For the record

Asher just stood up all by himself! He was standing against the open dishwasher door and I needed to close it so I could start it. I grabbed his hand to support him as I closed the door then let go since he wasn't using me for support anyway. He stood there pretty steady for 10 seconds before he got nervous and fell to his hands and knees. I can't believe he's getting so steady on his feet!

Our Current Abode

So people have been asking to see pictures of where we are currently living. It is going to change again in a few weeks but it's the same layout, just reversed, so I guess it doesn't really hurt to post now! I've only taken pictures of the main level...and it consists of 3 pictures :)

This is our lovely kitchen...with 2 lovely kids

This is the bathroom that is just off the kitchen. Just to the left is the door to the balcony (which I forgot to get a picture of.)

This is the living room. Remember that we're in transition right now, so the vinyl cutter and AC unit, stacks of paper and computer will all be set up elsewhere...

The townhouse we are in has a garage, which means that the garage is the first level, and the house is on top of it. So all together it's 3 stories...the bedrooms and a full bath are on the top level. The laundry room is in the back of the garage. It isn't fun trucking laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs, let me tell you!

And of course, more pictures of my boys!

Brayden thinks this rice steamer makes an excellent hat.

I tried to post a video of Brayden loving the slide at the park, but it wouldn't work. Maybe I'll try again later.

Pictures of Brayden

Brayden is getting so big these days! And he doesn't like to wear clothes...so the past 3 days since we haven't left the house...he literally has been in only a diaper all day long. Hey, less laundry at least!

So this is a horrible picture lighting wise, but Brayden just looks so dang cute that I had to post it!

Prayer

Brayden has been doing really well when we say prayers lately. He generally folds his arms the entire time when he is saying the prayer. We're still working on the "eyes closed, kneeling, head down" thing but we'll get there. We always start and say "Dear Heavenly Father," "Hen-lee father" "We're grateful for this day" "this day-ee" in his little sing-song voice... Then he starts to lead.."Baby...Brayden...and mommy...and daddy" And then last night the lists started "...light...blankie...books..." I love it...I love that he's really starting to understand the concept...that you can pray for anything you want or feel like praying for. I love my little man...even though I think he's already starting to turn a couple of my hairs gray.

So funny

Brayden just thinks he is so funny! And I do too...so I got it on video :)

It's all worth it

We have had a particularly hard 10 days. Brayden has hit the terrible twos and we're feeling it. Then with the boys sharing their room and having it affect sleep all of us are running short on patience, as I'm sure I've mentioned. However, I have had little reminders this week from my boys that make me realize that it is all worth it.

Asher has gone down for his nap without crying for the past 2 days in a row. And yesterday he even took 2 pretty decent sized naps! Before that he was crying for an hour or so before finally falling asleep

The other morning I woke up and went into the boy's room where I was greeted with a "Hi Babe!" from Brayden. It melted my heart.

Every time I hold Asher in a big hug, he pats my back. At first I thought it was just a fluke thing, but every time I hug him (and he loves to be hugged!) he pats my back. I love it

Yesterday Asher was sleeping in the boy's room and Brayden was getting really tired. I layed (laid?) down on the couch and had him "come cuddle me." He *rarely* ever cuddles, and definitely not longer than about 30 seconds. However, he came and laid on top of me and had me put his blanket over him and he was asleep within a couple minutes. It was so awesome! This kid hasn't fallen asleep on me since he was probably 8 months old. He slept on top of me for aoubt a half hour until Asher woke up. I gently slid out from underneath him and put him on the couch where he slept for another hour and a half!! That's right, Brayden, the lightest sleeper on the planet slept for 2 hours in the living room with all the noise. He usually only gets a 1 hour nap a day so this was fabulous :)

Notes for myself:

Asher climbed up 8 stairs this morning before we caught him. That kid is fast!

Brayden tells me about 80% of the time that he needs to be changed. And it's right after he messes in his diaper so it's a pretty easy clean. I'm glad :) He has yet to actually poop or pee in the toilet, even though he asks to (and does) sit on it like 5 times a day.

Brayden is in size 7 shoes and to this day we have yet to put a pair of shoes on Asher so I have no idea what size he is.

Brayden is finally able to wear some of his 24 month pants. The 18 month are too short but he's too dang skinny for his 24 month and 2T's. Asher is in 9-12 month clothing

Brayden is continually learning new signs. He knows as many signs as I do so I am looking up new signs constantly online.

Asher is still nursing about 3-4 times a day. He's a really good eater of real food so that's nice. I've been able to cut back on the nightly formula bottle which I'm grateful for.

