Montana Getaway

This past weekend Clara and I took our first road trip, just the two of us. Instead of heading west on the long, flat, scenic-less stretch of road called I90, we headed east. Our destination was Missoula, Montana. Although we stayed in Montana just over 24 hours, we had a wonderful time! Why the short trip? We went to see my dear friend, Andrea, and her family. Although Andrea currently lives in Colorado Springs, she flew up for the weekend. The rest of the McDivitt fam made the trek from the booming metropolis of Cut Bank, Montana (home of the giant penguin, pictured below) to support Morgan at the state B/C tennis championships.

We had a great time watching Morgan dominate her opponents (she WON STATE!), eating good food (MacKenzie River Pizza - I know you're jealous, Leah!), shopping tax free, and enjoying time spent together. It was lovely.

One of the best parts about winning the championships in the state of Montana: a TV interview! Add that to the list of...

a). multiple pictures in the Cut Bank paper every week &

b). a town parade following a state championship

...and we may just start considering making the move to small town Montana ;).

It's a good thing we like Missoula so much because we will be heading there on a more regular basis come fall. My little bro just signed with the grizzlies to play tennis. Here is a nice little article about it. This next weekend is the Washington state tennis championships and we're looking forward to cheering on "Uncle E". This little one is already a huge tennis fan!

Victory!

It is done. I finished my first half-marathon.

I can't believe I, Amy, and half-marathon are in the same sentence (with finished as the verb instead of watched or admire or something like that). There is something really weird/wild/incredible/etc. about doing something that you never would have imagined yourself doing. I know if someone would've told me in high school that I'd one day choose to run 13.1 miles, I would've laughed in their face. Running for fun was never on my life-time list of to dos.

Yet there is something incredibly rewarding about doing something that you never thought you could do. It kind of makes me start to think about what other things I thought were just outside my reach. Like, climbing Mt. Everest or wrestling a crocodile in the marshlands of Florida or water skiing down the length of the Mississippi or joining Circ De Soleil. It's like the whole wide world has opened up into a long list of now-attainable aspirations.

Okay, so I'm mostly joking about my new bucket list. I have a pretty strong grasp of what skills and talents I do not possess (like speed, jumping ability, strength, dancing skills, etc etc etc). Some things can change while others just can not. Still, I may pause one half second longer and think about if I can do something before quickly dismissing some notion. Like making a fondant cake or running 13.1 miles.

All that to say I am happy to have finished my race and I may even run another one someday. Maybe. For a while I think I'll be a 3-4 miles, 3 days a week kind of girl. That sounds kind of nice right now.

And for you hundreds of people reading this and wondering "could I run a half marathon??" The answer to that question is absolutely yes. If a slow, IT band/hip pain- infested woman (am I a woman or a girl?) who has had a baby and hated running can do it. So. Can. YOU ;).

Here is the before and after of our threesome: Amy, Katherine, Carly. And I thought I was accomplishing something, running after a baby. Katherine has two and Carly three! Way to go, ladies. You are amazing!!!

I know you're curious. We all have medals. Did we win gold, silver and bronze? In fact we did. We swept the 25-30 age woman category. Can you believe it?! I know, we're amazing. But then again you just noticed the lady in the background is wearing a medal too. She must've been in the 30-35 category.

Anacortes, WA

We have been wanting to make the trek over to Anacortes since we moved back to Washington two years ago. One of my best friends from high school, Janie, and her husband Chris live in Anacortes. This weekend we finally made it happen. We planned our weekend around a bike race in the area, but more than anything it was an incentive to make sure we followed through. Even though it was a quick trip, it was definitely worth it. The weather was amazing and so was the time spent with friends! Here is our trip. In pictures.

Exercising with a little resistance at a rest stop on the way.

Heavy traffic in Cle Elum lead to a last-minute detour: Leavenworth to Anacortes via Highway 2. So we ate at the exact same german bratwurst restaurant as last year when I was 35 weeks prego. We just had to take the "after" shot.

