This weekend I felt a bit like the universe was conspiring against me getting my long run in. I had planned to run 14 miles on Thursday while Cannon and Emmy hung out with my parents. Emerald was coming down with a cold so she ended up taking a really long nap so by the time she woke up and I dropped them off I only had time for about 6 miles. I wasn’t too upset and just planned on running the 14 miles over the weekend. Then I ended up suffering from some stomach issues on both Saturday and Sunday, I didn’t feel up to more than a couple miles either day. I was pretty upset about it until I decided to just treat it like an early start to my taper for my race on Saturday.

My race is this Saturday so I have officially started stalking the weather in Moab. My favorite weather site is Weather Underground since they have great 10 day forecasts and seem to be really accurate.

It looks like the weather is going to be great for Saturday, fingers crossed it doesn’t change!

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On Saturday we still had a great time celebrating a friends second birthday. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up and running errands.

Sunday I had my long run gear all set out and ready to go early in the morning.

I was sure that I was going to get those 14 miles in. But again I wasn’t feeling up to it. Instead I rested a bit and hung out with the kiddos.

For lunch I had a childhood friend that now lives in Kansas come by for lunch. He and his wife had spent the weekend in Winter Park and had time to come by and enjoy pizza and salad made by Cannon.

After lunch and naps we were craving some movement and fresh air so we went in search of a park that wasn’t covered in snow. We finally found one and it was everything we wanted it to be.

The park was deserted when we arrived but soon other kids showed up and Cannon quickly made friends and was having the best time. Cannon makes friends everywhere he goes.

Yesterday I was feeling a bit better so I got in 3.5 miles on the treadmill before coming up to hang out with Emerald who woke up early.

We spent the morning at the Children’s Museum. It was crazy busy because school was out but both Cannon and Emmy had a great time!

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We made it home for lunch of leftover pizza and naps. Cannon has taken his nap the last three days, hooray!

After naps we got some food together and dropped off a meal for a friend who just had a little boy named Oliver. He is so cute and little! My friends did a Meal Train for us when we had Emerald and it was so nice to not have to worry about meals for a while. The website makes it so easy to organize and participate. We have done it now for many new Mommy friends.

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Have you ever participated in a meal train? What is your favorite meal to give to friends?

Emerald’s first Christmas has come and gone and I am still in disbelief the the year of her birth is gone. But I can’t be sad too long because this little girl is so full of light and joy. She keeps getting more fun and spunky, I just love being around her.

At nine months Emerald is 28.5 inches long (91% ) and 18 lbs 8 oz (60%) BMI 30%. Emmy is wearing size 3 diapers, and is wearing mostly 9 or 12 month size clothes but 9 month pants are getting short on her so we will be putting those away soon.

EAT

We are making slow progress on eating with Emmy. She is eating much more when we spoon feed her things like yogurt, cottage cheese and pouches.

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She will also eat soft solids like eggs or avocado but only if we feed them to her, If we put food in front of her she will pick it up and play with it. She will put other things in her mouth like toys or my sweater but never food. I keep reminding myself that she will feed herself one day.

SLEEP

Sleep continues to go well for us. Overnight she sleeps from 7pm until 5:30 -6:00 am everyday. If I could figure out how to get her to sleep later that would be great.

We are solidly down to three naps a day now and I am so happy to have solidified a schedule. It seems to work for us that Emmy goes down for her first nap early between 7:30 and 8:00 am so that we are ready to go out for mid-morning activities. Then she goes down again after lunch around noon. Then most days she takes a short nap around 4:00 pm unless we are out and she skips her nap then we just try to get her to be a little early.

GROW

Emerald is a crawling expert and gets everywhere she wants to go. The days of sitting her down while I got something done are gone.

She is pulling herself up on everything and cruising and getting into everything.

She is really starting to babble a lot and says, Dada, Mama, Baba it’s so sweet hearing her little voice. She is also waving a little and clapped once.

PLAY

We had so much fun this last month celebrating Christmas

She makes everyday brighter and we couldn’t love her more.

Past Monthly Updates

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

Hi All, I hope you are having a wonderful start to the weekend! Emerald is enjoying her newfound freedom of crawling and pulling herself up so she can get close to her puppy.

Cannon is learning about taking pictures and will sometimes say “cheese” and give me a big smile, I just love it.

We enjoyed a wintery day as a storm rolled in. It felt like a good morning to go to the indoor playground so both kids could play.

