Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Pushing Away

The other week APZ's friend Tyler came over for a visit. It was a yucky day outside, but the two of them enjoy watching the rain:




To have a little fun, I put Tyler in the car scooter thing and let Piper push him around. It was quite enjoyable for us to watch and for them to do:





In other news, P has taken a liking to Killer. She chases him around and he lazily tries to move away but we know he secretly enjoys the attention:



Lastly, a couple funny pics of P and how she constantly has something in her mouth:


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago I married my best friend in a glass chapel in the Ozark mountains. What a wonderful and beautiful day.

Monday, May 23, 2011

New Piper Pics

I've been meaning to post some photos of APZ, but just have been lazy. She is full on walking and no stopping her. She actually got really good pretty quickly. Probably in a matter of a week or two and she is no longer walking to things for support, but just walks everywhere. We are now working on walking in the grass since it is pretty uneven but she is getting better at that too.

Anyway, here are a few photos over the last month.

Fun times:

Lots of Smiles:
Hugs with Dada:
Loves reading (or flipping the pages):


Spends a lot of time figuring out how to put the largest toys she can find in her mouth:

Most of the time though we crawl/walk with something hangout of of our mouth:




Had fun playing with Dad in the sleeping bag:

Friday, May 20, 2011

Going GF


It has been a few months now of eating gluten free and it really hasn't been that bad. I miss many of the dessert type things, cookies and cake but that is about it. I will say that I had a major dumb moment the other week...

I was at the Jimmy Buffett concert and the amphitheater where it is at only serves wine and beer, so they make their margaritas with wine (and a little at that). One of the people there had bought one which was pretty pricey and said it wasn't all that great. So I thought, well I guess I will just get a beer. Totally had a brain collapse as I really don't ever drink beer since I am not a big fan of it, so I typically order wine or mixed drinks. See, when I started gluten free, I knew I could no longer drink beer and I thought, alright, no big deal, I don't drink it anyway.

I will say I didn't have a bad immediate reaction, typically stomach stuff. But about 24-36 hours later it wasn't too great. So now I know maybe the type of reaction I might have in the future if I consume gluten after not eating it.

I have found lots of good and yummy things that are gluten free though. Here are just a few of them:






While I was out in California in March, I found these chips:


OMG they are so awesome. So I got online since I couldn't find them here in my stores and ordered a whole box of them (I have already run out so I will need to order another!):




This brand also makes an awesome multigrain chip/cracker that is really good too and Costco sells them in the super size bag which is wonderful!

Lastly, the other week we tested out Betty Crocker's GF cake mix which was pretty good. It was a little dense and tasted a little like pound cake but that was ok. Then I found this recipe that uses the cake mix for banana bread and wow, it was so good! Totally tasted like my banana bread that I used to make that I loved. Really excited that it was that good. They also have a recipe for blueberry muffins using the cake mix and cornmeal that I want to try too.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Running/Biking Update

Yes I have been running. More and more lately. In fact, I bought a pair of these:


(the Nike Free Runs +2).

I started out doing 2 miles at the end of a run every other run. I am now doing my 4 mile runs in them 2x per week. Total last week: 30 miles total and 10 of them in the frees (2 4 milers and then a 2 mile hard effort at the end of a 5 mile run).

What do I think so far...well I like them so much better than flats or lightweight trainers. For some reason these just feel better on my feet, more free. :) Just much more flexibility in them and I like that.

My knee pain came back last Sunday at the end of my long run. Was planning on going 11 miles but around 9 my knee started hurting so I only did 10 1/2. I don't know if I am running too much in the frees or not, it is hard to say. I had knee pain before, so really it hasn't changed. But I am hitting the most miles I have run since pre baby so maybe it is just me trying to catch up. Or maybe I need to stretch more....A LOT more. I go for my runs and don't have much time to stretch with Piper...or maybe that is my excuse. And then I run around after her all day or pick her up and carry her around all of which probably doesn't help with tightness. Maybe some biking would help.

Which leads me to a goal this summer has been to get my act together and buy a new bike. Or rather another bike. I would like to bike a little this summer towing Piper around and the carbon cervelo soloist isn't really the bike for that. So I have been looking at bikes on the internet. I don't really want anything fancy, but something that rides well (hybrid perhaps). Just planning on cruzing around the neighborhood, no major roads. EZ and I seem to disagree as to which is safer-pulling PZ behind in a trailer or having her in a seat hitched to the bike. Anyone want to weigh in?