Here are a few pictures

not too many changes...

Other than Alijean growing up and get smarter, there haven't been a lot of changes in our lives. I mean, guess there are but it all seems to be going smoothly so I don't always recognize them as changes. Ben's brother and his family are currently living with us for a few months. Ali is struggling with not being an only child while Kinsley is living there. Liam... well he is grwoing like a weed. Ben has gotten a promotion and is now a salesman. I'm so happy for him as this is something he's wanted to do for years and years. :) I have faith that he'll do well.
Me, same ole same ole. I've taken a short break from running but am at the end of that break. There are lots of 5K's coming up so if I want to be competitive, I better get my running shoes on!

Alijean is her regular ole spunky self. Always something crazy coming out of her mouth. I look forward to every new day with her. <3

She's 3 1/2!

Wow does time fly! Our precious baby girl is 3 1/2 years old already. It's so weird to look back at pictures and see her so little and looking SO different! I cannot wrap my head around the fact that is was just a few short years ago. So many things in my life changed since she's been born. All for the good. Her mostly. I cannot imagine having gotten a more perfect child. Beautiful, caring, imaginative, energetic and giggly.
Everyday she has something new coming out of her mouth. She never ceases to amaze me with her imagination and thoughtful processes. Just the other day my 38+ inch tall, 29 pound skinny child asked me for bigger diapers to cover up her "big butt" as she turned and stuck her non existent rear end out, put her hands on her hips and began to shake her bootie to show me how big it is. Love her so much. She loves "Garbage" (or better known as Garfield to those who don't know my daughter). And pickles. She loves pickles. She's been known to call me before work and ask me to pick up some pickles on my way home from work. Right now she appears to have a crush on her new daycare teacher... Mr Johnny. She loves dresses.. LOOONG dresses momma! Loves her baby dolls and tries to brush their teeth, with toothpaste I might add all the time. here is a status update that was on my FB wall the other day.

"Ali and I walked home from her daycare today. The ENTIRE mile she screamed adn cried for me to hold her because she didn't want to walk. (this was after she told me she WANTED to walk home.) so we get home from the full mile of crying and we sit in the chair and she says to me....and I quote.... "Momma, can we go on a walk?"

What else has changed since Ali's birth? My fitness level, that's what! I went from a ... well let's face it... lazy person to running half marathons, regularly running 5K races and am scheduled to do my second RAIN ride. RAIN is a 160 mile bike ride starting in Terre Haute IN and going through Indianapolis and ending in Richmond IN. Last year it took us about 12 1/2 hours. The whole family does it and it's great! Ben was injured last year but will be joining us this year. My work has hired a personal trainer that comes in twice a week so I've been doing that for about a year and half now. I love it and my trainers are fabulous. Mean sometimes but fabulous! :)

I must go for now as work beckons me.
I will try to get on here and blog more. I'm not good at it but will improve if I coudl just remember to. I would love to be able to blog Ali's imagination here. :)

7-11-2010 Just an update on things

Wow. I had no idea it had been so long since I've been on here!

I guess there is a lot to write probably but we'll see how much I get here.

First things first... Alison. She is getting so big. 35 1/2 inches tall and just over 23 pounds. It's pretty bittersweet, as all mothers/fathers know. She is so smart and so witty... and so giggly. Right now she is into acting like a lion and roaring to scare us. So cute, she curls up her little hands and puts them up in the air and roars and GIGGLES! She loves fishing and SHOPPING. Oh lord that girl wants to shop non stop. she asks for credit cards and threatens to spend all of our money. We've been taking her swimming and she is finally starting to enjoy being in the water. She is very apprehensive about it though. Poor thing.. her lifejacket keeps her too bouyant since she weighs so little. I have to hold onto the bottom of the life jacket to keep her upright and not laying on her back. She is learning her ABC's but doesn't quite have them down yet. oh lets see, what else... she is still into dollies and purses and girlie stuff. She is getting pretty good at talking (at least for my ears. seems as though strangers still ahve a bit of trouble with it!)

