I'm an astronaut

William and daddy headed to the Air and Space museum today without poor Julia who is sick again. No fever, she just is lethargic and had laid on the couch all day. As William was getting ready to head to the museum he got himself dressed. Black flannel pants that are too small and a navy blue tee-shirt. Yipee, glad I did not have to look at this outfit all day. Since he doesn't have an astronaut helmet he decided he needed to wear his bicycle helmet on his trip to space. After saying he did not need a coat over his short sleeved shirt in 20 degree weather, he decided to find the coat that looked most like an astronaut suit. So he picked a size 3 girls brown puffer jacket, with ruffles, from Gymboree. Natural choice- I always see space men with ruffly jackets! He then rode his scooter to the front door- could not understand why we were laughing at him.





And- thanks to Slacker Mom for the new header!

He has been busy

William has been so busy the past few days. He has become very determined to get 'stuff' done.
First on his list was protecting a drawer. He told us we cannot open the drawer to Christmas.

Rich is happy the bottle opener was not in that drawer like it usually is, there is an entire roll of tape under that paper towel. Not sure of his motivation, but the drawer is safe!

After getting posters at the Rocknocerous concert this morning Will decided we all needed posters on our doors. Another roll of tape went into this project- he still has not hung the Rocknocerous posters, but there is a poster from some Adam Sandler movie on the inside of his door, along with flyers from Jammin Java all along the hallway.


Last project of the day- Santa's sleigh.

Last year at this time.....

Time flies- and brings so many changes! Focusing on my year in running........Last year at this time- We were celebrating a wonderful experience at the Marine Corps Marathon (and Alyce and I were both happy we decided not to do the Outer Banks Marathon 2 weeks later).

I was coming to the end of my training for the Goofy Challenge- I had run my 18 miles on Saturday, went out that night to a party, and ran 11 miles Sunday am. Monday am I got up and ran with Alyce, Cynthia Jeannie and Leigh- not aware that Alyce and I were both pregnant. I was two days pregnant, so no way of knowing. Alyce was three weeks ahead of me- when we both found out and told each other we were relieved to have a running friend to go through this with! Running while pregnant was great- when I found out on Christmas I was pregnant I went through a huge range of emotions about running- I was not sure what to do about the Goofy Challenge. I had trained hard to run the 39.3 miles and was in fantastic shape, but was nervous about the actual race at 8 weeks pregnant. One of the OBs at my practice said no way to the races. I must have changed my mind 500 times, and left for Disney convinced I was doing just the 1/2 marathon. Well- I did the full and half marathon and finished in the top 12% of both! I did take it easy as it was hot at some points in the Florida sun, but was so thrilled with my accomplishment!


When I got back I was convinced by Leigh to register for the Charlottesville Marathon- I eventually switched to the half, even if I would be 21 weeks pregnant! I then got the running bug again (I don't think it ever went away- except for a few minutes in Disney in the days after the race, but it came back) and registered for the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler and the National Half Marathon, along with a handful of smaller local races. I was featured as One Fit Mommy on Workoutmommy and met so many neat people through that! I also was interviewed for the NBC News at the Charlottesville Marathon, but that footage is not up anymore. During that run one of the race spectators recognized me from the interview, it was fun! I was able to keep up my running until around 23 weeks- after that my sciatic nerve caused too many problems to do long distances!

I have a few people I need to thank for helping me over the past year with my running- without a doubt, Alyce, Cynthia, Jeannie and Leigh were amazing. Even when I was the only one training for the Goofy Challenge, these girls got out of bed at 5am to run up to 18 miles with me in the bitter cold and many days, rain. They even tag teamed a few runs so that I always had a running mate- thanks girls. They also talked me into races, supported all my decisions, made me laugh, and were great friends. Leigh and Cynthia are now pregnant- so we are looking forward to a day we can all be back in amazing running shape! I also need to thank Rich- he has been to more races than I can count, including dragging two kids along to most of them. He also deserves thanks for making sure I had the time to run, and not rolling his eyes (at least when I could see) when I complained that he had to work on a day I wanted to run. Many days he cut it close so I could get in a run- so thank you!

Now for the year ahead- Iron Girl! I am very excited for Iron Girl in August. I am still working on my training plan, but I am ready for the chalenge. I am registered for the National Half and the Charlottesville Half again. I can't wait to add races to the list, and I am sure Rich is thrilled to now bring three kids to the race! It will be fun getting back into running more and more as Meredith grows and sleeps on a regular schedule! And good luck to Leigh and Cynthia with the running babies, and I speak for us all when I say that we miss running with Alyce now that she is in Lake Charles- but we all know that we will be back together someday! We love you Alyce- and William loves you most mermaid!

He gets it!

One thing we are always trying to impress on our kids is that we always need to be thinking of others, and really care for those around us. My kids seem to get that- and they are so lucky to be surrounded by friends that have parents that seem to feel the same way. Last night as I was putting a few things in Will's room after bedtime, he asked me to come sit with him for a minute. He seemed pensive, so I asked him what he was thinking about. He told me that he was concerned that Santa and Rudolf might not know that his best friend Emma has a peanut allergy, and that they might only bring her snacks that she can't have. He wanted to know if our elf Austin could let Santa know about Emma so she would not be sad on Christmas morning. It warmed my heart to know my little boy was laying in bed concerned with another child's Christmas experience.

What? It's not washable?

Worst part of this is that daddy did it to her thinking the markers were washable- and daddy and William have whiskers as well!

Wordless Wednesday

The Busy Season

I am amazed at just how busy the busy season has become! I remember years ago, back before kids, not really getting what people were saying when they talked about this time of year. Sure, I was busy with school, work, parties and shopping. Add three kids into the mix, and now I get it! Phew! The busy season really does start at Halloween. We got past that and then things just never slow down. I do have to say I enjoy the busy season, but I can see how people get overwhelmed so easily this time of year. I do not want that to happen here, so we have made (ok- I have made) some decisions to make life easier. We did our Christmas shopping earlier. I have only a few small things to get for friends, so we have not been rushing around trying to find things to buy. Instead I bought throughout the year when I found something I know people would like. I do not want to be stressed and dragging these kids through the mall or through Target when they could be sitting at home enjoying some down time. We also decided that we really don't need to do everything. If we don't see the lights at Bull Run, so be it. Kids will never know, and frankly I don't see the thrill. The kids think the neighborhood lights are just as fantastic, and it is a million times better when you look at lights 10 minutes at a time. We are not going overboard on gifts, and the kids are not getting all they ask for. Julia wants whatever she is playing with when you ask her, she so does not get the whole concept yet. William wants everything from a huge remote controlled dinosaur to the Barbie cruise ship (because it is a boat- he doesn't want the Barbies with it). He also wants a mermaid doll because he misses Mrs. Alyce- he may get that because we all miss her. I think that while our kids are young we can make the holidays into we want them to be for years to come. We can make it more about family and friends and less about presents and parties. We can spend more time relaxing in the glow of the Christmas tree lights and window candles, and less time standing in line trying to get the latest and greatest toys. Life is too short and too precious to spend it stressing at the holidays. I am going to relax, enjoy my family and friends and do my best to make this holiday season the most enjoyable yet!