Asher is jabbering a lot. He says "Da-Da" lots and is also turning out to be quite the Daddy's boy. I don't think he knows what he's saying but it's exciting still.

Brayden is talking A LOT more. He still chit-chats a lot, not in English. But when he wants to tell you something, he knows for the most part how to get his point across. He still uses his signs while he talks so it's cool that it's 2nd nature...I think most of the time, he doesn't even really think about it.

Brayden calls Asher "Ash" or "baby" and hardly ever "Asher"

Sean and I usually call Asher "Monkey" cuz, well...he's a little monkey!

Oh, and Asher still has no teeth...or hair for that matter.

Pictures

Post Requests?

It is coming up on the time of year that I publish my blog so that I can have a hard bound version of my blog for posterity's sake. I was curious how this year's book will compare to last year's, size wise, so I counted. In my first book, I had 194 posts. So far this year (since August)I've only written 92 blog posts. This book is going to be significantly smaller! I'm not sure I'm okay with that. I feel like I've been stepping up my blogging a bit in the past couple weeks, but I'm going to have to kick it up even more if I want it to be worth publishing! It isn't too expensive to do it through Blurb, and I am 100% happy with how my book turned out. Once you pay the initial fee, there isn't too much added cost to have more pages, so I want to get the most pages as possible to make it worth it! Anyway, all this to say that I guess I'm going to be blogging more! Does it seem like I should blog more about something? Do I have enough pictures of my kids? Of myself and husband? Do I blog enough about my testimony or my friends or my hobbies? Not that I have too many readers, but please post a comment on what you'd like to see more of (or a first of) on my blog!

I'd greatly appreciate it!

Faces

Stairs!!? Already?

Asher just climbed up 2 stairs...then back down them! Brayden was throwing his flash cards up onto the stairs (hey, whatever keeps him happy at this point) and Asher wanted to play. I was working on the computer and I looked to see him and he wasn't there! I ran to the bottom of the stairs and Asher was 2 steps up chewing on one of the cards from the third step. I couldn't believe it. I was nervous to go get my camera since I didn't want him to fall so I didn't. However, after he climbed/rolled off of them I went and got my camera in case he did it again. And he did! I didn't get the actual climbing part, but I got the falling part :) As you hear in the video, "he is only 8 1/2 months old!" but yeah...C.R.A.Z.Y.

Brayden watching...and posing apparently!

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

Brayden slept until 7:45 this morning!!! I woke up at 5:15 and headed to my 5:30 spinning class. (more on that in a bit) I got home a little after 7 expecting the house to be in full swing. I walked in the door and it was silent...I walked upstairs and it was silent. I went into our bedroom where I expected to see Asher sleeping on the bed and Sean gone to Brayden's room...and Sean was sleeping peacefully...no kids in sight. It was glorious! We've had another rough day, but not as rough as the past several! Hallelujah.

Last night I had my free hour long session with a personal trainer at Bally that came with my membership. It.was.awesome! The trainer, Erik, was super smart and super cool and totally motivating...which is his job. But it was so inspiring! I had almost kind of settled with how I am right now...fit wise. But he motivated me and encouraged me and let me know that it is possible to lose more weight. I know that's his job...especially because if he convinces me it's possible then I pay him bucu bucks to help me attain it, but it wasn't really like that. Anyway, all in all, it was an awesome hour and 20 minutes :) I got lucky that he didn't have another appointment after me!

This morning I went to my first spinning class. Let me just tell you...my quads are dead...and my bum is sore. It was fun though. I actually enjoyed it. I'm still contemplating doing the duathalon in August (I still need to find a bike...anyone?) but I figure since I don't have a bike to train on, this is a good way to get started. That and it's really good cardio that made me sweat a lot! When I was driving out to Banks to work out, I'd leave at like 5:30 and get back at 7:30. This morning, I left at 5:27 and was done with my class at 6:30. I loved that I had so much extra time since you cut out the drive time! I did 13 minutes on the elliptical then I went and did 200 crunches and plank. After that, I spent some time stretching and focusing on the music and relaxing a bit before coming home to the assumed mayhem. I headed home and walked through the door at a couple minutes after 7. I LOVE that I got a half hour longer workout, and was home a half hour earlier. It was fabulous! I really think I'm going to like this gym thing...

Good news! Brayden is *finally* showing signs that he's ready to potty train! We aren't there yet, but we're taking baby steps. Over the past 3 or 4 days he has told me that he needed to be changed, and once even he said "poop! toilet! potty!" but I had a sleeping Asher in my arms. By the time I got Asher down on the couch and headed over to Brayden, I saw him squat and start pushing. I tried to startle him and say "no! wait!" but it was too late... Oh well though...at least he's beginning to recognize! He has sat on his little potty seat several times but hasn't actually done anything on it yet. Oh well...like I said...Baby Steps!

