Visit from the Retirees (aka MI Grandparents)

My dad retired in early December after working at the same company for 40 years! Pretty crazy to think about as I've never worked at the same place for more than a few years. For years my parents talked about buying an RV upon retirement and traveling the country, so in late January they left on their first adventure in their RV. They live in Michigan so they always dreamed of being able to leave during the winter and go to Florida, so that is where they spent the first few weeks of their adventure. After that they made their way over to NM and stayed with us for 10 nights. Micah had to go out of town for a conference for three nights, so I was happy to have the help, and my parents enjoyed the larger space in our house after living out of their small RV for several weeks.

Their time here was busy as they helped us get some things done, my dad spent time cleaning up the RV and finishing up a few projects on the inside, and my mom did her freelance writing work during nap time every day (she quit her job a little less than a year ago partly so that she could have more flexibility to travel and work from the road). But we also managed to do several fun things while they were in town such as go to the aquarium and botanic garden, go to the zoo, go climbing outside, get frozen yogurt and gelato, go to a few parks with one-on-one supervision, go out for breakfast, and of course we had fun just playing at home as well. We had a great time and we look forward to seeing them again when they come out in June for Alexis, Jack, and Faith's 2nd birthday!

Alexis was the only kiddo awake when Grandpa and Grandma pulled up in their RV

They made it!

Grandma's sandals were an attraction

Checking out the RV

Exploring the aquarium by foot since we had one-one-one supervision

The botanic garden on foot was a bit more of a challenge as all travel at different speeds. Jack and Grandma are in the lead here with Faith closest to the camera.

Bedtime story with Grandma

On Saturday during their visit we drove 1.5 hours to a climbing area and we did a little sightseeing on the way home. Grandma and Grandpa were troopers in the WAY backseat of the car as getting in and out is quite a puzzle.

Grandpa carried Faith into the climbing area

An impromptu photo as all jumped on the couch to say goodnight to Grandma and Grandpa

Looking at the peacock at the zoo

See the polar bear behind everyone? The kids were more interested in another child than the camera.

Trying out a new park! This slide was great as it was so safe for them.

Gelato

Building a super tall tower with Grandpa

Out to breakfast

Grandpa has the best entertainment

Frozen yogurt beards

Yum, frozen yogurt

Swinging at the park in our neighborhood

Running in the backyard with Grandpa

Last photo before they continued their adventure home to Michigan. Alexis refused to sit on the couch with everyone else as she was more interested in rocking.

Bye-bye Grandpa and Grandma (and the "truck" we talked about every day as it sat in front of our house)

Not "Going through the Motions"

Years ago when talking to someone who had two small children I asked, "How are you?" and her response was, "Just going through the motions." I was shocked at that response as that sounded horrible to me. I now know what she meant as life can feel mundane, especially when your days revolve around babies and toddlers, but that response has stuck with me to this day. Of course, some days feel pretty blah, but Micah and I are both goal-oriented people and we find satisfaction in working towards those goals. Although having three kids at once made us re-evaluate what is important in our lives, our children have also made us more focused on our goals as the time we have to work towards them is now even more valuable.

Overall, Micah is more goal-oriented than I am as my goals are short-term in nature and I create new ones along the way, such as training for the half-marathon I will run this May. Micah, on the other hand, has a list of goals that he wants to accomplish in his lifetime, one of which is climbing Denali which he plans to do this June.

I know some people are saying, "What?!! He plans to climb the highest peak in North America and leave his wife and three two-year-olds at home?! How selfish!" Maybe. But maybe not.

Running and climbing have been a big part of our lives since we were in high school. We actually met on the high school cross country team, and soon after we started dating he took me to the climbing gym where he worked. Throughout the 16+ years we have been together (dating, engaged, and married) we have trained for many triathlons, marathons, and climbs. We simply aren't ourselves without these things.

