27-Day Running Challenge

So my husband Travis and I were talking about our running goals, and he challenged me to a challenge of running every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I decided to take him up on it, and he is going to do it too. The minimum run is 1 mile, but most days once you get out there, you are likely to do more. Honestly, I tend to be an 'every other day' runner, or run 2 or 3 days in a row, and take a few days off. I honestly don't know the last time I ran more than 4 days in a row. I'm kind of excited to challenge myself in a different way that doesn't involve racing. Since I ran on Thanksgiving for the turkey trot (which, by the way, was snowy and icy, but I still ran with Avery and she did great), and our last day of running will be Christmas Eve, the total number of days in a row will be 27. I ran 3.1 for the race yesterday, and 3.4 today, in my neighborhood with no electronic devices. Sometimes my runs will show on Strava (when I run with my phone) but otherwise, I'll just document them here.  Travis ran 3.1 yesterday, and 4.5 today. Wish us luck and no injuries!!

Here are a few pic from the Turkey trot yesterday. I didn't achieve my best time, but we had a great time! I was 'the girl with a turkey hat pushing a stroller' haha. The pictures are of me, my sister Kelsey, Avery, and Travis's brother Kyle. Travis ran too, but he was warming up during our picture time. What a great way to start the day!

Baking today

Just a quick update...I've been cooking all day today. I brined the turkey for the first time, which was interesting. Basically, brining is a saltwater mixture, with other things involved (apple juice, rosemary, orange peel, etc.) I bought a brining bag to put the turkey and brine in, and it says it "leakproof." So far, it's held, but the bag is super heavy, and it was a little struggle to get into the refrigerator (by myself!!) I managed though, and also managed to make sweet potato casserole and pumpkin cream cheese muffins for breakfast! Tomorrow it will just be cooking the turkey, and stuffing, and green bean casserole. Family is bringing the rest! Everything smells so good it's hard to wait for tomorrow!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just 2 days away and I'm really looking forward to it. Travis has Friday and Monday off, so he'll have a nice long break.  We are hosting Travis's family (his parents, grandparents, and brother) and my sister and her boyfriend. There will be 10 of us all together. I took Avery to the grocery store yesterday and we picked out a turkey! Travis has been complaining that we haven't had enough leftovers in recent years, so I picked out a 23 pound turkey this year. We are also planning on having lots of sides including sweet potato casserole, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, ham, venison roast, and stuffing. I usually stuff the turkey, but I've been checking out some different recipes, and I am going to try brining the turkey, and making a separate sausage stuffing casserole. Hopefully it will turn out well. If not, there will also be lots of pies!

We always start our day with the turkey trot, and then come home and make the turkey and watch the parade (my favorite!) It helps to make me not feel so bad eating tons of food. This year Kelsey got some awesome turkey hats for us to wear in the turkey trot! We will be so festive...I hope to get some cute pictures! It's supposed to snow for the next 2 days, and let up on Thanksgiving, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to run with Avery or not.  It's not the cold I worry about; it's more that I don't want to worry about falling with her or pushing the stroller in a snow/ice mix - that's just not fun.  I did take her for a 2.6 mile run yesterday, and she did great! I'll just have to wait and see!

I'm going to be working on a few table decorations today, and I want to make our table look nice. If I achieve this, I'll post a few pics!


Update: I have my table ready for Thanksgiving!!

And of course Avery has her place at the table!

I can't wait until Thursday!!

Running in the rain

It's been raining here all day yesterday and today (so far.) I wanted to get my run in anyway, so I figured "what a great opportunity to wear my Brooks running jacket." It's meant to be worn in rain and wind. I loaded up Avery and Ranger and went to the park. It was raining a little harder than I anticipated, so I decided to do a short fast run. This is not my favorite type of running, but I figured it would be good since it was raining. I put Avery in the stroller with her new toddler-size BundleMe, and my stroller rain cover. She had some Cheerios and she was good to go! Sometimes she actually looks so cozy in there...I am slightly jealous!

