Pool Time!

The other day I bought Carter a small pool.  Ever since I’ve been looking forward to playing in it.  I even got him a swimsuit and matching swim shirt a few days later.  We ran an errand this morning and ended up spending quite a bit of time in the car.  Carter napped most of the time.  We got home around 1:30 and I decided it was a perfect time to try out the pool.

Thankfully Ty made a patio cover in our backyard right after we moved in, so we had a good deal of shade to work with.  Carter didn't even need his swim shirt because he wasn't in the sun.  I took him outside with me and he sat in the Bumbo while I washed the swimming pool and filled it with water.  I put the pool in the sun while we got our swimsuits on hoping the water would warm up.

Playing with a bath toy.

When we went back outside the water was still chilly so I filled a mixing bowl with warm water from the sink and put it in the pool.  After 3 mixing bowls I felt the water temperature was appropriate.  I placed a towel on the bottom of the pool for cushion and rolled up one end like a pillow to keep his head out of the water.   I worry, probably too much, about water getting in his ears.  Definitely don’t want him getting another ear infection!  

If the video doesn't work, you can watch it on youtube here.

He kicked and snorted and waved his arms around.  Eventually he worked himself closer to the side of the pool and would kick off the side.  I figured I would wait until he showed signs of being tired and then we’d go inside.  I was shocked that he stayed in the pool for about 45 minutes.  He sure was exhausted after we came in.  He ate and then took a little 30 minute power nap.  When he woke up he was ready to go about the rest of his day.

Nap time!

I had such a blast watching him play in the pool.  We will definitely be utilizing it again soon!

It's a Wonderful Day!

I have a feeling I'm going to be saying this all summer long, but today was such an amazing day.  It was a day filled with laughing which filled my heart with love.  It all started while I was rocking Carter after his morning feeding.  Skippy jumped up in my lap to snuggle with us.  He's normally a bit skittish when it comes to Carter, so it was a pleasant surprise.

As I was getting dressed to go for a run I put Carter on the bed.  He loves to lay in the middle of the bed and stare up at the fan.  Harper and Skippy started playing.  I took a video, but just missed Skippy jumping onto the bed on top of Harper.  It is so funny to see them playing!

If the video doesn't work, watch it on youtube here.

Carter practiced sitting up with the help of the Boppy.  He did really well, but got tired toward the end.  It's hard to imagine him sitting up all on his own without the help of the Bumbo or Boppy.  I know he will be very soon!

Yesterday Ty got Carter's high chair out of the garage.  I put it together today and Carter got to eat dinner at the table with us.  I made him bananas again and he loved them.  He's getting the hang of eating food.  When he sees the spoon coming he opens his mouth wide.  He looked like such a big boy sitting there.  I could almost hear him saying, "Mommy, more food!"

Originally we were going to go to the aquarium with Erin and her son, Hayden, but he came down with strep throat.  Our day wasn't special like a trip to the aquarium, but I loved every minute of it.  Now Carter is sleeping, probably with a finger or two or few in his mouth.

He hooked himself!

Our First Day of Summer

Today was Carter and my first day at home together for the summer.  No work.  No daycare.  Just Carter and mommy hanging out all day long!  We had an amazing day that started with some snuggles in bed and then Carter laughing during a diaper change.

If this video doesn't work you can watch it on youtube here.

We read a couple books and wrote them down for the summer reading program.  I signed Carter up for the program last week.  I am so excited about it!  I looked through the programs offered and saw they have “My First Storytime” offered at many library locations for newborns to 2-year-olds.  I can’t wait to take him!

Carter snuggling a burp cloth on our drive yesterday.

We then went on a 3 mile run.  At first Carter looked around and played with his blanket.  Then he started rubbing his blanket on his face, sucking his thumb, and fell asleep.  Lately when I would wipe his face off with a burp cloth he would grab it and snuggle it like a blanket.  So I got out the blanket we got as a present from our obstetrician and he loves it.  I smile watching him with it because I always snuggled my blanket as a child.

Napping during our run.

Outside we read another book, played with some bubbles, took a walk around the yard, and just sat for a while listening to birds.  It is the best feeling having Carter cuddled up against me.  It was the perfect day to be outside with overcast skies and a high of 80 degrees so I didn’t have to worry about Carter getting too hot or too much sun.

Checking everything out while in his Bumbo.

I decided to make enchiladas for dinner and had wanted to buy Carter a swimming pool so we went to the store.  I planned it all out and decided I would put Carter in his ErgoBaby carrier while we shopped.  I picked out a small plastic swimming pool and went inside.  After I got a cart I looked down and noticed Carter’s left leg was purple.  I freaked out realizing the carrier must be cutting off circulation to his legs.  I took the carrier off and walked around holding him in one arm and pushing a horrible cart with jankety wheels with the other.  It was all I could do not to steer into every aisle I tried to go down.

