Just relaxin'

Henry's party was a success and now we have a little down time before Halloween. It's nice to just sit back and enjoy the kids. I feel like every day Frances is doing new things. For instance, last night she stood by herself for a good five seconds. I don't remember all of this with Henry, but I bet it occurred in the same way. I was just too sleep deprived to notice.

Speaking of sleep, things are going much better with Frances. She woke up twice two days ago and three times last night. Even though to most people, that seems a lot, it is incredible for me. Unfortunately, we had to let her cry out a bit and she seemed to respond quickly. She rarely cries for more than 3-5 minutes now.  I can handle that.

Things are pretty good right now.

A Day

Do you ever have a day that seemed so complete and left you happy with the world? I did on Saturday.

On Saturday morning the family went to a local pumpkin patch while I got to volunteer for the marathon. Even though I wasn't there, I was glad the family went. It gave them something to do and made me feel no guilt for my extracurricular activity.

A few months ago I had the great idea of signing up to volunteer for the KC marathon. I wanted to see what the atmosphere was like and was hoping to get inspired. I found the perfect job for me, handing out water bottles. I was able to work the second shift which was perfect for me because I got to wake up normally, and I would get to see the runners who were like me. When I got to the marathon, it was a little crazy. There were people everywhere and I didn't know which way to turn. Eventually I got things sorted out and found the water bottle people. Right after the finish line there were people to take off the timing tags on the runners, and then there were the water bottle people. I got be right there in the middle of it! It took me a while to figure out how to get in, but once I was in, things were great. 

I started handing out water bottles at the 2:30 mark. This meant I was seeing the normal half marathon finishers and the elite marathon finishers. It was pretty easy to sort the two out by body type. Anyway, I would hold up a bottle and say "congratulations" or "awesome job" or something like that. Most people smiled and took the water. Some said thanks and some even thanked me for volunteering. Most people were very pleasant, and if they weren't, they just seemed in the zone. No one was rude. It was a pretty rewarding job.

Initially, I saw a lot of limpers and people with muscle spasms. I saw one women who I would have bet money would topple over (she didn't) and one guy I thought was going to throw up in front of me (he didn't). Everyone walked away on their own accord, including a guy who possibly broke a toe (I don't buy it). Most people looked exhausted, but in a happy way. I mean, they just ran a marathon (or a half). They should be happy.  It was great seeing what it looks like to finish and thinking about how I will look myself some day.

This was on Sunday, but it is nice to include pictures on blog posts.

After a few hours, I notice a young boy next to me holding two water bottles. I asked if he wanted to give them out, and he said he wanted to give them to me. He was just trying to help. I told him he could go ahead and give the bottles to the runners. I told him it was good to say something nice to the runners when he gives them the water. This boy got real excited and started handing the bottles out to the runners. The runners seemed to especially like him. They called him buddy and patted his back or head.  This made the boy real happy. He kept saying "They are so excited to get water" and "It's just water." While I was standing next to him, I heard him say something to a runner, and the runner got a big smile. Apparently, his nice phrase was "You've reached your final destination." How cute is that?

I finally captured her smile.

Eventually the racers started coming in more slowing and this boy was able to handle them all. I stood back to make sure no one got missed, but he did a pretty good job. Finally I asked him if he had a parent around (maybe I should have asked him sooner but he was really helping me out) and it turns out his mother is a volunteer too.  After around 6 hours of racing, the racers came in as slow as a trickle, so I took my chance to leave.

As I was walking back to the parking lot, a few things were ruminating in my mind. The first was "I can do this." I feel even more confident that I can do this. This was exactly what I needed. The second thought was that I was overwhelmed with the amount of bleeding nipples on men. It is a serious problem. I had a hard time not staring at all the blood streaked shirts, and I forced myself to look at their faces when I congratulated them (nice role reversal, right?). I don't know, maybe it was colder then they anticipated, but why don't they put some tape over them or something!