Although we can be viewed as selfish for wanting to continue these activities now that we have children, we believe more parents should commit to continuing what they enjoy post-children as it is important to remember that you are more than just a parent. I've heard many wise people say that a home should not be child-centered. Instead it should first be God-centered and then marriage-centered. We believe working towards our own goals is part of creating a healthy home as well.

In fact, I heard someone say recently that it is important for your children to see you as more than just Mommy or Daddy, as your children will respect you more if they see that you have goals and relationships outside of them. Of course, our children are a bit young to understand what we are training for and accomplishing, but this is a lifestyle that is important to us and we believe that if our kids see us setting goals and accomplishing them, they will want to do the same.

Here is a quote from professional climber Tommy Caldwell that says it perfectly: "For me the Dawn Wall is the perfect venue for some of the most important values I want to show [my son] Fitz. Optimism, perseverance, dedication and the importance of dreaming big."

I've had many people tell me that they are impressed by how much we take our kids climbing, hiking, running, and camping. Quite honestly, it is a lot of extra work to take the kids along on these adventures, but it is so much fun spending the time outdoors as a family doing stuff that we love. Although we do spend time doing these things without the kids since we cannot do as much with them along, we try to balance our weekends with time as a family and time alone to train. It is a work-in-progress, but isn't everything in life?

Although some people decide to put their personal goals on hold while their children are young, truly there is never "good timing" to work on goals. There is always an excuse such as I don't have enough money, the kids are too young, the kids are too busy with their own things, my work is too busy, or I am too old. We don't want to look back on our lives in 5, 10, or 20 years and regret not taking action.

We realize that we rely on other people to help us accomplish our goals, and we are very thankful for the support. One to two times a week I have a sitter come so that I can go for a run as it is too easy for me to find excuses if I try to go before Micah leaves for work (too early) or when he gets home (dinner time). Also, Micah has gone on a few out-of-state climbing trips since the kids were born and I have had friends and family come stay with us so that I didn't have to take care of the kids alone. We know that this is a sacrifice for the friends and family as they travel to come visit us and we rely heavily on them for their help when they are here. We truly appreciate all of the help we have received (and that we will receive when Micah is gone in June). It takes a village to raise a family, and you all are an important part of our village.

Life with young kids is difficult, and sometimes I do wish we could put our goals aside for awhile and just get caught up around the house, but then I remember how much better I feel when I get done with an 8-mile run as opposed to folding yet another load of laundry. It may seem like we make things harder for each other as every Tuesday evening Micah is gone climbing and I put the kids to bed by myself, and every Wednesday night I am gone and Micah puts the kids to bed by himself, but we don't see it that way. We believe it would be a greater sacrifice to give up our goals and our nights off each week, as we both need a break from "going through the motions," and overall we believe this makes us better parents.

On a family hike this past weekend

21 Months

21 Month Statistics

WEIGHTS: Alexis is about 22 lbs, Jack is about 20 lbs 13 oz, and Faith is about 21 lbs 13 oz. Although they are not heavy children, they are definitely getting taller! Right now Faith is the tallest (probably about 33 inches but I'd need to measure to know for sure and our toddlers aren't very cooperative with that right now), Jack is a couple of inches shorter than Faith, and Alexis is in between.


CLOTHES: 18 month clothes still fit although some shirts are starting to get short in the sleeves for the girls, and we are starting to transition into 24 month clothes as well.

Although it is hard to see growth when you see your children every day, it was really obvious how much Jack has grown when I put him in his infant car seat when we had friends in town. Since Jack is technically small enough to ride in his infant seat, my friend's son borrowed Jack's convertible car seat so they didn't have to bring one along. This pic was taken a couple of days after Jack left the hospital when he weighed a little over 6 lbs and was about 19 inches long.

And here is Jack at 20 months in his infant car seat. He is definitely at the height limit so this seat won't work for him anymore. Look at those long legs! The girls also had to try out the seat and all enjoyed rocking each other in it.

We can almost reach the branches Mom!

TEETH: Alexis has 10, Jack has 12, Faith has 12.

