Potty Trained!

We started potty training with Kaelyn on the afternoon of Thursday, October 20th after she got home from school. I was really dreading the process because of horror stories from friends. We had been practicing by letting Kaelyn "try" to potty at different times during the day. She never once went potty during our practice tries. But all of a sudden, she was ready that Thursday afternoon and we had it down with no accidents by Friday. It amazed me! I cannot take credit for her success because she did it all by herself, but I will say it was a great birthday gift (since my birthday was the 19th). Our little baby was now a big girl. It is also a nice feeling not to have two in diapers anymore (and a pay raise). With a bag full of M&M's and a few big prizes from the dollar section of Target, she was motivated and more than ready! After two full weeks of no more diapers, Robbie and I took her for a special treat to show her how proud we were. Kaelyn got to experience Build A Bear Workshop for the first time. Kaelyn loves all of her babies and stuffed animals, so we knew this was the best reward for her. However, we are a little terrified of visiting the mall now that she is aware that a place like Build A Bear exists. She picked out the perfect bear who is all pink with hearts on her feet and named her Pinky Bear! (The child is obsessed with pink)

Kaelyn,
When you look back at this blog or the scrapbooks when you are older, just know how you continue to amaze and show us how smart you are in all that you do! Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you and the big girl you are becoming each and every day! We love you!

-Mommy and Daddy

Kaelyn kissed and rubbed her nose on Pinky Bear's

heart before putting it inside her!

Giving Pinky Bear a bath with much love

before picking out her clothes. 

Even though Rylan is far from potty training, I hope he is as easy as Kaelyn was in her training. Doubtful though!

Halloween Festivities

The Fall season is a busy time for our family because of a mutual love for college football along with great weather and fun times with friends and family. This year is definitely no different! After five different Fall/Halloween parties and events, we were ready to hang the Halloween hat up until next year.

The festivities started on Thursday with Kaelyn's Preschool Pals Fall party. It was so much fun for me and Robbie to attend the party with her and see her in action at her school with her friends. She comes home each Tuesday and Thursday after learning something new and we love it! She's really cute when you quiz her about anything she's learned. She gets very excited and shy!

She walked right in and sat down at the table ready for the day.  

Working on a Pumpkin craft with Mommy. 

Kaelyn's teacher, Mrs. Jen, making the rounds

Eating breakfast with her classmates

Friday afternoon, Robbie's company hosted a festival and trick or treating for all the kids. We got dressed in our costumes to attend. It was a lot of fun to meet Daddy's co-workers and participate in the costume parade.

Playing all the games for candy with Daddy

A cute little backdrop for pictures...however,

this was the best we could get. Rylan is really busy and

was interested in the hay. 

Kaelyn meeting some of the other kids. 

After the BH party, we had about an hour before heading out to the Stonebriar Fall Festival (put on by the church and Kaelyn's school). It turned out to be a chilly evening, but thankfully there were games inside and out. The festival was much larger than we expected, but a lot of fun.

Rylan staying warm in the stroller!

Fun ball toss game.

Potty toss game

(very appropriate for us since we just became potty trained)

Getting a lighted ring (Kaelyn loves her bling)

On Sunday evening, our church small group particpated with the other Frisco small groups in a Trunk or Treat. It was a lot of fun to hang out with everyone and see all the kids' costumes. Our little Alabama cheerleader and Aggie football player enjoyed the festivities and playing at the park.

Kaelyn and cousin Kade sliding together. 

Trying to get all the kids in one picture together

(Kaelyn wouldn't cooperate so you won't find her)

Mommy's Little Aggie

Finally, our Halloween festivities ended with a little trick or treating in the neighborhood on Monday evening with some friends. We didn't stay at it long, but it was amazing to see the difference in how much Kaelyn has grown in the past year. She had no issues saying "Trick or Treat" and waiting patiently or often picking out her piece of candy. Unfortunately, Daddy convinced her to get all skittles. Mommy should have taught her to look for the chocolate. Oh well. Better luck next year.

Taking a picture before trick or treating on Monday night

Such a sweet smile from our little Bama cheerleader

Rylan adores Kaelyn!

The girls prior to Trick or Treating

(Boys were wrestling in the background)

 The Gang

A Season of Fitness

Back in the summer months, Robbie made a committment to an 11-week training program to become a Sprint Triathlete and compete in a local competition in Denton. Because he was training so hard, he inspired me to also accomplish a fitness goal. While my goal was much smaller in scale compared to his 250 meter swim, 16 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run, we began cheering each other on. I've never really enjoyed running but decided I would run the Frisco Fun Run 5K and check off an item on my bucket list.

