Riverton Half

In January a bunch of girls in the ward decided to train for the Riverton Half Marathon that took place on March 26th. Many of us had run the St. George Half so we thought it would just be a matter of keeping up our training. Winter is a very tough time to train for a race and I don't think I could've done it if I didn't have my friends Randi and Susie waiting for me every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday to go running.

This was Randi's first Half and since we were training partners my goal was to stick with her and help to keep her going. It was actually a pretty tough race because of the number of hills along the course--I will have to have a really good reason to run it again. Our plan was to stop at every water break and take our time to eat our Sports Beans and drink water rather than rushing our breaks. It was hard to walk and let other runners pass us, but I'm glad we did because at the end of the race I felt really good and think a large part of it was because we stayed hydrated and had refueled often.





Omai was a great support. Including the starting line, he found us four times throughout the race to cheer us on and take pictures. The last place he stopped to see us was at about mile 10 at the top of the hill. It was so awesome to see him and Bailey waiting for me. Bailey had a big smile on her face when she saw me and reached out for me to hold her. It was such a sweet moment and gave me a burst of energy.



There was one hill in the race called Devil's Slide (or something like that) and it was the steepest hill I had ever seen. I'm not kidding. I think many cars older than a 1980 would've had a hard time up this thing. At the bottom of the hill there was a water station and Randi and I were discussing our plan of attack. I just kept thinking if we just keep going and don't stop, the pain will be over that much faster. Sure enough. We made it to the top of the hill--we didn't die and it felt good to have pushed through it.



For me, mile 11 was pretty tough and I knew Randi was struggling as well. To keep our mind off our pain I told her the story about Hazel Powers who I met on my mission in Virginia. She was 81 years old, had diabetes, and only one leg. My companion, Sister Roundy, and I had to give her a bath one day because her maid had been fired and Hazel had just gotten a perm and needed the chemicals washed out of her hair. That was an experience I will never forget and it made for a good anecdote to get our mind off our aching joints.



We finally made it to the last mile of the race and I got my energy back and felt great as I crossed the finished line with a time of 2:09:55. Omai was there waiting with Bailey and it felt so great to see them and give them a big hug. We took a few pictures and were off to set up for Bailey's 1st Birthday Party. Phew. What a day.

Kiwanis 5k

I'm attempting to catch up on recording the events of our lives before they're completely out of my memory.

Some friends and I ran in the 1st Annual Kiwanis 5k on April 9th held at Gardner Village. I have been running with my friend Randi and I think we make a pretty good running pair because we run the same pace and we have good conversations. We had run the Riverton Half Marathon back in March (more on that later) and have been running on average three days a week so we weren't too worried about a 5k. It was a little chilly when we arrived at the race and were anxious to get going so we could warm up. Randi gets a little nervous at races so when the race started she took off at a faster pace then we were used to. After about a mile we were both a little tired and started to slow our pace, but I wondered to myself if I could keep the pace the whole race. I decided I would go for it and see if I could do it. I was feeling pretty good at the half-way mark and felt I could keep going. I think I was mostly running on adrenaline because of all the people I was able to pass. In my mind I kept thinking just pass that person, you can pass that person, you can catch that 7-year old (there really was a 7-year old girl in the race who almost kicked my butt). Towards the end of the race I was still feeling pretty good, but was very anxious to see the finish line. There were many people who were running about my pace and I wondered if this pace was normal for them because I was almost ready to die. I didn't die however and finished with my best time of 26 minutes. After the race they gave us our print outs with our times and race standings and as we were all comparing our times we realized they had totally messed up because no one's were correct. Randi had gotten a printout with my time on it and I had gotten hers. We found out the scanner used to scan everyone's bibs wasn't working and then when they tried re-entering them, they dropped the stack of tear-offs so they got all out of order. During the medal ceremony my friend Randi had gotten 2nd place so we thought for sure they would call my name, but they ended up awarding the 1st place medal to a boy for the Women's 25-29 division. I was bummed because I had never run so fast for so long in my life. We headed home after the race and it took me almost four days to get over my headache and to get rehydrated (all for a 5k... ugh).

Well, guess what came in the mail the other day?!!!

Ta Da!

I'm A Big Kid Now

I went out to dinner with some girlfriends tonight and Bailey got to spend the evening with her Nana and Papa and Aunt Keri. When I pulled in to the house Keri and Maryanne came out to meet us. I got Bailey out of the car and handed her to Maryanne and immediately Bailey turned to me and said "ba bye" and waved. Oh what a little cutie. She makes me laugh and she's getting so big. It's quite amazing all the things she's learning.

I was making Bailey's lunch this afternoon and I guess I was really into her cheese bread because all of a sudden I hear her on the landing of the stairs. I rushed up the stairs when I heard her and when she saw me she just threw her head back and laughed. She thought it was so funny to make her mommy panic. I think I'm going to install the baby gates so they're permanently attached to each end of the stairwell.

