San Diego

The day after Isaac's birthday we headed to San Diego. We broke the drive up into two days and it was so worth the kids being irritated about the long car drive.

We rented a small house .37 miles away from the beach in Cardiff by the Sea. The first evening there we headed straight for the beach. It had been so long since I had seen the ocean and it was as wonderful as I remembered. Elijah went right for the waves and started playing. Isaac was a little apprehensive, he would get close to the water but when the waves came up he would scream and run. Our second day there Sam and I took turn going for a run along Highway One and the beach. We spent the rest of the day at the beach recovering from drive.

The next morning Sam did a beach run and then we headed to San Diego Zoo. I am still in awe of that place. The plants there are just as amazing as the animals.  We spent seven hours there, took a bus tour and still didn't get to see all the animals.

Thursday morning I got a run in along Highway One. I had a hard time running on the trail, it hurt my ankles. Highway One has a great path along side it and running is a great way to be a tourist. I met my boys at the beach and we played for a little while, then headed into San Diego. We met up with my friend Ginger who moved there a few years ago. She was nice enough to show us around. We went to the Marinetime museum and some other sites in San Diego and then out to eat. Then of course some play time on the beach.

Friday morning Sam went for his last beach run. We then went to SeaWorld. Good thing we had some discount tickets because that place is expensive!!! It was well worth it though. The Killer Whale show made me cry but I am pregnant and crying comes easy to me. We saw lots of cool animals and Sam was able to take our boys on some rides. Another long day and I am sure we didn't see everything.

Saturday I went for another run along Highway One and did a little bit more exploring. We were all sad to be heading home so we decided to leave late and have one more beach day. The weather was perfect, the water was perfect and Isaac was finally ready to play in some waves. It was a great way to end our vacation. Elijah and Isaac now want to move to San Diego, live in a camper van, Sam can run a surf shop and I can clean while they surf.

Isaac Antonio turns 3!

I cannot believe three years ago this amazing boy came into our lives!
We threw him an exciting birthday party at Hollywood Connections. There was pizza, a Star Wars cake, presents, rides, and video games. Then a dinner at my parents house with even more cake and presents.

Elijah's First 5K!

I want to start by saying my boy rocks!

Sam and I have a rule that Elijah needs to be doing an activity during the warmer months. We really don't care what it is as long as it is burns energy and gives him a sense of accomplishment. 

This spring Elijah decided he wants to do some races! And of course I would never say no to that. I found a really fun race called Color Me Rad. The race is described as "the most colorful race ever!" Basically every 1k we were sprayed with colored water and colored corn starch, then at the end we all got in a circle and threw colored corn starch at each other. 

So yes a 5k is a long way for a 5 year old to go. But I decided it would be a lot of fun and I figured we would just walk most of it. 

I should have remembered Elijah is mine and Sam's and he can not walk a race. My little man ran for 3k uphill and downhill. He ran even when I told him we could slow down. I was a proud mama. I gave him a shoulder ride for almost 1k but he got down when he decided his pregnant mom couldn't move fast enough with her 38 pound five year old on her shoulders. The last 1k he ran/walk. Whenever he was cheered on by race volunteers he would flash them the peace sign and give a little I am cool grin.   We came through the finish line with him yelling "I won! I won!"  

 Before. He was so excited.

 Post race colors!

17 weeks pregnant!

He looked so tired after the race I was worried I had worked him too hard. But an hour later he was running around and playing. 

15 weeks pregnant!

My belly is getting big quick! I will post a picture soon.
I am starting to feel better. I still have waves of "all day sickness" but not as often. The first trimester was hard! I was tired and often felt like vomiting. I still managed to train for a 25k but it wasn't always pretty. I often had to stop in the middle of runs to dry heave and vomit. I have only dry heaved on a run twice in the last week! My runs are getting easier and I feeling more energetic. I am still planning on doing Ragnar in June but after that I may just have to do easy runs until I am too big.
I am looking forward to meeting the third and final addition to the Atencio-Sloan clan! I am also trying to enjoy this pregnancy since I know it will be my last. Elijah is so interested and excited. He named the baby Captain. Isaac doesn't quite get it yet, but he does say he has a baby in his belly named Captain.
My only complaint about having three kids is I have to get a mini-van! So not cool. I am going to drive a mini-van. Aahh my cool factor is all gone.


The boys enjoying some sidewalk paint

We have a lot of goodness in our lives and I am just enjoying it.

