Happy Halloween!!!

Hi Everybody!  I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween this year!!  I had a Blast!!!  Wanna hear what all I've been up to the last couple weeks?  Ok - let's see, Daddy started his new job, so Mommy and I have been spending lots of time together!  We've been going to swimming lessons (which I've learned isn't so bad after all - except for the going underwater part that Mommy makes me do!), and the library, and grocery, and painting!!  I miss hanging out with Daddy, but Mommy and I have a lot of fun too - and Daddy's usually home by the time I wake up from my nap which is really nice!  Daddy seems to like his new job a lot!  He has a lot of responsibilities, and has to get up really early, but it sounds like the people he works with are really nice, and the insurance and other benefits are so great!!  Which is good, because those were the worst things about his last Job! 

We went shopping last week to get Daddy some new work clothes, and Mommy got something for Jayce (and part of my Halloween outfit).  This outfit is for him to come home from the hospital in, and for Christmas too.  Isn't it really cute - it has a reindeer on the butt!!! 

Oh yeah, and Mommy FINALLY finished Jayce's room.  She's still adding a few 'accent' things, like a night light and name picture like in my room, but all the major painting and moving of stuff is done. 

And Last Weekend we went up in the mountains to play in the snow!!  Mommy wanted to take some pictures for Christmas cards (yes, I TRIED to tell her it was a little early!!!), but I had fun just making footprints!  It was snowing really hard up at Cameron Pass (up the Poudre Canyon) and they had almost a foot of fresh powder!  

This weekend was SUPER busy!!  Yesterday I helped Mommy plant some bulbs and bake all day!!  She coordinated the Bake Sale at church this morning to raise money for MOPS, and so I helped her make Owl Cookies (my favorite fall cookie!!) to sell.  Thankfully, she made some extra for me and Daddy too!! They were Yummy!! 

Then last night Daddy and I carved my pumpkin - yes, a little last minute!  We only got one pumpkin this year to save money, and a couple gourds for Mommy and Daddy, so we only had one pumpkin to carve.  Daddy helped me, well, ok, did almost the whole thing.  I didn't like the goopy insides.  Mommy made me touch them for a picture, but they were yucky!!  I immediately washed my hands!! 

Then today Mommy left me at home with Daddy when she went to church so she could work the bake sale all morning!  They made a lot of money for MOPS, and Mommy brought home some of the leftovers - YUMMY!!!  And tonight was my FAVORITE PART!!!  TRICK OR TREATING!!! 

 Here's me in my Mickey Mouse Costume.  Mommy put me in pants instead of shorts (partly cuz she had a hard time finding red shorts this time of year) so that I'd be warmer too.  It was a warm night though, so I didn't even have to wear a coat.  Daddy took me out, and Mommy stayed home to pass out candy.  We went all the way around our block, over to Trevor's house and back again.  I got almost my whole pumpkin full of candy!!!  But Mommy and Daddy only let me have a few pieces tonight.  I hope they leave it out again like last time so I can eat it all in the morning!!!  hehehe  but probably not! 

Well, that's all that's been going on here.  We have one more week of swimming lessons, and Mommy goes to the Doctor again this week.  Then after that we are relaxing until Thanksgiving!! 

Swim Lessons - Yuck!!! Candy - YUM!!!

Hey everyone!!  Hope you are having a good weekend!!  This week I started Swim Lessons with Mommy.  It's a Mommy & Me class, meaning Mommy helps me the whole time.  I HATE IT!!!  I like it better when we just go and play at the baby pool, where it's only comes up to my knees and I can just play.  Mommy and Teacher make me go in deep parts where Mommy has to hold me.  I don't like that, cuz then I can't do what I want.  They also make me do stuff like make swim arms and kick my feet.  Mommy keeps trying to dunk me under water too, and I REALLY don't like that!!!  I think the only part I like is when we get to play with toys.  Mommy says I'm supposed to throw my toy and "Swim" to it, but why would I throw it when it's already in my hand and I can play with it!!  Duh!!  Oh and I like Jumping off the edge into Mommy's arms (even though I cheat a little and make Mommy hold me before I jump!!)  Mommy said I did better on day 2 than day 1, and I guess I was nicer about it, not screaming in Mommy's ear as much.  But I only have to do it for 6 more days!!!  Yippee!!!  I just hope that Mommy doesn't get the idea of doing this again next year!! 

Yesterday we went to CSU's Homecoming Parade!  It was so much fun!!  I got to see firetrucks, and floats, and cars, and get CANDY!!!  The Rangers that Mommy used to work with were in it (Mommy was sad she couldn't be with them this year) and so I got to see the new Ranger Truck and Steve's Horse - she's pretty!

  And Colby gave me candy!!  I didn't get a whole lot, but what I did get I polished off this morning before Mommy and Daddy got up!!  hehehe - I thought for sure they would hide it after I went to bed last night, but when I woke up, there it was still in the bag laying on the floor where I left it last night!!  So I ate it all before Mommy and Daddy could take it and hide it!!  Aren't I smart!!