I ran a mile out, took a short minute break, and ran a mile back. According to Strava, my average pace was 7:16, but my app was showing 2.1 miles, and the mile markers I was using only showed 2 miles, so it was probably closer to 7:30-7:40 pace...either way I'll take it!!! I need to do more runs like this if I want to get faster. Ranger did great today, and he was happy to be done so quick! I'm running a 5K at this location on Thanksgiving, so I hope I can run well!

We're getting a new kitchen!

Not for Travis and I, but for Avery! I am really looking forward to Christmas this year! Avery still won't really know what it's all about, but she does get excited for new toys! This year, we've decided that her big gift will be a play kitchen! I can't wait!! We haven't made our final decision on which one to get, but we've narrowed it down to a few wooden ones by KidKraft. I prefer the look of the wooden ones over the plastic ones. They are honestly just so adorable! We're debating between a light pink 'retro' style, or a modern espresso kitchen with stainless steel appliances. I really like them both, and it's going to be tough to choose! The pink one doesn't really go with the style of our home (we tend to lean toward modern in home design) but it would look adorable in her room. I'm planning on putting it in her room, but if we decide to keep it downstairs, the modern kitchen would look nicer. Either way, it's going to be so fun! I plan on putting it together the night before we give it to her.

I've also been looking at smaller toys for her, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed in trying to choose! While I realize that toys help children learn, sometimes I feel like kids have too many toys. There are so many toys that have become "electronic" and almost make it so that kids don't have to be creative anymore, because the toys do it for them. I try to pick out things that don't do everything, and encourage creativity. Some of the smaller items I'm thinking about getting Avery for Christmas are Lego Duplos, and some type of musical instrument (like a toy piano, or drums, or guitar.) Avery loves music, and she has some music players and a kids CD, but I think she would like something where she could make her own music. I went to the store yesterday, just to look around, and it's would be so easy to get off track and buy her a bunch of things that I wasn't even planning.  Luckily, I am making a plan, but I have to say, the toy marketers do a good job. They make me want to buy everything for her!

I have to keep in mind that while toys are fun at playtime, I want Avery to be able to be able to entertain herself for certain times without toys. We go outside almost every day, and sometimes we go on our playset, but sometimes we make a game of just running up and down our hill in the backyard. I also like to take her and Ranger for short walks in our neighborhood and pick up leaves and sticks and acorns. This is the kind of thing I feel like is missing for a lot of kids. I know I'm doing pretty well at this because of how well Avery does in the jogging stroller and car. She will ride in the jogging stroller for up to an hour with no toys for entertainment; just relaxing and enjoying nature (I think...haha.) She also does great int the car! We went to Hilton Head in August, and I did bring toys in the car, and our IPad with the PBS kids app. However, I would estimate that she only really needed entertainment for about half the trip down and back. The other half she was content to just sit and look out the window and 'talk/babble.' Just last weekend I took her and my mom to Pittsburgh (just over 2 hours away.) She didn't have any toys in her car seat for this trip. She stayed awake the whole way over and just babbled and was happy.

This is the kind of thing that I want to keep encouraging...but I'm still really looking forward to her new kitchen!!

Fall Running update

You may notice I recently added my running stats to my blog (click here to check them out!) I've been doing a lot of racing recently, and I really enjoy running in the fall! It's definitely my favorite season for running. Most week days I jog with Ranger and Avery (in the stroller.) I've been running with her since she was about 6-8 weeks old. I have the Bob jogging stroller which I absolutely love!! Occasionally I even run races with the stroller. Back in August, I ran a 5K with Avery, and I actually won my age group! Even though it was a small race, I was so happy with how I did. Before I was a mom, I would watch women jogging with strollers and think "wow they are so strong...I want to be able to do that one day." Finally I Was that woman! The pictures above are from that race in August. I'm planning on running a 5K turkey trot on Thanksgiving where I will also likely be pushing Avery.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Avery's First S'mores

Yes, you read that correctly - it's November, and we had a fire in our fire pit last night (it was about 40 degrees outside.) We dressed warmly, and sat outside for about 45 minutes.  Avery had her first s'mores. She liked them, but she wasn't to keen on sitting still by the fire. She went back and forth between my lap and her own little chair, and we did our best to teach her that fire is HOT! It turned out to be a nice little fire, until Avery was ready to go back inside. We typically have family over for Thanksgiving, and we have occasionally used our fire pit on that day as well, depending on the weather, so it may not be the last fire of the year quite yet!

