Our first battle.

Whelp, Austin and I had our first official battle of wills. One where I truly thought she knew what she was doing and actually throwing a fit not just baby crying. I made macaroni and cheese with hot dogs in it for lunch (which by the way was one of my favorites growing up and the reason that I still eat ketchup on my mac&cheese). Well little Miss Pygmy decided that she wanted to eat the noodles and not the dogs, so she would finish what was on her tray and point at more from the bowl but leave the hot dogs laying there. So I told her to eat her hot dogs and she went into what looked like a grand maul seizure complete with kicking and screaming. At this point I am debating in my head if she actually understands what she is doing and my want for her to eat the complete meal. After a minute or so I decided that I would error on the side of not raising a brat and got up and walked off. It took that spaz 10 minutes of snot and tears to finally stop and eat those three little pieces of hot dog. She started clapping and smiling (she just learned to clap two days ago so it is officially her best trick) and I went over and gave her more noodles. In hindsight I am thinking this will be the easiest battle of wills I ever get in with this child, that is of course if she has any part of me in her. ;-)

This and That

I haven't post in a while so let's see what's been going on???

Austin and I have been sick for about the last week or so, which stinks to catch a cold in the middle of summer. But we're feeling better now, still kind of sound yucky though.

I think diet pill companies have it all wrong...they always try and suppress your appetite to help you lose weight, whereas I think they should be making it so you can't taste food. I have literally been forcing myself to eat because what's the point if you can't taste it. If I didn't start to get light headed I am pretty sure I wouldn't have eaten anything for the last 5 days. Poor little Austin will take a bite of something and then pull it out of her mouth, examine it, put it back in and finish chewing. I can almost read her little mind thinking "I could have sworn blueberries tasted like SOMETHING yesterday, and now NOTHING?!?!".

It's been hot here which isn't bad, but when you don't have air conditioning, upstairs (where my office happens to be) gets pretty darn hot. Most afternoons I can't even sit up here, I try and take care of my work in the mornings/evenings just so I don't have to sit and sweat.

Do you ever wonder if your niceness is mistaken for weakness? I wonder this quite a bit at work. I was on a call with another team the other day and was speaking to what was supposed to be their expert and the whole time I was shaking my head thinking to myself this guy is an idiot and has no idea what he is talking about. But instead of speaking up and drilling back at him to get the answers that I needed to make the project work, I placated him with niceties until I finally got the right information. So in my mind I kept everything on a nice level and he still felt like he knew what he was doing but does that make me seem weak to those people that were listening to the call. I guess at the end of the day I hate being mean so it doesn't really matter if my niceness is misconstrued.

Austin went in for her 1 year check-up. She is still in the bottom 3% for weight in her age group and I was talking to the doctor about it, asking her if she was sure that she was growing ok and everything. Because a lot of people seem to ask what percentages your child is in and I always feel bad saying...hmmm...close to midget, and more like skinny midget. So I was venting to my pediatrician who then said well you tell them that she is in the top 99% for the healthiest babies I see, between her physical nature and her disposition she is just about perfect. :-) Which totally made my day because while I like our doctor I don't think she is an overly nice person or anything so I don't think she was just saying that to make me feel better.

It's Hailing

As I watch my grass get pelted with hail...ahh Colorado. Known for it's amazing amount of hail storms.

I was in traffic court yesterday for my speeding ticket. Do you ever just look around and think to yourself, I don't belong here. I was the only person dressed up. Since when does going to court not require you to brush your hair and put on something nice? And all of the people in front of me when they got up to enter in a guilty or not guilty plea were first told "and in this instance we have decided to wave jail time.". Ok you had the potential of going to jail yet you felt no need to get ready. I looked around as everyone sat there in their pajamas making smart ass comments. Apparently the rest of the traffic violators in the Springs aren't near as scared of sitting in a 8x8 cell as I am. You know the old saying you get more bees with honey than vinegar. Well yesterday proved as a perfect case in point.

