a pictures says 100 words... week 11

Thank you Macy's for a beautiful photo session while we were down in Oregon.  It was fun to capture the sweetness of little Ruthann and our growing admiration for her!

I couldn't bicycle that fast!

Aaron wasn't always a runner.  In college he pole vaulted.  After college he became a jumps coach with a few different high schools, then somehow he began coaching cross country.  For fundraising events the school would put on races, he ran a few of them here and there.  He was pretty fast!  Then he started dating me.  I went running, so he came with me.  Our first race we ran together I actually beat him, it was the towns big mountain race.  I think that race might of officially launched his running carrier, he was pretty frazzled that this girl had beaten him. 

I moved to Juneau for a summer while in grad school and began doing large sums of mountain running,  he came and visited.  On one of those visits he ran a 9 hour ridge line run with me.  I think that hooked him, for sure it impressed me!  ... this guy might be a keeper. 

Anyway, so launched his running career.  That first summer Aaron did some huge runs with me, including a run across the historic Chilkot trail (a 32 miler).  The next summer he married me, then the summer after that we biked through Canada into Montana, he was becoming an endurance machine.   I don't know if he ran then to impress me or because he liked it, but he ran none the less.  Finally for our 2nd anniversary we put an official race on the calendar, the 50th annual Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks.  Afterwards, he was hooked on marathoning.  He hadn't run as fast as he had anticipated and knew he could run faster. 

So this past fall when Sitka announced it was going to host a 1st annual trail marathon he signed up for marathon #2.  In fact Aaron signed up for every race Sitka had to offer.  He completed his first ever triathlon, then he race the hardest trail half marathon imaginable, the Medviji and finally the same mountain race I had beat him in so many years before.  He was ready for the Sitka marathon.  However since he was so fit he smoked all the competition coming in first by 25 minutes.  He wanted a race where he'd have some healthy competition.  His friend Brent Cunningham asked him if he wanted to run the Portland Marathon.  Aaron went for it, being in the best shape of his life, he only needed to stay fit for a few more months and then he'd get to run a race with people, not in front of them. 

The Portland marathon proved to be a challenge.  In Aaron's previous 2 marathons he had held back finishing both race with reserves.  This time he wanted to go out strong.  And strong he did, his first 5k clocking 17:30, too fast, he still had 23 miles to go!  By mile 21 his pace slowed, he hit that wall he had heard about but never hit in his previous marathons, but still he was looking strong.  He clocked a 2:45 at the finish, equivalent to a 6 minute mile, 25 minutes ahead of what he needed to qualify for Boston and 16th overall!  He ran the race he had wanted to run and accomplished the exact time he had wanted to get, PRed by 11 minutes and finished in the top 20 out of nearly 7,000 runners! 

Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap any photos while cheering/ chasing him around, but I have a feeling I'll get another opportunity in the future.

I received an e-mail from my dad this morning stating that he couldn't bicycle that fast!  I too was impressed, and also impressed by that female that blazed by him at mile 23, making sure Aaron wouldn't be too proud and giving him a new goal for marathon #4, whenever that may be!

Birthday Hike

Thanks to our dear friends the Hugheys who volunteered to babysit on Saturday Aaron and I and our always up for an adventure friends, Em and Ben, decided to climb one of our all time favorite hills, Starrigaven.  Longstanding birthday tradition is to climb Verstovia, but Starrigaven was the mountain that called my name this year.  After a week of solid rain somehow this Saturday the rain clouds refrained from their persistent drip.  We were able to enjoy the alpine fall as we zig zagged up the hillside.  I thought of little squeakers often, but I knew she was in good hands.  And it was fun to reflect on  an incredibly eventful year of many firsts!

Right when we reached the alpine

This waterfall was loaded down with fresh rainfall from the soggy week.



 

6 1/2 years of hiking together and still loving every minute!

The big lake... I loved looking at the reflection on the water...

...and the fall colors

Ruthann we wish you were here!  Maybe next time!

Stimulation!

B&B our first night in Anchorage... happy 2 months Ruthann!

Flat Top hike in Anchorage

MOOSE!

Former Edgecumbe Students at the YL conference... it was so good to see these guys!

Ruthann all dressed up!

Our Alaskan Family... Micah's, Aaron's twin, in-laws!

