National Stroller Running Day

I'll be participating in this on Saturday, along with a Twitter Party tomorrow night. I run with my running stroller all the time, although I will soon be updating to a double!

Running for a Cause

In just a few weeks, Team Sparkle will be defending their Women's Ultra Team Championship title at the So Cal Ragnar Relay Series. But this year we'll be running with some extra motivation.

We're running 195 miles for 195 girls who battle Rett Syndrome, a devastating neurological disorder that almost exclusively affects girls, including my friend and teammate Allison's daughter, Emma. We're trying to rasie $10 per mile for Girl Power 2 Cure, an organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for treatments and a cure for Rett Syndrome. Click over to http://run.teamgp2c.org/goto/teamsparkle to sponsor one (or more) of our 195 miles!

Boys and Cars

About a month and a half ago Desmond suddenly became obsessed with cars. I figured this would happen because almost every boy loves cars. A few weeks ago he finally became interested in tv. But not just any tv show, just Mater's Tall Tales. All day long he begs for "cars." I can't turn on the tv to watch anything else because he will cry if it's not "cars."

Last week I took him to California Adventure and a few of his favorite characters from Cars were there. At first he was scared because they talked to him, but the second time around he was more curious and actually liked it. I'm loving taking him to Disneyland lately because he's finally starting to get it.

Lost the Second Nap

Desmond is such a great sleeper! He started sleeping through the night at just a few weeks old. He continued to nap so well too. He lost the 3-nap schedule within a year I think. And surprisingly, he continued with a 2-nap schedule all the way until he was 21 months old. About a month ago he transitioned into just one nap a day. I was dreading this day because I used to get so much done during his morning nap every day. But life goes on and we've adjusted.

Now Desmond goes to sleep around 8:30pm and sleeps until about 7-7:30am. He goes down for a nap around 12-1pm and sleeps for almost 3 hours. I love him and how much he sleeps. I'm scared for baby #2...

Family at the Beach

After spending 10 days at the beaches of Kauai, we spent just a few more days and nights at the beaches back home. Thanks to Skyler's brother's family for visiting so we had an excuse to go.

Desmond' first bonfire and marshmallow roast.

Kauai 2013

Desmond 18-month Check Up

I keep forgetting to update the blog with Desmond's 18-month old numbers. Yes, I know that was almost 4 months ago, but hey, at least I'm doing it now.

He weighed 24'7" (33%)
He was 33" tall (73%)
And his head size was in the 90%.

Still skinny, tall, and big-headed. That's my boy!

Words Desmond can say at 21 months

More

Bye-bye

Mama

Dada

Doggie

Fishy

Hot

Cold

Wa-wa (water)

Ya ya (holly)

Car

Choo-choo

Bike

Apple

Cheese

Peas (please)

Cookie

Shoes

Gi-gi (iPad)

ER Visits

Two ER visits in one week?! I was wondering CPS was going to get called. This was one of the hardest weeks for me. So glad to look back and see that everything worked out.

Visit #1: Desmond had been getting high fevers that kept coming back. His fevers were getting super high, like 104 or 105. I would give him Tylenol and they would break. But it was scary! 

On the third night we couldn't get his fever to break so we took him to CHOC ER. I figured there wouldn't be much they could do, but I needed to be sure.

Skyler had gotten home late from work, around midnight I think. We were at the ER around 2am. They checked us in and we waited. They did a few tests, gave him some medicine, and had us wait a long time. Around two hours later we were released with a prescription for ibuprofen.

Poor Skyler had to leave for work around 5am. I felt so bad.

Fast forward a few days later: Mother's Day. We were at my parent's house. Desmond was standing on a chair, fell off, and hit his head on the tile floor. Oh how he screamed! I calmed him down and help him for about 30 minutes. He seemed to be fine, but when I put him down he vomited everywhere. Not good. Signs of a concussion.

We rushed to the ER and checked in. They checked him out and told us they didn't want to do a CT scan because of the risk of leukemia in kids under 2. Yeah, we don't want that. So we elected to stay for a few hours so they could monitor Desmond. It's hard to keep a kid occupied in a room where there are so many things that he can't touch. 

Luckily, he was given a clean bill of health and we were released. We were all exhausted and relieved that Desmond was ok. I understand he is a boy AND Skyler's son, so I'm sure there will be many more trips to the ER, but I hope he continues to be OK.

