Fair Pictures!

Here are the pictures from the State Fair last Friday. It was a gorgeous morning, and Grant just LOVED it!

Here he is petting a cow for the first time.



In this picture he's saying "mmmmm" which is his word for cow.



Pointing at the cows!



Our first fair food purchase - funnel cake!!



Grant LOVED sitting on the tractor. he goes "vroom vroom" and moves the steering wheel.




And a cute shot of Grant and Matt

He ate! He walked!

He ate! Recently it's been difficult to figure out what Grant will eat (besides CHEESE!), so I made him some oatmeal for lunch. he ate a HUGE bowl of it!! I was shocked. He sat there for like 15 minutes, using a spoon the entire time, eating 3/4 cup of oatmeal! (which is really a LOT of oatmeal!) Good job, Grant!

And, he walked ALL OVER downstairs before nap! He walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, around the island, and back to the patio doors! Just this weekend he figured out how to stand up after falling (with out holding on to something to stand), so I think this week is going to be a big walking week for Grant! He's becoming much more steady and is just so proud of himself. Another good job, Grant!

Fair Day!

It was such a beautiful morning today that Matt and I decided to go to the State Fair. It was so much fun! I'll get the pictures transfered after Grant goes to bed. We totally had our fair food fix. :)

Fresh Perspective

I visited the Pediatric Oncology Ward today to visit an old college friend and her 2-year-old son who was just diagnosed with leukemia. Walking onto that floor felt like facing death and tragedy head-on. Seeing thin, pale, bald babies, toddlers, and children was so overwhelming. I had to pause and get myself together before I found their room - I could have easily lost it there in the hallway - it's just too much for a mother's heart to think about your child dealing with such a serious disease! What a short life this is, and what hope we have for an eternity with out pain, suffering, and disease!

I realized, too, that although when I was pregnant I prayed all the time for Grant to be healthy, I haven't really specifically prayed for him to be healthy as a toddler. I pray for his spiritual life daily, I pray that we would make wise decisions as parents, but I've never really prayed that he would remain healthy. But the instant I stepped off the elevator and saw a bald 5-ish-year-old carrying her own IV pole, I started praying that Grant would never have to deal with something like cancer. His health is now for sure on my regular prayer list, along with the health of all of my friends' children.

My heart just hurts for my friend and her son, and I hope they feel the Lord's presence deeply during this ordeal.

Hoping it's not injured!

So, after an *effortless* 4-miles on Friday morning, I couldn't even do 1/2 mile tonight with out stopping! My achilles tendon was killing me, and my foot was starting to fall asleep! I'm hoping the tendon issue was just dehydration (the only thing I had to drink today was a diet coke, unlike my usual 80+ ounces water), and that the falling asleep issue was just my shoe laced to tightly! I'll try again tomorrow night and see how it goes.

Ironic, perhaps?

I was browsing through Nike's clearance clothes online recently, seeing if they had any of their cold weather gear on sale. I love Nike's website because they have user reviews and you can see what size that person bought, and they can review the product based on several categories.

One pair of running pants looked particularly great, so I read the 2 reviews. The first woman bought them in XXL and said they were great lounge pants. The second woman bought them in a S and said they were great for training for her next half-marathon!

Blisters!

In my 6+ week-long quest to get rid of some blisters (all because of wearing one new pair of socks!), I bought Band Aid's Advanced Care Cushions today. Hopefully these will help. I feel like I'm becoming the pharmacy assistant in the blister aisle - tis at least the 4th different blister product I've tried. None, so far, have really helped. If these help, I'll let you know, to save you from future blister distress!

We're (finally!) home!

Grant and I visited my MIL's house this past week as Matt was traveling. We came home yesterday, and the trip took about an hour and a half longer than usual because of some sort of crazy traffic situation in Indianapolis! Aack! Grant was totally melting down at the end, but fortunately I had a full package of wipes in my bag, which kept him occupied for the last 15 minutes. I figured we could let one package of wipes keep him entertained!

