[Red Sox] Wife

"all the single ladies"

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

beyonce's song keeps coming to mind when I see this pic.

on another note, we are THRILLED to have Mr. D home again tonight so we can start snuggling with him and not his sweatshirt.

and of course so our laser cat can take his designated protest post for the weekend:

speaking of laser cats...

I have never been more excited for the weekend! 3 weeks down, 13 [or less] to go!

my 18 month post-baby body

2012-01-26T22:45:00.000-05:00

I know this blog is mostly about a certain blonde haired, blue eyed hunk and his dad, but it's also a record for me so that I can remember the way things are at this time in my life. The facts, if you will, since time has a way of distorting the truth the farther away it is. And I want to make sure that I keep a realistic perspective.

This post has nothing to do with who I am as a mother, wife, person, whatever. It is just the way my body is at this point in my life, which I really do love seeing/I am fascinated by the changes in my body over time [remember my pregnancy? duh.].

When I blogged about my 9 month post-baby body with this post and this post, it was with the hope that within the next few months I could look like this or this girl, both of whom I admire greatly for their bombdotcom postnatal bodies. But truth be told, I am not perfect and it did not happen.

And eating an entire box of Swiss Rolls [my favorite weekend hobby though half of my 20's] is apparently no longer an option since it now gives me a food baby. You are what you eat, right?

Not positive, but I am pretty sure that if one serving is a D+ then a whole box is probably an F-. Boo hiss. Enough complaining.

So let's start off with the least-scary stuff, shall we?

Muscles. I finally got them back after 18 months. My arms and legs are muscled up to my satisfaction thanks to a decent amount of weight lifting [daily, courtesy of little "hold me hold me" d] and obviously a whole lot of running.

Now down to the nitty-gritty. Most anyone can look at a immediate post-baby pic vs. how they look now and they will probably look pretty good by comparison. And I did. But now I am focused on improving from my 9-month pp body, which I am not quite back to again. It happens. A little sad, but true.

At 9 months pp I was thinner than I am now, mostly because I had just finished nursing a week or so before and let me tell you, that kind of calorie burning was pretty awesome and over the last 9 months I learned that you cannot expect to keep eating as much as you did while breastfeeding and stay the same weight. Shocker, I know.

I could make excuses all day long that there was a stressful move, job-hunting, lack of sleep, holidays, etc between the right picture and the left, but they would be just that: excuses. It boils down to I ate too much food that was not proper fuel for me, and gained about 10 pounds last year after losing "all" the baby weight [for, like a day]. No, I am not proud of it but I have never stopped working on it.

As of 2012, I have finally started to eat a little better [and NOT 4000 calories a day like some sumo wrestler] and am happy to say that while I still have about 5 pounds to go [just like I did at 9 months], I have a better attitude about it and I love my body so much more right now. First off, the difference in my chest now is noticeable, I am THRILLED that my girls have returned to at least half their former glory.

Secondly, while my stomach is a little thicker now, it has less skin and more muscle [even if you can't see it, I can feel it!] than I did at 9 months. I think back to the first three to six months after having little d, and I was TERRIFIED to do any abdominal work that hurt in the slightest bit, since I was so scared I would tear open [which I now know for a FACT is a legitimate concern, since it does happen!!]. The last few months it has felt SO good to "feel the burn" doing crunches, pilates, what have you.

See? There are some abdominal muscles hiding out in there!

Now for the scary parts. If you don't want to see a lot of [tummy] skin, avert your eyes or stop reading till tomorrow. While my formerly flat tummy is still a little lumpy, it has come a long way from what it was before [the first pic is all just skin and fat, no muscle in that tummy whatsoever!]

and now: [a whole lot less skin, a little less fat and more muscle]

Mr. D actually told me the other day that he was really surprised at how well my stomach recovered, and that he was sure that extra skin was never going to go away. As you can see, it is really not so bad if I stand straight up and don't move, but if I poke at it...

Dun dun dunnnn. Even little d can't find his finger when he pushes into my stomach.

Also, sitting looks like this: [side view]

[front view]

Oh, all that extra skin. What ever will I do with you?

On a brighter note, I think its about time to retire the old tank top

for the new one I got from DK for Christmas:

Never woulda guessed I had all that extra skin hiding in there, huh? LOVE IT.

So what's the point of this post? Certainly not to make me feel bad about myself. Sure I gained a few pounds back post-baby, but it happens. It's happened to everybody I know! You pick yourself back up and start over again, [hopefully] learning from mistakes. I don't beat myself up over something I have no control over [but if anyone needs some extra skin, I would be happy to donate some], I acknowledge it as the way my new body is, now. Exercise is cheaper than a tummy-tuck. Maybe it will go back to "normal," maybe it never will but I can and will work with what I have and continue to improve myself.

I have never put myself on a diet or restricted myself in any way. I don't eat a diet solely consisting of protein shakes, soups and salads. I eat carbs. I eat chocolate. AND I am happy with my body every day, flaws and all, because it is healthy and productive and it made a human being. I can run, jump, lift and do things that I cringe thinking about doing when I was 40 weeks pregnant. My stomach may not be as flat as a pancake, but I am not a pancake.

I am a woman.

I am a mother.

Pretty darn proud of it too.

6 years ago in the snow ....I said yes

2012-01-25T20:47:00.001-05:00

And one kevs, one baby, 2 degrees from BYU, 2 cars, 3 apartments, 4 cross country drives, and over a half dozen jobs later,

I still love this guy more than anything or anyone in the world.

Two more days!!

wordless wednesday: the many faces of bathtime

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Boston marathon training week 7

2012-01-24T22:13:00.001-05:00

12 weeks till Boston!!
27 miles run this week!! (yes I see the irony of running as many miles in a week that will have to run in one day in just over two months.. Eek!!)

Mon: 3 miles tm (33 min)... Catchup miles from last week. 30 mins rotating stairclimber
Tues: 3 miles tm (34 min), 26 min elliptical, 1 hour much needed foam rolling (while watching kardashians of course!)
Weds: 12 miles (2 hours 15 mins). See my post from Sunday.
Thurs: 60 mins elliptical, 30 min abs
Fri: 3 mile tm run (31 min), 55 min weight training (love it!!)
Sat: run 6 miles (73 mins)
Sun: rest

A good week catching up even while little d and I were a little sick and I was pretty sleep deprived. My legs were really feeling it so hopefully more ab work and weights will help my body get stronger and I will be working on fueling a bit better. And of course more foam rolling. Oh how I sing the praises of foam rolling for stretching tight muscles and soothing knots. Half marathon tomorrow here I come!

Love Letters to Little D: Week 3

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

12 mile adventure

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

I never thought it was going to be difficult to train for a marathon after having a child... little did I know! Here's an example of the craziness involved in getting in a 12 mile run this past Wednesday [my new long run day, so I can be partially incapacitated for a day when Mr. D is not around, since I only get to see him on weekends]. I can't imagine what it is going to be when I have to run 20! I guess we will have to see in a few weeks.

6:55 am Little d [therefore I] wake up, play in my room until the chorus of "eat! eat! eat!" brings me down for breakfast.

7:30 am breakfast...smoothie time! Change clothes, make a mess of toys then clean the mess of toys we played with.

8:55 am Drive to the gym, drop off little d at childcare.

10:10 am Tackled 6 miles. Feel like death. Legs feel like lead. Start over TM.

11:15 am Four more miles done but soooo sore and very slow. Maybe need Shot Blocks with Caffeine?! Pick up little d from childcare, drive home.

11:30 am Run the last two miles from my house while mom watches little d for half an hour. My slowest two miles but outside they felt so good in the freezing cold.

12:00 pm Feed little d lunch, eat whatever he doesn't

12:30 pm Put little d to bed, [dun dun dunnnn] ice bath for 12 minutes.

12:45 pm Lukewarm shower. I hate lukewarm showers but I've learned from experience that my beloved scalding hot showers have no place post-ice bath.

12: 50 pm Collapse into bed for an hour till little d wakes up from his nap.

Talk about EXHAUSTING. I've decided my long run days [Wednesday for now] are the only days of the week I am allowed to wear sweats all day if I so desire. And I did. Its a good thing I am not working full time as well as training for a marathon, I don't know how people do that. Now about that 20 miler I have to tackle in a couple of weeks...

Boston Winter Break 2011

2012-01-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Everytime we come to Boston there is always a long list of things we want to do.

First on the list is to spend time with family [duh] which we did a lot of.

Then there are the food places: Linden Deli, Quincy Market, Fresh City, Camella's.

Then things to do, which with Mike and Cory working during the day left us with Dani to play with most days, which we took full advantage of!

Three sets of hands for one little boy... what ever will we do when we have a second?!

Although Mr. D and I have been to just about every good touristy spot multiple times together, it is so much fun to do it with a new set of eyes [and running legs!]

We went to the Museum of Science.

Which apparently has a playground to show the science of... levers? pendulums?

Static electricity?

My favorite part was this area where you could "design" your own fish. Dani, little d [both shown here] and Mr. D created theirs and they were released into the "tank" [a series of TV's] to swim around. Mr. D's and Dani's got eaten almost immediately. Little d's, which he named ":)QQQ" actually survived for quite a while. In fact, he could possibly still be alive today...

We met up downtown with Cory [not pictured] and cousin Haley for lunch.

Not to mention little d made good friends with Big Mike [his grandpa], and Aunti Concessa!
While in Boston, most of us had smartphones and little d knew it. He would come up to one of us [usually Mike] and say "baby", which ment he wanted to watch videos of himself that Mike had taken. Dani was a HUGE favorite, because she was always playing youtube videos for little d, especially the Mickey Mouse shows and LMFAO music videos [he loves the one with the christmas lights].

Speaking of Mr. D's dad, of course he got us into Fenway Park to look at the preparations being made for the winter hockey series, the video is here of him running [or you can watch below] around Fenway Park. I mean, how many kids can say they were not even a year and a half and got to run around inside Fenway Park's diamond, dugout, and race around the bleachers? Talk about a lucky kid!

But we weren't out all the time... here are some of my favorite shots from the wee hours of the morning [when we were the only two awake], as well as some goofy ones before bathtime:

^^Showing off his "Stinky Feet"^^

^^OH. THOSE LEGS!!! I cannot get enough of them. I will be so sad to see that chunk go away.^^

Playing peekaboo [with me and with the iphone, taking self-portraits!]

And when we went into Boston for New Years, finding all the horses

[because some little guy loooves them..."neigh!"!!]

Although we did go down during naptime [like we did last year, oops] so he slept through the first hour of Faneuil Hall.

We got a family picture in front of the Statehouse [try not to pay attention to my son's hobo glove]

And of course we went to the zoo, because little d really likes animals!

Even if he was yelling at most of them through the glass "BALL!" since for some reason none of them wanted to play with their toys. Must have had something to do with the freezing temps, or like this poor gorilla, he probably didn't like getting yelled at. Poor guy. And little d would have played all day in the Madagascar-like box or on the wooden horse [which try as he might never rocked like his horse back home!] but eventually we had to go home.

