This is part 2 of my Disney post!
Aside from all of the excited of the race, I also have all of the excitement of taking Ryan to Disney World for the first time. He will be just about 2 when we are there (his birthday is that week) and I really think that he is going to love it. Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Nemo, Cars, Jake and the Neverland are all some of his favorite characters. We are traveling with the WHOLE family for this trip.... my mom, dad, sister, hopefully brother, Mike's parents, and Aunt B and Uncle Wayne. Then there are the other 5 girls that are running the race with us. Its a bit overwhelming but I think it will be a lot of fun. We have always talked about who we would want to go to Disney World with and this seemed like the right time to invite the grandparents. Since Megan and I are running, my parents were definitely going to come. I felt bad inviting my parents but not including Mikes parents so I decided we would go with the more the merrier idea. Plus it will help Mike have the extra set of hands since there are a few times that I will be busy and not able to help with Ryan. I don't expect us all to do everything together the whole trip... I am actually hoping everyone does there own thing for a lot of the time. I will tell everyone where we are going and when, and if we see them great, if not we will meet up later.
I have been busy doing my normal vacation researching and planning. There are tons of websites, blogs, iPhone apps, etc. that have great advice for traveling to Disney. I have been reading them all but I think I have to step away from the computer because its starting to get me stressed instead of excited. We are set up for the Magical Express, we have dinner and breakfast reservations made, we are doing the meal plan, and I have a pretty good idea of what park we will be going to on what days. Since we are balancing race related activities and toddler activities, I want to have it pretty well planned. But I also realize that we will not be able to do everything on this one trip. I don't want it to be overwhelming or for Ryan to be cranky and miserable, so I think we are still going to plan our days around his schedule. We will get up and go to the parks whenever he wakes up, and we will probably come back to the hotel around lunch time, and we will probably still get back at a normal bed time at night. I know not to push my limits.
We have 1 sit down restaurant meal scheduled for each day including character meals scheduled at Chef Mickeys and Liberty Tree Tavern. I think we will go to each of the parks at least once, but not necessarily for full days.... we will go with the flow and let Ryan determine what we will do.
But I do hope to meet some of his favorite characters and visit the new part of Magic Kingdom. I also want to do the safari at Animal Kingdom because Ryan is pretty obsessed with animals these days. Hopefully we see a parade or two and get to try the toddler friendly rides... I'm just excited about the whole thing. I will write a follow up review when we get back from the trip.
Anyway, between my first marathon and my first trip to Disney with Ryan, I am just a ball of excitement and nerves getting ready for the trip. Luckily Mike is super laid back and is pretty much just doing what I say we are going to do. It must be nice to have a travel agent as a wife :)
The Taynors
Friday, January 18, 2013
Disney Princess Half Marathon Preparation
My family and I will be leaving for Disney World in exactly 5 weeks! I have been talking about this trip for a year and a half, I can not believe it is almost here. This particular vacation is serving two purposes, a family vacation for Ryan's first Disney experience AND for Megan and I to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Since both of these are very different topics, I am going to write two separate posts about my excitement and preparation. This one will be all about the marathon!
I am starting to get very nervous and anxious about running 13.1 miles. Since I am a brand new runner and I have never competed in any race longer than a 5k, the idea of running for this distance is very daunting. But I am also super excited! I have been training really hard and I am really proud of the progress I have made so far.
Training-
Megan wrote a training program up for me and the official training started back in September. That gave me about 6 months to train. It has been a very slow and steady process. I did have a few minor set backs but have stayed on course for the most part. The week of the hurricane I didn't run at all, I had a stomach issue in November and then the flu in December. A few days of minor aches and pains... but I am hanging in there and running about 4 days a week. Here are some of my stats (I am posting this not because I am proud of my super slow times, but as a way to track my progress)
- I can finally run a full 3-4 miles without walking at all
-Longer distances I eventually switch to a run 5 minutes and walk 1 minute routine
-My 3 mile time is 30 minutes. I can't wait to run another 5K to see what my race time is.
-My goal is to run 4 times a week and I am currently at about 25 miles per week.
-My longest run so far is 8 miles and it took me 1 hour and 32 minutes.
-My average speed on medium distance runs is 10-11 minute miles
-One of my best runs so far was this week when I did just over 6 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes!
