Family Pictures 2011

Half Marathon

My goodness I look horrible in these pictures. Then again, I had just run my first HALF MARATHON!!! WOO HOO!!! I picked a goal, trained, and didn't give up. I wanted to run a half marathon back in 2009 but got pregnant right in the middle of training and ended up just quitting. In our last ward, a member of the bishopric sponsored a half-marathon every year and I decided this year that I was going to run it! I trained for 9 weeks and it was hard. There were a lot of nights I didn't want to leave Jon and the kids. I just wanted to spend time with them. Then I got really sick and took 2 whole weeks off. I had only run up to 7 miles before race day and I was worried it wasn't going to be enough to get me through. When I left the start line I kept an eye out for someone who was running about the same speed as me to be my pace partner. She is with me in the first picture. I don't even know her name but she was an important part of my race. It was her 3rd half-marathon and she was running 10 minute miles, which is a little faster than I was used to. I was pretty proud of myself that I kept up with her for 10 miles!! She was very encouraging and said she was going to make sure I finished. That picture of us was taken at around the 9 mile mark. Jon was there with my mom, dad, and the kids to see how I was doing. When I saw them I started to get a little emotional for some reason. I was tired and my joints were hurting and I just wanted to stop and go home with them. But I wanted to prove to them I could do it. Jon had very little faith in me during training, I could tell. Because I had only run 7 miles at the most he thought I was going to want to quit and that I would have regrets. My mom also admitted that she wasn't sure I would make it. But I was determined to finish and I did it. I ran the entire 13.1 miles and my race time was 2 hours and 25 minutes. My pace partner was standing at the finish line waiting for me. She had finished 5 minutes eariler. Wish I knew her name. Next up...hoping to run a Ragnar Relay.

Just a small update

I went with Barb, Jen, and Brendy to Vegas for a girls trip back in September. Brendy was pretty sick the whole time so she stayed in the hotel room a lot (hence she's not in the pic). This is us riding the shuttle from the Tropicana to Excalibur. We had a BLAST just laying by the pool, shopping, eating out, going to shows, and staying up late.My kids have become technology FREAKS! Ryder is on Jon's iPad and Kendra is on my iPod Touch.
Ryder started PRESCHOOL!!!! He goes to Miss Cheri every Tuesday and Thursday for 2.5 hours. It's a nice break for me and he has SO much fun seeing all his friends. This is him on his first day.
Grandma Barb bought Ryder some sweet tools from a garage sale. He loves to wear these goggles and the chainsaw really moves and makes sounds.
Kendra has finally started to get some hair!! See her little wing on the side? I'm so proud of it! HAHA! It has taken so long for her to get it!
Life is great and we are as happy as can be! We just moved into a rental home after 3 long years in the San Angelin apartments. We LOVE having all the extra space and our neighborhood is quiet. It's so nice. I no longer have to sleep with the bathroom fan running to drown out all the noise surrounding us. We love our new ward and our new callings and we have even made some new friends! We feel so blessed.

Labor Day 2011

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Bear's cabin for Labor Day this year and had a blast. The first two pics are from the races we went to. Ryder was so into it, but I think the loud noises scared Kendra.

We also went bowling and Ryder got to bowl for the first time! He was pretty frustrated by it, but we had fun watching him try!
I love the toddler bowling shoes that they have.
Kendra waiting in line for her turn at the arcade game. HA! Jon bought me a 22 pistol while we were up there and has since bought me a shotgun. We have been having tooooo much fun.

Newport Beach Part 3

Sooo I found these pics that somehow didn't get posted. Jon, Justin, Jake, and Brent made this sand...pyramid. All Ryder wanted to do was wreck it.
The bathing beauties. Me, Brendy, and Jen.
KK had a bad accident on this trip. Long story short she fell flat on her face onto asphalt from about a foot and a half off the ground. Please don't ask. It was horrible and I don't like to relive it. Anyways, she ended up crashing on the beach after a rough morning and visit to the emergency room. We wanted to make sure she didn't break her nose.
The boys hard at work.
Ryder frolicking on the beach haha!!
Love my kiddos.
Kendra LOVED laying on this sandy sheet. We were cracking up.
First time at the beach!!
The first day we got there was FREEZING so we were kind of bundled up.
Ryder had a blast and loves the sand.

Newport Beach 2011 Part 2

Don't know why I couldn't upload more photos to the last post. Had to do a "Part 2" We had an AWESOME hotel suite that was just like Brent and Barb's. This is Ryder and his grandpa playing around.

Waiting in line for the log ride. Ryder and Kendra were so scared (it's a scary ride!) but they did great.

Jon won Ryder an inflatable bat and he had fun beating up uncle Jake with it.