Our little pumpkin did not do so well sleeping in the same room with her mommy and daddy. It may have been the long car ride, the different baby food, the addition of milk in the past week, the new surroundings? Whatever it was, she decided to wake up quite early both mornings. The first morning, she got to go take pictures with her daddy. Thankfully Jono loves the prospect of sunrise pictures, so I got more sleep and everyone was happy ;). Some early morning Anacortes pics...

It was a gorgeous day for a bike race. Jono & Chris rode 45 miles and Janie rode 25. While they rode, Clara and I went on a run on a path bordered by farmland on one side and the bay on the other. Not too bad if you ask me! Another before and after. This time of the bike race.

We did a little Anacortes tour in the evening. Janie and Chris said a sunny, windless evening like this happens about twice a year. We felt very lucky. Clara felt lucky too.

And then we made the trip back. We drove through the Northern Cascades on Highway 20. And Jono got to cross something off his bucket list. It was pretty ridiculous. Good ridiculous. I kept thinking we were in Colorado. I think my belief in the awesomeness of Washington continues to expand.

We had Mothers Day lunch in Winthrop. Gormet sandwiches and an extra-large scoop of homemade ice cream on a waffle cone. Pretty close to perfection, if you ask me.

The rest of the voyage looked mostly like this.

And that was our weekend on the west side of the state. Hopefully we'll have many more adventures over there in the future! But the next "adventure" is my half-marathon. Less than a week away. I will, of course, blog about it. That is, if I survive to write about it.

First Birthday

One year ago today our little Clara girl entered the world. She surprised us all because she came fast, she came early, and she wasn't a boy. I don't think I ever posted about our family's poll. Twenty-two members of the family entered $1 to guess sex/weight/day/height/time and nobody did very well. Most predicted boy and almost everyone thought she'd be bigger. I was a bit of a chunk as a child and so was Jono. So if we were 100% honest, Jonathan's sister's father -in-law won. But he never saw the large cash reward. John G., if you're reading this and finding it out for the first time (highly unlikely), sorry. Jonathan & I were given the 22 bucks and I'm sure we bought something like diapers with it. Anyway, if you have a lot of time on your hands, you can read the very long account of her story.

What a beautiful "surprise" Clara has turned out to be! It is impossible to even begin to account all the little things we love about Clara. But here are just a few tidbits. A snapshot of Clara today, on her birthday:

*She has always been very verbal. Every morning we wake up to Clara chatting it up in the room down the hall. She also starts talking immediately when she wakes up from her nap. I have no idea what she is trying to communicate/to whom she is talking, but she talks nonetheless. Her first word was most certainly: ball. After that we have: dada, mama, nana = bananas, bubu = bubbles, du = ducks...and may other crazy sounds that will likely become real words soon.

Here is the video I posted a few weeks ago of her copying sounds.

*She is on her own timetable in the physical development category. She rolled over and started sitting for the first time right on "schedule" -whatever that means. But she was slower to take up crawling (9 1/2 months) and she hasn't shown much of a desire to walk solo quite yet. She loves walking while holding hands and she cruises on furniture. That's about it for now.

*She absolutely adores her her daddy. Last week I put the phone up to her ear (I've been doing that since she was little -so she could hear the voices of her family) when Jonathan called. Her eyes lit up and she immediately said "dada!" It was precious.

*She has a little bit of a book obsession. I'd say after balls, they are her favorite thing. She could sit and turn pages for ages. Her favorites? Anything of the pop-up variety (those can be dangerous unsupervised...I've found animal heads in strange places), books with fur/texture, and Pat the Bunny. My favorite book to read her is I Love You Through & Through. Why? We always "act it out" and she says "ahhhh" when we get to the part where the little boy opens his mouth ;).

*She eats (and poops) a LOT! I asked the doctor if it is normal for an almost one year old to eat an entire banana for breakfast, a 1/2 c. of plain yogurt and sometimes still sign for more (I also asked if it's normal for her to poop 5 times a day). I guess there is a very large range of "normal". Jonathan commented the other day that it's kind of strange that his daughter with a stomach the size of, what?- a golf ball, eats the exact same thing as her father. She's a growing girl I guess!

