Nora Turns Two!!

Last weekend, Nora turned two years old!  Again, another year flies by, she has really grown and developed so much in the past six months.  She is funny, feisty and crazy.  She says so many words now, putting together 3, 4, 5 word sentences.  She loves doing what her brother does but also loves to not do what he does.  She loves her babies and her brothers cars.  She has an infectious laugh too.  And this girl, she LOVES hummus, like a lot.  Maybe even more than her hot dogs and applesauce.

Nana and Papa Branch were going to be out of town for Nora's birthday celebrations so we caught up over some dinner Thursday night.  

 She got some new socks (much needed)

 Papa made her a new hat with the bag

 They also got her a stroller for her baby dolls.  She loves it!

Saturday morning (the day before her birthday), I went up to Park City and did a 5K with some of my work friends.  I am part of an internal group called the Women's Leadership Coalition and we supported a group of 20 girls who were running the Pink Series 5K for breast cancer awareness.  I helped get these awesome shirts from Marmot that we are all wearing.  It was a crisp morning but by the time we started running, it was a beautiful day!  Some of the girls ran wearing goat costumes, so funny!

The whole group above, just the merchandising girls below.

 Emma (middle), Kelley (left) and me were 1, 2, 3!

 I ran my best miles times yet!  And a 5K feels sooo short after two 10K's in a row.  It was over before I even got into a stride!

I left Park City and picked up the in-laws at the airport and headed to Black Island Farms for Nora's party.  When we got there, we were all shocked on how incredibly busy it was there!  Next year we are going in the morning!

Grandma and Nora at her party!

 Reed and Nora rode the cow train

 Papa and Grandma get lost with Nora in the corn maze.

 After the farm, we attempted to ride the tractor out to the field to pick pumpkins but the line was literally like an hour and a half long.  We waited for 30 minutes in the line and bailed.  We did pick out some pumpkins from the piles they already had - good enough!

Then we headed to dinner with a few friends and called it a night.  In the morning it was Nora's actual 2nd birthday!

 Opening a snow white dress up outfit from Lala!

 This bag was full of an outfit and two pairs of PJ's from grandma and papa.  She would pull one out and throw it to the side and go for another.  I think she was digging for the toys at the bottom but there were none, and she moved on!

 Reed helped her open his gift from him, a coffee pot, cappuccino maker and toaster play set!

 Lala got her a Minnie bigger than herself!

 We let the kids play a little and then off to church.  After church, we headed down to Snowbird to ride the tram. It was snowing at the top - like hard!

I got Nora a new little car, she LOVED it.  I gave it to her after dinner and the kids played in it every waking second after!  So much so that she refused to open any more gifts.  Each time I would show her one and she would say "no!".

 At Snowbird and balloon guy made her this special birthday hat that she wore for her birthday song and cupcake!

The day before at her party, she refused to blow out the candle.  This time blew out the candle before we even started singing and we had to relight it!

So a very happy birthday to my little baby girl.  I can't believe we have already reached the part of life where it is no longer measured in months, only years.  She is an independent girl already, very sure of what she wants and when she wants it.  She has a sweet side too, lots of kisses, hugs and "i love you's" already.  She pretty much always has crazy hair (which drive me nuts!), a dirty shirt and probably no pants on, but she sure is having fun.  She is very smart and already sort of athletic.  I cannot wait to see what kind of person she grows up to be.  To our baby princess, we love you lots!

 

Sawtooth Wedding

We got the opportunity to go to Stanley, Idaho for a beautiful wedding of some great friends.  We left early Friday morning to get to the resort early in the day.  Unfortunately, about 30 miles from our destination, we hit a rock and it ripped open our oil pan.  Needless to say, the car didn't make it much further.  We were high up on a pass and luckily came upon a pullout quickly.  A beautiful place to be stranded.

 There was absolutely no reception for our cell phones so we were a bit stranded.  Luckily, this amazing guy rolled up in his huge pickup and dragged us all the way to Stanley.  What an angel that guy!  We parked the car and waited a few minutes for Jesse (the groom) to come pick us up.  We enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful river nearby.

 Back at Redfish Lake Lodge, the kids got their gifts from Emily (the bride) which were buckets, shovels and coloring stuff, and we headed to the beach to play.  How beautiful is this place?

