Autumn = changes

I love this time of year! The crisp cool air, the changing of leaves and falling to the ground, hot chocolate, and fires in the fireplace! It's also a great time to take up a new hobby....jogging! I have taken up this hobby in the past week. I did it once several years ago and even ran/walked in a 5k. It was one of the greatest sense of accomplishments I have ever felt. And then....I quit right after the 5k. Why? Who knows? But, I'm turning over a new 'leaf' (since it is Fall) and have begun again. I'm doing this program called C25K, which stands for from the Couch to (2) a 5K. It's designed for all of us who are couch potatoes and not used to any kind of excercise and get us running a 5k. It's a 9 week program and I am now on week 2. Week 1 felt great! I look forward to my walk/jog today as I start the 2nd week. To seal my commitment even more, I purchased a double jogging stroller off of Craigslist.com last week. I got a great deal on it for $70!!! It's practically brand new and hardly used!!! The kids love to go for a ride in it. In fact, the jogging stroller is sitting right next to the car in the garage, and whenever we leave to go somewhere, Jadyn runs to the stroller and climbs in rather than head to her carseat in the car. I have to pry her squealing body out of the stroller as I lift her into her carseat almost every time. AND, to go a step further in my commitment to live healthier, I am running in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. I'll be around week 7 of my training, so I'm not going to run as a competitor, but I will run nonetheless. My goal is to be a 5k competitor by April for Race for the Cure.

Eli will be 4 months old on the 16th. I know I always say this, but, man! Time flies! He's a bald baby now since I shaved his quickly-falling-out hair about a week ago. The new hair is already getting longer and it looks like he's going to be fairly blonde! :) I can't shower enough kisses on his adorable head! I figure the day is going to come when he'll squirm out of my arms, not wanting all of mommy's kisses and hugs, so I have to do it while he's too young to get away! ;)

Jadyn is about to turn 2 in a month. She is interested in potty training, but not yet serious about it. And quite honestly, I am not sure how much of it she understands. She doesn't seem to make a connection with the whole reward system, and I sure don't want to FORCE her to go potty, since she's not even TWO yet! So, I keep telling myself that we'll continue to sit on the potty at her own pace for a while longer. Most of the time, she'll sit on the potty, but GOING potty is another story! Even though she's 'pee-peed' twice out of the 50 million times we've gone, I don't think she still comprehends that when you sit on the potty, that's when you 'go'. You don't 'go' after we sit on the potty and pull the training pants back up. Sigh.

On another Jadyn note, she has changed from a toddler of any play toy, to a little girl who likes girly things. These days, she can be found carrying around her doll or My Little Pony. She likes to feed her doll and pat her, then put her in the Bumbo. Then, she'll pick up her doll, feed her, then put her in the Bumbo. And, repeat. :) I love seeing her carrying around her 'purse' or looking at herself in the mirror, or 'fixing' her hair after mommy already has. I love having a girly girl. She's starting to sit for longer periods of time too. She enjoys coloring and reading books. Her still all time favorite are BALLOONS! This child will spot a balloon from a mile away! She'll play with balloons for hours! (when you add up all the increments of minutes she plays with balloons, it really will equal hours!) She's even started calling me "momma" sometimes. A couple of times, she yelled "Mom!" from her crib, as she was ready to get out. When I went in there, I reminded her that I am still Mommy and that she was too young to be referring to me as "Mom" already! :)

Work has been kind of slow for Jay these days, but we're praying it picks up soon. He has an engineering conference coming up at the end of this month in Houston, and he and I are looking forward to the getaway time with no children. While he's at workshops, I'll be enjoying the quietness of the hotel room...sleeping in, reading books, watching movies all kid free! And of course, I'm still going to miss my kiddos! I don't think I'll ever get used to being away from them. Originally, we were going to take them with us, but I decided it was time for a little just 'us' time. :) Jay was really excited when I told him the kids were going to Grandma's. Haha! :) I'm looking forward to just 'us' time too. :)

Well, the chili is simmering and the family is ready to head out for a family 'jog' before dinner. Week 2 Day 1 of C25K, here I come! :)
Catch ya later!