30 under 30, one done

I completed my first task and I am already breaking the rules.  Oh well, it's my game.

No, I didn't buy a strangers lunch or take a day trip somewhere in Oklahoma (although I am looking forward to those things.

I BOUGHT A CAR!!

I love it.  I broke the rules because I did not pay cash for it.  Turns out, I like the cash right where it is, in savings.

Evan also loves the car, which is a good thing because I will probably drive it until he graduates.

Also, I have decided on number 28 - volunteer at a food bank.

Hands, who needs them

On the way to my parents Friday, Bill, Evan and I stopped at Chili's for lunch.  I ordered a club sandwich and decided to give Evan a piece of my avocado.  We didn't have his spoon, so I decided to just put a little on a plate to see if he would reach with his hands.  After moving a little in his bumbo to get in position, he face planted directly into the avocado in an attempt to eat Ralphie style:

I see the resemblance.  

5 months

OK time, you and I had an agreement.  I was going to go back to work and you were going to tick tock along a glacier pace.  I never agreed to the speed at which you insist on moving.  How could it be possible that my little baby is already a feisty five month old?

There are so many things that I love about this age.  Evan is really starting to engage with us.  He loves to show us his tricks, which include sticking his tongue out, growling at us, trying to "get" us by eating our arms, face, etc.

Also, just the other day he started to wrap his arm around my neck whenever I am holding him, and touch my face and hold my ears when trying to fall asleep.  Melt my heart!!

He loves to play, can roll over easily now, but is still pretty tiny for his age.

He doesn't have any teeth yet, but it is obvious he is teething.  Some nights he is a little (ok a lot) grouchy and I know it is because his little mouth is hurting.  Speaking of the mouth, that is where EVERYTHING goes.

 GET

 IN 

MY MOUTH!

Evan has really started to love baby food this month.  Every time you set him in his high chair, he kicks his legs and gets very excited. Don't even think about eating in front of him or he will let you know that he wants some too.  Butternut squash is by far his favorite so far, and broccoli was definitely not a hit! 

We are sleeping lots these days and I attribute that 100% to the fact that I let him sleep in the bed with me.  Bill says that I have to start putting him in his crib at 6 months.  (Insert tear here).  We will see how it goes.  For now, I love cuddling with him.  

He still hates tummy time and would much rather be laying on his back, or sitting up in his exersaucer, jumperoo, or bumbo, or my favorite, in mommy or daddy's arms.

Time flies

Which is why I will admit that I let Evan sleep with us way more than the parenting books say I should.  How could this be a bad thing:

Today was the last full day I will drive my Nissan Sentra.  While I am excited about my new car (and many say its long overdue) I cannot help but to be a little, OK maybe a lot, sad.  There are so many memories wrapped up in this car that I feel sad to see it go.

I graduated college in that car.  I moved to Oklahoma by myself and not knowing a soul in that car.  I got married, graduated law school and drove Evan around for the first time by myself in that car.   I have lived hours away from my family for years, but that car made it easy for me to visit anytime I wanted.  But most importantly that car was purchased for me with more love than many people ever experience.

When I started college, I drove a 2000 Honda Civic that my mom and I purchased without my dad test driving it (big mistake, dad).  The Honda turned out to be a POS (OK, maybe not turned out, but always was) and left me stranded on the interstate multiple times.  My parents, concerned about my safety living 8 hours away, decided to purchase me a new car.

I still remember driving to visit my dad at the deer camp in the fall of 2003.  He had researched every single entry level sedan and entry level SUV on the market to see what car would be best for me. He had every single one written down on a legal pad with information such as MPGs, cost, etc. Most importantly, he knew the different safety features of each vehicle and in fact choose an 2004 Nissan Sentra because of its safety features.

Little did he know, a short nine months later I was in a pretty scary wreck in which I hit a tire with rim still attached on the interstate going way too fast (probably over 80 fast).  My car started spinning and I became what could only be described as a pinball between two guard rails.  Thanks to the hours that my dad had so selflessly put into looking out for my best interest, I came away from that wreck with only a seat belt burn on my shoulder.  Who know what would have happened had he purchased the trendy Eclipse I was hoping to drive.

I remember not wanting to call my parents to tell them about the wreck.  I just knew that my dad would be so disappointed that after all the time, effort and money put into getting me a new car, this happened.  But he wasn't.  Dad simply did what dads do and made life better.  He bought me my 2005 Nissan Sentra.  That was September 2004.

Since that time, I have driven that car everyday grateful that I have parents willing to make sacrifices for not only my safety but my convenience.  They didn't have to buy me the first new car, and most certainly didn't have to replace it when I stupidly decided to speed down the interstate.  But they did, and for that I was grateful.

