I did it!!

What did I do? I ran a 5k! I know what some of you are thinking "big freakin deal, it's only 3.2 miles" but to me it IS a big deal, let me tell you why.


I have had a strong disdain for running my entire life, hated it, wouldn't do it, no thank you, not me.


When I was little I wanted my Mom to buy me a Barbie Ferrari so I could DRIVE the 2 blocks to my friend Cecilia's house instead of walk or (gasp) run! I mean a car just seemed so much more practical to me, and way cooler. I never got the Barbie Ferrari (not bitter or anything, MOM!) So I was forced to walk or ride my bike, not fair.


In middle school we had a running unit. When I heard this news I cried a little bit, then proceeded to use every excuse in the book not to participate. I faked asthma (I don't have asthma) and even brought my sisters inhaler with me and took a puff in front of the teacher to show her I had asthma and couldn't run. I got out of running, but I threw up from that one puff I took (note to self, if you don't have asthma, don't use the inhaler medicine). I faked a sprained ankle, menstrual cramps, stomach ache, etc etc etc. You name it, I tried it! Then the dreaded day came....the timed one mile run in city park!!! We walked to the park from the school and the whole time I am borderline hysterical. I did it though, I ran/walked, and I am pretty sure that mile took the entire gym period, but I did it. Then I swore I would never run again...ever!!!


I worked out before my wedding and would do the elliptical, and weights but not the treadmill. I would get on the elliptical BEHIND the treadmill and watch Long Legs McGee as she ran and she made it look so easy, so one day I tried it....I got on the treadmill, started walking, then running, then stopped....after a minute. Holy moly, why can't I breathe? My legs are on fire! This is pure torture, who would ever CHOOSE to do this? For FUN? Gah!

Fast forward to this past summer, I am working at the YMCA and started hanging out with one of the trainers there, Brandi. This girl is a rockstar runner, she has run 7 FULL MARATHONS!! She wanted me to start running with her in the mornings, even though I told her my motto for running was "I don't do it unless being chased" but she persisted (if you know her, this does not come as a shock to you) and I gave in. So I started meeting her at the Y in the early mornings and started running. Slowly. Very slowly. I would run for 2 min, walk for 3. A few weeks later I was running 3, walking 2. A few weeks after that I was running 5, walking 1. And then it happened....I was just running! I got sick in September and couldn't run and then I just stopped working out all together. The weather got colder, then the holidays came, excuses excuses excuses (if you know ME, this does not come as a shock to you).


After new years I had had enough, it was time to get back in the game. I heard about the Groundhog Run in KC so I sucked it up, and registered for it. There! Now I had a reason to get my butt back in the gym! So for the past month I have been getting up at 6:15 and running on the treadmill at the Y. 5 days a week, even on Saturday a couple times!! I was determined to run this race and get a good time. I had done a 5k early in the summer (before I started running) and finished in 50 minutes.....50 minutes!!??!!! I am embarassed to even admit this, but this blog is all about brutal honesty people.


Bright and early Sunday morning, my Mom and I headed to Hunt Midwest Metropolis about 30 minutes away from my sisters house. We pull up and there are people everywhere!! Over 3,200 people signed up for the race!!! So not only did I sign up for my first "official" 5k but I just happened to choose one of the largest! No pressure!!


I wanted to turn around and go home, I wanted to throw up, I wanted to cry. But I didn't, I stretched, I got in line with the other runners, went to the happy place in my mind, and I ran. I wanted to stop a few times, I wanted to give up, but then I thought of my Mom waiting for me at the finish line. I thought about my friends that came from El Dorado (they were running the 10k at 10 am) who were watching for me too. And I kept going, I saw my friend Mary Gaffey when I got close to the finish line and she started cheering then got beside me and ran with me and told me not to give up and to just finish. And I did it, I finished, with a time of 31.54. Woo hoo!!

I am already looking at doing more races. I have a new time to beat after all :)


Sorry for the crappy pictures, we forgot the camera in the van so these are all cell phone pics.



Before the race....(did I mention the run was inside a cave? Just in case you were wondering
where the heck I was).


After the race...hence the red face :)



Me and B!! After my race but before hers (she ran the 10k)

M.I.A.

