Audrey's Hair

 I prayed for a child that may have easy hair to care for, as Celia's hair is not so easy (curly hair is not)

All this time Audrey's hair has been fine and straight, comb it or put it up and we are set.  

Until recently.....  A humid day, nap, and screaming when I attempted to brush it.  This is her loveliness.  I am scared for the summer.  On certain days she has curls popping up and I am cringing.

She used to allowing her hair to be put up like this all the time.  Now it lasts up to an hour, max, usually 5 minutes.  So I no longer judge a parent of a kid with messy hair at all.  Never, ever, ever.  

13 miles

So this morning I did my last long training before my 1/2 marathon on May 12.  I did a little over 13 miles and I feel ok.  I am ready for it and I am still a little bummed that I am racewalking the whole thing and not running some of it but that is ok.  I am sort of surprised that after some time off from racewalking longer distances, I have not forgotten my form and my speed is ok.  I am not looking for matching my personal best time, just finishing it without injury I suppose!  I have enjoyed getting back into training and I do plan to keep it up.  This will be the first event I have done in which I will not be wearing my purple team in training shirt.  I was told once a team in training alumni/coach you can always wear your purple shirt.  It just does not feel right anymore though now that I am 3 years away from the organization.  Team in training is the Leukemia and Lymphoma's charity marathon team.  I coached for them for I think 6 years and I did events for them the 2 previous years.   Our local chapter decided to then dissolve the walk team and combine it with the runners.  I have since heard that the walking part of that team has basically not been great and I am disappointed.  The number of walkers in marathons and 1/2 marathons grow every year.

Celia had her 3rd race as part of the Healthy Kids Running Series and she was awesome!  Grandma and Grandpa came to see her.  Mom Mom saw her last weekend.  She with a smile on her face the whole time.  She is funny when she starts though, they say go and Celia looks side to side to make sure that everyone else has gone and then she runs.  So she is typically the last to start but she catches up fast.  Today she placed 4th and she was certainly the last to start.  But.. I am not looking for her to be in the top, the whole point is for her to accept not being the best at something.  A skill she really needs to learn.

Audrey is now at that stage where she is certain that she is just as old as Celia.  She thinks that she can do everything that Celia does and sometimes it does not work out.  I noticed that when she talks to kids her own age she often leans down and cocks her head like adults do when they are talking to toddlers.  I dread hearing "No Mommy, I do it myself".  That translates to this task will take 10x as long to do and likely involve a fit if things do not go right.  She wants to strap herself in the carseat and that would be great if she could really do the whole thing.   It takes her forever and then 9 times out of 10 she can not get the bottom part and she gets mad when I do it.  I then have Celia who tends to be distracted by everything and it takes forever and a day for her to even sit in her seat, let alone strap herself in.  So inventors of carseats, think about this invention- kid sits in the seat and voila the straps automatically attach around the child.

New matching nightgowns from Grandma.  They love to be twins.

Dentist

Due to Audrey's reflux, she needed to be seen by a dentist earlier then when Celia saw a dentist at age 3.  Of course some pediatric dentists want see kids at 6 months, I don't get that but oh well.  The acid created by her reflux can eat away at enamel.  We are lucky, no damage and her teeth look awesome.
She also was a superstar.  She marched right in, sat in the chair and did everything they asked without complaint.  That's my girl (oh wait, it really isn't normally).

Healthy Kids Running Series

I signed Celia up for the Healthy Kids Running Series.  It is a series of 5 races that happen every Sunday at 5:30.  I was not expecting a whole lot as not many people have heard of the program.  I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived on the first day and found a good amount of participants and that it was very well organized.  My reason for signing her up is that Celia has ended up being a bit of a poor loser.  So we discussed the fact that it was not important to win and it is okay to not win.  She did the first race and she did not win and she was 100% okay with it.  Great job Celia!!

They stretched in the beginning, they were divided into groups by age.

The pre-k kids do the 50 yard dash (then it jumps to 1/4 mile, yikes we will have to train for it next year!)

Audrey took her cheering position

Celia then went to racing, look at that form.  She is next to the girl in the pink shorts

Here she is all finished

These pictures are from the first time she did it.  This past week she was 4th or 5th, not bad.

