We love Halloween!! This year was no different!! Parties, trick-or-treating, Provo River "Halloween cruise", dressing up, and drinking orange hot cocoa:) By the end my little "Boo" was DONE with all the festivities....
The morning after mom sprayed her hair black.... Yep she looks homeless.
Joseph got us tickets for a Halloween cruise down the Provo River. We thought it might be fun, but had no idea how popular it was. They send 40-people boats out every 15 minutes and we still had to wait in a long line just to schedule a boat ride. After an hour wait we were off on our 25min spooky ride-complete with pumpkins, headless horsemen, and tootsie rolls!
As some of you may remember, we went out to the east coast last year to interview and check out MBA schools. Well the "vacation," without Bree, turned out to be really stressful and I really hated almost EVERY second. THEN we didn't even end up actually applying to MBA school-(long story) anyway, this year we FOR SURE are actually applying to schools and so back to New Hampshire/Boston we went. We have some good friends that live there (Becca and Taber Rigg) and we invited ourselves to be their house guests for five days:) They were determined to show us a good time and boy did they ever!!! We had a blast!!! We brought Bree and everything! Here are the highlights: The flight- NOT actually a highlight or something I want to repeat 34 weeks pregnant but Bree was so cute, insisting on holding daddy's hand for landing.
Feeding the goats at an apple farm which also had some freakn' good homemade doughnuts.
Babson classroom
He also had an interview up at Dartmouth but I stayed back with Bree and slept while Becca tended my child... so no pictures:(
Halloween carnival.... Drawing on a Mini Cooper
Face painting
And a little sass:) look at Bree- hello is she even RELATED to me? She looks in pain! Brinley's got it down!!!
Pumpkin decorating
Painting- I was napping
Dress ups! Yep I was napping again. I decided that I should have paid for the free child care and comfy bed- I just couldn't resist! Becca was so good to play with Bree while her mom was MIA. Becca and Taber were great! We loved staying up late and laughing together. Becca taught me a lot about relaxing as a mom and letting your kids explore and enjoy life...... Josephs "ten toy rule" may go out the window in due time:) (for those of you who don't know, my husband hates clutter and spoiled kids... So we have a rule in our house-only ten toys total. People are shocked when I tell them this and most don't believe we actually sick to it. Let me tell you my friends... WE DO. We count and everything.)
Best Halloween party EVER. really. And we have been to our share of parties. And even though we didn't win the $50 outback gift card for best costume (we were super bummed out)- Taber took us out anyway:)
Becca and I look'n hot in all our third trimester misery! We had a blast an really are excited for the possible opportunity to be "east coast people." As long as I have a GPS I'll be ok:) thanks again Taber and Becca for showing us a good time and treating us so well. (and tending my child since I was sleeping all the time:)
One of Melinda's birthday presents this year was a ticket to a weekend-long scrapbooking convention. This meant I had Bree from right after work on Friday to late night Saturday (today). I figured it would be the perfect time to take her on a Daddy/Daughter date.
We went to the Bean Museum on BYU campus and saw all the "amilos," including the "lelephant" pictured behind Brielle.
She had fun on her first outing to a museum, but was pretty concerned about the "fishies not swimming so good."
When she saw the deer, she made a high-pitched squeal and said, "That's the sound a deer makes." Her uncle Matson is an avid hunter and swears it sounds exactly like the deer call he just got at Cabella's.
We stopped by the BYU bookstore for a special treat afterward. Walking back to our car across campus I said, "One day, you might go to school here." Bree responded with wonderment, "Me?!"
I've been sick with a bad cold for the past two weeks and have been resting from all exercise.
But Momma called the doctor And the doctor said, "No more resting, run a 5k instead!"
So this morning, Bree and I were up early for the "Race for Jess 5K." A friend and wardmember (and amazing person, all-around) was killed recently in an auto-pedestrian accident on BYU campus (See news story here). This was a race to help raise funds for her medical and funeral bills.
In classic Joseph fashion, I showed up late and the runners had already taken off. So, I turned on my Runkeeper app on my phone and started running. Apparently I need to get sick, stop running for a few weeks and then push Bree in the jogging stroller for all my races because I posted my best 5K time yet.
Bree had a ton of fun, too. This is her with Inge, the other girl who also got hit but survived.
I figured I hadn't had enough exercise yet, so Bree and I went to a friend's house to pick apples and make apple juice. Notice the piles of apples (we were probably only halfway done picking them at that point), the apple crusher machine, and the press that squeezes out the juice.