• I managed to show up to the wrong court house, which made it so that I was 30 minutes late to the right one.
• I didn't have my driver's license with me...in traffic court, I don't even know how you do that?!?!
• I was going 11 miles an hour over the speed limit.
• I didn't have my insurance card with me.
• I had to clear up a ticket for blocking Jeremy and Laura's driveway on during Territory Days (turns out that's illegal even when you know the people that live there).

All of this and I walked out with a ticket reduced down to an unobstructed window, not even sure what that is but it's a 0 point ticket with no additional fines. And a $10 parking warning rather than a ticket. Oh yeah and the judge said they were reducing the ticket so much because...wait for it...I am an "excellent" driver. Or maybe she said "I had an excellent driving record", either way, I know I am an excellent driver. :-)

Seriously though, when I was paying the fines on the way out...I asked the lady accepting my payment how her day was going, and she stopped and looked at me like I was speaking Greek. All I thought to myself was "is no one nice to you?". She's not the one who broke the law, or wrote you the ticket, or passed the judgment. She is just the lady taking credit cards and checks at the end of the hallway. Instantly she was nice and smiley which helped immensely when I couldn't produce my driver's license IN TRAFFIC COURT! Ahhh Crystal, it's amazing you make it through some days with your head still attached.

Little Miss Austin's Birthday!

We had Austin's Birthday party this weekend. She had an absolute blast! Here are some pictures.

Tadd telling her something about her cake, obviously very intriguing.


She is standing in her high chair just trying her hardest to get to that cake.


Aunt J and her hanging out before the party started.


She wanted to play with her sandles rather than wear them.


Uncle Tadd's first time holding her. His rule is the same as mine "when they can say Oww I will hold them". Austin and I have been praticing and her second word was "Owww", right behind Daddy of course.

Look at this pile of presents. Notice the second outfit, the first one was distroyed by the cake. Thank you to everyone that made this GIANT pile possible. :-)

Giving Daddy kisses!

She loved her cake, it had to be an ice cream cake according to Aunt J.

Hanging out with Grandma and eatting watermelon.

Her new favorite expression. She's stressed about something.

The Incline

I totally forgot to mention that J and I also did this bad dog on Saturday morning, between the Incline and the Bolder Boulder my legs are still tired. The Incline is just about 3500 steps that we are absolutely sure were created by the devil himself. It used to be what the tracks under the cog railroad attached to and while they have removed the tracks and wires the railroad ties remain. I wish the pictures did it justice.

Here is the view from Ute Pass as you head up to Woodland Park, it is the white line that you can see in the first peak (Manitou Mountain).

Here is a view down the Incline, it actually makes you have vertigo to look down it that's how steep it is.

Another view down it, as you can see the railroad ties probably used to be in a nice straight row but not now...which just adds to the challenge.

We kicked it's ass!

J and I ran in the 32nd Bolder Boulder this weekend. It's a 10K (6.2 Mile) road race that traverses the city streets of beautiful Boulder Colorado and finishes on the 50 yard line of the CU Buffalos football field. It just so happens to be the second largest in the country with nearly 55,000 people that run in it. I can honestly say that I couldn't have imagined what 55,000 people running together looked like until this weekend, but I can tell you that by the time J and I made it up the last hill into the stadium we were both just about done, our legs burned, lungs ached, my feet are covered in blisters, we have both come to the conclusion that we are going to lose some if not all of our toe nails (apparently this happens to runners)...even with all of this. When you cross into a HUGE stadium to thousands of people cheering for you, it elevates you to another place. I have always heard of the "high" that athletes feel when they hear a crowd cheering for them but I have never felt it, until yesterday. As I choked back tears and ran along giving fives to those that would lean into the field, I looked at J and said "this is what it's all about, all the training, all the sweat, all the blood...right here". It was a truly amazing feeling and I can't wait to experience it again.

Here's a picture of the stadium after we got in and were waiting on the professional runners to finish, they go last so the track is clear and everyone can cheer for them. :-)