We're relaxing around the house today...we're *all* so tired! Gotta run to the store, though, to get diapers (we literally have no more!) and milk.

And, tonight's my "long run" for my 10K training program. 3.5 miles! I'll have my playlist updated and my favorite shorts washed! :) It's only .4 longer than my usual run, but it just sounds so long! I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Almost Walking

So after 18 1/2 months, worry about development, tons of research on late walkers, and a physical therapy eval, I deserve to be excited about this!! WE took this video 2 nights ago, and he's even SO MUCH CLOSER since then! Today he walked from couch to couch in our living room!!! (They face each other!) I think he might be walking before his first physical therapy appointment in 2 weeks!

So, here's 2 nights ago, right before bath time (hence the diaper). And, I was getting ready to go running, so excuse the running clothes!

Here's 2 nights ago - I'll try to get an even better one tonight! GOOO GRANT!!

The Icecream King

The Icecream King...a.k.a. my father...made a very special delivery tonight to the Walker household! Two very full coolers showed up on our doorstep today, filled with vanilla, butter pecan, blueberry, toffee, and mint chip icecream! All home-made, with love, by my wonderful Father. Thanks, Dad!

And, a HUGE congratulations to my father, whose small-business just did very well!! I'm so happy for you, Dad!

I just got back in from running (another 3.1 miles down!), so I'm off to take a shower and then work on my Sunday school lesson for tomorrow! Hopefully we can all get out of the door in one calm piece - Sunday mornings tend to get crazy around here!

Twice as Nice!

Last week I bought some low-fat latte ice cream bars to try, and Matt tasted one tonight for the first time. His immediate comment was "wow, that's good!" I then mentioned to him that they're ultra low-calorie, and he said, "that means I can have 2!"

That logic works for me!

Prayers for a friend...

So, I'm SO hopeful for one of my far-away friends right now that I have to post it! I have one friend that's been through thick-and-thin of pregnancy loss and infertility difficulties with me, and she's currently trying to conceive #2. It's been a long, hard road for them (as infertility always is!), and I'm so hoping their journey is over soon. Within the next few days she'll know one way or the other if this last treatment worked, and my heart is hopeful for her and her family.

So, my far-away-friend, know that I love ya and SO hope you get two nice, big, fat positive lines soon!!!

New Background...

So, I'm sure you're noticing my new background! Isn't it awesome? Instead of hitting the pavement tonight, I'm sitting here, playing with my blog! I have about 10 more minutes to either run or wait until the morning to run...better go get my tennis shoes on. Blogging will be here when I come back!

Grant and Mommy

This is a bigger view of my new profile picture - it was taken about a month ago, at my parent's house.

Quote for the Day

I saw this in an article about fitness, but it could so be applied to diet, exercise, our Christian walk. Food for thought:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

Weirdest Ever

Matt's on the job site this morning, so I went down to the hotel's work-out room to run. When I mentioned to Matt this morning I was going to head down there, he chuckled and told me to be careful on the unusual treadmill. Well, holy cow he was right! It was the *weirdest* treadmill ever. I've tried to find a picture of it, but I guess I'll have to go back down there and look up the model name. Seriously, though, it was the weirdest-looking treadmill ever. Even though this is a cartoon picture, this is very close to what the treadmill looked like! Weird!

Latest Run!

I am slowly building up endurance again after having surgery 2 months ago. Here's my latest run:



I'll run again tonight, before we leave for vacation. I think Matt and I are going to work-out in the hotel together so I don't miss a run!

Race Walking

I was searching for races in the Indy area last night, and came across this race walking website! I sent it to my MIL, who's an avid (normal-style) walker, but had to blog about it because it's so weird!! The whole site just was going on and on about how exciting race walking is, and then had the rules and what gets you disqualified. Here's a picture of what's disqualifying - I can NOT imagine walking like this!!! And, I don't totally understand the knee-bend thing - it seems like an awkward way of walking!

