Outnumbered.

I have heard that having one kid is relatively easy (or at least do-able), having two is almost better because the first has a playmate, and that three is the number where life gets really tricky because the parents are all of a sudden outnumbered. Things have gotten tricky here: Baby J's parents are out of the country for 10 days and they left her with me. Because she is the most easygoing baby on the planet, it hasn't been bad - but I'm left wondering why I still have an appendix and not a third arm. C'mon Evolution!

The day before J's parents left, Phoebe got this lovely bruise on her cheek while dancing in Bruce's bed. It also happened to be the day before Phoebe's two-year doctor's appointment. Nothing like a big bruise to reassure J's parents and the doctor that I'm an involved, stable parent. In other news, Phoebe dropped a few percentiles on the growth chart and is officially on a high-calorie diet. One of her favorite phrases is "delicious butter," so we should be making weight soon.Bruce likes to tell me how big his muscles are and how he does crunches and planks in gym class. I don't think he is flexing in front of the mirror yet, but he is heading in that direction of manliness. Bruce also told me that he and Phoebe should have been twins. He said it would have been more fun that way. I told him he'd have to share a birthday cake and a party with her. "No problem," he said. "She likes Star Wars," referring to his themed birthday party. I, for one, am glad they are not twins.

Footloose Bruce

There is a block party somewhere in the neighborhood just about every weekend and it always comes with loud music. Bruce is always in on the action, whether or not anyone joins him. Bruce's long-lasting jig reminds me of Kevin Bacon's famous warehouse scene in Footloose:

Happy Birthday Phoebe!

Phoebe sang "Happy Birthday" to herself for several days, but everyone got to sing it to her here. Thanks to J's parents for bringing over an amazing dark chocolate-raspberry cake. Yummy!

Two

Our sweet Phoebe turned two years old! We celebrated by having a feast with all of her favorite food and her favorite friends. The menu included homemade cheese pizza, applesauce, corn on the cob, and chocolate cupcakes. I was going to make macaroni and cheese from the box because she does love it and it's so easy to make, but Scott thought pizza would be a little more adult and kid-friendly. He was right: everyone loved it, including The Birthday Girl. We weren't sure how Phoebe would react with a big crowd, but she sat down and ate all her food.

After we ate, we frosted the cupcakes and decorated them with M&Ms and other candy, chocolate chips, and such. I'll add video of the party within the next few days. Scott and I congratulated ourselves on the party afterward: it was just what Phoebe wanted and nothing more.

We are so blessed to have Phoebe in our family (and honestly, soooo glad that she is 2 and not newborn anymore! I think I've blocked out some of the bad memories from that newborn phase, but lucky for me I'm such an honest blogger and they're all recorded here).

Tufts 2011

I promise the next post will not be about running; this blog is getting too full of running photos and race stories, which are only interesting to a limited crowd. But I can't help myself...

...it was Tufts! THE Tufts 10K, which serves as the USATF National 10K Championship. It's one of the most competitive races I run every year, and it's good to get my booty solidly kicked every once in awhile.

I took a few days off from running last week because my calf was still really sore from the previous weekend's half-marathon. I pulled on a calf support sleeve and toed the starting line on Monday, hoping I wouldn't completely rip my calf in half (been there, done that, frosh year of college!). I didn't run spectacularly fast, but ran well enough to score for my team and I didn't injure myself in the process.

I went out quick, felt like junk around Mile 4, but still held it together for a 39:03. I was 53rd place (booty solidly kicked - check). Not a great race and nowhere near my best, but good considering the week I had.

After the race, I took the train home and took the fastest shower ever. We hopped in the car and headed for Crane Beach. We stopped at an apple farm and picked up cider donuts, then went to the beach. We met up with Scott's mission companion/BYU roommate, Nathan, and his family. The weather was perfect, the beach wasn't too crowded, and the kids were overjoyed to run free. Phoebe ran at least 10K on the beach: she chased horses and dogs, she found hermit crabs and snails and would carry them for a few hundred meters before chucking them into the ocean, and she stopped to play with just about every kid on the beach. We stayed until the sun went down, then stopped to eat on the way home. After that, the kids fell asleep in the car and we had to carry their sand-covered rag-doll bodies to their beds.

It feels good to be exhausted and happy all at once.

Applefest!

I decided not to run a fall marathon awhile ago, knowing that Scott's schedule would be rough over the summer and I wouldn't have the time needed to train properly. I opted for a half-marathon instead, and selected the Applefest Half-Marathon in New Hampshire as my fall goal.

We made a family trip out of it, and Scott, his sister (Nancy, in town for a PA school interview), Bruce, and Phoebe piled in the car and drove the hour with me up to Hollis, NH. The town is tiny (one street light), and the race is relatively large (1200 runners), so we had to park in a lot far from everything and take a bus to the start line. Phoebe loved the yellow school bus experience and Bruce decided that he wasn't missing much by walking to school every day.

While I got my bib number, warmed up, and psyched out, Scott and the posse headed to Mile 2.5 for breakfast at the town's only restaurant. They ordered greasy breakfast food and jumped out of their seats to run across the restaurant parking lot and cheer me on. Mile 1 was too fast: another woman started at the front and I hung by her, not realizing how quick the pace was. When I saw 6:00 on my watch at the mile, I slowed down. She did too. We went through Mile 2 at 6:40. Too slow.

The race was very hilly and Mile 3 was almost entirely downhill. I took advantage of the downhill and some guys who were breaking away. I went with them and picked up the pace again. The course went up and down hilly country roads; we went past farms, lots of trees with yellow-tipped leaves, a few spectators here and there. I passed Mile 6.5, where a bunch of relay runners were waiting. A mile later, a woman from a relay passed me; from then on, spectators kept yelling at me that I was the "number two female" and to "go get her." I knew she was a relay runner though: she had a different color of bib number, and she was way too fresh when she ran by me.
Mile 9 was all uphill (see elevation chart above!). It was raining hard, which felt good and even made me feel a little tougher. I pushed onward and around Mile 11, got an urge to pick up the pace. As I did, my right calf cramped. It stayed cramped through the very end, but I held the pace and finished in 1:24:45. I walk-jogged my cooldown, cheering on a few friends that were racing too. I ate two bowls of apple crisp and won a huge basket of apples to make some more. I also won some $ to fund this ridiculous habit of mine (and to pay for the calf support sleeve that I purchased to soothe my achy muscle!). Next up is the Tufts 10K, one of my all-time favorite races. It's one week from today, so I'm taking it easy for the next few days so my calf will be fully functional by then.

(Photo at mile 4 by Steve Wolfe)