Sleepy Girl

As I eluded to yesterday, Bennett escaped from her bed at nap time, and I was not able to get her to go back down.  Then, later in the day, she was reading some books, so I encouraged her to move to her "reading chair" in her room.  She was excited to read there.  I told her I was going to go change the laundry and I would check on her in a couple minutes.  While I was downstairs, I heard a loud crash, and Bennett didn't respond.  So I ran upstairs into her room and found her like this.....

Little Miss Stubborn had finally fallen asleep! I guess the crash was all of her books falling off of her lap!

She was great at bedtime last night and this morning, but after a 1/2 hour in her bed today at nap time, she got out again! This time I lured her back into her bed by allowing her to read her "big book" (a HUGE book of bedtime stories from Uncle Tom that she LOVES) in her bed.  That book usually has to stay in the living room.  After a few minutes of reading her big book, she was off to sleep.  PHEW! She needed this nap BADLY!!

Fishing Success!

On Sunday, we headed out to Innsbrook.  Brandon helped Bennett successfully catch her first fish! Well, he caught it, but she reeled it in.  Her Princess fishing pole still has not had any luck, but it did have a few nibbles while we were there, so at least she got to see the bobber go under water! Here they are with their catch.  Bennett is already telling fisherman tales, because she refers to this fish as the HUGE fish that she and daddy caught!

On another note, my worst nightmare came true today.  Bennett hasn't really napped at all for the past 4 days straight.  However, she still spends at least an hour reading quietly in her bed, so I count that as some pretty good rest time.  Today, she had only been in her bed about a half hour when I heard a little pitter patter of feet upstairs.  She had GOTTEN OUT of her bed! This is the first time she has ever tried it.  I'm so sad!!! 

Our Newest Holiday Baking Adventure

Happy Halloween!! :)

Skippo Pics!

Finally got some pictures from the race a couple weeks ago.  This section is the dreaded stairs.  A set of 400 steps that get you from the river you can see down below, to the top of the hill without the benefit of significant  switchbacks.  I did my best to put on a happy face for the camera.  That was difficult the second time around. 

Big thanks to Big River Running Co. for putting on the race, and having awesome photos available.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

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Pumpkin Patch and New Haircut

Bennett got a pretty drastic haircut this weekend, and we're loving it! She looks like a totally different kid! We also went to the pumpkin patch with some friends on Sunday.  Since the weather has been so rainy and gross the past couple of weekends, I think EVERYONE had the same idea that we did.  It was packed! But Bennett had fun running around with her little 10 month old and  1-year-old boyfriends, Colin and Cole.  It made her look like a giant though! :)  We took tons of pictures! I posted a couple below.

Bennett was enthralled with the lollipop she got from Red Robin, who she called "Fredbird." Although we had a bit of a meltdown when she accidently dropped it on the ground!

Cole, Bennett and Colin

Being pensive on a pumpkin

Family pic

Also...funny story...Bennett kind of threw a fit getting into her car seat today as we were leaving play group at her friend Peyton's house.  After I finally wrestled her seat belt on and I got in the car, I told her she was in trouble for not cooperating.  She stopped crying and looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry I cried.  I don't want a timeout when we get home.  Can I just go to bed?" I knew she was tired, but that was just too precious.  She promptly fell asleep in the car and transferred right in her bed when we got home!

October

October seems to be flying by! We had a great time with Meredith while she was home for some of her Fall Break.  We all really missed her and it was great to spend some time with her! 

Also, when Pa stops by in the mornings, he and Bennett have some things that they regularly do.  She LOVES to play in his car (see above!), and they also collect sticks and stick them in the ground to create a "stick people family." They have gotten pretty elaborate lately.  I need to get a picture of that!!

Last night we all bundled up and walked up to Schnucks to rent a movie.  Bennett looked so cute in her hat from Great Grandma Caskey and her new fleece, that we had to snap a picture.  

In the spirit of Halloween, here is a picture of the spider that has been living on our deck.  Yikes! That thing is HUGE!!!

Bennett is continuing to do great with potty training! She now wears underwear all day long except for her naps and at night when she still wears a Pull Up.  She typically can stay dry at her nap, but is still wet in the mornings.  So that will be our next hurdle.  She's doing amazing though.  I can't believe how quickly she has gotten the hang of it! She is even using the potty at school and went while she was in the nursery at the gym the other day.  I'm so proud of her!!

