Potty Training, Preschool, Kitty

Aayla is officially potty trained!!  Yay!  Well, except for pooping.  She still doesn't quite know how to do that in the toilet.  She doesn't have any wet accidents though so I'm happy.  I'm impressed how quickly she picked it up and glad there are no more diapers, except when she sleeps.  Aayla thinks she's so big in her new panties.

Aayla was able to join us in our little neighborhood Joyschool last week.  She absolutely loved it.  It was funny watching her interact with the other girls.  She thought she was one of them and acted so big.  I've really enjoyed teaching them.  They are super cute and fun.  Here is them with the monsters we made.

Ellery lately has been back to being a kitty.  She's been going back and forth between a kitty and a wolf.  So now that she's a kitty she wears a little necklace that she calls her 'kitty collar.'  She also wears Aayla's shirt bib backwards and calls it her 'kitty cape.'  Some days she's a super kitty with special powers.  I have to laugh at her all the time because she is so funny!

Lastly, I just wanted to post this picture because it makes me laugh.  Their face's are just such different shapes.  :)

Marathon

So...I obviously stopped posting about my training.  One, I don't really like sitting down and blogging,  I get too impatient and it's hard for me to put my thoughts down in words.  Two, I lost my running watch with all my run times and paces and that just really pissed me off.  I really wanted to see how my times have been improving (which they totally did) and when I lost all that data I just gave up on the whole recording thing.  Well I finished all my training and did the marathon last week on Sunday.  It was awesome!!  I really enjoyed it.  I ran with my sister Annie the whole time.  I wasn't sure I'd like that cause I'm not used to running with anyone, but it ended up being really fun.  I focused on all the positive things going on and how good I felt.  The time seemed to go by really fast the first 20 or 21 miles. It was about the last 5 that were killer.  I hurt so so bad and just wanted to stop.  The thought of running 5 more miles seemed so hard and overwhelming.  I remember thinking that I was not going to do another marathon every again.  But, I got through it and even ended up sprinting to the finish line.  That was really cool.  I didn't think I had anymore energy left, but when I saw the end I knew I had to finish strong and just go for it.  Annie followed my lead and we crossed just a second within each other.  My recovery was much quicker than the first marathon I did.  I was quite sore, but it was bearable.  By Tuesday my legs felt fine.  I will most likely do another marathon even though I told myself I wouldn't.  Thank you to everyone for supporting me and being there for me.  It was awesome to have all my family and Jacob's family there at the end.

Millie 

Time 4:33:25

Pace 10:26  

Annie

Time 4:33:26

Pace 10:26

Rob

Time 4:25:52

Pace 10:09

Katie (1/2)

Time 2:05:58

Pace 9:37

Millie & Annie crossing the finish line

Rob at the Finish line

Mile 7

All the runners.

Just kidding, I got 2:03:58

Playing Outside.

It's crazy how just a few days ago, the girls were playing outside with their bikes and no jackets, and now they are bundled up playing in the snow!

Happy Birthday Aayla!

Love this girl....

....and now she's 2!!!

We started her day by opening presents.  She got a mermaid Mrs. Potato Head from Grandma Webb.  We gave her a pooh bear potty chair, Lalaloopsy soft doll, pooh bear toothbrush, and little pooh bear books.  She loved them all!!

The rest of the day she played with all her new things and napped while I made her cake.  She wanted a Pooh Bear cake.  I'm super happy with how it turned out.  I'm surprised too because this was the worse batch of fondant I've made and up until right before my family came over I didn't have a Pooh Bear to put on top.  It all got worked out though and here is the finished cake.

That night my family came over and she got even more presents.  She got a baby stroller and pretend baby food from my parents, a Tinkerbell backpack from Katie, and a big full shirt bib from Abbie.  She thinks Aayla's messy or something.  

We dug into her cute cake afterward.  I always feel bad cutting into cakes I spend all day making, oh well.  It was cherry chip cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and was super yummy!  I never make cherry cake and so forget that I like it.  I think Aayla had a good birthday.  She is such a sweet, fun little girl and we love her so much.

Merry Christmas

It was a good year...

The girls were happy to get cereal in their stockings.

 Ells was even happier to get a Mack truck with hot wheel cars to put inside.

And Aayla loves her new little ponies.

Princess Ellery

I know...the words 'princess' and 'Ellery' don't really go together.  She is not a princess girl.  She likes cars and trains and tractors.  But Ellery got invited to a princess birthday party for one of her friends.  We had to borrow some dress-ups from mom because we don't have any.  She was so cute.  We don't usually see Ellery all girlied up so I thought I should blog about it.  Here are the results.....

And of course here is a silly face. 

2011 in Pictures

This year I didn't make the slide show all that fancy. I just don't have the time. A few things I wasn't able to include (besides captions for the slides) Ellery learned to rider her bike never used training wheels, Millie is training for her second marathon in January 2012, I (Jacob) completed my first clinical rotation at Physiotherapy Associates of Scottsdale in AZ, and Aayla learned to talk finally!

It was a good and busy year. I had to sift through over 4,000 pictures that were taken in this calendar year alone, and the year is not even over!!!

We wish you all the best in the year to come! Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012!!!

Walt Disney World Preview...

It's been so much fun so far!!!

Halloween 2011

I love Halloween.  It is so much fun.  This year was the first time we had a theme with our costumes.  Ellery was the big bad wolf.  Aayla was little red riding hood.  Millie was the grandma and Jacob was the woodsman.

The wolf scaring the grandma....

....and little red....

....and everyone!

Angry Birds.

Minnie Mouse.

Duct Tape man.

Hippie and super dog.

We all went trick or treating together.

Ells As loved getting candy!

Especially Aayla!!!

She's just so little and cute.

Candy candy candy!

Aayla had a second costume...the Coppertone baby!!