UGHH!!!

The title of my post is exactly how I feel about updating a blog that has been neglected since Christmas. It's also Ethan's new form of expression whenever Teigan tries to take his toy, books, computer, etc. I hear, "Teigan no that's MY computer. UGHH!!!!!" at least a couple of times per day. That's most likely my fault because I say UGHH to pretty much anything that frustrates me. I need to be better about remembering that I have little ears around that listen and mimic pretty much everything I do. Ok, on to updating.

Christmas 2009 was good to us! Ethan was so excited to make cookies for Santa. We put some out with milk and a carrot for Rudolph and told Ethan that Santa would eat them when he came to our house to leave presents. You'd think that'd freak a little guy out a bit. It kind of freaks me out that it's tradition to tell your children that some big old bearded guy just slides on down the chimney and walks around your house while you're sleeping.....any time other than Christmas that just would not be acceptable! :) Anyway, this is Ethan being super excited that Santa has come.

Teigan got a new slide for Christmas

And this is how he felt about it :)

Daddy and E building with new legos--Ethan's absolute favorite thing to do!

Teig and Ethan celebrating Christmas at Grandma and Papa's house in January.



It's so much fun to celebrate the Christmas Holiday with two little guys who have such happy little hearts. We love them.

Celebrating FOUR Years

Really? Where has the time gone? I know we have two boys now, but seriously--it feels like yesterday we were dating and falling in love.

I've heard it said before that marriage is a mirror. And I completely believe that. Initially the notion of marriage brought mostly thoughts of always loving Skyler, but now looking in retrospect at our years together, I’ve come to see that so much of it has been about me learning and growing to be a better person. I’m amazed at how much I have been stretched and challenged and made better because of my marriage. My marriage mirror has shown me that I can be stubborn and selfish. It has shown me that I need to support more and complain less; that I need to continually seek maturity and wisdom where I harbor irresponsibility.

When I look into my "marriage mirror" and see my unattractive qualities I feel so blessed to have an eternal companion who looks past them to see the good. Someone who helps me to be better. Someone who loves me when I am unlovable and respects me when I am not worthy of respect.

My husband makes me feel beautiful, treats me as though my spirit is gentle and worth loving, and that I am valuable; I have realized, although I don't always show it, that I have a heart for Skyler's happiness--that I only want to see him succeed and desire to take care of his spiritual, physical, and emotional needs. I've learned through marriage how important it is to love, support and understand my husband--to really be his best friend.

When I fell in love with Skyler and agreed to marry him--I knew I was beginning a journey which would require us to stand side-by-side, hand-in-hand no matter the trials we would face. What I didn't realize but now do, is that as much of our marriage is a collective journey to be done together, it is also an individual one. One where I am supposed to learn and grow and stretch my capacity to do things I never knew possible. It's just comforting to know that while I work on my individual weaknesses, I have a husband who loves and supports me.

To my honey on our anniversary, I want to thank you--for the memories, the joy, and the richness you have added to my life. I love you more than all of my favorites combined. Thank you for always loving me...especially in those times that I have been "unlovable." I know we are meant to last an eternity. I love you!

Out of the Mouth of Babes 2

Wrestle. That's what my boys do. All day everyday. Teigan is usually an unwilling participant in this sport, but he does what he has to to survive. Typically I can see the look in Ethan's eyes before he attempts to tackle Teig and I tell him "Don't even think about it mister." To which Ethan has a look like "how did she know?!" Other times I will walk in mid-wrestle to Teigan's screeches (doesn't cry-just screeches at me to rescue him) and I have to say, "Ethan get off of your brother-he doesn't like it!" And then there are times like the other day when the boys are rolling/wrestling around playfully. Boys will be boys right? So I allow that.

I was folding clothes and the boys were wrestling behind me. I heard them stop rolling around so I turned to look at them and Ethan had pinned Teigan--I was about to say "ok, get off your brother now" when Ethan said to Teigan, "Copper, you're my very best friend." Teigan didn't respond. Obviously. Frustrated by this, Ethan said, "Tei-GAN, you're SUPPOSED to say 'and you're mine too, Tod." I choked on my water. It was sooooo funny!

