I'm Back

I'm back to running and it feels great!! I am so excited to be back doing what I love. I ran Cross Country and Track through out High School and College. I have had 3 surgeries on my calves because I have a condition called compartment syndrome.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chronic-exertional-compartment-syndrome/DS00789

Anyway, after having that many surgeries I decided after my last season in college to call it quits for a while. I started training again this September and so far things are going great!! I ran my first race in November called the Turkey Trot, it was a 5K (3.1 miles) I ran it in 22:32 and was very pleased with my time, since it was my first race in 4 years!!


My next race was 1 week later, I ran in the Jingle Bell run, which was another 5k (3.1 miles), I was very surprised when I ran that race in 21:29!! It was an awesome feeling knowing that I was close to my times in college and with a little work I could possibly be better!

So I have been running a lot lately and training with some guys at the YMCA...one of the guys I like to run with when I can did a Marathon a few weeks after my race, so I went out to see him run and I joined the race at mile 20 and helped him run the last 6.2 miles...it was a lot of fun!!
This past weekend I went on a long run of 9 miles, which is the most I have run in a LONG time and then today I did another 5 miles with Coach H. (the guy on the left) He is a coach at a near by high school, we work together at the YMCA and run together when we can. It is so much easier to have a running partner than to do it all on your own. So all this running is getting me somewhere...I am training for the Cowtown 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles), my official race is not until the end of Feb. but I am going to run the Benbrook half at the end of Jan. just to prepare myself.

I am also hoping that it will feel so good to have done that, so I will continue on and run a full marathon (26.2 miles) in April (Oklahoma City Marathon)....we shall see how the first 2 half marathons go first though :)

Happy 15 Months Princess

I can't believe my little princess turned 15 months on Christmas day! She is getting so big, so fast, and she is SO SMART!!

We took her to the doctor the other day, because the poor little girl has another sinus infection. This is number 4 for her and she is only 15 months old!! But I guess I should be happy that she has not had an ear infection. I feel so bad for her when she is sick :( But the news you were waiting for during my long story....she is now 21 lbs.!!! See I told you she was a big girl :)

Elizabeth now has 11 teeth and is talking a little. She of course says mama and dada, but now she also says: hot, doggy, that, movie (which really sounds like "ovie") and she will sometimes say up, if she wants you to hold her.

She loves watching a movie from the Baby Einstein collection called "Baby's First Moves" it is a GREAT movie. She has learned so much from watching that. She can now: kick, twist, spin, touch her nose, stomp, and shake...I also think there is more, but I can't think of them right now. But she loves to watch that movie and move, it is the cutest thing to watch!! :)

Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas yesterday. Elizabeth woke at 7am and we opened up the presents that Santa brought. She was into getting stuff out of her stocking but she was not to interested in much else. She does love her new toys, but she also loved the boxes they came in. Maybe next year she will enjoy it more.

Here are some pictures and a video of our day:

Ok I Admit...

I am horrible!! I have been so busy, I have not had time to keep up with this blog. Elizabeth is walking...actually running everywhere and it is so hard to keep things up. Especially with the holidays coming, but I will do better, I promise. Here are a few new pics of Elizabeth to tie you over for a few days...then after Christmas, it is back to blogging!! :)

13 Months

Happy 13 Months Miss Elizabeth!! You are growing so big so fast!


Today my little girl is 13 months old. She loves walking and playing outside, but you have to watch her or she will eat dirt. Not sure why she likes to eat dirt but she at least has one handful of dirt while we are outside playing daily.

She is just growing up so fast...she seems to understand pretty much everything you say to her, but can't speak that many words herself, but I know by this time next year I probably will be begging her to be quite for just 5 minutes, so I will not complain right now. Elizabeth still has blue eyes just like her momma (I really hope those stay) and blondish red hair that as it is getting longer has little curls in the back...it is so cute!

Oh and we took her to the doctor yesterday...the poor little girl has a sinus infection :( but anyway on to the point...she now weighs in at 20 lbs. 3 oz!! What a big girl!!

A New Beginning

Today is a day to celebrate!!! Miss Elizabeth has been completely off the bottle for 4 days now!!! She is such a big girl and has done so well with the transition to sippy cups!! I am so proud of her!!

Also today is the day I said goodbye to my breast pump!! WOO HOO!! I packed p my breast pump and put it in the closet today!! I am excited, but sad all at the same time!

Halloween Fun

Last weekend we took Elizabeth to the pumpkin patch and had so much fun!! She loved walking around trying to pick up all of the big pumpkins. She seriously tried to pick them up...I guess she thinks she is stronger than she really is. Then when we got to the little pumpkins that she could pick up...she tried to pick up more than one at a time...so she obviously thinks she can carry around as many as she wants, silly girl. Here are some pictures of us at the pumpkin patch for you to enjoy!


