The Half Marathon

The dreaded training on the treadmill.

At the starting line!

We are actually moving - it took us 7 minutes to get to the start.

Coming back to LR from NLR.

Done! I actually finished in 2:22 but I didn't stop my watch until I sat down.

Back in October, we signed up to run the Little Rock Half-Marathon in March. We had a pretty easy training schedule at that point - run 30 minutes, 3 times per week. This was our build-up routine and I was pretty much doing this already. After we started adding mileage, the trouble started. With the holidays, a couple of injuries, and few sickie weeks we were behind in January. We had built up to 6 miles at that point, we decided from there that we would add a mile each week to get up to the 13.1 miles.

I stuck with this schedule pretty good but an old knee injury forced me to run on a treadmill. I built up to 10 miles on the treadmill and it was pretty miserable. I don't mind running on the treadmill but for over 2 hours by yourself is not fun at all. In the end I was able to run a few times outside to get ready for the hills and pavement. I wasn't as prepared as I would've liked but I did the best I could do.

On race day, I was pretty nervous. I didn't feel as prepared as I would've liked and my knee was always an issue. I was hoping to finish in 2.5 hours and I finished faster than that! I got to the finish line at the same time the winner of the full Marathon did - that was exciting.

Although, the training was not fun and it took a lot of time, I do think I'll try to run this again. The race itself was a lot more fun than I expected. It really made me appreciate Little Rock and happy to live here, the race was really put together well and there were so many supporters on the sidelines cheering you on. I also got to see parts of Little Rock that I've never seen - the Governor's Mansion for example.

I recommend everyone try to run a half-marathon! :)

Potty Training

We officially started potty training back in January. I had this bright idea to try potty training in 3 days. I had read about it online and it got pretty good results. So, I decided that MLK weekend would be the weekend! I had a 3 day weekend built in and we could just hang at home. Saturday morning went pretty well, Alec stayed dry all morning and was willing to try out the potty. Things didn't go very well after that the rest of the weekend. Alec started refusing to go potty and threw fits if we tried to force him. I finally gave up Sunday afternoon. I just decided we'd try again later. We went out on Monday and had fun at Wonderplace. 

Alec is officially in pull-ups now. I really didn't want to go there but they are really more convenient when potty training. Alec can pull them up and down himself without having to lay completely down to change a diaper. He does really well at daycare and can keep dry most of the time. He's went all day without wetting his diaper several times. Weekends and time at home is a different story. 

Alec has only went a couple of times in a public bathroom. That's another experience, you really start to notice how gross bathrooms can be and how toddlers touch everything. Thankfully, there's covers and travel potties for germaphobes like me!

I have to admit, I didn't really want to rush potty training. As a working parents, it's really hard to get ourselves around in the morning and then wait on Alec to go potty. He's not at the point that he asks to go every time he needs to.  We have to remind him and there are times he's just not interested. When you've never dealt with something like this before, it's really hard to remember. I know eventually we'll get there and all of this will be a distant memory. That's one reason why I'm writing this all down. :)

Alec's bear also goes potty.

A perfect day at school - yay!

The bathroom at Alec's school - the kids all go together. :)

Time to Catch Up!

Man, it's been a busy 2012! I told myself I was going to take January off and get right back in the swing of blogging - well it's the middle of March! I hate that I've stopped completely, mostly because this is the only way I record memories of Alec and our day-to-day stuff that is forgotten overtime. I finally picked up my camera last weekend and took some pictures. I was worried that I'd forgotten how to use it! I've taken lots of pictures but mostly on my iPhone.

Here's a recap in pictures (what I can remember) of what's been going on for the Wyles Family in 2012:

We started adding bubbles to Alec's bath

We spent MLK day lounging...

....And playing at the Wonderplace!

We saw the Globetrotters when they were in town...

...but the real show was right next to me! :)

We've had visits with Grandma (and lots of hugs!)

Aunt Allie came to visit from Dallas a couple of times. 

We've practiced "fake" pouting.

And "fake" sleeping

We've definitely experienced the TERRIBLE TWOs in public.

We've started weekly Subway nights - Alec gets a mini turkey and cheese sub.

We've also started weekly Mom and Alec lunches - McDonald's or Subway.

We've started laying around in odd places - the bathroom floor. Alec is in the hospital here.

More fake sleeping and laying in odd places. :)

We've started weekly classes at the Little Gym.

We've made some awesome V-Day cookies. :)

We've played with Buzz...

...and admired his lasert (Alec adds the t)

We've went shopping - quite the adventure.

Went to a fun birthday party

And celebrated Mardi Gras (with an easy king cake recipe)

We've finished the Arcade Extreme and played some games.

One of us (Eric) turned 34! We had a fun little party and didn't take a single picture - boo!

Alec got his first Sperry's!

...and he finally warmed up to wearing them! :) He's looking in the mirror here.

Alec's been sweet and silly!

And he shares his Daddy's love for checking the mail. :)