Finally I realized when I had used the carrier before Carter was facing toward me, not facing out.  So I put the carrier back on and faced Carter toward me.  It worked out perfectly and made it a lot easier to finish my shopping.   He very happily looked around and held onto my shirt with his sweet, little hands.

When we got home I prepped the enchiladas and then made Carter baby food for the first time.  I just mashed up a banana and added some breastmilk.  When I was a baby the only food I wouldn’t eat was bananas.  I planned to give Carter a small bite to make sure he liked it first just in case he was like me.  I ended up adding too much milk so I had to add more of the banana too.  Luckily he loved it and ate quite a bit.

I was surprised as Carter’s bedtime neared.  When I was working I would get sad when it was close to bedtime because I didn’t want him to go to sleep.  Even after spending all day long with him, the same feeling crept into my chest when I looked at the clock and it was 7:00.  I guess some things may never change.

A cute, little duck on his cute, little tush!

Carter wore his jammies from his Grammy and Grampy Hurford for the first time with a duck on his bottom.  He fought sleep but eventually fell asleep with one arm wrapped tightly around his blanket.  I went in to take his blanket away after he fell asleep and had a difficult time prying it out from under his arm.

He had a death grip on that blanket!

Tomorrow I have a mandatory training on some new curriculum we will be implementing next year.  Thankfully it’s only a half-day training, but I’m still sad I won’t have all day to hang out with my little buddy again.

   

We are Warriors!

I have gotten behind on our race re-caps.  Last weekend we ran 2 races and this weekend we ran another.  It’s hard to believe I’ve run so many races lately because my training has been atrocious!  The week Carter had an ear infection I only ran once because I wasn’t getting much sleep and was exhausted.  The following week I got sick and didn’t run until the Warrior Dash on Saturday.  This week I only ran once before our next 5K because of all the family stuff we had going on.  Needless to say I am ready to get back into a routine and get back in shape!  Let’s start with last week’s race recaps. 

Saturday was the Warrior Dash.  My dad, brothers, Ty, and I were all signed up for a 2:00 heat.  My mom had planned to come to watch Cater while we raced, but my grandma wasn’t doing well so she decided against it.  I’m so glad she made that decision!  I really wanted to run the race with Ty, so we decided dad, Jeremy, and Thomas would all run the 2:00 heat and Ty and I would jump in a later heat.  We would take Carter with us and dad would watch him after he finished.

Carter sleeping during dad, Jeremy, and Thomas' heat.

It ended up working out really well because Carter got hungry shortly after their race start and I was able to nurse him.  Jeremy won the heat in 29:05 and ended up finishing 6^th out of 920 in his age group!  He came over to us after he finished and in his tired state put his arm up on the stroller, dripping mud onto Carter’s head.  Carter didn’t even blink.

Jeremy coming up out of the mud pit.

Dad finished next in 34:30 which put him 9^th out of 126 in his age group.  We watched him finish and then Ty and I hustled over to the start line just in time to make the 3:15 heat (the last heat of the day was at 3:30).  We missed Thomas finish in 37:36 good for 148^th out of 920 in his age group.

Dad finishing.

The race was a blast!  I love running with Ty and an obstacle race was the perfect time for it because we weren’t worried about our finishing time and were able to enjoy running with each other.  I had only done one small obstacle course race before (read a little bit about it here) so I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to complete some of the obstacles.  I was surprised that none of them required much in the way of upper body strength, so I was golden!  

The course was pretty hilly, which was an obstacle in itself, especially with my lack of recent training.  My favorite obstacle was called “muddy mayhem”.  We had to crawl/swim through mud and water and underneath barbed wire.  My least favorite obstacle was walking across a plank that was about 12 feet above a water pit.  I couldn’t stop looking down and the plank was wet and muddy.  I was so sure I would fall in!

Family picture after we finished!

Ty and I finished in 43 minutes.  That put me 100^th out of 1,003 women in my age group and Ty was 325^th out of 920 in his age group.  I know I could have done better.  I really took my time on the obstacles.  I was more concerned with finishing them than finishing them quickly.  I also took it pretty easy on the running segments.  It was a bit rough coming off of 2 weeks without running and then running a hilly course with obstacles!  I had a blast and I loved sharing the experience with Ty and then getting to see Carter’s precious face after we finished!

Dad gets the award for the most extreme warrior, true warriors bleed!

Ty had signed up for another obstacle course race the next day called the Camp Loughridge Xtreme 5K because they are a client of his company.  He planned to run the race with a couple girls from his work.  As he was getting ready I decided I wanted to run too.  My younger brother, Thomas, was still in town and he said he’d watch Carter as we ran.  I looked at Ty and asked when we needed to leave and he said in 10-15 minutes so I started rushing around getting ready.  As I slipped my shoes on I realized they were still wet from the Warrior Dash.  During the race I discovered there were also small rocks still in my shoes which moved around as I ran and ended up under my feet.