Two Celtics games, a Fenway visit, a Boston Common/Faneuil Hall visit, Zoo trip, Museum of Science, loads of gifts [mostly running stuff for me, more on that later!], and two 12-hour all-nighter driving trips made this an unforgettable experience.

Thanks to my in-laws for being so accommodating and we will see you in April!!

five more hourssss

2012-01-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

Oh I love this guy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Foodie Friday: Some amazing stuff I ate last week

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Too much going on at the start of the week with Marathon training and Love Letters,

so food is going to Friday!

Last week I decided it would be a good idea to try my hand at Lionhouse rolls a la Utah.

They started off promising... following the recipe on the box, butter inside, butter outside, butter all over the place. No wonder I love those rolls so much.
Boo. Forgot to undercook them and they toasted :( Not LH quality but I think I may try to make regular rolls and just douse them in butter... I think they may just taste the same. (??)

I had a mad craving the last few days for roasted broccoli.
I may have gone through about 10 stalks of broc florets. In two days. 1 tbsp olive oil for about 3 florets, 420' for 20 minutes. Tastes better than potato chips.

Got this idea from pinterest... rice cakes as a sub for bread.
With 1/2 tablespoon almond butter and banana slices, it makes the perfect post workout treat.
Salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy.... theBOMBdotcom.

Sunday we made Darsi's salsa:

avocados, tomatoes, corn, tricolor beans with [made up] italian dressing mix.

Coupled with some chicken quesadillas a la Mr. D.

Is there anything sexier than a man working hard in a kitchen??? I think not.

I spoke too soon

2012-01-19T23:16:00.001-05:00

Yeah all that sleeping well stuff I wrote about earlier this week? It's been thrown out the window the last two nights. Hopefully he's just getting this out of his system before the Mr. comes home. Hopefully.

Who me? Yes you. Good thing you are such a handsome sweet baby boy.

18 months of little d

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

I know how cliche it is to say... but time goes by SOFAST when you have a baby. And I no longer have a baby! I have a full blown, running, talking toddler on my hands who gets into EVERYTHING and is about as vain as it gets. Usually the only way I can get him to smile during pictures is if I face my iphone so he can see himself. Hence the cheesy grin.

Oh does he love to look at himself, watch videos of himself, etc. I don't think he has quite mastered the understanding of self but he is getting there. He is a smart kiddo. Even if he does do stuff like this:

He will also probably grow up with a paparazzo complex. But I am ok with that, because even when people make fun of me for taking "too many" pictures of little d, I have never once looked in my photo albums and regretted taking so many. Mr. D can tell you I am not too keen on remembering things, and pictures help to jog my memory. Like this one from our ride to Boston, little d watching Mickey while eating his "bears" and holding his puppy. Priceless.

This whole forward facing carseat [thanks, Mr. D!] has given little d a much better view of the world. He LOVES watching police cars of fire trucks go by and always asks for "more! more!" when they are gone. He also jabbers nonstop while we are in the car, mostly things I cannot understand at all, but I try and converse with him and overall it keeps him happy in the car, which is something he never really was before.

Does little d love his daddy? Our conversation the first day Mr. D was out of town for work...
Me: "good morning, mister!"
Him: "hi"
Me: "did you have any good dreams last night?"
Him: "Yeah."
Me: "What did you dream about?"
Him: "Ball."
Me: "Who were you playing ball with?"
Him: "Dada. Dada. Dada!"
And on and on like that until I took him to our room and tried to explain that dad was at work, although that couldn't keep him from tearing through the covers of our bed looking for his beloved dada.

On occasion he will ask me "dada?" and run to the front door or look around and I explain to him where dad is and that he will be back real soon. And for some reason [and I am not sure why I find this so funny] he will take a deep breath and call out in his loudest voice, "Droo-oooo!" Poor thing. Last week was so rough on him but this week has been much better. Every time he picks up the phone he will put it to his ear and say, "Hey-yo? Dada? Dah-deee?" and it just about makes my heart explode.

It is an adjustment, but one we are happy to make and we are grateful that Mr. D has this job that we were praying for months for. It's funny how things work out in their own time and for all the right reasons.

Around the house, little d is also trying to imitate just about anything I do. He puts on deoderant, chapstick, brushes his teeth and even tried cleaning his own bottom with a baby wipe. He helps me clean up messes, whip up smoothies, and brush my hair.

He still has an insatiable appetite for love from all things Kevs. Kevin is the only one he always tries to hug the moment he sees him and cannot get enough of him. Like I have mentioned before, little d loves animals, animal noises, and also stickers. More than once I have seen Kevin eating something that I later found out was a sticker placed on him by a certain someone little. In this shot little d is giving Kevs a high five [aside from hugging and kissing, his favorite thing to do with animals!] for drinking out of the tub, something they are always competing for come 7:30.

The trip to Boston was well-timed. We were able to let little d "cry it out" for a few nights, once again re-re-re-sleep training him [I think this was our third go at it?] so he sleeps roughly/consistently from 8pm to 6am and we have finally nailed the one nap thing. I think for the next go around, if baby is waking up too early while sleeping through the night, I will take that as my cue to go down to one nap because that is what we ended up doing anyway [I cannot believe what a long process that is, from two naps to one!!] and now he sleeps about 10-11 hours a night with a good 2 hour nap midday. Thank. Goodness.

Big Kid has his top molars all in for now, and is working on a 4th bottom tooth. It makes me sad to think that in the time he gets all of his teeth we will probably be into baby d version 2.0 [stole that from Naomi] and my sleep will once again suffer. I am pretty sure Mr. D has known this since the first time he woke me up from a Sunday nap, but I am really sensitive when it comes to my sleep. Like I really need a good night's rest and if not then some serious napping. Having a baby has changed all that but I initially had the understanding that 4-6 months were going to be sleep-deprived and then he would sleep through the night. I am bracing myself for the next go-around already by just accepting that 12-18 months is my new window for sleep. After which I will probably be pregnant again [maybe?] and the cycle will repeat itself once more... more on that and thoughts on more babies later.

Little d is a gem. He is so freaking adorable it takes all my willpower not to squeeze the cuteness out of his body like 24/7. I wish I could make time stop right now and he could be my little crazy toddler forever. I loathe the thought of him turning into a video-game playing teenager. LOATHE.

Anyways, like I was saying, right now he is PERFECT. He says "Water" with the most perfect annunciation way it takes my breath away. Then you ask him to say orange or green and he responds with a mouthful of jibberish. Babies are funny that way.

Other things I never want to forget about 18 month old little d: high fiving, STILL obsessed with balls [but getting more pro at throwing and catching and kicking them] and "hoops" [basketball], "ball-ball" is probably the most overused word in his vocabulary [any kind of string or dirt], and he is just the most lovable thing on this planet.

Too much mush? Maybe I'm a little sentimental these days, thinking about the inevitable upcoming #2 seeing as how my baby is no longer baby at all. Also, 12 miles of running really brings emotion to the
surface. Also more on that later.

wordless wednesday: how I feel when someone wakes up before 7

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Boston Marathon Training Week 6

2012-01-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

13 weeks till Patriot's Day!

Total miles this week: 15
[was supposed to be 18 but I somehow miscalculated and forgot a 3 miler in this week!]

Mon- 40 min elliptical
Tue- REST
Weds- 7 miles TM run [78 mins]
Thurs- 3 mile run TM [30 min] and 15 min rowing machine
Fri- 5 mile TM run [55 min]. I've been feeling really tight all week [helloooo hamstrings!] and so yoga for 55 minutes to chase down my run was a MUST!
Sat- 60 min elliptical, 30 min corework
Sun- REST

I am going to need to work on the strength training this upcoming week, but I am happy to have gotten in a yoga class...heaven to my tight muscles [even if it did leave me more sore afterwards!].

As a side note: this week little d found his pacifier [THAT HE NEVER EVEN USED AS A BABY] and started putting it into his mouth and saying "bay-bee?" with a big goofy grin. That paci looked so big on him 18 months ago. As of this week I have an 18 month old. Wow. Red Sox Baby no longer...

365 Love Letters to little d: Week 2

2012-01-15T22:00:00.005-05:00

First week of training for Mr. D. 15 to go, but I'm not complaining. Little d and I have gotten some good bonding time in. Just remembering about how sad the unemployed Mr. D was makes me that much more grateful for the job he has now.

Have I mentioned that we are SO proud of him???

---------------------------------

For the sake of consistency, and because it was starting to bother me a bit,

I decided to make all my pictures square

[yeah it was a pain to edit but I have thought about it all week!]

wordless wednesday: shopping bribery

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Dani makes the best banana bread everrr

2012-01-08T20:51:00.001-05:00

Who is Dani, you may ask??
Only about the cutest sweetest girlfriend my BIL has ever had!! She came to Boston the day after we did and since her Cory was working full time we got to hang out with her. I've never met someone who got along so quickly with little d! He absolutely adored her and not only did she make us a pinterest inspired wreath and little d a fleen style monster... Not to mention she let me steal this recipe which I cannot get enough of! Love. That. Girl. Thanks again, dani!

2 mashed bananas.
1 cup sour cream.
1/4 cup butter.
2 eggs.
1 tsp vanilla.
1 tsp baking powder.
1 tsp baking soda.
1/4 tsp salt.
1 1/3 cup sugar.
2 cups flower.
Bake @ 350 for 30-35 min

Also pictured.. The most awesome meal I have made all month: broccoli with cars macaroni and angel food cake with berries drizzled with chocolate sauce and a bit of whipped topping. Heaven.

365 Love Letters Week 1

2012-01-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

Like I mentioned earlier this year, this year I am writing a love letter each day to my little d, and I am basing the idea from BabyMakin[g] Mama's Jenn. I knew I wanted to do this last year when she announced it, but with working full-time I had my hands full just trying to keep my creative juices flowing with lesson plans. This year is different. I studied all of Jenn's letters and I have a PLAN. Each day I will take a picture, and at the end of the week I will add bits of advice or lovenotes to my little guy. I hope to make a little book to gift him when he is old enough to understand them. :)

This evening we said goodbye to Mr. D for five whole days as he embarks on week 1 of 16 weeks of training!! Good luck, my love!! We will miss you but not be too sad since we know we are so blessed you got this opportunity. See you Friday!!

Boston Marathon Training Week 5

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Although I follow Hal Higdon's Novice 1 training plan, I don't ever really adhere to the days it tells me to run each set of mileage. The reason for that is each week is so different! Some days are super nice or I have a lot of time and can get in the extra miles, other days...not so much. So while I have a calendar that lists out which days I should be doing each bit of mileage, I just cross off the mileage as I run it, and as long as I run the appropriate amount of miles each week, I am satisfied with that.

This week was a continuation of holiday/traveling craziness and I was SERIOUSLY missing my foam roller while in Boston... my ITBand has never been so tight!! Thankfully we are reunited and it feels so good--literally!! No idea what I did before that little blue cylinder.

TOTAL miles: 21

Mon- Rest
Tues- Rest
Weds- Rest [yup, you are witnessing my longest laziness streak since I gave birth!!]
Thurs- 5 mile run outside [54 min]... last one here until April!

