. Crud! James was too far for me to find and give it to. As I finally crossed the start line and began to run (about 10 minutes into the race), I felt my hoodie pocket to discover that my cell phone had vanished from my pocket, fallen on the concrete to be trampled on by thousands of people! The rest of the race I had moments of "DOH!" (think Homer Simpson). But otherwise the race was amazing. It was fun to run through downtown, right by my hospital of employment, past the Capitol, through beautiful older neighborhoods, and down a few main roads. I had run 13 miles last weekend and those last two miles were killer. But during this race, I had so much adrenaline pumping that those last 2 miles didn't even phase me. There's no way the "me" two years ago would ever believe that the "me" now has completed a half marathon. Thanks to my hubby for all the support those early mornings when I had to get a run in.

Here I am about to cross the finish line. I am sooo relieved to finally be there! The gal on my left in the white top was about to kick my trash those last few yards, I had nothing left in me to keep up with her. By the way, James had a great view! What an awesome shot, honey!

James got a shot of the clock as I crossed the finish line. This indicated my "gun finish time" (which was actually 2 hrs 5 min 52 sec), but it wasn't my REAL time...I didn't actually cross the start line until almost 10 min after the start of the race. My time was much better than I ever expected. My #1 goal time was: 2 hrs 40 min, My #2 goal was 2 hrs and 10 minutes, my secret goal was less than 2 hrs...I did it in 1 hr 56 min!

Here's my stats:

Allison Stuart
bib number:
H3215
gender:
F
location:
Edmond, OK
overall place:
1132 out of 4353
division place:
93 out of 489
gender place:
438 out of 2571
time:
1:56:04
pace:
8:52
guntime:
2:05:52
10k:
55:17

Say Cheese!

2008-04-28T21:12:00.001-07:00

One day last week I wasn't feeling very well. I put Ethan down for his nap, turned Go Diego Go on for Aidan so that I could lie down and rest. Aidan came in my room about 15 minutes later with shredded cheese hanging from his chin. Hmm, I thought, where did the cheese come from? I walked down the hallway, rounded the corner, and THIS is what I found. Shredded cheese EVERYWHERE (you can see the empty bag on the floor). He had pulled out a jumbo bag of shredded cheese (you know, the finely shredded kind) from the fridge and had a little party. I think he was throwing it around like confetti just before dumping the whole contents of the bag on my couch! I found cheese all over the ENTIRE living room. I found cheese on and behind the t.v., all over the floor, on the train table, and on the piano. He went cheese-tossing crazy! I guess that's what I get for letting my kids watch cartoons!
Here's Aidan being punished (after time-out). I made him clean up the cheese with the shop-vac. As you can see from this pic, he kind of enjoyed his punishment.

Best Buds

2008-04-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ethan loves pushing his Tonka Truck around the back yard.

He fills it with sand and soccer balls and pushes it around everywhere.
Of course, Aidan has his own Tonka Truck too.

Aidan introduced Ethan to popsicles. I have these great "Mini Pops" that are tiny, 25 calories, and are slow-melting. Perfect for my boys. Now Aidan climbs on his stool to reach the freezer and gets 2 popsicles, one for him and one for Ethan.

Going for a ride in the bus.
Look at those smiles!!!
(Notice Aidan's green tongue from a popsicle, one of his fav treats)

I love having two boys. They are so fun. They are similar in the way they play with the same toys and love to be covered in dirt but have such different personalities. And they are such good buddies...most of the time (except when one has a toy the other wants or when Aidan feels the need to bite Ethan on the forearm--which we haven't seen in a few days, thank goodness). Aidan has loved Ethan since the day he met him in the hospital. I have a great video of Aidan going up to the bassinet excited to meet his new "baby". Aidan is a wonderful big bro. Ethan wants to keep up with the big kids, especially AJ. I'd love to have a little daughter someday, but I wouldn't trade my boys for anything in the world!!!!

Run Forest Run!

2008-04-15T20:23:00.001-07:00

So, I have to write about something I have been prepping for lately. I'm going to run a half marathon in 10 days! I've been wanting/trying to get in shape since Ethan was born. The only thing that I seem to keep coming back to is running. I have been an on-again/off-again 3 miler for a few years. I've said in the past that I would NEVER find enjoyment in long distance running. For some reason, lately I've been obsessed with the OKC Memorial Marathon. I have a voice in the back of my head saying ever so faintly "You will run the half marathon". So I got in gear and made up a 9 week training plan for myself, which involves running up to 20 miles/week. And now I am 10 days away from running the furthest distance I have ever ran before in my life. I had commitment issues; I didn't actually sign up to run it until the last day before registration prices went up. But now it's official. I'm really excited to complete this goal of mine, but scared to death! My #1 goal is to FINISH. I really want to finish the race running (as opposed to crawling) across the finish line with a smile on my face. I'm glad I've been able to stick to something for a length of time and I hope to accomplish my goal. Now it's off to bed so I can rise early and put my running shoes on!