Here's a picture of Jayce's Room.  Mommy finished the second wall.  Now she just has one left to do.  It's the wall by the closet - she's just doing three Monkeys hanging (like in the game Barrel of Monkeys).  Then she's all done!!  I bet she'll be happy to be all done!! 

Oh, I almost forgot the MOST EXCITING NEWS!!!  DADDY GOT A JOB!!!!  It pays really well, and sounds like the insurance is really good too (whatever that is - Mommy and Daddy were excited about it!)  But best of all Daddy will get off work at 3 everyday!! That means he gets to hang out with me more!!  I guess that means he has to get up really early though.  Mommy says it's even earlier than she had to get up this summer!!  I hope he's not too tired to play with me when he gets home.  Anyways, I think he's gonna start this week sometime.  And one more thing to tell you about.  Mommy wants me to tell you that she has a Doula now to help out when Jayce is born.  Mommy's friends with my Friend Ashlynn's Mommy, and Ashlynn's Grandma is a Massage Therapist (I don't know what that is, but Mommy was excited) who's training to be a Doula.  She's already taken a bunch of classes on prenatal massage, and is learning other techniques for helping Mommies in labor.  But before she can be certified as a Doula she has to be at 3 births, and so Mommy and Daddy are let her be at Jayce's birth to help her out.  I guess she's going to give Mommy some massages too, which Mommy is SUPER Excited about - and all this is FREE, since she's not certified yet!  Mommy was a little worried about having someone other than Daddy and Doctors there, she said I couldn't come, but after meeting the lady and learning how much help she can be, (not to mention Mommy likes to help people out too) she realized that this can't hurt any, and it's Free, so Why Not!! 

Well, that's about it for this week.  I still don't have my Halloween Costume finished, so I'll have to bug Mommy about that this week so I can show you.  Have a good rest of the weekend everyone!!

Oh the Stories. . .

Hi Everyone!  Boy have I got a lot to tell you about today!!  We have been so busy this last couple weeks.  Before Daddy's Marathon, My Mommy's Aunt Gayle and Uncle Ed came to visit us.  They were on their way to Las Vegas, and thought they would stop in and chat!  Wasn't that nice of them.  They wanted to drive out there, so Daddy gave Uncle Ed some pointers of where to go and what sights to see along the way.  I hope they had fun!!

 Then Daddy had his Marathon, so Here are a few pictures from that.  Me and Daddy before the race:

 Daddy at the Start:

 Coming through the Blue Sky Trailhead:

 Daddy's knees are feeling much better now.  He even ran 13 miles yesterday and said he felt really good.  So he's still on track for trying the marathon again, just without all the hoopla of a race.  He just wants to accomplish it!  Mommy said that she and I would be there to cheer him on at the finish again!!  He's so cool!! 
Then on Monday Mommy and I went to church for her MOPS planning meeting.  We've been running around all week collecting stuff because for the craft at Monday's meeting the MOPS are packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  (Click on the words to find out more if you aren't familiar with OCC) We have been to every single shoe store in Fort Collins looking for shoeboxes!! 
On Tuesday, Mommy and Daddy took me to Rocky Mountain National Park!!  We went to see and hear the elk bugling, but we must have missed it, or come at the wrong time of day.  We only saw one herd of elk, and they were kinda far away.  But that's ok - the day wasn't a total loss!!  Fall River Road was still open, along with Trail Ridge Road, so we got to drive up there and get some pretty pictures.  This is the latest in the year we have been able to get up to the Alpine Visitor Center.  And Daddy said it was nice going on a weekday for a change because there was no one else there!!

 On Wednesday I went to Story Time at the Library with Greg and Jaxon.  We went to the park too!!  It was so much fun!  I like playing with Greg!  Mommy wanted to show Lacey Jayce's room since she finished one wall of the mural.  Here's what it looks like. 

 Mommy says I should tell you a little about how She and Jayce are doing now.  She's 30 weeks along, so only 10 weeks left!!  She's excited about that.  She's having trouble sleeping now, and has the bed FULL of pillows - I don't know how Daddy sleeps in there too!?!?!  But I like sneaking in there and playing with all of them!  Anyways, at her last Dr.'s appointment the Dr. said her belly was measuring a couple centimeters bigger than usual.  This can mean a couple things: -Jayce was stretched out that day, throwing off the measurement, -Jayce is going to be a big baby, -The measurement is off only because Mommy saw a different Dr. last week and she measured different than Mommy's usual Dr.  So we'll have to wait a couple more weeks to see if it holds true to any of these theories!!!  But everything else is looking good, Jayce is still kicking up a storm and driving Mommy crazy!!  That's one reason she's having so much trouble sleeping.  She gets up to go potty between 2:30 and 4 am usually, and that wakes up Jayce too.  Then he thinks it's time to play and keeps Mommy up for the next hour and a half or 2 hours while he has a party in her belly!!!  Mommy's hoping that's not going to be a permanent addition to his schedule! 
Let's see now . . . back to other things!!!  Oh, Daddy's been refinishing our Deck.  The stain he did a couple years ago wasn't looking too hot, and after a massive hail storm in August it was about toast!!  So he sanded down the WHOLE thing and is going to repaint it!  Here he is working hard:  (I'm helping too - see me sweeping on the deck?) 

