Hershey Half Marathon

I did it! I did it! I did it! If you would have told me when I was 18, that at 30-years-old, with an almost 2-year-old, I would be running a half marathon I probably would have laughed at you and said "yeah right." But I did do it, and it was a great accomplishment. Not sure when the next one will be, but I'll definitely be signing up for more 10k, and 5k races!

I was lucky enough to have almost my entire family there watching me and meeting me at points along the race. It really did help knowing that they were there, especially when I saw my baby girl running to me at mile 7. Honestly it almost made me want to stop, but I didn't. I finished with an official time of 2 hrs 30 minutes and 27 seconds. Not the best time in the world, but for my first race ever...not too shabby. Thank you to my amazing mom, sister, brother-in-law, and wonderful husband and daughter for supporting me these past 12 weeks.

The weekend started out with a trip to Hershey Park of course!

We were sooo excited for the train! Who wouldn't be?

Winning Madeline a doggie at wack-a-frog.

Lady bugs!

Gearing up for the race! Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mark have a lot of the good photos, maybe we can bribe them to post on their blog :)

Off to the starting line.

Baby girl waiting for me...

Sadly I think this was only mile 2 or 3. On our way into Hershey Park, yes we actually ran through the park. So awesome!

Sarah and Mark have the finishing photos...but more importantly we put puzzles together when we got home. A long, but accomplished weekend.

What do you do on a rainy day?

Smile silly for the camera

Jump on the couch, even though mommy tells you not to

Smile pretty for the camera

Relax and read a book

Wear mommy's shoes

Take a break ;) Happy cozy-fall Monday!

What?

You want me to simile for the camera? Oookkkkay!

This...

Is what Madeline wanted to wear around the house all night Tuesday. :) It was pretty adorable, so I let her twirl away until her hearts content.

Play Date with Olivia!

A few weeks ago, Olivia came over to play. We gave her mommy and daddy a night out to themselves before the arrival of Olivia's little sister, Isabel! The girls had a great night together, they played hard, and slept hard too! We started off with some fun in the basement with cars, and tents, moved it up to the bathtub, the doggie bed, and then ended with a showing of Disney's "UP." It was so fun, we can't wait to do it again!

Madeline even took a quick time-out to give a kiss to daddy.

If this doesn't look like fun, I don't know what does? I love that you can see Olivia's pink toe nails! :)

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Nemesis

With just under 2 weeks to go until my Half Marathon, my nemesis has shown it's true colors. ACORNS! Argh.

Nemesis

/ˈnɛməsɪs/ Show Spelled[nem-uh-sis]

–noun, plural

1. Something that a person cannot conquer, achieve, etc.
:The performance test proved to be my nemesis.

2. An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.

3. Classical Mythology. the goddess of divine retribution.

4. An agent or act of retribution or punishment.

Tap Class: Week Deux

This week's class went a tad better...Madeline still screamed after I walked her into class. But the teacher did say she did much better and that she only had to hold her for the first 2 minutes. After that it was a few unsure, whiny cries that she eventually got through. It helped when Olivia joined the class a few minutes later! Madeline perked up the minute she saw her. So sweet.

You, want me to go where? With out you? But mammmaaaa.....

My little tapper, she LOVED the new tutu I pulled out for her.
White with sparkles :)

End of Summer Fun

Last week we had one of our last hot summer days. So, Madeline and I took the afternoon off and relaxed in the backyard. We filled up MiMi, our pool as we affectionately call her, one last time, and stripped down to our diaper. It was a great afternoon.

First we discovered acorns! Collecting them has become a new passion of Madelines.

I love this photo...Love it.

WoW! These things are EVERYWHERE!!

And time for another cheesy photo shoot with mommy and the self-timer.

I know it's blurry, but I still think it's kind of cute.

First day of Tap Class!

Yesterday Madeline had her first tap class! That's right, it was finally time to break in the new Capizo's :) We had to get up a little early from our nap to make sure we were dressed and had a full belly. Class starts at 3:45 p.m. on the dot, okay not really, they are pretty lenient with the little ones. Anyway, we had a great snack of Greek Yogurt and some Graham Crackers and out the door to meet Miss. Olivia and the rest of the class. Madeline did great the first 5 minutes of the class until she started crying and the teacher, Megan, who was a doll, ended up holding her for about 10 minutes. Yikes! Anyway, she did pretty well even played in some circles and with some tambourines!

Madeline was happy to be done with class, and Olivia LOVED it. Their reactions when they came out were priceless...I have a feeling Madeline is going to be a soccer player, not a dancer. *Sigh* Honestly I am okay with it as long as she is in some activity.

And in case you are wondering, being on the other side of the glass is all too wierd. I am now the stalking parent, peering in on my child in class. I even got the "oh, parents can't come in to class with their kids." LOL, I feel like I was just saying that to my student's parents. And no, I wasn't trying to either.

Snack time, yummo!

Waiting for class to begin! Kind of looks like HSD colors girls doesn't it?

Bar time...tap, tap. tap....

And run in the circle and stomp your feet, run back out and stomp your feet. This was all too freaking cute.

Class ended with the tambourine. F-U-N!

Dinner with Baby Ellie

The other night Baby Ellie, and her parents came over for dinner! Well, okay Ben came over to help us seal our drive way and then as payment for his help we made them dinner. Ellie and Rachel came over in the afternoon so we got to hangout with them all day! Ellie is only two weeks old, so tiny, and completely perfect with a dark head of hair. I got to indulge and hold Ellie a good bit of the day, and Madeline really had no problems with her in terms of jealousy. She was interested and always wanted to know where "Baby" was. I think she said baby, baby, baby a dozen times.

Just before dinner the boys were reading a book about fireflies to the girls.

Madeline had to get a closer look at Ellie.

And then in for a kiss. Aw so sweet.

Potty Training

On Monday I decided to give potty training a go with Madeline. She is showing all of the signs that she is ready, yet, when we actually tried, not-so-much.

We woke up and got changed right into big girl underwear, pink Hello Kitty if you want the details. Then we went over how we pee-pee and poo-poo on the potty and we moved the potty into the living room so we could utilize it whenever necessary. The potty has been in the house for several weeks now, so Madeline was already familiar with it, and what to do with it. No accidents for the first two hours, then we went upstairs to put away laundry and wouldn't you know it. Pee-pee on Hello Kitty, and not much sign from Madeline other than the few drops on the floor. It didn't really bother her. Oh man. We got changed and into a pull up since we had to run errands, and that was the end of potty training that day. I think I might wait a few more weeks and give it another go.

HA! You want me to do what in this thing?

"Dry," ha, test run on the potty.

Making her actually "try" to pee-pee. This lasted all of 20 seconds.

Smartie Pants

FINALLY! A cure to Madeline's droopy drawers :) Madeline is a tad on the tall side, and A LOT on the skinny side, so the new 18-24 month and 2T pants she needs for her height slide right off of her around the waist. Argh. But this new company called Smartie Pants has devised a clip that attaches to the back of the pants, solving the problem! EUREKA!! In just a few days Madeline will be the new owner of the sample below. And what's even better is that each "belt" comes with two different sets of buttons, making for an oh-so-fashionable toddler. I am so happy I could cry. You must check them out: Smartie Pants.