Blog Hiatus

I have decided to put my blog on a hiatus. I just can't keep up these days!

Easter 2013

Easter weekend was so nice in our new house this year! The neighborhood Easter egg hunt was very nice (and civilized). In our old neighborhood, the parents were cray cray. I swear they would go nuts over the idea of free candy and were elbowing people to help themselves their kids get some candy. We did it one year in the old neighborhood and didn't go back. It's just not fun when your kid gets run over for some jelly beans. We decided to give our new hood a chance and it was super nice! There was only one crazy parent but isn't there always one (she actually yelled out...."we called that one"....as Paige approached an egg. hahaha)??? One of 50+ parents ain't bad! We really are enjoying our new neighbors and our whole neighborhood. It's a refreshing change of pace around here!

We also decorated Easter eggs for the first time ever!! Just Claire and I. Paige can help next year. I was kind of petrified of dye and a big mess but it turned out to be pretty awesome. We will definitely do it every year. Thanks to Pinterest, the sharpie drawings on the eggs was a big hit! (tip: coloring plain white eggs is the easiest)

Easter morning the kids searched for eggs in our beautifully landscaped dirt backyard. Thank goodness for a few scattered weeds to "hide" some eggs behind! Later that day, the girls donned their pretty dresses (yearly gifts from all of their aunties) and we went to Tom and Carla's for our usual Easter celebration. I love Tia (Carla)....she has gone from having cute Easter baskets of goodies to just hiding gifts behind trees along with the eggs. It's pretty comical to see bunny bath loofahs hanging in the lime tree! The girls sure do love it and we love having an awesome dinner watching the sunset! Family time is the very best!!

Spring Break

PINETOP, AZ ROADTRIP!!!!!!

 

I took the girls on a random adventure up to Pinetop, AZ during Spring Break for 2 days. It was VERY last minute. Claire said she wanted to do something fun and go see the mountains. She was dying to find snow too but I was certain we wouldn't so I didn't pack for snow. Turns out...there was SNOW not too far from Pinetop at the Sunrise Ski Park. So, back to the beginning, we packed up the car and booked a hotel room. Eric was going to be busy with work for the next 2 days so off we went. After 3 hours of driving through some scary mountains because I apparently took the "scary way" according the hotel receptionist, we made it Pinetop. It's a country place and I like that. It's also a bit sketchy and old too and that kind of freaked me out but overall it's a pretty cool town. It has cute places to eat, grocery stores, a Wal-mart, and a Home Depot so it's pretty "happening" there. You don't feel like you are in the middle of nowhere event though you really are. There are small lakes to fish in and lots of nature to explore but we didn't really get in to that on this trip.

 

Paige was a little sketched out by our hotel room and immediately said as we walked in..."Paige scared". I knew this would be the beginning of her being a bit of a challenge. She didn't like sleeping in the hotel or bathing or anything really. I realized I had bit off a little more than I could chew taking both girls alone. Sharing a room with young kids ain't easy. All you parents who have been down this road will understand. No one sleeps good and the next day you are cranky pants! The only person who is the exception to this is my husband because he could sleep standing up and sleeps like a rock. I sleep like a cat on a hot tin roof...always on alert with every noise! Our first full day in Pinetop we drove to see some snow. The girls really did enjoy touching the snow and building a snowman. We were dressed like city folk but we made it work. Some wet boots and tennis shoes never hurt anyone! I am proud of us girls for taking this adventure and trying something new. We did enjoy the experience overall. We found a great cafe called Darby's that is awesome for breakfast and a cool pizza place. The next time we go to Pinetop we will have to rent a cabin and go as a whole family. It's a pretty cool place and I would totally recommend it to anyone!