In case you didn't know, these lines are compliments of Fox and the Hound. Tod (fox) and Copper (hound dog) are playing when these lines take place. My little genius memorized these lines to use at the perfect time with his best friend. How much do I love my baby boys?? Thiiiiiiiiiis much!!!

New Moon--Can't Wait to See You!

So unfortunately because we have children and basically no family or friends here that we feel comfortable asking to watch the kiddos while we abandon them to run around like teenagers til all hours of the night so we can fill our selfish needs to get high on vampires and werewolves...(I might be grouping Skyler in on this without his full consent, but I think secretly he's into it too)--we are just going to have to act like the adults that we are and wait until a more appropriate timing. *SIGH* Thankfully, my sister is coming for the weekend so we won't have to wait TOOOOOO long for a sitter! Am I excited? Duh. Am I obsessed? More than you know. Am I Team Edward or Team Jacob? Both, and I can explain myself.

For years Skyler has been calling me Bella. I guess that's my pet name and I love it. And guess what? He started calling me that 4 years ago WAAAY before this whole Twilight thing got out of hand. So basically, if I'm Bella--Skyler is Edward. Or Edward is Skyler. Either way--Edward is my husband. So obviously I have to be team Edward. I can't diss my spouse like that.

However, if I'm looking at it like that, I certainly can't leave Jacob out. You see, Jacob is Jacob Black. And I am Kellie Black. So obviously I'm married to Jacob too. The last name proves it. I'm an old school kind of gal and taking the last name of my man is what I do. So you see my predicament. Most people are either Team Edward or Team Jacob and there is no gray. I have to stay true to my men so you see my friends, I am both Team Edward and Team Jacob. Don't hate. Don't judge. I obviously had no choice in the matter. The fates have sealed it.

I am uber excited and can't wait to watch my husbands on the big screen with my husband. Wait?? Does that make sense? Oh yes my friends, oh yes it does.

It's Fun Being ONE!!!

This post is a little overdue--but I was in Colorado for 2 weeks and then home for a week and I just hadn't gotten around to posting.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that not only do I have a one year old--it's my SECOND child who just turned one. It feels at times like I should still be in drivers ed or going to prom or something. Life has gone by fast and I've been loving every second of it!

Teigan is our super sweet, cuddly baby boy. We love him for the spirit that he brings to our home. We know our family isn't complete just yet, but for now, we know we have these sweet boys for a reason. I don't have any stats on Teig yet because he hasn't been to the doctor because he's been fighting a cold and they only do "well" visits. He's not quite walking yet--he still prefers to crawl. I think he doesn't want to walk because he's smart enough to know that when he does Ethan is going to be ALL over him! Tackling, wrestling, pushing, etc. We love him and are so grateful to have him!!!

Teigan LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Elmo--so Elmo birthday theme it was!

The Birthday Boy!!


No day is complete without something like this: Teigan being held against his will!

Opening his first present



Time for birthday cake and ice cream!

Cupcakes Kristen and I made

A close up--super easy to make!

Teigan's 1st attempt--a bit timid.....

And his second attempt!

Onto his second cupcake

Grandpa Black giving Teigy a drink of sparkling champagne--loved his reaction!

Completely relaxed!

LOVE this CUTE face!

Tub time--ready to call it a night!! Until next year......


Birthdays are so important to me and I know Skyler might think I'm a little nutty when it comes to celebrating (I go all out)--but honestly, each year that I have a healthy, happy baby is totally worth celebrating in my opinion! I want each of my children to know, especially on their birthdays, that they are loved and appreciated individually. I'm so thankful for my family. Especially Teig on his birthday!

Out of the Mouth of Babes.....

Ethan, Teigan and I are visiting in Colorado Springs while Skyler is away on business. This morning Ethan woke up and said he wanted to go up to see Scott and Jared. I told him that they had already left for school but Ethan insisted he checked it out for himself.

