The 90's Called. They Want Your Cuffed Jeans Back.

For some reason I am currently obsessed with Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. I think it is because I got on a Friends kick recently and remembered how much I loved Rachel Karen Green.  I may or may not have a Google News alert sent to my email about them. I think my favorite nickname for them is "JenTheroux" or perhaps "Justifer" or maybe even "Jenthrax".  I don't know. 


I am not, however, too excited about this look that she seems to keep wearing:

What is the deal with the rolled up pants and weird shoes? I am not a fashionista by any means but I really don't want this look to roll down to us common folk next year. Or maybe it has already rolled down and I am just supper out of it. But still.  Say it ain't so.

I am a HUGE fan of her big grey scarf though. So if you can find one that is not 17 trillion dollars, please let me know. I love scarves!  And those Aviators.

                               

Speaking of the 90's - I discovered this :

 

All I will say is that's not Chynna Phillips singing back up...

A Fall Gift For You!

PSLs Without The Calories!

A few years ago, I was raving to my friend Kelly about the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) at Starbucks. I went on and on about how great it was so she decided to order one.  I ordered after her and got a chai tea.  She was like, “Wait? What? You’re not getting one?” very incredulously. And I said, “Oh no. There are so many calories in that thing, I can’t drink that.”  I am a terrible friend.

So here we are, four years later, I can finally make it up to her.  I got the recipe for a low-cal PSL substitute that basically tastes like the real deal – terrible sugar/caffeine afterbreath and all.

1 Grande Bold Starbucks Coffee of the Day

2-3 Pumps of Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Add your own Splenda and Half & Half

You are left with an [estimated] 90 calorie version vs. the normal 380 calories.  So put on your scarf and drink up!

10 Things About Marathon Training You Didn't Know

1. Diaper Rash cream works like a gem to prevent chafing.
2. Ice Baths are the real deal. Take them after every run longer than 10 miles. 15 minutes of torture is worth it. And wear wool socks so you don’t get hypothermia and have to get your feet amputated.
3. It turns out that you need a crap-ton of Gels, Electrolyte Drinks, and Water. At least 30-60 grams of carbs PER HOUR!  That is like 2 gel packs an hour. That is about 5 times more than the two Gus that I took during my last marathon. I am excited to see if I don’t feel like my stomach is being ripped out of my body after I finish this race.
4. On that note, it is really true that if you aren’t going to bother with nutrition and hydration then you might as well not bother with training.
5. When you think you have had enough water, you haven’t. Drink more.
6. The key to long runs is breaking it up in your head mentally so you only focus on small increments. For example – an 18 mile run is actually 2 sets of 4.5 miles out and 4.5 miles back or 3 sets of 3 miles out and 3 miles back. A 12 mile run is only two sets of 3 out, 3 back. Mentla games work wonders.
7. Running for over 4 hours gets boring. Doing anything for over 4 hours is boring. Except for watching good TV on DVD. Like Friends or Friday Night Lights. 
8. Running for over 4 hours is hard and it hurts. Embrace it. Accept it. And Keep Moving Forward.
9. Nesquick double chocolate milk is the perfect recovery drink. And thoughts of it get me through the last three miles every time.
10. I start every run over 3 miles wondering if I will finish. And I am surprised every single time that I do finish. It never fails. It is a great feeling to complete something you really aren’t sure will happen.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Party

I wanted to post some of my favorite details of the Dr. Seuss Birthday Party. We got lucky in that Target and Michaels were featuring Dr. Seuss this summer so we had lots and lots of stuff to work with.

Cat in the Hat Life-Size Cut Out for a Picture Station

Poms!!!

Favors with lots of stuff from the Dollar Spot at Target

Happy Birthday to you Books served as the Guest Books for everyone to sign

I used a Dr. Seuss calendar to make different posters. 

We Love Poms! 

Jello + Sprite = Beezlenut Splash

It wouldn't be a party without Green Eggs and Ham! 

Julie's attempt at a bowl of Jello with Fish. Most of the [Sweedish] Fish "died."

All the toothpicks were made from adhesive foam stickers from Michaels.

Family Picture! We found Cat in the Hat shirts at Kohls.

I ordered the plates and napkins online.

My favorite detail is this 12 month birthday banner. It is hard to see in the picture but it was pretty freaking awesome. 

This cake was the source of a lot of stress. But thanks to Brian and Julie it turned out amazingly. 

Separate Birthday Cakes for Annabelle and Stephen to eat.

We made the cake pink and blue for A & S. 

I ordered the iron-on Dr. Seuss "1's" from Etsy. They turned out splendid.

We Survived the First Year!!!!

We have officially been parents for one year, and three weeks! We survived a year with twins. And it has been one of the greatest years of my life. Even better than 8th grade, which was seriously one of the best years of my life thanks to being on the Bay Beacons and watching lots of Bob Ross and playing SPIT.