Naptime

Ruthann hangin' with the grandparents...

... and her uncle Ben

Pumpkin Patch!!

Our last flight home... notice the milk all over her chin!

Over the last 2 weeks Aaron, Ruthann and I have been on the go!  We traveled north to Anchorage for a State YL conference and then south to Aarons old stomping grounds for a fundraising trip for Aaron's new position.  During this time Ruthann was in and out of countless airplanes, bed and breakfasts, hotels, houses, carseats, baby bjorns, and loads of diapers! 

She celebrated both her 2 months and 10 weeks birthday, very happily met a barrage of friends and family, and grew to be as plump as a pumpkin.  Today back at our home on Crabapple Drive Ruthann is for the first time in a long time having a calm peaceful day of lounging, and the next time she bumps into her old Sitka friends they'll be impressed by how much she has grown! 

NO MORE GROWING!

I received a text from a friend taking off to visit family in NC for the next 2 weeks requesting Ruthann not to grow while she was away!  I could not agree more, "Ruthann, NO MORE GROWING!"  I don't believe I have ever been so sappy and sentimental.  I look back a photos take just a week ago and say "look how much smaller she was."  Do they really grow this quickly? 

Another friend asked me today if she has grown out of any outfits yet?  The answer YES! Yes, yes and YES!

So I guess I need to take more photos.  I pulled out some outfits to take pictures of her in tomorrow, if they still fit!  I also am realizing more videos need to be taken!  I don't think it is possible to take too many.  Aaron just upload 175 more photos onto our computer (unfortunately not all of them were of Ruthann). 

So she is 8 weeks old.  Here are a few photos over the course of the last week.  They will have to do.  We need a photo editing program on our computer, so they aren't all the crème de la crème.  Even if we did have an editing program I don't know how people find any time between feedings to actually edit them.  Wow, babies take every moment and all your energy yet you just don't care.  We won't talk about my personal hygiene at this point, or anything else for that matter, I'm exhausted! 

Instead we'll look at adorable photos... here goes: Thanks for admiring her!

I just took this one right before uploading them... Ruthann says "Goodnight!"

lady in red

a red diaper that is...

This is a series of photos that I snapped this morning, worrying about the drought of photos I haven't taken these last few days (only 1 or 2 a day, not the usual 20). 

Ruthann thought that it was particularly embarrassing that I took these pictures, and she especially disliked the fact that I chose to post them on-line, especially now that she is a 90th percentile baby.  That is right our very own Ruthann on her 6th week check-in was dubbed in the 90th percentile for weight.  We were so excited to hear the news.  My doctor let me know that in fact I could slow down on the feedings if I wanted (Ruthann disagreed).  After all, she does have a figure to maintain! 

We also consistently have been wearing the cloth diapers.  Her trifolds are her current favorite, however this last few days we've been rotating in the fuzzibuns, (still a little to large for her buns) but we often run out of the trifolds between washings. 

Tune in again on Friday when we feature her 8th week photo... can you believe it!  They grow up so fast! 

Labor Day

Not much labor on this Labor Day.  We started the morning with a nice ferry ride back from Juneau.  We were in Juneau because Aaron had a training/ weekend retreat there.  It ended with some Lemonade and lounging in the sunshine.  We also said a temporary goodbye to Brandi, who is ferrying down to Ketchican to give away her car, flying home to Minnesota to get married and then moving to Louisiana where her bo is from. We had a nice time visiting in the sunshine.

Coach Smith (the Sitka High CC coach) and her girls with me and Ruthann!

The fam, minus the Puffin... she is off exploring!



Sweet Brandi... we sure do miss you already!

Aaron and his baby girl hangin' out in the front yard!

Ruthann with her daddy!

She isn't the best yet at smiling at the camera.  Here she is in her favorite sweater!

Her favorite booties, made by her soon to be Aunt Katie!

So the last few photos feature her sweater made by her little Grandmother Bradford, and the booties that her Aunt Katie knit.  You can also see how excited Ruthann is about going on a walk, so excited in fact that she decided to fall asleep.  She loves adventure, she just doesn't know it yet!  I put her in  her Baby Bjorn (given to us by Aunt Bird) so I could go on a walk with Annie, a pregnant friend of mine.  Ruthann also is excited about meeting Annie's little one in October and going on adventures of her very own with him/her!