Run Pictures

Go HERE to view some very unflattering pictures of me during the run. Too bad it's $45 to get the 6 pictures on cd!

Asher update

Asher has been growing up so fast I decided I needed to blog about all of his recent accomplishments.

• He is officially a crawler, not just a scooter. He isn't as quick on all fours as when he scoots, but he finally crawls more than he scoots now.
• He is still toothless. He's comin up on 8 1/2 months and there still are no signs of one breaking through. Brayden cut his first tooth in his 7th month so this is definitely taking longer. I can't really complain though, considering I'm still nursing.
• He LOVES to stand up. He pulls himself up against anything. He walks along all of the furniture and is standing up the majority of the day. He doesn't have the greatest balance yet so he falls over pretty frequently but he's mastered the "drop and roll" technique so he doesn't get hurt. I'll try to get it on video. It's pretty amazing actually.
• He isn't anywhere near walking yet (mostly because his balance isn't here yet) but he is really strong. He doesn't wobble at all when he's holding onto stuff. It's when he's transferring from the couch to a chair or something that he gets the wobbly legs. Regardless though, he's pretty good at getting around while on his feet!
• This one is more for my sake but Asher is now the age the Brayden was when Asher was conceived. Y.I.K.E.S. So just for the record, we aren't even considering talking about thinking about number 3. It's still a ways off. I'm not sure when, but definitely not now. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids...but I want my body to myself for a little while before I get another tenant...and seeing as I'm still nursing, its still awhile off.
• The boys both woke up again at 6 this morning. Sean and I are so sleep deprived. I had plans to go to a class at the gym at 5:30am but we've all been a little sick and the lack of sleep has been catching up with us. Hopefully I'll be able to go tonight at least!

101 in 1001 update

I've accomplished a few of my goals and have worked on some others so I figured I should blog about them :)

#50 - Run at least 2 10k's or similar races -Partially completed - as of Saturday!

#51 - Lose baby weight - Completed! - I officially weigh less now than Sean has ever known me. I still have 5 pounds to go to get to my goal weight, and I don't know that it's possible for me to ever get a flat stomach...but I weigh now what I weighed in high school! It's exciting :)

#52 - Be swimming suit ready by summer 2009 - Completed! - This one kind of goes in hand with #51...but it's nice to be able to put on a swimming suit and not be uber self-conscious! I'm finally there. Which rocks considering we're going to Ocean Shores this summer! Yay!

#62 Get a new hobby - Completed! - I think I can officially say that running is a hobby of mine. I realized this yesterday when the Relief Society Presidency came over and asked what I liked to do for fun. When I heard myself saying "run" it kinda shocked me. You think I would be used to this by now, but I'm really not. I've been running for 6 months and at first it was something I did only to lose weight. Now, I find that I look forward to it and especially after the 10k I feel like I an officially call myself "a runner."

#68 - Read 50 books - Partially completed - In the week and a half that we didn't have internet I got 3 novels read. Granted they were super easy reads (LDS Fiction) but it was nice to get some reading done!

#95 - Live in our own space - Completed! - Oh man, this has been heaven! I am so excited to have my own walls that I can adorn with vinyl and pictures. I love love love living in our own place!

#99 - Get Asher moved into Brayden's room - Completed! - We are still in the process of getting them used to it, but the move has officially happened. He's in there for naps as well as night time!

I was feeling discouraged that I wasn't getting as many goals done as fast as I was hoping. However once I really looked through my list I realize that I am definitely checking them off! It feels good, especially knowing that I am working on more and have plans to complete others! I am so glad that I did this 101 in 1001 thing. It is definitely exciting checking things off the list!

As I'm typing this Brayden just came down from upstairs and put his finger up to his lips saying "Shh...blankie is sleeping." Now he's going back upstairs to "check on it." He's so cute!

Helvetia 10k

As many of you know, I have been looking forward to running the Helvetia 10k. I've been running 2-3 days a week for the past 6 months with this 1 goal in mind. Well, today was the day.

I DID IT!!

I ran it...the entire thing. I didn't stop or walk once. 6.2 miles, under my belt! I did it in 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 2 seconds, which makes my average pace a 10:09 mile. When training, I generally stayed at a 10:15 - 10:30 according to my Nike+. I have never run more than 5.6 miles so I was guessing my average pace would be a 10:30 or 11:00. I surprised myself, and I LOVE it! Here are some of my stats (mostly for me to have on record):

• I was bib #4041
• There were 747 finishers (of the 10k portion)
• There were 222 male finishers, and 525 female finishers
• I was the 177th female to cross the finish line
• Out of the 21 females in my age group (ages 20-24) I finished number 8.
• Out of all 747 finishers, I was number 328.