LOVE this pic. She looks so sweet :) We had the BEST time. Can't wait for Hawaii next summer! WHOOT!

Newport Beach 2011 Part 1

Our second day at Newport we decided to go to Knott's Berry Farm. It was a blast. Barb and Brent took the kids for us most of the day so we could run around with Jake, Brendy, Jen, and JT to go ride the "big kid" rides. Ryder had never been to a theme park before and he LOVED camp Snoopy. Here are some great memories :)

My lil' truck drivers

Kendra riding a hot air balloon ride

Ryder in an airplane

Ryder and his grandma on a ride.

Happy Birthday to Kendra!

Kendra turned 1 on June 5th. So she is actually 13 months as of yesterday, but a LOT has been going on and I've been too busy to post. We had a family cupcake-themed party for her at my parents' house. We BBQ'd and went swimming while she took a nap. She woke up in the WORST mood and screamed bloody murder through the opening of the presents. HA! I ended up just opening everything while she cried. I asked Jon's mom to take pics of the party but every single one came out too blurry so I have no recent picture to post of her...yet. There are some good ones on my camera but I can't download them to Jon's laptop. I promise another new post is coming soon. Here is the scoop on lil' miss KK.

She got her first tooth at 11 months (the top ones came in first) and she now has 4 (3 on top, 1 on bottom).
She still won't walk, but she has taken up to 5 steps at a time. She just doesn't want to try. Why should she when Mommy and Daddy will carry her everywhere??
She loves Ryder and tries to say his name, but if he even comes NEAR her or tries to hug and kiss her...she screams and pushes him away. I feel bad for him lol.
Daddy can't put her to bed, it has to be me. If he puts her in bed, she has a breakdown and won't give up. All I have to do is go in there, pick her up, calm her down, then I can lay her back down and she's fine. Happens every.single.time.
She is quite the drinker. She likes food too, but she drinks like a fish!!! She drinks out of sippy straw cups or anything with a straw.
She loves dogs and says "dog" anytime she sees one.
She is obsessed with books. She will hold so still when I read to her and she likes to turn pages. Her favorite book is "Princess Baby" that my mom got for her. It comes with a Princess Baby doll. I let her hold it while I read to her. She likes to go in Ryder's room a lot and I often find her reading his books. It's the cutest. Hopefully I can catch her on camera someday soon.
She loves crackers.
She likes to empty out drawers and the laundry basket.
If you pick her up and she waves and says "nigh nigh" that is her way of telling you she's tired. It doesn't happen every time you hold her, just when she's ready for bed. She's smart.
She likes when I sing to her or play music so she can dance.
She loves to take baths, but hates the pool. Getting splashed with cold water really gets her mad.
She loves to be outside, like most kids.
She only sleeps 8-9 hours at night. It kills me. If I don't go to bed right after she does, I don't get much sleep. She's just one of those kids that would rather sleep all day I guess.

Here are her 1 year stats:

Height: 29.5 in (75%)
Weight: 21 lbs 4 oz (50%)
Head: 45.25 cm (50%)

She is my short lil' chub. We LOVE Kendra. In fact, we are a little obsessed with her. She's not a snuggly child, but Ryder makes up for that. She still lets me know she loves me. She has brought so much happiness to our home and I am happy to call her mine :)

Oh Happy Day!

I'm competing for a 7 day trip to Paris for 2! It's on Joy and Moe! HAHA! How awesome would it be if one of us actually won???

Check out the contest here http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris.

Our Fishy

Ryder started swimming lessons yesterday. I was worried. He had an incident about a month and a half ago where he fell in our pool and had to be saved. My neighbors and I were laying out while Ryder played in the water with their daughter, Kiera. The kids were leaning over to fill up bottles of water and he leaned too far. The water was pretty cold so I think it shocked him more than anything. As soon as we got to his very first swim lesson he started to kind of freak out. He was crying a lot and clinging to me and wouldn't let me undress him or take off his shoes. Once we got him in the water he ended up doing pretty well for being so scared. Today was his second day and I was SO proud of him. I gave him a pep talk on the way there that he needed to listen to his teacher (the first day he was flat out telling her "no" and kept saying he "didn't want to" after she'd ask him to do something). I assured him she wasn't gonna let go of him and that he was going to be safe. I'm so glad his little friend Camryn from nursery is also in his swim class and he loves to watch her do everything first before he'll try. Today his teacher, Miss Allie, was able to get him to go under water, float on his back, and even jump off the diving board! She couldnt believe how much he had improved for only his second day. He has 6 more lessons and I can't wait to see him swim like a little fishy!!!

Have to brag!