 Back to the cabin for a quick cleanup and we enjoyed a BBQ after the rehearsal.  Emily set up this adorable kids table, which is where both the kids spent quite a bit of time.

 The next morning, while the boys went to shoot clay pigeons, I took the kids with me and my friend Holly to explore a ghost town nearby.  I love ghost towns.

On our way back, we saw three deer.  Holly asked Reed what their names were and without hesitation, Reed said "John.  John Deer"  Boy, we laughed pretty hard.

After lunch, we cleaned up and went down to the beach for the ceremony.  It was supposed to be very cold but it ended up being beautiful and actually warmish.  Here is Glendon and Kaytee.

 Holly and Ben

Pete and Amy

 Me and the Kids (Fogg was a groomsman)

 Reed wanted to throw sticks in the water for hours.  I had to pull him out of the way so that he wasn't photobombing the ceremony.  He went right back after the wedding was over.

 The sawtooth mountains in the back are so beautiful!

 Some of the kids that were there: Reed, Lucy, Sierra and Nora.  They all loved throwing things in the water and playing in the sand.

Nora loved the kid table again, she loves blowing bubbles.

Unfortunately, I got no pictures of the actual ceremony that you can actually see.  Jesse and Emily looked amazing, the party was awesome, the location breathtaking.  We are so happy for both of them!  Jesse has come so far in two years - remember this?  We are so thrilled for our friend to not only be alive, but healthy, happy and married!  And we got another friend out of the deal, we love Emily! 

Luckily, Pete and Amy came to rescue us.  We had them pick up our Yukon and a trailer when they headed up on Saturday.  We loaded up the car on the trailer and all headed back, actually comfortably, in the Yukon.  They really helped us out and we love them for it!  We'll see how much repairs cost.  So much for saving money on our gas efficient car!

And just for you Carol, a new header picture of the family.

Huntsville 10K

I ran the Huntsville 10K on Saturday.  It went great!  It was a foggy, misty morning and really freaking cold.  I started my warm up with a headband, gloves, extra fleece pants, a fleece jacket and a down jacket.  It cleared and warmed a bit by the time we started.  It was a gorgeous, quiet, peaceful run.  The views were beautiful the whole time.  I ran more than a 10K, the finish line was 6.7 miles from the start, a half mile too long!  I ran 9:15 miles very consistently which I was very proud of, my fastest mile times.  Unfortunately, I didn't finish under an hour due to the extra length, but I would have and that's what matters!  I finished fourth in my age group, 26th overall for 10Kers.  Mom did awesome too, finishing only 14 minutes after me, a good 15 minutes faster than she thought and with an extra distance!  And she got second in her age group and metaled! I am very proud of her for doing it.

The Week

Last week, Fogg was gone from Sunday to Thursday so I was solo for the week.  It actually went really well.  Usually it's full of sickness, torn jeans, epic problems, and stress.  The kids slept pretty good, no clothes ripped, the kids were really great.  I did get called by the school two of the days because one day Reed had a stomach ache (my diagnosis was gas) and by the time I got there, he was fine, playing outside.  The other day, he fell off a log thing in the playground and landed on his back, he said he was fine when I got there.  No biggy either day.  

Fogg came home and we went out to lunch near my work.  When I got home that afternoon, these were on the kitchen counter.  I love getting flowers!

Saturday was running around a little.  We went to watch the Xterra race up at Snowbasin.  While we waited for the racers, we played in the grass on a beautiful morning.  

 I also made them Mickey Mouse pancakes in the morning.

Sunday we stayed home all day cause the kids had pink eye.  We dressed up for the Steelers game.

Back to the grind for the week. Next weekend is another 10K, I'm ready to roll (and be done running for a little bit).

Cheers~

Playing and Saying

Awww, man I love these kids!  They are getting better at playing with each other each day.  There laughter makes me happy (more on that below).  Reed will initiate play with Nora more and more.  "Nora, want to come with me?", "Nora, come here".  It's cute.  She likes when he takes her for rides, though she can drive her own little car.  Sometimes they do races.

 Here they are playing together in the tub.  Their laughing just makes me smile.

We went over to our friends house, James and Michelle.  Their daughter Gracie has an adorable little playhouse.  Gracie and Nora are going to get into a ton of trouble when they grow up, those two little firecrackers.  But this is so cute, them playing together.

Last but not least. Nora has learned to answer the question "How old are you going to be on your birthday".  So cute!