Besties Sleepover

Claire had her first sleepover at our house! During winter break Claire went to Jordyn's house for a sleepover and that was her first friend sleepover. She has only stayed away from home at her aunt and uncle's house but she has no local cousins so she hasn't had the experience of having another kid stay overnight with her. Claire really wanted Jordyn to visit our house during spring break so she sent Jordyn a text message asking her if she could come over. What an awesome time they had together. They slept in the big tent in the loft which they loved. They even told "campfire" stories before falling asleep. They really get along so well it's a treat to have them together. I also love Jordyn's mom and that just makes it even better that I got a great friend too! As a mom I feel so lucky that Claire has a special friend. I found my bf, Kaylan, in kindergarten and she is still like a sister to me now. I can only hope the same friendship will carry them through the years too.

Daddy went to the big D....DENVER

Eric had a work trip in Denver so the girls and I did our best to enjoy the week alone. Claire was in school but I got to leave Paige with a friend so I could go have lunch with Claire and her buds. They were too cute and boy do they love to talk when a visitor is there!! We had soccer pics and practice and a "fun" trip to Costco where we ate pizza for the 3rd time in one week. As much as we missed Daddy we actually kind of enjoyed our girls week. I am sure if he traveled all the time we wouldn't enjoy it as much. Thanks to Facetime we got to see Daddy a lot on the iPad which helps too. I don't know how my mom did it when we were kids and my dad traveled all the time. It's a lot of work!

Claire is back in spring soccer and really loving it. She has a great coach and I think her team is playing well together and getting better every week. It's fun to watch. I am glad to be a soccer mom. This was the perfect for Claire to start this sport. I don't think she was ready for the team aspect before now.

Paige is being 2 and having some whopper tantrums. We let her have a bottle for 2years....don't judge. We finally cold turkey just tossed it last week and at first she did okay but about 3 days later when all the cold turkey advice says things will get better....it got worse. She doesn't ask for her bottle but she seems to be crying about everything and I realize just how much we gave that damn bottle to her now to soothe her, feed her, and put her to sleep. All of which are now much harder. She is hungry and having meltdowns and crying when it's bedtime because she needs something to wind her down. We really used that bottle for a crutch and I admit that I MISS IT! I don't care if she is Suri Cruise and is 5 when she gives it up. I won't do it though. I threw the bottle away. It's gone. I just hope she gets over soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday Paige

Sadly, I only got this one picture of Paige and Grandma saying goodbye at the airport

Happy 2nd Birthday Paige. I CANNOT believe she is 2. People always say that but I really mean it. It's so bittersweet to me. I really loved Paige as a baby and she is such a joy even still. I guess I can let her get big. Sigh....

My mom came in town and got to spend time with the girls. Eric's family all came over for a big birthday party. We had a great time and Paige loved all her new goodies. Although she does have a confused look in a lot of the pictures we took. This whole party concept is a bit lost on Paige but never fear...the Cox family will teach her how to party! Just wait darlin'!!

Now we just need Grandma to come visit again because 4 days isn't enough!!! COME BACK GRAN!!!

PF Changs ~ 13.1

Trying on my outfit and getting my bib pinned on the night before.

Pre race picture! Almost start time!

Eric was at the finish line and captured a pic of me! GO ME!

Post race!! We did it! Now, can someone airlift us off this curb cuz we are stuck!!

We did it!!! Last Sunday Amanda and I walked the PF Changs 10th Annual Half Marathon!!!

Let me back up to last September when I wrote this post. Well, I started off with high hopes. I never did take a "before" picture of my body. By October my back was bothering me again. It was flaring up it seemed every 3 months since I had Paige. Since October I have not had a day of 100% relief. It's been chronic symptoms. So I had to back off my training but I didn't stop completely. I really wanted to accomplish this goal. By January I needed a MRI and I was told by 2 doctors not to aggravate my back by jogging the half marathon. I agreed to walk the whole thing. Amanda agreed to walk with me. What a true friend! I would never want someone to hold themselves back from their goal but she was completely willing to support me. I don't have an "after" picture of my body. I have only been able to keep myself at status quo at best but I did lose 6lbs. Almost back to my pre Paige baby weight but not where I want to be. I may not get in super swim suit shape but being happy and feeling good is more important. Now that the marathon is over I am going to just focus on healing my back. I am not sure how that will happen but I am considering some options. I have a 1CM herniated disk in my lower lumbar. Apparently 6-7mm is a moderately large herniation so 1cm=10mm. YIKES! I am not a candidate for surgery.....yet. I am learning to distinguish "discomfort" from "pain" so that I can keep a realistic check on my symptoms. It's definitely frustrating to have this back issue be so front and center in my life right now. I have no idea what exactly caused this herniation but I know it started right after I gave birth to Paige. My Xray showed arthritic changes so that's a part of the problem. Am I really only 35?! I do have faith this will get better and I am ready to focus on that goal now!