The babies are pretty much entirely different people than they were in my last update. They are so awesome. I can't get over how much fun they are.


Annabelle Rae is running the show. She is definitely the dominant one at this point. Some of my favorite things about her are:

• She loves her baby dolls.  
• She loves to bring stuff to you and make you pat them like they are a baby doll. 
• She loves to be picked up and when you do pick her up she waves at all the pictures and things on the shelves. 
• She has three teeth as of August 25. 
• She has started saying, "Hi" just like I do. She just goes, "hi. hi. hi. hi." and when I notice that I do it too, it makes me so happy. 
• She can also say Ma-Ma, Da-Da, and Baby.
• When Brian comes in the room she goes, "Da-da-DA-DA" very excitedly.
• She dances. Really well. Especially to the Glow Worms.
• She knows where her head and her nose are. 
• If you tell her to get you a book or a toy she knows what to do. And she has definitely mastered saying "please" in sign language. 
• She loves to climb in and out of laundry baskets and Huggies boxes. 
• She is the sturdiest walker and so speedy. At our company picnic she just walked and walked and walked. 
• She is the sassiest and most outgoing one at home but in public she is shy, serious, and takes a while to warm up to people. 
• She also very much enjoys climbing onto the bottom shelf of the book shelf and pushing all of the books onto the floor.  
• Right now, my absolute favorite thing that she does is bring me a book and then scoot her way into my lap and snuggle in to turn the pages. It is the best. 

Stephen Michael is just the sweetest boy in the world. I love him because:

• He is such a cuddle bug. 
• He is very focused. 
• When he is playing with a toy he gets engrossed in it. 
• And he can sit and play with one thing for a while. 
• He loves his See and Say. 
• He is a big flirt. 
• He has the best smile and when he is in public he makes googly eyes and smiles at everyone. 
• At our company picnic he went up to random strangers and held his arms up to get them to hold them. 
• He is a walker too. 
• When he gets really tired he walks like a drunken sailor and often times tries to reach out for the couch or the table and just misses completely. 
• He loves to go to the window and wave when you leave the house. 
• He has the giggliest laugh in the world. 
• He loves to pull every piece of tupperware out of the cabinet in the kitchen. As does his sister. 
• He still only has two teeth. 
• My favorite thing about him lately is that he will just sit in my lap contentedly for a few minutes here and there and it is the greatest time of my life. 
• He can say Da-da, Ma-Ma, and Nana. 
• He knows how to give kisses and high fives. 
• He has crazy hair. 
• He is also pretty freaking good at patty cake. He dominates it.

A few more cute family pictures:

Finally, I am well on my way to being trained up for running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th. I will probably write a separate post about it but it is really exciting to be here. I started the year in January running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute at a time with the hopes of training for a 10K. And now I have run 16 miles and I have 18 miles this coming Saturday and then we have 8 weeks till the race. I really didn't think I could get here . So it is pretty exciting. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. And exciting.

Things That Seem Harder Than They Are

There are a few things that are apparently the hardest thing in the world for Brian and I. Or at least they feel that way. These include:

• Putting Netflix movies in the mail. We just mailed one that I think we have had since June.
• Charging my phone/ipod/garmin/any other electronic device. It just feels so hard b/c I have to dig through my gym bag or purse and find the darned thing and then walk all the way upstairs to plug it in.
• Putting laundry away. I think this is universal. But it is still hard.
• Starting the dishwasher at night. It is the worst feeling in the world to realize that you only have two bottles left b/c you forgot to start it the night before.
• Keeping our breakfast bar, dining room table, china hutch, and desk surfaces free of clutter.
• Eating fruit that I buy at the grocery store. I think I have a disorder where as soon as I buy it I get convinced it has gone bad and won't touch it. But I will eat 4 day old pizza or 6 day old Buffalo Chicken Dip.

Random Thoughts for August

Every night I make Brian and I say our favorite things about Annabelle and Stephen for that day. I am going to try to remember to post some of them here.

Today, Brian's favorite thing about Annabelle was that every time he and I would cuddle or hug, she would climb right in between us and break it up. I totally used to do that to my parents all the time. My favorite thing about Stephen today was when he let me cut his toenails and fingernails and he just sat so calmly in his highchair like it was no big thing. Yesterday, my favorite thing about Annabelle was that when you pick her up she waves to all the pictures and figures on the shelves and pretty much everything in the room. It is very cute.

Also, on Thursday we noticed a new tooth coming in for Little Miss Belle. This will be her third and it is her front right.

I ran 16 miles for marathon training today. It was good. I still am having hard time wrapping my mind around 26.2 though. Only 10 weeks to go.