Today has been pretty uneventful so far.  I have certain routines that Avery and I do every day, and I think it makes the day easier for both of us. About a month ago, I implemented "room time" for Avery, and she will play in her room by herself for around 35-45 minutes! We do this after breakfast and her favorite tv shows. I've read about how toddlers at this age don't know to be 'bored,' and having time to themselves enhances their own creativity and problem-solving skills. I rotate a few boxes of toys so she has some different ones to play with every day. Usually when  I go into her room to get her, she wants to show me what she's been doing. She loves to line up her toys on her windowsills...I don't know why but it's pretty cute!

In the cold and snow

We still have snow, but I don't think it will last much longer. It's supposed to warm up over the next several days. Avery really loves going outside no matter what the temperature is. In October, we bought a swing set/tree house. We love it!! We have honestly played on it every day since we bough it, and yes, I did say 'we.' Avery loves swinging, and she points to me and my swing and likes when we are both swinging. She also likes when I climb up her treehouse with her, and we pretend it's our secret clubhouse. It's been a lot of fun so far, and I'm looking forward to using it when it actually gets warm outside!! Here are some pictures!

Flu shot

Today I took Avery to the pediatrician for a Flu shot, and they also did a Hep A vaccine. I was not looking forward to it because Avery does NOT like shots, and she makes that very clear. She also knows what is happening as soon as we get in the room. The last several visits have included lots of crying. Today, however, actually went as best as could be expected. I warned the nurse, and Avery did cry, but the nurse was super fast, and left as quickly as possible. Avery calmed down immediately.  She got a sticker, and she was good to go! Her next doctor appointment is in February for her 2 year well visit.

We went outside and played in the snow again today, and it was so nice out. I don't mind playing in the snow when the sun is shining. Avery had a great time, and loves to point out airplanes. She also can hear a train that goes near our house every so often, and when she hears it, she says "tooka tooka tooka tooooo toooooo."  It is so cute...sometimes I don't even hear the train until she is saying that!

Later on today, Travis's mom is coming over to play with Avery while Travis and I have a 'date night.' We've been fortunate to do this almost once a week since Avery was born, and Avery loves playing with her grandma!

I'm working on getting some pictures uploaded so I can post some good ones soon!

I'm Back!

Well, I have decided to continue my blog. I took a 20-month hiatus, but I've decided that I really enjoy going back to this blog to read about my pregnancy, and I would like to continue to document the things going on in my life. Being a stay-at-home mom currently, much of my day is consumed with my daughter Avery. Therefore, I think the title of this blog still fits - since Avery is still the Littlest DeSavigny. However, I do try to maintain personal hobbies and interests (such as running) so I will will be also writing about our life here and all of our activities.

To begin with, my life completely changed when Avery was born in February 2012. I know it's cliche, but it's also so true! In my case, I ended up leaving my job to stay home with our little girl. While I can say that it's been one of the most rewarding times in my life, there have been many times when I've been frustrated and not sure if I'm always making the right decisions...which I'm pretty sure is true for all moms no matter what their situation. There have been many ups and downs...but more recently I'm starting to feel like things are "back to normal," or maybe I've finally come to terms with all of the changes in the past year and a half. Either way, I'm excited to write about my life and read about it in the future!

Currently, Avery is in a really fun stage! She's beautiful and I love to watch her laugh. I also laugh at the random things that make her laugh.  For example, when she knocks things over or off the table, she thinks it's hilarious, and we keep repeating it over and over again until it's not funny. Today was the first real snow in our area, and we went outside to check it out. I want to say that she loved it...but that's not really true. She was certainly intrigued, and we were out there for a good hour. She loves being outside, so I think she will eventually love the snow. I am really looking forward to the holidays with her this year. Last year she was still basically a baby, and while I know she won't totally get everything this year, I know she'll be more interested than last year.

I'm excited to share the little things in our life on this blog!