Miracle Miles for Kids

A couple weekends ago (I have fallen behind on blogs, yet again) as a family we participated in the Miracle Miles for Kids 10K. The race started at Morro Rock in Morro Bay, and ended at the Cayucos Pier. Yep, 6.2 miles along the beautiful coastline!

Well, it wasn't all pretty. It was rough at times with loose sand, water, wind, rocks and cliffs to navigate over (with a 23 pound snoozing baby in a jogging stroller!)

The race itself was delayed close to 30 minutes to allow extra time for people stuck in the traffic getting there, and we were stuck in line to get our bibs for about that long! We started 20 minutes after the delayed start! It was kind of a relief to miss the initial crowds though. We had a good start- the sand was firm, weather was perfect, Russell was pushing the stroller, and Sienna was happily snacking.

Then there was a small stream to pass and I was not very happy to have wet socks and shoes that early on! Then the wind picked up, and we were of course running against it! But Sienna took a long siesta, and we trekked on, until the first huge obstacle- a rocky cliff, that bottled-necked into a single file line from 2 areas. It took forever to get through! Luckily it was just wide enough to push the stroller across and we got back to running after the delay. Then the sand got softer and looser, and rockier and there were a few more hurdles that we had to now carry the stroller over. I figure we can take atleast 15 minutes off our time for all the time waiting to cross and climb, right? :) Come to find out, they weren't expecting the tide to be in so high, with the late start, usually the course is much better.

But we made it! And hope to make it a yearly event! It was for a great cause- kids and families in need!

At the Starting Line

Just getting going...

Climbing the first cliff

At this point, I was wishing we could trade spots

Let us through!

About half way through

WE MADE IT! 6.2 miles later. The rock was the starting point!

*TEAM IN TRAINING UPDATE!

This race was actually a planned event for my team, and a "break" in our training program, since it was lower miles than we had been running (We did 8 the Sat before). Break? Haha! My muscles hurt in all new ways! My half marathon is quickly approaching- just over a month away!! The miles are really adding on now! It has been very challenging to keep up, with life being so busy (the big birthday, being sick, now awful allergies, rainy weather, weekend trips). Usually, any one of those excuses would be a reason for me to completely stop my past workout routines. But I am determined, and if I miss a run or two, I know I will be ok. I am confident that although I am slow, I will finish those 13.1 miles! Slow and steady wins the race, right? And I like to think about how excited Griffin and my mom would be to see me cross that finish line.

Fundraising has also been hard, but I am very close to being at the fundraising minimum of $2500. But of course I would love to pass that! Please consider donating to an amazing cause, in the memory of my nephew Griffin's fight against the bad guys!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/rnr10/rmolina69g

Stats and such

Last Friday was Sienna's 12 month checkup. In 2 days, she will be 13 months old! Are the months really going to speed up even more now that she broke the year mark? Anyway, the doctor visit went very well and her stats were:

Height: 32 inches (still off the charts!)

Weight: 23 pounds (75%)

Head: can't remember, but its also off the charts

So she just keeps growing! Dr was impressed with her growth and development in all areas... Nothing too exciting, besides us being there for an hour and fifteen minutes! They took forever and then longer, so Sienna was past nap time and not very happy. Luckily, she only had one shot, and a toe prick to test her hemoglobin, which I was very nervous about, but she wasn't bothered in the slightest bit. And the test showed a good level...

What else has happened these last weeks?

*We have switched her over completely to milk, and she is doing great with that... we are now cutting out bottles, and have a special transition type sippy cup for mornings and pre bedtime.

*As I mentioned in a previous post, we had a difficult few weeks with starting daycare, changing schedules, getting MOLARS (teeth count now is 10), and being sick with a bad virus causing sleeping and digestive problems. Oh and planning and throwing a huge birthday party. But the last couple weeks have been great with a routine is setting in. She is happy, and so are we!

*Daycare is fabulous! It's still hard dropping her off in the morning, wishing I could just be with her, but she doesn't cry when I drop her off any more! I really like the owner, and she has a warm and fun home (plus has been doing this for 14 years). She has 3-5 kids on a given day, including a couple younger infants and one boy a month older than Sienna who is her best buddy! Sienna loves the kids, especially the older ones... I am so pleased this has worked out so well. It was really overwhelming and difficult at the beginning...

*Mondays are at Lolly's house where she has SO much fun. I am so grateful she has this time with her grandparents! She gets to ride around in the golf cart, play with the dogs and cats, play in the dirt (she loves loves dirt), "help" in the garden, and visit with Great Gma, Aunt Cherie, and her buddy Sami... And have some time with Pop, one of her very favorite people!

*Talking, boy does she talk! Besides constant chatter, she is able to communicate wants and needs with us! When asked if she wants something, she says "essss" and rocks her upper body. And she points to everything she sees and wants... Words she says regularly include: dog shasta ("shas" our dog), bath (which she repeats over and over again when we go by the bathroom), duck, hi and bye (which she says after blowing a kiss to absolutely anyone and everyone)...

