Chopped my hair

This is mostly for my mom and dad because they were asking about it last night. Yes, I chopped my hair. It was time. My last haircut was June 7, 2008, nearly a year ago, for my birthday. I kissed those split ends goodbye. It was crazy seeing so much hair fall to the floor, but I was happy with the end result. When I catch my reflection in a window or something I do a double-take because the person looking back just doesn't look like me, at least in my head. It will take a little bit to get used to it, but I like it. Jake does too, and so do Emma and Ben. In fact, Ben told me last night "Mom, your hair looks pretty good. It even looks hot." I asked him what he meant by that and he said "It's just kind of fancy." He's a sweetie. I should get a haircut every week so I can get comments like that from my kids all the time. ;)

BEFORE
AFTER

We're in the clear!!

In December the dr said Josh had a double ear infection. He was on a round of antibiotics and we brought him back in January for his 18 month appt. The ear infections had not cleared so we had to give him another kind of antibiotics and the dr said to bring Josh back a month later to check again. Well, February he still had them. March... still had them. April he had one. We were told if he had an infection this month then he would need tubes for sure. Well, both ears were clear yesterday. WOO HOO! So no tubes for Joshie, at least not yet. The dr said if he starts getting them again in the fall/winter, he needs them but as for now, we're in the clear. I'm glad. I was really dreading having to put my baby under, even if it was only for a few minutes. Ugh. Hopefully we won't have to deal with this again... knock on wood.

(Above) I LOVE this pic of Josh. He was so happy, eating his brownie and being a little ham.

Also, for those of you wondering (and I'm sure EVERYONE is), my toenail finally came off on Sunday. I was debating if I would plate it in gold, my first toenail to come off because of my running... Two seconds later I threw it in the trash. Anyway, I think my toe looks even more gross now without the nail than it did with a blue toenail. Oh well.

Pete & Mallory's Wedding

It's official! Mallory and Pete are married. They were sealed in the Salt Lake temple yesterday and it couldn't have been a more perfect day. Sorry for the picture overload, there were so many cute ones I figured I should just post them all. I think my favorite is the one of Josh inhaling his brownie, astonished that mom would let him scarf the whole thing by himself and not worry about his dress shirt getting dirty (it was the end of the night... what can I say?!) Back to the wedding, it was beautiful. The whole day was incredible, down to the very last detail. You can tell the Hind family has done this before because they acted like professionals and were very efficient about getting it all done. The reception hall was beautiful, dressed in brown, champagne, and ivory. And of course, the most important part, Pete and Mal... they were both breathtaking. We are happy for them and wish them the best as they begin their life together.

What have we been up to?

Crazy that two weeks has flown by since my last post. I promise we are all alive and well, just busy as I'm sure most of you are. I thought I would give a little update on each of us since I don't think I've done it in awhile.

Jake is plugging along at work and when he's not at work, he's at scouts or assisting at Ben's t-ball games. He has a camp out this weekend with the boys and will be taking Ben with him. I never realized how much work goes into these camp outs. Between getting the gear, food, permits, cooking equipment, etc., and then arranging the actual reservations, getting parents involved, figuring out rides, and all that, it's a big job. Jake enjoys it though and is a good Scoutmaster. I think the kids really like him and he has a way of connecting with them that not many adults can... one of his many gifts.

Ben will be graduating kindergarten in 3 weeks. I'm sure he will miss it, especially his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Armknecht. He started t-ball a couple weeks ago and is loving it. I'm also going to sign him and Emma up for swim lessons in a couple weeks. Ben gave me the cutest card for Mother's Day and a plant, which he has decided he will take care of (which is fine with me.)

Emma has her dance recital in 4 weeks and I can't wait to see her perform. She has been working hard, memorizing her steps (it's a tap dance to "Who Let the Dogs Out" and she's dressed as a puppy.) She cracks me up daily, singing at the top of her lungs Mama Mia songs, or just songs she makes up. Jake has to constantly remind her to turn it down a notch because she seems to talk at a yelling level quite often.

Josh is my cute and happy guy, most of the time. We are still not sure if he will need tubes. We take him into the dr one more time this month and if he still has an infection we are told it's time to get them. I just want him to be healthy and if this will help, I'm all for it. He has a new love... watermelon. He could eat probably one-fourth of a watermelon by himself in a day. The last two days I've had a hard time getting him to eat anything but the juicy red stuff.

Barkley and Truman are hanging in there. We've had a couple rough weeks, but that's to be expected with a new puppy. He hasn't had too many accidents though and the kids adore him... Emma especially. Somedays Barkley goes into his crate to get away from her because she loves on him way too much, squeezing his guts out with lots of hugs.

As for me, I've been pretty bummed the last couple weeks. After my half marathon I was still having bad knee pains. I went to the dr and was told there is nothing wrong with my bones and they thought it was just IT band syndrome. They wanted me to come back if the pain didn't go away in a month or two. I was given some exercises to do and told to ice my knee and take aleve after my runs. Well, I can't even run 1 or 2 miles without feeling pain now so I've had to take time off from running. I was pretty bitter about it the past few weeks but then I figured I needed to change my attitude. I decided this would be a good time to focus on cross training and weights. I really haven't done too much, besides my 1 day/week with my trainer and then some bike or elliptical here and there. I've just been so focused on running the past year, I didn't make time for the other stuff. I have to say though, I've found my new love... my Body Combat class. It's hard, fast, and awesome. The class combines tae bo, kickboxing, and karate moves. The first time I went I strategically placed myself in the back so no one could see me mess up (which happened more times than not.) I'm slowly getting it though. I'm a quick learner, but realize I don't look like Billy Blanks, as much as I try. I brought my good friend, Susi, and her daughter Jaci with me yesterday and we were all sweating bullets. It was great! Emma's dance teacher is one of the Body Combat instructors and she is amazing. My trainer told me she will teach two classes, and then go work out after that. Crazy! One more thing, I've found another hero. Her name is Joanna and she has had 4 c-sections, a hysterectomy last year, and looks like a rock star. She gave me some tips on strengthening my core and shaving fat off my sides. She told me she loves the Body Combat class for that too... one more reason to keep going to the class. I'm happy that I've found something I really enjoy while I put running on the back burner for a couple more weeks. Hopefully my knee starts feeling better soon. If not I'll have to get an MRI and see if my soft tissue is an issue.

One more piece of big news in our family, well, extended family... Jake's brother is getting married in 4 days. Pete and Mallory are getting married on Tuesday in the Salt Lake Temple. We are excited for them and wish them the best.

So, that's us in a nutshell. I'll post pics when I have more time. I don't have the program to shrink the files on our new Mac so they will have to wait. (I will, however, post this pic I found on the web, showing some Body Combat moves so you get the idea of the class.) Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather. Summer here we come!!

Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon

Am I a glutton for punishment? Maybe. I just signed up for another half marathon. Registration opened today and I'm told this race fills up fast because it's so popular. It's August 22nd and from what I've heard, this is a great course... so lace up those running shoes and get out the door! You have over 3 1/2 months to train. Who's with me?! Click HERE to register.

Also, I think I've convinced Jake to run the North Salt Lake 5K with me on June 27th (or at least I will by June 27th! ;) ) He's been running at least 2 days/week at the gym for months so I know he can do this. I told him we could make it a race between us but he's still not so sure about it. To be continued, I'm sure...