That's what I have been, when it comes to blogging at least. I have been in a blog funk, usually I can't wait to write a new post, but lately everytime I sit down to do it (usually late at night....on a weekend....cause I have no life) I just stare at the screen. I wish I had more time during the day to do it (like right now) but guess what I am NOT doing by writing this? Laundry. I have 2 huge piles on the bed that need folding and apparently the laundry elves decided to skip my house today, so looks like I am going to have to do it myself.....eventually. I have 2 glorious hours of freedom everyday while the kids nap, time for myself; to watch A Baby Story, eat chocolate, catch some z's, talk on the phone, knit a blanket, cure cancer, etc..............yeah right!!! Nap time around here looks like the Mommy Indie 500, and consists of me running from room to room, upstairs and down, trying to get all my "chores" done before I hear that first dreaded whimper from Harpers room, or the squeak of Paxtons bed as he is getting up (seriously why can't naptime be at least 4 hours?) So each day I have to make a decision? Do I do laundry so that my children don't have to wear washcloths tomorrow, do I sweep up the pile of crumbs on the floor so we don't have a mice infestation (I would move, I swear it), do I unload the dishwasher (and load it back up) so that we don't have to eat with our fingers at dinner, or do I sit on my behind and write a blog post........today the blog post wins. Screw it, the closet is stocked with washcloths and there are some pretty cute ones that would be pretty fashionable :)

The kids have been in a funk too lately......a winter blues, cabin fever funk, and I have come close to selling them on e-bay a couple times. I am ready for spring, or even above freezing temperatures would be nice!

Pax is still loving preschool, he is so tired on the days he goes though since he doesn't get a nap, but that just means early bedtime......score!! He is OBSESSED with Transformers right now, he wants to be Optimus Prime (or Bumblebee, it's a toss up each day) and yes I realize that Transformers is a little violent and old for him but honestly I kinda like it too. Don't judge me, have you seen the movies, they are actually really good and it beats the heck outta watching Thomas the Train!! We have been spending more one-on-one time with Pax, and that seems to help his moodiness lately. On one particular bad day, I asked him why he was being so naughty and he said "I am just sick of always having to share my toys with Sissy." I felt bad, cause he DOES share his toys with her, and usually without making a big deal out of it, so we take it for granted. However, he is still a 3 year old, and it has to be hard to always have someone in your stuff. So Josh and I took him to a Japanese steakhouse (aka the "fire place" as Pax called it) and he loved that! Deb and I took him to McDonalds Saturday night and then to the movies, so we are just trying to make that effort to make him feel special, and reward him for sharing his toys and helping me out so much.

I have a lot of projects I want to do soon. One involves an old window that I am going to paint and hang in Harpers room. I also want to paint our bathroom vanity white, then sand it to make it look distressed and antiquey (is that a word), AND don't even get me started on the basement. Goo!! We are talking seriously about (finally) finishing it which means my storage room/entire basement, has to go. It has become a collection of "stuff" since we moved in 2 years ago;

"where should I put this?"-BASEMENT

"hmmmm I am not sure if I am ready to get rid of this"-BASEMENT

"maybe I WILL wear this ugly sweater, these size 4 jeans (yeah freakin right), and overalls (seriously still have them) again one day"-BASEMENT

"what IF we have another baby that could use this Bumbo, bouncer, jumperoo, etc etc etc"-BASEMENT!

You get the point. It's bad, it's real bad. I usually just throw things down there then turn and run up the stairs and slam the door before the guilt catches me. Soooo, it's time to roll up the sleeves and start getting rid of stuff before Hoarders knocks on my door to film me for their next episode.

Snow Day Part 2

Just pictures in this post, yippee!

Going outside for round 2 in the snow!!

She loved that it was actually snowing!!

Trying to lick the snowflakes.

yum, hot chocolate..........we love snow days!!

Snow Day, part 1

Startin the post out with pictures, explanation below. Not my fault, I claim no responsibility in this.


It had JUST started snowing so I took him outside to watch it. He wanted to go make a snow angel right then.....yeah good luck with that Buddy.

He wore his boots ALL night on Sunday! Even put them back on after bath and wore them with his pajamas.