In January of this year I turned to Melinda and said, "Babe, (this is what I always call her right before I'm about to say something really stupid) doing mini-sprint and sprint-distance triathlons last year was tough and all, but it wasn'tenoughtorture. I mean, I don't recall wanting to die or anything. So, how about we do an olympic-distance triathlon next year?" And thus began our trek toward the Spudman Triathlon in Burley, Idaho. We chose the Spudman because you swim downstream in a river. This was a good fit because my swimming skills are approximately on par with this cat:
It was scary signing up for a distance twice what I'd ever done before, but I consoled myself with the fact that the race wasn't until the end of July and I'd be competing with lots of loyal family and friends, who wouldn't let me downno matter what.
Of course, by the time the race rolled around the weekend of July 31st, I was the only one packing up my bike. Everyone else either had something unexpected come up, or had decided they'd rather not squeeze into a spandex race jersey so tight that it would make Spiderman blush. A co-worker got his son's baptism rescheduled for that weekend. My brother-in-law got a new job that weekend. His wife got pregnant (not that weekend, much earlier). And she must have been contagious because Melinda also got pregnant.
Melinda, Bree and I drove up to Burley on Friday, the day before the race. I enjoyed a good pre-race, carbo-load, pasta dinner. And then I used a meal ticket from one of the other racers who didn't come and helped myself to another plate. It was a fun atmosphere. There were about 1500 racers and their families, and unlike my other races, everyone looked like this: tan, sun-bleached hair, rippling muscles and 2% body fat. So, naturally, I fit right in.
That evening I got my bike transition area all set up. Do I look calm, cool and collected?
That's because I'm an actor.(Look in the program for the 1995 Timpview High School production of The Wizard of Oz and you'll see my name listed under Flying Monkey and, yes, Munchkin. I was a 6 ft-tall munchkin.)
From the point this picture was taken I was in constant danger of passing out from anxiety and hyperventilation.
The next morning we woke around 6:30am and headed to the race start.
I got in my first wetsuit for my first open-water swim of my first olympic-distance triathlon. Start times were staggered to accommodate all the racers, and my wave was 8. Melinda and I couldn't find each other after I went to change because there were so many people and we all looked alike with black wetsuits and a neon orange swim cap. After searching for several minutes, Melinda finally found me and gave me a good luck kiss, only to wonder afterward why I had brown eyes and a goatee.
"I'm going to die. I can't breathe. Why didn't I ever practice swimming outside of a pool? I'm going to drown.I'll never make it a full mile. And why did Melinda kiss that guy with a goatee?"
19 minutes and 7 seconds later I crawled out of the water and switched to my bike. Because of my near-death experience a month earlier, I packed plenty of water and energy gels and downed them almost constantly. The bike portion was 24 miles long and so I found a friend to pace off for the majority of the course. We passed a lot of other racers, and in turn were also passed by a lot of people who looked like they'd just got finished running around a spaceship with Sigourney Weaver.
An hour and ten minutes later I jumped off my bike, threw on my Vibram Five Finger shoes and headed out for the 10k run. The good news was that were no clouds that day, so I didn't have to worry about annoying cloud cover. I didn't break any records on the run with my 53:43 time, but I was able to finish strong. Since I had no idea how much energy I had to reserve, I ended up having enough energy for a full-on sprint toward the finish line. This made me look better than I actually was in the video Melinda took of my finish.
Here's me in my not-appropriate-for-date-night jersey (note the uncovered shoulders and bare midriff—eat your heart out, Spiderman). This was taken during the final sprint to the finish:
My final time was 2:28:08 which was pretty much middle of the pack for my division. The good news was I finished alive and had my two best girls waiting at the end for me.
This is our second attempt at growing watermelon. Last year was pretty much a disaster so I talked to some experts and this year was a bit better. I love having a garden, mostly because it gets Bree outside and helping and eating things she normally would not eat. She now LOVES peas, though her loathing for tomatoes still exists:( I am also happy to announce that I have received ONE red tomato from my GIANT plant because Bree loves to pick the "green ones," despite my CONSTANT teaching
Check out the size of those green peppers...... Nope didn't get any of those this year...*sigh*
Man I love her! She talks so so well and we have so much fun singing and checking the garden and reading books! Mommyhood rocks!