Diaper Dance Part 2

Back in April of 2011, Reed was a cute little 23 month old.  He created the Diaper Dance.  I posted about it.  In case you need a refresher and don't want to click that link, here is his version:

Last night, my adorable 23 month old little girl decided to repeat the dance.  The similarities are evident.  Here is Nora's version:

I love comparisons like that, so funny to me.  Even filmed in the exact same location.

It makes me think back to the day that Reed did the dance.  I was barely pregnant with Nora.  I look at Nora at the exact same age and think that if there was a third spaced the same, I would be pregnant.  Yikes!  FYI- there is no third!  I feel so much older and definitely more tired. But oh so fun to look back and remember. 

Cheers~

Well, plans change

Boy, were we all so excited for our Labor Day camping trip!  We got the camper all fixed up, we were packed up ready to roll when Dianne brought the kids home Thursday afternoon.  She mentioned how Reed was so excited about camping and had talked about it all day.  We had a fun plan to head up to Jackson area, meet up with lots of friends, go to the Rodeo, visit yellowstone, ride bikes in Grand Teton, suck in the fresh mountain air, turn off our phones and connect and relax as a family.  Dianne dropped the kids off, we were just about 15-20 minutes from pulling out of the driveway.  Reed said he was going to go to the potty then get a snack and we would load up.  A few minutes later, Reed comes into the garage screaming.  Nora was screaming too.  I was confused, what had happened?  Did they get in a fight?  Did they run into each other?  Nope, Reed fell down, he was in pain and he was crying, Nora was just sympathy crying.  We tried to calm him down but to no avail.  We went in the house, tried to check him out, it was clear he did something to his collarbone, I knew it.  So off to the doctor I took him.  He cried for a solid hour and a half, with screams mixed in.  After this x-ray, it was clear that our weekend plans were going to change. 

So home I headed and we unpacked everything.  Reed wouldn't let me be as much as a few feet from him, so after lots of cartoons, lots of snuggles and lots of coaxing, I finally got him to sleep and ate dinner at 9:30pm.  On my couch. Not in Jackson.  Not in my camper.  And not very happy.

It took me quite some time to come to grips with the loss of my vacation.  I'm not so sure (five days later) that I am yet. Reed is a trooper and after finally taking some ibuprofen, realized it made him feel better.  We kept him bandaged up and found things around town to occupy us.  Friday morning, Reed found a few smiles with Nora showing me their feet.

 We ran around town a little on Friday, went to the air force museum, had lunch, ran some errands.  He slept good in the carseat, sitting straight up.

 Saturday we visited the zoo.  Saw the elephant show and the bird show.  Looked at animals.  We loved watching the polar bear swim.

Sunday, after church, mom watched the kids so fogg and I could have a little lunch date.

Monday, it was rainy.  We went and watched some friends fly model airplanes, they let Reed fly a little.  Nora liked to play in the rain.

We went and had some lunch after that, then I took the kids to see the movie Planes while Fogg hit the gym.  

And that was our weekend.  Reed is doing much better, though still not great.  He is sleeping great other than the first night (boy that was rough), which is so good for his healing.  He is managing the pain like a superhero, a little IB a few times a day and he's fine.  He keeps an ice pack on it frequently, I think mostly for the protection of it.  The tough part is to come, he will feel better and better but still not be able to do much.  He will have a hard time with that, wanting to play but can't.  Yesterday he was "sledding" down a friends hill, fell and remembered quickly that he was injured.  Might be more frustrating for me to remind him that he has to take it easy all the time.  Poor kiddo!

He's said some funny things.  "I wish I didn't break my bone". I call him one wing, he said "Good thing that I didn't break both, or I'd have no wings!".  "Maybe a fruit snack will make me feel better?". "I feel super, so much, awesome better mommy!".

Nora has had a little hard time with mommy taking care of Reed more than usual, she has acted up a little and started to depend on daddy a bit more, which is good actually. 

So, though I still mourn the loss of my weekend plans, we tried to have a little fun too.  I know that I'm supposed to learn something from this, what? I'm still trying to figure out.  Be more nurturing? Be less selfish? Let go of the little things? Whatever it is, I hope to learn it quickly, I'm exhausted and sure don't want things like this to happen again!

I leave you with these adorable little curls from my baby girl on a humid day!