Water Baby

Last Thursday Keith and I went to train at one of our local wellness/aquatic centers. We decided to take the Little Miss with us. She loves bath time so we were eager to see if she would enjoy the pool and the cooler temperature. She absolutely loved it. She did not cry one single time and was just so peaceful. There is a very nice kid area in the indoor pool with a ledge that is only 3-4 inches deep. We sat her down in the water and she just leaned right over and started splashing away. I definitely think that we have a water baby on our hands. Now we just need to get in her in the lake.

Week 2

We completed our second week of training yesterday. We swam 400 meters on Friday, ran 20 minutes on Saturday and biked 8 miles on Sunday. The biking and swimming is great, but I am still not the biggest fan of running. Hopefully the love will come later. Now moving back to Thursday. Prepare yourself....I am going to talk about the spa. I went here...

with my two best friends Amy and Madelaine. We arrived at 9:45 to get "robed and slippered". We enjoyed some dried fruit and cold water before our appointment time. At around 10 we were all called into the massage area and taken into seperate rooms to enjoy a 50 minute relaxation massage. The massages were great and we all came out half asleep. After that we spent some time in the steam room (my favorite part...Madelaine's least favorite part.) After that we all got in the hot tub which is housed in the "Quiet room". We spent lots of time here talking and planning our next trip back to the spa. After the hot tub we ate lunch. Amy and I had the chicken salad sandwich and Madelaine had the turkey club (Keith calls this spa food). The food was great, but after lunch we were ready for some sun. When you book an appointment with the spa at Ross Bridge you have access to all the spa facilities and outdoor pool all day until 6:00. So we headed out to the beautiful pool and enjoyed laying out in the sunshine. It was such a gorgeous day and the water was actually tolerable. After the pool we headed back into to get ready to go back to the real world. All in all it was a perfect day. I went home to my wonderful husband and this...

It's 11:49 on Monday night...

And for those of you who know me really well, you are shocked that I am still awake. I got home from work at around 7:45 tonight, took a quick shower and then rescued Keith by taking over McKinley's nightly routine of fussing for a solid hour because she refuses to nap. I fixed a little bit of left over chicken and pasta and fed myself while I fed McKinley. She was down in her crib by 9:05 and we turned on Deadliest Catch (one of the best shows ever.) About 15 minutes in I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and complete the days training...Running! Still not the biggest fan of this sport, but it gets slightly better every day. After the run I decided that I would go ahead and take my patho test. Just finished it and it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Now I am wide awake with an upcoming early morning wake up call by the most beautiful cry in the whole world! Biking 6 miles tomorrow (not sure where), a trip to Babies-r-Us, Zumba tomorrow night, and the spa on Thursday.

Life is so Good!

Here are some sweet pics of our little sas!

She really hates the sun.

Getting some love from her Aunt Rae.

Her sweet shoes her Aunt Tamika made her. She takes orders!

Loving those sweet cheeks!

Monday

First of all...no pictures of little Miss today. My husband (whom I love so much) cannot seem to email pictures so that I can upload them...I am not nearly as computer savy as he is, so I need things quick and easy. So onto the training...we ran on Saturday and biked another 5 miles yesterday. We biked in our neighborhood on Sunday (we had to ride the same route almost twenty times to get in the mileage) so it was a very flat, fast ride. We are still running separate so it is really boring, but we are getting it done. This week starts to pick up. We start running and swimming together in the same day...so that should be interesting. I am going back to Zumba this week with my friends Amy and Maddie, and on Thursday the three of us are headed to the spa for a good long relaxing day together. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I have to take a test on Wednesday, but after that my mind is set on the massage, hot tub, and sauna!

McKinley is still doing great. She is learning something new every single day. She is growing so fast. She loves books, especially the kinds filled with bright colors and different textures. We started reading Charlotte's Web on Saturday. I figured that it was never too early to start the classics. We also put together her exersaucer on Saturday and she loves to sit and play even though her little legs are still a little too short to reach the bottom (she does not get to play for very long.) We will be visiting the doctor for her 4 month check up and shots next week. My guess for the weigh in is somewhere between 12lbs. 13oz. and 13lbs. 4oz. Her personality is beginnning to develop. Overall I think she is going to be a perfect mixture of us both. Right now she loves to smile and pretend like she is shy, but she loves the attention.

I will post more pictures of our precious little girl as soon as I can...until then I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Love Wins

More training and...McKinley

So we have completed day three of training. We ran on the first, biked 5 miles on the second (mostly uphill...it was rough), and we swam 300 meters today, along with a short weight workout. All in all, it has been a very productive and painful week. Tomorrow is an off day, and we start again on Saturday. I also did Zumba for the first time last night. My best friend Amy and I went together. We had a blast, but it was pretty intense. I think I am addicted now that I have a Zumba buddy!

