I took these this last week. He just melts my heart.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Baby Stilts
Some general cuteness from the Reece-man. One from a couple of weeks ago, just because I can watch him play for hours and I think everyone else should too. Kinda long, so no pressure to watch it. The second one's plenty short and also just cute.
Kind of as a side note, when I listen to myself talk to Reece I remind myself of Stewie from Family Guy (especially the last minute of the clip).
Kind of as a side note, when I listen to myself talk to Reece I remind myself of Stewie from Family Guy (especially the last minute of the clip).
Monday, February 8, 2010
My Own Brand of Half Marathon
Okay, so I didn't actually run a half marathon. But my pedometer said I did, so for now that's going to have to be good enough for me.
My plan for last Saturday's run was to do a little bit shorter distance than the previous week and substitute in some hills for cross-training.
The run started out very sluggish, despite my excitement. I was, honestly, excited to run. I try to pump myself up all week and continually visualize the run I'm going to do so by Saturday I can actually push myself out the door and do it. Well, I was excited to go, but as soon as I started running my feet felt like lead. That lasted for about two miles and then I finally started to get into my groove. And since I was feeling so very groovy, I missed my turn. And I continued to miss my turn for an entire mile. I didn't realize I had gone the wrong way until I got to the freeway. But I was still feeling pretty good, so after backtracking that entire mile I decided to continue on with my original plan.
I then got lost two more times. I eventually found my route and jogged up the Dish (pretty popular hiking spot on Stanford campus), which has an elevation gain of 500 feet. Not too bad, unless you condense that into a very short distance, and also have already been jogging for 6.5 miles. My original goals of jogging all the way up were not quite accomplished, but I got some good practice walking up steep hills. The most discouraging thing about this run was that my marathon includes an elevation gain of 2500 feet. All I could think was "There is no way I can do my marathon."
Once I got back onto Stanford campus my legs were screaming and my bladder was threatening to burst (gotta love the post-pregnancy perks) and I had to give up my pride and walk. It was actually pretty humbling because it seems such a simple thing to just keep jogging, and at that point I had only jogged probably 9 miles, but I couldn't jog any more. So I walked for about 1.5 miles, thinking to myself the whole time that this was the time to push myself because this was how I would get stronger. But my legs and my bladder were conspiring against me (too much information?).
I did manage to pull myself together and jog very slowly for the last mile (yay, little victory!), but all in all I felt pretty defeated. My pedometer gave me a nice little treat at the end, telling me I had gone 13.38 miles, but alas, it was incorrect. Due to steep hills and quite a bit of walking, the distance was off by almost two miles. That's kind of like running a half marathon, right? I think I might tinker with it a bit more and maybe next week I can do the full marathon in two hours and be done with all this training craziness.
This is how sick I look when I get home. Poor Paul.
And then, because there has to be something cute about this post:
My plan for last Saturday's run was to do a little bit shorter distance than the previous week and substitute in some hills for cross-training.The run started out very sluggish, despite my excitement. I was, honestly, excited to run. I try to pump myself up all week and continually visualize the run I'm going to do so by Saturday I can actually push myself out the door and do it. Well, I was excited to go, but as soon as I started running my feet felt like lead. That lasted for about two miles and then I finally started to get into my groove. And since I was feeling so very groovy, I missed my turn. And I continued to miss my turn for an entire mile. I didn't realize I had gone the wrong way until I got to the freeway. But I was still feeling pretty good, so after backtracking that entire mile I decided to continue on with my original plan.
I then got lost two more times. I eventually found my route and jogged up the Dish (pretty popular hiking spot on Stanford campus), which has an elevation gain of 500 feet. Not too bad, unless you condense that into a very short distance, and also have already been jogging for 6.5 miles. My original goals of jogging all the way up were not quite accomplished, but I got some good practice walking up steep hills. The most discouraging thing about this run was that my marathon includes an elevation gain of 2500 feet. All I could think was "There is no way I can do my marathon."
Once I got back onto Stanford campus my legs were screaming and my bladder was threatening to burst (gotta love the post-pregnancy perks) and I had to give up my pride and walk. It was actually pretty humbling because it seems such a simple thing to just keep jogging, and at that point I had only jogged probably 9 miles, but I couldn't jog any more. So I walked for about 1.5 miles, thinking to myself the whole time that this was the time to push myself because this was how I would get stronger. But my legs and my bladder were conspiring against me (too much information?).
