FAMILY PICTURES 2012

Ever since Kate was born, I have wanted to get an updated family picture for my portrait frame.
Up until about 6 weeks ago, the only picture I had of all 4 of us, was one from the day she was blessed, where you couldn't even see her face. LOL.
It was time to get an updated photo for my family portrait frame... the one in the frame was taken back in Novemeber 2010. haha

While we were in Utah earlier this month, we got Jakes dad, Spence to take the pictures for us, while Grandma Kim jumped around like a clown behind him to get the kids attention. LOL. Thanks Kim :)

The pictures came out great, and I'm really happy with how well our outfits co-ordinated.
I've finally got my portrait frame updated.

I had 2 favourites. One was vertical and perfect for my portrait frame (already hanging vertically on the wall), but I also loved the horizontal  wagon one, so I went out and bought an 8x10 table top frame so I could have both on display.

Here are my favourites from the little photo shoot we had.
Call me a biased snob, but I have a seriously good looking family. LOL

My portrait frame picture

My 8x10 table top favourite :)

Cutie pie

Double trouble :)

Two Cutest children EVER :)

Baby Kate and Me

9 MONTHS OLD

Little Miss Kate turned 9 months old this past Saturday (16th)
What a little sassy pants she is turning out to be. LOL.
I'm pretty sure she knows she cute, and she uses it to her advantage... don't underestimate those cute chubby cheeks.
She's developing quite the personality, and a bit of attitude to. LOL
We love her so much. She keeps us in smiles, and is so sweet.

Yesterday was her 9 month check-up.

Her stats are:

WEIGHT: 16lb 3oz  ~ 7.34kg (5th-10th percentile)
HEIGHT: 26 1/4 inches ~ 66.65cm (5th-10th percentile)
HEAD: 17 inches (25th percentile)

She remains a petite little girl, with big cheeks. :)

Just 3 more months until she's 1 year old.
Crazy how quickly this first year is going by.

UNDERPANTS AND FISH

I'm so excited.

Luke is POTTY TRAINED.
He just turned 3 earlier this month, so I think he's gotten to this point in pretty good time, especially for a boy. I'm so proud of him.
Now, for the story...

Luke has been aware of his need to 'go' for probably close to a year now.
Almost every evening after bath, Luke liked to have some 'naked time', and during that time he'd always let us know if he needed to pee, and we'd take him to the bathroom to use the toilet.
 For some reason though, we could never convince him to wear underwear, and as long as he was wearing a diaper during the rest of the day, he just used it instead of saying he needed to go to the toilet.
I even bought him cute Toy Story underpants, during the time that he was most into Toy Story, but he didn't go for it at all. So we left him alone for a while longer.

Luke is a VERY stubborn child, and has an amazingly strong will. He is NOT easily bribed.
This isn't the kind of kid that'll break at the first sight of a lollipop or a candy bar. LOL
He's pretty tough, so I have been trying to think for a while of something that would be exciting enough for him, that he could be bribed with it, to start wearing underpants.
The other day he was out with me, and we decided to stop in at the pet store to look at the animals.
Out of all the animals, Luke was most excited to see all the fish. He just LOVED watching them swim around the tanks. This is when I realised that this might be the key... he has enough toys that a new toy wasn't bribe enough. Candy wasn't going to work, and he doesn't like books all that much.. but a FISH is something he's never had.
So I passed the idea by Jake, and then went ahead and bought a tabletop sized aquarium kit. It came with all the bits and pieces needed to set it up (for $20), so I just needed to buy the fish.
I let Luke take it home, and I put it on the bathroom counter (still closed in the box), and explained to him that we would buy him a fish to put in his aquarium, when he started wearing underwear.
He promptly picked out a pair and put them on... we haven't looked back since.
He poops, and pees on the toilet just like a big kid. He tells me on his own when he needs to go so I don't have to ask him every 15 minutes. I have put him in pullups at night, but today he even napped for over 2hrs with just his underwear on, and he woke up dry and ready to go to the toilet.
No accidents so far. He's doing great.