I would like to say that from that day, I vowed to drive this car for as long as possible, but that is simply not true.  There were times that I wished I had a bigger car, times I wished it was more trendy, and most definitely times I wished it was not grandma gold, but in each of those times, I could not imagine trading my car for something else.  It may not be much to look at and may not mean a lot to many people.  But to me, it is a symbol of love from someone who has always had my best interest at heart.

Running in Edmond

There are some days when my morning runs are relaxing and refreshing.   Other days, it is like getting hit by a bus while eating a mouth full of dog food.   Today was a bus/dog food kind of day.

No I do not eat dog food, but there is a Purina plant in Edmond and when the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, it stinks!!  Couple that with breathing rapidly in an attempt to save your life while running entirely too fast with your too fast running buddies and I am pretty sure I looked like this:

Well, except my hair is a little longer and my feet are not quite that big.

In all actuality today's run was a the same pace as most runs and slower than some we have been doing recently.  I think maybe I am just exhausted and need a spa day.  Whose with me?

First Mother's day

What a great weekend.  I love celebrating me! Just kidding.  Kind of.

Bill's parents came in this weekend for Mother's day and we had a great time.  On Friday night, I cooked taco salad and Bill's mom thought it was a goolash of leftovers.  It kind of was.  Welcome to our humble home. Please make your food selections from the following items that were cooked last week.  Thanks for coming. :)

On Saturday, we ate breakfast at this great little local restaurant.  I, of course, had oatmeal.  After breakfast, Bill's mom and I checked out the Edmond farmer's market and Sunflower market, a new grocery store.  The remaining Saturday was spent relaxing.  Saturday night the guys treated us to mother's day dinner at Cattleman's.  My dates were extra handsome:

Sunday was spent mainly relaxing.  In fact, Evan slept for  2 1/2 hours.  Happy Mother's Day to me. Perfect present little guy!  Bill bought me a beautiful necklace that I will try to take a picture of later.  Sorry, to lazy to get up tonight. 

On a more exciting note, Bill and I have begun the preliminary steps to look at new cars.  Fun fun! 

26, 27

Thanks to Candice and Savanna for adding two to the list.

26. Go on a hot air balloon ride.  Not gonna lie, a little nervous about this one.
27.  Thirty days of Thankful.  One month this year I will make a special post everyday for a month listing the things for which I am thankful.  Should be fun.

I will be back later today to talk about my first mother's day!

30 under 30

As I mentioned in my last post, things are going to get crazy over here in my last year as a twenty something.  I'm talking stay up until 9:30 crazy.  Go to the zoo with the family crazy. And especially spending Friday night watching Dateline and 20/20 crazy.

To ensure that my life is a least a little cooler than those things, I have decided to begin project 30 under 30.  The premise is simple.  I must complete 30 things before I turn 30.  I have a list of 25. You guys must help me thing of the rest.  OK?  Here it goes.

1.  10K in under 50 minutes.
2.  Half marathon in under 2 hours.
3. pay cash for a new (to me) car.
4.  Go to New Orleans with Bill.
5. Buy a stranger's lunch.
6.  Go vegetarian for one month.
7.  Read a book to Evan every day for one month.
8.  Make sushi.
9. Ride "the" bike.
10.  Establish date night.
11. run on the beach before sunrise or with the sunrise.
12. take a cooking class.
13. attend a food festival.
14. 3 day trips to somewhere in Oklahoma
15. Take yoga once a week for at least 2 months.
16. Watch the sunset on Lake Hefner
17. Walk/Jog/crawl a half marathon with my mom.
18. Run a relay (whose with me??)
19. pick peaches (OK Sharon.  It is on the list.  It MUST happen this year!)
20. volunteer for a race. (I have thrown enough paper cups on the ground.  It is time to reciprocate.)
21. Host a dinner party.
22. Give someone flowers for no special reason
23. Read at least 5 books on the AP high school book list that I missed out on in high school
24. Mentor a lawschool student.
25. Watch at least 10 movies on AFI's 100 Years ...100 Movies list.

OK peeps, you heard me.  I need 5 more.  A couple rules.  Skydiving is off limits.  So is bunjee jumping, rock climbing, or anything else that involves insane heights.  I am a mother after all. :)  Also off limits is any extravagant vacations.  Unless your paying.  I also would rather not eat bugs, touch snakes or do any other ridiculously gross things.  Other than that, lets see what you got!!

Ode to my 20s

The countdown to turning thirty begins. dum dum dum.  Am I sad to almost be leaving my twenties behind? Heck no, I lived those years to the fullest and I am just not sure how much more you can pack into a decade.

I went to college:

Made some great friends:

Insert head of Valerie Hobbs into picture here). 