I did manage to pull myself together and jog very slowly for the last mile (yay, little victory!), but all in all I felt pretty defeated. My pedometer gave me a nice little treat at the end, telling me I had gone 13.38 miles, but alas, it was incorrect. Due to steep hills and quite a bit of walking, the distance was off by almost two miles. That's kind of like running a half marathon, right? I think I might tinker with it a bit more and maybe next week I can do the full marathon in two hours and be done with all this training craziness.
This is how sick I look when I get home. Poor Paul.
And then, because there has to be something cute about this post:
Monday, February 1, 2010
No TV, no beer make Homer...something...something
As of today the Paul and Wendy Weitzels are instituting a NO-TV FEBRUARY. Why? Because we came home from a date night a few weeks ago to find our babysitters (much to our surprise) reading books! My first thought was, "Who does that anymore? That's so 1945." Then I realized, "Wait, I LOVE reading books!" and I have been going through a serious process of repentance ever since. So for that reason, and also because we figure it'll make us more interesting people (and because we need more time to beat World 9 in Super Mario Wii ), we are going TV-free for a month. Why February? Because it's the shortest.
As part of my addiction-kicking process, here's a list of shows that I will truly miss:
1) The Bachelor: Will Ali and Vienna ever accept one another as potential loves for Jake? Where will the RV road trip take them next? What do all the girls have against Vienna in the first place?
2) The Biggest Loser: I am addicted to this show. I love it. It inspires me. It's part of the reason I'm training for a marathon. I fast-forward past all the product endorsements 'cause I think they're lame, but I love seeing people accomplish things they never thought they could do and come out stronger (by the way, I ran 10 MILES! on Saturday...never thought I could do it...thank you, Biggest Loser). Who will leave the show in the time that I'm gone? Who will win the at-home weigh-in between Blue and Yellow?
3) NBC's Thursday night line-up of Community, Parks & Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock: Yes, I watch them all. Afterward Paul and I vote on which show was the funniest. The Office hasn't won yet this season. And last week's episode was horrific. But we watch it so as not to prove fair-weather fans, and because we're too lazy to get up from the butt grooves we've formed on our couches to change the channel.
4) Anything on the Food Network: No more Chopped. No more daytime cooking shows to get me through my workouts. No more Alton Brown to tell me why my food cooks the way it does. I may starve to death.
5) Morning cartoons with Reece: He loves Handy Manny and Dora the Explorer. He never watches a full episode (poor kid's got a short attention span), but he loves the songs and it's one of the only times I get to cuddle with him now that he's all big and cruising around the furniture and opening cupboards and what not.
So that's it. Will I survive? Only time will tell. Will this be the longest February in my 27 years of existence? Quite possibly. Will Jake pick Tenley and send home the cheesy swimsuit model Gia? Well, friends, ask me in March (wait a couple of days because I might spend the first week or so glued to my DVR).
Also, if you have any books you think I should definitely read in all my spare time, please let me know!
As part of my addiction-kicking process, here's a list of shows that I will truly miss:
1) The Bachelor: Will Ali and Vienna ever accept one another as potential loves for Jake? Where will the RV road trip take them next? What do all the girls have against Vienna in the first place?
2) The Biggest Loser: I am addicted to this show. I love it. It inspires me. It's part of the reason I'm training for a marathon. I fast-forward past all the product endorsements 'cause I think they're lame, but I love seeing people accomplish things they never thought they could do and come out stronger (by the way, I ran 10 MILES! on Saturday...never thought I could do it...thank you, Biggest Loser). Who will leave the show in the time that I'm gone? Who will win the at-home weigh-in between Blue and Yellow?
3) NBC's Thursday night line-up of Community, Parks & Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock: Yes, I watch them all. Afterward Paul and I vote on which show was the funniest. The Office hasn't won yet this season. And last week's episode was horrific. But we watch it so as not to prove fair-weather fans, and because we're too lazy to get up from the butt grooves we've formed on our couches to change the channel.
4) Anything on the Food Network: No more Chopped. No more daytime cooking shows to get me through my workouts. No more Alton Brown to tell me why my food cooks the way it does. I may starve to death.
5) Morning cartoons with Reece: He loves Handy Manny and Dora the Explorer. He never watches a full episode (poor kid's got a short attention span), but he loves the songs and it's one of the only times I get to cuddle with him now that he's all big and cruising around the furniture and opening cupboards and what not.
So that's it. Will I survive? Only time will tell. Will this be the longest February in my 27 years of existence? Quite possibly. Will Jake pick Tenley and send home the cheesy swimsuit model Gia? Well, friends, ask me in March (wait a couple of days because I might spend the first week or so glued to my DVR).