So tonight after dinner, we took Luke to the pet shop, and let him get a gold fish.
I tried to help him pick out a name for the fish, but I think it's probably just going to be named, 'FISH'. lol
Very original. haha

He's pretty excited about Fish.
I think we will look into getting his little tank a light so that he can see it from his bed at night (and it'll work as a great night light too)

So, the diapers are GONE (well packed away for when Kate needs them), and he's a big boy now.
We went from full diaper duty just 2 days ago, to underwear, no accidents, a nap in underpants, and Luke telling us completely on his own when he needs to go (he's even used multiple public restrooms without being freaked out too much)
I'm so proud of him. I knew he could do it :)

So meet the new member of our family
"FISH"

BIG BROTHER HELPER

Tonight I was feeding Kate her dinner.
I left the dining room for a minute to go talk to Jake about something.
When I got back, Luke had decided to 'help out' and carry on feeding Kate for me.
LOL.
They were so cute, and she was such a MESS. haha

8 MONTHS & MOVING

Miss Kate turned 8 months old on May 16th... this post is a bit late.
She started to crawl right around then too... I got the first video of her crawling on May 17th.
For most of the last 10 days she didn't got very far. She'd crawl just a couple feet and then just sit there.
Yesterday though, she realised that she could wander the house. LOL.
So now she goes from room to room and finds things to get into. Silly girl.

She's got a 'different' crawl.
She does what I call the 'one legged bear crawl'.
Here is a short video Jake caught today, showing her bear crawl. lol

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

MY FIRST 5K

A little over a year ago, some friends from a local 'moms group' decided to train together to run a 5K race that happens in Rocky Mount every spring, to raise funds for local charities. I was pregnant with Kate, and given my lifelong lack of exercise, I decided not to try take up running just then, but made it a goal to do it this year. t seemed like it was forever until this day would come...
I started training with the C25K program in January, having never run in my life, and thinking any form of exercise was complete torture.. I really was a couch potato who never did a stitch of exercise aside from chasing my kids. LOL
Day 1 of training was HORRIBLE... the schedule was 5min walk - 2min jog - 5min walk.
I nearly DIED running those 2 minutes... seriously.. I was like 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have to run 5K???"
I hated my Dreadmill - still do! But it was the only option most days for getting a run in, so I stuck with it.
I was suppose to be done with the training by mid March, but kids, illnesses and lack of sleep got in the way, so I was still working on it, and never actually did finish the training. LOL.. my treadmill is just MUCH too boring.
By this morning...RACE DAY, I had still not run a full 5K without stopping..
Back in January, my goal was to complete it in 30 minutes... by this morning I had accepted that it would probably be more like 34-35 minutes and I was totally OK with that...

I was so nervous... porta-potty trip before the race. LOL
Then we headed to the start line, and what do you know... I need to pee AGAIN... too late... race is about to start.
And we're off... I immediately managed to get into a good, comfortable pace, which I was surprised by.. I thought it would take me a while. I started to speed up a bit, because I felt like I could push myself a bit..at least for a while.. I figured I'd tire eventually.
I don't have a GPS, and wasn't even wearing a watch, and for some reason I kept missing the mile markers, so I had NO IDEA how far I'd run, or how long I'd been running.
I just kept following those ahead of me, and hoped that around the next corner I'd see the finish line.
I ran with friends along the way... both have run multiple races before (one just finished her first 1/2 marathon)... I ran with them a while, then went on ahead. I kept thinking they'd pick up the pace and pass me again but they never did...I'm not complaining. LOL
I had been told before hand that the course was FLAT... FLAT my butt... maybe if you're driving it it seems flat, but my legs were telling me otherwise.
We ran though a section of a wooded park...it was short, but STEEP, and the tar trail was all broken up by tree roots growing under it. I had to slow down up that hill, and my legs were burning at the top, but I kept going. 
I started to recognise where I was again, and I knew that the finish line wasn't far...
I still had no idea how long I'd been running for, but I figured it was probably around 30 minutes... I tried to pick up my pace, but I was stuck in a rhythm and I figured that was ok...
Finally I rounded the last corner, and I saw the finish... once I could see it, I  found my 'oomph' to pick up the pace, and I started going a bit faster...
I got towards the end where I spotted the clock, and there was still a 2 in front of the time... WHAT THE FREAK ??? lol
I kept running... going into a bit of a sprint...
Then I saw it... my time...
I finally crossed the finish line and in 28:07

I not only met my goal.. I BEAT IT...
I must have been on a serious adrenaline high.
I now know what AWESOME feels like
To add to the awesome-ness, I got home and checked the times online, to discover I had placed 2ND in my age category (20-29yr olds)... WHOOP WHOOP...

So I've done it... and it was great...

Pre-Race

Timing chip attached to my shoelace

The Final Stretch to the finish

Coming up to the finish (the guy in the red is my OBGYN who delivered Kate. lol)

FINISHED... Final time 28:07

I placed 2ND in my age group :)

My Support Team :)