I have had some added stress in my life recently but I don't want to complain about it. I want to remember how wonderful my life is. Sam and I are building a good life together and I have a good support system. These pictures are the things in life that matter and that make me laugh!

The hardest part of being a runner

It isn't the long miles a person has to put in to be in shape for race
It isn't that long run where you don't think you can run another mile but somehow you manage to run five more miles
It isn't the aches and pains
It isn't the search for the perfect shoe
It isn't the periodic losing toenails
it is coming down off an endorphin high! Especially after a nice hard run. I feel so good, I am so high I can barely sleep. Then a few days later I come crashing down so hard, I feel like crying all the time. I need to get a good run in but I am recovering, I can only run four to six miles.
If you haven't ever had an endorphin high, you do not know what you are missing. It is like floating and needing to laugh all the time.  The best part is I earned it by running my ass off!

A few things that make me happy

I have a lot to be grateful for, here are a few things I am grateful for today...
- I can go to the grocery store and buy fresh fruits and vegetables without thinking of the cost.
- Isaac wants to be called Anakan Skywalker.
-My husband is good man and I still really like him! Of course I love him but like and love are two different things.
-spring days at the park
-my relationship with my parents. They are so supportive and we have become such good friends.
-Elijah's sense of fashion and amazing imagination
-my sisters
-my brothers
-my amazing girlfriends
-running
-my husband went to school and worked hard. Life is easier when we don't have to worry so much about paying bills.
-I get to go to school and be a stay at home mom

Life is short and can change in an instant. I try and remind myself of that everyday. I want to enjoy the goodness I have in my life.

Surgery

Sam Sloan had surgery on Monday. He had an open hernia repair. This was his first surgery and first time  using pain pills.  Usually medical professionals are horrible patients and I think Sam was actually kind of cute. When he was coming out of anesthesia he had the nurse tell him every med he got in the OR, how they intubated him and he had to look at his incision site twice. He has been really good about laying in bed and getting rest. But I do have to remind him to take his pain pills.  Yesterday he was trying figure out how high is white blood cell count got! Us normal people just worry about our pain, but my husband is trying to figure out his WBC.
He is slowly doing better. He has been going for walks and trying to help out more around the house.
This is strange to say but I love that he asks these kind of questions and I love that he follows me around the house when I am cleaning because he is ansy to get moving again.

Strange Conversations

Yesterday while out for my weekly long run, I saw my brother Lucas who was also out running. This is the conversation we had...
Me: Hey how far are you running today?
Lucas: oh only 7 miles
Me: Aren't you going snowshoeing today?
Lucas: Yeah but not until noon
Me: I decided I am running up to the Shoreline Trail today. I need a trail run before my 25k
Lucas: How far is a 25k again?
Me: Somewhere between 15 and 16 miles
Lucas: Oh that isn't bad
Me: Yeah I will be 12 weeks pregnant when I run it
Lucas: Oh yeah, not bad
we then said our good-byes and ran off in opposite directions
A couple of miles later as I was running up a big ass hill it occurred to me how strange that conversation was this is why
-I didn't think anything of the fact that Lucas was running 7 miles before he went snowshoeing.  I mean why wouldn't you go running before you go snowshoeing
-Lucas didn't think it was weird that his sister was running 5.5 miles uphill to the Shoreline trail, so I could then trail run
-Neither one of us think a 25k is that awesome of a distance
-Lucas didn't think anything of his pregnant sister running a 25k trail run because that is so normal!

Elijah turns 5!

He turned 5 on February 12th, and I have been so busy I am just getting to blogging it.

We started the day by having any breakfast he wanted. He picked french toast, sausage and eggs. He then opened on present from Sam and I and his present from his Grandpa BG.

In the afternoon we headed to his birthday party at Jump Around Utah. This is the coolest place to have a birthday party! Is is a cool bouncy castle place and we got it to ourselves for two hours. A lot of Elijah's friends came and we had a lot of family there to celebrate with us. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the kids bouncing, we were too busy bouncing with them.  The above picture is him and his very cool Power Ranger cake. He really wanted to only eat candy ALL day on his birthday, my compromise was serving candy at his party. I am sure all kids were super excited to spend the day bouncing and eating candy and even more sure the parents were very grateful to me.
After the party we came home and he sorted through his many presents. He picked pizza for dinner. He slept very well that night!
On Monday we brought treats into his classroom to celebrate. He is so funny he asked us to bring popcorn and pop tarts in. His class sang Happy Birthday to him and loved the treats he picked.
He is old enough to appreciate the work we put into his birthday, he spent many days telling me how awesome I am!

