Training...

My training has picked up lately after a couple weeks of rest. I took a week off, because I started to get burned out, and then I took another week off, because I was sick. I am back on track thanks to much encouragement from friends. I have enjoyed running more than I thought I would. My motivation has changed a couple of times. In the beginning, I just wanted to get skinny fast! Then when that disappointed me, I started focusing on what I could make my body do. I am amazed that I can run 4 miles 3 times a week and consider them short runs! I never thought I would be able to run 13 miles, but I am now confident that I can do it. I run early in the mornings (5:15am-6:00am-MWF) with my friend Michelle who encouraged me to run this ½ marathon. I have really enjoyed her friendship and running tips! On Saturdays, I have been running with a group from my church. Last Saturday, we ran 9.5 miles. My friend Nora humbled herself and ran with me the whole way. She is a 5 time marathoner!…and will run in the New York marathon this Saturday. The ½ marathon is in 2 weeks and I am glad. I am ready to just do it. I look forward to the days when I don’t have to get up early! It should be an interesting experience. The marathon is sold out with 30,000 runners! I know…it is hard to believe there are that many crazy people like me!

Pumpkin Patch!

Sunday, Aaron and I decided to take Rachel to the pumpkin patch. We had a great time watching her roam free among all the unique pumpkins. When Aaron asked her what they were, she very excitedly said, "APPLES"! She liked to pat each one as if she were testing its ripeness or something. She also liked the ones she could sit on. We took several pictures, and they turned out pretty good considering most of the time she was way too busy to be still for a picture. The weather Sunday night was very warm and we all enjoyed being outside at sunset.

Big Girl Bed!

A couple of days ago, I assembled Rachel's toddler been that has been sitting in the garage. She "helped" me put it together and was so proud to show Daddy when he got home. It is a bit of a struggle to put her to sleep now that she can get out! She is getting the hang of it though. She likes it a lot!

Rachel singing with a jelly sandwich!

I have learned how to use the video feature on my camera! On the way home, Rachel started singing at the top of her lungs to my praise music CD. It was so hilarious! She can sing the whole chorus by herself! When I got home, I rushed in to get my camera. The video doesn't show her singing the whole chorus, but it is still pretty entertaining. Enjoy! (notice at the end when I ask her to say bye bye, she says, "Bye, bye Aunt Amber!")

1/2 Marathon

I have gone completely insane and have decided to run a 1/2 marathon! The race is called the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and it will be November 16th. I will be training 6 days a week for the next 14 weeks. What am I thinking!?! I will be running with about 6 of my friends from church. I am scared of failing and scared that I will loose my drive, but I am ready to be back in shape, healthy, and strong. I will keep you updated on my progress.

Twin Vacation!