This pic is out of order. Stupid blogger.

Hi-freakin-larious! She was walking around with all this on and lost her balance and fell over and just laid there. She didn't even attempt to get up. She knew it was probably a lost cause.

She wasn't too sure at first. She just looked at the snow and kinda whined a little.

I may have accidently dumped her off the sled and face-first into the snow. Whoops.

She loved this, think she would have eventually fallen asleep had we stayed out there and pulled her around on it. She didn't move at all....well that may have been from the bajillion layers she was wearing.

Ok no idea what's wrong with my blogger. I wrote all this out THEN uploaded pics so the pics were on top of the text and usually I can move them below but now all of a sudden I can't. So not only are the pictures up top but they are out of order and I can't fix it. What the crap is wrong with blogger? Does/has anyone else had this problem? Gah, annoying.

I know what you're thinking, part 1? PART 1?!?! How can there be more than 1 part? Well let me tell you why, we actually ventured out into the snow twice (3 times for Pax) and you know the affair I am having with my camera and photoshop? Well I took about a bajillion pictures and feel that they should be broken into 2 posts. Mainly for your sake so you don't fall asleep at your computer.

When I heard it was supposed to start snowing, I must admit I giggled like a little girl and felt all happy and giddy inside. I took the kids to Walmart on Sunday and blew our life savings on snow gear...ok only $60 but STILL, who knew boots and sleds cost so much, sheesh? Needless to say, Sunday evening when there was still nary a flake to be seen, I started to panic a little bit. I had gotten Paxton all excited, spent a crap ton of money at Walmart, and had visions of cute pictures of the kids in the snow dancing in my head, and yet....no snow! Oh but do not fear my friend, about 6 pm that evening large flakes started falling and I jumped up and down and squealed a little (quit rolling your eyes Brandi)

The next morning we woke up to................SNOW, and lots of it!! Later that morning we bundled up, a process that took about an hour and lots of sweat and tears (from all of us). The kids got outside and Pax loved it, Harper liked it as long as the snow didn't touch her (uh impossible!) Finally I just laid her on her new sled and pulled her around on it and she really liked that.

I know some of you hate the snow, hate the cold (ok I hate the cold too), and hate winter all together, but I am glad we got some snow. It is a lot of fun to see the kids experience this, it makes ME feel like a kid again!! And isn't that what having kids is all about? Well THAT and having someone to do the housework when they are older, and oh they WILL (Harper is already throwing her diapers in the trash, never too early to start folks.)

Paxton goes to school.

Last week Paxton started preschool (cue tears). He only goes twice a week in the afternoon, but STILL he is in SCHOOL, wasn't he just a baby like 2 seconds ago? I told him he could get a new backpack, he has one but it's pink with Minnie Mouse on it (don't ask) and I really didn't want him getting beaten up on the first day of school so a new backpack was needed. He told me he wanted an Optimus Prime (yeah no clue how to spell that, ya know the Transformer dude?) and I am thinkin, crap balls there is no way I am going to find an Optimus Prime backpack in the middle of the school year. Oh but wait......I turned down an aisle at Walmart and I saw it....one lone Optimus Prime backpack, woo hoo Mom of the year!!!!!

We got home with the backpack and Pax proceeded to pack his entire room into that backpack, not hard to do since it's the size of a Buick!! Then he wore the darn thing all night! At bedtime he hung it on his bedroom door, then proceeded to get out of bed no less than 10 times to make sure it was still there. In the morning I got up at 6:30 to work out, I was coming out of the bathroom and there was Pax just standing there: "Mom is it time for school?" Me: (clutching my chest cause he scared the bejeezus out of me) "Gah! No, go back to bed!!" Pax: "Ok" (turns to go back in room) "hey Mom, my backpack is still on my door" (no kidding, it didn't grow legs in the middle of the night) Me:"I know, GO BACK TO BED!" So needless to say he was quite excited.

I dropped him off later that day and there were tears (ok only from me), and smiles, and lots of nervous excitement (me again). When I was putting Harper in her carseat after we dropped him off, she kept looking over at his carseat like "uh, Mom aren't you forgetting someone?"