Is this not the cutest/sweetest/saddest/most pathetic face you've ever seen?? A while back, Kendra was sick. I'm talkin' NASTY, worst kind of sick. Aunt Jennifer was in town and she and grandma Barb wanted to take Ryder and Kendra to the Phoenix Zoo. I thought it might take Kendra's mind of her miserable state, so off we went. I just HAVE to brag that I really do have THE BEST baby girl. She was SO good the entire time. She had a fever, sore throat, and was SERIOUSLY lacking sleep...but you would've never known unless you looked at her precious face. You can tell that she just wants to die. She can be really sick and really tired and still be the greatest baby. And she's ALL mine!

Easter 2011

Easter was a SUNNY day (hence Ryder's face - haha!)
Kendra looking beautiful in blue.
Ryder looking handsome in his suit!

Sorry...no pictures of me. I lost my camera YET AGAIN so I've been taking pictures with my iPod Touch. We had a great Easter weekend. Saturday morning we went to our ward egg hunt and that evening we went to my parents' house and had another egg hunt, played volleyball, made edible nests with birds and eggs in them, and ate a delicious dinner. Sunday, we went to church and Jon gave an amazing talk on the resurrection of Christ. After church we went to Jon's Aunt Betty's and had another delicious meal. It was a lot of fun and Ryder got WAY too much candy. I actually threw half of it away because I kept wanting to eat it too. On top of everything else, our next door neighbors brought an awesome Toy Story 3 bag over for Ryder that was full of candy and Easter toys, along with a Scooby Doo ball, and they got Kendra animal crackers and a stuffed bunny. Our kids got really lucky this year.

Kendra is 10 months!!!

Kendra is 10 months now and has grown up fast! I looked back at her 9 month post and she wasn't crawling at all. Well, now she crawls EVERYWHERE and is getting faster every day. She also cruises along the couch (very slowly) and will take steps with this little walker. Of course she didn't walk for me in the video (typical child not performing when I want her to) but I posted it anyways, just because she's so cute in her Spongebob pajamas that I wish would fit her forever. "KK", as we like to call her, makes the funniest faces these days. She likes to scrunch her nose and squint. It's the cutest. She still hasn't popped a single tooth, yet she can eat just about anything. She will gum anything until it breaks down enough to swallow. Her favorite things to eat/drink right now are:
- Ritz crackers
- Apple or veggie straws
- Fruit puffs
- Fruit loops
- String cheese
- Capri Sun
- Apple juice
I have started introducing a bit of whole milk into her bottles and she's adapting well, which is relieving because she's always been on soy formula and I thought she was going to be very lactose intolerant. I can't wait to stop buying formula. She is now drinking out of sippy cups most of the time. After trial and error I discovered she only like sippy cups with straws. She also is OBSESSED with capri suns because she loves to drink out of the tiny straw. She knows what a pop can is and if she sees you drinking from one she will do ANYTHING to get to it. Unfortunately she has already been introduced to soda...I didn't have anything to do with it. I don't like her to have it. Well, that's about it for now. Enjoy the video and sorry about the quality. It was taken with my iPod Touch.

Hello!!!! Is there anybody out there???

Does nobody check my blog anymore? I have hardly had comments in the last...10 posts maybe? Is my blogging frequency really that bad? Hmm.

9 Months!

AHH! Kendra's first birthday is 3 short months away. Sometimes I HATE time. She is 9 months tomorrow and had her check-up this morning. She is 19lbs 4oz and 27in. Of course the office didn't write down her stats and percentages OR ask me for her shot record and I forgot to give it so none of her shots from today are recorded yet. Awesome. Anyways, she is 5lbs lighter than Ryder was at this age. HA! I can't remember him being so huge. I feel like SHE is huge. She still hasn't popped a single tooth and doesn't crawl or talk much or do ANY of the things Ryder was doing. In fact, Ryder was already taking steps at 9 months. SO she's a lil' behind as far as milestones but the Dr. is not worried. She is so ready to crawl she gets in to position constantly but she hasn't quite figured out how to move. She's kinda lazy but I sure do love her to pieces. She has waved a few times and randomly said "mama" and "dada" but it's not consistent. She will dance anytime she hears music or if she sees you dance. It's so funny. She LOVES Ryder. He saved her life today. I put the kids in Ryder's room to play while I got ready to take her to the Dr. and Ryder had dumped out his legos. She found a random piece of scrap paper that was in the lego box and put it in her mouth. Ryder came running into my room and said, "Mom! Tendra put sumping in her mouf!" So I went running in there and she was choking on that paper. YIKES! I'm glad it wasn't a lego! Ryder is not supposed to play with legos around his sister but he doesn't seem to wanna follow the rules these days.

Guess Who?

Spiderman (wearing riding goggles and a cape)???
Travis Pastrana???

NOPE! It's actually Ryder! Shocking, I know.