Fri- 3 mile TM run [34 min], 30 min sitting bike
Sat- 15 minute abs class and 10 miles run in 1 hour and 42 minutes... this is interesting trying to do "on my own" with a toddler: It broke down to 2 miles running outside with little d and the BOB, then off to the gym for 5 miles run on the TM before the abs class, and 3 miles after. What would I do without the 2-hour childcare allotment?! It has definitely proved to be WELL worth the $15 a month!! And similar to last week, my LR was followed by an ice bath*, soaking for one minute per mile I ran. And LOTS of foam rolling!! [followed by a two hour nap... LR's are exhausting!]
Sun- 3 mile run outside

*I have NEVER been a fan of the ice bath. The only way I have been able to tolerate it for the last two weeks [and it works for me so I will continue to do it!] is to fill the tub about half-full with ice-cold water. I slowly work my way in the tub, and before I sit with my back to the faucet, I turn on the faucet as hot as I can get it. So for a few minutes my lower half may be frozen but my head, shoulders, and arms are immersed in hot water so it finally becomes tolerable after just a bit.

full boston vacation update forthcoming...

2012-01-07T23:04:00.001-05:00

until then:

that'll do, pig. That'll do.

100 days till Boston.

2012-01-06T19:15:00.001-05:00

Bring it on beantown.

Love.

2012-01-03T19:14:00.001-05:00

Buckeyes!!! What I am making Monday

2012-01-02T16:32:00.001-05:00

No better way to drown your sorrows after a disappointing season than with a handful of these suckers and a tall glass of milk. And you better believe they disappear within 48 hours. From allrecipes.com... I doubled the recipe and barely got 60.

JIF(R) Buckeyes

60 Servings, Prep Time: 30 Minutes, Cook Time:

Description

Peanut butter balls are dipped in chocolate to resemble buckeyes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Smucker's(R) Creamy Natural Peanut Butter, stirred OR Jif(R) Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar, or as needed
1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons Crisco(R) All-Vegetable Shortening

Directions

Combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on LOW until blended. Add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until blended. Beat in additional powdered sugar until mixture, when shaped into a ball, will stay on a toothpick. Shape into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate.
Place chocolate chips and shortening in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat until mixture is smooth. Reheat as needed while coating peanut butter balls.
Insert toothpick in peanut butter ball. Dip 3/4 of ball into chocolate, leaving top uncovered to resemble a buckeye. Remove excess. Place on wax paper-lined tray. Remove toothpick. Smooth over holes. Refrigerate until firm.

Also as a side note... Beware of the peanut butter shortage!!!! I know, scary it just about gave poor mr. D a heart attack!

Last few photos of 2011

2012-01-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

Welp I am in Boston without my laptop and this is the last post I made before leaving so this is probably all you will hear from me for a few days till I get back. Before 2011 ended, little d got his first set of snow/winter gear but was a little dissapointed at the lack of said snow.

He also got a new carseat from dad, while mom kept getting free footballs from the gym :)

We toured the Anthony Thomas Chocolate factory and discovered the secret to their perfect buckeyes... the inside is peanut butter but the top of them are tinted white chocolate! Also this Santa was only $300... still can't believe Mr. D didn't want to buy it for us.

But he did let little d buy some chocolate balls.. they had soccer and footballs and basketballs and baseballs. We were lucky to get out of there and only buy him three.

Red Sox Mama... Paparazzo? I guess I didn't realize how bright the iphone flash was! Sorry, kid.

And you can't forget about the ranch. The only way I can con him to eat broccoli. AND IT WORKS.

Little d with Tio Feo and his Grandpa [notice they BOTH have bedhead]

Who doesn't love hanging out with cousins?!

Hopefully we get in a LOT of cousin time over the next four months!

Who could forget that little d had become the little spiritual giant in the family??

Always ready for a prayer to give a loud "MEN!" and clap afterwards.

3,211 photos taken in 2011. WOW. And to think I only took just over 1000 last year :)

Guess now is as good a time as any to announce my 2012 project...

365 love letters [akin to Jenn's] to little d, with a photo taken every day. I will post them weekly!!

Krondashian photo shoot

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone has a pre-photo shoot the day before the real one, right? Ok, maybe it's just us.

After a photo-happy weekend with my whole family [that overwhelms even me!] I know those 3000 pictures I took in 2011 are just in my DNA. Can't stop won't stop.

Favorite tradition of the Krondashians? Buying matching outfits a la 1995. We hated it then, but maybe that's because we were forced into it. We do it voluntarily now!

And of course our bomb Mama got us all matching jewelry to boot... we are lucky ladies!!

And you can't forget the boys side of things... a little more muted but still too cute!

And with all the photos we took at the actual shoot, this one was my favorite!

<3 my family.

Boston Marathon Training Week 4

2012-01-01T22:44:00.000-05:00

Oh the holidays... I don't mind the extra eating or the extra family time but holiday workouts are always complicated when we travel because it can be such a hassle to find a decent gym when you have already been to all the good ones and used up all the one-week passes [and I will admit, I am too lazy for one day passes, not worth my time]. Excuses, I know. But being so used to working out most every day, I could tell that my body was able to fully recover between runs and I felt much fresher this week. The important thing is that I got all my miles in!

TOTAL running miles: 19

Mon- 3 miles TM run [30 min], 30 mins sitting bike, 15 mins core [last good gym workout!!]
Tues- Rest
Wed- 5 mile run outside with little d in the BOB. I was only supposed to do 4 but it was almost 55 degrees outside and I could not resist!! PERFECTION.

Thurs- 2 mile run outside
Fri- Rest
Sat- Rest
Sun- 9 mile run outside [complete with new hydration system, shorts and shot blocks], where I found my epic dream home. Behold:

Jealous much??

So this is the new year... I don't feel any different

2012-01-01T17:02:00.001-05:00

2012 is looking to be pretty promising. Mr. D will start his first full time job, I will run the boston marathon, we'll find out where we will be living for at least the next two years [hopefully more!], little d will just keep getting cuter by the day, and I'll just be frank and honest, if all goes according to plan I will be pregnant with baby d 2.0 by the end of this year.

I made a mess of last year by making too many resolutions so this year I will stick to 5... Only as many as I can keep track of on one hand.

1. Eat 80/20 of foods that will fuel my body properly vs foods I eat because I love them [ahem buckeyes... See tomorrows post]. This is super important to perform well in a 26.2 as well as prepping to grow another baby! This also goes along with 7-8 hours of sleep at night... The less sleep I get at night the hungrier I am [and usually not for the good stuff!]

2. Fill my life with faith, hope, and charity. This includes daily scripture study, weekly church going and monthly temple trips... You know, the things that will keep me sane while Mr. D travels. :)

3. Improve as a wife. Especially for the first 4 months when I will see Mr. D about 2 days a week, I want to not only be a bomb wife when he's home but to perfect the care of house and cooking and such even when he's not home.

4. Improve as a mom. See #2. But in addition to that I want to be more active in teaching my little sponge as much as I can. And enjoy myself in the process.

5. Run a marathon.

Lofty goals to be sure, but they highlight the things that are most important in my life... My health [without which I would be a terrible mom and wife] and my family. I am blessed to be a young mother and wife and even though over half my 20s are behind me, I am optimistic that my best years are yet to come.

For now I am enjoying living in the moment and loving life. If you haven't resoluted already, you should!! Failure to plan is planning to fail.

Welcome 2012!!

Ringing in the last day of 2011 in downtown Boston

2011-12-31T15:35:00.001-05:00

Oh how we love Faneuil Hall. Chowda, brownies, horses, ice sculptures and just walking around Boston common with the family made for a very happy new years eve.

[oh right, that was the plane little d was begging me to buy at Kid to Kid!]

2011 in review

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

I started off 2011 with some overly ambitious goals that led me to completely fall apart with too many expectations by February. No joke. Lesson learned. Not making that mistake again.

Keep it simple, Stupid.

February I decided to resign from my job to full time devote myself to these studs.

With the relief of knowing I only had a few months left to work, coupled with the decision to stop pumping....March was basically 1000x more awesome than the previous two months.
Little d started crawling all over the place and just exploded with personality!

Spring break was in April and I was in the home stretch! Mr. D also decided to quit his job and started devoting full time to the job hunt... a long, hard journey which would go on until December.

May was the last month of full time work for this mama! Little d finally had a full head of hair after balding out in 2010. Have I mentioned that he looks more like his dad with each passing day??

June was the start of two AWESOME carefree months playing poolside daily with Mr. D and little d.

July... well, this kid had his first birthday. After an in-person interview at Eastern Washington [which he didn't get] and a job offer at Texas A&M [which we didn't take], we started hatching some serious plans to get out of Utah, while continuing on the job hunt.

One of the last photos from August in our old apartment... getting rid of everything that would not fit into two compact cars proved to be a challenge and a blessing, and by month's end we were in Ohio!

September I interviewed and landed a part time job at a gym and little d started sprouting some teeth!

Mr. D flew out to Massachussetts for a job interview but never heard back :(

October I started working at said job, Mr. D got flown to Miami Florida for an interview but didn't hear back from them either. Mr. D got a job at Nationwide insurance.

November I lost my job due to some unfortunate circumstances, Mr. D started working, I found out I got into the Boston Marathon, and little d became very possessive of his big brother Mr. Kevs.

December Mr. D flew to California to interview for another job. We both felt good about it and he got it!! January starts 4 months of travel and training [Monday through Friday...we still get him on the weekends!], and sometime in March we should know where we will be relocated to. In the meantime, little d and I will continue to spend the next few months with my parents [they are SO generous to do so and we can continue to save a bunch of money].

2011 has been a crazy up and down year that has certainly been a challenge but I have grown and learned a lot from this entire experience. We are more blessed than we could ever imagine. We are healthy, we have a healthy toddler, we are closer to both our families than we were at the start of the year, we have new jobs: Mr. D with a consulting company and me at home with little d, and I am thrilled to be training for my first marathon [BOSTON!].

Blessed, blessed, blessed.

I am excited to see what else 2012 holds for us.

Happy New Year!

awesome christmas present: US!

2011-12-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

The 48 hours we were all together this holiday season were packed with awesome.

Highlights included little d meeting Surah again for the first time since April

and winning her over with some treats and pounds

We had some serious work to do as soon as we were all together... like redoing an old family photo from 1999 [I just have to figure out how to scan it in here so you can compare the two]

And sending some love to our Mama Astrid.

"We"

"Love"

"You"

"Mom"

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the weekend was Sherlock Holmes 2...

brilliant movie with the Krondashians and their momager

we may not be all living under the same roof anymore, but the few times we get to spend together are pretty totally awesome!! <3

SURAHTIME

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Seeing Surah for the first time in ages has been AWESOME [see last post!]

and we all know one of her favorite pasttimes is trying to get awesome pics of little d:

Even at a hot dog shoppe where Mr. D got a chilli dog and I got something deep fried with bacon and a whole lot of japalenos... my mouth is still numb.

Aside from eating with Surah [which we do a lot of!] we finally made it out for a 5pm run on christmas eve... who said 5 miles were easy and clean?!?! Not us!