Here is what I want to remember about it.

I woke up at 5:07 to make sure I had enough time. I ate, drank a bunch of water and got dressed. I then read my scriptures and prayed and just took some time to myself to mentally prep for this big day. I then woke up Sean and he loaded the car with the stroller and water bottles and food for the boys. The boys woke up shortly after and after feeding them breakfast and getting them dressed we headed out the door. We got the stadium at 7. We walked around and figured out where the race was going to start and finish, etc. After taking a quick potty break and warming up, I was ready to go. I made my way to the start line and picked where I wanted to stand in the line up. The 10k and half both started at the same place, same time...so there were over 4000 people lined up waiting for the gun. (It was crazy!) I was more toward the front than I thought, so it only took me 23 seconds from gun time to cross the start line. I knew that pacing was important so I looked at my Nike+ religiously to make sure I stayed near my 10:30. It was hard! I kept finding myself at 9:50ish so I kept slowing down so I didn't get burnt out. Like I said earlier, until today, I had never run more than 5.6 miles so I really didn't want to wear myself out early.

At mile 1, I was thinking about what I was accomplishing. All that it took to get there. What it meant to me. I was overwhelmed with a sense of pride in myself, knowing how far I had come and how amazing it was that I, Kimberly Diane, was running 6 miles by choice, and actually enjoying it. It was a good boost of energy and I couldn't help but smile to myself. It was a great feeling...it was then that I knew I could do this...

As I got to mile 2, the first runners were sprinting past me at mile 4 (since it was a there-and-back race.) I couldn't believe how fast some of these guys were going. At mile 3, again, I knew I had this. I was half way and I felt great (except for the fact that my right foot started going numb about this point). Mile 4 and mile 5 were uneventful...it was motivating knowing that I was passing people. And the fact that people that looked like "professional" runners (whatever that means) were stopping to walk boosted me a little too... Mile 6 was hard. It took all I had to keep going, but by the time I saw the stadium I got another burst of energy. When I rounded the last corner and I sped up more. Then I landed on the turf of the field and that thing has some spring to it! I kicked it into high gear and sprinted with all of my energy toward the end. It was fun passing 4 or 5 people in the last 100 feet to the finish line. Then, my beautiful little family, and my GREAT friend Shannon met me at the end at it was awesome. After catching my breath and Brayden asking to be held, we took a couple pictures and walked around.

All in all, it was a great experience. I really love that I pushed myself to do more than I had in the past...and to do it at a faster pace was incredible to me. I felt a ton of support from my friends and family that weren't there, but just supporting me through phone calls, text messages, and facebook messages. Thank you everyone for giving me the motivation to do this!

(I'm in the black and pink running out of the shute) Jamba Juice was AWESOME afterwards!

Next big adjustment

These last 2 nights we have put Asher down in Brayden's room. Until now he was either in our room, or in the pack n play in the kitchen. He is sleeping through the nights most nights now (finally!) and I'm anxious to take the pack n play down. The morning after the first night (the morning of my race) Brayden woke up at 6 which is earlier than normal, and then woke up Asher with his yelling for us. We had to go soon anyway so it was actually kind of nice that they woke up on their own. Last night was a rough night. Brayden woke up at 3 but me in my delirious state thought it was 6 so I let him out of his room and he came and played in our room while we tried to sleep through him crawling all over us. At 3:30 Sean woke up enough to realize that it was in fact only 3:30 and "why is Brayden in our room?" So he went and put him back down. We were nervous that he'd wake up Asher with his crying but fortunately he didn't...until 6. We didn't get to bed until 1 last night so needless to say, today we are a little sleep deprived. Brayden and Sean are sleeping right now while I'm up with Asher who slept through church...so hopefully I can sneak in a nap sometime today...and hopefully this transition into sharing a room isn't too hard on us for too long. Suggestions or thoughts anyone?

My Baby

Is no longer a baby!

Internet-less

We have been without the internet since our move last weekend. Hence, the lack of posts. Although I have missed the internet, it has been a nice break to be without it. I didn’t realize how much time was spent on the computer. I’ve read 3 LDS Fiction novels (3 more down on my 101 in 1001 goal!) and have spent a lot more hours rolling around on the floor with my sons, building countless train tracks, reading books, and going for walks.