NEW WORDS: I've definitely lost track of the words each one says, but Jack has taken the lead with the most words in his vocabulary and he LOVES to imitate sounds and words. Both girls will imitate words as well. We are encouraged that all three are beginning to ask for things by name (apple, 'nana,' cheese, cracker, paci, more, etc).

MILESTONES: Alexis, Jack, and Faith amaze us every day by what they know how to do. Whether it's stacking blocks or other objects, taking off their pants unassisted, or pretending to drink a cup of water just so their sister can't drink out of it (little stinkers!), they are demonstrating their skills and independence.

All three love to color on the white board. Some day they'll understand that it works better when their bodies aren't on the board...

Jack definitely gets the most into the coloring. He did all of the red by himself!

Jack's masterpiece

Half of the fun of coloring on the white board is cleaning it up with wet cloths afterwards

Faith LOVES to sit in boxes

All three love to clean with Norwex cloths, and believe me when I say that they know the difference between a Norwex and something else!

Playing with magnets on the dishwasher

Climbing chairs is fun! Note that we no longer have adult chairs at our kitchen table as they pose a hazard.

Faith made a tower using only the purple blocks. Both girls prefer building towers using all of one color while Jack enjoys a random assortment tower.

My spices are being moved up higher as everyone is able to grab stuff out of the drawers in the kitchen and therefore spices have become a favorite toy. I don't mind the towers, but I don't want to turn around and see spices all over the kitchen!

Jack's spice tower

Jack is content playing with blocks for a very long time

Faith loves to play with random objects such as pom poms, bells, noodles, and buttons. She enjoys stirring them and moving them from one container to another. All three enjoy this activity, but Faith seems to be the most content with it.

Although Jack got his official first haircut at the end of January, I still felt like it was too long since it stuck up straight and I suppose it had grown since his haircut, so I decided to cut it myself with the clippers. Jack sat on Micah's lap and was very content the whole time. Here is his "before" pic.

And here is his after pic with 5/8" hair (although I still need to go back and cut the stray hairs that missed the clippers since his hair is so fine).

As we approach Alexis, Jack, and Faith's second birthday we are becoming more and more excited for their birthday. Although some say it is the "terrible twos," we are excited to see them become little kids as they are so much fun to be around. Every day they find ways to make us laugh, and we are enjoying the little bit of independence that they do have as we are more able to get out and do things as a family. 

Faith and Alexis running in the backyard. The like it when we say, "one, two, three...go!" and then they start to run.

Alexis ready to go down the slide. This continues to be a favorite backyard activity.

I'm not proud of this as I don't want our kids to watch much TV, but honestly I am feeling more and more like it is necessary a few minutes here and there throughout the day. It is almost impossible for me to make dinner unless the kids are distracted as otherwise all three want "up" and I'd never get anything done. I also tend to turn it on for a few minutes in the morning so that I can get a few dishes done before we leave the house or before people come over. I feel a little bad that when I ask, "Do you want to watch a show?" all three shout "SHOW!," run over to the family room, and pull their chairs out, but it's also kind of cute. Baby Babble and Baby Einstein are their favs right now.

Faith really knows how to lounge.

Alexis, Jack, and Faith adore our cat Sienna. She doesn't hang out by us much during the day, so they love to stop in our room to say "hi" to her when they are upstairs. She has learned to tolerate them as she knows they'll keep their distance (I've worked really hard on teaching them this as our kitty isn't very social).

Showing Sienna their toys

Backyard selfie with Alexis (and Jack)

We are STILL doing a morning bottle, but this is truly only because I mix in a powdered probiotic every morning and I want to make sure that all three get the full dose. They are almost guaranteed to drink their whole bottle, but they are not as consistent with their cups yet. Once cold and flu season is over the bottles will be gone!

Lounging after dinner while Mommy and Daddy clean up

A rare ABQ snowstorm. It was deep!

Faith and Alexis walking through the snow in the backyard.

Three babes in three boxes. They still love to imitate each other.