Now onto something that is so much cuter than me sweating all over the place...

McKinley!

She had a great first Easter and received her first Easter basket. She got a whole basket full of teething rings, rice cereal, pacis, and the best thing of all...swim diapers. I cannot wait to get this child into the water. I know she is going to love it! Otherwise she is going to be one miserable little girl because we love the water. Although she did not quite understand the occasion, we did spend some time explaining to our 3 month old what this wonderful day is all about. You can never start to early explaining the true love of Christ. We spent the majority of our day celebrating at our church's Easter Carnival (that is why we are standing in front of a hot air balloon.) We finished the day up with some hamburgers and a nice Spring walk with family. It was a great day!

Here are some pictures of the day...

Training Day 1

Tri training starts today...woohoo! It's a RUN day. If you have nothing to do today head out in the beautiful weather, briskly walk for 9 minutes, followed by a light stretch, and finish up with a strong 6 minute run. This is the postpartum training guide for the triathlon, so if your feeling more in shape than me just get out there and RUN.

In the meantime...

A Beautiful Day

Last week, Keith, McKinley, and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and layed out in our front yard. McKinley is not such a big fan of the sun, but she really enjoys being outside. Here are a few pictures of the day...

The Goal...to COMPLETE a triathlon.

Why you ask...well besides the fact I really want to get back in shape after having my beautiful daughter...it really seems like it would be fun. I never thought the idea of participating in a race would be so intriguing, but I cannot wait to start the process.

The Inspiration: I recently met a mother of 5 boys who competes in triathlons on a regular basis and she looked so healthy and happy...not to mention, she was ripped!

The Plan: To complete an 11 week training schedule that includes running 3 times a week and biking and swimming twice a week with two days of weight training.

The Partner: My wonderful husband and anyone else who is interested.

The Goal: A sprint...this means a short run, short bike, and short swim (key word...short). The date is August 14, 2010, and the breakdown is this...
Swim: 400 meters
Bike: 16.2 miles
Run:3 miles

The Next Step: There are multiple things you need to even start training for this competition, including a competition swim suit (no more bikinis), a new pair of running shoes (Asics are my favorite), a road bike (saving up for this one), and a helmet of course.

I plan to keep everyone posted as we go along, so look for pictures and updates about training!

Finally...an update!

I have had several people inform me that it is time for another update. So here it goes...McKinley is doing great! She started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old and is now sleeping from 9:15 to 7:30 in the morning...I know that we are blessed! She is getting bigger and bigger (especially in the cheeks). She now has full control of her head and hates laying flat on her back...she is trying so hard to sit up, but Mommy would like for her to stay a baby a little longer. She is so active and I know that she is going to take after her mother and be a "wild child". We will be starting cereal this month, so she will definitely start packing on the pounds. What else can I say besides the fact that she is absolutely perfect. I could not have wished for a better baby.

The Varden family is also about to make another major transition...Keith and I will be working with another church plant starting in May. We are very excited about this new phase, and we are already enjoying watching what God is doing with this new church.

Things that will be happening in April:
McKinley turns 4 months old.
Keith will be traveling to Casa Hogar Elim.
Keith has two weddings to shoot...all in the same weekend.
Keith and I will begin training for a triathalon (will post details soon).
and
I will be finishing my first official semester of graduate school.

Here are some pictures...


She loves Maggie the monkey.


Look at that sweet face.


Sunday afternoon nap with mom.


Life is Good!

6 weeks old!

Miss Mckinley Grace is now 6 weeks old. She weighed 8lbs. 13 oz. at her one month appointment, and she is now 21 inches long. She is doing great! She has been sleeping from 9:00 PM to 5:45 AM...we are so blessed. She is growing more and more everyday. I actually put some of her newborn outfits in storage the other day and I was a little heart broken, but I know that there are more fun things to look forward to. She is smiling at everything and rolling over from her belly to her back (she is such a big girl already)! We are headed back to the doctor at the end of the month for the big "shot" appointment and another weigh in. Overall we are all doing great and enjoying spending tons of time together as a family.

Here are some new pictures...

The last of 2009!

We are settling into our new life with Miss McKinley quite nicely. She wakes up about every four hours during the night, so we are definitely not complaining about that. We visited the doctor on Tuesday. McKinley weighed in at 7 lbs. 5 ounces. She lost 2 ounces from her last hospital weight, and she grew 3/4 of an inch! Our doctor said everything looked perfect! I have posted several pictures from the last few days. I will continue to update, but until then I hope that everyone had a wonderful New Years!


Getting some good loving from her pops!

Visiting with her Nana


Daddy watching over his little girl.


McKinley getting ready to meet her doctor for the first time.

Love Wins!