A Day in the Life...

This is my niece Madisyn. She has been talking since 10 months old and hasn't stopped since. It would seem iritating to have her go non-stop but she's so funny I can't wait to hear the next thing she comes up with. When my sister found out she's been kissing a boy a lot, the conversation went like this: Her mom: You can't have a real boyfriend until you're older. Madisyn: Well I have two boyfriends because I can't decide which one I like more. Her mom: Madisyn, you know you can't really have a boyfriend until you're older. Madisyn: It's okay mom because I am just practicing right now . Very solution focused.

We exhausted Copper this weekend. More like she exhausted us, really. Sometimes it's easier to take her out in the world, and deal with the exhaustion, than to stay at home and deal with boredom and restlessness. A fun weekend, nonetheless. Playing with dad at the park... Going to Jenny's to pick out pumpkins- Copper's in awe and it obviously shows! Going to Adventureland Park in Highland to feed the ducks... Tasting the algae at the lake in Herriman... Falling fast asleep. Too sleepy, I guess, to even finish one of the five-six-or-seven books she keeps in bed.

Copper takes us on walks nearly every day. It's a s-l-o-w walk around the block. I made her a bag to keep all her crap in, mostly so she'd stop taking mine, and she filled it with nature on our most recent walk. If we'd let her, she'd have picked up every pebble, piece of garbage, bug, etc. she could find. We limited it to three sticks, three pebbles, two leaves, a piece of grass, and two nuts. And came home to top it off with a popsicle, Copper's favorite dessert.

Copper's 15 month check up was yesterday. I tried to make her gain 3 pounds this week but no luck. I was glad to see she weighs exactly 20 pounds. The doc wasn't so happy b/c, frankly, she isn't gaining weight at the rate she's supposed to. Yes I feed her. Happily, the doc also said she was less concerned about her weight because of how well she's doing in everything else- walking, well, running , talking, signing, and getting into EVERYTHING. She's a ball of fire! At the park... notice Tim wears the same shirt most every time we go out... :) State Fair=carnival-like entertainment Best friend and cousin Taryn

I’m reading this book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Love this book. It’s this crazy, addicting book about running. So, I am not a runner. Nor have I ever been, except maybe when I was a kid and running meant hauling our little tails home after wandering too far. But even that didn’t stem from a love of running as much as it did getting far from the places we shouldn’t have been and the wrath of our parents for being gone twelve hours on summer days. Anyway- I am not a runner. Sometimes I think I want to be until I do it and I realize that I don’t like it. It’s a chore to me. By amazing grace I finish 30 minutes of running and don't get anything out of it except the prayer I say during the entire experience. And mostly I pray about time needing to go by faster or to just lay down and die. Maybe that's a little dramatic. This book will probably make you want to become a runner and it will definitely push you to a higher way of living. I guess that’s what makes a ...

When you know that no matter how long you stay at work, you aren't going to get anything else done. Thank goodness for Paid.Time.Off. And fun with this kid.

Almost fifteen months ago she looked like this!!

My late nights have started again. Nothing like coming home after 13 hours to a wrap around the neck by my sweet Copper.