Training...continued.

Training continues. It's going great! My mileage last week was 3, 4, 3, and 7. I tried to increase my pace on the shorter runs. I figure that if I can increase my heart rate and speed on the short runs, it will help with endurance on the longer runs. I have been able to decrease my time on each 3 mile run, even if only by a few seconds. I have also been trying to start my pace slower to warm up and make the second half of the run a little faster than the first half.

My most difficult run was the 4 mile. I got really tired and slowed down the second half. I also got a side ache the last mile that I had to push through. Yuck. What's up with those?

I ran the 7 mile with Rob on Saturday. It is the furthest I have ever run. I was excited to do it because I knew I could! I told myself that it didn't matter how fast I ran or how long it took, as long as I did it and didn't stop. Well, it went great! It felt a lot better than my 6 mile from the week before. I tried to push my pace to where I felt comfortable but not too winded or in pain. I fueled at about mile 5 with half a mini Clif bar, and I really think that helped me finish those last couple miles. I was able to run it at a whole minute faster pace than the 6 mile. I don't anticipate all the upcoming long runs to feel so good, but it doesn't matter! Right guys? It may hurt, I may get tired and want to stop, my knees and hips may ache, but it doesn't matter! I will run and not stop!

Marathon

OK, so I have decided to run a marathon. I have to put it out there so I am obligated now to actually follow through and do it, right? I am planning on running the P.F. Changs Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix on January 15, 2012.

So, why am I doing this? Good question. I've been exercising, running and doing weight watchers since mid-May. I've lost 20 pounds and really feel good about what I've been able to achieve. So, why not push myself a little harder and do something I've never thought I could do? A couple years ago Millie and Jacob ran the same marathon, and watching them and all the other runners was very inspiring. It was amazing to see all the different sizes and types of people who were able to push themselves to run 26 miles! If they can do it, so can I!

I've just started my official training September 19. So far, things are going well! This last week I ran 3, 4, 3, and 6 miles. My knees are starting to bother me a little bit, but I'm hoping they will adjust to the extra mileage and be ok. I'm a little nervous about the longer training runs coming, but I know I can do it. I am just going to run, and not stop. Pretty simple right? I can do that...:)

I'm not alone in this either! Millie is running it again, and Rob is going to be a first-timer with me. Katie and Brandon are also running the half marathon that day. It'll be fun having all these people going through the same thing to support each other. Well, wish me luck, I'll keep the blog updated on my progress!

First word

Well, I think it's official. Robi's first word. ....uh oh! She's said it a couple times, and it seems to be in context, like when she is standing and falls down, or when she drops a toy. It's only been a few times, but I am calling it. Robi has spoken. Yea!!! Now she just needs to learn how to walk and grow some teeth! It's OK, no hurry! She can stay a baby as long as she wants :)

Big Steps

So...it sure has been a while since I added to our blog. I guess I'll make the excuse that I've been busy. Not that I haven't but I'm sure I could have squeezed in time somewhere. Oh well! I was just reading Millie's blog about the funny things Ellery says. It sure made me chuckle, and I couldn't help but think of our own comedian Meggers, and had to share as well. Meggie suffers from a condition that I think a lot of little children suffer from. Her mind is so active, she is always thinking... and talking, and sometimes what she verbalizes is only half of the thought process... A couple Sundays ago we were driving home from church and Meggie tells me...

"Mom, I had to hop on every one!"

"What? I don't understand Meggie, you had to hop on what?"

"I had to hop on every one! They were really big!"

"What did you have to hop on?"

"The steps to Jesus' castle...they were really big steps and I had to hop on every single one. There are four steps to Jesus' castle and the first one is Faith, but I don't remember the other ones."

I really had to laugh. We all did. I think sometimes she just thinks we are all partial to what she is thinking before she starts to talk. Right after this episode she said something equally as vague about a woman.

Brinley, in a very annoyed big sister way, said, "Meggie, what are you talking about?"

Then Meggie, in a very frustrated little sister way, said, "Brinley, you know!!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

You get the picture. uhhhh.

Halloween 2010

This year was our first Halloween outside of Utah. We really missed taking part of the annual costume birthday party for my Dad, and gathering together on Halloween night for trick or treating and chili...but we ended up having a really fun night anyway!

We went to my friend Erika's house along with her sister Heather, their parents Becky and Pieter, their grandparents, and another friend Liz. The funny thing is Liz, Erika, Heather and I all grew up on the same street in Utah so it was a little reunion for us all. It's crazy we all ended up so close to each other in Arizona. Plus, Brinley was good friends with Liz's son Garrett in Utah, so they were excited to see each other again. And yes I was the only adult who dressed up. Not even Rob wore a costume, he said he didn't want to be the only adult dressed up, since we knew the others weren't planning on it. Ummm...what about me! Well, I didn't care, it's Halloween and I love dressing up!