Tomorrow I will be doing my first 9 mile run, I am nervous about it because I have been struggling with my 6 and 7 mile runs recently. I feel like I have to step it up a notch and really focus the next 5 weeks. No more excuses, even if its not til 10pm at night or at 5am in the morning, I can't miss a run... especially a long distance run.
I am also doing some cross training by going to Brian's gym once or twice a week. Its been rough on my body but I feel like I am in the best shape of my life. Hopefully it all pays off on February 24!
The actual race-
I have been doing a lot of research on the actual race and I am sooo excited. Apparently it is a typical Disney experience... meaning they do a great job putting on an awesome experience. I have read (thank you fellow bloggers) that they have fireworks at the starting line, characters throughout the whole course, an awesome run through Magic Kingdom and the castle, and lots of music and entertainment throughout the course.
Unfortunately it also means getting up at like 3:00am to get to the race on time. It starts at 5:50am because they need all of the runners to be finished before the parks open. They do have a pretty strict time restriction, you have to keep a 16 minute mile pace. The benefit to the early start is that you have the entire day to still enjoy the Disney vacation
Dress like a Princess-
Another fun thing about this marathon is that a lot of the runners dress in character. Since it is the "Princess" half marathon... the idea is to dress like a Princess (or any of the female Disney characters). So I am trying to pick a costume that would make me look like a princess but would also be comfortably to run 13 miles in. The other hard part is that I can not predict the weather. It could be 30 degrees that morning or 70 degrees. Anyway, I need something girly, princess themed, comfortable, and flexible with the weather. Any ideas or suggestions?
Normally my go to costume would be Cinderella, she is my favorite. Then Tinker Bell would be a close second. But I am leaning towards Minnie Mouse because I can wear black running pants under my red and white polka dot skirt. Who knows...I found several websites that gave good suggestions so I really just need to figure it out and start shopping for all of the pieces.
AHHHH I am so excited, and nervous, and anxious... I feel like it is all I can think about right now! More updates to follow I'm sure. Wish me luck!
I am starting to get very nervous and anxious about running 13.1 miles. Since I am a brand new runner and I have never competed in any race longer than a 5k, the idea of running for this distance is very daunting. But I am also super excited! I have been training really hard and I am really proud of the progress I have made so far.
Training-
Megan wrote a training program up for me and the official training started back in September. That gave me about 6 months to train. It has been a very slow and steady process. I did have a few minor set backs but have stayed on course for the most part. The week of the hurricane I didn't run at all, I had a stomach issue in November and then the flu in December. A few days of minor aches and pains... but I am hanging in there and running about 4 days a week. Here are some of my stats (I am posting this not because I am proud of my super slow times, but as a way to track my progress)
- I can finally run a full 3-4 miles without walking at all
-Longer distances I eventually switch to a run 5 minutes and walk 1 minute routine
-My 3 mile time is 30 minutes. I can't wait to run another 5K to see what my race time is.
-My goal is to run 4 times a week and I am currently at about 25 miles per week.
-My longest run so far is 8 miles and it took me 1 hour and 32 minutes.
-My average speed on medium distance runs is 10-11 minute miles
-One of my best runs so far was this week when I did just over 6 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes!
Tomorrow I will be doing my first 9 mile run, I am nervous about it because I have been struggling with my 6 and 7 mile runs recently. I feel like I have to step it up a notch and really focus the next 5 weeks. No more excuses, even if its not til 10pm at night or at 5am in the morning, I can't miss a run... especially a long distance run.
I am also doing some cross training by going to Brian's gym once or twice a week. Its been rough on my body but I feel like I am in the best shape of my life. Hopefully it all pays off on February 24!
The actual race-
I have been doing a lot of research on the actual race and I am sooo excited. Apparently it is a typical Disney experience... meaning they do a great job putting on an awesome experience. I have read (thank you fellow bloggers) that they have fireworks at the starting line, characters throughout the whole course, an awesome run through Magic Kingdom and the castle, and lots of music and entertainment throughout the course.
Unfortunately it also means getting up at like 3:00am to get to the race on time. It starts at 5:50am because they need all of the runners to be finished before the parks open. They do have a pretty strict time restriction, you have to keep a 16 minute mile pace. The benefit to the early start is that you have the entire day to still enjoy the Disney vacation
Dress like a Princess-
Another fun thing about this marathon is that a lot of the runners dress in character. Since it is the "Princess" half marathon... the idea is to dress like a Princess (or any of the female Disney characters). So I am trying to pick a costume that would make me look like a princess but would also be comfortably to run 13 miles in. The other hard part is that I can not predict the weather. It could be 30 degrees that morning or 70 degrees. Anyway, I need something girly, princess themed, comfortable, and flexible with the weather. Any ideas or suggestions?
