Road Trip

We spent the morning with Aly and Hailey today. We decided we'd all ride together in Aly's van.

This was a new experience for Owen and I. We usually caravan because of car seat issues. Owen has only ever sat in his own car seat and both times he's been in a car other than ours he's been in his own car seat.

Luckily for us, Hailey has the same car seat as Owen does and is roughly the same size! Also, Taylor's car seat is very similar to both Hailey's and Owen's.

We decided to give it a try!

Hailey was not thrilled with the arrangement at first but soon the kiddos were having fun visiting, sharing snacks, and deciding who would sit where next!

America's Next Top Models

Shake Your Shamrocks

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We had a really fun day today. Our morning started out at a holiday themed StrollerFit class. It's Tammy Tuesday according to Owen, Tammy teaches on Tuesdays - she did an awesome job putting together a super fun, super cute and creative class!

Owen with his Pot O' Gold! Tammy made these little pots for all the kiddos. The mommies had to run and pick up "gold coins" and "shamrocks" and bring them back to the kiddos to put into their pots!

Owen with his Rainbow chain. Mommies had to run and grab strips of colored paper for making links for Rainbow chains!

All the kiddos in the center of the room coloring St. Patrick's Day coloring pages and collecting extra gold coins and shamrocks! We also took Leprechaun stickers to share with everyone.


For dinner we made a traditional corned beef, Irish Soda Bread, and potatoe mice! The mice turned out super cute and were soooo yummy! For dessert we had green milk shakes! We don't do food coloring at our house so we colored the shakes with spinach juice. I was a little worried about the taste but they were delicious!!

Batter Up: Balls & Bubbles

Owen LOVES to play outside!! We were hanging out in the front yard after Dr. Rick had gone, spinning around and blowing bubbles.

Owen brought out a bucket of balls and his bat. Aaron is such a good Daddy. I don't think I could hold a ball at arms length and let Owen take swings at it/me! I was nervous just watching them!!

MIM: WEEK 7

I didn't make it to MIM on Saturday. Aaron had to go into work and ... I just wasn't able to get it together.

I'm told the team ran 3 miles! We only have one more team run left before race day.

Raffle tickets are now on sale! 1 for $1 or 12 for $10

Take a look at this list of Prizes - Wow!

Make all checks payable to NADA, Tax ID # 94-3143388

Stampin Up!
Gift Package

Mommymuscle
10 day class pass $150.00 value

Moms in Motion
Local team fee $60.00 value

(4) Blommers Chocolate & Gallo Wine
Wine and chocolate Gift Sets

Trader Joe’s
Gift bag value $25.00

Herbal Serenity
Beauticontrol Gift Basket

Baby’s Debut
$50.00 Gift Certificate

(3) Spaghetti Factory
Gift Certificate value $20.00 each

Color Me Mine
Gift Certificate $25.00

(2) Nugget
Gift Card $50.00 each

Cookie Lee Jewelry
Jewelry gift bag

Juice Plus
Childrens package

(2) BJ’s Restaurant
Gift Certificate $25.00 each

Cookie Jar
“Fresh Made Cookies”

Raleys
$25.00 Gift Certificate

Funtastic
VIP Pass-10 visits $65.00 value

Entertaining at Home
Swirl Pitcher/Glasses/Sangria Mix $78.00 value

Round Table Pizza
$20.00 Gift Certificate

Pint Size Picasso

Owen drawing Trains and Train tracks. Two of his favorite things!

Owens' artwork has been referred to as "scribble scrabble" by some of his peers! However, he knows exactly what he is drawing. Below, he said to me, "Mama I making some hooks." They look like hooks to me!

It has been so beautiful outside lately, I picked up this art easel for the backyard patio. I like that it is plastic and when we're all done I can just hose it off.

Owen LOVES to paint! He got all these neat rollers and brushes for his birthday last year from Aunt Jaclyn. She also got him this cool art smock to keep his clothes neat and clean.