Saturday Morning

It's an early, rainy Saturday morning here! Grant is sitting at the patio doors, staring and laughing at the rain! He's enthralled by it.

Coffee's almost ready!

Recall

This is the first recall that affects us! Grant's crib has been recalled!! The crib slats apparently can break, causing entrapment and strangulation hazards! I guess the company is issuing a full credit towards the purchase of another crib - I'm calling first thing in the morning!

Funny

I saw this saying from a Weight Watcher member, and it made me laugh out loud. I think all of us who've ever tried to lose weight before will understand!

She said "I fell off the wagon into deep fried bliss".

Wednesday Morning

I am so sore! I did a new pilates video last night that target abs and back. Whoa! Apparently I definitely need to work those areas, as I am SO SORE this morning!

I'm off to Walmart, Target, and Lowe's this morning to finalize our preparations for the church's booth at the street fair this Sunday. I need to find a duck pond and ducks! Grant's going to love shopping with me for two dozen ducks! I can hear it now - "du! Du! DUH!!" (his word for duck!)

Nilla Wafers

Do you know that I could eat at least half of my day's calories on Vanilla Wafers? Matt *loves* them, and I thought Grant would like them, so we proceeded to get the mega-ultra-jumbo box of them at Sam's Club this morning. Grant tried a couple at the end of his snack today, and I dutifully counted out the 8 cookies that are a serving (for 140 calories!) and ate them, washing them down with my water. Next time we need to buy the reduced fat variety, so I can eat more!

Fun Blinkie

ball! Ball! BALL!!!

I cannot go to the produce department anymore with Grant! He LOVES balls (it was his first word, and *anything* cylindrical is a BALL!!!!), and of course, the produce department is FULL of balls, didn't you know? Onions? BALL! Red Pepper? BALL! Avocado? BALL! Tomato? BALL!! Watermelon? BALL BALL BALL!!

Seriously, Grant FREAKS OUT over all the "balls" - I think it's too much stimulation for him! He was gripping the side of the cart this morning, getting progressively louder and louder - "ball! Ball! MOM-MA BALL!!!!" I gave him an orange to hold, quickly got my lettuce, red pepper, and sweet potato, and whisked him off to the dairy department!

Rosemary Mint

When we lived in Dallas, I briefly went to a hairstylist that worked in an Aveda salon. If you've never been to an Aveda salon, it's such an awesome salon! They use natural products, with as few chemicals as possible, and the whole salon (at least the 3 or so Aveda salons I've been in) has such a calming, upscale atmosphere. Well, in Dallas the hairdresser used this fab shampoo and conditioner - rosemary mint - and they just smelled wonderful. I would love smelling my hair over the next couple of days!

Well, an Aveda salon just opened up in the new outdoor part of the Greenwood mall, so I popped in there today. I recently found out that Aveda products aren't tested on animals (a huge in my book!). So, I bought a sample size of the shampoo, conditioner, and hairspray in the rosemary mint line - they just smell heavenly. I LOVE the way it smells. I'm trying to find an excuse to shower to try it out! :)

103.9

That's what Grant's fever was the last time we took it! Poor kiddo!

Good Wednesday Morning!

Grant's eating grapes in his chair, and I'm listening to some of my favorite music (Chris Botti), while drinking a cup of coffee from my new Keurig coffee maker! It was already on sale at Kohls (what *isn't* on sale at Kohls? ;-)), and I had a 30% off coupon!




We used it for the first time at some friends' house (Thanks, Ward & Kathy!), and we just fell in love with it! It's a single-serve machine, which is perfect for us, as usually I just want one cup of coffee in the mornings. (And, thanks, Karen, for your opinion on single-serve machines!) It brews the absolutely perfect cup of coffee, and also has a neat-o blue back-lit display.