He came back downstairs about 10 minutes later and reported that Scott and Jared had in fact gone to school. While he was talking I could smell Snickers bar on his breath. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Ethan, where did you get the candy??

Ethan: (doesn't respond-just stares at me)

Me: Ethan, who gave you that candy??

Ethan: Ummm.....(hesitation) Joseph Smith.

Me: LOL!!!!!!

Oh how I love my talking two (almost 3!) year old!! The things he comes up with just makes my day :)

That one time I signed up for a MARATHON and had to run with only one shoe....

This weekend was the big weekend for me and my sisters. We signed up to run the San Francisco Marathon back in March and started training in June. The reason for signing up was because I read that at the end of the race you were given a necklace from Tiffany & Co--and I just couldn't pass that up (of course we wanted to raise money for lymphoma as well)! Training in Las Vegas was not fun because it was so hot over the summer that all of my runs were on treadmills in a HOT, SWEATY gym, but that's what I had to work with and I had to make it work. It helped that my sister lived with us during the summer so we got through some pretty grueling runs together.

Of course, me being the lucky gal that I am, got sick with death like 3 weeks before the marathon. I never once thought that I wouldn't run it, because it wasn't really an option for me. I had trained and I was going to run if it killed me. That's how badly I wanted the necklace! :) The week before the race I pretty much only had a bad cough so I didn't think it would be too bad......

So Friday afternoon I met up with my sister in the beautiful city of San Fran--we rented a car ($15/day more because I'm "under-aged" ridiculous) and headed to Union Square to pick up our race information and bib numbers. We didn't realize this was going to be such a stressful situation!!! Neither me or my sister are all that great at reading a map and we didn't have GPS so we just kind of went with it. It was so embarrassing!! Public transportation honked at me a couple of times, I flipped U's when I shouldn't have, ran red lights, almost hit a few bikers (they think they own the streets!) and saw a pedestrian laying in the road with a big gash in her forehead--and was so glad it wasn't my fault!! I also had a run-in with a fire truck that was coming up behind me with the sirens blaring but I seriously had no idea where to go! I was at a red light in the left lane and was seriously starting to sweat bullets, but I was able to move out of the way. Right around this point we decided to switch drivers so I could navigate. We saw much more of San Fran then we should have!!! Kristen wasn't any better of a driver in the crazy streets of San Fran--we laugh because she got honked at by the San Fran Trolley that goes like 20 miles/hour. It was sooo funny. I told her I'd rather be honked at by the public transportation. Finally we made it to Union Square after asking like a million pedestrians where the heck to go. It was certainly an adventure. The Nike tent was all set up and blaring great music. We got lots of free samples and saw lots of cool expos. One thing they had there were stationary bikes that blended smoothies for you by riding at a certain speed. The guy saw me and Kristen and pretty much forced us up on the platform and onto a bike! We were both wearing 5 inch stilettos!! Thankfully, we didn't embarrass ourselves any more than we had already that day and were able to blend up our smoothies. We walked away with a delicious drink and our pride still in tact :) Trying to get back to our hotel was another problem. Can I just say that California has the most confusing highway and interstate roads that I have ever seen?!!? Gosh darn ridiculous I tell you. So Kristen was driving again and at one point I think I could have wet my pants from laughing so hard when Kristen was put in a similar situation that I was in with yet another blasted fire truck. We were in the far right left turn lane at a red light and of course we hear the sirens coming up behind us. Kris was like, "Crap Kel what do I do??!" I didn't really have any suggestions other than to tell her to move out of the way. Before we know it, Kris is out in the middle of the intersection blocking all traffic and freaking out. The truck started honking at her so she flipped an illegal U at a red light. It was oh so funny in a not-so-funny way.



Saturday was rather uneventful. We went to an early morning movie and did some shopping near our hotel. Later that afternoon, we headed up to Pleasanton to meet up with our sister-in-law who's family lives there. They were gracious enough to fix us a delicious carb-filled dinner to aide us in our marathon.