Mini Skyler

No doubt this is Skyler's kid

Long Beach Dog Park

These are from a few months ago at Long Beach dog park.

Thank goodness for camera filters and Camera+

I'm in love with these photos, and of course my boys in them.

We're Pretty Crazy

The title says it all.

Mother's Day 2013

I celebrated my second official Mother's Day in May. I couldn't be happier to be a mom. It's pretty easy to be happy because I have such a wonderful son. Waking up every morning to a happy boy is the best part of my day.

Our Funny Boy

This video is probably from a month or two ago. I don't know if he doesn't get it or if he likes it. Enjoy!

Messy Eater

He's been learning to eat using a spoon, but he prefers using his hands. He practically needs a bath after every meal.

OC family feature

Sometimes I forget I'm a mom. Well, that doesn't happen very often because 24 hours a day I'm on mom duty, but I guess I just forget I'm in the mom world now. So when I got a call saying I was going to be featured in OC Family's Inspired Moms issue, I was super surprised. 

The best part of this honor was the photoshoot with full make-up done. I felt so special! I love this photo with my business partners and best friends because it totally captures the fun we have together. I'm pretty sure Kelly was slapping Carrie's butt in this shot. 

I always knew I would be an entrepreneur mom, I guess I was most surprised I was recognized for it. 

He's Coming Home!

Has it been two years since I first told someone I was pregnant?! Yes, that's how I remember when Cameron left. He was the first person we told we were pregnant. He was just about to leave for his mission and I wanted to tell him in person since he would be gone when his nephew was born.

My "little" brother has been serving the people of the Czech Republic and Slovakia on a two-year mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He left two years ago with no knowledge of Slovic languages, yet he learned not one, but two while he was gone. Every week I was uplifted with his emails of hope and happiness. 

He has been a great missionary, but everyone is excited to see him. My parents left this morning to go pick him up and will be returning in two weeks. Cameron, great job! Desmond can't wait to meet his Uncle Cameron!

No Longer a Baby

I don't know when it happened, but one day Desmond jumped from being a baby to a toddler. Probably when he started walking. And since then we've been having such a great time! 

Desmond loves going to places where he can run free. We go to the park several times a week. The problem is that when he runs away he doesn't listen to me or care that he's far away. 

Soon after he started walking, he got tall enough to go on his first height-restricted ride at Disneyland. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but then he loved Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

Desmond LOVES books! His first favorite book was Animals, then it was Little Blue Truck. He loves to grab the book, walk over to me, and sit in my lap. As boring as it is to read the same few books over and over again, I know there will come a day when he won't do it as often or ever. I hope he continues to keep his love for books as I did.

Desmond loves Skyler so much! He cries when he leaves for work and runs to the gate to greet him when he gets home. They have a special bond. I'm so thankful Skyler has so much love and patience for Desmond.

Recently we went to cousin Rosie's birthday party where they had a bounce house. Desmond had a blast jumping around inside. He had just barely learned how to walk, but that didn't stop him from having a great time. This boy is just so happy all the time!

15 month update

I'm only two months late with Desmond's 15-month check-up, but I just haven't been motivated to blog since I post all of our photos on Facebook and Instagram. I'll try to keep up just so I can attach some dialog to my photos.

The night before Desmond's check-up he coughed a bit and then threw-up everywhere. I wasn't sure if it was related to anything, but when he did it again the next morning I knew something was up. Luckily I happened to be going in for a check-up that day, so we got to kill two birds with one stone.

Turns out he had 4 molars coming in and the doctor said that's probably why he wasn't feeling well. She prescribed jello. I love that, although I didn't have any so I had to make a quick trip to the store for some. 

He was feeling better by the next day and life returned to normal. He's getting quick a mouthful of teeth and I think he's been trying to bite. And not in a good way. When he gets mad he pulls my hand into his mouth, but then doesn't do anything. Obviously he picked up the habit from another kid who didn't explain what to do after the hand is in the mouth.

Desmond finally started walking after a week before. I thought it would never happen! All of a sudden he just started. The funny part was that he would get so excited that he was walking that he would start clapping and then topple over from losing his balance. He's so proud of himself! I have a video, I'll try to post it.

Here's his stats at 15 months:

Height - 32" (75%)

Weight - 23.5 lbs (32%)

Head - 72%

Still tall and skinny. He is actually sprouting up like crazy. He's now taller than a lot of kids that are way older. I wonder if Skyler was tall when he was young too. I think I was a shrimp.