me... well, still running.. and biking. I have a 160 mile bike ride next weekend. As as right now, 65 miles is the furthest I've gone so this should be interesting. Dad and Dawn are riding also. Ben is signed up but unable to ride because he has an achilles injury that just won't heal. :( We all ran the Mini Marathon together in May and then the next weekend we ran Dances with Dirt. Very run relay race in Brown County IN. Lots of hills climbing, water, down ski slopes, and MUD! Excited for next year! Can't wait for the day Alison can do this stuff with us. We did a 36 flight stair climb in january last year and if Alison wants to do it this year, I'm going to let her. Means I'll be climbing with her but that's okay! On my weight loss.. I got down 60 pounds and seem to have stalled (could it be a mental stall since I can't seem to stop eating?? pretty sure my bodly will let me lose more I just have to stop being stupid!)

Ben.... has started running and biking with us :) As mentioned above he has an injury so is currently benched. Current plans right now if ankle heals is to run the full marathon in November. We'll see what happens with the injury though. Still working at Hightower Graphics. Not a whole lot other exciting going on with him that I can think of.....

Ali's two year check up

Alijean had her two year check up on the 18th of November. She is 34 1/2 inches tall (55th percentile), head is 18 in (either 5th or 15th, can't remember) and she weighs 21lbs 11oz (5th percentile). Everything checked out great! She has a small small portion of her soft spot still open, which Dr. Lawlis said not to worry about. I also did not mention that she was recently diagnosed with asthma. There is not wheezing or anything, just lots and lots of persistent coughing. She is on an inhaler twice a day (Flovent) and was on a Nebulizer but her coughing pretty much stopped so she was able to come off of it :D

I really need to get better at this!

Alright... November 17th... about 8:00pm. I am listening to Ali in her room upstairs just talking away instead of sleeping. The girl likes to talk, I gotta give her that! She is getting so big! She turned two last week!!! We had a birthday party for her over the weekend and she had a ton of fun! It was in Fort Wayne at her Grandma and Grandpa Cleven's house. She got lots of toys and her two favorite where her busy ball popper and her baby stroller... for now. Ali is talking really good, she is making sentences and all that fun stuff. She is one sassy little girl though let me tell ya!!!

The bad news to report on this post is that in September I lost the pregnancy that I spoke of in the last post. :( It was a very sad day for me and Ben (and family and friends) but I have "moved on". I have Alijean and I have faith that it can happen again. I still think about how far I would be and if it was a boy or girl...

All for now... I'll try to come back more often.....

Ali is napping so I thought I would blog

Alijean is upstairs taking a nap... I plan to take on soon too. Having a very blah day. No reason...it's raining and I have a headache (getting better though ;) )
There is not a whole lot going on to blog about. Ali is growing and learning like crazy. she is in the "I want to be naked stage" and it not potty trained yet so that is fairly trying. She has also decided she likes to mimic me in a smarty pants tone if I tell her to do something. Little stinker.
I ran a 5K yesterday... I haven't ran in 6 weeks so I am a bit sore today! My lungs and heart were fine, legs felt great afterwards but they started cramping for some reason. Well, today I'm sore. I guess that shows me that I need to get off my butt a little more often!
Recently a very good friend of mine lost her daughter. I still cry often for them. It is so heartbreaking and I just don't know what on earth I can do for her. I am being there as best as I know how to, but sometimes I wonder if I'm doing right for her. I have never been through anything like what she is going through and have no idea the feelings she is going through. I just don't understand why these things have to happen.... especially to people like her. I hope people can all pray for her and her family for strength and healing. I know she will survive this, she is a very strong woman, but in the meantime I know there is a lot of pain. I also pray for her that she can conceive again, quickly, and with no problems. *sigh* I know Isabelle will be in her heart forever... and she will be in mine also.....

And not to leave out me... I am 9wks 6dys pregnant as of today. I am feeling pretty good now. I have been trying to find heartbeat on doppler and have not yet been able too. I am very excited to hear it so I hope I find it soon. I am due April 19th and will try to post with any updates I might have. And yes, we are going to make everyone wait until April to find out the sex of the baby. And the name. ;)

I hope everyone has a good day.....