A huge shout-out to Sherry and Rod Cross who did literally everything they could for us to make our marathon experience as less stressful as possible. We are so grateful!! They got up with us at 4 AM to drive us to the race so that we didn't have to worry about parking and stuff. It was such a relief! Brittanie's sweet dad even hand made and colored individual signs for us to encourage us along the race (they even drove around the course to meet us at every couple of mile markers--it was much appreciated support!). The race was set to start at 7 AM so by 6 AM we were in the front of our running phase line just waiting. And it was COLD from the wind. We were all getting pretty anxious and nervous and before we knew it we were off! Running through the downtown streets of San Fran. Kristen, Britt, and I were weaving in and out of the HERD of people (20,000) to try to find a spot that was less congested. Around mile 3 we lost Brittanie and then at mile 4 Kristen and I got separated!!! I was near tears and so was Kristen because we had planned on staying together--but such is life. We had to run the next 22 miles all by ourselves!!! I figured that Kristen was in front of me and so I ran FAST (which killed me) to try to catch up to her and she slowed down and even waited at the drink stations for me. Apparently I passed her (SO SAD) because I finished the race about 7 minutes before her. We really could have used each other for support because this marathon was EXCRUCIATING!!! There were far more hills than I anticipated. And by that I mean that it was all pretty much UPHILL!!! I wanted to kill myself. But there were yummy snacks for us along the way (bananas, oranges, luna bars, luna moons, CHOCOLATE) and there were drink stations every 2-3 miles. It's pretty invigorating to grab a drink that's being handed to you by a million volunteers then just throwing it to the side of the road when you're done with it. We ran through a beautiful park, forest, right alongside the OCEAN (which was beautiful!!!) and lots of peaceful neighborhoods. At mile 16-17 I thought to myself, "do I seriously have 10 more miles?!!? UGH! So I walked some. Then started running again. Right around mile 24 or so, some lady was running faster than she apparently thought and I think her intentions were to pass me but instead she stepped on the back of my shoe causing my SOLE to RIP and me to fall. It was terrible. I tried to keep running with my blasted sole not really attached to my shoe but it was tripping me up so I had no other choice but to ditch my shoe!! Yes friends, I finished the race with only one shoe on!!! It was slightly embarrassing because people were pointing at me--but actually I saw some crazy guy running the marathon BARE FOOT. So at least I had that guy.

Crossing the finish line was exhilarating. We were met by some gentlemen dressed in Tuxedos that handed us our little beautiful blue box! Then I got my awesome "Finishers" shirt. Then came the feast!! I put whatever I could get my greedy little hands on into my mouth. Power bars, bagels, chocolate milk, gatorade, bananas, etc. Food never tasted so good. We all met up with each other (we finished within just a couple minutes of each other) went to the massage tent and got a fabulous 15 minute massage, then took a million pictures. It was an awesome experience that I'm grateful I was able to do. I'm so thankful to have a strong, healthy body. I'm thankful for my sisters and their support. I don't know that I would have been able to do this without knowing that they were doing it too. I love you Kris and Brittanie!!!

Our sweet running tights!

Team Eggplant Savage :)

Us after the marathon at NikeTown--a huge wall with everyone's name on it who participated in the race--my name was up high under "Black" but technically I'm still a Savage so I got in on this photo op :) I'm not above putting a not-so-attractive photo of myself on the WWW :)


More pictures to come--we didn't take a whole lot with my camera but Britt's mom took a million pictures and we even have some "professional" ones we took after the race (when we were looking really beautiful I'm sure.....) :)

A huge thanks to my sweet husband who took care of our boys all weekend. I know they loved spending quality time with just Daddy. Sky even potty trained Ethan!! E is 4 days strong with NO accidents!! And he is super cute in his big boy underwear!! He doesn't even tell us anymore that he needs to go. He just DOES it. Way to go Ethan! It was a successful weekend for all :)