*She is not a great eater, however, when it comes to what she likes to eat. Just about the only foods she'll eat on their own are bananas/yogurt, applesauce, sweet potatoes, cheese, cheerios, puffs, and crackers. All other foods need to be accompanied by applesauce & thoroughly disguised. I have not given in -she will grow up eating a huge variety of foods. We will just continue being creative in making sure she gets her veggies!

*She loves music! Of course, this is to be expected since she was serenaded almost daily in utero and continues to be exposed all the time. She starts doing a bounce/dance or clapping the second she hears anything resembling music -including in her books or toys.

*She adores her grandparents. One of the biggest perks of being close close to both sets is that she sees each of them multiple times a week. I love that she will know them so well as she grows up. A friend recently said that having her kids grow up near her parents feels like having insurance. You know if you somehow miss they mark, they have time-tested parenting skills ;). I think I agree!

*Taking items off shelves, out of baskets, and out of wallets/purses is a favorite activity of Clara's. If I let her have at it, she'd likely remove her entire bookshelf of books. I often find myself frantically looking for my debit card at the grocery store since I've shoved all the cards back into my wallet haphazardly. Thanks to her grandmas, Clara now has her very own purse and wallet! It was part of her birthday present.

*She continues to be a great sleeper. 11 hours at night & two naps right now. I vowed I would never be the nap nazi mom. However, I am finding more and more that naps are huge. So I am pretty scheduled these days. I have entered her room a few random times to find some pretty crazy sleeping positions. This was just one of them...

*Our doctor's office doesn't have a one year check-up, just one scheduled between 10-12 months. We went at 11 months and Clara was 19 lbs., 13 oz. (50%), 29 1/4" long (70%) and her head was 18"(70%). She has slimmed down a bit -probably because she's so active. I'm kind of sad about that. The chubbiness of Clara is a thing of the past. Her cheeks are the only remnants.

So if you've made it this far (congrats), I will now move on to the party. We celebrated with a gathering at the park yesterday. It was not the ideal day for an outside occasion. It was a bit chilly to say the least. But the sun did show her lovely face a few times and so it was bearable. Here are some highlights from the party...

The outfit.

I got inspired while looking at projects online. Especially this little masterpiece. So I decided to make one, of course. I ordered some special colors of tule online, busted out some ribbon from my vast supply and wala. Then I stitched a little felt onto a matching shirt from Target & some babylegs completed the outfit. Oh yeah, and I couldn't resist making a mini tutu-ish bow as well.

The CAKE (of course).

First of all, if you are a long-time mom, be prepared to laugh aloud at my foolishness. I decided that I should make a double-layer fondant cake (never done that before), cupcakes and a mini cake for Clara. The price for this sugary endeavor? At least six hours in the kitchen, dishes galore, 8 pounds of powdered sugar, and a slight meltdown. The prize? A very imperfect leaning slab of flour, eggs, and sugar (and lots of it).

I wish I could describe an all-out shove-in-the-face spectacular. Instead, our little girl grabbed her first bit of cake, smashed it repeatedly in her fingers, offered some to Andrew who was standing nearby, and then decided to take a bite. Even after tasting it, she made more of a mess and explored the strange texture than she did gobble up its sugary goodness. It was her very first bite of sweet. Literally. I hadn't even offered her a lick before that. I figured her sweet tooth genes are in to destroy her later on, so she might as well have a couple sugar-less months of existence.

The presents.

Clara was showered with lots of love. And toys, books, clothes, balls & homemade masterpieces (like the hat below, made by my mom). She was most excited about grabbing the tissue paper.

The people.

We are thankful that family and friends came - despite the chilly weather - to celebrate with us! Here are just a few pictures of loved ones...

One of my favorite pictures of all? This precious one of three future friends: Quinn, Clara & Sophia. You would not believe the ridiculous screaming/jumping/clapping I had to do in order for these three ladies to look up at the same time!

And that, folks, is all I've got. I think I may have just finished the longest blog post of all-time. I have sat down and reread this monster numerous times since I've come back to it a lot in the last 24 hours. If you have made it this far and read every word and clicked on every link (and you are not my sister), you should win an award. The amazing blog reader of the century award or something like that. I promise that I will never, ever post this long of a blog in my lifetime. Just one more picture & that's all folks...