Muddy Buddy 2009

Last Sunday, Team Rum Runners were back in action! Eric & I participated in our 2nd Muddy Buddy Race in Johnson City. Of course we had a blast! The course was a 100 times harder than the Dallas Course. Just think Texas Hill Country with Rocks, Muds, Hill versus Dallas Plains! I felt I could never get any speed though, because I was trying not to eat dirt. But overall we kicked butt and had fun doing it! These races have been such a great experience for us, of course we have our "date nights" , but it is rare to be in a team competitive situation. It nice to have the positive support to complete the race and then finishing together! I couldn't have chose a better Muddy Buddy! Go Team Rum Runners!

Check out more pictures at: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?S=20&EVENTID=49873&PWD=&BIB=245&DIVISION=&TEAM=

Before the Race...Clean

Our Cute Lil' Frog

After the Race...Dirty!

Get Me Away From the My Dirty Parents!

The Only Way We Could Get a Pic w/Kaylee

iWalk

Last Wednesday, we had a iWalk Race during lunch. One of the the many reasons I enjoy Apple so much is their amazing Wellness center. There is a state of the art Gym with every class imaginable (Spin, Yoga, Pilates) and the locker room has a nice spa like feel. Not to mention, the offices are right by a .5 mile Trail Loop, which is nice to go to when the weather isn't TOO hot! They also offer Massages, Physical Therapy, Nutrition help, and lots of Educational Services. It shows that they care of the quality of life for employees. It is so nice and convenient for a working mom that tries to maximize the day! Anyhow, I was very proud of myself for coming in 3rd Overall and 2nd Girl in the 5k Race out of 280 people! Woohoo! I maintained a great steady pace and I am starting to get a good feel for running. I just need to get over the "I hate this, why I am doing this?" mental battle during the run! But it is always worth it after the fact!

Kaylee Starts down the Path of Being Diaper Free

Today was a major milestone for Kaylee. She used the potty for the first time this morning. She sat on the toilet, made a little grunt, and next thing you know we hear a plop (and the plop was not Kaylee falling in).

Iowa Roots

You know your kiddo has Iowa Roots when..... your 17 month old grabs an ear of corn out of your hand and devours it. She acted like she was eating off the cob for years.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful women out there! Saturday night, we celebrated with a big feast for my mom! Eric grilled an enormous amount of meat and his Spicy Jammy Ribs were amazing as usual. It was great dinner, but I was tired after all that cookin'. All I wanted for Sunday Breakfast was an Italian Sausage & Red Pepper Strata that I spotted in the Bon Appetit magazine last month. Boy, was it good. Then, Eric, Kaylee, & I headed to Flat Creek Winery outside of Marble Falls. It was very pretty winery, it had the Texas Tuscan look and feel. The vines were big and established more than other Texas Wineries. The wine was surprisingly good as well. Most Texas Wines are very sweet like our Tea, but these weren't too sweet. We spent some good time tasting and walking around the wildflower garden. I definitely would like to go back, especially because it is only 45 minutes away. Afterwards, we went into Marble Falls to Sweet Berry Farms to go pick Strawberries. Kaylee is hands down at the perfect age for this! She love it, although she managed to pick every "bad" strawberry there was. The "good" strawberries were sooo juicy, Kaylee was a complete mess. We attempted to go pet the goats, but she climbed up me as fast as she could. I don't blame her, since they were taller than her. She did enjoy watching them, just from above. The best part was the homemade strawberry ice cream and well that was the perfect day for me. Hope all the mothers and moms-to-be had a great day as well. Did I mention Eric did ALL the dishes & laundry?!? :)

Yummy Strata

My 2 Favorite People, Eric & Kaylee

There was no one to take our picture, so this is us trying.

Pretty Winery

You tell Kaylee to collect something and she will be your BFF.

Picking out the "Bad" Strawberries

Scary Goat

Hope you can see Kaylee's Smiling Face!

Hog Shank Redemption

Last Thursday, Apple had their annual BBQ Cook-Off. My team's name was Hog Shank Redemption and I acted as the "Cheerleader" or "Cruise Controller", meaning I talked smack to the competition and provide the entertainment. I had a blast. We were outside all day with 24 other teams. There was 4 categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork, and Brisket. In the afternoon, we had a Beer Bash and the winners were announced. Drumroll please.....we got 2nd place in Ribs! It was a lot of fun and I can't wait for next year! I should also mention the "Peep" is our mascot. Similar to the gnome for Travelocity, we take "Peep" pictures at various events. It is hilarious.

Amazing Brisket

2nd Place Ribs!