On Friday, Mommy and I went to the Fall Festival at church.  Daddy was working on the deck, and Mommy was working at the Pumpkin Decorating table so I had to sit in the nursery most of the Festival.  But then Mommy's friend Cathy was so nice to come and get me!! I got to decorate a pumpkin with Mommy and jump in the bounce house for a little bit.  Sorry we didn't get any pictures. 
Then yesterday we went to Greg's Birthday Party!!!  It was at the Park in Windsor.  Now he's 3 like me!!  He had a Car's party like I did!!  We got him a cool remote control tractor!  I can't wait to go to his house and play with it!! 

So as you can see we've been doing a TON of stuff since Mommy is done with work now!  Oh, which reminds me, Mommy says to pray for the rangers she worked with and people living around Horsetooth Reservoir.  There's ANOTHER wildfire at Horsetooth this time (the last one was at Carter Lake in Loveland).  It's still pretty small, and conditions are better - we had some sprinkles a couple days ago and temps are a lot cooler.  But the wind is picking up and there are houses in the path.  Mommy's sad that she can't be there to help - these kind of situations are what Rangers are trained for, and she can't help out at all.  We'll try to keep you updated. 
Next week is going to be just as busy!  I start Swim Lessons with Mommy!!  So twice a week for the next 4 weeks Mommy and I get to go swimming!!  I'm so excited!  Then next weekend is the CSU homecoming parade (more candy- yay!!!).  After that Mommy says we need to work on my Halloween Costume.  I'm going to be Mickey Mouse with the ears that Mommy got me when she was in Orlando.  Well, Mommy's painting in Jayce's room, and I have to help Daddy pick up my toys, so I'll update you on more later!!  Have a good week everyone!!!

Daddy's First Marathon

Good News: MY DADDY ROCKS!!!!  Bad news: He wasn't able to finish all 26.5 miles of his first marathon. 

We left this morning about 5:30 am.  Mommy and Daddy woke me up a little before that and let me go in my pajamas.  it was about 42 degrees outside.  We got there and Daddy signed in.  The race started just after sunrise at 7:00.  It started kinda in the middle (map Here), and Daddy ran North into Horsetooth Mountain Open Space for about 5 miles, then back to the Blue Sky Trailhead.  Through the trailhead and then south down the Blue Sky trail and into Devil's Backbone.  These trails are ones that Daddy really likes to Mountain Bike on, and here he was running a Marathon on them!!  Mommy told me that the route has over 3,000 ft of elevation gain/loss, which means a lot of hills for Daddy.

So anyways, we were there at the trailhead to watch Daddy start.  Then we waited around until he came through on his way south.  He came through at about 9:00, still pretty good time considering the majority of elevation change was in that first 10 miles.  He told us later that his knees were hurting him by this point already.  When he got to the Indian Summer South aid station he tried to get some Motrin for his knees, but no one had any.  He knew at this point that it was not going to be easy to get around the Devil's Backbone Section of the route - Laughing Horse Loop is rated as a Difficult Trail (one of only 2 in the entire Larimer County Parks System).  By the time he got back to that station on his way north again, he was walking and hobbling pretty bad.  He thought he had missed the cutoff for that checkpoint and wouldn't be able to finish, but he made it by 1 minute!!  Yay Daddy!!  So he iced his knees some, rested, and headed out again.  But soon his right knee said "No MORE - I'm all Done!!"  Poor Daddy, he had to hobble back to the aid station and call it quits.  Thankfully, one of Mommy's Ranger Friends was there and he called Mommy to say that Daddy was coming back in a car, so that we didn't have to keep watching for him and worrying.  Daddy was so disappointed in himself, but Mommy and I reassured him that he did a great job and we were so proud of him!!!  Overall, he still made it over 20 miles, and up until he turned back he was still within the time frame to finish.  He said he felt good enough to finish, endurance-wise, and everything else - it's just that his knees couldn't take the battering. 

So, Mommy and I are going to cheer him on next year!!!  He still wants to run the Colorado Marathon (which starts in the Poudre Canyon and runs downhill the whole way into Fort Collins) next May, and do this one again so he can accomplish it.  He's even thinking about getting a friend (experienced marathon and ultra-marathon runner) to run the Blue Sky route again this year with him.  Mommy and I both think he can do it, he just needs to give his knees a good rest before he tries it again.  That's what Daddy thinks happened, he worked them too hard two weeks ago on his 20 mile training run, and didn't give them enough time to recuperate before doing another big tough run.

So Good Job Daddy!!! We are so proud of you!!!  You are the Best!!  And We Love YOU!!!
(Sorry there's no pictures we're having trouble uploading them!)