Yup, that is a lot of mud. Lesson learned. But still.... so fun!

Love you, aunti Surah!!! Hopefully we see you again in the Spring where we can chat about how awesome marathon training is :)

Dat-dah.....

Wordless Wednesday: Fenway!!

2011-12-28T19:15:00.001-05:00

Pretty Pretty Princess Bananas

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

She not only came to visit us for the week before Christmas, but she made the 12 hour drive solo the weekend before as well! Little d is so lucky to have an auntie who loves him so much.

And for the record, Surah got Pretty Pretty Princess for Christmas which may be one of the most epic and awesome games of my life if you don't count Mall Madness and Dream Phone. Too bad we never got to play it while we were all three here but lets be honest, we never really played the game since it was mostly a competition to see who could steal all the jewelery from the other sisters, anyway.

Excuse the sweaty face and five head, but that is just how much I love you, Anna. Enough to post this terrible picture of me just because it is of us. Forgive me for making it so small :) See you real soon???

Little D's Clubhouse... and hurricane Kevs.

2011-12-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

It all started off so innocently.

Little d loves Mickey Mouse. So we got him one.

And he really loves Mickey's Clubhouse. So we bought him a new carseat and let him keep the box, for transforming into a clubhouse of course. He loved it.

Then... there's this guy. Big brother Kevs. Looks innocent, right?

Well, he tolerates little d and all the excessive hugging.

Or so we thought...

Until Mr. D found this:

and this:

and ultimately, THIS:

Oh, Kevs. We miss you here in Boston!! Hopefully you are taking better care of our clubhouse??

Green [or purple] Smoothies

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have found love in a new blender and a heaping large amount of fresh spinach and frozen fruit.

I've been tinkering with the recipe for awhile now [since I usually just throw everything in] and have come up with my favorite smoothie recipe. All the breaks to BLEND are so that you don't break/overwhelm your blender, assuming you don't have one of those fancy juicer-types [I'm looking at you, Sari!] and just an Oster like I do.

Best part is... it makes up about 5 cups of smoothie and is only about 70 calories a cup [serving]!

Little d is almost as much of a smoothie addict as his mama.

Redsoxwife's Gree-urple Smoothie Recipe

Half a bunch of spinach, stems cut off [I hate the stems. And you know the fresh stuff comes in bumches, right??]

1 to 1.5 cups water [depends on how watery you like it]

BLEND.

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 fresh banana

BLEND.

1 cup frozen strawberries

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

BLEND.

And here is the part where you decide if you like the green look. If yes, you are done!

If not, add

1 cup frozen mixed berries... it will slowly turn purple [or a nice "chocolate" color]

And that is what I am making this Monday.

Disclaimer: I was always hesitant to try spinach in my smoothies but I can never taste it and it adds such a healthy punch to my [and little d's] diet. I got the idea from Kendra who said she makes a daily smoothie that her little guy can nosh on all day and still get his greens in. And now that I once again have a blender I will usually make a smoothie for little d's breakfast, and save the rest for me post-workout [you know, when I have no time to make anything but need food asap]. I am still tinkering with almond butter and greek yogurt in my smoothies but this one is a surefire winner winner chicken dinner.

Hope your Christmas was merry and bright! We are headed to Boston tonight for a few days to see the in-laws, so fingers crossed little d sleeps the whole time since we are driving through the night!

Merry Christmas from mine yours and ours

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

[Mine]

[Yours]

[and ours]

Oh.... and the Kevs!

Boston Marathon Training Week 3

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

This week was MUCH better morale-wise. I got my cold under control [thanks to dayquil, cold-eeze, and about a billion cough drops!] and caught up on my miles. Reading about Marathon training in Higdon's book, I know I need to not be so focused on numbers but I do. I have budgeted an extra week in [his plan is 18 weeks and I had 19 till the marathon when I started] in case I get the flu, get injured or something else real bad *knock on wood*. I hate resting and like getting something in every day, so on Sunday I can really feel good about the "rest" part. Other than too many holiday goodies making me feel like little d running frankenstein-style, this week was really good!

TOTAL miles: 18

Mon- 3 miles [30 min] TM run, 60 minutes Urban Iron class [loooove weight training!!]
Tues- 3 miles TM [31 min]
Weds- 4 miles TM run [47 min], 15 min core
Thurs- 30 min sitting bike, 3 miles TM [28 min]
Fri- 30 min sitting bike, 30 min free weights [alternating 5 minutes abs, arms, legs]
Sat- 5 mile night run outside with Surah!! [50 min]
Sun- Rest

17 months...

2011-12-24T13:47:00.001-05:00

...has brought us to full understanding of the word "tantrum."

No cookies? No ranch to dip in our ranch dressing? You told me NO?! Get ready for this:

Part of the tantrumming [I hope] has to do with the lack of sleeping mixed with an influx of teeth a la 15 months... we are up to 3 on the bottom and six up top [front 4 and 2 in the way back... I think they may be the first molars but they are still too small to tell]. This month marks the first time he actually tries to use his teeth to bite into foods [he was still using the gums where his molars will eventually be]. And don't be alarmed but I also introduced him to markers which he likes to put in his mouth... probably because I can't help laughing at his face when he does it and he loves to make people laugh.

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery," right?? Well, little d likes to do anything anyone else is doing, and I suppose he imitates me the most only because he is around me the most. It is great to see him lift weights, drink green smoothies like it's his job, try eating peppers, attempt pushups, sing along with me, play peekaboo, attempt to hide things [like his hands, especially in his pockets], and become a pro at hugging everybody, even the Kevs!

Not so good things he has picked up on: screaming [thanks, DK], hitting/throwing/kicking [which he has been doing for awhile but now with his accuracy in the upper 90 percentile, it is getting dangerous], eating cookies or anything with chocolate [that would be my fault], and not sleeping through the night [?????] although we have finally comfortably gone down to one nap and I have even started sneaking him into nursery a month early, so that's pretty awesome. Also the separation anxiety is much better *knock on wood* and he actually enjoys going to the childcare at the gym, with minimal tears, if any.
Sure the nighttime screaming wakeups have been a struggle [I even resorted to driving him around in the wee hours of the morning more than once] but we have finally normalized and when he does wake up, he is once again content with a snuggle, re-tucking of the blanket, and a backrub till he drifts back to sleep. But I suppose that is the tradeoff for having a total chatterbug on our hands :) The amount of words he can imitate and uses [help, bear, bath, mumo, daniel, anna, saraah, astrid, teeth, cheese, nose, snowman, football, TC, yellow, red, blue, Minnie] is subject for another post or video entirely! Love this bug.

Also there has been a lot of running... seems this kid only ever wants to run everywhere. Maybe we have a future marathoner on our hands?? If only he could be a little more lightfooted... he stomps around about as gracefully as Frankenstein!

THE money shot.

2011-12-24T13:07:00.002-05:00

In my defence we would have had these sent off and in your hands by now but the company we chose to get them through completely butchered the card to say "happy 2" and "Do" instead of our last name. So here is your free preview of our card until you get them [version 2.0 that includes 2012 and our full last name]... hopefully before 2012. When I can get back to my regularly scheduled blogging.

Wanna come inside my clubhouse?

2011-12-24T12:09:00.001-05:00

Well all right, let's go!

Day zero #4:buy my sisters matching stuff from kardashians kollection

2011-12-21T22:24:00.001-05:00

KK Shirts and kardashian kolors nail polish? Check.

christmas came yesterday

2011-12-19T12:54:00.002-05:00

since bananas is only with us until tomorrow, we celebrated christmas yesterday! It was a wonderful day filled with church, napping, cooking and baking with my sisters, and of course our christmas feast and presents!

Guess who's husband got her an iphone for christmas? Oh yes. Be prepared for about a billion pictures, 2012.

Boston Marathon Training Week 2

2011-12-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week was hard mentally... Mr. D and I got hit with colds, and coupled with little d's lack of sleeping, mine felt like it lasted an ETERNITY. It was a struggle to work out this week without coughing, much less to find the energy to but I am only one workout behind on Higdon's plan and I expect to make it up this upcoming week. Running feels good but I really need to get some new running shoes since I bought mine in February of this year... I just know an injury is right around the corner if I don't! *knock on wood*

TOTAL miles: 13 [AWESOME for such a gross, heavy, sick week!]

Monday- 3 miles on treadmill [35 min], 25 min elliptical
Tuesday- 3 miles TM [29 min], 35 min weights
Wednesday- Rest
Thursday- Rest
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 7 miles TM [a struggle, but I got it done in 70 minutes]
Sunday- Rest

its about time

2011-12-17T14:18:00.001-05:00

Mr. Kevs has finally decided to join the rest of us in the holiday spirit.

It could have had something to do with fond memories of this from last year:

prompted by a little light snowfall this afternoon... first "real" one of the season!!

[amazing since it was 55 the other day!]

So... Merry Christmas you filthy animal :)

And tonight... let the Khaos begin!!

when bananas comes to visit...

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

you know its party time woody. only one more day till surah joins us too!

we act all gangster at Bob Evans

Listen to DK tell crazy stories we don't quite understand

Look angry because mom won't let us eat the crayons

Get eaten by wild birds...while bananas just laughs at us.

try to talk some sense into said bird...

visit Tucker, the old turtle who lives at the Pet Store

and of course play with kittens who are not quite so cool as the Kevs.

Good to have you back, Bananas!

Ballboy and the Kevs: The Can't Buy Me Love Quest

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

the job search is officially over.

2011-12-13T23:21:00.000-05:00

The last 6 months or so have been a bit of a roller coaster for this family,

leaving us feeling a little like this

and now we are feeling a whole lot of this:

Congrats to Mr. D on the end of his job hunt!! Mr. D's new job starts January with a few months of traveling. It has been a crazy ride and will continue to be crazy but come March we will have a place to call home once again! :)

Houses and Zupa's knockoffs: What I'm Making Monday

2011-12-12T18:20:00.001-05:00

We had our first graham cracker house-making party of the year!

And little d even stayed up an hour past his bedtime to help us out.

Pretty bomb, huh?

Go ahead. Be jealous. It is the one and only Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Complete with animals coming out of it like an ark!

Earlier last week I had a serious craving for all things Zupa's... and happened to run into Trader Joe's and stumbled upon my favorite snack of all time: Cinnamon Almonds! So I knew I had to make the nuts about berries salad [with romaine, berries, Brianna's poppyseed dressing and finely chopped cinnamon almonds]

And the picture fails to impress but they have a sandwich with meunster cheese, turkey, avocado and some dressing [I used honey mustard] that is quite the salty complement to this sweet salad.

om nom nom. Knockoffs from the Cafe RedSoxWife. :)

Boston Marathon Training Week 1

2011-12-11T22:40:00.002-05:00

TOTAL miles: 15

Mon-Jillian Michaels Abs workout [30 min], TM run 3 miles [30 min]
Tues-3 miles TM [34 min], 20 mins weights
Weds-60 mins stationary bike [sitting, reading Boston Marathon history]... more like active recovery than workout.
Thurs-Rest
Fri-3 mile run TM [34 min], 10 min row machine, 17 min elliptical
Sat-6 mile HILL run on TM while listening to music and watching Bridget Jones [69 min]
Sun-Rest

Overall, I am feeling pretty good about this Higdon Plan... taking things one day at a time, as well as having a plan helps me to feel more confident in my abilities. It does not matter if my runs are running 100% of the time as long as I get the mileage in. Yeah, my miles might be really slow right now but I am okay with that. Quality, not quantity. Or something like that.