The Skippo 20k Trail Race - Recap

Sunday was my last big training day before the 50k in November.  One last chance to put some hurt into the legs, and add some confidence to my mind.  The plan was simple: run easy to warm up, run hard during the race, the run some more after the race no matter how painful or slow it is.
My buddy John and I ran about 4.5 miles on the trails before the race, just to get good and warm.  It was a great way to get into a rhythm and make an educated decision about what to wear for the race.  After that first loop, I refueled and stretched lightly.  Just before the start, I shed a couple layers because it was about 40F, and not too windy.
I couldn't help myself in the race.  I went hard.  Like I always do.  Originally, though, I wanted to just "push the pace" a little bit to simulate tired legs and higher effort than normal.  I overdid it admittedly, but I loved it!  This was pretty  much all out, half-marathon effort.  I just went with it and ran as hard as my heart and legs would let me.  The course was supposed to be 20k (12.4mi), but ended up being a little long (12.8mi).  I finished in 9th place overall, and 2nd in my AG in 1:32:25.  I was very excited!
http://bigriverrunning.com/skippo20k_male.htm
Then came the hardest part of the morning.  John and I headed back out for 5 more miles on the trails.  We were notably slower, and much less comfortable than we were earlier in the morning, but we were moving!  That's what counts.  One foot in front of the other.
All told, we ran over 22mi in a little over 3 hours.  Needless to say, it felt great to sit and eat a hotdog, pretzels, peanut M&Ms, cookies, and drink beer at the post-race BBQ.  It was well-deserved.
That run gave me a total of 903 for 2009 so far... more than DOUBLING my mileage from last year.  A tribute to the trails.  And to not trying to do Ironman.
I was out of commision the last 2 days, but I'm feeling much better now, and was even able to get up and run in the rain this morning.
Also, on Monday night, we went for a family walk.  We made a deal with Bennett that if she'd sit in the stroller for one lap, we would let her walk the next lap with us.  Our goal was to walk quickly and get the heart pumping a little bit.  Turns out, our second lap was faster than the first.  Having a toddler is always a surprise.   Bennett ran around the entire neighborhood.  I kid you not.  All .50 miles of it, without stopping - except to fall twice.  I thought that for her to run at her top speed for that long was incredible.  I was most impressed with her tenacity, though.  She was determined to run around the entire loop, and she wouldn't be stopped.  After each tumble, we inspected her hands and knees, deemed her no worse for the wear, and she kept right on charging.   What a trooper! 
It is good to see all the speed work and drills paying off.  :)

"She may be potty trained, but she'll have 16 cavities!"

Just since Thursday, we have had a ton of success potty training Bennett! Wow, has she made some strides! The first couple of times, she was a little nervous and scared, but after that, she was extremely proud of herself! She has also had a fun few days of treats like Dora fruit snacks, new soap for the bathroom, stickers, beanie babies, etc. for all of her potty training success.  Hence the quote above! haha Thanks to Grandma Joje for providing a lot of those treats.   We have gone from setting the timer every 30 minutes and sitting on the potty, to her actually recognizing the feeling and telling me, "mommy, I need to go to the potty now!" She has even stayed dry during her nap, which has never happened before.  And today, she was in her bed at nap time not sleeping for about a half hour, then she called me in saying she had to go to the potty.  I thought for sure it was just a trick tactic to get out of her bed, but she actually went! She's truly understanding the feeling, and we're on our way.  She loves wearing her Dora and Halloween panties from Nana and Papa too, and she's extremely proud of keeping them dry!  We are so thrilled for our big girl!!!! :)

Here's a picture of Bennett with her last two boxes of diapers.  We connected them and made them into a train that she can give her beanie babies and dolls rides in (we thought Great-Grandpa Caskey would be proud!)

We also went to the Cardinals game last night.  Although the results were very disappointing, we had great seats (thanks Pa!) and we all had fun.  Bennett LOVED searching for Fred Bird, and was a good girl at the game.  Here are a couple of cute family pictures from last night...

