Ragnar's in the bag-nar

Ragnar's in the bag. It's done - can't believe it! It was definitely worth it. In the middle of your run when you're dying on a road in the middle of nowhere you question why in the heck you're doing it, but as soon as you're back in the van laughing with your team and eating food you know why - it's just fun! Like a road trip with your buddies. Of course I had to run it sick - I had a slight sore throat and sinus pressure but didn't think much of it. Each run wiped me out and I felt really sick by the end but I finished and did fine overall. As soon as I got home however the strep throat hit me full blast. I'm just barely feeling myself again and my tonsils have deflated much closer to their original size now thank-goodness. I will emphasize again, it was still worth it. Highlights:

• Leg one: Getting to run at 11 am before the heat of the day hit full blast. Running among the saguaro's in the beautiful desert and hitting my pace almost the whole 7.3 miles.
• Leg two: 11 pm. Running on a rocky off-road trail in the pitch black with nothing but a flimsy headlamp and red blinking route-markers. Sliding down very vertical slopes and wading through sand pits in the same blackness. I kind of bragged beforehand that I actually liked running at night - it was peaceful. This time I was scared. But not scared enough to hate it, only enough to kind of get spooked and think "this is crazy and this is why I'm doing it." 6.4 miles
• Leg three 9.0 miles at 9:00 am. This leg was uphill for two miles then very gradual downhill for seven. The road was very straight and by this point my affected body was feeling it. The mental game got really hard here and I got mad at myself when one of the purple tutu girls passed me (no one dressed in a tutu should ever pass you). The last mile however I told myself I was kicking it up a notch and running more uncomfortably the whole time. That strategy worked well in my half and it worked well here. I passed five people the last mile and felt satisfied. 
• 22.7 miles total. 

Team name: Just D.O. It! Most of the guys or wives on our team were D.O. students/wives at Midwestern

In the midst of the mental battle of my last leg. That's why it looks like I'm speed walking

Two of our teammates were pregnant. Tough girls

My support team. Christian volunteered one of the nights

Claire's Room

Finally it is done (at least for now)

Made tissue pom poms from one of many tutorials on Pinterest. The things in her room are a collection of things from my own life mixed with second-hand items mixed with a couple new things (frame and curtains). It feels good to see it all come together.

The figurines are from my mom and dad when I was one year-old. The framed print is from Sugarfresh and the letter C was made by my friend Kari. The floating shelves were from a yard sale and then spray-painted.

The print above the dresser was made by yours truly. I saw a similar one on Pinterest and thought "I can do that!" I downloaded a font I liked from dafont.com and spaced stuff out on MS Publisher. I printed at Kinkos for $2.00. And of course she's too little for that big bed so she's still in her trusty pack n' play. Don't know when we'll be getting a crib - it's too darn convenient and Claire does just fine in it.

Claire is loving her books lately. She'll open them up and start doing the actions or sounds from her favorites.

                                     

"Hey mom! I need your attention"

 Her classic cheesy grin

With her baby and one of her favorite books - Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I've almost got it memorized.

Half Marathon down, Ragnar to go

Last weekend was my first half marathon outside of Utah! The Desert Classic Half was last weekend in Surprise, about 30 min. west of where I live. It was a good deal price-wise and my running partner Lexi convinced me to sign up with her. I'm glad I did - it was a good motivation to push hard (although I'm teetering on the edge of injury in my knee and foot...yikes) and prepare for Ragnar which is coming up in a month. I'm glad I could run a race in non-pregnant form (compared to the last race where I was a a couple weeks pregnant - that wiped me out) and I loved the feeling of passing so many people the last half. Since high school I've known my best strategy is to start smart and finish with heart and so I ran relatively negative splits to finish 27th of 128 women and third in my age division! Who hoo!

More pics:   http://www.zazoosh.com/members/viewGallery/6821

Oh and of course here's pokey ponytail girl

Decor and More

First of all, it was Claire's birthday on Monday! We celebrated with my aunt, uncle and cousins the Johnsons on Sunday along with lots more family singing to her via Google video chat. It's so fun to see Claire turn into a little one-year-old. Wow - every couple days or so I'll look at her and think her hands are so big! or how'd she get so long? She moves and plays like a one year-old now too and gives us her little two-toothed grin (although her top ones are on their way down). We love that girl!

Some other things going on include the fact that I'm finally getting things on the walls and into place. Here's an update on our decor. It's a fun (and I will admit sometimes stressful) journey for me to discover what I like and how to get there. The fun thing about decorating is that it evolves with you and I have much more evolving to do - so here's the beginning:

The office/playroom: The Ikea table and chairs were totally a curbside dump pick-up that I snatched up. Gotta love those and the sneakiness you feel while throwing them in your car! Map display was created from .50 cent painted Goodwill frames and vintage maps from a world atlas from Goodwill (many more maps left  in that book - time to look up some more ideas!)

The book holders are Ikea spice racks. Inspiration here. 