Also I am extremely grateful for two things this past week: 1) getting a gym pass [thanks, Mr. D!!] and 2) to not have a job outside the home right now. Training and reading up on training/Boston as well as caring for little d leave me with not too much free time, but the important thing is that I am happy. I don't love taking two rest days or not doing yoga [hopefully that will change this week] but I have been foam rolling about 5 nights a week, even if just for a few minutes before bed and it really helps me sleep.

1 week down, 18 to go till Boston!!!

[belated] 26th birthday post

2011-12-10T19:27:00.001-05:00

Turning 26, as you well know, was pretty good to me this year.

It was the first year of my life I did not have to work or go to school, and could start my day doing the two things I love best: working out [shown here lifting weights and pre-run, notice we are both wearing legwarmers because that is how we roll]

And showing off our mad drawing skills in the garage!

After a day spent with my little dude, we headed out to PF Chang's where my mom tried to look... I'm not terribly sure but I think she was channeling her inner Chinese. :) And teaching DK how to use chopsticks was the highlight of pre-dinner entertainment.

The family shot: little d, me, mr. d, dad, mom, DK, and of course our adopted son Mickey Mouse.

I think this was the part of the night where my dad tried to eat little d at the exact moment he was falling out of his Big Kid chair [hence the need for high chairs, if only we could ever keep him in one longer than 10 minutes!].

Then we came home [Mickey is turning into the Where's Waldo of these pictures, isn't he?] and I got more pictures and 20 presents from my parents and DK [not to mention a BOB handlebar console from Surah!] including clothes, Kardashian nail polish, a purse, wallet, hairdryer, hair elastics, and about 14 other awesome things I can't think of off the top of my head!]

Don't you remember how much I love cupcakes? I think they totally trump in the bakery department. We got these ones from my favorite cupcake place, and the one with the Ariel ring [I think it was called "Pretty Pretty Princess" was actually DIVINE. Who knew vanilla could taste so good?

So there you have it... the moments leading up to my epic Boston present from Mr. D.

It was the first birthday I was able to spend with my parents in about 7 years, since going off to college and I am so grateful for all they have done for me in the last 26.

And being able to plan for me to run in Boston.... well, Mr. D is one of the most thoughtful people I know and this year was no exception. He is the one to buy me jeans, shoes, and shirts online that I never think will fit me [but they do... like a glove] and he is the one who encouraged me to run my first 6k race while 12 months postpartum, and has been my #1 supporter in doing what I love best: Running!

Only Mr. D truly understands how much the Boston Marathon means to me, with its rich history, the fact that he is from there [and watched the marathon as a child], how hard I have fallen in love with running and I cannot wait to run this marathon!!

It has been quite intimidating to read about the history and greatness of the past Boston Marathoners [or even those who raised a ton of money for charity], but while I may not have qualified on merits of my marathoning times [YET!] or money-raising skills, I am running for an equally good cause: for my Mr. D and little D. Because I have the best family in the world and they ARE my world. Bring it on...127 days!

wordless wednesday: what's taking place of blogging this week

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Oh. EM. GEEEE.

you want to know why I love Christmas so much??

2011-12-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

Simple. Because of moments like this.

13 days!!!

DZ #14:Make salsa from scratch: What I'm Making Monday

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Um how did nobody tell me how EASY it is to make your own salsa?? I made two different kinds in the last few months, one I like to call my "winter" or "Michelle's Blender"salsa, since its canned equal parts Herdez Salsa [Casera HOT] and Peeled whole tomatoes in tomato juice. You mix equal parts of the tomatoes [no juice] and salsa in a blender with a hefty amount of cilantro and voila! Yummy, fresh-tasting summer-y salsa! If you are really bold, which I am not, you can add in a little jalapeno, no seeds to give it more of a kick.

The actual summer salsa we got in a salsa pack at one of the many farmer's markets we went to this summer... and it was HEAVEN. Included in it was: 5 roma tomatoes, cilantro, one small red onion, a clove of garlic, and a little container of lime juice and spices [not sure what was in it, but I'm sure its similar to the stuff I put in my guacamole]. I put all the ingredients in a food processor and the result was PERFECTION. How have we been buying the canned stuff for so many years?? Never again. Also, I never got a picture of said Summer Salsa because each time I made it it was gone in about .234 seconds. No joke that stuff is addicting. So you will have to settle for a Farmer's Market pic instead:

Of course I prefer the second salsa, albeit is more expensive, and I will probably be using the Blender Salsa for our Christmas party [shhhh don't tell my parents but since my sisters and I love mexican food I am planning on making some for Christmas dinner... to go with guac and 7-layer dip! Who says holidays have to be traditional?]

Any other good salsa recipes out there? [or any other good recipes for me to try?] Send them my way!! redsoxwife@gmail.com

I will be doing a "12 days of cookies" feature over the next three weeks with my favorite ones!

Happy Monday!

Sunday Fit Recap Week 2: Last week before Boston Training

2011-12-04T19:12:00.001-05:00

Well this week was marked with a free three-day pass I had to the Y, accompanied by very little sleep [the usual crazy 1am wakeup, snuggle, then sleep till 4am ready to go for the day!] and a surprise announcement that I would be running Boston. Which I am SUPER excited for, just a little bit terrified since I was planning on running a June marathon, which would have given me plenty of time to bring up my fitness before I started training but now my training starts tomorrow! Not that I am complaining, 19 weeks is plenty of time to train, and I feel pretty confident using Hal Higdon's first marathon plan.

So here was last week...
Mon- weight intervals: 5 mins cardio followed by 15 minutes strength training X3

Tues- 30 minutes on elliptical, 15 mins core, 15 mins ARC [set on high intensity...it was like marching!]

Weds- strength training: 5 mins cardio, 5 mins arm weights, 5 mins legs, 5 mins core. Repeat 3 times. Ech time I did weights in a different order. One of my FAVORITE boredom-busting workouts, since after going to a pilates/weights class for a few years, I know plenty of exercises to mix it up.

Thurs- 4.76 mile run [47:41] outside with BOB. Would have been less than that but someone threw off his gloves mid-run and we had to go find them. Thank goodness for Garmins.

Fri- 4 miles. [43:34] Again, outside with BOB.

Sat and Sun- Rest.

A couple things about this last week:
1. As much as I love running outside, I am beginning to realize that with the weather turning pretty chilly it is going to be less of an option to take the BOB unless it is the middle of the day... maybe. So I am pretty desperate for a gym pass at the moment, but finding one that is a good deal AND includes the classes, machines and childcare I want is REALLY difficult. Hopefully I can have something before the month is out.

2. I have had some people ask me "Can't you just workout when little d is sleeping?" or "can't you just do workout DVD's or run the treadmill at home?" and the answer to both of those is a resounding NO! Sure, I used to do both of those back in the day when little d was taking 2-3 naps and sleeping well at night, but now that he is down to one nap and sleeping consistently BAD at night, it is usually all I can do to take a nap when he does or treasure that one hour to myself so I don't go crazy when he is awake.

3. I am a little nervous about this marathon. It is enough pressure for it to be my first marathon [that I have been talking about doing for YEARS] but to have it be Boston??? I am praying every day that ]knock on wood] no injury strikes me between now and April 16th. The last "injury" scare I had was back 2 weeks before the UV half and I still have the same shoes from the last year and a bit that have TOO many miles, I know. Trip to running store will be happening tomorrow although I will probably just select the shoe I want and buy at runningwarehouse and buy two pair [since they are half the price], as well as a cross training shoe. I know having new shoes will help boost my self-esteem with running injury-free.

4. After pouring over reviews and training guides, I settled on Hal Higdon's plan [Novice 1] mostly because of it's success rate in taking runners not just to the starting line, but crossing the finish line. No shame for me in stopping to walk for a bit, as long as I can finish [and please, please please run most of it so I don't completely embarass myself]. Inbetween running, I plan on incorporating strength training twice a week, yoga twice a week, and serious foam rolling every night. Something about not having time to stretch after a run with little d [could be because I am still chasing him around the house afterwards??] has made my muscles pretty tight, and a nightly foam roll helps me sleep better anyway.

5. Which reminds me: Boston goals. I would love to say I have some highly ambitious goals but those always set me up for failure.
-Since my workouts the last few weeks have been terrible and inconsistent, I have been focusing on eating as a form of fuel for my body, and as a result have been eating a bit healthier. I haven't lost weight but am working to be down to my "racing weight" naturally by the new year, not out of vanity but to ensure that my body is in tip-top shape for marathoning.
-I want to toe the starting line injury-free.
-I want to cross the finish line with a smile on my face and have a heckuva time doing so.
-Not be the last one to cross the finish line. They haven't listed the cutoff time but if I can make it in before 6 hours I will chalk that one as a "W" in my book. I would prefer 4-5 but we shall see.

6. Which brings me to: what happens if I fail? What if I do get injured/can't run/have to get carted off the course/otherwise don't make it? Well, I already have a plan B. I will recover, figure out what went wrong, fix it, get better and train for a fall marathon [Columbus?]. Maybe if I have a really bomb time in Boston and want to improve my time, I will still train for a second marathon..who knows? I figure two shots at a marathon are in me before I start thinking about baby #2. No regrets, baby.

7. With all that in mind, I am REALLY REALLY excited for the opportunity to run Boston. Mr. D and my inlaws have known for quite a while how obsessed I am with that marathon [something about always asking for running-related things for bday/christmas may have something to do with it] and I am SUPER excited to even have the chance to be in it. I MAY have ordered something like 20 books related to the Boston Marathon that should be flowing in the next few weeks... now if only I could find time to read them all! [usually I read magazines/books while XT on elliptical or stairs].

So... there you have it. This list is not really for anyone but myself, to remember the feelings, hopes, fears, etc of this very moment. And for Mr. D to keep me accountable. Marathon training, here I come!!

Little D is missing Aunti Surah on her 21st Birthday?!

2011-12-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

My little SURAH turns 21 today!!!

Eeeek so excited but seriously this is potential problem because I am still telling people I am 21.

Maybe she can pass as my twinner?

Have I mentioned that there are FIFTEEN DAYS till I see my sisters again???

I haven't seen Bananas in over two months and the last time I saw Surah was IN APRIL!!!

I have two words for you: TOO LONG.

Surah and Baby D on her 20th birthday last year... still has the same double chin!

Maybe he got said chin from Aunti Surah??? I kid, I kid

You want to know what the best kinds of sisters are?

THE ONES I HAVE SO STEP OFF.

No baby has had so much love from his aunties as this little punk

Although he was a bit perplexed as to why we got to eat completos and he had to stick with milk...