On October 16th, Robbie competed in the Monster Sprint Triathlon and beat all of his personal goals and training bests. I am so proud of him and how hard he worked to prepare for the competition.

Robbie's Results

Swim

For Robbie, the swim was by far the most disappointing part of the race.  All the participants got in a long line and entered the water one at time, with about 5 seconds in between each swimmer. They would swim down, touch the end, duck under the lane ropes, then swim back, duck under again, etc., making their way to the other end of the pool. Robbie looked great for the first 2 lengths—then disaster struck. He got caught up in a 3 person log jam and couldn’t get around the people in front of him. One of the people in front of him wasn’t even touching the wall at the end of each length—she was ducking under the ropes about 10 feet from the wall each time—which made it almost impossible for anyone to pass her. Then another guy in front of Robbie was doing a backstroke/doggie paddle hybrid. We could tell Robbie was frustrated, but thankfully he only lost about 1 minute of time.

Projected Swim (5:15). Actual Swim (5:51). Group Ranking (17 out of 21).

The Swimming Madness Begins! 

Robbie standing in the long line preparing!

Daddy's #1 Fan

The Long Anticipated Swim

Looking good so far!

Bike

Robbie decided to rent a road bike instead of using our cheap moutain bike, and he says it was the best decision he made.  He had biked the exact course with a mountain bike on two separate occasions and finished in 1 hr. 6 min. each time, so he was hoping to gain about 6 minutes with the road bike.  Later, he said he felt like he was flying out there and was able to pass people. He ended up saving more than his projected 6 minutes with the rented bike!

Projected Bike (1:04:00). Actual Bike (53:59). Group Ranking (6 out of 21).

Walking through the bike transition area

Taking off for the 16 mile bike ride!

"Go Daddy Go!"

Run

I was shocked by Robbie's run time.  I won't lie, the first time he passed us, I thought he was really struggling after going so hard at it on the bike. But, his time proved me wrong! It actually gave me hope for my upcoming 5K.

Projected Run (26:00). Actual Run (23:47). Group Ranking (11 out of 21).

Beginning Lap 2

Finishing Strong! 

Projected Overall (1:39:15). Actual Overall (1:26:49). Group Ranking (7 out of 21). 
Overall Ranking (83 out of 268).

The kids and I couldn't be more proud of him! It was fun to be out at the event to cheer him on in his transitions from swim to bike and bike to run.

Then on October 29th, I ran in the Gary Burns Fun Run in downtown Frisco, along with Robbie, his dad and brother. My goal was to finish the 3.1 miles running without walking and I'm proud to say I accomplished my goal while losing a few inches along the way. I finished in 32 minutes and I'm okay with that time considering the log jam at the beginning of the race. The week of the race we had sick kids, so I have to say it wasn't the easiest going into an early run on Saturday morning after a lack of sleep during the week. I have lots of respect for Mom's who train consistently to compete in events because sometimes being a Mom causes interruptions in a normal training schedule.

Robbie's company is sponsoring the White Rock Marathon at the beginning of December and he will be running the full 26.2 miles. He is still working hard in his training and I'm so very proud he is my husband. My fitness has transitioned to attending cardio classes while still running three times per week (what can I say, I liked the weight loss results even though I didn't care for the running).

A Cinderella Pumpkin Patch

This year Robbie and I decided to take the kids to the Dallas Arboretum for the Cinderella Pumpkin Celebration. Kaelyn has really gotten into princesses recently, and we always enjoy the beautiful flowers and greenery at the Arboretum. It did not disappoint! The weather could have been a bit cooler for October, but we live in Texas and that is usually impossible to come by. We had a nice family picnic while we were there and enjoyed spending some time together.

Welcoming Everyone to the Pumkin Patch!

I've never seen such beautiful pumpkins and flowers!

(She's also a hard target to take pics of these days with her funny faces)

Rylan loved the hay and wanted to eat all of it!

"Look Mommy and Daddy...I found one my size."

One of the beautiful pumpkin houses in
 the Cinderella exhibit.

Trying to get her to JUST smile! Little Stinker. 

Cinderella's Carriage

Ahh...The Famous Glass Slipper.

(Kaelyn was most impressed with it)

The King's Palace

Being silly with Mommy while Rylan napped. 

Rylan wasn't quite sitting up yet, but he was most

fascinated with the grass and looked like he might even take off and crawl. 

Fun times with Daddy.