*Food! She still is a great eater, but getting a little pickier and either really wants something, or wants nothing to do with it. She is a bit more particular and prefers us to vary her food choices day to day. She is getting all table food at this point, and wants to feed herself completely. This results in quite the mess and a mandatory bath post dinner. Her favorite foods are hummus (she is obsessed, as in could eat the whole costco sized tub if she had the chance), blueberry waffles, bananas (will eat a whole one), veggie burgers, cottage cheese, string cheese, peanut butter (especially in a sandwich with Lolly's pineapple apricot jelly), sweet potato fries, peas, berry rice cakes, all kinds of beans, freeze dried pears, applesauce (will "drink" it out of the container)...

*WALKING. She has been working on perfecting her skills and balance. After taking her first steps a couple months ago, she still prefered crawling and crusing. In the last month and last two weeks in particular, she has been walking a lot more. She is really cautious and slow, with her hands up in the air... She doesn't fall or trip too often and can take tons of small steps easily- across the whole room. It has been so incredible watching her progress and seeing her confidence and independence grow daily!

I could write even more of a novel describing all the other cute and querky things she does and what she likes and gets excited for. She is just a pleasure to be around for everyone and I am so proud to be her mommy (or "muh muh").

this day five years ago...

It was a typical wednesday workday. I worked in a R&D lab at a medical diagnostics company- my first "real" job. We were living in redondo beach, had been for about a year. Russell was working at LAX airport fixing xray machines and had a crazy always-changing schedule, but off this afternoon. I worked 6-2:30, and would often come home and take a nap, or at least lounge around (what's a nap? oh memories...) On this day, all I wanted to do was to come home and relax. So that's what I did, with ice cream in bed, and found the movie Innerspace on TV.

Out of no where russell came in our room, and was fumbling in the dresser right next to the bed, I turned to see what the heck he was doing, and he was down on one knee!! Looking nervous, an expression i will never forget, he had something in his hand, which sparkled! I COULD NOT believe it! I can't even remember the exact words he said, I was just in shock and kept thinking "THIS is the story i will repeat millions of times- ice cream and Innerspace?" I of course said YES, and gave him a huge hug, and he was shaking.


It was such an incredible moment, between just the two of us, when we knew this was the next step of our journey through life together. It wasn't elaborate or involving rose petals with a ring hidden in dessert, but it was romantic in its own way. It was fitting to us, and if it had been a huge drawn out event, i think i would have died in shock, because that is NOT russell, it's not us!


That night after calling everyone i knew, we went out to sushi to celebrate. It was a crazy feeling the next morning making the announcement and showing off the ring to coworkers. They couldn't believe i got a proposal on a wednesday afternoon! Yes, it was out of the blue in that sense, but it was absolutely perfect!


Sidenote- Russell had the ring for about 2 hours before he proposed. We had planned a fancy date night for that friday, just because it had been a long time... and that was even my idea. So he had planned on proposing during the date. But he just couldn't wait (we both aren't great at surprises), and he says it just seemed like the right time (i was in my happy place with ice cream i suppose...) So the date night had even more of a special meaning, something to celebrate! We dressed up and headed out to eat in santa monica then danced to a live blues band in a martini bar.

And really, has it been FIVE years? To say a lot has happened is such an understatement- a huge wedding, 2 big moves, new jobs, job losses, trips, family hardships and tragedies, a beautiful daughter... our share of challenges and accomplishments... but we have made it through together, grown together, learned together, and are in it for the long haul!

Easter

Here is a post about Easter finally! Good Friday was a holiday for me at work, and I spent it at home on the couch, actually I spent the whole 3 day weekend that way. I had a bad cold that wiped me out. Sienna also had a rough weekend, her top molars were still bugging her- apparently molars cut through in two spots, and are way more than double the pain/fussiness. She also had a mild fever with a runny nose, digestive "issues" and a poor appetite. Friday we had fun dying eggs together. Saturday was a big party for Russell's uncle's 80th birthday, but us girls stayed home to share in our misery.

On Easter, she felt a bit better, still with a slight fever and just not her normal self. She was very pleased with the goodies the Easter Bunny left her: a big ball, a stuffed chick, a princess bath book, talking book, a pair of shorts, elmo dvd, and a few other books. She got all dressed up and felt good enough to take some photos and have an egg hunt in our backyard (eggs had animal crackers, goldfish and yogurt melts inside). Then Russell took her to his Aunt and Uncle's for a brief visit to see family. I am glad she felt good enough to enjoy some of the weekend and am bummed my long weekend was not what I had planned!

By Tuesday Sienna had a rash on her stomach, chest and back. She had her first ever "sick" visit to the doctor, and he knew right away it was a viral rash- the last symptom of the bug she had been fighting. Her ears and lungs were fine, and she didn't have a fever and was in a great mood. The rash was gone within a couple days and all is well now!

Here are some pics!

Scribbles!

Shasta stole and ate a crayon

Finished eggs

Sienna's first egg

Easter Basket

Party Planning and Details

Being one to always go overboard, and get obsessed with planning and one who loves throwing parties, a ton of thought and time went into planning Sienna's first birthday party. I knew it HAD to be big. We wanted all our close friends and family there, and ended up inviting about 80 people (plus kids). This was such an important event for me, my BABY was ONE year old, it had to be a great celebration! I think there was about 60 people there... plus quite a few kids (hey we had over 300 people at our wedding).