Also, if you have any books you think I should definitely read in all my spare time, please let me know!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Reece's First Haircut
It had to be done. It was getting out of hand. His hair had a personality of its own. Every day we had people asking us if we had styled it on purpose. To the countless masses: the mohawk was natural. It was also at least three inches long. We used the longest piece on the clippers and it is now only one inch long. Still a mohawk (that couldn't be helped) but at least a slightly more controlled mohawk.
Here's Reece pre-haircut:
And post-cut:
He even did the classic "I'm not happy with life" pre-cut face and the "Everything is perfect now" post-cut face. Kid should be in infomercials.
In real-time news, he just barely finished crying himself to sleep. He's had a hard time making it through the night since his month-long ear infection in December/January and now he's got three teeth coming in at once. Poor guy.
Here's Reece pre-haircut:
And post-cut:
He even did the classic "I'm not happy with life" pre-cut face and the "Everything is perfect now" post-cut face. Kid should be in infomercials.
In real-time news, he just barely finished crying himself to sleep. He's had a hard time making it through the night since his month-long ear infection in December/January and now he's got three teeth coming in at once. Poor guy.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Can we do it? Yes we can!
I've been putting off this blog for a couple of weeks now, but I think it's time to make the announcement. No, this isn't about Reece (what, a blog post that's not about Reece?), and no, I'm not pregnant (thank goodness). This is about attempting to accomplish one of my life goals. And I decided that I have to tell as many people as I can so that I cannot back out of it. I am going to run a MARATHON!
I never really thought I could run a marathon. I honestly still don't think I can do it. But in the last month that I've been training, I've already done things that I hadn't done before and I'm starting to think that a marathon might be possible. Last Saturday I ran 7 miles. That was farther than I've ever gone in my life, and I didn't die. Two weeks before that I ran 5 miles for the first time since Reece was born, and both times I did a little inner-celebratory dance and thought to myself, "Maybe I can do this."
Isn't that inspiring? This image was from an article about a runner who died just after crossing the finish line (not the guy in the picture). Sure makes you want to run, doesn't it?
I love this picture because the girl is puking mid-stride. I only hope I can gain that skill.
As I said, I am not a runner. I like to work out. But it's not because I like to push myself or try to improve or anything. I just like to feel like I've done something good for my body that day. Pushing myself to go further and faster has not really been my style. I more like to have a calories goal, and then any day that I get to the gym is a good day, regardless of what else does or does not happen. It's silly, I know, but I guess it's my hobby/obsession.
I've struggled with even calling this my hobby because I feel like I should be better at it if it's getting that distinct classification, but since I work out almost every day, the only way I can justify it is by deeming it a "hobby."
So why the marathon, then? If I'm not a real runner and I'm not competitive, why torture myself now? Well, staying at home with Reece has been wonderful, but I've really been searching for something beyond being mom. I've wanted something that would improve me and stretch my limits and see what I could do. Plus (and this is more honest than I should be) I still had to lose 6 pounds of baby weight.
That's all I've got for now on the subject. I want to run a marathon and I think I might be able to try to do it. I did find, after hours of frustrated searching, an acceptable marathon. It's on June 5 (a Saturday) in Aptos, CA. That's close to Santa Cruz and only an hour away from us. Believe me, it's not easy finding a marathon on a Saturday in California.
So I'm not going to try to break any records or win any medals (because you get a medal just for finishing...he he he...suckers). I just want to do it. For me. Because I can. Right?
I never really thought I could run a marathon. I honestly still don't think I can do it. But in the last month that I've been training, I've already done things that I hadn't done before and I'm starting to think that a marathon might be possible. Last Saturday I ran 7 miles. That was farther than I've ever gone in my life, and I didn't die. Two weeks before that I ran 5 miles for the first time since Reece was born, and both times I did a little inner-celebratory dance and thought to myself, "Maybe I can do this."
Isn't that inspiring? This image was from an article about a runner who died just after crossing the finish line (not the guy in the picture). Sure makes you want to run, doesn't it?
I love this picture because the girl is puking mid-stride. I only hope I can gain that skill.As I said, I am not a runner. I like to work out. But it's not because I like to push myself or try to improve or anything. I just like to feel like I've done something good for my body that day. Pushing myself to go further and faster has not really been my style. I more like to have a calories goal, and then any day that I get to the gym is a good day, regardless of what else does or does not happen. It's silly, I know, but I guess it's my hobby/obsession.
I've struggled with even calling this my hobby because I feel like I should be better at it if it's getting that distinct classification, but since I work out almost every day, the only way I can justify it is by deeming it a "hobby."