Bree has had this throwing up problem for quite a while. She throws up 4-5 times a week and we have been in the process of trying to find out what the heck is going on. After many doctor visits and medications the specialist finally recommended doing an EGD. It is a simple scope and no big deal.......BUT I WAS FREAKING OUT! mostly because the surgery was scheduled for two in the afternoon and she wasn't allowed to EAT!!!!! wait... what???- you know she is TWO right???? It's not like she gets the "fasting surgery concept." She could drink clear liquids for breakfast and that's it. So I ask you- what did you have for breakfast??? We had frozen gadorade and soda:)
Then we went to play with friends to keep OUR minds off the fact that food was not an option. Came home to find that someone loves us:) we got some care packages that were a life saver. Included was a cute coloring activity for Bree to keep her distracted before surgery. And then of course treats for me and for after
We talked a ton about what was going to happen and that doctors are nice. I even got a mask from my pediatrician so we practiced putting it on so she wouldn't freak out when they put her to sleep. Then I get to the hospital and find out I can't even hold her while they put her to sleep because the gases are no good for pregnant people...... WHAT- freak out #1
And we survived:)
Worst part- the hour before surgery Bree kept asking for a "chicken taco" and a "roll up" (don't judge on how much we eat out:)) it broke my heart:( Then when she woke up she was beside herself. Screaming like a crazy person. And that is not my Bree. Freak out #2. They diagnosed her with an esophagus disease and possibly something funky with her stomach. We will know more Friday.
All in all two freak outs- not too bad:) Bree was a trooper and glad we know whats wrong:) Poor thing:(
Today a friend in my ward taught me how to can. Now, I did learn canning in college as part of one of my class but I haven't ever done done it, so I was kinda freaking out. Everyone said canning was the worst thing ever and took so much time and blah blah blah. Now it DID take time.... And it WAS messy. But now I have PEACHES AND JAM and I feel good about myself:) what more could I want:)
This is me at 27weeks btw:)
Brenda- my dear friend who made my experience so awesome!
Bree LOVING some homemade canned salsa. She was in heaven!! Look forward to Christmas my friends because some of you will be receiving some delicious peach jam!
I'm sitting in Macey's grocery store. My head is face-down on the table and my left hand holds an empty bottle of chocolate milk. The plump older lady who has been periodically glancing in my direction looks more concerned than ever as she finishes her ice cream cone, gets up and walks behind me. I feel a hand pat my shoulder knowingly as she says, "You really need to find a girl who makes you feel good about yourself."
Say what?
Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten to put my wedding ring back on after the workout. The lady apparently thought I'd been dumped by a girl and, in my despair, had gone to Macey's grocery store so I could drown my sorrows in a quart of chocolate milk.
Yes. That is exactly what had happened.
I was dumped by a girl. Except replace "dumped by a girl" with "almost died doing my first full, olympic-distance triathlon workout but without any calories or water and in the middle of a scorching July afternoon." You'll also need to replace "drown my sorrows" with "attempt to avoid going to the hospital for heat exhaustion, dehydration and calorie-deficiency." Finally, replace "quart of chocolate milk" with "quart of chocolate milk."
Yep. With Melinda out of town and the olympic-distance Spudman Triathlon coming up in 6 weeks, I had decided to try and do (for the first time ever and without wife supervision) a back-to-back-to-back workout simulating the actual race. 1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, and 6 mile run. With only a bottle of water. At 1:30pm on a July afternoon. With no clouds in the sky.
Fast forward three and a half hours to me shaking, sweating and groaning at the table in Macey's. If I would have been able to speak, I would have told the lady that I was actually happily married and that, if she didn't mind, would she please call an ambulance while I went outside to throw up all the chocolate milk?
I don't know how much water weight I lost that day, but let's just say that the rest of the night I just tried to eat and drink everything I could:
20 oz water 2 large oranges 2 regular arby's roast beef sandwiches 16oz soda 5 hr energy drink 44 oz soda 44 oz water 44 oz water Mcdonalds value fries Double Cheeseburger Medium smoothie
...And I still weighed a pound less than I did that morning.
Here's the RunKeeper record of my swim (http://rnkpr.com/a6uyz3), bike (http://rnkpr.com/a6uved) and run (http://rnkpr.com/a6ux6f). Note my poor time on the run. I walked most of the 6 miles because my body was shutting down and I couldn't run or even lightly jog. I had no idea I was in trouble physically. I just thought I was wimping out and kept trying to psych myself up.
So, with such a horrible experience with the olympic distance a mere 6 weeks before the actual race, how did I actually do at the Spudman Triathlon? That will have to wait for another post, but here is a sneak peek:
