Home sick

Kayleigh and I have been at home sick these last two days. I would have gone to school, but Kayleigh was miserable yesterday and I just wasn't sure she was ready to go back to school today. She's acting more like herself, but I don't think she would have enjoyed a whole day at day care. So, while we're at home, I thought we could still do some work. We are going to visit my brother and his family this weekend, so we are working on their names. I went to their blog and enlarged a picture of the three of them so Kayleigh could see who I was talking about. Here she is practicing their names.

First sentence!

Last night while Kayleigh was sitting on the bathroom counter brushing her teeth, she picked up a book to look at. After a good once over, she put it down. When she finished brushing her teeth and I was getting her off the counter she said, "Hand me the book." I kid you not!!! It may have been a fluke, but I understood what she said. Amazing!
On a different note, we are still looking at digital cameras. Hopefully one day I'll be able to take pictures of my kid again!

I hate hills

Today was the final race for awhile. I was excited about it because it was "just" a 5K. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the course, and it seemed to be more uphill than down. I finished, though, and it's good to be done. I'm going to get my hair cut in a little while and then we'll go to a surprise birthday party this evening.

Ever wish you could shape the future?

This is something that my mom heard on a radio station. It's good!

You don't need a trip in a time machine to shape the future... your link to tomorrow is closer than you think... in fact, it's right in your own home... your children. How you raise them today will affect your family's quality of life in the years and generations to come. If you nurture, love and discipline your kids now, your tomorrows will be stable and secure. Neglect your kids and you'll find a future of heartache and dysfunction. A wise person once said, "It's easier to raise children than repair adults."

So start shaping tomorrow today... and your mark on the future will be a positive one.

Remember your family first,

Mark Merrill

Gasparilla pictures

Check out the following links to see Erik and me in action!

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=13972009W1&LastName=EIKELAND&BibNumber=2728& Mailing=22545

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=13972009W1&LastName=EIKELAND&BibNumber=2729& Mailing=22545

Gasparilla Distance Classic

We went to St Pete this weekend to run a 15K in Tampa. We both finished about 3 minutes under our goal. Erik finished in 1 hour and 12 minutes. I finished in 2 hours and 11 minutes. I was DYING by mile 7. I think it was worse because I had two miles to go. Had I been almost finished, I would have been able to finish stronger. The temperature was in the 70s for most of the race, and I don't have good mind over matter. Once I got in my head that I was tired, there was no pushing any harder. I think I only did one mile over 15 minutes, but my first few were around 13-13 1/2 minute miles. Luckily I was able to start strong, and didn't disappoint myself even more at the end. I'm happy to say that this race was the end of my long distance career. I think I'll stick to 5Ks and maybe 10Ks from now on!


Erik and I stayed at my parents' house. Jonathan and his family are staying there for a little while, and Kayleigh LOVED playing with her cousin, Mia. The two of them started to play first thing Friday morning and didn't stop until we left on Sunday. They would crack each other up, too. It was so neat to get to watch the two of them together! I think there were only a few times when they would get upset that one was playing with the other's toy. We were able to finally meet Nathan, and he is such a good baby! He was happy all the time, unless it was feeding time and you didn't instantly and constantly have food in his mouth. What a guy! :)

These are just a few pictures from my mom's camera. Ours is still broken. Jonathan has a ton of more pictures on his camera, but we had to leave early this morning and I didn't get them downloaded. I'm sure these give a pretty good peek into our weekend.