Life is great

Isaac has started the asking questions phase. Sometimes he asks so many questions so quickly, we can't even answer him.
Elijah is almost five going on fifteen. He is particular about his clothes and gets upset when he doesn't think he looks just right. He says things that are very teenager-ish and he prefers sleeping in.

Golds Gym

Golds Gym is an example of corporations not caring about the people they serve, they only care about getting their money.
I joined Golds Gym this winter. I don't like gyms but I decided to join because it is difficulty to run during the winter in Utah. We have horrible air quality and sometimes it is too cold to take my boys in the jogger. I decided to go with Golds Gym because their prices were reasonable and they have daycare included in the price of the membership. When I signed up the manager suggested I meet with a trainer to get a fitness evaluation. I decided to go for it just to see. I went to my appt. and the trainer no showed. The people at the front desk didn't give me a reason or offer me an apology.
A few weeks later as I was getting ready to workout a trainer offered me a free session. I did the workout with him and I really enjoyed it. I decided to sign up for four sessions with the trainer and just see if it helped my running and over all fitness. I paid $130 up front for the four sessions. I made an appt. to meet with the trainer again in a week.
I showed up a week later and the trainer wasn't there! The manager said he had no idea where he was and that someone would call me to reschedule. I waited over a week for someone to a call and no one ever did. At this point I decided the trainers at Golds Gym weren't doing their jobs and decided I wanted a refund. I called the corporate office and learned when I thought I was signed a contract for four sessions, I actually signed a contract for 12 months of training sessions. I also learned I could not get out of my contract without selling my contract to someone one else. So part of this is my fault, I know better and I signed a contract without reading all of the details. But I also feel like if a company sells you a contract and then doesn't meet their part of the deal why do I have to pay. I said as much to the customer service representative and I kept saying it. I made her very angry, so angry in fact she started yelling at me and telling me if I didn't pay Golds Gym would ruin my credit and then she hung up on me. I called back and asked for a supervisor to call me. I did some research on line and realized Golds Gym doesn't let people out of contracts and that if I didn't pay I would have my credit ruined.  So I called the next day and asked to talk to the supervisor or the trainer's supervisor. No one ever called me back. I called everyday for a week and a half. I even left emails asking for help getting this resolved.
Finally on Wednesday I called and asked to talk to the person in charge of the supervisors. The receptionists at the corporate office was very nice and helped me get in touch with that person. Finally that evening she called me back! I explained my story to her and she did have the decency to seem shocked by the behavior of her staff. But she couldn't really help me get out of my contract. She set me up with a new trainer and she would call me in a week so see how things were going. If things weren't going very well we would work out another solution.
So this morning I got up, got me and my kids ready, dropped my boys off at daycare and went to the gym ready to work. The trainer wasn't there!

It is a New Year

I have been terrible at blogging recently. December was a great month and christmas was amazing! Elijah was really into it this year and Isaac was into all his firefighter stuff he got.
2011 was a great year. I spent the year feeling really grateful for all the goodness in my life. I have a wonderful husband and amazing kids. I have a supportive family and food friends who keep me balanced.
2012 hopefully be just as amazing. I am once again going back to school. Elijah is enjoying school and becoming a kid. Isaac is the funniest most lovable toddler I know. Sam is getting use to his new job and new role. He might have some interesting job opportunities that may take us new places. Hopefully we have a baby in 2012, we have been trying for a while now without success. I have been to the doctor and she said she thinks she can help. Sam has the goal of doing a 50 or 100 mile bike race and I will continue to challenge myself with new races.
So we have a new computer and I can not figure out how to upload pictures. I will do a picture post soon.

Randomness

Elijah wants to have his birthday party at the grocery store. I have decided I want to go to nursing school. Some of my prerequisites are too old, so I have to retake them. I need to take Biology in order to retake Anatomy. Today I learned I have to test into math 99 and english 99 in order to take Biology. I did well on the reading comprehension test but not so well on math. I have to start at math 95. I decided that isn't too bad considering I haven't taken Algebra since 1997. Isaac wants to be firefighter and dresses like on all the time. He has never been obsessed with anything so this is fun to see. I am thankful for winter running. I have done a big race every month since March and my legs are tired. Elijah loves to say "kick ass". Sam is getting his bikes in order. He has sold one frame. And he is getting his other bikes in working order. Today Elijah and Isaac were wrestling. Elijah threw Isaac into the highchair face first. I got upset that Isaac was hurt and Elijah wouldn't say he was sorry. Isaac got upset and started telling me "it was an accident!". Is it strange I am proud my boys stick up for each other? Isaac's now says "christ" when he drops something or he is frustrated. That is all my fault. Elijah and Isaac both had a crazy stomach virus over the weekend. I hope I don't have to clean up vomit again for a long while. Isaac won't let me take his picture any more. Elijah loves to pose for the camera.