So, between new dress pants for Matt, new towels for the bathroom and the coffee maker, we totally got the max out of that 30% coupon!

Back to Blogging!

Whew! After almost 2 months off (has it really been that long?!?), I'm back to blogging! Break out the Hallelujah chorus! :)

Just got in from running, showered, and am settling in to watch The Bachelorette!

Bird incident

Matt was outside with his Bible Study guys on Butler's campus tonight since it was such a beautiful evening. Well, Matt came home and told me the tale of the bird. He had just pulled out his laptop and was looking something up for the guys, and all-of-a-sudden, a bird, ahem, did it's poop business straight onto the laptop!!! Fortunately it hit just the outer casing and not the keyboard! Matt said one of the guys was like, "dude, a bird just pooped on your laptop!"

I'm still laughing. Matt doesn't think it's quite as funny.

Big!

Look how big he is!!

We're home!

Nope, I haven't stopped blogging...just had a busy couple of weeks, and then we were on vacation for a week! Grant did very, very well considering he was in his carseat for 31 hours!! We're all happy to be home, though, and I'm happy to be back to blogging. :)

The kid likes carrots!

Who knew that a toddler could like carrots so much?!

Today for his afternoon snack I had steamed some carrots (gotta love the Glad microwave steam bags!), and Grant ate ALL of them - and, I had steamed 1/2 of the frozen bag of veggies!! So, around 1 1/2 cups of CARROTS! he just kept eating and signing for more, eating and signing for more --- I even looked to make sure he wasn't stuffing them somewhere! And, Lizzie doesn't like carrots, so no luck there!

Matthew Grant

So, I watch The Bachelor. I'm not going to stay up to watch the whole first episode tonight, but I just caught the first couple of minutes while I wait for the washing machine.

And, I thought the Bachelor's name was funny - "Matthew Grant".

The Quad Squad

SOOOO Funny!

And, how would you tell them apart?

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid533275934/bclid537018608/bctid196271166

Leaning...

Grant's learned to lean around stuff to see you - it's so cute! Here he's leaning around the chair to see Matt. :)

No pictures, Mommy!

New Toy!

We've only bought Grant 2, maybe 3 toys, in his life, and he was needing a new age-appropriate toy. So, Grant helped pick out his new barn toy - he was so excited! here are some pictures of him helping Matt open it, and then how excited he was to play with it!

Saturday Afternoon

What a wonderful Saturday! My parents called mid-morning and offered to meet us for lunch or coffee. Well, Matt was in a meeting, so my parents wonderfully brought lunch to us! It was great seeing them, and it was SO nice of them to bring us lunch! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

On the toddler news, he's standing up all the time now! The past several mornings when I've gone in to get him in the morning he's standing up in his crib, smiling at me - so proud of himself! :) He can't quite pull himself up on our couches yet - they're just a tad too high for him to reach, but he can pull up on the ottoman. Go, Grant, Go!

And, on the running news, I overdid it or something last night, because my left ankle and shin are sore, and my right knee is killing me today! I think I might need new shoes...or perhaps it was the increased incline on the treadmill?

Snowy Friday!

Whew! It's a snowy March day here! I just got home for running some errands this morning:

1) Target to get a few groceries to make breakfast snacks for the church meeting at oru house tomorrow morning. (Mini Ham and Cheese quiches, muffins, scones - I just realized I should've got some fruit. Oh, well).

2) Jo-Ann Fabric to get material for the master bath valance - creme-silk fabric - I think it's going to look really good!

and

3) Old Navy to check out their sale racks. Their strapless tops and capris did not look appropriate in their store today!

Grant and I met Matt for a quick lunch at Panera, and now he's at home down for his afternoon nap, I have a cup of tea and sweats on, and I'm going to watch the latest Lipstick Jungle episode online. A good afternoon to be inside!

Just HOW many times...

...is my hair going to be wet today?