Normally my go to costume would be Cinderella, she is my favorite. Then Tinker Bell would be a close second. But I am leaning towards Minnie Mouse because I can wear black running pants under my red and white polka dot skirt. Who knows...I found several websites that gave good suggestions so I really just need to figure it out and start shopping for all of the pieces.
AHHHH I am so excited, and nervous, and anxious... I feel like it is all I can think about right now! More updates to follow I'm sure. Wish me luck!
I need a Ryan update!
I have about an hour before Ryan wakes up from his nap (fingers crossed) and I have a "To-Do" list that is a mile long... but all I want to do is blog. I will start with the most important post. I can't believe that for Ryan's first year I gave an update every month.... and now it has been several months without anything. Here is an overview of Ryan as an ALMOST two-year old.
- So far, this is my favorite stage. Every single day he does something new, irresistibly cute, and makes us laugh. I love watching him figure out new things and trying to talk and I can totally see his personality coming through.
-If I were to make a prediction of this personality as an older child, it would be this. He is going to be a huge personality. He will talk a lot and be very social. I think he will be smart and the type of person that wants to figure things out. But I also think he is going to be the kid that has a hard time staying focused. I already know he will push my buttoms every day, and challenge me on everything, but he will also make me laugh all of the time. I think he will be curious, determined, always on the move, athletic, emotional, and stubborn! I guess only time will tell if I am right or not. We will see :)
- He is currently 22 and 1/2 months old. I don't have an accurate weight or height on him because we have not gone since he was 18 months old but at the time he was in the 50 % across the board. He wears 24 month old clothes and we are transitioning to size 5 diapers. His show size is a 6.5 or 7 because he has fat feet. He still has long, curly blond hair and blue-ish eyes.
-He is still eating a non-allergy food diet... meaning he doesn't eat any gluten, egg, baked goods cooked with eggs, peanuts, or almonds. Amazingly he has never had a cookie or cake or chocolate or any kind of candy. He eats the healthiest diet of anyone I know. A normal days food would be a Gluten Free pancakes or waffles with fruit and GF sausage for breakfast. Lunch is Boars head turkey (one of the only brands he can have) and cheese roll ups, avocado, some kind of fruit and maybe carrots. Dinner could be black beans or kidney beans, veggies like peas, broccoli, or green beans, sweet potatoes, or mashed potatoes, GF macaroni and cheese... things like that. And we have found a good selection of snack foods that are healthy, allergy free, and pass as good kid friendly snacks. Fruit pouches, GF cereal bars, chex cereal, sweet potato chips, veggie fries, rice cakes, fruit cups, and yogurt are some of his favorites. So even though its a whole life style adjustment we have gotten pretty good at it!
-His favorite things to play with are- cooking, playing with his tool set, playing baseball (or football, golf, soccer, and basketball), puzzles, reading books, building blocks, cars, and coloring.
-More favorites:
Animals- Giraffe and elephant
Movies- Nemo, Cars, and Barney DVD's
TV shows- Mickey mouse clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Sprout channel, Elmo, anything episode animals (Diego's safari etc)
Books- Goodnight Moon, New York Yankees ABC, I know my Daddy Loves me, and Nighty-Night Elmo
-He is in an imitation stage which I love. He is always copying what Mike and I do.
-He brings his toy giraffe and elephant where ever he goes (they come eat with him, in the bath with him, and on play dates)
-He loves drinking out of big boy cups
-He has figured out how to watch a DVD by himself... open the case, put it in the Xbox, press play, etc.
-He does a great touch down dance
-He just started "singing". No official words yet, but a lot of "ooooohh ahhh ohhh"
- He loves to look for the moon at night.
- He hates the Dr. office (screams uncontrollably the second we walk in the door, and he hasn't even gotten a shot since his 1st birthday) but loves going to see Dr. Rob (his chiropractor)
-He has a very good memory. Something only has to happen one time before he makes the connection and expects it to be.
-He sleeps with a crib full of "friends". Every night he cuddles with his Monkey Man, a lion blanket, Tiger, Winnie the Pooh, and a little duck. Oh yea and his blanket and Binky (he still gets a binky for nap time and bed time, but never when he is awake).