Happy to you, Surah!! Can't wait for two weeks of non-stop craziness with you!!!

Oh and also lots of running, minigolf(??) and awkward pictures.

Especially awkward ones that involve little d putting his hands in front of his face :)

LOVE!

LOVE MY K-DASH DOLLS

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

FOURTEEN DAYS TILL WE ARE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!!!!

Even if it is only for less than 72 hours, we sisters will be back together, where we belong.

To celebrate, a photomontage if you will. You are going to get very sick of my face, be forewarned.

Spring 2006. My wedding :) with Brisley.

Think of her as Kendall to our Kourt, Kim, Khloe, respectively.

With "brother Rob" [what boy doesn't grow up a little dysfunctional with all sisters??

Disfunction-ally AWESOME. ]

Circa 2007-ish when Surah visited for Spring Break and we went to conference in SLC. Year of the orange hair. You're welcome for dying my hair terrible colors so that you can keep track of what year it is.

Spring 2008: Mr. D graduates so my family comes into town. :) Any excuse to get together, right??

Fall 2008: Surah's first Daniels' dinner while living in Utah!!!

[And Bananas lived down the street from me!]

Spring 2009: Conference in SLC again [with Micae as honorary sister]

Summer 2009 at DK's Science Camp.

Fall 2009: Last thanksgiving with Elder Daniels!

Late January 2010: Sisters and Tiem come over to help me clean the apartment, pre-move!!

New Apartment! February 2010: Sympathy food babies....

March 2010: One of the best moments of my life, totally Kardashian style:

My sisters were there [and Mr. D of course] to find out Its a BOY!

Early April 2010: Catching a BYU Volleyball game!

Late April 2010: Last Dinner together before Surah left us for Ohio :(

Also late-April, before Surah left us, Bananas graduated and we had a big old party :)

Yup, this was the point where every other question I got was "you're STILL pregnant?"

Love love love.

Oh right and they also threw me a bombdotcom baby shower April 2010 :)

A few months later came Baby D to make Surah come back!!

We're all almost the same height now...

First Kardashian-watching party of little d's life, at Tiem's. No I am not joking.

Fall 2010: Banana's premiere of her Documentary!!

Then Bananas left for Wausau, and Christmas was spent with the Dowlings in Boston, only to reunite for Daddy-o's 50th in March :) Surprise!

... where we spent all his money on new dresses. Happy Birthday, Dad. :)

Countdown till Christmas? Please. Give me a Kardashian Kountdown till we girls are together again!

Where there's a Mager...

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

... There's a Kron.

Happy Birthday to Ms. Andrea Mager Stevens!!!

We may live across the country for now, but that will not stop me from ~~stalking you~~ continuing to be your bestest friend!! I love you to pieces and cannot wait until we can hopefully see each other next summer!

[We were supposed to run the Utah Valley Marathon together but ahemmm, something came up.
I hope she forgives me!]

In case you don't remember how it all started out...

I hounded you down freshman year till you agreed to room with me and some of my favorite crazies.

We were black sheep together for all of about 10 days then we both found boys to occupy our girltime.

I think we took a tap dancing class together with my sister Anna?

I got married within the school year ...but not before we had a fun year doing crazy things :)
Remember disco roller skating???

Then came my wedding!

And you, Keely, Jasmine, and Amax were all such good sports to be my bridesmaids and give me one heck of a multicultural sending-off! Oh how I love my roommates!

Finally in December 2007 the time came for us to come to YOUR wedding!! Prettiest bride ever.

Still getting over how amazing that dress was.

The best part about you getting married was seeing you so so happy. Wife-ing is truly your calling :)

Like teaching me how to bake and decorate cookies from scratch? Brilliant.

Got me Wife of the Year award that Christmas:)

And I will never forget that phone call where you tried to convince me last minute to run my very first 10k a week before my first half marathon... you crazy!!! But we did it and it was so much fun!

I love you, girl!!! Make sure that hubby of yours treats you right on your big day!! :)

This Red Sox Wife is headed to the Boston Marathon in 2012!

2011-11-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

ballboy and the kevs: first battle.

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

21+5... am i really that old?

2011-11-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year where I apologize to my poor mother for putting her through labor for 17 hours.

It is so interesting to me that everyone congratulates you on your birthday when really all you did was passively cause your mother an extremely large amount of pain.

[And you hope to make up for it years later... that is, after the tumultuous teenage years are over and ESPECIALLY after going through labor yourself.]

Thanks, mom. Good to know it wasn't too bad for you if you went on to have 3 more, right?

Last year's birthday was spent with my littlest doll, Surah :)

can't wait to have her back here for two weeks!

The hardest part of my birthday last year? Having to work 8 hours.

This year will be the best birthday yet because even if I am turning 26, I get to spend every waking minute with the littlest love of my life.

Flashback to 2009 I was newly prego and my parents came into town for thanksgiving/my bday and even though the sight of turkey day food made me nauseated, it was wonderful to have all the girls together! It doesn't happen often enough. Also, Michelle had a pie for EACH person. So there were like 20+ pies. AWESOME.

2008 we were so young, so naiive and carefree and full of energy and I can't quite remember but I am pretty sure I had a full night's sleep and no bags under my eyes on my 23rd birthday. But... our family [even with the Kevs] was not quite complete.

Here's to being just slightly older than 21 this year...

gangstah tuesday

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

6am: Dropping it like its hot? Check.

omelettes and muffins: what I'm making monday!

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Seriously, it's what's for breakfast: VEGGIES!

I love finding new ways to sneak in veggies, especially before noontime :)

Here is one of my favorite breakfasts: two eggs, slice of provalone, a few cubes of tofu [to add some soy, and by itself it is tasteless... it just absorbs the flavors around it!], mushrooms, tomatoes, and avocado. [all that is missing is spinach!]

Everything in cubes... little known fact: this was my first attempt at a REAL omelette. I usually get too freaked out that the egg will not cook so I just end up doing my "omelettes" scrambled!

And I always top it off with fresh tomatoes and avocado... the perfect meal in my book.

And Anabel Karmel [who else??] had this muffin recipe I just "perfected"... the carrots and pineapple make it SO moist it almost tastes--dare I say it--buttery!: [anything crossed out is the original recipe and what follows is my variation of AK's Carrot and Pineapple Muffins [makes about 13]:

1 c all purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ~~ginger~~ nutmeg [I never have ginger, and nutmeg always compliments cinnamon well!]
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c ~~vegetable oil~~ applesauce [I learned from Bananas that you NEVER have to bake with oil if you replace the same amount with unsweetened applesauce! Brownies, cake, bread tastes just as good and are much healthier!]
1/3 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c carrots, finely shredded
1-8oz can crushed pineapple [I also put it through the food processor so there would be no chukiness in the muffin]

~~2/3 c raisins~~ I omit this since nobody likes raisins baked into food in this family :)

[I also added chocolate chips to a few of them for variety... which DK actually loved!]

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350'.

In large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, ginger/nutmeg, and salt. Beat the oil/applesauce, eggs, sugar together till well blended.

Add grated carrot, pineapple, and raisins.

Gradually add the flour mixture, beating just enough to combine all the ingredients.

Pour batter into muffin pans lined with paper muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes or till golden.

[after the first time, I realized it they are so moist that they stick to the cups, so I spray the liners/pan too]

Om nom nom.

when christmas comes early

2011-11-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Abueli and I decided that with little d's growing separation anxiety with me, it would be good to get him a "lovey", or stuffed animal to get attached to and give him security so that I can actually start leaving him with other people without starting a trail of tears. The most logical place to go? "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" AKA the Disney Store... guess who wanted one of every Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto in stock?

One Mickey was too small, one was too big but this one was just right.

making Mickey wave to all his adoring fans at the mall

So Mr. Mouse is the newest addition to our [club]house. Even the Kevs is starting to like him.

Thanks, Abueli Astrid!

DZ #65: bake a pie from scratch & #48: cook a true thanksgiving dinner

2011-11-25T06:31:00.001-05:00

DONE.

I may have had a LITTLE bit of help from sous chef little d. :)

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts (see below)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shells.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)

Pie Crust:

Two cups flour. Add in chopped, softened two sticks (1/2 c each stick). Add in 1/4 c water then continue adding water by 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached. Chop dough in half, spread out by rolling pin onto floured surface, place crust in pie plate. Repeat with other half of crust.

Cooking a true Thanksgiving meal for me means learning to do everything but the turkey... that's for boys to worry about, anyways :) So while my dad worked on the turkey I made, with a wonderful amount of help, homemade pumpkin pies (with acorns made of caramels+chocolate+sprinkles), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (see next recipe), corn, and green salad. And Mr. D took the part of looking super handsome post-workout. Seriously its not fair to the rest of us that he looks that good after running around for two hours while I look like death after a half marathon. Sorry for the serious red-eye.

Ellie Krieger's Sweet Potato Casserole With Meringue Topping

"My whole family oohs and aahs over this casserole because it looks so gorgeous with the poofed meringue peaks. I am always tickled that everyone requests it each year. And it has a third of the calories of your run-of the-mill sweet potato casserole." — Ellie, HOST OF HEALTHY APPETITE WITH ELLIE KRIEGER ON FOOD NETWORK

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes

3½ lb sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
⅓ cup honey
1 large egg, slightly beaten
½ tsp each ground cinnamon and salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 large egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
¼ cup superfine sugar

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Fill a large pot with 3 inches water; insert a large steamer basket into pot and top with sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil; cover pot and steam potatoes 14 to 16 minutes, until fork tender.

2. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and cool slightly. Add honey, egg, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg to bowl. Mash with a potato masher or beat with a handheld electric mixer until mixture is smooth. Spread into prepared dish and bake 30 minutes or until potatoes are hot.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl with an electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar 1 Tbsp at a time, beating for about 10 seconds between additions. Continue to beat 4 to 5 minutes until stiff peaks form and meringue is smooth and glossy.

4. Remove sweet potatoes from oven and place on a heat-proof surface. Using a spatula, swirl meringue over hot sweet potatoes to cover completely. Return baking dish to oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes longer or until meringue is set and lightly browned in spots.

Makes 8 servings.

what are you doing at 5 AM?

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I am certain that for most normal [non-mom] people, the only thing they see at 5am is the backside of their eyelids. Lucky you. The last few weeks little d went from 7am wakeup... to 5am. Ghastly, I know. Thank you, daylight savings time.

After thinking "this must be a phase" for far too long to be healthy, I have finally accepted that this is the new norm and the best thing to do is enjoy it. Today, I am grateful for my little bug.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[These are also NOT the Christmas card, but more outtakes I think it are just hilarious... that first one I look like I am sitting on a pincushion and oddly distorted and little d looks like he's pooping! Good thing Mr. D is there to look normal and make the rest of us look bad. Also, to prove that with a baby it sometimes takes a bazillion frozen-faced photos to get a good one!]

ballboy and the kevs: the big superpower reveal

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

family fun time

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

teaching DK the secrets to beating super mario brothers 3Dland on his 3DS...

"....I do it"

Showing him where to find all the cheat codes...