October

Wow October went by so quickly. We had a lot of fun and we were very busy! Sam started his new job at IMC. He only works 15 shifts a month, he is home in the evenings, and he seems to be really liking it. Elijah is really liking school. He has a lot of friends and he is learning a lot. He was a Dragon of the Night for halloween. He is way into ninjas and painting on his face with marker. Isaac is into firefighters. He introduces himself as a firefighter. He watches Barney Fire House every morning. He was a fireman for halloween and he wants a fire truck for christmas. I am getting ready to go back to school. SLCC South campus is next door to Elijah's school and they have daycare! I ran a half marathon with Lucas. Of course Lucas beat me by five minutes. It was his first one and I am so proud of him. It did sting a little having him beat me by so much. My camera/computer is being weird and won't download halloween pictures.

I believe.........

that woman are strong that all humans have the right to marry whomever they want that everyone deserves equal access to healthcare without going into debt that disciplining my kids is very important that teaching my kids respect is even more important that comet cleanser, diflucan, central air and the magic eraser are some of the best inventions ever that reading books are good for my health if something is important to you, you will make time for it without making excuses that everyone should exercise that I need to finish college that Words with Friends makes me crazy but I am addicted that marrying Sam is the best decision I ever made that George Bush should be tried for war crimes that buying new cars is a big waste of money that my kids should be told every day how much I love them and how proud I am to have them that sometimes you have to let go of friends and that you don't have to talk to your good friends everyday, they will still be there for you my family is one of the best things about me that is okay if I read people magazine every week because I also read newsweek never think someone else is going to make you happy, only you can do that and that I have a lot to learn but I am getting better with age

Bean

check out that smile
Bean is an amazing kid. He is smart, charming, loving, independent and loud. I never worry about anyone bossing this kid around. His favorite sayings are no, me me me, and I do it! He loves cars, his bikes, playing outside, pretty girls and carrots and hummus. His favorite drinks are sparkling water and ice tea. He has the most amazing vocabulary for a two year old. He tries to skateboard and scares the hell out of me. He isn't afraid to try anything, including climbing fences, riding his bike down the skate park ramps and jumping down a lot of stairs. He is very tender hearted, he gets very upset when he is put on timeout and gets even more upset when Elijah is put on timeout. The first thing he says in the morning is "where my daddy go" and "mommy come on get up". Did I mention he never sleeps past 7:30? He likes Mickey Mouse, Tow-mater, Elmo and Barney but never watches t.v for longer than 20 minutes. He loves coffee especially ice coffee. He looks so much like my Dad sometimes it still surprises me. He is only two and has already decided he wants to be fireman when he grows up. He really likes Triceratops and turtles.
I think he is amazing.

Elijah

All of a sudden he is a kid. He is so skinny and getting tall. He asks all these big kid questions that I have a hard time answering. Thank goodness for google. He likes to do puzzles and read books. He has the best imagination, he can play for hours by himself. He makes these popping noises while he concentrates, I am not even sure he knows he is making them. He is the best big brother. He and Isaac will be playing and he tells him that Isaac is the best brother and he loves him. In a few short weeks he goes to school! I am a little sad, for his whole life he and I have been together almost everyday. This is one step away from me. I am proud of him though. He is so smart and charming, he will do good in school. He already has fashion sense, he tells me how he wants his hair cut. Sometimes he picks Indiana Jones haircut and then sometimes he wants a mohawk. He already has his outfits picked out for the first two days of school. He has a girlfriend named Bella. She is seven, he is going to marry her at Discovery Gateway and they are having kids together. He loves babies. He often asks me for a baby sister. He wants him, Isaac and his future baby sister to be a group called the 3 ninjas.
My life is better because of him.

Samuel Sloan is now board certified!

marathon

at the start line


at the finish line


Elijah giving me flowers

I ran my first marathon last Saturday. It was an amazing course and an amazing experience. I had to hike from mile nine to fifteen but kept moving the whole time! I made a lot of new friends, who are even more crazy than me. I finished in 5:20 but the course was a hard/slow course so I was the 7th woman and 2nd in my age group. I had so much fun and I felt really good the whole time. I am looking forward to doing more trail runs/marathons!