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Emerald and Cannon had a blast and played until it was time to go home for lunch. Cannon is going through a phase where he will cry every time we leave somewhere and he doesn’t want to go yet. It’s not a full on tantrum but I could see that happening in the future. Any parents out there have good tips for dealing with toddlers who don’t want to leave?

It was really starting to snow a lot, so running outside with the kids in the stroller was out for me. You CAN run with the Chariot in the snow but I don’t like to risk falling when it’s just me with the kids.

We ate and then went upstairs to read books before naps. In what felt like nothing short of a miracle both kids fell asleep quickly. It’s like finding a unicorn, Cannon and Emmy both napping at the same time! I used my time to get a short run in and some stretching/stability before Emerald woke up.

I ran listening to the Up and Vanished podcast. I am so happy that I am late to the game on this one and can binge listen to it. I do not listen to it when I run outside in the dark because that would just freak me out too much! But when it’s light or I am on the treadmill it makes the time fly!

I really hope there is some kind of resolution to this one.

When Cannon woke up he requested that Emerald play with him in his crib.

It still amazes me how much these kids love each other. I thought it would take longer before they really bonded, when Emerald could play more with Cannon.

But I will be happily wrong about this one. He talks all the time about his baby sister. He also grabs toys from her and sometimes tells me to put her down when he wants more attention so it’s not all sunshine and roses over here.

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Do you have any siblings? Are you close?

It is one of my biggest hopes in life that these two maintain a close bond.

Happy Friday friends! The weekend is almost here =)

This week has gone by in a flash and it’s time to talk about some favorites from the week again.

Favorite Run: This rainy + snowy run was my favorite from this last week since I got to run with Cory and the kids. It’s always nice to run in the daylight, outside with company.

Favorite Podcast: I have really been loving The Rambling Runner podcast. I love that Matt talks to “everyday runners” that I can really relate to. It’s fun to hear from the pros but I get extra inspired hearing about how amateur runners worked to reach their goals.

Favorite New Find: Loving Oasis Organic Mango Salsa from Costco, it is 90% mango and I am all for it.

Favorite Silver Lining: I don’t love that Cannon has started not napping but I do love that I get some extra cuddles with him during his “quiet time”

Favorite Necklace – This little Initial Pendant. Cory bought me the C initial pendant three years ago for valentines day when I was pregnant with Cannon. We have since added an E to the necklace as well. I haven’t had issues with the chain breaking or lost any stones over the years and I wear it every single day.

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The day didn’t quiet go as planned but when you have kids I have learned that you just have to get used to adjusting or at least for me prioritizing who needs what most. The day started out nicely, I got to sleep in a bit since I had planned to do my long run for the week in the afternoon. I got up at 5:30 when Emerald woke up and we spent time cuddling and playing until Cory and Cannon got up.

Cannon had a friend over for a playdate in the morning, these two are just so cute together, she was encouraging him to actually sit and color.

After Cannon’s friend went home the plan was to take both the kids to my parents house for the afternoon and I was going to do my long run for the week (14 mies). The idea was that they would take their afternoon naps there and then play with Grandma and Grandpa until I was done.

As soon as I started to get Cannon’s lunch together Emerald started acting like she just couldn’t stay up any longer. Poor little thing was so tired from having two toddlers to look up to. I decided to put her down at home figuring that she would sleep for an hour or so and we would be a little late.

While Emerald napped I got myself ready to run and had a bagel and cream cheese for lunch. I wanted something simple so my stomach wouldn’t be upset for my run. In doing so I found out that Cannon loves bagels and creams cheese too, haha.

While I was busy trying to make plans on my schedule, Emerald thought it would be hilarious to take a two hours and forty minute nap. I could have woke her up or tried to keep her awake but I do believe that a baby needs their sleep and that it’s a big part of the health and development. So we let her sleep and I even got some extra Cannon cuddles.

After Emerald woke up I dropped them off with my parents and finished getting ready to run. At this point I didn’t have time to get in 14 miles and be home for dinner so I just got out for 6 miles, I hope to get in that longer run this weekend.

It was so nice to get out on a run when the temperature was above freezing and with the sun up! The one downside is that the ground was not frozen so there was some pretty serious mud.

Even with the mud it’s amazing to me how much faster I can run when my legs aren’t freezing and I am not trying to find my way in the dark.

I got home from my run right before Cory showed up after picking up the kids. We decided that breakfast for dinner was best then tried to get the kids down to bed early since Cannon skipped his nap again (NOOOOOOO!!!!!)

