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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

More Sledding Video

Some sledding video from this past weekend.




Saturday, January 23, 2010

Big Day with Daddy by Selah

On Saturday Daddy and I got to spend the whole day together, allowing Mommy to go skiing with friends.

The night before Daddy made the mistake of not watching the clock and staying up until 11:30 reading. Well, I don't care when Daddy goes to bed because I like to get up around 6 no matter what. He keeps telling me that I need to learn about sleeping in on the weekends but to me a Saturday feels like any other day.

So, Daddy got up with me at 6:15 but instead of making coffee he shut the door to my room and lay on the adult bed in my room while I played by myself. It was fun because Daddy fell asleep and I could do whatever I want, like chew on used baby wipes and other trash out of the trash can in my room. Then Daddy woke up and he made coffee that our friends in London sent us. Daddy likes his quiet time to drink coffee, wake up and read the newspaper online. I like tormenting Daddy by trying to find trouble like eating paper and pulling things off shelves and hitting the keys on Daddy's keyboard. You know, that's what babies do.

After breakfast and my morning nap we started by playing inside. I love chasing my Daddy around the house and then letting him chase me. He's pretty fast but I think it's just because of his long legs. I also rode my Strider bike around the house and helped Daddy organize CDs. I couldn't figure out why he kept putting them on a spindle because you can only see the top one. It makes more sense to dump them on the floor so you can see what you've got.

I also helped Daddy trim his climbing skins for his new skis. I like licking the soft hair on one side of the skin and putting my hand in the sticky glue on the other side. Later, I got a little upset because I was trying to eat the dirt out of the big potted plant in the kitchen but Daddy made it really hard to get to and I hit my head when trying to climb through the shoe shelf. Ouch! Why did Daddy have to make it so hard to get to the dirt?

Daddy wanted to go for a run but it has snowed over a foot in the last two days and it was still snowing heavily Saturday morning. So, he took me sledding instead. Daddy built a little hill of snow about 4 feet tall in our yard and I can go down it really fast on my new orange sled. I also like crawling around and eating the snow. I like to put my nose deep in the snow. Brrr! I also like to crawl under the big pine tree and try to eat dirt.


Sledding was really fun until Daddy thought it would be funny to throw me into the deep powder. It didn't hurt but it was really cold when I sank a foot into the snow and the snow caved in on me. That made me cold so we went inside and warmed up.
Then Daddy took me to brunch. He had eggs benedict and I had spinach, potatoes, ham, grapes, and melon. Daddy tried sharing his orange juice with me but I didn't really like it.

I was so tired from sledding and playing in the snow that I took a 2 hour nap after lunch.

When I woke up Daddy was all packed up for skiing so we drove to Sunlight and Daddy bundled me up for a trip up the mountain. It was off and on snowing while I rode in the kid carrier on Daddy's back. I like catching the snow with my tongue but the kid carrier has a hood so it makes it hard to catch the snowflakes. Daddy says the hood keeps me warm but I think I would prefer to catch snowflakes. After getting to the top Daddy zoomed down the fresh snow. I like it when he goes fast.

From there, Daddy took me straight to the high school where I got to see my first basketball game. Daddy dressed me up in a little basketball uniform so that I would fit in. We got there just in time for the tip-off of the boys' varsity game. At first I didn't know what to think about all those people in the gym and the loud buzzers. Eventually I realized it was fun to crawl around on the bleachers, play with toys and eat yogurt and banana. I also like all the attention I get. Everyone wants to see me because they know my Daddy from school. It takes forever for us to walk anywhere because everyone wants to stop and talk to Daddy and look at me. Sheesh people, haven't you ever seen a baby before?


At halftime Daddy bought me popcorn. After eating some popcorn I was playing with a tube of yogurt when it broke open and sprayed all over the bleachers and the hair on the back of a girl's head. Woops, I'm just a baby so what do you expect?

Daddy cleaned me up and then we moved to a spot where I could have more room to play. I started to get the hang of clapping on the bleachers when the crowd would clap to celebrate a good play. It was fun, especially because Glenwood, my Daddy's school, won.

Then, we met Mommy and some of her students at the Hot Springs Pool. It's the world's largest hot springs pool and I really liked it. One of the pools is 100 yards long so I had plenty of room to swim with my Mommy and Daddy. I like to kick my legs and try to swim. I also like it when Daddy plays motor boat with me and goes really fast in the water. It's also fun we he picks me up and down out of the water really fast. That's fun. I also like drinking the water even though I'm not supposed to.