Living room:

 Family motto created on MS Publisher and printed at Kinkos for $2.00. Shutters another free curbside find. And that end table between the two couches? Totally an ugly veneer, but nothin' a little extra burlap couldn't fix!

Heritage wall - one of my favorite things. I have many more old family pictures I want to add over the years. Enlarged wedding pic - $2.00 poster print at Kinkos. Not as long-lasting as a high quality print but when you're on a budget, it's perfect - looks great and very affordable.

Entryway:

Kitchen:

Burlap curtains. SO happy how those turned out. They cost like $2.00/yd at Joann's (make sure to bring your half off coupons!). I used stitch witchery to hem the inside of each panel, but it really didn't need it. The width of each panel was perfect bought as-is and doesn't fray. The bottom and top where they're cut do fray however, so I used a little hot glue on the corners to secure the strands in place. DIY tutorial here.

Bathroom:

Print from Sugarfresh during a sale.

Just finished a tufted headboard for our room and got some shelves for Claire's room - those pics coming soon!

The Scary and the Sweet

Claire was spoiled to be able to get a photo shoot around her first birthday from my friend Ashley Williams of everylittlesmile.com. I love love love how they turned out. Her sweetness especially hits me when I see the contrast of her being so sick. This last Sunday afternoon near the end of church we noticed she was starting to get sick. She had a fever and it was starting to climb but it wasn't enough to alarm us too much yet. She went down for a nap and then an hour later Christian heard strange, choppy cries coming from her bedroom (I wasn't home) he went in to see her convulsing - having a seizure. It's a frightening scene I'm glad I didn't have to witness. It lasted no more than a minute and then she went very limp and got very sleepy. For up to a half hour afterwards she didn't move her arms or legs much. I got home about fifteen minutes after the episode and we quickly called her pediatrician who recommended taking her to the ER since their office wasn't open. Her fever was 103.5 at the hospital and she was diagnosed with having a febrile seizure. I had read about them a couple months ago and was surprised to learn that they're more common than you'd think. About one in every 25 children 6 mo - 5 yrs will have at least one febrile seizure (seizure brought on by a high temperature), and more than one-third of these children will have additional febrile seizures before they outgrow the tendency to have them. Only one in 100 will go on to develop epilepsy (source: NIH Fact Sheet). So, they're pretty self-limiting and the best way to prevent is just to treat with fever-reducing medication. At her follow-up Dr's visit today she also had an ear infection (not to mention her top two teeth painfully cutting through) and a rattly respiratory infection, so all those factors combined have made her a grumpy girl in the last couple days. Thankfully, her fever is finally down (for good hopefully!) and she's on the mend. I hope this info can help you in case your child has one. I know my previous knowledge helped reduce the amount of alarm I felt when I first learned of her seizure. 


To back up a couple weeks, here's our pretty little Claire hamming it up for the camera:

This was for my bro on his mission

Notice the rooster and peacock in the two photos above! The birds were everywhere, it was crazy

Festive Days

Our Christmas was very merry and bright. We had our own little Christmas morning a few days early and then flew to Monterey to be with the Bennions for a week. It was days filled with games, crafts (the girls mostly), chocolate, yummy meals and more chocolate. Claire loved her first Christmas. It was so so very precious to see her giggle and hug her new stuffed animals and dolls and instantly want to play with every new toy she opened. It was very fun to get to play Santa for the first time for your own child! It also caused us to realize that our family Christmas morning traditions differ a little. No biggie, we'll compromise on how Santa displays and wraps (or doesn't wrap) his gifts :) Highlight for me - Kindle Fire for my reading and browsing pleasure and for Christian - hang gliding gift certificate!! He's been dreaming about hang gliding (and flying in general) for ages so it was so fun to see his surprise :) But most importantly, this week allowed us to let the blessing of family, which is centered around our Savior, sink into our hearts. 

 My favorite homemade gift for my bro Matt. Inspiration here.

 Our living room's festive touches

Are all these things for me?!

 The daughter of a dentist needs to start early.

 Hugging her baby

Kissing her baby

Ball from Grandpa Raleigh 

 Kissing (or eating) the head of the baby from Grandma and Grandpa Raleigh

 This pic is for my dad: Thanks for the S&P shakers!

Claire had a little bit of a hard time with all the big boys at Gammy and Pop's place. Lots of new people, places, and things caused her to get a little clingy . She is demonstrating her happy but worried face here. However it wasn't anything seeing their doggy Jens couldn't fix! It looks like doggy is her first word - sounds like either dee, gee, or da. Well, maybe not a full word, but she would point to the back door excitedly and babble her words whenever we'd ask where the doggy was.

The traditional Christmas Eve dinner at the Bennions. Thanks for the lovely week and gifts and love Dave and Lorraine. We love you!

And of course things weren't complete without video chats with my fam in Utah. My bro David is getting home from his mission in April so I will get to spend some quality time with them all soon.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!