Later on that day we decided to get out the Halloween costume and try it on for fun...a little Halloween preview. So here she is in her Halloween costume looking oh so cute as a little flower fairy :)

Happy Birthday Princess Elizabeth

I can't believe how fast this first year flew by. It seems like yesterday we were bringing a tiny helpless sleeping baby into the world and now 1 year later she is talking, walking, and full of energy. I woke this morning at 6:30 to the sound of Elizabeth talking to herself in her crib...she never gets up that early anymore , so I guess she knew it was her special day and she was excited!!

Anyway I got up to use the restroom and got to thinking...at the exact time that I am peeing this year...my water was breaking 1 year ago, I thought that was very funny :) That one thought brought back so many wonderful memories from that day, I still remember it like it was yesterday and I am sure I always will.

The real labor started at 10 pm on Monday the 24th...I thought to myself here we go again...more false labor. The contractions were coming every 5 minutes and I was trying to get some sleep because I was to be induced in the morning, but I could not get comfy...no matter what I tired they were still coming on strong so I got up and sat on my stability ball and watched t.v. My sister was on her way to my house so she could help me through the induction because she was induced just 4 months before and knew the pain I would be in, so I decided to try and wait up for her. At midnight she called to say she was an hour away...I was still having contractions but they were every 4 minutes in stead of every 5 now so I woke John up and started to cry to him...I was so upset I told him I was still having contractions one after another and that some of them felt like they were 2 minutes long. I wanted to go to the hospital and get DRUGS!! I wanted them to give me sleeping pills so that I could get some rest before the induction, because this fake labor was tough I needed my rest for the real thing. I begged him and begged him and he finally agreed to let me call the hospital to see what they wanted me to do.

They of course said to come in right away after I told them that I have been having contractions for hours. My sister arrived at my house at 1 am and we loaded up the car and took off for the hospital that was 45 minutes away. I thought the ride there was going to be horrible because right before we left the contractions started coming every 3 minutes (why I still thought it was false labor...is beyond me, who knows what I was thinking) anyway we got in the car and started driving and my contractions slowed to every 6 minutes and I was pissed...I thought I was still in false labor. We arrive at the hospital and get weighted in a all that good stuff. they come and check me and the nurse ask:

Nurse:" have you bee checked before?"
Me: "Yes"
Nurse: "what were you then?"
Me: "ONLY 1 CM"
Nurse: "when were you last checked"
Me: "YESTERDAY"
Nurse: "Oh well congrats honey your in labor...you are now 4cm"
Me: "whoo, whoo"

I was so loud when I screamed that my sister heard me from in the hallway :)

The nurses then asked me if I wanted any drugs and I turned them down...my sister and husband laughed at me because that was the reason I wanted to come...to get drugs. We decided to walk the hallways and a few hours later I decided to let them check me again...I was now 7.5 cm dilated and my water bag was budging...they told me it was about to break any minute and said now would be the perfect time to get my epi. I declined at first but went ahead and got it, because I wanted to enjoy the rest of my labor and the actual birthing part. It was HEAVEN

once I got it but it slowed down my labor because when my doctor came back at 6:30am to check me I was still 7.5cm and my water broke when she tried to check me, so she said to speed it up I will be given some pitocin...which was fine, I didn't feel a thing because my epi was so great!! At 9 am I was dilated 9 cm so they said they would call my doctor back in we got everything set up and at 9:40 I started to push...at 10:08 my little princess was born 7 lbs 3.2 oz and 19 3/4 inches. She was perfect!!
And here we are 1 year later...she is still perfect. She is also so smart!! I will tell her "do you want to take a bath" and she starts heading for the bath tub saying "bah, bah" or I will say "go get mommy a book" and she will head off to find her favorite book saying "bou, bou". She also knows now when I ask "do you want to go outside" that she needs to find her shoes and head for the door...it is way to cute :)

Happy Birthday Miss Elizabeth Ashley...my precious princess!!

Our Trip To St. Louis

This past weekend we had a short trip to St. Louis. We arrived Friday morning and had a really hard time with the car rental company but eventually got everything straightened out. Then we went to Tami's house where we meet up with her and Aubrey and my mom who also flew into town for Elizabeth's b-day party. We spent the day with them playing and decorating Elizabeth's cake. Then we went to a Balloon glow and saw fireworks :)

The next day was my birthday and we had a small party for Elizabeth, she had so much fun playing with cousin Aubrey. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy:

Her party was a princess party:

Here she is eating:
Elizabeth with cousin Aubrey:
Cake time: she never really dug into the cake...but she enjoyed the icing
Opening gifts...she was not very interested in them...she would rather play with the ribbon:
Her favorite new toy:
cousin Aubrey running away with Elizabeth's new toys :)

The next day we took Elizabeth to the butterfly house to see the butterfly's and she loved it...and we also went to see her Aunts Natalie and Nicole play soccer. Then we flew back Monday morning so as you can see it was a busy busy weekend. Now it's time to get ready for her other party set for this weekend :)

Elizabeth's 1st Year Video

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

1 Year Photo's

We took Elizabeth today to get her 1 year pictures and she did great (and so did the people taking the pictures). It was wonderful...we took her in to get pictures, they were so good with her and we got to leave the store with all of the pictures!! We did not have to wait weeks for our photos we only had to wait an extra 20 minutes for them to print...I was completely amazed!! Here are a few of my favorites...if you would like to see more please visit her web site at: http://standerferbaby.aboutmybaby.com/

Video of Elizabeth Walking

Elizabeth took her first steps almost 2 months ago...then did not take another step until a few days ago and now she is walking everywhere!! I hope you enjoy the video!! :)

And There She Goes...