Eventually I got really tired because I was at the pool until 8:30 and usually I'm in bed by 7:00. Mommy washed me off and made me a bottle. By the time I got to the car I had almost finished the bottle because I was so hungry. Then, Daddy says I fell asleep after driving just a few blocks from the pool. I was so tired that I didn't even wake up at the loud sound of the Wendy's drive-thru speaker.

At home Daddy carried me inside and rocked me to sleep with another bottle. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than a couple minutes. And, I should have been tired, it was a long day with my Daddy!
Selah Claire is 9-1/2 months old. This is her first blog post.

More of Selah Sledding


Yet another video of Selah sledding and playing in the snow. - Mike

Selah in the Snow


Here's Selah playing in the snow in our yard. Crawling, licking snow, eating snow, and in general, having fun. - Mike

Selah Sledding


Selah loves the snow. Here she gets a taste of sledding on the 4 ft. tall sledding hall Daddy built in the yard. - Mike

Selah Playing - Snowmass Kid Area


A brief clip from when we went skiing at Snowmass with our friends Rob and El and took turns watching the kids at this really cool kid area at the base of the Snowmass ski area. There was a huge "treehouse" for climbing around in and the upstairs had this mock mining shack for kids to play in. It was pretty cool and Selah loved it. - Mike

More of Selah Playing


More of Selah and Daddy playing. - Mike

Selah's First Bike


Joy got Selah this little Strider bike. She's not quite tall enough but she kind of makes it after we took the seat off and put a tennis ball on the seat post. She can push herself along but needs some hands to serve as "training wheels" so she doesn't tip over. It's pretty fun letting her cruise around the house. - Mike

Selah playing


Here's Selah playing in the drawers, busily entertaining herself. Since she learned to open and shut things she will spend a ton of time by herself just playing with whatever she finds. It's quite amusing to watch. - Mike

Licking the snow


Selah loves to crawl around on the snow and lick it. It's really cute but we're trying to teach her to not lick the yellow snow.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

These days

So I am one of those moms that posts way too many pictures of her baby because she thinks her baby is exceptionally cute. Well, okay, fine. Here are the pictures anyway :)





Her new unfortunate favorite past time. She can unroll an entire roll with surprising speed. Then she likes to eat it.



Hanging with mom and dad at the gym.


Today we skied Snowmass with our friends Rob and El. Well, we didn't actual ski with them, just took turns watching the others' kid while the other couple skied. It was fun and we discovered a huge playroom open to the public.


It was in the low 30's, sunny, and clear.



Selah was really into the play area.



This girl has the most expressive face.



We bought a couple of pitchers for apres ski. We had free transferable passes, babysat our own children, and took the bus to park for free. We added up the savings as follows to justify 2 pitchers and a huge $18 plate of nachos:

  • 4 adult lift tickets: $392
  • 2 children in daycare at the ski area: $280
  • 2 vehicles to park: $50
For a total of $722...yeah, it's Aspen all right.








These two will play for hours and hours and hours if given the chance. They are a sight.

My best news of the day? My parents are taking S and I to Maui for Spring Break! The only bummer is that poor Mikey has to stay home and work!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Driving already

Watch this even if you watched the video on facebook. This one is different and also very funny.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

one more thing

I de-privatized my blog...for various reasons.
I have been a slacker of a blogger lately, so I am about to write one big post with lots of pictures. I always put in too many photos because I can't decide which ones to use and Selah is just so dang cute, I just can't resist. Enjoy!


What the daily grind includes these days:


Selah's many faces...
(we were trying to get pictures of her 2 new bottom teeth)







Skinning laps at Sunlight with my girl on my back.



Happy girl dressed for the weather.



Mike and Selah skinning and skiing together in the sunny afternoon.



Family hikes (before the snow fell).



Selah conked out in the sling.

Here's what we've been up to the last month and a half...

We went to Iowa and Missouri for Thanksgiving and spent several days with Mike's family. Not just a few people, but 34 people IN ONE HOUSE. And we had our own room to boot! His aunt and uncle have a 6 bedroom, 4 bath house with ample floor space. It was a blast! Selah didn't sleep much, but we relaxed and just enjoyed all the company. One day, the hosts took the entire group of us to Silver Dollar City, their annual tradition. There were rides, deliciously fattening food, old time crafts, it was a fun time. Grandma loved hanging out with Selah!