New Tricks

We've had a full week with lots of fun activities and places to go. Yesterday was a very full day for me so Bailey spent a lot of the day with her Nana and Papa and discovered some new tricks. But before I get too far into our adventerous day, I have decided that Bailey is officially off milk. Our pediatrician recommended a no-dairy diet and for about three weeks Bailey hadn't thrown up and was doing great. Then we ran out of Rice Milk so I thought I would give 2% a try again. She did great for about two days, but then out it all came yesterday morning. When she woke up I gave her the milk with a little Chocolate Carnation Instant breakfast mixed in and I went to take a quick shower. When I went in to get her I thought it a little strange she was being so quiet. At first glance I thought she had spilled her milk all over the place, but as I looked a little closer I saw it was throw up. The poor thing had been laying there for about 15 minutes like that. I felt terrible. She also had a poopy diaper so into the bath she went but Bailey was not having it. She wanted me to hold her, but my only thought was to prevent getting throw up and poop everywhere. Bailey wanted out of the bath so bad that out came her first trick of the day--pulling herself up to a standing position. I was so proud of her, but couldn't really relish in the moment between her screaming and trying to clean her up. After getting all cleaned up we were off for the day. I had a photography workshop to go to so I dropped Bailey off at the Graybills. I was in the kitchen and Bailey was at the bottom of the stairs. She was so eager to get to me so she figured she would just climb up the stairs--ta da--trick #2.

These new talents made something click in Bailey's brain that she can do whatever she wants and the world is hers. So her third trick of the day--getting into every cupboard possible and pulling everything out of it to discover it's contents. I thought my life was pretty much over when she started to crawl, but now that stairs have increased the size of her world 100%, baby gates are my new best friend.



After my workshop I went to a bridal shower for Brianna, Zane's fiance. (Yes!! they are finally engaged). They're getting married June 5th and we are so excited for them. And to keep the romantic theme going, we had a BBQ and invited my sister to meet a guy in our ward who's also single. I think it went pretty well so we'll see how things go.

Bailey Likes to Dance

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Omai surprised me a couple weeks ago... we were up in the office just talking and he asked me if he could use my phone. I said sure and handed it over not sure who he was going to call. He dialed and started talking to someone, of course stating the obvious that it wasn't actually me who was calling but it was him. He asked the person if they wouldn't mind taking pictures of Bailey and I since I have about five pictures of me and Bailey together. I thought he might be calling my friend Emilie who's a photographer but then thought, no way would he be calling her, we don't have money for pictures right now. Turns out, it was Emilie on the phone and she agreed to take pictures of us. I insisted that Omai come along so we could get a few with him, but he demanded that he would not be in the pictures. It's like he doesn't like getting his picture taken or something... weird. Anyway, after I got over the shock of Omai's mysterious phone conversation, he handed the phone over to me so we could set up an appointment.

Emilie had had an Easter event where she rented bunnies to act as live props as she photographed little kids and I wanted to get a bunny for Bailey too. The weather had a hard time cooperating but we finally decided on place and time for the shoot. I had to drive down to Pleasant Grove to pick up the bunny from Kim, the girl who rents them out. The whole drive down all I could think was, please don't ask me to hold the bunny, please don't ask me to hold the bunny, please don't ask me to hold the bunny. I just don't really like animals--especially small ones that could pass as a rodent. It turned out okay because Kim didn't ask me the hold the bunny... phew. She did introduce us though and the bunny's name is Sunburst. Sunburst was in a very secure cage and Kim even put the cage in the car for me. She put it on the floor on the passenger's side so I got to look at it the whole drive back to Salt Lake. I talked to it and Bailey on the way to keep everyone happy but mostly to keep myself calm and think good thoughts about Sunburst and work into a 'be brave' mode for Bailey because I know eventually I was going to have to hold it. We got to Wheeler Farm and it was a rather blustery day. I got myself and Bailey all ready just in time for Emilie to show up. Emilie grabbed the bunny and we were off.

Bailey is loving anything soft lately--blankies, stuffed animals, her daddy. So to her, Sunburst was just another soft, cuddly thing that she could snuggle up to. Well, after a few poses with the bunny she realized that it was more than soft and cuddly--it was ALIVE and she wanted it the heck away from her. By this time, I was in full 'be brave for Bailey' mode, but I also knew I couldn't return an earless bunny to Kim so I did my darndest to prevent Bailey from ripping the poor things ear off or bolting into the nearby bushes, in the meanwhile, keep Bailey from falling off the rocking chair and keep my skirt up that was just not cooperating. After a few brave poses I had to tell Emilie just how freaked out I was at the moment and she just laughed. It is rather silly to be afraid of a little bunny, but I can't help it. I'm a wuss. Despite all the drama--well, my drama, we got some very sweet pictures. Thank you, thank you Emilie. You're amazing.