The weather has turned cold and rainy again so we brought the art easel into the kitchen today. Owen had a great time painting these water color pages. Also, see below, he discovered chalk.

We've played with chalk outside before, but this is Owens' first experience with a chalk board. Once I showed him the eraser, the chalkboard became more interesting then the painting! We took turns drawing on the chalkboard and letting each other erase it.

MIM: WEEK 6

Week 6 already, it is going by fast! We met at Elk Grove Regional Park bright and early. Last year our local park and rec put in a decomposed granite running trail that circles the whole the park. The trail has distance markers too. It is 1.44 miles long. We ran it twice for a distance of 2.88 miles. Afterward we did some core exercises - can't get enough planking!

Aly and I got an extra workout because we were pushing Taylor and Hailey in our strollers! Shhh, don't tell Owen I let someone else ride in his stroller! Pushing a stroller is hard work. It is great training for race day. The girls however did not seem that impressed with our speed! Still, it was a fun time and a beautiful weekend.

What is it about Wednesdays?

We've spent the last two Wednesdays at the pediatrician's office! Fortunetely this time I navigated the parking garage without further scratching up my car.

So this week, Owen was limping and complaining that his foot hurt. I couldn't find anything wrong with his foot and there wasn't an incident when he hurt himself and was complaining from that point forward so I was very confused. I decided to call the advice nurse and she had me bring him right in.

Owen's doc couldn't find anything wrong with his foot or leg but said that sometimes toddlers get fractures in their Tibias. He offered me two options: 1. go get in x-rayed now 2. wait and see if it gets worse and then go get it x-rayed. I decided since we were already there to just do it.

Owen was so cute and so brave. I explained to him that we were going to a special place where they would use a special camera to take a picture of his leg and foot. He laid super still on the table as told and his only sound was to say, "cheese" when the technician took the picture!

I'm happy to report that he does not have a fracture and is doing fine! We're chalking the whole thing up to growing pains!

As we were leaving we told the doctor we hope we don't see you next Wednesday!

March For Babies

A message from our friend Natalie Hand:

In 2006, my son Chase was born at 34 weeks (six weeks too soon). I was unable to have him bedside, like every other mom, because he spent five days in the nursery. So when I started getting contractions with my next pregnancy, at 32 weeks, I was really scared. Thankfully, due to medication and bed rest, I was able to hold baby Kaylee in an extra two weeks longer than Chase, but she was still four weeks early.

The doctors cannot explain why either one of my babies came prematurely, so I continue to support the March of Dimes charity in hopes of one day being able to prevent premature births at a minimum.

There are so many stories that touch my heart; I feel so fortunate to have two healthy children.

One day... all babies will be born healthy.

Today... too many moms and families know the heartbreak of having a baby born fighting to survive.

The March of Dimes has changed the name of its biggest event to March for Babies. It's a great change because it makes it very clear exactly who we are walking for -- all babies. It′s very exciting to be a part of the “first” March for Babies!

Although the name of this signature event changed, the mission did not. The March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nation.

The money we raise for March for Babies will help:

- support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects
- educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby
- provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care
- push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children

Please help by donating today!

It's easy, safe and secure - just click to make your donation

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

MIM: WEEK 5

Another beautiful Saturday to go running! This morning I over slept, didn't read the full directions, and ran out the door. We were supposed to bring a watch!

We ran 2.5 miles, our regular pace for 5 minutes, sprint for 5 minutes, regular for 5 minutes and so on. This was a bit tricky without a watch but I managed. Afterwards we did some push-ups - my goodness how the mighty have fallen! Yes I've slacked off on doing my push-ups too and I really felt it today!!

It's time to register! Race day is almost upon us and so we are sending in our registration forms. Owen will be running in the 5 yrs & under 1/4 mile race first and then he'll ride in the stroller with Daddy pushing and Uncle Michael leading the way in the 5k! Obviously I'll be running with Moms in Motion! We can't wait!