Ogden Half Marathon

John's final time was 1:59:54! He came in 6 seconds before his goal! Out of 1,978 half marathon runners, John came in at #689!

Ogden Marathon

Today John ran his 1/2 marathon in Ogden Canyon. He did a great job and finished in about 2 hours (I don't know the exact time yet!). I thought I would post the few pictures we got of him today. Unfortunately, this particular race only has certain spots where you can watch the runners. We chose to wait for him around the finish line.
Here he is coming in...



Here he is running past us, focusing hard on the last few steps... John didn't see us because of the mass amount of spectators. He didn't hear us because he was listening to his music to help him keep pace!




Braxton finally found his daddy! Braxton had been asking for him since 6am this morning. The marathon started at 7am, so John had to leave at 6am to get there. Braxton, of course, woke up almost immediately after John left.
P.S. Thanks to Steve Keller for getting up to drive him to the starting line! If John had had to catch the shuttle, he would have had to leave at 5am. I'm glad that Braxton (and I!) got in that extra hour of sleep!



John and his marathon running partner, Tate. Thank you Tate for getting John started on this marathon thing... We are so proud of him for being active and getting healthy! And who knows... maybe I'll start getting into it!

My Little Pig

This month Braxton and I went to another Zoo School. The class, "Call of the Wild" was all about the different sounds animals make and why they make them. Each kid in the class got to make a headband - there were several animals to choose from including a tiger, donkey, duck...etc. Braxton chose the pig. He was so adorable in his headband - and the funny thing is that he has been wearing it around the house since then.

I took these pictures of him wearing it... look at him modeling it! Woo-Woo!

The best part of the little headbands was the tail... look at that little curly Q!

After we made the headbands, we went to see the different animals - Braxton got to feed the goats and sheep and he even got to pet the pig! Apparently pigs are even smarter than dogs (according to the zoo helper). The zoo keeper taught the pigs, Monica and Chandler, to touch their noses to a ball after it is thrown. Of course, the reason they do it, is because they get a treat!

Catching Up - April

For Easter, we went to John's parents house. It was fun to watch Braxton figure out Easter Egg hunting!

The Easter Bunny put quarters and candy in some of the plastic eggs. Braxton didn't get any of the ones with candy and decided that the quarters weren't any good apparently...

Braxton just kept opening egg after egg... and then throwing the quarter on the ground! Good thing his mommy was keeping close track... We need something in his piggy bank!

Braxton was much more excited when he discovered some bigger eggs in his Easter basket... they had cars in them!

His sweet little smile just got bigger and bigger....

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April also brought a whole new world for me. The world of being embarrassed publicly by your child.

We went to lunch with some of my friends for a birthday. Braxton was such a good boy and ate and ate and ate. I was visiting and Braxton wanted to go. I told him that we would leave in a few minutes. So, he ran around a few tables and then, as the waiter walked by - Braxton gave a little yell/scream. I don't know that he startled the waiter, but it sure embarrassed me! The waiter just laughed and smiled. Unfortunately, this only encouraged Braxton to keep doing it.

I kept saying, "Braxton, mommy is almost done. Can you please use your quiet voice and whisper like mommy?" Braxton must have realized that I was embarrassed because he kept being really loud!

A lady at another table, turned around and said "Can't you keep that kid quiet?" She was joking, of course - and then she said "Just enjoy it now, because pretty soon he'll be all grown up and live 7000 miles away from you like my baby!"

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April also brought us a cold. Braxton got it first, then gave it to me. John, of course, felt like "something was coming on" one day and then was perfectly fine the next (it's so not fair!). Braxton was miserable for a few days, but still had plenty of energy to be a boy! I practically spent an entire weekend in bed, and even then John had to take work off on the Monday because my head was so full of snot I could hardly hold it up! I spent that entire day in bed too! Braxton and I were snot-nosed for weeks, and we are just barely getting over that!

Catching Up - March

March was a fun month for us. We spent some time in Pocatello. I went to a seminar in Boise for Scentsy. Braxton and I took a couple of Zoo Tots class at our local zoo.
The first class was called "Zany Zebras" and we got to see where the zebras sleep and what they eat. We didn't get to touch them because they are considered to be a wild animal. We also found out that zebras have black skin... so they are really black with white stripes!
We also made this cute zebra.

Braxton had fun at the zebra class, but I wasn't sure that he got too much out of it. But these days he is much more vocal and talks all the time! When I mentioned that we were going to the zoo, he instantly said "Zebras?" That made me feel better that he actually remembered it!

The second class we took was called "Honey Bunny." Braxton got to pet the bunnies, and he loved it. He kept wanting the bunnies to come closer to him so he could pet them more.
The craft we made was really cute too. It was a bag of jelly beans, with ears and a face stapled to the top, and arms on the side and feet on the bottom. Braxton ate quite a few jelly beans while we were making it, so our bunny was pretty skinny! I didn't take a picture of this one, because the jelly beans were all gone before I thought to!

Braxton has also decided that he LOVES it when Megan S., our babysitter, comes over. He cried for a few minutes when we left him one night with her, but then he cried even harder when we came home and she had to go home! We love Megan for doing such a great job!
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I also realized that we have started a bad habit for bedtime with Braxton. Each night we read scriptures and say prayers (that's a good habit!). Then Braxton picks out a few books to read, and then I crawl in bed with him and read the books. I always did it because John would go and finish his work or work out, or go to meetings. When we had Megan S. babysit, I told her to try and get him into bed and told her the routine. Well, Braxton did great until she tried to read to him. He threw the books and said "No, Mommy do it!" Needless to say, when we got home, he was still up.

When we first got his big boy bed (in December) I would read him the books and then lay next to him to keep him in bed - otherwise he would just crawl out. Well, now I HAVE to stay in his bed until he falls asleep or he just keeps getting up. I've tried to break the habit several times, but have yet to succeed. Each time I try, I talk to Braxton about staying in bed and leave with Braxton saying he will stay in bed. However, at two years old he is already telling lies!

He will get up NONSTOP because he thinks it's a big game. And it doesn't seem to matter if I stay calm or get upset with him when I take him back to his room and tell him to stay in his bed. These nights always end up with him screaming and me holding him tightly in place until he settles down and goes to sleep. I have even tried locking him in his room - which resulted in him screaming for what seemed like hours and then falling asleep in front of his door.

I think the real problem is that I have a huge softspot for him. He is so cute and then when he cries like that it breaks my heart! Someday I'll toughen up....

Catching Up

So it's been 3 months since I updated our blog. I thought maybe it was a good time to work on it. Right now John and Braxton are at a Father-Son Campout for our ward. John has been looking forward to this night for about 3 weeks! I know they are going to have so much fun! Braxton LOVES to be with his Daddy.