-He is finally becoming my cuddley, mamma's boy. He loves to give me hugs and kisses and sit on my lap to read books. But what comes along with that is the fact that he just started to cry when I leave the room or get very upset when a babysitter comes into the house. Normally he is fine after a few minutes so its not that bad, but now one likes to see their baby cry!
Couple more 22 month old things...
Ryan is on a very regular schedule. He wakes up at 7:30 am, takes a nap from 12:30-2:30, and goes to bed again at 7:30. Its amazing that after 8 months of stress and no sleeping he has turned out to be a very good/regular sleeper. I am grateful for this.
His speech is still delayed. He is absolutely improving recently, but compared to where he is suppose to be at this age he is behind. He is finally putting two words together and just started saying "Hi Mommy" or "Bye Gi Gi". Everyday he has new words and he likes practicing his words, but most of the time we still can not understand him. At this point I am more concerned about his drooling than the actual speech. I will probably call the early intervention people at his 2nd birthday if I don't see huge improvements.
I am sure I could go on forever with all his cute little things, but I'll stop there for now. I"ll be back later to blog about my half marathon prep, a recap of our Christmas and holidays, and post picture!
- So far, this is my favorite stage. Every single day he does something new, irresistibly cute, and makes us laugh. I love watching him figure out new things and trying to talk and I can totally see his personality coming through.
-If I were to make a prediction of this personality as an older child, it would be this. He is going to be a huge personality. He will talk a lot and be very social. I think he will be smart and the type of person that wants to figure things out. But I also think he is going to be the kid that has a hard time staying focused. I already know he will push my buttoms every day, and challenge me on everything, but he will also make me laugh all of the time. I think he will be curious, determined, always on the move, athletic, emotional, and stubborn! I guess only time will tell if I am right or not. We will see :)
- He is currently 22 and 1/2 months old. I don't have an accurate weight or height on him because we have not gone since he was 18 months old but at the time he was in the 50 % across the board. He wears 24 month old clothes and we are transitioning to size 5 diapers. His show size is a 6.5 or 7 because he has fat feet. He still has long, curly blond hair and blue-ish eyes.
-He is still eating a non-allergy food diet... meaning he doesn't eat any gluten, egg, baked goods cooked with eggs, peanuts, or almonds. Amazingly he has never had a cookie or cake or chocolate or any kind of candy. He eats the healthiest diet of anyone I know. A normal days food would be a Gluten Free pancakes or waffles with fruit and GF sausage for breakfast. Lunch is Boars head turkey (one of the only brands he can have) and cheese roll ups, avocado, some kind of fruit and maybe carrots. Dinner could be black beans or kidney beans, veggies like peas, broccoli, or green beans, sweet potatoes, or mashed potatoes, GF macaroni and cheese... things like that. And we have found a good selection of snack foods that are healthy, allergy free, and pass as good kid friendly snacks. Fruit pouches, GF cereal bars, chex cereal, sweet potato chips, veggie fries, rice cakes, fruit cups, and yogurt are some of his favorites. So even though its a whole life style adjustment we have gotten pretty good at it!
-His favorite things to play with are- cooking, playing with his tool set, playing baseball (or football, golf, soccer, and basketball), puzzles, reading books, building blocks, cars, and coloring.
-More favorites:
Animals- Giraffe and elephant
Movies- Nemo, Cars, and Barney DVD's
TV shows- Mickey mouse clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Sprout channel, Elmo, anything episode animals (Diego's safari etc)
Books- Goodnight Moon, New York Yankees ABC, I know my Daddy Loves me, and Nighty-Night Elmo
-He is in an imitation stage which I love. He is always copying what Mike and I do.
-He brings his toy giraffe and elephant where ever he goes (they come eat with him, in the bath with him, and on play dates)
-He loves drinking out of big boy cups
-He has figured out how to watch a DVD by himself... open the case, put it in the Xbox, press play, etc.
-He does a great touch down dance
-He just started "singing". No official words yet, but a lot of "ooooohh ahhh ohhh"
- He loves to look for the moon at night.
- He hates the Dr. office (screams uncontrollably the second we walk in the door, and he hasn't even gotten a shot since his 1st birthday) but loves going to see Dr. Rob (his chiropractor)
-He has a very good memory. Something only has to happen one time before he makes the connection and expects it to be.