Last year, Amber and I decided that we would like to start having annual twin vacations! What a wonderful idea! This year, we decided to get a cheap hotel in Austin and shop! We met at 9:30am and the mall was close so we went there. I told Amber that I have a lot of “Mommy” clothes and I need more teaching clothes since I will be working 3 days a week at UTSA. So, she was very helpful when I was tempted to look at/buy “Mommy” clothes. At one point, she even said, “I hope you didn’t just buy a Mommy shirt behind my back.”
We shared a chicken sandwich, fries, and a coke at lunch and shopped some more. One funny thing that happened was I finally found a shirt that I liked and when we finished trying on more things we totally forgot about it. About 45 minutes later, Amber said, “What happened to that brown shirt you decided to buy in Dillards?” HA! We laughed and went back and bought it.
After so much shopping, we were getting tired and cranky, so we headed back to the hotel and took a long nap. Yes! I never get a nap!
Our hotel was CHEAP! Ooh girl…cheap. Amber got us a great deal- $36.00 at a 2 star extended stay hotel. It was just fine. We had cable and a refrigerator and felt very safe. The air conditioner leaked cold water on the floor and the shower curtain came down in the bathroom, but other than that it was a bargain! HA! It certainly gave us something to talk about!
After our nap, we hurried out the door for our evening show. A live performance of “Beauty and the Beast” was showing in Zilker Park’s outdoor theater. We arrived over 2 hours early so that we could have good seats and too our surprise the hillside was already covered in blankets and lawn chairs. I was relentless in giving Amber a hard time, because she kept telling me that no one would be there that early. We laughed and kept calling ourselves “rookies.” We ended up finding a place near the front, but very much on the side of the hill. They were still really good seats. We spread out our blanket and lawn chairs and ate our Taco Bell before the show. The show was high quality and surprisingly well done. We were not expecting much since it was free, but wow!...it was great. I can’t wait to take Rachel to a show next year.
After the show, we bought powdered doughnuts, milk, and cereal for breakfast.
Sunday we slept in and were checked out of the hotel by noon. Amber took me by her work and showed me her office and then treated me to lunch at Mimi’s Café…so good! We leisurely shopped some more and laughed mostly. We shared Jack in the Box for dinner and ended our day watching Wall-E at the theater nearby. It was a great movie. Amber panicked when she realized that she didn’t have a hoodie to keep her warm. I said we can share this one! …so we did. I had my arm in one sleeve and she had her arm in the other. We joked that we were Siamese twins! (see picture). As always, it was sad to say goodbye, but we had to return to the real world eventually.
Favorite inside jokes
· “Twin Baca!”
· “Jean skirt, blue necklace?”
· “A person can die without water!”
· “Its like your buddy”

Breakthrough!

RACHEL POOPED ON THE POTTY ALL BY HERSELF! Halleluia! Praise the Lord! She is getting it! ...AND she is peeing on the potty like a pro - all day! Can you believe it?!

I may be blogging a lot about potty training, but it is my life right now...MY LIFE!

Lightbulb Moment!

It has been a long 5 days, but I am happy to report that we are making progress! I have been tireless in my efforts to devote every ounce of my attention to this potty training task. I am also fortunate to have the help and support of Aaron too! Thursday and Friday, she sat on her small potty in the living room every hour or so. It was fun and exciting for most of the day, but toward the end, not even my bribes would work! She enjoys coloring, working puzzles, watching TV, and eating while sitting there. She peed on the potty mainly because she sat on it so often. Saturday, she only peed on the potty ONCE! It was not a successful day. She did not want to play that game anymore! Keesha watched her during the afternoon, because we had a wedding to sing in (Julie and Alex). Thank you Keesha! ...That is a good friend! Today, I stayed home from church to continue to work with her. I feel like a broken record! "Rachel? Do you need to go potty?" Today, She began telling me "potty!" in the MIDST of saturating her panties! ...I quickly scooped her up and took her to the potty each time. Although frustrating, She did much better than yesterday. Tonight was the biggest breakthrough when she simply looked at me and said, "potty Mommy." I just knew she was peeing at that moment, but to my surprise...she was dry. I said, "ok, Rachel...lets go potty." We calmly walked to the potty, I helped her with her pants, and she sat down and PEED! WOW! What a concept! Aaron and I rejoiced with her, clapped with her, sang potty songs with her, and gave her a well-deserved M&M! I am so proud of her. I called Mom as soon as I could!

Oops!

"I accidently pooped in the bathtub! ...Sorry Mommy!"

"...Hey, stop looking at my ears."

Picture Gallery

I started a picture gallery, so if you would like to see more photos please click http://picasaweb.google.com/aprilhufty.