Starting the planning, I needed a perfect theme. Since we live in the COUNTRY and Sienna has a cowgirl room, my first thoughts were western/cowgirl... But she really loves all animals, and is obsessed with horses and farm animals (favorite things include her barn activity center, Baby MacDonald DVD, and farm books). So the theme just had to be farm/barnyard. And how perfect since Russell's parents live on a ranch/farm!

So it started with the invitations. I didn't like any of the premade ones I saw, and wanted it to be more personal. So I decided to try and make my own with Word and Clipart and it was actually much easier than I though (still took a long time with formatting and making it all exactly how I wanted). And I love that I captured a picture of Sienna holding out her finger, saying "1"! But I loved the final product, and used Vistaprint.com to print them. They had free grayscale printing on the back side, so I added a picture of Sienna on her rocking horse. And this was reasonably priced as well (yes I ordered a ton), but I lagged a bit in making the final copy, and underestimated the processing time, so ended up spending way too much on rush processing and shipping (almost as much as the invites themselves!)

We knew the food would be easy- Molina party= BBQ. We didn't want to have a full meal, so we did finger foods including sausage, poppers, dips, chips, etc. (thank you Costco) I also had plastic "terricota" pots with peanuts in the shell on tables.

As far as the decorations went, I knew since it was outside, we wouldn't need too much. But of course, I still had plenty. And I wanted to stick with primary colors. We had a friend bring a bunch of hay bales which were perfect for extra seating. I got a roll of red and white checkered table cover from Smart and Final. I made farm animal cutouts on sticks for the tables and plastic pinwheels that we stuck in mini terricota pots filled with pinto beans. And I found various tin containers to hold utensils and craft supplies (most stuff from dollar store). The centerpieces were yellow and red sunflowers (trader joes) in mason jars with fabric ties.

I made a clothesline between two oak trees and had pictures of Sienna month by month hung with mini clothespins. I backed the pictures on fun bold printed paper. And also made a "Happy 1st Birthday Sienna" banner (michaels for those supplies).

I ordered a lot of stuff online (celebration express and oriental trading company) including the cow pinata, huge cow/pig balloons, cowprint balloons, red "1" balloons (got the balloons filled plus more colors at albertsons) and goodies for the kids (farm rubber duckies, chick shaped eggs filled with candy, and egg bouncy balls). I also got a stuffed "autograph" horse for everyone to sign as a keepsake for Sienna. For the kids, I bought white paper lunch bags for the goody bags/pinata candy bags. I had crayons and stickers for them to decorate them. And I also found really cute farm animal balloon kits.

I had so much fun planning this all out and loved how it turned out!! And will always love telling Sienna about her first birthday party!

Sienna's First Birthday Barnyard Bash

Last Saturday was Sienna's big party! And it was a beautiful day! It was a rough day for her, which was so hard for me to see, I just wanted her to be her normal happy self and enjoy every second of her day. She woke up with a runny nose, her molars were still bugging her and she was just not happy. She was overtired, snotty, drooly and cranky. So throughout the party she was very clingy, didn't want me to put her down, and not her normal social self.

My very talented Aunt Mimi made her the most perfect party dress!

We had quite the turnout at the party! Sienna's Aunt Sara and Uncle Mark came up Friday to help shop and keep me sane in the last minute party preparations. Unfortunately, Aunt Simone and Uncle Marcel couldn't make it up, as they all were fighting the flu. My grandparents and Uncle Brian came up from LA, my Aunt Mimi and cousins came from Coarsegold and my good friend Carrie came up from San Diego. And we had a ton of Russell's family and local friends there as well. We are so lucky to have so many great people in our lives that care so much for our Sienna! And we had the perfect location- Lolly and Pop's front yard at the ranch!



The party was at 2 in the afternoon and like I mentioned it was a gorgeous day, about 75 degrees and sunny! We had finger foods to munch on- BBQ'd sausages, jalapeno poppers, chips, Lolly's salsa, taquitos, dips, veggies, fruit, etc. The kids had fun playing with Sienna's barn activity center, two rocking horses, and some crafts. The cow pinata was a huge hit, Russell had agreed to a pinata only if his Uncle Chris could control it, which was very funny to watch...

Sienna had a TON of gifts to open, and really did great! She was very interested in every gift, checking everything out and was in a better mood at this point. She got SO many cute clothes, her spring/summer wardrobe is complete, with shorts, dresses, tops, bathing suits, pj's, etc. She also got several books, stuffed animals, stacking toys, sand toys, bath toys, walker popper (whatever you call those), farm magnet toys, and a water table, and a very special Winnie the Pooh drawing from one of the original cartoonists! Oh, and some money and gift cards!

Then it was cake time, and just as we expected, she had a blast demolishing her little cake! She grabbed handfuls, laughed, and ended up with cake/frosting EVERYWHERE.

What a perfect party it was! Thank you everyone who was a part of it and for being part of Sienna's first year!

More to come on all the details, and more pictures!