Meat Sticks and Easter Decorations!

We had a fun, busy, and fast weekend.

Shyla is teething which means she is not sleeping well...which means no one is sleeping well. It is funny: after a rough night the most tired in our house is Pancake!

The focus of this post, though, is on the good times we had this weekend.

Saturday morning Stevie, Shyla, and I ran in the Pulte Homes 5K to benefit the Vail School District. It was a lot of fun and a very challenging run. I was impressed by the turn-out and by Pulte's organization of the race.

Sunday morning the three of us battled the wind (the Vail gale) by running around the track at Empire High School. I am trying really hard to actually train for this next marathon (June 6th in San Diego!) but, as always, I'm having a hard time finding the time. Then we went to grandma and grandpa's house....

...and made Shyla really angry by trying to feed her (she definitely doesn't get that from me!)

We put a meat stick on her tray. She wasn't sure what to think of it, but Zac knew exactly what to do with it...if he could only reach it!

She finally decided to try it, mostly though I think she was teething on it!

"Hummm....what is this?"

"Ummmm, I'm not really sure about this!"

"I will throw this meat stick at grandma and make my classic face at her too!"

Then it was time to prepare for Easter!

Lilly got set-up with an apron, colors, and eggs galore!

Everyone got in on the action. Even Chelsea, you know, when she wasn't in the way.

Then we decorated the window.

And smiled a lot.

Lilly later moved all of our decorations to another window, but they looked good for a little while.

I forgot to rotate this picture but you get the idea. This is the egg I made for Shyla for her very first Easter!

We are looking forward to Easter Sunday and Shyla's first egg-hunt. Be on the lookout the post about that!

Oh, and vote YES on Prop 100!

Shyla's 1st Baseball Game!

Shyla was born into a very big baseball family. Well, half of a very big baseball family. When Stevie played tee-ball he had a turquoise glove and that was the end of his baseball career.

My side of the family, though, loves baseball.

Great-grandpa Palmer (Pop) loves baseball and softball; he and my grandma were huge supporters of my softball teams. They came out to support us whenever they could whether it was high school or club ball or Pima and they even traveled to Nationals just about every summer.

My dad, Shyla's Grandpa Palmer, GGP played baseball through college and is a fan of the mechanics. Even though softball was a foundation for me, I refused to play unless he was my coach. He agreed and we were called The Golden Girls!

Even Chelsea played softball.

And those of you who know me, know my softball history so I don't need to bore you with it here. But if you are ever interested I will show you the first diamond ring I was ever given:)

Suffice it to say, we love baseball and softball. Love the sound of the ball off the bat, love the look of grass-stains on white pants, love the fact that the game is slow enough (notice I didn't say too slow) to carry on a conversation with friends (or "pass the cup" for the next round of "pass the cup").

Shyla attended her first baseball game yesterday: a spring training game between the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Angels at Hi-Corbett Field.

But first, a look into Shyla's life if she joins a gang; a pink gang.

Shyla enjoyed the game a lot. It was a perfect day! The sun was shining, the grass was green and the hot-dogs were a foot long.
We made sure to lather her up with sunscreen and a bucket-hat that matched Grandpa's. They both looked dashing.
It's not a baseball game without a cold beer, right? When Grandpa thought she was getting warm, he poured some of his beer into his hand (which is hard to believe that he didn't mind not drinking it) and wiped it on her cheeks.
And I will never pass up an opportunity for snuggles. Even if we are at a warm baseball game.

A big THANK YOU to Uncle Pete for coordinating the important outing. We had a blast!

10 Months?!?! Seriously?

If my calculation are correct, Shyla is 10 months old today!

(Also, Happy 15 Month to Zac and 37 Month to Lilly!)

I cannot believe that this precious little angel has been here for 10 months. The time has flown by SO quickly. It makes me sad to think back to month 1, because I don't remember much. She has so much personality now. She is a hoot and a crack-up.