After the marathon, I went home and relaxed with the family. After that we all went for a run at loose park (Henry logged 3/4 of a mile!) and got Indian take out for dinner.  Mmmmmm,  See, a pretty good day.

Costumes

These last 4 days I have taken off running, partially because I've been busy and having some knee pain, but also I feel out of the habit. It is so easy NOT to run. But today, I'm going to get back on the wagon tonight and I hope my knee feels better. If it doesn't I might have to buy a foam roller and see if it helps. I'm volunteering for the Kansas City marathon this weekend and am looking forward to being inspired. I'm handing out water bottles at the end and I'm afraid all I will see is exhaustion, but maybe some exhilaration too.

Anyway, because I haven't been running, I've gotten to do other things, mainly finish up our Halloween costumes. When I last left you, I was making the princess outfit for myself. You can scroll back a little to see the progress. Also, maybe you need to look at my inspiration.

Princess Peach in all her glory

 So, since the last time I wrote, I added the dark pink fabric on the bottom of the dress, cut the sleeves off and made a collar/necklace.  Here is the finished project.

Princess Peach mommy style

 I actually don't like looking at that picture too much. I look frumpy and I might I need a haircut. Well, I know I do, but I just haven't got motivated enough to make a call. Overall I think I did a pretty good job. Obviously the dress isn't a perfect fit for the princess dress, but I think anyone who sees me might make a correct guess (especially if I am standing my Mario and Luigi). When I sewed the bustle, I made it to fit my hip area and not the high waist that this dress needs. That being said, the bustle is a little loose.  Also, I wish I could have made the sleeves a little more poof. I added a band of color and elastic, but it isn't as poofy as peach's. I have a crown to wear with the costume, but you'll have to wait until Halloween to see the full costume.

Once I finished my outfit, I needed to make Frances' aka Toad. Really, all she needs is a special had and a blue vest. I went to the thrift store last week and found a light blue vest, but I thought I could make better. And you know what? I think I did.

Here is the real Toad.

The first step was making the vest. I looked at the back of one of Frances' jackets and then extrapolated the rest. Here is the finished project.

Here it is! I'm so happy with the finished result.

After the vest I had to make a hat. I looked on ravelry.com and found a similar hat that looked like toad, but then I changed it a little. I can't decide if I should stuff it to make it stick up or not. Frances hates hats and luckily for me, this hat fits her tight so she can't take it off. What to see a blurry picture of the outfit? Oh sure, why not.

So cute!

Speaking of Frances, we've been having our ups and downs with her sleeping. To be honest, mostly downs, but I think that is turning around. We are trying to stay on a strict schedule and I think she likes it. She has always been a happy baby, but now she will just laugh for no good reason.

She is also doing a ton of new stuff, the most exciting of these is that she signs more.

This is her signing more. 

 Here's another picture for you, because I can't resist.

Now with all of that sewing done, I can't wait for Halloween!

Tennis and Such

Life is a little easier, but not perfect. Frances is sleeping in her crib and it takes less time to get her to sleep. That's an improvement right? Henry and Aaron have been sleeping upstairs some nights while I am downstairs taking care of Frances without a computer or TV (can you imagine?). I usually post at night or at work and I'm crazy busy at work with patients and putting this whole electronic medical record thing together. That leaves no time for blogging.

Ah, but now is a weekend. Things are more relaxed. Henry is busy across the table from me cutting up a receipt (have no idea why), Frances is entertaining herself on the floor and Aaron is making dinner. Pretty nice, right? Aaron is cooking because I officially gave up because I couldn't find anything to cook. According to Aaron it is either pumpkin pancakes or frozen pizza.

See, I told you so

Alright, so some other updates are in order. Frances has been developing quite fast. I feel she stays the same for 2-3 days and then starts doing new things like crazy.  A few days ago she found out she likes kissing everything. She will pick up a stuffed animal, shoe or anything else and put it to her lips and kiss it. She also kisses people and the air. Really really adorable.