Hog Shank Redemption

Senor Peeps with the Trophy

Wedding Bells

We had a jam-packed weekend and needed a couple of days to recover! Saturday, we went to my very dear friend's wedding in Seguin, Texas. I have known Miss Julia since 1st Grade, oh how I love Hidden Forest! She had a Polish Catholic Ceremony, which was very interesting to have some of the ceremony in Polish! How cool? Then, the reception was at the gorgeous Nolte Farms, which is on the Guadalupe River. It was so so so pretty! Probably one of the best weddings I ever been too! Eric and I had a blast, not only because we having so much fun with old friends, but my folks took care of Kaylee for the night. Getaway to Seguin, never thought I would say that! I danced the night away and there is video to prove it! Sunday, I headed back with the girls to San Antonio for Brackin's Wedding Shower. I spent several hot summers with her as lifeguards and now she lives in cold Minnesota? So, it was nice to see her and take part in her wedding festivities. Although my team loss in the Wedding Family Feud game, we were robbed! Then, we rushed back to Austin to go to Kaylee's teacher's Going Away Party. It is always fun to watch all the kiddos play with their BFFs. Kaylee sure does love the slide and the height of the slide does not to seem to phase her anymore. We love Miss Jordan and we are going to miss her, but I know we will keep in touch. Phew...see why we needed to recover?

Eric & Kristen on the Guadalupe

Cocktail Hour

With Beautiful Bride

Too Much Fun! :)

Our Not-So-Baby Anymore

We had our final Urologist Appointment for Kaylee on Tuesday. Yay! Her "bad" kidney has completely disappeared. This is great news, because it rules out surgery. Her "good" kidney is very healthy and is the size of a 10-12 yr old's kidney. There is no reason to have any more follow-ups with the Urologist unless she gets a Urinary Tract Infection or something similar. But she hasn't had one yet, so we aren't concerned. Thank you all for supporting Eric & I through this journey....Kaylee appreciates it too, but she didn't sweat it much! :)

In other news, Kaylee has moved to the next class, The Warblers! The class has 20 vibrant kiddos from 18 months to 3 years old. Goals for this class are potty training, dressing/undressing themselves, self-serving food with place settings, pouring water from the pitcher to the cup, and garden practice (planting, picking, washing, cutting, and eating!). There is a lot more, but this is what we are most excited about!

Kaylee will turn 18 months next week, here are our some of her current favs:

Foods We Can't Live Without - Yogurt, Cheese, Olives, Fruit (no change there), Black Beans & Corn

New Words - Muffin, Box, Backpack, Chick, Rabbit, Max, Flower, Po-Po (Butt)

Favorite Animals - Dog, Ducks, Elephant, Alligator, Monkey, Pigs

Obsessions - Cooking, Yardwork with Daddy, Getting Ready (Hair/Make-Up) with Mommy (Every Morning!) and of course SHOES!

Holy Schnikes!

Saturday Morning, Eric & I participated in the Texas Round-Up 5k. The weather was humid sticky and about to pour....not ideal running weather! I have taken some time off since the last 10K, so I wasn't in the best running shape. Knowing my 10K pace now, I was thinking I needed to kick up the pace today. Boy, was it rough. I sprinted the 1st mile and died in the humidity. Never really recovered or felt great about the run I finished at 25 minutes 37 seconds. Not too bad, but I was hoping for less than 24 minutes. Any how, after finishing and wanting to re-do, the times were posted and.....I came in 2nd place in my age group of 55 people! I'm so excited and gives me even more motivation to do another one, because I KNOW I could have done better! Eric did great too, finishing right behind me at 26 minutes 54 seconds. I was very proud of him and he ran much more technical than I did! My parents met us at the race with Kaylee, where she devoured my Jamba Juice, watched and danced to the Cheerleaders, and ran around the Gymnastics set-up. The Muddy Buddy is around the corner....go Team Rum Runners!

Happy Easter!

Little behind on the Easter pics, but here are some fun times with Kaylee. We spent Easter at the my folks house in San Antonio. We had an Easter Egg for Kaylee and she really got in to it! So much fun. We enjoyed an awesome Easter Lunch with Lamb Lollipops and Ham...yum! And Kaylee made Strawberry Cupcakes....oh my gosh did she enjoy cooking with Mommy?!? Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Hoppin' into Easter

Eric and I were rather excited about the Easter Festivities this year! This is where having kids gives you an excuse to dye eggs and go to Easter Egg Hunts! Kaylee came home Thursday with a 102 Fever, but she was in a VERY good mood. She was eating well and had lots of energy, it was just a stubborn fever. We didn't think we would be able to dye Easter Eggs, but she was rearing to go. She could have dyed eggs for hours, she really enjoyed it! She was amazed how the eggs changed color. There was alot of ooohhh and awwws! Then, Saturday morning we went to Kaylee's 1st Easter Egg Hunt! She got excited once the kids started running all over the place. She also went into her first bouncy castle! As for the Easter Bunny, she was waving to him while waiting in line, but the minute it was our turn...WAHAH! It was pretty funny! We are off to San Antonio to spend Easter Day with the May Clan! Happy Easter! Enjoy the pics....

Weekend in Florida

Last weekend, I went to go my BFF Becky G in Florida....Gainesville! For the record, Gainesville is not the pretty city off the beach. It is a typical huge college town in the swamp. Keep in mind I have been visiting her in beautiful Santa Barbara for the past 6 years, this was a change! Becky is currently getting her Masters in Physician Studies at University of Florida...so very proud of her! The weather was beautiful...sunny, clear skies, and no humidity, which was rare! We hung out by the pool, acted like we were ungrads at the bars, played flip cup, went shopping, and even managed to find a swanky sushi restaurant. All in all it was a very fun weekend, it doesn't matter what city you are in when you are with your BFF!