DK.. still in shock that with little d's help, it only took him a week to beat the game! Success!

Have you seen this movie?

You should. it is one of little d's favorites.

Here he is teaching grandpa and abueli how it's done:

IT IS SO HARD TO wait for my sisters to get out here... just a few more weeks to wait!

We haven't all been together since dad's 50th in [gasp!] march.

Last time Bananas was with [fattyhead] little d:

Last time Surah was with [baldyhead] little d:

Last time uncles were with little d:

ahahaha.... still one of my favorite pics of all time.

= I need all aunties and uncles to just come live in our neighborhood.

Once we get a neighborhood of course.

Miss you guys!

What I'm Making Monday: Our 2011 Christmas Card!

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

DZ #100: Have an autumn family photo shoot

Okay, so again this was not really of my making [I have a muffin recipe that will have to wait till later today] but with Keely's help we finally got family photos done in time for the holidays... which I really wanted to do outdoors. The stars aligned for a second time this past weekend and we were able to get a photo shoot in thanks to Keely and Brandon and LG for their awesome DSLR camera and mad photog skills plus we had a good time and the weather was actually really nice. So here you have a preview of our Christmas card photo shoot [but we can't show you the real thing till Christmas because what fun would that be??]. If you didn't give me your address last year, this is the time to do it!

email redsoxwife@gmail.com or shoot me a FB message!

This shot was Keely's idea... and so much fun! Even if I was scared to get too much air since I was wearing wedge boots, we've never taken a photo like this before and I loved it.
Afterwards, little d kept wanting to jump off the hay bales like us. He was fascinated.

my favorite of all the little d shots Keely took a bunch of: Pretending to sleep on a tree

[can you tell I love DSLR's?]

The holidays are rapidly approaching and my favorite time of year starts this week!

I can officially start saying

"Happy Holidays!":

DZ #88: Take little d to COSI

2011-11-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

It may have taken 3 months but the stars finally aligned and the naps were synchronized for one day... and Keely and I took well advantage of it! First trip to COSI for little d and first one for me in ages!

16 months

2011-11-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's amazing to me that at this age, he can do so much it would be a much shorter list to remember what he cannot do. But don't you dare tell him "no" or he will give you THE LOOK which is like 10x worse than his stinkeye. And don't even think about taking his Mickey Mouse stickers, even if he has been wearing them all day and they are starting to fall off.

At 16 months, little d is EATING applesauce [by the gallon. literally. drunk from a straw.], bananas, cookies/crackers, ranch dressing, oatmeal, cheerios [finally!], waffles that he dips in syrup, hawaiian bread, raisins, pretzels, non-frozen gogurt, hard boiled eggs, cheese, and usually a bite or two of whatever I am eating. Veggies are still a challenge and hummus is ~~out the window~~ on the floor for the time being. Can't wait to get a blender and start making green smoothies for breakfast again. Also, I was shredding carrots [at 7am, mind you] this week and little d went BALLISTIC and demanded I shared them with him! What a little piggie!

SLEEP has been SO difficult the last month. Little d has been waking up one to two times a night [but at least he knows better than to try and play with me, only cuddles with me for half an hour or so till he falls back asleep] and then waking up for the day between 5 and 6 am. Which I wouldn't mind too much if he actually was hungry or in a good mood but usually he's just as irritable as I am but far less hungry. Working out has been a nightmare [or I guess I should say only exists in my dreams since sleep always trumps working out, sorry]. So needless to say, when I stopped working this past week, that issue was a MUCH more tolerable. And of course multiple days of 5 hour nights of sleep were followed by the miracle night when I went to bed right when little d did and got a whopping 10 hours of sleep! It has been two years since that has happened and I cannot see it happening anytime in the near [or far] future but it felt so good and I was VERY grateful for it. We are still figuring out the transition from two naps to one, but unless he can consistently nap longer than an hour [he won't] then we are still on two naps Monday through Saturday. Don't get me started on Sundays.

OH MY PERSONALITY. Little d is just blossoming and I swear every day is better than the one before it. Nonstop dancing, slam-dunking, and more slam-dunking is pretty much how our day begins. He is speaking, mostly jabbering nonsense at Kevin while making gestures at the stairs, but he is just starting to imitate words. "Fffff-ball", "tow-el", and "tah-dow!" [touchdown] just to name a few. "ow-yide" is still his favorite word [outside] and if there is ever anything, usually lint or a hair or dirt, on his feet or hands he will say "BALL-BALL!" until I help him clean up his hands. He is getting better with washing his hands and brushing his teeth. My favorite word of this week is WOW, used for the first time when we went to a new playground and used most recently when he saw I recently painted my nails pink, he looked down and grabbed my hands and said, "MAMA, WA-OW!". "Cua-cua" [duck], "BAH!" [sheep], "MO-OO!"and some kind of monster sound from a turkey [??] have been added to the animal sounds. And he recently discovered the MOON and says "Moon!" as he points to the sky pretty much anytime we are outside, day or night. In his defense the moon has been up at times when we have gone on walks at 6:30am. And I love it because it has re-ignited his love of Goodnight Moon, and he is NOT referring to something as a "ball" just because it is round which I think is a pretty huge step for him.

Little d continues to be on the move ALL THE TIME. Literally goes nowhere without running there. Speaking of running, I run to the library a few times a week with him and the BOB, and we have a great time singing songs with motions that he has gotten quite pro at [wheels on the bus, itsy bitsy spider, skiddle-ma-rinky-dink, 5 little monkeys, humpty dumpty and a dozen more]. The best part about this stage is that if he is upset while I am running or driving, all I have to do is start singing and he will happily forget about what made him upset and start doing the motions. Mickey Mouse is HUGE for this kid now. I know all the words to Mickey's Clubhouse theme song and the Hot Dog song, and they are a SURE thing to make him happy and start madly dancing. He has also started to notice Mickey on his pajamas and his diapers... which has lead to quite a phenomenon where he will throw a FIT if you do not give him the soiled diaper after he is changed, so that he can slam-dunk it into the trash, do a double fit pump and loudly say, "YEAH!" Case in point:

"I do it!"

SLAM DUNK!

"YEAH!"

Oh, how I love this boy and I love this age. He may still be pushing kids around or hitting Kevs every once in a while, but he is still one of the sweetest boys I know. But with separation anxiety rearing its ugly head, there have been more tears this month than I know what to do with. We happily wave "bye-bye" to Mr. D, then my dad and DK as they leave for work/school but heaven forbid I go to the bathroom without taking him with me because then he just falls apart. I have even resorted to just letting him play with bath toys on the bathroom floor a few times in the last two weeks while I take a shower [he only wanted to join me once, baths are more his style].

My poor mother. If I have her watch little d [which doesn't happen as often as I should be taking advantage of, mostly due to the anxiety as of late], he will cry for mama and dada and then go around the house pointing to every picture of Mr. D and I, making sure she understands that he wants his mama and dada so she knows what they look like. The cool part about that is he finally has started consistently calling Mr. D "dada" and me "mama" or "mommy" [if you remember when we first got here at 14 months, he was referring to every one and every thing as "mama" kinda like a teenager with profanity issues]. He calls DK "nah-noh" or just "da", and while he cannot yet say grandpa or abuela, he can say mu-mo [my MIL] and is with "oo-ee" is tentatively working on ookie [my FIL].

Not to mention he is the perfect model. All I have to tell him is "Say teeth" and he says "teeth" as he shows me his teeth [see far right]. Perfect, I know, right?

Can't get enough of him? Yeah, me either. Why else would you be reading my blog?

DZ #80: Read the entire Hunger Games series

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

I did it.

Ms. Collins, you are BRILLIANT.

Just like the Harry Potter and Twilight series, I read these books in record time... just a few hours apiece but with a little one to watch, it took a few days and I may have finished the last book at 1am and then had to get up with little d at 6am and yet... not an ounce of regret.

Twilight confession: I hated all the books except the last one. [Don't get me started on the terrible acting of said Bella in the movies]. Mostly because I hated Bella and how pathetic and indecisive she was until the last book. HP I loved right from the start. Same with Katniss.

Unlike HP or Twilight, I actually loved each of these books completely. With the minor exception of the last line or two in the first book, it was brilliant all the way through. And I found myself thinking about it for days after. Mostly the social commentary and how Collins managed to take our lives of costmetic surgery and reality shows and take it to quite the extreme but in a terribly riveting way.

Thanks to my sisters for recommending it to me and hopefully we can watch the movie when it comes out next spring!! I sorta wish I had read this series while I was pregnant and had more time [that was when I read all the Twilights], but hey at least I read this now instead of when I have less time on my hands.

Oh, right, and this:

Getting in more teeth. Can you believe it?! He's practically growing up as I watch him. 16 month recap to come tomorrow. With loads more pictures of course.

DZ #29: Read the Book of Mormon

2011-11-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have officially read this book 9 times since I left for college back in fall of 2004.

Which wouldn't be terribly impressive to myself if I would have read it even once all the way before 2005. But I never did. Kind of sad, when I think about it, that I skimmed it, skipped around reading favorite stories even, but never once read it start to finish until I was 19. It is a miracle to me that I was still able to stand professing membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [the "Mormons"] during my childhood and teenage years when I didn't fully understand what it was all about.

I wouldn't say it was blind faith since I did know a lot about the book and what it stood for. But after reading this book all the way through and really asking and receiving a sure witness of the truthfulness of the restored gospel, that was something I was completely unprepared for how it would alter my life and make me into a very different person than I was in the 19 years previous.

This book has changed my life for the better. I know it to be true because I have read it. Since I have started reading it, every time I finish [and get ready to start re-reading], I mark the date. As I reflect on those dates, every one of them has some significant meaning to me. Some more obvious, like when I knew I was going to marry Mr. D, the week I got married, or the week after little d was born [I would have finished before he was born but I got caught up in reading "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage, also a brilliant book I recommend]. And some a little more personal and close to the heart.

I love this book. I love my gospel. And even if nothing big happened at the end of this reading [I'm trying not to count getting fired], it fills my soul with love and hope and all kinds of wonderful things. Including the yearning for being a little bit better today than I was yesterday.

Even if it means falling down and picking myself up every now and again. :)

ballboy and the kevs: introducing little d's evil twin sister

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

no use crying over spilt milk

2011-11-15T20:11:00.001-05:00

I finally understand the full meaning of that saying. You shouldn't freak out over something you have no control over. Especially when the damage is done. No use trying to change the past.

"I'm sorry but we're going to have to let you go."

Those are the words that came this afternoon with the sinking feeling of sadness. Shock. Concern. Anger. Spite. Confusion. Fury. Pain. Denial. I never knew I could experience so many emotions in such a short period of time.

And then the tears start. And they don't stop for a few hours.

Now, half-watching the Biggest Loser while blogging for the first time in too long, my eyes are sore and finally dry. I lost a really awesome part-time job. But I am okay. Because I know.

Everything happens for a reason.

Sure, its a bummer. I enjoyed my job and I LOVED the free gym pass. Being able to bring little d with me had its perks as well. But to look at the big picture, I know it doesn't matter. I still have my full-time job, the one matters the most to me. No one can take that away from me.