Us cuddling on a cool fall morning

 The other thing she does a lot is wave. She actually waves and says "haaaa." She does it to us all the time, but also perfect strangers. I tell you, not many people can resist this.

This is Frances at the grocery store waving to everybody.

 Now this month, Henry has started a new sport....tennis. Guess what? He loves it. It's twice a week for three weeks, but he's already made a ton of improvement. The instructor has done a good job at inching him up to playing normally.

What do you want Mom? I'm busy playing tennis.

 For instance, last session they worked on hitting the ball from a bounce with both forehand and backhand.


This is where they gave the ball a "high 5."

 Henry has liked it so much that we bought him his own tennis racket so now he can play with Daddy (if only Daddy could find his old racket).

Look at that smile on his face

Now me, well I'm still running and I want to do more, but my right knee has been bothering me. I bought new shoes a couple of days ago and so far I can't tell any difference. I saw a great video on a running website that says to use a foam roller and to build some muscle. I've been thinking I need some strength training in my routine. Now I just have to find the time. Hopefully these can help.

9 Months

My baby girl is 9 months today. As a gift, she let me sleep 5 consecutive hours. What? I know!

Here are some photos to commemorate the time. Oh, and she went to the doctor yesterday and is 19 pounds 11 ounces (75th percentile) and 25% for height (I think 26.5 inches) and 75% for head (totally don't remember that number).

"Oh Henry, you're the best"

"Here, let me get that booger for you"

Almost a smile

Here she is cruising on the furniture

Tried to get a picture of just Frances, Henry wasn't having it.

"Ba Ba"

These weren't exactly the pictures I had in mind, but they are real life. I wanted to show you this cute little squinty smile that Frances does that is just like Henry used to do. I will try to get it in the future.

Sunday Craft Extravaganza

 A few weeks ago we were in a grocery store and there was a magazine focusing on Halloween and Christmas crafts. Either I'm getting old, or the magazine industry is getting hipper, but I really liked all the crafts. After I bought it, Henry loved looking at all the things we could do and has kept bugging me that we need to do a craft. Well, it was finally time.

Frances stayed at home with Aaron while Hanky and I made the big trek to JoAnn. Let me tell you, we bought a lot of stuff.

The first thing we bought was a laminator. Henry will be having a Super Mario Brothers themed birthday party and for the last few weeks he has gone crazy with drawing Mario "items" and enemies. They are really good and I thought it would be nice to incorporate them into the party. Since our party is outdoor, I had the great idea of laminating his pictures and then stringing them up for decoration.  I think this will be great. As soon as we got home from JoAnn we turned the laminator on and laminated at least 50 drawings of Henry's.  They look so perfect and I can't wait to see them all strung up. Sorry, no pictures yet. Now that I have a laminator, I'm also excited to see what else I can make (like place mats, book marks, dry erase boards, etc).

Since we are having a Mario themed birthday, you could guess that we will be Mario characters for Halloween. I get the role of Princess Peach.  I was excited for the task. Last week Frances and I went to a thrift store and found this GEM.

I know, pretty amazing.

I have no idea why anyone would give this away, still it's mine now. The first thing I did was remove the shoulder pads and the waist band/flower thing. I needed to make it more princessy, so I started with the bustle. I have never made one before, but I had an image in my head how it should work, so I just did it.  I was so happy that everything worked out perfectly.

So cool you don't even need a dress to wear it with..

After I finished the bustle, it was time for some felt crafting. This time the whole family got into it (well, not Frances). I bought a lot of different felt and paints (including glow in the dark). Everyone seemed very inspired.

Aaron making an October 31st banner

This is Henry drawing a number 10. He also added a bomb and a spider to it.
 

This is me on Frances duty

In the morning we had a bunch of decorations. Apparently Henry thought the decorations Aaron and I made needed our signature so he added "Mom" and "Dad" to them.

Here is my pumpkin. The eyes and the teeth are glow in the dark. Now, it looks like leaves on the top, but it is just MOM upside down.

It was a great Sunday spending time with my favorite people, doing my favorite things.