Potty Training

Yesterday, I started the impossible task of potty training Rachel. I have gathered a lot of advice and decided to begin my quest. She had a few accidents yesterday, but overall did well. Sitting on the potty yesterday was fun and exciting, but today…not so much. She is bored with the idea already telling me “no!” so I am trying to be very sensitive and not pushy. I am pulling out all the tricks and practically doing cartwheels when she is cooperative. So far today, she has had two accidents...not bad. With all this hard work I understand why they call it a milestone! I read an article online that reminded me that “this is HER milestone…not YOURS.” I laughed…so true. I don’t expect her to be potty trained tomorrow or even next month, but I am certainly determined to devote my best efforts so that she can be successful before I start teaching in a couple of months.
This is something I pondered today…What possesses a child to hold pee in while sitting on the potty for 5 minutes, and then letting the flood gates open as soon as new birthday clothes are put on? …Anyone?

Camping

Last weekend, we went camping at Beuscher State Park. This was Rachel’s first time. She loved every minute of it. Mimi made Rachel an Elmo birthday cake that she just loved! Aaron and Tim B. went on an 8 mile hike! …crazy, I know. A few Austin relatives stopped by on Sunday and brought Rachel presents! What a wonderful surprise! It was so nice to spend time with family. When it started to get dark, we roasted marshmallows and ate smores. Aaron quickly put our tent up before it got too dark and Rachel loved playing inside. Rachel ate so many sweets that she had a terrible tummy ache in the middle of the night. I am sure she woke up everyone in the entire park! I finally consoled her and let her sleep on me for most of the night….lawn chairs aren’t the most comfortable things to sleep in! The next morning, Papa made breakfast…eggs, bacon, and toast. Aaron and I rested while Mimi and Papa took Rachel to the playground. It was a fun memory.
Mimi and Papa
Jeremy and Amber
Tim and Emily
Granny and Ann
Tim, Lauren, and Garrett
Theresa and Beth

4th of July

Yesterday, we celebrated the 4th of July by watching the Fiesta Texas fireworks from the parking lot of La Cantera Mall (as we did last year). We brought food and had a tailgate party with our friends- the Eppersons and the Gileos. Lee staked out a good spot near a grassy island, so we spread out our lawn chairs and the kids played. It was so much fun. I believe we have started a tradition with this event…free entertainment!

Rachel's Birthday Party

(notice the shoes...Nike shocks- Thanks Aunt Amy!




Rachel is 2! Wow! It is so hard to believe. When she was born, I always thought to myself…she will never be 2! Realistically, I knew she would, but it just seemed so far away.
We celebrated yesterday at La Cantera with my mom’s group (lunch bunch). I brought cupcakes for everyone and they were quite popular. Rachel ate hers using one of her candles as a utensil. Like most of the kids, Rachel ate just the icing.
When we finished eating, we went to the mall playground which is our normal routine. We had a great time watching the kids play and run around with their balloons. I meant to get a group picture of all the kids.
Rachel, Sarah, and Allan Epperson
Keesha, Olivia, and Xander Williamson
Niki, Lauren, and Luke Loudermilk
Alyssa, Kaden, and Benjamin Fitz

Missouri

We just returned home from spending the last 10 days in Missouri with family. It was so nice to be there for the summer. It was the best trip (in my opinion) we have ever had there. We went to attend and participate in Sara and Brian’s wedding. Getting there was a little rough! We had to wake up at 4:00am to make our 6:00am flight. Rachel did great until she got motion sickness. She vomited on the first flight which we were highly unprepared for. It was everywhere! We bought a new t-shirt for her at the Dallas airport since I didn’t have a change of clothes (a pink shirt with Elmo-Perfect!). Then she vomited again on the second flight. We were much more prepared the second time having the bags ready! We were so glad to get off that plane. Brad took us straight to the hotel and we showered and rested.


The wedding was held at a vineyard in a small town called Herman. The rehearsal went well and it was so refreshing to see the whole family together again. We finally got to meet Braden for the first time. He was so alert and showed off his beautiful blue eyes…so precious. He is 5 mos old.


The day of the wedding, Aaron and I showed ourselves around the charming little town and found a Music and Arts Festival which we LOVED!