These girlies have been quite the handful lately. Just being sisters! They love each other but boy oh boy can Claire still be rough with her. Claire loves her so much....too much sometimes.

Christmas Stuff

Cox Early Christmas ~Dec 1. 10 Coxes on a couch, it's a Christmas miracle!

Uncle Tommy helping Paige open presents at Cox Christmas. Paige ever so suspicious. Love their matching pink outfits!

Claire at the Nutcracker ~ Dec 22

Claire and the Snow Princess

Christmas Eve. Putting out reindeer food! Dressed for the AZ cold! BRRR! She LOVES her boots.

Christmas morning playing with her 1000 piece art kit!

Paige got a "scoo" as she calls it. Now she needs to learn to ride it so we don't have to push her!

 

She just will not look at me for pics. Toddlers!

Paige cracking up at Tia. Sitting at the table like a big girl. Love her.

Loving their new puppy sleeping bags.

December was full of celebrating for The Cox Family. We kicked off Dec 1st with Cox early Christmas. We usually do this in Gold Canyon but it was at our house this year which was super fun. We love having the extra space now in our new home and having everyone over! Claire is out on winter break for 2.5 weeks and we started her holiday off with her first Nutcracker ballet. It was awesome despite the back issues I am having. It is getting frustrating to keep talking about it but the fact is I have some sort of disc problem in my lower back and it's causing me lots of problems. Sadly, my marathon training has come to a halt and that has made me so sad because I was really doing good and was so consistent with my training. Now I question if I can even do it all even if I walked because walking hurts too right now. I have an orthopedic appt in Jan and a MRI soon. Back to Christmas though! Christmas Eve was our usual church and homemade chicken pot pies dinner at our house. Christmas morning Santa came and the kids tore into their gifts. Claire got her giant 1000 pieces of crap of art supplies and stickers. Paige got a scooter which she loves. She cracks us up because she just stands there and expects to be pushed. What do you expect from a 22 month old I guess! Christmas Day was at Tom and Carla's like always and we had our usual prime rib dinner. It was wonderful and the girls got more goodies.  They love their new sleeping bags that Uncle Tom and Tia got them.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas too!

Family photo flubs

Yes, we are kind of lame. We set up our tripod in front of our Christmas tree and take our own family photo. We skipped last year so I wasn't about to skip another year without our awesome family picture. Haha! So, here is how it goes. We all get dressed, I put on more makeup than normal, I yell at Claire for being a drama queen while trying to do her hair, Eric sets up the tripod and groans about how hard taking this picture is going to be because the kids are already antsy. Eric then hits the camera timer button and runs around to get in the picture. It's an bloody mess behind the scenes and evidenced by our blooper pics!

Silly Paigey

 

Say Cheese (or stop talking MOM!)

Crazy Claire smile.

Switch kids. Awkward. Paige totally not amused. Eric looking "natural".

I forgot to suck it in and. Switched kids but forget to switch sides.

Finally, we get a couple we can live with even though Paige never smiles. Next year....there is always next year! 2013 I am hoping for some professional pictures!

Haley Sock Hop

Claire's school had a sock hop last week and she had a BLAST! Wow! I am not sure I have seen Claire have that much fun honestly! We got there early so these pics were taken before it got super busy. My camera died right after we arrived....ain't it always the way....but it got cranking in that gymnasium. Such a blast. They had Cold Stone Creamery ice cream and Uncle Bears burgers. YUMMO! By the end of the night Claire and her friends were on stage singing "Call me Maybe" and dancing their hearts out. Claire really loves her school and this just made her year! Go Tiger spirit!