This morning I had to run to my doctor's office to try to clear up some insurance issues, so I just jumped in the shower to try to head out quickly. Well, Grant ended up taking a morning nap, so my hair just air-dryed while I was waiting for him to wake.

Then, after the doctor's visit, it started to POUR down rain. Even a little bit of hail!! I was in Meijer when it started, so I had to push a 13-month-old toddler and a cartful of groceries across the parking lot! Grant actually LOVED the whole experience of getting wet and was slapping the cart and laughing. I was SOAKED by the time I got us and the groceries loaded up. Soaked, soaked, soaked!

Then, I decided to run during Grant's afternoon nap (I usually run after he's in bed), so I ran and then got in the shower - more wet hair! I think my hair's been wet today more than it's been dry!

But, I had a good grocery run and a good physical run, so all-in-all, a good day - wet, but good! :)

A Video!

Here's a video of Grant doing his Army Crawl that he does everywhere - he's army crawled for so long, I'm almost convinced he's going to go to college doing it! :) And, the word he's saying in the video is "ball" - his current fixation. *anything* round is "ball". Actually, when I got up with him in the middle of the night last night, when I finished feeding him, he looked at me, sleepy-eyed, and said, "ball?" :) Fixated, the kid is, fixated! :)

Quiet Rest Time

So, Grant's pretty much transitioned to only 1 nap/day - but, thankfully, it's usually a pretty long nap (around 11:30 - 2:30). Well, around 9am, the kiddo just gets SO tired - rubbing his eyes, fussing, not wanting to play. About a week ago I thought, hey, let's just put him in his crib and see what happens. And thus, Quiet Rest Time evolved. He's in his crib from about 9-9:30ish, 9:40 - he's quiet for about 20 minutes, then plays happily for 15-20 more minutes. Then, when he gets up, he's a happy little boy ready to play for the rest of the morning!

I don't know if he really can get "rest", but it seems to really help him, as before his rest time he's really cranky, and afterwards, he's really happy! And, it gives me time to jump in the shower!

Grant's New Trick!

Hi Mom!

I can go from lying down...











...to sitting!

Sunday Morning...

...and I'm at home and not at church! Grant was feeling better from having croup and a double ear infection and teething last week (poor kiddo was so sick!!), but he woke up THREE times last night, and was up for the day an hour earlier than normal!! I was exhausted, and Grant was tired, and coughing more than he was, so we're at home. Matt's going to teach my 5-7th grade Sunday School class this morning, so he got a crash lesson this morning. He'll be fine, I'm sure. Though, one other time he taught my class and came home and said he was impressed even more that I taught high schoolers so easily and loved it so much!

Blessed Be Your Name

While running tonight, I listened to the song "Blessed Be Your Name" by Tree63. My heart is always inspired when I hear these lyrics -

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name


This song is so special to me because of the circumstances in my life at the time I first heard it. I was at one of my lowest points dealing with infertility - we had just been told we had a ultra-low (think less than 5%) chance of conceiving on our own, and my body had once again failed to respond well to fertility injections. My heart was crying out for hope, crying out for something to cling to from the Lord.

I was driving home from the University of Iowa hospital and this song came on the radio. I almost had to pull over I was so moved by these lyrics. The Holy Spirit really used these lyrics to speak to my spirit - I was reminded that no matter what happens in my life, God is still God, and it's a matter of my heart choosing to praise His name, regardless of my life circumstances. It's really a choice, isn't it? For my heart to choose to say, "blessed be your name" - it doesn't just happen.

Job, the original author of these words, still chose to praise the Lord, even after horrific events. Almost 3 years ago my heart was convicted to do the same - praise the name of the Lord, even on the road marked with suffering.

And tonight, I was once again that it is a *choice* to praise the Lord; praise should not be a by-product of my life circumstances going well. So even if I'm never able to get pregnant - or become easily pregnant - again, my heart will choose to say: "blessed be your name".