Lots of lights and throngs of people.



Mike and Marge are waving in the top of the picture. We took turns riding roller coasters and watching Selah.

We got home from Missouri on Sunday night and flew out Friday the same week for the Las Vegas Marathon. It was our second annual and we officially declared the Vegas marathon a Schneiter family tradition. Thankfully, Marge joined us to help with Selah so we could both run. At least she used Selah as an excuse...she had her own great time in the casinos and was out until 2:00am one night! Mike's aunt and uncle from San Diego also came to Vegas to cheer us on and join the fun. Karen and Christopher stayed in the same hotel and spoiled us rotten with meals and more babysitting.

Mike's goal for the race was to break 3:00 and my goal was to be a Boston Qualifier, or 3:40. I'll do a quick race recap for those who care. I was a bit nervous to reach my goal, as 8:25 pace is normally pretty brisk for me and I wasn't sure I could maintain it for 26.2 miles. The race had a wave start and I was supposed to be in the 5th wave. When the first wave went, I was peeing. I finished and rushed to the mob of runners, hopped the fence, and just started with the next wave. I didn't know which wave I was in, so I didn't know my actual starting time (I forgot my watch). So I started running and eventually broke out of the slower mass into a group that felt more my pace. I ran up behind a woman from Boulder and asked her if she wanted to run together. She obliged and we ended up running until the half marathon and marathon courses split, the 10 mile point. We were very excited to be running about 7:45 pace (thanks to her watch!) while having a casual conversation. While I still didn't know exactly where I was overall, I figured I was about 3 minutes behind the pace clocks along the course, meaning I thought I'd started about 3 minutes after the first wave. I was feeling really incredible and when we split, I felt like I could speed up. There were clocks every mile and I was holding pretty steady at 7:45-7:55 pace until mile 18 or so. I then saw my pace slow and did one 8:20 mile (which I later learned was uphill). When I hit the final turnaround at mile 19, I started speeding up again and continued to feel good and break 8:00 pace. I crossed the finish line and the official clock said 3:35. I didn't know what I had really run until Mike's uncle Tom texted Marge--he had been receiving live updates online and knew that my actual time was 3:30:11. I was so excited! I just could not believe I had run 8:01 pace for an entire marathon! Mike was also very happy to tell me that he had run 2:57:46, or 6:47 pace. We won't be running Boston this year but hopefully in 2011.



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Proud marathon finishers.



Margie and I on the Strip.


The next adventure after Vegas was a much needed Christmas and New Year's break. One of the biggest advantages of working in the school system is having the holiday breaks! We all went to Jackson to spend the time with my parents and brother. Dad had a knee replacement a few days after we arrived, so most of his time was spent reclining. However, the time was still wonderful and Selah's smiling face cheered us all up. Mike and I felt like non-parents for a few days--we went to the climbing gym, went skiing together, slept in, etc. Selah also started sleeping through the night while we were there. What a relief! With Reese's encouragement, I put her in a room where I could not hear her for 4 nights in a row. I moved her back to the nearby bedroom on the 5th night and she has slept through since. Before she was getting up at 11pm and again between 2 and 4, sometimes both 2 and 4. Now she sleeps from 7pm to 6 or 7am. I really feel like a new person after sleeping so much over the past weeks. I was starting to fall apart.



My sweet girl loves bath time.




Mike and I were able to backcountry ski together three days in a row. Here I am in the snow cave on top of Mount Glory, above Teton Pass.


Wes joined us as well on Glory. It's so great to have all my family in the same town! Makes holiday travel much easier. Now if we could just get Marge to move to Jackson...



About 12 inches of fresh two days in a row. :)





Dad's couch time was relieved by Selah crawling all over him.



She has discovered pulling things off shelves, namely CD's and books. If you put them away, she comes back and looks around like, "hey, I just spent a lot of energy putting those on the floor!"



My mom blessed us by getting up with Selah in the morning and allowing us to sleep in.



This captures her so well.



Dad, Selah, and our friend Carrie. Carrie is pregnant and due April 16th.


Now we're back at work, enjoying the process of the day to day.