They should bottle her laughter and send it to all war-torn countries because no one can possibly be mad when listening to that.

She gets more fun everyday and she is learning so much every minute.

Ahh yes, 10 months old and pulled herself up for the first time! I probably should have been spotting her instead of running around looking for my camera, but I needed proof to send to Stevie. She's going to be walking in no time, I am sure!

The Easter Season is upon us. I love Easter. It is my favorite holiday!

On Thursday we had a lovely visit with Great-Grandma Palmer and Great-Grandpa Palmer (Pop). Shyla found Grandma's walker and thought it was a great toy!

And she even put on a show for them: eating about 3 cheerios and an entire jar of applesauce. (When I was pregnant, I craved and ate a ton of applesauce...I wonder if she likes it because she was basically swimming in it for 9 months?)

She has decided that the pantry is a lot of fun to play in. I have decided that as long as I am watching her, she can play in there. She is learning about weight and volume.

Bath time at Grandma and Grandpa's after softball practice! You tend to get dirty at softball practice, but still not as dirty as Zac gets at a normal day of school.

And post-bath down-time with Grandpa.

Yep! I have a 10 month old baby.

This day also brings me to a sad but true realization: I have had 10 months to lose the baby-weight and I have failed.

When all was said and done, I gained over 65 pounds with this beautiful 7 lb 9 oz baby born 10 months ago. I have 21.4 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight (16.4 to get to my pre-pregnancy weight).

Why am I blogging this? Well, it is time for some accountability. Be on the lookout for weekly updates on this endeavor. I don't think these last 20ish pounds are going to be easy, but 10 months is ridiculous and embarrassing and simply not healthy.

Wish me luck.

Most importantly: happy birthday baby!

Beloved Children's Books

Anyone who knows me, knows I love children's books. Someday, I will write a children's book under a pen name and will fall asleep smiling every night knowing that children everywhere were being told my story as part of their bedtime routine.

I thought I would take this opportunity to showcase five of my favorites; in no particular order.

Ahhh, the Serendipity Books. Mystical, magical and full of fantasy creatures who are caring and kind and take care of each other.
On another note, the Eloise classics: she is sassy and she's not afraid to show it! Her adventures, though, are always rawther amusing.

Little Critter. The fun, easy-to-read, paperback series that always taught a lesson to live by. I sometimes refer to Shyla as my "little critter" because I think she is just as cute and caring.

Madeline always reminds me of my Grandma Sonntag. The stories of the twelve little girls who loved their bread, and loved their butter, but most of all they loved each other. Literary genius.

Have you read this one? I remember in elementary school it was ALMOST ALWAYS checked out so if you were lucky enough to stumble across it on the shelf, you snatched it up right away. No matter how many awards a book may receive, that is the true mark of a good book.

I'm not really sure how I was able to narrow it down to five...I'm rawther impressed with myself.

What are your favorites? What memories do they evoke for you?

Basketball and Beth

Stevie still plays basketball twice a week. On Sundays he plays with guys from high school (with, of course, a few additions) on a team named Yep. On Mondays he plays in a Raytheon league. Shyla and I try to go to as many games as we can, you know, that don't interfere with our 6 PM bedtime ritual.

Here is Stevie playing defense again a big, black man. And on the right side you can see Richard Sosa who we went to high school with and who actually lived with us for awhile at Star Ranch.

Shyla likes to cheer. But she also likes to eat. Here she is eating with Grandpa Steve.

And playing with Grandma Pat.

Let's talk about Beth.

Beth is one of our best friends. She and I met while playing softball at Pima. She still lived in Sierra Vista and Stevie and I lived at Star Ranch so Beth took up residence on our couch on many-a-night. Eventually, when we got a bigger apartment and Beth was accepted into the nursing program, she became an official roommate with her own room and everything.

Those were GREAT times! We shared an apartment, we shared right-field, we even shared an ID card.

