La Familia de Gallegos: 2011

11 months

Dear Levi,
On this day, Saturday, Nov 19, 2011, you turned 11 months old. It wasn't an extraordinary day, but it was still special in it's own little way.
On the day you turned 11 months old...
1.You wore Christmas pj's for the first time!

True, Christmas was still about 6 weeks away, but everything else was in the wash, and you had to wear something, right?
2. You woke up to see the first snowfall of winter 2011.

(It's quite possible the Christmas pj's had something to do with this...you know, the magic of Christmas!) The snow then led to the first time in 2011 that you got to hear Christmas music. :)
3. You had peas, carrots, and mac n' cheese for lunch, which you absolutely loved!

4. For dessert, you opted to eat your first piece of dog food.

It was quite gross, I must say, but in true Levi fashion, you had no shame, and no intention of spitting it out until your mom attacked you and pulled it out of your mouth. Then you smiled, and went on about your day.
5. You spent a few minutes barking and growling at Kady,

6. and few more minutes playing in the kitchen drawers (your most recent favorite pastime).

7. You also spent much of the day intermittently chewing on your fingers, trying to help your 6th tooth break through on the top.
8. You got a little closer to standing on your own.

You still only lasted about 5-10 seconds with no hands, but you've made a lot of progress, and I'm sure you'll be walking very soon.
9. Before bed, you got to spend some time singing and dancing with your mom. The Isty, Bitsy Spider was a favorite today, as well as Patty Cake, Patty Cake. A few minutes after reading One Fish, Two Fish, and you were ready for bed.
10. Your daddy had to work on this day, so you didn't get to see and play with him. That happens every once in a while. What you don't know, however, is that while you were sleeping your daddy came home, went down to your room, tucked you in again, and gave you a good night kiss.
11. Last but not least, on this day (and every day so far of your 11 months of life) you were very, very loved by many, many friends and family!

Pumpkin Patch

October was a fun month for us. Since Levi was born, we've sort of developed a tiny urge to be a little more festive in regards to the things we've always considered less than important. So this year, we went to a pumpkin patch. Correction; we went to TWO pumpkin patches. As far as I can remember, this was my first time ever going to one, so going to two of them was quite a treat. The first farm we hit up was literally down the street from us, Schilter's Family Farm.

Levi had fun (that usually goes without saying). Can you tell how much he loved the tractor?

He wasn't much help getting through the hay maze, however.

Maybe next year he'll be more up to the challenge. We took advantage of the farm and snuck in a few photo opps, and some of them turned out fairly nice.

We even decided this year we would buy a pumpkin. Yes, we were really feeling festive that day! So, here it is... the first pumpkin the Gallegos family has ever purchased and brought home. =)

The 2nd pumpkin patch we went to was a bit more exciting. This year we made the 2 hour drive south to visit the famous Roloff Family Farm (from the TLC show "Big People, Little World.")

We didn't get any more pumpkins, we were there more for the experience than anything else.

Levi and I shrank into little people size for this photo.

Saw some cool carved pumpkins, and then let Levi have some fun in the pumpkin patch.

We also got to visit with Amy Roloff for a few minutes. She really is such a nice, friendly person, so that was a real treat.

We also got to take a tractor tour of their famous farm. I don't think Moises and Levi were as excited as I was throughout the whole ordeal, but they humored me and at least pretended it was a fun experience. =)

I now have one more small claim to fame. Fun times!

Running, Kicking, and GOOOOOOAAAALS!!

October 16th was a big day for me. A few months back I decided to commit myself to running a half marathon. Before this, I think the longest distance I had ever run was about 5-6miles, and that was several years ago while I was still serving in the Army. I never imagined I would ever be able to actually run, without stopping, a full 13.1 miles. Several of my friends had recently completed their first half marathons, which was ultimately my inspiration for choosing to run one myself. I thought, if they can do it, there's really no reason that I can't buckle down, put in the effort, train hard, and run 13.1 miles. So, I signed up for the Gig Harbor Race for a Soldier Half Marathon.
Now let me tell you, there were days, and more than just a few, where I thought I had made a HUGE mistake. What was I thinking?? I would never be able to find the time to train, and would never be able to actually run that far. I thought I was crazy! If I didn't have 2 great friends committed to running the race with me, guaranteed I would have quit training and walked away (Thanks again Zena and Carol!!). So, I stuck to the training program and just kept on running. I had several friends that kept me motivated, and a few that would run long runs with me (special thanks to Kristy for hanging with me during the 8 and 10 mile runs!).
October 16th was race day, and my goal was simple - I wanted to run the entire race.

Carol Barrientos, Zena Pearson, & me at the START line.

Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed running this half marathon. It was NOT an easy run, the hills were horrible! Yet, nothing felt better than crossing that finish line and knowing I had actually done it.

I had just run, without walking, 13.1 miles! If I'm allowed to be, I was pretty proud of myself for finishing. I made the committment, I trained, and I finished. My completion time was 2hrs 26 mins.

Notice the big FINISH line behind me?? Yea... I crossed that. :)

Finishing was such a good feeling, that I almost want to sign up to run another one... almost!

My 2 biggest cheer leaders - and the little one was even one of my running partners on occasion. Funny though, he never did break a sweat.

While I was busy training for my half marathon, Moises was busy being the captain of his soccer team, the Beta Blockers.

The fall season was their 3rd season playing together as a team. Most of the players are doctors and nurses that work at Madigan Hospital with Moises. In their summer season they ended up at the championship game and won! This season, SAME thing! Mo's team is the reigning champs, 2 seasons in a row. Not bad, huh? Even though he's had to miss every other game due to his work schedule, Moises has really worked hard for this team, making sure everything went smoothly, that they had enough players each week, that the jersey's were ordered and delivered, that the roster was accurate and full, and that the games went off without issues.

He's been a great El Capitan and Levi and I have enjoyed the few times we've been able to come out and cheer him on.

Levi the Lion - Halloween

I've never been a big fan of Halloween as a holiday. I wasn't quite sure what I would do this year with Levi. So I basically decided to keep the same rules with him that I had growing up - we could dress up, but it had to be something "good." Nothing evil or negative.
We were graciously given a hand me down lion costume, and it fit Levi perfectly! So, for his first Halloween, he was Levi the Lion.