Zoo Fun

2008-04-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Brianna and I took our boys to the zoo. Aidan and Shane of course had a great time running around together. Ethan did all he could to keep up. And little Wyatt didn't realize all the fun he was missing as he slept in his car seat. There's a pic above with Aidan and Shane looking at the gorillas. There was one gorilla that would come pretty close to the glass. The boys would sit on the ledge with their backs against the glass, and the gorilla would walk RIGHT behind them brushing the glass with his side. The boys were FREAKED out the first time gorilla did it. Then they would sit back down on the ledge and here's the crazy part...that gorilla would circle around and walk right behind them again, the boys would get up giggling and squealing, then the cycle would repeat with gorilla circling back 'round and brushing the glass with his side. The boys were playing a game with him and the gorilla was playing right back. We got this on video. I'll try to get that video on the blog.

Gimme Birthday Cake!!!

2008-04-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

Ethan's Birthday celebration continues...Here's some cake pics from Ethan's party at Grandma T-sa and Papa's house. Both boys dove in head first and had the biggest sugar rush I've ever seen.

Two Peas in a Pod

2008-04-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Aidan's friend Shane came to visit from Georgia for 1 1/2 weeks. They had such a great time together. They loved to do EVERYTHING together! If one was wearing his cowboy hat & boots, the other had to quickly follow suit. They loved playing in the sand, at the park, made pizza dough together, they even loved the same movies. One day, we were playing in Aidan's room and I started to read a book to them. Ethan started to get cranky b/c it was naptime. I left the two older boys in Aidan's bed (with the book, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody) so that I could put Ethan down for a nap. As I was rocking Ethan in the next room, I could hear the boys playing pretend with Woody & Buzz; a few minutes later...silence. After I put Ethan down in his crib I peeked into Aidan's room and low and behold they were both sleeping!! I don't know who fell asleep first but I was very surprised considering the fact that neither one of them had napped all week. They had played themselves to sleep. It was precious! When they woke, they sat on the couch together to watch "Cars" (hence the 2nd picture down). They had such a great time together. Toobad Shane & Aidan don't live near each other.
Good friends are hard to come by. It was so nice to see the McLellands again. I hope you guys had a nice visit to OK!

Ethan's First Birthday (March 25th)

2008-04-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe my little angel is ONE! He is a ray of sunshine. He has been such a happy child. I keep waiting for him to go through a difficult "stage" but he continues to be the easiest child to raise. He is so laid back and no matter what Aidan is doing (whether it be steal a toy or run him over with his tonka dump truck), he just goes with the flow and takes the abuse with a huge smile on his face (dimple and all). He just started walking 2 weeks before his birthday. He actually took his first steps at the child watch at the gym while I was working out! And he is now on the go, walking more than he is crawling. He LIVES for bouncy balls. He actually does something that really does amaze James and I. He's only been walking for 3 weeks now and he walks around the house KICKING a ball. That seems like an awfully a lot of coordination for someone who just began to walk. And whenever he's playing with cars, he makes the "brrrrr" sound that cars make. Where did he learn that? Maybe his older bro has taught him a thing or two. One last thing that he does, he likes to put phones up to his ear and begin to talk (he learned that from daddy who is always taking business phone calls!). He is such a quick learner and is such a joy to watch. I wish you all could see him the way I do! Happy birthday, big man!

Aidan's Soccer Game is here!

2008-03-30T22:46:00.001-07:00

Aidan would be great at yoga...He's awfully good at "child's pose".

James & I have been so excited about Aidan playing soccer. To be honest, I think my enthusiasm is a bit more extreme than my husband's. As always, I had to work, so Hillary & James accompanied Aidan to this memorable event. Just as all have said, "don't get your hopes up. He is only 3." It is the truth. He did not even make it through the YMCA pledge before dropping to the ground in protest. And then there was the game...Strangers all around cheering on their children, seven other children running in circles all toward the same ball, and coaches yelling for the kids to "kick the ball!" "run that way". No wonder AJ was confused and not thinking it was fun at all. Hopefully, it will get better with time. Maybe next game he'll at least make it through the pledge.

1st Soccer Practice

2008-03-30T22:14:00.001-07:00

AJ's finally old enough to play sports....I'm serious, 3 year olds CAN play soccer at the YMCA. Aidan has always loved being outside and kicking balls. But as an organized sport? Is there enough patience within a team of 3 year olds for it to be successful? My main goal for Aidan's 3 yr old soccer experience is for him to have fun, spend time with friends, and maybe learn a little about teamwork. Though I may feel my expectations are a bit low, I think I still may be asking a bit much. He's still young. I really just want him to have fun.

Aidan's 3rd Birthday!!!

2008-03-30T21:14:00.001-07:00

Aidan has been our little cowboy since he could say "horsey". He loves cowboy boots and his hat. He was a cowboy for Halloween (Ethan was a cow) and he even got spurs for Christmas. So we had to have a cowboy birthday party. "PapaDad" saddled up the horses, Grams threw some burgers on the grill and we had a grand ol' time! We were really lucky b/c the weather was warm (just before another random snow storm) for horseback riding. I was impressed how well Aidan's friends enjoyed riding the horses. It seems like yesterday that AJ was a little 6 pound 8 oz newborn and now he's a 3 year old big brother. It's crazy how fast they grow.