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Do you have any favorites from this week?

Do you find that you can run faster when it’s above freezing?

Happy weekend friends!

I was up bright and early to get some “me” time before the rest of the family was up. I jumped on the treadmill for 1.5 miles to warm-up then did THIS mobility and stability work from witsup I love this website.

My body felt much better after the mobility work.

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After my workout I came upstairs to have breakfast with the fam.

When we have oatmeal I think Cannon wears more of than he eats.

when we were done eating and Emerald had her morning nap we met some friends at an open play at a gymnastics center. Cannon loves the giant trampolines, foam pits, bounce house and running on the tumbling floor with his friends.

For lunch Cannon had Annie’s mac n’ cheese and some purples grapes.

Emerald was just as excited about her yogurt.

Then I put both kiddos down for their naps. Emmy fell right asleep after her morning excitement. I was certain after all of his running, climbing and jumping that Cannon would be plenty tired and ready to nap. But I was wrong, for the second day in a row he skipped his nap completely and was pretty grumpy in the afternoon.

When Emerald woke up I decided it was best to get out of the house so we packed into the stroller and headed for the park. It has been pretty snowy but our front yard had completely melted. The park is exposed so I assumed it would have melted there too. I was wrong (again!) and it was covered in three inches of snow. I did not come prepared with snow gear so we just decided to make it a walk then play at home.

After dinner, play, bath and bedtime for the kids Cory packed up to head to the pool. I am always so impressed that he can exercise after 8pm. I feel like I am done and just holding on past 4pm. Cory has started training for Ironman St. George 70.3, this will be his first triathlon since Ironman Lake Tahoe in 2015!?!

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Do you prefer to workout in the morning, mid-day or evening?

I always like to get my workouts started by 10am.

This year I am really trying to practice what I preach. It’s hard to find the time to do all the things you *should* do along with running. It’s so much harder to warmup, run, stride, stretch, strength train, roll and work on mobility when it’s hard enough to find time to just run! But I know from experience that if I just head out for a run then it can lead to injury and that is no fun. Finding a few minutes to warmup is so important to overall physical health. I found this very quick dynamic warmup from Runner’s World that I can do before heading out the door.

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It was only 17 degrees when I ventured out for my morning run but it was still nice to get out and move before the world was awake. Four miles + some strides on the local trails, I was a little surprised about how deep the snow was still since it has melted off the streets and sidewalks already so my ankles were cold.

I took the kiddos to an indoor playground to play in the morning to meet some friends. Cannon loves playing there ( I love it because it’s walled off and it’s easy to keep an eye on Cannon) it’s super safe with soft climbing structures, a climbing wall and lots of slides but the best part is the very soft padded floor. It’s perfect for little ones and Emmy is really starting to enjoy playing there as well.

It won’t be long before she is walking and this is the perfect place to practice.

After playing we came home for lunch and naps. Unfortunately Cannon decided that a nap was not in the cards for him (I am crying at the thought of him dropping his nap). After Emerald woke up we decided to use our extra time to get Cannon a haircut. I love his hair floppy and long but feel bad when it’s always in his eyes.

Later we took the kiddos out to a new Cidery that opened near us for dinner.

Acreage is very cute with amazing cider and delicious food but small servings for the price so don’t show up too hungry.

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The views are amazing and they have great outdoor space. I can’t wait to go back when we can eat outside. the kids do alright eating out but it’s still a little stressful not knowing if they are going to make it through a meal, Cannon isn’t one to sit quietly and color. Luckily there was lots to see at the cidery.

When we got home it was bath + bedtime. Emmy loves spending this time playing with Humphry. It’s so sweet seeing how much she loves her puppy.

What’s your favorite running warmup?

Something I get asked a lot about running or triathlon is where I find time. I do believe that if something is important to you that you can make time. For me the most consistent time that I can get to exercise is early in the morning. That often means getting out of bed between four and five AM. It’s not always fun but if I want to prioritize my run then it’s best for me to get it done before the day gets started. So here are some things that help me get on the run when it’s super early:

• Set your alarm and don’t hit the snooze button – Just get up and get out of your room as quick as possible.

• COFFEE – Coffee is one of my love languages, I love it, the caffeine is great and it’s my favorite way to start the day. It helps to have a coffee maker that you can program and set up the night before so it’s hot and ready for you when you get up.

• Lay your clothes out the night before. If I have to search around in the dark for my clothes there is an 80% less chance that I will get up and go.
• Decide the night before what workout you are going to do and route you are going to run. I try to limit as many decisions as possible in the morning. As soon as I start trying to decide what I want to do, sleep starts to rise to the top of the list.

