November

November included:

Trips to the Children's Museum

A family outing to the Arboretum

An overnight visit with Christine and family to Payson

Skye's artwork from preschool

Bike rides with Dave on the new bike setup

10 Months

Alisha says: My baby is 10 months old! Jade is still sweet and cute as ever. She is even more sweeter now that she mostly sleeps through the night! Yipee, hallelujah!! She is still not a great napper and only takes two short naps during the day but hey if she sleeps through the night then I'll take it. She now has her two front teeth in on the bottom. They look so cute when she smiles but I've also been bitten a few times and the are sharp! During the past month she has really perfected the pincer grasp and can pick up small objects such as cheerios between her thumb and and pointer finger and successfully transfer said item to mouth. Jade likes eating cheerios, crackers, pretzels and cottage cheese but her favorite food is gouda cheese.

Bike Racing

Dave says: It had been several years since we raced our bikes. However, Alisha is a competitor at heart and so it was only a matter of time after Jade was born before she was looking for some events to do. This race happens every year right in our backyard (Usery Mountain Park) and is put on by our friends at the local bike shop so this year it was time to do "The Showdown."

It's an 8 hour mountain bike race and we did it as a duo team which means that one of us was always riding. Each lap was about 45 minutes and we traded off every lap. Most teams just traded a timing chip but we also traded off on the same bike because we have the same seat height and only one fast racing bike right now (our trail bikes are not fast for this type of event).

The event started with a short uphill run to the bikes to spread things out which was not my favorite thing. However, I got a good start and was in second place overall for most of the first lap. However, this was much too fast a pace to be riding at for a long race like this. Alisha also put down a good first lap. About midway through the day we faded a bit from heat and fatigue and were the second duo team with third place right behind us. However, Alisha came on strong late in the day and I started feeling a bit better as well. We got first place which meant we won some apple pies. Alisha also won some cash prizes for fastest time of the day and some of the fastest segments on parts of the course. I don't feel like I'm in racing form right now but it was fun to get to do this event with her. I imagine she'll be ready for more of this sort of thing soon.

Alisha says: Two weeks after the Usery race I did another relay mountain bike race at McDowell Mountain Park. This time it was a 12 hour race and I was on a four person women team with Jennifer, Nicole and Victoria. Victoria put together the team and is an amazing friend that I met earlier this year. She is currently going through her second round of breast cancer and is right in the middle of radiation treatments but she still gets out there and rides and wanted to race. It was a fun day with lots of cool people to hang out with in between laps. We did 9 laps total and I did two of them. My first lap ended up being the fastest women lap time of the day and my second one was mostly in the dark. It was a fun course and we took first place in our category!!

New Bike

Alisha says: Yes, my new bike definitely deserves a post of its own. New bike day is one of the best days only beaten out by my wedding day and the births of my kids. Haha, I'm kidding a little bit but new bike day is very exciting. My new Trek Madone is the best looking bike that I've ever owned and is one sweet ride.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Alisha says: Happy Birthday to our spunky, sweet Skye. We celebrated with a big family dinner. My mom was here and helped make the traditional potato soup that she made for us when we first brought her home from the hospital 3 years ago. She loves sprinkles right now so I made her a cake with lots of sprinkles. She was spoiled by everyone with lots of fun presents including a remote control jeep, moana necklace and hair bows. She is still a great sleeper and says "please" and "thank you". She is a daddy's girl and still sucks her thumb. She loves dancing to you tube videos and dressing up in the princess dresses.

3 Year Pediatrician Stats:

Weight: 30 pounds

Height: 37 1/4 inches

9 Month Jade

Alisha says: This past month has been one for exploring. She has perfected the art of crawling and pulling herself up to a stand. She now has two little bottom teeth that have just started coming in. She likes to play in the pantry and loves to go on walks in the wagon. She likes to be chased and loves it when Skye will play with her. Sometimes they make each other giggle which is adorable. We have left her a number of times with babysitters and she has done well with them when I am not around but as soon as I am around she gets so excited and only wants me. I love the little snuggles she will still give me, especially when she is getting tired.

9 Month Pediatrician Stats:
Weight: 16 pounds 12 ounces (25%)
Height: 27 1/2 inches (50%)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (30%)

October

Alisha says: This is what we did in October!