Met a boy:

Fell in love with said boy: 

and got married:

started the lifelong learning process a.k.a a legal career:

meet more great friends:

survived and got a really great job:

went on some really awesome trips:

 

rediscovered  my love for running and ran some pretty cool races:

and, saving the best for last, became a mom:

Thinking back, it is pretty amazing how far I have come in the last 9 years.  To think that I have gone from this:

taken on my 21st birthday

to this:

is pretty incredible.  So, I am not sure what the thirties will hold for me, but I plan to live my last year in this decade to the fullest.  Stay tuned......

Food and Milestones

WOW, what a weekend.  Evan had quite a few first and we celebrated my birthday.   My birthday deserved a post all in itself, and now let's get to the good stuff - Evan.

As you know, little man has been eating rice cereal for a couple weeks now.

Bill and I anticipated that we would put a lot of thought into what Evan's first "real" food would be. Yea, not so much.  Friday night we ate tacos and had a little avocado left over and decided on a whim to let Evan try it. 

As you can tell, he wasn't sure about it, but loved that he was making us laugh.  The next night I added a little more milk and he seemed to like that better.  Tonight he ate a ton and would fuss if you were taking too long getting it in his mouth.  It amazes Bill and I how fast he is growing up. Sniff Sniff.  

Speaking of growing up, Evan is a mobile man on a mission.  On Thursday, he rolled over at daycare.  I always thought this would bother me, him having his first milestones at daycare rather than with us.  Turns out it really didn't.  I was just so happy for him and excited that he is learning new things.  Friday night he did it again, see: 

I knew it wouldn't be long until he was also rolling front to back since he has been rolling side to side since Easter, and sure enough, he accomplished that feat today.  I guess he figured he might as well make this a weekend of milestones.  (Sorry, I didn't have the camera ready when he rolled from front to back, I will try to get a video next time). 

One final first,  Evan's first 5K:

Here's to hoping we have many more runs together.  

Happy Birthday

I had a great birthday this weekend.  I am not sure what it is about motherhood but in a lot of ways it makes me so much more relaxed.  This is probably weird, but I am going to throw it out there because, well, you all know I am weird.

Usually on my birthday, there is so much anticipation about what to do, presents, etc. that I am usually stressed, disappointed, etc. on the actual day.  This is no discredit to Bill or anyone else for that matter, it has been like this for as long as I can remember.  I have always thought my birthday was just so so.  I usually take much more pleasure in celebrating other's birthdays.

This year, things just seemed different.  Maybe it is because I have so much to celebrate.  Maybe it is because I am content and satisfied with my little family.  Maybe it is simply because life is a lot better when you are not thinking of yourself all the time (28 1/2 years was long enough folks).  Whatever it is, this birthday just seemed extra special.

The day started out with a 5K.  I know, right! I cannot think of a better way to start the day.  Well, actually Starbucks' started the day because a birthday isn't a birthday without Starbucks.

(Second time, same picture.  Don't say you don't love it.)

Bill's work hosted a friend's and family 5K for Hertz employees and their families.  It was a great but small event.  Because Bill's work is very secure, I cannot visit him at work and it was nice to be able to finally meet people.  Everyone has been so generous with gifts for little E and I really enjoyed being able to thank them in person and get to know them a little better.

I was third woman overall and Evan was first (and only) in his age group. :)

After the race, Bill, Evan and I went to the Edmond Arts Festival.  The festival is pretty small, but it is fun to walk around, look at art, and people watch.

My plans to carry Evan around were derailed by the sun and 85 degree temperatures at 10:00 a.m. (lets not even get me started on how hot it will likely be this summer).   Bill and I were a little worried about Evan's perfect skin getting burned, so we put the carrier back and opted for the stroller instead.  

Enter Operation Baby Hat.  We love being outside, especially in the summer.  If tater tot is going to come with us, he needs a hat.  So, after the arts festival and a much needed nap for Evan and Mommy, we decided to shop.  I planned (and still hope to get) a beach style hat that provides lots of shade for Evan's face and neck.  The hats we purchased on Saturday were a lot less practical.  BUT O MY GAWD, THEY ARE CUTE!  

He's ready to learn how to boil crawfish in this hat.  

Mini Bill times 1,000

4 1/2 months and already to cool for school 

At the Arts' Festival, Evan had to shut his eyes several times due to the sun.  Therefore, he NEEDED shades.  And no, babies did not survive 20 years ago without shades.  I don't know what you are talking about.  

After our shopping excursion, Evan, appropriately dressed, helped Daddy prepare Mommy's birthday dinner. 

  

I love shish-k-bobs! Seriously one of my favorites.  After we ate, I watched We Bought a Zoo.  Cute Movie, probably wouldn't watch it again.  (speaking of, I haven't watched a good movie in for-ev-er.  Suggestions folks). 

As much as I love all the Facebook messages, texts and phone calls, I was so happy to receive these birthday cards!  Getting personalized mail never gets old. 

Thanks everyone for making my birthday so great!  In fact, it was so wonderful, God decided to top it off with the supermoon!