The wedding was beautiful and everything went as planned. Aaron led the ceremony and did a fantastic job, Rachel was a flower girl and I sang. I was mostly concerned about how Rachel would behave during the ceremony. She was wired and squirmy before the wedding, but did uncharacteristically good walking down the path with Olivia and sitting with Nan during the wedding, thank goodness. Sara was radiant and at times teary, and Brian was handsome and sincere in his gaze. After the dance, we were all exhausted and crashed at the hotel another night.





The rest of the week consisted of a lot of rest and a much slower pace. We spent time outside watching the kids play in the water. Seth and Olivia were tireless as they played on the slip n’ slide and Rachel sat in her kiddy pool and enjoyed splashing around.



On Wednesday, Nan took us to Grant’s farm (now owned by Budweiser). It was a beautiful day and Rachel loved it! We got to see the Clydesdale horses, elephants, turtles, lamas, camels, and more. It was so much fun for all of us.





Later in the week, Aaron took us out on the four-wheeler to show Rachel the cows. The cows were eager to see us, because they thought we were bringing food. They “mooed” right in front of us. They were large and intimidating. Rachel plastered herself to me or Aaron as they surrounded us. As we rode along to the back of the land, I snapped pictures of the stampeding cows following us wherever we went! The land was green for miles as it has rained so much there lately. The rain flooded several surrounding towns and there were many bridge closings. Aaron was surprised that they were comparing the floods to the flood of 1993.

Friday night, we went to a Cardinals game. It was Aaron’s first time to go since the stadium renovations. Rachel was crawling over seats and up stairs until a Cardinal player hit a homerun. The fireworks certainly got her attention. She was so startled that she scrambled for my lap and sat still for a good 30 minutes just in case it happened again. We had good seats, however, the Cardinals lost terribly (2-22). Even though they lost, we had a great time. That night we said goodbye to Sara, Brian, and Braden. I am not sure when we will see them again (tear) especially if they stay in Japan.

Sunday was Father’s Day. We had lunch after church at Eagle’s Nest Café in Louisiana with Nan, Brad, Adam, Nicole, Ashton, and Kobe. It was SO good!
The rest of the day was spent traveling home. Rachel got sick again, and we decided she might be getting nauseous because of the Elmo movie we set up on the laptop to occupy her attention. She did better after she stopped watching it, but who knows. It is great to be home. Thanks to our friend Steven, our plants are still alive…and thanks to Carrie and Jeff, our dog is still alive! Rachel was so happy to see Sebastian and she can finally say his name now!

Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day Daddy! I am a few days late, but better late than never! Thanks for being such a fun and loving Dad! Your love has never been as visible as it is now especially when you spend time loving on Rachel. Thank you for showering Rachel with the love you have given me all my life. Rachel still asks for you and Mimi and every time she hears a loud car she says, “HOTROD!” I wish I could have sent some time with you this weekend. Hopefully we will see you soon. Miss you and I LOVE YOU!

Charger Show

Dad prepared all week to take the charger to a car show in Boerne. Rachel helped Papa a lot! As he was loading the car on Thursday night, the starter broke. Dad decided that it would not be easy to fix, so the car show dropped out of our plans. Mark, Mom, and I pushed the charger back into the garage. It was not as easy as it sounds! Friday morning, Dad took the car to his buddy at Dempsy’s and they were able to fix it. So Dad and I went to pick it up and he let me drive the charger home from the automotive shop! I was shocked that he asked me, but excited and a little scared. The 5-speed transmission was quirky and the loud engine was intimidating, but it was such a RUSH! I loved it! Dad followed me home on his motorcycle and we arrived safely!

We hauled the charger in the big trailer all the way to San Antonio. It was a good trip. Rachel was good and pretty quiet until the very end…she was done! The car show was yesterday and Dad lined his car up with all the others. Dad’s car was OF COURSE the coolest and the only green car with unique red stripe. However, most people admired the large engine. The Williamson’s met us there, and we ate at the Bear Moon Café.