We went to our new ward for the first time yesterday. Oh.My.Gosh. I’m going to LOVE it there! This is our 4th ward we’ve belonged to in our nearly 4 years of marriage. And this is by far the most *welcoming* ward. We had countless numbers of people come up to us and welcome us into the ward. In the ward is an old coworker that I haven’t seen in probably 3 years, so it was exciting to catch up with him for a bit. We also got an invitation for dinner. We said yes, and a little after 5 we found ourselves welcomed into the home of Scott and Sarah Gardiner, with their 4 beautiful children. Scott’s brother Johnny and his wife Brittany, who are in the ward also (and who we knew from our very first ward) were there with their 2 beautiful kids. They fed us barbecued hamburgers, fruit, salad, applesauce, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was delicious! By the time we had to leave so the kids could go to bed, Sarah and Scott’s 3 daughters didn’t want me to go! You know those hand games we played in elementary school that go to the catchy songs? (How else do I describe them?) Well, we did lots of those, and I loved it. It totally made me feel like a kid again. We had effortless conversation with Scott, Sarah, Johnny and Brittany and it was fun getting to know them all a little better, while sharing some of our own history with them. Although we are going to miss seeing our friends in the Evergreen ward weekly, we couldn’t be more pleased with our new ward.

Our new place is awesome! I totally love it here. It is such a blessing being on our own again. I love having our bedroom to ourselves and having the playroom, family room and office in a different part of the house. Even though I’m a country girl at heart, I love being able to walk across the street to the grocery store, instead of having to wait for Sean to come home with the car. Also across the street is a Rite Aid, Dairy Queen ($1.29 mint chocolate dilly bars all summer long!? Heck yeah!!!), Dollar Tree, our bank, and a lot more. Although I don’t love the view out the master bedroom window (the Shell station) or the fact that our neighbors smoke so we have to keep our windows closed, both of those will be resolved with our 2nd move that will happen in a few weeks.

Every Tuesday and Thursday since January I’ve been driving out to Banks to go to Heidi’s Boot Camp. She’s been kicking my butt and even though I still have some fat on my stomach, I definitely am getting some muscles under there that I’m so excited about! Now that we live in Aloha though, it’s a 35 minute drive 1 direction. So it’s more than 2 hours of drive time for only 2 hours of workout time weekly. However, there is a Bally’s Total Fitness across the street and with the encouragement of Kyle, who just joined a gym, I went and checked it out. They are running a promotion right now that there are no start up fees, no contract required, and it’s only $29/month. I can quit whenever I want. AND they have classes…boot camp classes, cycling classes, Yoga, Pilates, Karate, etc. all included with the cost of the membership. My favorite part? Free child care for up to 2 hours a day. I’m in Heaven! After doing the math to see how much I’d be spending on gas each month driving out to Banks, this actually turned out to be a little cheaper. So, I jumped on the offer. I have access to all of the Bally gyms across the nation, and there are several in the area that offer a variety of different classes. Never in my life have I been able to justify a gym membership. However, I feel really good about this and I’m really excited about it! I’m thrilled that it’s right across the street, and the child care and classes? Perfect. I am going to take it easy this week, seeing as my run is this Saturday, but after that, I’m going to really start taking advantage of what they have to offer me.

Asher is growing super fast. He is climbing up on everything…walking along the couch and pulling himself to standing in his crib and pack n play. He is feeding himself and eating almost everything we eat. He’s starting to realize when his dad or I leave the room and he’ll start to cry, but he’s still a mellow child. His favorite toy right now is a piano type thing with only 5 big keys that light up when you play them. He loves the music, just like his brother. It has been hard for his sleep schedule being here. (But not ours! He is no longer in our room…Yay!) He is just now starting to sleep through the night, so I haven’t yet put B & A in the same room. So Asher sleeps in the pack n play in the kitchen at night. Until Saturday though, the crib wasn’t set up in B’s room yet, so he also napped in the pack n play during the day. He went from sleeping in our tiny walk in closet that was pitch black to having to sleep in the kitchen that is super bright during the day. It hasn’t been easy. Now that we got the crib set up though, we’re figuring out how to make it work. Brayden has adjusted like a champ. He used to wake up from his nap grumpy most days and it would take him anywhere from a half hour to 2 hours to calm down. That has only happened once since we’ve been here. I’m not sure what the difference is, but it has been so good for us. He loves going on walks, he loves being able to throw his ball without us yelling at him to be careful so that doesn’t break something, and he loves standing at the window to watch the neighbor kids play outside.

I'll get and post pictures, including ones of our new place, as soon as I can find the card reader!