As we lined up for the race we looked around at the other runners.  It was a small race and we thought I might be able to do pretty well.  I had planned to run with Ty and the girls, but decided if it looked like I could be a top overall female finisher I’d go for it.

We took off running and the first obstacle was a mud pit with extremely thick mud.  I lost my shoe and had to turn around and really tug at it to pull it out.  I almost got run into by quite a few runners and Ty was one of them.  I definitely wasn’t going on without my shoe though, that was a $30 shoe!  I finally pulled it loose and continued on.

There weren’t as many obstacles as the Warrior Dash and the obstacles weren’t as challenging.  It was a hilly course, but not nearly as hilly as the Warrior Dash.  I finished first overall female in 32:17.  Ty finished with the girls from work in just under an hour.  I was interviewed after the race by a local news station and a clip was on the news.  Check it out here.

This Saturday we ran a race hosted by Ty’s mom’s church.  Last year was the first year they hosted it and we ran it last year too.  It brought back memories because we told Ty’s grandparents we were pregnant right before the race start last year.  

 

Hanging out before the race.

It was a small race with 138 finishers.  I had figured I should be able to run under 25 minutes and finished in 24:30.  I was 1^st in my age group, 2^nd female overall, and 14^th overall finisher.  Ty ran with a friend and they finished in 27:22.  He was 8^th in his age group and 25^th overall.

Carter with his great grandma at the race.

The best part of the race was spending time with Ty’s family and friends.  His parents drove us and we met up with his grandma and aunt at the race.  His friend he ran with has an almost 2 year old and we had a blast playing with her!

Carter with his great grandpa the next day.

We don’t have any races coming up.  The next race we plan to run is in August, but I bet we end up running a July 4^th 5K.  It will be nice to have some time off racing to get back in shape! 

Great Grandma

Four generations at Christmas-time.

My grandma passed away on Saturday.  We leave tomorrow for the wake and funeral.  This evening while I contemplated packing, it finally sunk in.  As I held Carter against my chest I felt the tears stream down my face and onto his nearly bald head.  While they soaked into the few strands of hair covering his skin, I looked up at his face in the mirror and he gave me a huge, gummy grin.  I felt sad that he wouldn’t remember his great grandma and what a strong and amazing woman she was.  But I know even if he were a bit older, my memories would be the ones that he would remember the most.  Those memories began to flood my mind.  

 

Meeting Great Grandma for the first time.

Anyone who knew my grandma will recount how she loved to play cards.  At a young age I learned how to be a good sport.  My grandma never purposely allowed someone to beat her in a game, no matter what their age.  She played to win every time no matter what.  One of her favorite games was “Aggravation”.  If you’ve never played it, it’s basically a marble version of “Sorry”.  She played the game not to win, but to knock other players off the board.  She got such joy from knocking marbles back into their home base and would laugh as she did so.  I learned to love having my marble forced back to the start.  I loved the sound of my grandma’s laughter and the joy it brought her.

I am not a good driver and I never have been.  My grandparents had a riding lawn mower and as kids we loved getting to mow their lawn.  One time while I was mowing I cut too close to one of her bushes and sliced down about half of the bush.  The first thing my grandma said when she saw the yard was, “My bush looks smaller.”  I felt embarrassed and explained what had happened.  She replied with, “It will grow back”.  And it did, but it never looked quite the same.  I learned that it’s okay to make mistakes and it’s best to just own up to them right away.

My grandma had a pair of slippers we jokingly called my puke slippers.  I guess both times I was sick at my grandparents’ house I threw up on my grandma’s feet while she was wearing them.  She never complained and even joked about wearing them around me.  I learned that no material item ever measures up to love.

I have always loved green lettuce.  Those white pieces are just gross!  I would try to pick out the green lettuce to make my salads.  I will never forget going to my grandparents’ house and my grandma had specially made me my own salad made of only the greenest pieces of lettuce.  I ate too much steak and wasn’t able to eat my whole salad.  I felt horrible, but my grandma didn’t care.  She made the salad to show she loved me and it had served its purpose.

When my grandpa died about 3 years ago, my grandma was a rock.  I never saw her cry, not once.  I know she did, but she never did in front of us.  Her strength gave me strength.  It made it easier to move on.  I know it must have been hard for her, but she did it for us.  I want to be that for Carter.  I want to appear strong even when my heart is breaking.  She never knew how much that helped me and what it meant to me.

There are so many more memories, but those are the ones that really stuck with me.  The ones that helped shape who I am, that taught me something about life and love.  As I stood looking at Carter in the mirror, I felt comfort.  Comfort in knowing that my grandma lives on in me and in Carter.  Somewhere inside of me cells and strands of DNA come from her.  She is part of who I am and therefore  who Carter is, and that will never change. 

Hanging out with Great Grandma.