I picked him up after 2 and a half LONG hours, fully expecting the teacher to tell me he had a rough day, that he cried a little and asked for me a lot.............ummmm, no. He did great, he had fun, no problems, and LOVED singing songs. Today preschool....tomorrow driving, prom, college, wedding (waaaahhhhh!!!!)

Wearing his backpack at breakfast.

This is how pictures of the 2 of them go these days. Impossible.

Love it

walkin in...

seriously backpack, Buick!

Doesn't he look absolutely terrified? I actually had to call his name like 5 times to take this picture and say goodbye, he was already busy playing and talking the poor teachers ear off!!

Harper 13 months!!

Harper is 13 months old today. She is so hilarious right now. Just yesterday she discovered her shoulders, and has been walking around shrugging her shoulders ever since (just looked up from typing this and she was doing it!) I may dress her in pink (lots of it, all the time, I love it) but she is holdin her own against big Bro these days. I heard Pax screaming the other day and walked into the living room and Harper was grabbing him HARD by the ear and just looking at me grinning. After breaking up the fight (seriously they are 1 & 3 I have to break up fights already?!?!) I asked Pax why she grabbed his ear and he said "cause I wouldn't get out of her face" well then hells yeah grab his ear girl!!! She doesn't take crap from him at all. She got shots last week (4! Yuck!) and ran a fever and felt awful afterwards, she always has bad reactions to shots. Here are her 13 month stats from the appointment:

Weight: 19lbs 10 oz 20% (you would never guess by lookin at her big belly, and boy she likes to eat!!)

Height: 29 1/2 inches 50%

Head: 17 3/4 inches 40%

Here is what she is doin these days:

-Has 3 1/2 bottom teeth, and 1 1/2 top teeth (she is a drooling, snotty nosed hot mess when she is teething)
-Goes to bed about 7:30 pm and sleeps till 7:30 or 8:00 (woo hoo!)
-Drinks out of sippy cup and drinks regular milk now (she doesn't like juice, weird, loves water)
-Eats.....EVERYTHING, seriously the child is an eatin machine but her favorite foods are
bananas
apple slices
turkey roll-ups
cereal bars
chicken chunks
cookies (duh, she IS my child)
cheese sticks
grapes
squash and zucchini
green beans
Things she doesn't like:
peanut butter (huh? who doesn't like peanut butter?)
veggie chicken fingers (I LOVE Morning Star chicken nuggets but this
girl must be able to tell they aren't real meat and will not eat them!)
juice (she wrinkles her nose and won't drink it, even diluted)
carrots (some days she will eat them, most she won't)
She is babbling a ton, once she got her tubes in she really started talking more. I really think that her hearing and speech was being affected by all the fluid that was always in her ears. She says Dada, Nana, cookie, thank you, puppy, hi, yeah.....and guess what she has only said like twice? MAMA!! She said it once last week when we were at Willies and I freaked out and was like "Gah! Did she just say Mama? I think she did!!" And about 10 minutes later the guy at the table next to us was leaving (total stranger) and stopped by our table and said "if it makes you feel any better, I heard her say it too." Hahahaha, I may overreact a little when she says it, but why isn't she saying it more? Sheesh I am with her ALL THE TIME. Whatever, I am not bitter or anything.

She is walking, running, dancing, and CLIMBING (yup can get up on the furniture now, great).

I am lovin watching her personality emerge now that she is getting older. She can be so sweet one minute then cop some major attitude the next, and did I mention she can be dramatic?

Here are some recent pics of other things she has been up to lately:

Hangin with her friend Eleanor, these 2 are gonna be buddies....and trouble!

Learning how to feed herself with utensils.....uh only SLIGHTLY messy!

Enjoying the mild weather we had last week by playing outside.

And throwing a fit when it was time to come inside.

practicing her gymnastics.

playing with her dolls (so motherly isn't she?)

picking on her brother while he is throwing a fit.

then acting all innocent "what I wasn't just pulling his hair Mom, I am perfect!"

Watching K-State basketball

And crying when we can't shoot a free throw to save our lives and foul every 2 seconds!!!

I am sure she will change even more in the next month but I am lovin every second of it and can't wait for her to learn new things!!!