We hung out on Erika's front driveway, and ate pizza and breadsticks. The kids all played together and then we went trick-or-treating. The weather was great, not cold and rainy like Utah:), so that was a plus! We finished off the night with pumpkin pie.

Here's Meggie with Heather's daughter Hailey, and Erika's son Elijah. Meggie dressed up like a fire-fighter, she looked so cute!!! You can see the soot she got on her face from all the smoke! Brinley and I dressed up as Cleopatra...twins. We both had the same costume from different years, and Brinley thought it would be fun to both wear them this year and be twinners! It was really fun being little costume partners.

Robi got to wear a Halloween outfit I got from work. Someone donated a couple outfits for the babies in our nursery to wear for Halloween. The only problem was the outfits were 3-6 month size, and the babies we had were all between 4-5 pounds. So...they didn't quite fit, and I was able to bring one home for Robi. She looked darling, even if it wasn't exactly a costume. I don't think she minded though.

There were a lot of kids between the four of us, and they all had a great time together. Erika had a baby girl about six weeks after I did, her daughter Savannah is holding her, and Brinley is holding Robi.

I love Halloween! Dressing up and finding costumes is so fun!

Robi Nicole Guillena

August 5, 2010

• Well, it happened... another Guillena/Roper girl...with a little bit of modern medicine help. Thank goodness for pitocin. I got to experience quite a few new things with this delivery: prostaglandin gel, IV pitocin, sciatic nerve pain, my water breaking before an epidural, an IUPC (inter-uterine pressure catheter), and an amnioinfusion.

• I was on a waiting list for an induction August 4th. They called me at 3pm, and we arrived at the hospital at 4:45 after getting everything ready to go and dropping the kids off. They started my pitocin at about 6pm, but by 9pm still nothing was happening, so they stopped it and started giving me prostaglandin gels. I had to get up and walk around after each one. I got this terrible pain down my legs, we think it was because the baby was pushing on my sciatic nerve. It was almost impossible to walk.

• They restarted my pitocin at 4am, and were expecting my labor to really take off...it didn't. At 7am they broke my water...wow that was a lot of warm fluid...and told me my labor would really take off, and I would probably have the baby by 11 or 12...nope.

• My progress was really slow, and every time they checked me, they were surprised at my lack of progress, but reassured me that it was going to just get to a certain point and then go so fast. Well, my doctor had to catch a plane at 5pm to present at a conference in California the next day. So, we were really hoping to have a baby before he had to rush off to the airport.

• Finally at 3:47 pm I was 9 cm dilated, and the doctor was able to push that last lip past the babies head so I was a 10. Then one push later and our newest daughter entered the world at 3:48 pm. Just in time. It only took 22 hours, but it was worth it. She came out with a nice good cry, (I'm a nursery nurse, I love to hear that cry), and I got to dry her off myself. She is our smallest baby, 6 pounds 5 ounces, and 20 inches long.

• Brinley and Meggie love her to death. I have to tell Meggie to stop kissing her, and every time Meggie talks to Robi, her voice goes up about 2 octaves. So far she is a really good baby. She is nursing really well, sleeping really well, and hardly cries. I guess we got lucky 3 times. We all love her very much and are so glad she is here...(especially me, it's so nice not being pregnant anymore.)

Desert Botanical Gardens

July 31, 2010

Our library offers culture passes to visit local attractions and museums for free, and we found one for the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. We'd heard it was a neat place to visit so we thought we'd give it a try. Plus, I figured all the walking might help get the whole having a baby thing move along....(no such luck).

We did have a great time though. It was a cool day in Phoenix, only in the 90's, and we spent the evening walking around the gardens. We saw a ton of really neat cacti. There were tiny ones, and giant ones, and some that looked like snakes swarming all over the ground and surrounding trees.

We saw lots of desert wildlife...birds, lizards, a squirrel, cotton-tail rabbits, one jackrabbit, a bullfrog, a great-horned owl, a little toad (more on that later), and a huge black Palo Verde Borer Beetle.




After the sun went down we went on a flashlight tour, to learn about the desert after dark. As we were walking down a path in the dark, Rob suddenly exclaimed that he stepped on something. We searched the path with our flashlights, and saw a little toad belly up on the side of the path. The poor thing had its little pink tongue hanging out of its mouth. Of course the girls, and me too, were all sad about the poor little dead frog. One of the workers came over to see "what we had found!" and when she saw it she said, "Oh, dear....well.....we better get someone over here to scrape it up." Just as she finished saying this, the toad twitched, jumped up, hopped down the path and into the foliage. Huh. I could've sworn that thing was dead, and Rob says he really stepped on it... with all his weight. I just wish we had taken a picture before it came back to life.




Enjoy the pictures...especially the pregnant ones...baby came 5 days later, and hopefully these are the last pictures we will see of me pregnant.