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!

Play by Play

This was Claire's first season playing soccer and she ended up really liking it. I started to wonder though if she really loved it after the first 2 games. She got goals during game 1 and 2 then she didn't get her foot on the ball for about 6 games. She runs like mad and has the energy to play but she wasn't really getting in there and scoring. She said she still was liking it and her spirit wasn't down. The very last game was the same day as our Cox Early Christmas party (Dec 1st) so I stayed home to get the house ready and prep while her dad took her to the game with the family. All of Claire's aunt and uncles who were in town went to see her last game. She was PUMPED! Uncle E took these amazing pics of Claire getting the last goal of the game!! It was a great way to end the season. She also ran into her buddy, Scarlett. They hadn't run into each all season so it was a great way to cap off her game day!

Turkey Day 2012

David, Me, Bill & Paige, and Uncle Gordon (who surprised us and joined us for a quick beer!)

Ginnie and Torben. Caught ya!! =)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Neel Family. They DROVE here from San Antonio, TX to spend the holiday with us. Of course, Ginnie and Torben flew in from Seattle like every year. I love our little adopted family Thanksgivings. We had a wonderful day and the weather was beautiful even if it was a little warm! We got very few pictures but fun was had! It was a sad day when the Neels had to return home so we quickly started getting the house ready for Christmas and decorated our tree so we didn't think about the quiet in the house.