Beth was also our roommate at Beverly and our current house. She decided she wanted to move-out after we got engaged. We tried to tell her that it was unnecessary but she left anyway and we were sad.

Anyway, Beth and I have A LOT in common and Beth and Stevie also have A LOT in common so the three of us together are a hoot!

Strange coincidence: the three of us have birthdays within one week of each other (Oct. 19-Oct, 26).

Even stranger coincidence: Beth is pregnant and her due date falls within that range (Oct. 22)!

Beth is the type of friend and we know we will always have (mostly because, well, whatever we might do she will keep crawling her way back in). We are thrilled that we have been together for all of life's big moments (college graduations...weddings...babies...and of course the bad stuff that we won't mention) but we really do miss the daily stuff.
Beth came over for dinner the other night and got to experience our night-time routine. Beth and her cop-husband Dave are going to be fantastic parents and we can't wait for them to experience the same joys we do. I love to watch her with Shyla; it makes my heart happy:)

Eat Beans all. Hope your dreams are as sweet as the ones Shyla was having here.

Running Club!

As you all know, I like structure. I like to set a routine and I like to follow said set routine. When not in a routine, I feel like I am living in a blender.

One of my most favorite routines is Running Club. AKA Breakfast Club. AKA French Toast Mafia meeting. AKA relief from the weekly grind.

Saturday morning Shyla and I meet up with a bunch of my closest friends to run and then eat. Everyone runs at their own pace and for their own distance. Shyla and I are usually the caboose; and she always beats me. I love that we feel like a team (FTM Forever!) but I also love that it's non-competitive. After playing uber-competitive softball for over 15 years, and being competitive with just about every other aspect of my life, I love that it is just for fun!

Another thing I love about Saturday mornings is that Stevie has decided to join us! It's great to have something else to share and do together and, as Shyla grows, we want to instill in her a healthy lifestyle full of lots of physical activity, and the importance of good friends.

With all of this talk about running, you might think that some of the pictures that accompany the post are of runners, running. Well, you are out of luck. Instead all of the pictures are of Shyla. Of course.

After we finished our run we were waiting for the rest of the team to head to breakfast together and we took some time to play in the, albeit wet, grass. Shyla really liked the texture of it (it was probably her first experience with the soft, green ground-cover) and she is so active these days that sitting in the stroller for an hour is tough on the little critter.

(I should also explain, for those of you who closely examine pictures, Shyla did start the run with two (2) socks. One went missing along the way and the other spent more time in her mouth than on her foot)

She got passed around at breakfast as she always does. I love that my friends love my baby and I love that my baby loves my friends. Well, all that socializing and running will really wear a girl out so when Karen, the self-proclaimed "baby-whisperer" got her, she passed out like a sleeping angel.
And this picture has nothing to do with running but we wanted to make sure that the cupcake hat still fit and, hurray, it does! After this picture Stevie said, "okay, let's get Blossom in the car and go." Gotta love early 90's humor.

Relay for Life

My school has created a Relay for Life team to walk/run/skip/jump/crawl around a track for 12 hours straight. This is going to take place April 30-May 1 and we will have at least one team member on the track at all times, the analogy being that cancer never stops so neither will we.

I think most of us have been affected in some way or another by cancer. If not, consider yourself lucky.

My goal is to raise $100 for the cause. If you would like to help me achieve that goal, please consider visiting this website: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10GW?px=14137483&pg=personal&fr_id=22043

There are various ways to contribute like making a direct donation or purchasing a luminaria that will light our way around the track during the wee hours of the night. The luminarias can be "In Honor Of" a cancer survivor or "In Memory Of" someone who has lost the fight. Additionally, our team will be selling t-shirts that depict a roadrunner (our mascot) putting the ninja moves on cancer.

Also, for every $5 that my advisory class collects I will pledge to do 1 lap on the track. We will see how much they want me to run (at least tracks are flat)!