-He sleeps with a crib full of "friends". Every night he cuddles with his Monkey Man, a lion blanket, Tiger, Winnie the Pooh, and a little duck. Oh yea and his blanket and Binky (he still gets a binky for nap time and bed time, but never when he is awake).
-He is finally becoming my cuddley, mamma's boy. He loves to give me hugs and kisses and sit on my lap to read books. But what comes along with that is the fact that he just started to cry when I leave the room or get very upset when a babysitter comes into the house. Normally he is fine after a few minutes so its not that bad, but now one likes to see their baby cry!
Couple more 22 month old things...
Ryan is on a very regular schedule. He wakes up at 7:30 am, takes a nap from 12:30-2:30, and goes to bed again at 7:30. Its amazing that after 8 months of stress and no sleeping he has turned out to be a very good/regular sleeper. I am grateful for this.
His speech is still delayed. He is absolutely improving recently, but compared to where he is suppose to be at this age he is behind. He is finally putting two words together and just started saying "Hi Mommy" or "Bye Gi Gi". Everyday he has new words and he likes practicing his words, but most of the time we still can not understand him. At this point I am more concerned about his drooling than the actual speech. I will probably call the early intervention people at his 2nd birthday if I don't see huge improvements.
I am sure I could go on forever with all his cute little things, but I'll stop there for now. I"ll be back later to blog about my half marathon prep, a recap of our Christmas and holidays, and post picture!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
A day in the life...
Last time I did this Ryan was 6 months old. I love the idea but never follow through. But this Saturday I finally did take a picture every hour from when we woke up until we went to bed. Everyday is different in our house, so I decided to do a typical weekend first and then in a few weeks I'll do it again with a week day. So here we go...
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Ryan is 22 months old!
7:15 wake up
Don't let the face scare you, this is actually his "cheese" smile!
8:15
Ryan is checking his email before breakfast. Spending some lazy Saturday morning time in our PJ's.
9:15
Breakfast is done, begging to watch his favorite movie "Finding Nemo"
10:15
The boys on their iToys. Relaxing while mommy gets ready to work.
11:15
Hair appointments.
12:15
Mike is off with a real estate client, Ryan is getting ready for his nap, and I am napping out my run.
1:15
Mike is home and I'm off for my 8 miles. It was a bitter 34 degrees and windy outside...not easy.
2:15
So excited to be home and finished. Back just in time for Ryan to be up from his nap.
3:15
Oil change!
4:15
Still at my oil change, thankful for a peppermint latte and my new kindle. I can't complain, this was my only down time all day!
5:15
Ryan had an evening at date with Blake and Brooklynn!
6:15- no picture. We were getting ready to leave the Arzonico's and I missed it.
7:15
Back home and getting Ryan ready for bed. Cuddling and story time is one of my favorite times of the day.
8:15
Getting some work done, catching up on paperwork and work emails.
9:15
Movie time with Mike while I sort through 2 weeks of mail.
10:15
Still watching "Ted"
11:15
Finally heading to bed, saying an extra goodnight to my baby.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Ryan is 22 months old!
7:15 wake up
Don't let the face scare you, this is actually his "cheese" smile!
8:15
Ryan is checking his email before breakfast. Spending some lazy Saturday morning time in our PJ's.
9:15
Breakfast is done, begging to watch his favorite movie "Finding Nemo"
10:15
The boys on their iToys. Relaxing while mommy gets ready to work.
11:15
Hair appointments.
12:15
Mike is off with a real estate client, Ryan is getting ready for his nap, and I am napping out my run.
1:15
Mike is home and I'm off for my 8 miles. It was a bitter 34 degrees and windy outside...not easy.
2:15
So excited to be home and finished. Back just in time for Ryan to be up from his nap.
3:15
Oil change!
4:15
Still at my oil change, thankful for a peppermint latte and my new kindle. I can't complain, this was my only down time all day!
5:15
Ryan had an evening at date with Blake and Brooklynn!
6:15- no picture. We were getting ready to leave the Arzonico's and I missed it.
7:15
Back home and getting Ryan ready for bed. Cuddling and story time is one of my favorite times of the day.
8:15
Getting some work done, catching up on paperwork and work emails.
9:15
Movie time with Mike while I sort through 2 weeks of mail.
10:15
Still watching "Ted"
11:15
Finally heading to bed, saying an extra goodnight to my baby.
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