So why the marathon, then? If I'm not a real runner and I'm not competitive, why torture myself now? Well, staying at home with Reece has been wonderful, but I've really been searching for something beyond being mom. I've wanted something that would improve me and stretch my limits and see what I could do. Plus (and this is more honest than I should be) I still had to lose 6 pounds of baby weight.
That's all I've got for now on the subject. I want to run a marathon and I think I might be able to try to do it. I did find, after hours of frustrated searching, an acceptable marathon. It's on June 5 (a Saturday) in Aptos, CA. That's close to Santa Cruz and only an hour away from us. Believe me, it's not easy finding a marathon on a Saturday in California.
So I'm not going to try to break any records or win any medals (because you get a medal just for finishing...he he he...suckers). I just want to do it. For me. Because I can. Right?
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Two Years Worth of Blogging
Happy 2010! We had a great Christmas with Nancy, post-Christmas with David and Hillary & Co., and a fantastic post-New Year's with the Carr family in Utah. Just a couple pictures from the last couple of weeks:
This is our best Christmas present ever.
Reece loves his Grandma Nancy.
We all got footsie pajamas for Christmas Eve (okay, so Paul just reused his pajamas from his birthday. And Nancy's pajamas were made for a 10-year old girl). Maybe next year we'll just go with normal pajamas.
Yay, Christmas morning!
"I can't wait to eat that monkey."
Playing at the park on Christmas day.
Reece loved playing at Grandma Carr's house. He loved it so much that he couldn't sit still and kept trying to destroy her balls of yarn (such a sweet little kitty) and destroy her Christmas ornaments.
Grandpa Allred loves to give horsey rides. Reece loved it until Grandpa got to end of the "Little lady goes nimmy nimmy," etc. Reece freaked out. Super funny.
Kyle has claimed the status of "Favorite Uncle," which may be the case, if only for the identical hair styles.
Bryce and Reece hangin' out at the mall. Those two crazy guys. We had more pictures with Grandma Terri and Grandpa Mel, but my favorite picture of Grandma Terri could not be posted (due to certain threats by those involved). Reece got so excited to be in a picture with Grandma Terri that he actually punched her in the nose, resulting in much blood and hilarious, yet un-postable pictures. Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, everyone!
We got to see Raini and Dave Stout (and Dave's cool mom) at the Winchester Mystery House. I figured out the mystery: the Winchester lady was crazy.
Paul, Reece and I went for our first family jog across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was only about 3 miles total, but a little harder due to high winds and a malfunctioning jogging stroller. Hopefully this doesn't discourage further jogging adventures.
Paul's face says, "Look at me, I'm a happy, smiling tourist." Paul's brain says, "I want to throw this stroller off the bridge." Not with the baby in it, of course. It's just leans heavily to the left and tries to crash itself into other bridge walkers. So if you're interested in ramming into unsuspecting civilians, feel free to borrow our jogging stroller.
This is our best Christmas present ever.
Reece loves his Grandma Nancy.
We all got footsie pajamas for Christmas Eve (okay, so Paul just reused his pajamas from his birthday. And Nancy's pajamas were made for a 10-year old girl). Maybe next year we'll just go with normal pajamas.
Yay, Christmas morning!
"I can't wait to eat that monkey."
Playing at the park on Christmas day.
Reece loved playing at Grandma Carr's house. He loved it so much that he couldn't sit still and kept trying to destroy her balls of yarn (such a sweet little kitty) and destroy her Christmas ornaments.
Grandpa Allred loves to give horsey rides. Reece loved it until Grandpa got to end of the "Little lady goes nimmy nimmy," etc. Reece freaked out. Super funny.
Kyle has claimed the status of "Favorite Uncle," which may be the case, if only for the identical hair styles.
Bryce and Reece hangin' out at the mall. Those two crazy guys. We had more pictures with Grandma Terri and Grandpa Mel, but my favorite picture of Grandma Terri could not be posted (due to certain threats by those involved). Reece got so excited to be in a picture with Grandma Terri that he actually punched her in the nose, resulting in much blood and hilarious, yet un-postable pictures. Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, everyone!
We got to see Raini and Dave Stout (and Dave's cool mom) at the Winchester Mystery House. I figured out the mystery: the Winchester lady was crazy.
Paul, Reece and I went for our first family jog across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was only about 3 miles total, but a little harder due to high winds and a malfunctioning jogging stroller. Hopefully this doesn't discourage further jogging adventures.
Paul's face says, "Look at me, I'm a happy, smiling tourist." Paul's brain says, "I want to throw this stroller off the bridge." Not with the baby in it, of course. It's just leans heavily to the left and tries to crash itself into other bridge walkers. So if you're interested in ramming into unsuspecting civilians, feel free to borrow our jogging stroller.
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