Poison Control

Well, we made our first (and hopefully last!) phone call to poison control! Saturday morning I was in the shower, Matt was getting ready, and Grant was playing with some toys in our master bedroom. Matt was watching Grant, and all of a sudden Matt said, "I think he's eating something". He ran over, picked him up and tried to dig out whatever it was. Grant started coughing and gagging and then threw up over Matt and the sink. I hurried out of the shower as Matt was cleaning everything up. We couldn't figure out what he had eaten, but then realized that it was deodorant! Somehow part of my deodorant must've gotten on the floor, and of course a toddler can find it!

So, we immediately read the back of the deodorant can (bottle? tub? what's a deodorant thing called?) and it said to contact poison control if ingested. I called, and they were very helpful and reassuring. She asked Grant's age, what he ate, if he were still choking, if he had thrown up. She immediately said, "he's going to be fine" to reassure me! So, Poison Control said to just give him something to drink, and to keep giving him fluids over the morning. They also had us check behind his teeth to make sure there wasn't more stuck behind them, which I thought was a great idea.

Whew! Grant was then fine - happily playing all morning! Guess Powder Fresh Secret tasted good to him!

Roasted Chicken Caprese

My new favorite recipe - it's just fantastic! How can you go wrong with tomatoes, cheese, and chicken?

Roasted Chicken Caprese:

Ingredients:

Marinade:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Tomatoes:
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
6 medium Roma tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded or cut in 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

For Chicken Marinade:

Place chicken in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag. Prepare lemon vinaigrette marinade by whisking together lemon juice, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil to emulsify. Add lemon vinaigrette to chicken, seal the bag and marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

For tomatoes:

Cut each tomato into quarters lengthwise. Place in a medium bowl and toss gently with sugar, one teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup olive oil.

Spoon tomato mixture into a rimmed cookie sheet so that tomato pieces don't touch.

Roast for 30 minutes.

Spoon tomatoes and all accumulated juices into a small bowl.

Add cheese, basil leaves, and pepper, tossing gently.

Let sit at room temperature while chicken cooks.

For Chicken and final preparation:

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Remove chicken and discard marinade.

Place chicken on same cookie sheet used to roast tomatoes.

Roast for about 30 minutes, turning once half-way through, or until fully cooked through.

To serve, place 1 chicken breast half on each heated dinner plate. Spoon 1/4 of tomato mixture over top.


It's so fantastic! I think the next time I make it, I'll dice the tomatoes, and instead of mixing the cheese in with the tomatoes, I'll sprinkle it on top of the chicken. very healthy and diet-friendly, too!

More than a week!

Aack! It's been more than a week since I've blogged. I'm off to get some pictures of the camera and will upload some new ones for your viewing pleasure. :)

Do you think...

...that I would've made Matt nervous if I would have called and asked him where his drill bits were? And hammer? Level? And screwdriver?



I bought a shelf for the laundry room - I thought we could use the extra storage space for extra cleaning supplies, paper towels, light bulbs, etc. Well, Matt's *very* handy - it's one of the things I LOVE about him - he can do anything and everything around the house, and if I tell him I'd like something done, he always does it really well and really quickly. (In fact, he's so handy, he's hung a picture for one of my friends before!)

But, he's gone today and tomorrow, and I just wanted to see if I could tackle this project.

Well, I found the drill bits! And even figured out how to change it out of the cordless drill!

So, after only an hour, new shelf!!

(It's the top white one - and, ignore all the stuff on top of the washer and dryer - I had to move all of the items from the bottom shelf to have room to work).



Cool tool chick, I am!

Waffles!

I used my new waffle maker for the first time last week! Grant loves, loves, loves waffles, so I thought I'd get a waffle maker. I made this recipe from allrecipes, and they turned out great! I found out that Matt likes his waffles a little crispy, and Grant loved them, too!