RAIN DROPS AND GIGGLES

Loving dressing Lady in her winter attire....

SHE'S CRAFTY

No, not like the Beastie Boy's would use the word "crafty"... more like the way Martha Stewart would use it :0)

I've been feeling the itch to stitch so I plopped myself in front of the sewing machine for a few hours during Lady's nap time and came up with a few of these!

Lady's favorite is the Giraffe with the rickrack embellishment along the neck! Skirts to be on the sewing assembly line next week.

RACER BABY

We goth this in the mail last week

It's from the Intermountain Cup Race director Ed Chauner. It is such a great testament to how much Lady L is loved and welcomed by everyone who knows us. Kday has been racing I-cup for over 14 years now and it's so great to see the genuine friendships that he's build through cycling. The mountain bike community is a chillax, supportive, and family oriented crowd (much less maintenance and dramatic than roadies :0) ) and full of great people.

Lady L has a few more years before her first bike race, so for now we'll mount her I-cup race number (her b-day) on her Chariot!

5:29 am

Felt good to get out and pound the pavement early this A.M while L and Kday were warm at home in their beds. It was a slow 3.6 miles but Kashi and I enjoyed the brisk, dark morning air before the rest of the world started to hum.
GOALS:
5 miles 3x / week: before Thanksgiving
6.5 miles 2x/ week: by Jan 1st.
10 miles 1x/ week x 3 weeks: After April 1
Wasatch Back Race June 18-19 2010: Already registered! (13+ miles for the team, running Logan to Park City Utah)

MY MIRACLE

"The lilt in your giggle,

The light in my eyes,

The joy in your soul,

Sweet child you...

The heart of my heart."

1:31

I CAN'T STOP WATCHING THIS VIDEO OVER AND OVER AND OVER! MARK 1:31 IS THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whether you watch the whole thing, or just FF to 1:31, you have to see Layla's facial expression. Caution.... you will LOL :) Enjoy!

BABY STEPS

LAYLA 10 WEEKS

I always figured I would look foreword to the time that I wouldn't be in close contact with a birthmother. Before we met our birthmother (KM) and brought Layla into our family, I assumed that I would always be afraid of her ability to control the outcome of my life. However, since establishing such a loving, healthy relationship with our birthmother, my emotions tend to catch me by surprise. We are entering a new phase in our adoption, one that limits our communication through email and focus's more on written letter and picture updates. A little piece of my everyday life is missing. For the last 7 months I have religiously checked my email and kept in close contact with KM (our birthmother.) I have a deep and eternal love for this woman, she has given me an opportunity that nobody else on this earth has been able to do. She specifically chose me to be the mother of her perfect, tiny, innocent baby..... for eternity. 100% Christ like selflessness. Though I am anxious to move foreword in our place as Layla's parents, I will miss her. I will miss the chance to just send a quick little email expressing my love and gratitude toward her. It will be hard to wonder how she is coping and progressing into her new life. Layla is so lucky to have had KM as a birthmom who took such amazing care of her in-utero. Layla is beautiful, I can't take the credit for her outer beauty, but I hope to someday know that I helped her find her inner beauty. I love being a mom. Being an adoptive mom is hard, as it comes with it's own set of extra worries, stresses, and emotions... but it also comes with REALLY profound amounts of gratitude, appreciation, and deep love. I will take a baby step toward this new phase, but it will not change the place in my heart that KM will forever reside in.

THE FIRST TIME I MET MY DAUGHTER

THE FIRST TIME I HELD LAYLA AS HER MOTHER, AFTER RELINQUISHMENT PAPERS WERE SIGNED

MY CUP RUNETH OVER!

THERE'S A REASON WHY THE WORD "LOVE" IS PART OF SCORING IN TENNIS

LOVE

Met up this morning at the High School Alma-matter courts with an old buddy to slap the ball around a bit. Kevin brought Little Lady and Kashi down to watch as their mom attempted to maintain some dignity while missing a lot of shots.

My game has a long way to go before I'm back to my baseline level of play, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My service game is a disaster, my backhand timing is off, my forehand backswing is unacceptable, my footwork needs a lot of work... otherwise I felt great :) I play again on Tuesday morning and I'm hoping to still win the fight against the USTA ranking system so that by spring I can play on a competitive league. It's never work... it's all play on the tennis court. I love love love it.

UP AND RUNNING

A KNOCK ON THE DOOR.... AND A MAN DRESSED IN BROWN BROUGHT ME THIS!

AND I PEEKED INSIDE TO FIND THIS....

SO I PUT IT TOGETHER AND SHOWED IT TO LAYLA...

AND SHE LOVED IT!!!!

We opted to bypass the idea of a regular strolling system and held out for the Chariot. It's a stroller, jogger, bike trailer, and ski caddy all in one. I've taken it out on a couple of practice runs and love love love it! I haven't taking Layla bug in it when I run yet because we still waiting for the baby support system to ship, but she's been out on a few strolls. For more info on what the Chariot has to offer click HERE!