Also, on the baby update front, I had my 24 week appointment on Friday.  Everything sounded great, but I am measuring a week big.  The doc said that this little boy is definitely going to be bigger than Bennett was (NOOOO!).  :) 

Eckert's Apple Picking

Today we went to Eckert's Orchard with some friends for our annual apple picking extravaganza.  We actually found the apples to be quite picked over, but the kids still had a ton of fun! We will have to go a little earlier in the season next year.  It was a gorgeous fall day though, and a great one to spend outside! Bennett is now exhausted and taking a great nap! Here are some pictures from our adventure.  

BTW, Bennett has a ridiculous "fake smile" where she sticks out her lower jaw.  You will see it in quite a few of these photos! We need to work on that! haha

Pumpkins!!

Bennett, Hollye Anne, Will and Addison riding the tractor-pulled wagon down to the orchard to pick apples.

Bennett was searching the trees for apples that she could reach!

Three of the kids decided to have a race down one of the long rows of apple trees.

Driving the tractor

Another tractor...the kids were really good at taking turns driving!

Brandon & Bennett camping

Stemming from a trip to the Alpine Shop a few weeks ago where Brandon let Bennett play in tents, she has been asking him to tell her about camping every single day.  Brandon finally figured that it's only going to get colder, so if they were going to camp, they should do it now.  So they had a camping adventure on Saturday night.  First, we all roasted marshmallows and made S'mores inside over our S'more maker.  Bennett had fun roasting the marshmallow, but then would not touch it b/c it was sticky! However, she devoured her graham cracker and chocolate! 

After that, Brandon and Bennett bundled up and headed out to the backyard.  It was pretty chilly that night, but we have really warm sleeping bags and a great tent.  After reading a few books, Brandon said it only took about 15 minutes for Bennett to fall asleep.  She woke up one time during the night, but fell back asleep right away.  They made it until 7AM.  I was very impressed!! 

Can you tell from these pictures that she was excited? 

We're Camping!

Bennett and I are "roughing it" in the back yard. Hope to see some
stars.

A Clean Slate, And A New Leaf

When Laura was out of town last weekend, I was bitten by the project bug, so Bennett and I took on the garage.  Friday night after she went to bed, I moved most of the junk outside. I threw a lot of it away, too.  It looked like a crappy yard sale, but I was willing to suffer the scorn of my neighbors in return for an insanely clean garage.  Throughout Saturday,  I did more cleaning, removing, sweeping (or as Bennett calls it, "brooming with Daddy"), and organizing.  During Bennett's afternoon nap, I hosed down the garage completely.  Pa and Joje watched Bennett for a bit in the evening so I could run to Lowe's to pick up a couple more supplies.  That night, I spent many hours diligently rearranging the contents of the garage onto new storage shelves, and of course, painting the floor!

When I was finished, it was glorious!  Showroom quality, I tell you. Would have had no qualms about eating off the floor it was so clean and beautiful.  Almost a shame to drive on it now.  I also painted the parking blocks red just for a touch of color.

By the time Laura got back home, I was exhausted.  Mommy took over and got to spend a little quality time with Bennett before her bedtime.  I never sat and watched any baseball or football games all weekend, but I feel pretty good about what I got accomplished. 

To take stock of September, it was a little disappointing from a data standpoint - but it was injury related. Only 12 runs, and a less-than-planned 114mi.  :(

Still, many positives: a couple 20 milers on the trails felt relatively easy - as in, I could move around the next day without feeling like I was hit by a truck - , the injury is behind me because I managed it well (both the ankle, and the very sore shins seem to be under control), the rest has me completely recharged and ready to go, and September did have a few awesome runs with new friends where headlamps were required.  Running well before the sun comes up adds a whole new dimension to the trail.  It seems to make a place I've been 100 times before, feel new again.  Now it is time to let go of September and move on.

I can finally turn over a new leaf today - so to speak.  Does anybody else feel good about starting a new month? Sure, I theoretically could "start fresh" with any given day or week, but there's something beautiful about an entire month as a clean slate, espeically as it relates to my training log.  It is stark white, ready to be written, step by step, run by run.  it could be HUGELY SUCCESSFUL, or an epic FAIL... but that's the fun part.  The adventure.

I signed up for a 20k trail race on October 11th that I'm excited about, but I'll probably utilize it as a training day to some extent, with some solid mileage both before and after the race.  After that, there are only 2 more significant training weekend which will physiologically benefit my performance at the 50k on November 7th. That's almost as exciting as the fact that I scored these trail running shoes for $38 at the Alpine Shop. :)