• If you are going to run for more than sixty minutes then it’s best to eat something simple, otherwise you can head out fasted if you like.
• Warm up inside! This mainly applies to winter but summertime mornings can also be chilly so a dynamic warmup inside can help get the muscles ready to go.
• Go to bed earlier. This one might seem obvious, but it is often hard. In the evening I am running around doing all of the things I can’t get done while the kids are awake. I also can waste a lot of time on the internet or watching Netflix, that time is much better spent getting some sleep.
• The best motivator is to find a running buddy or group who you meet for your morning run. It’s much easier to get out the door if you know a friend is waiting for you. If you don’t have anyone crazy enough to get out for an early run find a virtual buddy can help too. A text and some digital motivation helps just as much.

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The last few days have been so much fun, Friday brought in a snow storm so we spent some time sledding and building snowmen.

Last year Cannon didn’t love being on the sled but so far he is loving it this year.

Emerald had her serious face on but I think she enjoyed watching all the other kids and building her first snowman.

An exciting update (for us at least) is that Emerald is pulling herself up, cruising and even standing on her own (if only for 3 seconds).

The sweetest exchange between Cannon and Emmy happened while they were playing “fort” under the dining room table. I can’t believe I caught it on video.

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Are you a morning runner? Any tips to share?

Week two of base building is officially in the books! Adding on some base miles and strength training has been the focus this week as well as keeping the run streak going. I just can’t wait to get my milage up and get to a happier total milage per week, but I am trying to build slow. I listened to a couple podcasts this week that have me really leaning towards the Leadville 50. It’s always good to finish what I started in 2017 😉

I am linking up with Wendy and  Kim this week for a Weekly Wrap, go check out all the inspiring runners!

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Monday:  A quick warm-up on the treadmill then lower body and core strength.

Tuesday: 4 miles, with 5 by 20 seconds strides. It always helps my form to throw a little uptempo work in.

Wednesday: Warm up on the treadmill plus upper body strength and core.

Thursday: Three early morning miles focusing on hills.

Friday: Cory had the day off so we took off early for a run as a family. We bundled the kids into our Thule stroller. I am so glad that thing has such a great rain cover. It was raining when we left then it quickly turned to snow while we were out running. The stroller was coated in snow but the kids were warm and comfy inside.

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3 miles to start the day is one of my favorites!

Saturday: We had plans Sunday morning so I knew I should move my “long run” to Saturday. I was thinking somewhere between 12 and 14 miles. There was more snow on the trails than I was anticipating so I cut it to 10 and considered it good training for Moab. I really hope to run longer next weekend on an actual trail to build my confidence.

Sunday: Baby was up early so I got some extra cuddles instead of a run (not complaining). Then we met friends for a hike and some doughnuts (I was so excited to see them and their new baby I forgot to take pictures) Then a few miles on the treadmill to round out the week.

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Total Running Miles: 25 miles and some strength. I am happy with the progress but will be feeling better when my miles are closer to 45-50 per week. Also room for improvement: Cross training. I really miss my morning spin class, I just haven’t found a way to fit everything in yet.

Happy Running Everyone!

Our run started out as rainy and ended with almost an inch of snow. Thanks goodness that our Thule Cougar II has an amazing rain cover that kept the kids dry and for the down blanket we got from Costco for a steal! It was just a quick 3 miles but with the cold, wind and snow it felt like more.

After our run Cory took Humphry to vet for a check in, we have been having some trouble controlling his allergies so the vet wanted to check in on him after two weeks on his new meds. A good report was happy news!

While Cory and Humphry were at the vet, Cannon, Emmy and I played outside in the snow.

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It’s been so long the ground really needed the moisture.

After our snowy run I got to thinking about my first race of the season! I was just sent the athlete guide and it made me realize that my first race of the season is just two weeks away!

In a couple weeks we will head to Moab to run the Arches Ultra half marathon. I was worried about getting out on the trails so early in the season but my miles have been adequate and I plan to just have as much fun as possible on all the slick rock, not worry about my time and take lots of photos.

For a trail half marathon the elevation gain is not too bad at 1,000 ft. I am excited to get back out there on the trails and get back to races.

I am also really looking forward to this trip because our friends are coming with us, they have two little girls who Cannon has the most fun with. This racecation is going to be a great family trip!

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Where is your favorite place to go on racecation?