This afternoon I felt like the world was caving in on me. Sure, a little dramatic, but that is how it feels when you are so deep within yourself. Thanks to a wonderful support system of family and friends, I was able to step back and observe the damage and realize it is not so bad. I have no plans to work in the near future. I am going to do some serious cleaning tomorrow... one of my favorite ways to de-stress and start over. Tomorrow is a new day and it WILL be MUCH better than today.

Everything is gonna be alright. Be strong, believe.

Post #1111 on 11.11.11 at 11:11 am

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

I AM SO EPIC IT SHOULD BE UNREAL.

Have you been wondering why I have been madly posting over the last few days? Well, I realized like 4 days ago that I was at 1100 posts and thought it would be REALLY cool to hit 1111 posts on 11/11/11.

I'm a nerd. But I did it!! Boo-yah.

Too legit to quit and all that.

So then the thought became.... Now what?!?! What on earth do I blog about with such a monumental post?

I figure, what better time to [re-]establish what this blog is all about.

This blog centers around all the people and things that make me happy in life.

#1: My Mr. D. Cutest missionary ever, and now hottest husband and bestest dad ever.

#2: Little D and the Kevs.

Little D sure does love carrying things around these days... with halloween gone and no pumpkins to carry around, he's taken to Mr. D's scriptures! But who doesn't want to carry around roughly 1/4 of your weight in Bible and Book of Mormon?? [or use it as a sitting stool]

#3: My Red Sox Wife life. Even though we [I] don't [can't] really go to as many games as we would like, baseball or otherwise. Or, in my case, it is pretty rare for me to be able to sit and watch a full game of any sort with Mr. D, since if I am not otherwise pre-occupied with little d, I am usually making food/blogging/falling asleep.

So I do miss that specific part of my old RSW life very much... where my life could revolve around sports, but I know it is not gone for good. Hopefully in the next decade of my life we'll be able to gather the kids together to watch as a family. For now I will have to be content that little d LOVES balls and is just now starting to recognize the differences between them. When Mr. D turns on a football game, he even tries to make the "F" sound. I'll have to catch it on camera. Too cute.

#4: My health. Nothing makes my soul happier or more complete than coming home drenched in sweat knowing I killed it at the gym. When I get my workouts in, and know that my body is in good shape and I can chase after the basketballs little d rolls down the driveway, all is right in the world. Of all that happens in my life this is the thing that RUTH controls, not anybody else. With so much of my life controlled my Mr. D, little d, the kevs, and other uncontrollable factors in general, my fitness is what I have put my physical faith in. I have a testimony of good health being an important key to happiness.

#5: My gospel.

Also, DZ #32: Make a wish on 11/11/11 @ 11:11 am. Consider it done.

[but I'm not sharing till it comes true!]

its beginning to look a lot like

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

It is still a daily shock to me that this:

Is now this:

I started playing Christmas music Tuesday when it was 65 degrees outside. But in my defense it is November and I can't remember the last time I waited to start with the Christmas music till after Halloween. True Story. I still do not understand what it is about the Christmas holiday but EVERYTHING makes me emotional.

Halfway through dancing to a Mariah Carey "you-you-you-you-Babe-ay" I looked at little d and just started bawling my eyes out. No, I am not pregnant, it was just the first time I realized my baby was no longer a baby anymore. Like he is starting to turn into a little person, and a very concerned one at that since as he saw me cry he said "ohhh" and gave me a big hug.

Just over 40 days till Christmas, my absolute favorite time of the year. And I am thrilled that I can start some fun traditions with my little boy.

Now we just need the weather to start co-operating so it can stop feeling like August and more like November!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

2011-11-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

First Kim's Fairytale marriage falls apart, and now this?!

----------------------
next day (can you even believe it?!) the book just showed up [wrapped in cloth, which was odd since it is PAPERback swap] in my mail!!! Now to get my biking on for a few hours in the gym so I can get some [alone time] reading done.

Ballboy and the Kevs: True Story.

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

random misses from summer/autumn

2011-11-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

I miss Farmers Markets.

I miss the smells, the fresh food, the EVERYTHING about them.

I miss Katie Abram's caramel apples this time of year :( and I miss her too!

I miss running races. Winter seems to do something to my sense of time... like it dulls or something. Summer feels like years away right now.

We miss cousin Ava.

Even when she made us cry. We loved it.

Maybe she was a little bit of a bad influence though...

Some days, I miss my little bald headed, toothless wonder.

But I am loving my new, "dennis-the-menace"-haired toothy wonder even more than that baldyhead.
Even if he is developing an attitude like a teenage boy or something.

^^ see?? This looks says "NO I do not want to ride in this non-BOB stroller!"^^
Gangstah. So cool even if he had to ride in a Jeep stroller for two months :)

^^"And even if you give me a ball I will still be angry till I get my BOB!" ^^

[phew good thing we got a BOB again!!]

Also, I miss Kevs sleeping on our bed.
He has taken to sleeping on my poor mom's side of the bed...

he must not have gotten the memo that my mom is allergic to cats!!!!

See that smirk? Like he knows its wrong and he doesn't even care.

I miss pre-broken teeth :( Nuff said.

Little d went through a slight bath-phobia for a minute, but he's better now. Now he's just terrified of lint in the tub... which is unfortunate since with those sweaty feet collect A LOT of lint during the day.

I. LOVE. THESE. BOYS.

If you don't get anything else from this blog, know that. They are my life.

Also, who can resist such gorgeous baby blue eyes?! :)

popeye may have his spinach...

2011-11-08T19:00:00.000-05:00

But ballboy has his hummus.

And the occasional eggo. And yes, this is how he insists on eating both. :)

a tale of two poop[face]s

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

DK was asking me the other day why I called little d and kevs "poopface".

Out of affection, of course. But also for some pretty key reasons. You see, sometime between this:

And this:

Our little Kevs was learning [at about 3 or 4 weeks if I remember correctly?] how to use the litterbox. So, as soon as mama Lucy headed to do her business, I picked up all four kittens and took them over to watch their mama and hopefully learn from her example. No sooner had I put the kittens near the Box when I heard a little cry from our Kevs... he was immediately under the spot where Lucy was pooping and had a headful of poop!!! I was mortified but eventually cleaned him up [I'd love to say that was the only time that happened, but I think all kittens were pooped on at some point or another... and you wonder why we never kept that stray mama Lucy :)]

It's exhausting being little poopfaces :) Kevin, Kevs twin PP, Des, and Papi.

Also we had no AC in the dead of summer.

Flash forward three years:

Oh yeah, living the high life in one of his favorite nap spots!

Then Sunday night I came home to this:

Nice. Great teaching, dad. [and grandpa and DK]. Life skills, right?

I know you wanna see video so here goes:

Also... I am the sole cleaner [minus 9 months where the duty fell to Mr. D] of the Kevs' poop.

And primary de-pooper of little d.

So I clean a lot of poop. I can call anyone poopface that I want. :)

Seeburgler

2011-11-07T23:38:00.000-05:00

I realized the other day that I never did a post about our visit with Kathryn weeks ago!

From 3 years of color guard we built a friendship built on a mutual terror of tall people [yet we both married tall guys], drawing stick figure comics, french fries and chocolate chip cookies for lunch, diet poptarts, and a extreme distaste for all things band-related. There were plenty of other things too, but high school was seven years ago :) Good thing we are still friends and for the first time in years finally living within a day's driving distance of each other. Now we just need to arrange more playdates for these two kiddos:

Too. Cute.

True to form, Kathryn had to close her eyes for at least one photo.

Also true to form, little d had to ruin the other picture we took :)

Kathryn is my absolute favorite pixie married to her high school sweetheart (THAT I still cannot get over!) and they have the most darling little zoo of animals like you would not believe.

Love two of my favorite blondies meeting for the first time!

Thanks for the visit, Kathryn and now that we are staying in the area, we should do it again real soon...

because you didn't get enough Calvin and Hobbes

2011-11-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

Very concerned about not being able to see Kevs' ears.

The Kiss of Death, this one [he gets it from his dad....]

apparently Kevs tends to cramp little d's style

My two favorite shots of the night

Posing with the decor from ward party

BEST. FACE. EVER.

Tender Chicken a la Annabel Karmel: What I am making monday

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Have you heard about healthy baby-food making Annabel Karmel??

She is a GENIOUS. [and thanks to Sarah Robinson for introducing me to her food!!]

I am a sucker for good chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Definitely my go-to comfort food.

Especially when I found this great little recipe in one of AK's baby food books. I usually overcook chicken or just make it extremely dry. It turned out SO tender, and I have yet to make an AK meal that I didn't love. More on the other stuff in weeks to come. Who says baby food can't be good??

Tender Chicken Fingers [this is the doubled version]

4 small skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into little finger-size strips

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, for frying

[marinade]

12 Tbsp milk

1/2 cup yogurt [I used nonfat greek]

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp paprika

[coating]

4 cups puffed rice cereal

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 eggs

2 tsp water

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Mix marinade ingredients in large bowl, marinate chicken in it overnight. Put first 3 ingredients for coating in food processor. Spread crumbs on a large plate. Beat eggs in bowl with water. Spread flour on another large plate. Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off excess. Coat in flour, then dip in egg and coat in cereal crumbs.

shown from foreground to background:

the marinade, flour, egg mix, cereal crumbs, pre-cooked chicken pieces

Here it is cooking in the skillet, with a tiny bit of olive oil, 4-5 mins per side.

I think next time we are going to try to bake it on the oven to make the process a little faster (?).

The final product: a little burnt but so so good. Om nom nom.

little d was a little tentative at first with the new food combination...

but eventually the tastebuds won out :)

favorite monday meals

2011-11-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

When I started "What I am making Monday" I originally wanted to make artwork and that worked... for about a day! I realized that my true passion I was actually practicing lay in creating healthy and colorful meal combinations! I wish I could eat like this every day, but this is the best of the best of my meals. Not all of them are worthy of their own post [since they are simple and require no real "recipe"], but here are a few of note that I am particularly fond of.

[L] green salad, couscous, italian chicken, roasted carrots;

[R] peaches, grapes, [can of] pinto beans mixed in with a instant rice mix, tuna, roasted carrots.

All-time favorite meal?

Kroger's tortilla-crusted salmon, roasted carrots, green salad, raspberries & greek yogurt.

My sad attempt at Aunt Michelle's Green Chili Burritos... it will get a post of its own once I can perfect the recipe [she usually improvises and never really measures, making it difficult to replicate the yumminess!].

stir-fry with egg, tofu, mushrooms and pineapple on the side [I think this was breakfast?]

eggs with roasted veggies [zucchini, mushrooms, avocado, and 3 or 4 that I can't really remember now... I just throw everything I can find in there!] on a tortilla. I blame the Doritos on Mr. D :)

SmartPasta Angel Hair with veggie spaghetti sauce,

salad with romaine, avocado, carrots, tomato, ranch and bac-o's.

And of course... guacamole recipe here. Can there really be any more perfect food??? I think not.