2014 Year End Review (Lissie 3.75 and Xavier 2.5 updates)

I just looked at last year's Year End Review and am amazed that the majority of the things I said then still apply to now.

Oh, my crazy wonderful children.  You keep me on my toes, and I'm (mostly) loving every minute of it.

Let's start with Lissie.  Oh, how sweet and silly and smart that one is.  She hates getting in trouble for anything.  Doing anything even slightly wrong makes her very upset.  Even if you try positive criticism, the waterworks are inevitable.  She always wants to be good and do the right thing.  But, oh, how she loves making us laugh with her jokes and sense of humor .  And how bright is she!  Her teachers are impressed with her problem solving skills and her ability to solve 50+ piece jigsaw puzzles in a matter of minutes.

She loves pretend play, and could imagine whole scenarios for hours on end.  She pretended to have an entire school day once - complete with lunch, playtime, circle time, and nap - the whole recreation lasted over an hour.  She also still loves to create concoctions in her play kitchen - after she peruses her precious cookbooks for inspiration.

Yep, Lissie still loves all things food related.  She analyzes everything she eats, wanting to know exactly how it's made.  She says she wants to be a "cooker" when she grows up, and she already loves to be a special helper in the kitchen.  There are very few foods that she dislikes these days.  In fact, I can only think of a handful: lobster, crab, asparagus, and turnips.  She loves most everything else.  Yes, even brussels sprouts and beets!

More Lissie loves:
* Spanish and watching Dora
* Sitting in the front of church for Mass
* Dress-up clothes, especially dresses that are so long they touch her toes (ala Elsa)
* Listening to music and singing
* Sleepovers at Lola's
* Running

And then there's Xavier.

That crazy, silly boy.  He can be in the best mood one minute and take quite a turn for the worse the next.  His tantrums are awesomely frustrating and amazing at the same time.  Gotta love the Twos!

But, man, he can turn on the charm like you wouldn't believe.  His giggles are seriously infectious, and his coy smile is extremely heart-melting.  Oh, man, that boy is Trouble.

And his sense of humor that he must have inherited from his Lolo!  He loves telling jokes and performing silly antics to get a rise out of his audience.  He can't help but make everyone smile at his goofy, goofy ways.

Ah, and the potty training.  He turned 2.5 a few days ago, the perfect time for me to finally do what I've been putting off for half a year.  I've known he was ready to take the leap, but I wasn't mentally prepared for it myself.  We're only a few days in, and he's doing impressively well.  He can't wait to be out of diapers and, quite frankly, so am I.

He's also talking.  A lot.  The language explosion hit us like a ton of bricks a few weeks ago - right when I was starting to get anxious about his speech.  But now?  He's speaking in full sentences and telling you more than you want to know about everything.

More Xavier Loves:
* His turtle and his "nini" blanket.
* Chocolate and yummy treats.
* Causing all kinds of mischief.
* Going to school.
* Doing everything all by himself.

And what happens when you put Xavier and Lissie together?  More often than not, they get along wonderfully.  They enjoy cooking together and having tea parties.  They love running around and chasing each other.  They share a room now, and I can hear them talking to each other and giggling for a while before they finally settle down into sleep.

Yes, they have their share of arguments.  "It's mine!" can be heard throughout the house several times a day, but it hasn't been too unbearable.  Yet.  Haha.

Oh, those two.  Can't help but love 'em.  So, so much.

Bring it on 2015.  Looking forward to seeing what you've got in store for us!

Run Run Run 2014 Recap.

As 2014 draws to a close, I'm thinking about my Run Run Run challenge that I made myself for the year.

My initial goal was to log 30 miles a month, but I quickly doubled that - logging more than 70 miles a month towards the latter part of the year.  The grand total?  736.8 miles run so far this year!  The best part about running so much is that I - mostly unintentionally - somehow managed to sneak back down to not just pre-pregnancy weight, but pre-wedding weight as well!

We bought a double jogger back in March, and that helped tremendously.  It was a fabulous workout (those kids are HEAVY!), and we could run somewhere that ended up at a playground so everyone got their exercise!

I actually didn't run many races this year.  In fact, my races were few and far between.  I only did the Predators 5K in February, the Firecracker 5K in July, and the big Ragnar Relay in October.

So what's my goal for 2015?  I plan to continue logging my miles, but this time with a full marathon on the schedule in April and a repeat Ragnar Relay in October.  And, probably a half marathon or two thrown in there for good measure and training.

My friend and race partner unexpectedly passed away last week on Christmas Eve. We had run countless 5Ks (including a 5K a month in 2012), my three half marathons of 2013, and the Ragnar Relay together.  I miss her greatly, and I am devoting all of my runs in 2015 to her memory.

So if I could run 736.8 miles this year, do you think I can run 900 miles in 2015?  I think I'm gonna try.....

Oh, and the best part about me staying healthy?  I'm being a positive example for my children.  Lissie loves to run with me, and she says that when she grows up she wants to be a "cooker and a runner."  Xavier just likes to run.  That is, when he's not being lazy.  Haha.

A Very Late Thanksgiving 2014 Recap

We were planning on a very low-key Thanksgiving.  Justin was scheduled to work on Thanksgiving, so we celebrated the night before at my parents' house.  She had decided to order a deep-fried turkey from a friend at work, and we had all the standard sides to go with it.

We all should've seen the red flag when we cut into the meat and saw some redness, but we attributed it to it being deep-fried and not roasted since, after all, smoked turkey legs are red, too, right?  How little we all knew.

Luckily, the kids and I didn't eat much turkey and stuck to the delicious sides to make room for the pumpkin pie desserts.

But everyone else.....

In the middle of the night, Justin woke me up because he was feeling feverish and crampy.  Around 7am, I got a call from my mom saying she had gotten sick.  Justin's dad also texted saying that he wasn't feeling well.  The kids and I were totally fine.  The most likely culprit?  An undercooked deep-fried turkey.

Justin ended up having to take the day off from work, but I'm sure he would've rather gone in than deal with his food poisoning.

Lesson learned: stick to a roasted turkey, and do it ourselves!

Regardless, we are all still very grateful for our many blessings.  And for that, we are always truly grateful.