Elizabeth is walking everywhere now...she still crawls here and there but she always starts out walking, after she falls she will crawl for a little while and then stand back up and try again. This all started last night! She took her first steps weeks ago and then didn't take another step until last night. I was seriously starting to think that she would not walk til about 13 months because she seemed to be no where close...she took those first few steps and then gave up...then last night out of no where she was trying to walk everywhere!!

Today she did not try to walk again until about 4pm and then from then on that is all she did tonight....just walked everywhere she would take about 10 steps in a row before she would fall then she would just get back up and try again. But of course I did not get a good video of it because she would not do it for me if I got the camera out....hopefully I will get that shot soon.

I can't believe my baby is walking!!! :)

Elizabeth Update

I thought that tonight I would update everyone on Elizabeth since I have been a slacker!! She is still crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything but she will not walk yet on her own. She cruses around and holds on to our fingers or just holds one hand and walks with us but she is to scared to venture on her own.

She is sleeping beautifully and I can not believe it...she has been going to bed at 8pm and sleeping til 9-9:30, but I think I need to start waking her up earlier because soon she will be going to work with me and the days she sleeps till 9-9:30 she only takes 1 naps and I need her to take 2!! LOL

She is in the process of getting two more teeth both on the bottom, so that has been a little hard, but not too bad.

Other than those things I can't think of anything else that is new, but I will say that she is a very active baby that loves to be outside!

So I have been bad...

Sorry I have not been keeping up to date with this little blogg....I was doing so well and then I got very busy with work and stuff that I never found time to get online and post. I have been working alot lately and when I am not at work I am spending time with Elizabeth, who by the way is growing up way to fast. Anyway, there is not really to much to report but I promise that I will try to update more often than I have been. :)

11 Months

I can not believe that my little Princess is 11 months old today. Time has gone by so fast. She is still crawling everywhere. She has taken a few steps here and there but for the most part she just crawls everywhere she wants to go. I have no idea how much she weighs or her length but I am guessing around 17 lbs. or so. She does not go to the doctor again until 12 months. She is doing some new things, she clicks her tongue, whistles, claps when you say "Elizabeth do you want to play pat-a-cake" and she also "moooo's" when she sees a picture of a cow...it is so cute!!

Elizabeth is now the light of my life and I can not imagine life without her. It is amazing how life can change directions in a blink of an eye, then you are left wondering why did I not do this before...it is great having a little one. I am so excited to watch her grow and learn new things. One more month and she will be 1!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Today is John's b-day, and I believe he had a pretty good day. He got to sleep in this morning then he went out to breakfast with his mom and out to lunch with the whole family. We spent sometime together alone this afternoon and then I had to go to a meeting at work, then work for an hour and I finished off the day studying hard core for my test tomorrow. So we really did not get to much time alone today so I believe we will be going out by ourselves this weekend and that will be nice!!

Anyway....Happy Birthday John!!

Competing For Gold

I am a huge Olympic fan and I am very much enjoying the Olympics this year. The opening ceremony on 08.08.08 was absolutely amazing! The Chinese believe that the number 8 is very lucky and that is why it started on that day. My favorite events of the Olympics are swimming, gymnastics and tack and field and I am so excited that the US is doing so well so far. Last night was an awesome night in swimming, I was a little upset when Katie Hoff was out touched at the end and had to settle for the silver medal, but the guys made up for it in the relay when they beat the French, giving Micheal Phelps his second gold medal.

Tonight was also great when Natalie Coughlin, Micheal Phelps, and Aaron Peirsol all took the gold one right after another...AMAZING!!

I can't wait for the ladies gymnastics finals tomorrow night, they had a rough time last night with a couple of them being hurt an several mistakes, but they still made it into the finals in 2nd place so that still gives me hope that they will take the gold.

The Ducky Park

Texas is so hot we hardly ever go out unless it is early morning. Elizabeth is in love with duckies right now so this morning we took Elizabeth to the ducky pond and had a lot of fun. This was at 9 in the morning when it was only 89 degrees, it has been around 105 for the past two weeks!!
Elizabeth had a really good time looking at all of the ducks, and playing at the park...she even brought her own rubber ducky with her. Here are some pictures of our morning at the park.

Elizabeth with Mommy and Daddy:

Mommy feeding the duckies:

Daddy feeding the duckies:

Elizabeth and Mommy playing peek-a-boo:
Elizabeth and Grandma:

Elizabeth and Papa