Marathon

I am sad, this one really hits home.  If you have never done a marathon, it is hard to understand what this bombing stole from the participants.  I know certainly that the deaths and injuries are of course the most horrific parts of this bombing but there is another pain, not to that magnitude, but another injustice.

There is a reason why most runners/walkers do not just do one marathon, they keep going back.  It is painful and it takes will power and hours of training.  When you do a marathon or a half marathon it is almost life altering at times.  Your first one I think is the most amazing.  It is a time in which you really understand how much others can lift you up.  The cheerleaders during a marathon are just as important as water and fuel.  When I did the Baltimore marathon, my personal best time, I was hurting towards the end and it started to rain.  On the corner of a street about 2 miles until the end, someone was handing out gummy bears and telling everyone they were doing great and they could do it.  At that point it pumped me up and then around the corner was a group of people just jumping up and down and cheering and I increased my speed.  I credit the spectators for my personal best time.  

During a marathon you find out that you can do something that you never thought possible.  The bombing took a giant part of that away for it's participants.  I do know though that marathoners are a tight group.  Whether you placed first or were lagging behind, the Boston marathoners are bonded right now.  A bomb can not destroy that bond.

I have always loved reading about Alberts Salazar.  Below is a quote from him, you can read the full story if you click on it.

In April, on an old Massachusetts holiday called Patriot's Day, they'll run the Boston Marathon. Thousands of athletes from all over the world will gather just to compete in that one event. From the starting line in rural Hopkinton to the west, to the finish 26 miles, 385 yards later, downtown, at Boston Common, they'll be retracing a route of tradition and history and a piece of road named Heartbreak Hill. It's the one marathon that I, brought up in New England, dreamed of winning ever since childhood.

I just share that quote because it is likely the story of many marathoners that did Boston today they "dreamed of winning ever since childhood".

As I still ache from my 11. 5 on Sat that was just plain awful, I am a bit more motivated.   Please think of all the participants in the marathon and the spectators, equally important.  And I hope that this will only make the infamous Boston marathon more of an impressive marathon.  It will be a marathon of survival, a marathon of triumph over injustice.  Next year I pray that those who did not get the chance to pass the finish line get to do it next year.

I also have to add this, I am impressed by all the medical professionals and volunteers that helped today.  I wanted to share a quote from Mr. Rogers.

"When I was a boy and i would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me 'Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.'"- Fred Rogers.

Granny

I follow a blog called "Whatever" it is by craft guru/photographer Meg Duerkson.  In June her great aunt who was 101 passed away.  She asked the question if there was someone special in your life and so I commented.  This is what I commented.

I was in an Olive Garden the first time I knew that my husband's granny was something really special. She was like 86 or 87 at the time and I was alone with her for a few minutes. She leaned over and said " thank goodness they left, have you checked out that waiter's back side, it's something alright". I laughed so hard. She is now 94 and she has suffered in her memory and health recently. She just moved into a nursing home and true to her spirit is having the time of her life, honestly! I love granny even if she is not my own. My 4 year old adores her. When she was 2 Granny was in the hospital for Christmas and even though she was just 2, she became teary eyed at the dinner table and wanted Granny to be there. She tried to nurse off of her when she was about 6 months old. Granny told her " sweety, these wells have been dry for decades", that cracked me up. When so many people looked at me funny for cloth diapering, Granny made me feel awesome one day when I pulled out some and she said " oh you have real diapers, so much better then those paper ones". She had no clue that in a time in which I was questioning everything I did as new parent, that a simple remark like that really boosted me! We are going to have to say goodbye to her I know at some point, hopefully not too soon as she is honestly having a ball at her new home.

This morning we got that dreaded call that it was our time to say goodbye to Granny, she passed away early this morning.  She was 95 and she lived the best life, I say this because she just made it the best life, it was just her way.  I think that we just always expected her to be there, at least I did, knowing that was an impossibility.   I said in that comment that Granny moved into a nursing home, one would think that maybe that slowed her down, made her not as cheery- no way.  Granny loved her new home, it was her resort.  She made the best of what she had and she added some humor, love, and smiles.  

Oh Granny, you really will be missed.  Please say some prayers for my husband's family.  

With her beloved beagle Sam.  

Creative Celia

Celia loves to draw and she now likes to also write stories.  Our big girl has gotten so talented in her artwork as pictured below (also a picture of her on her big girl bike)

 The wind blew the hat that was the mans (grammer correction for a 5 year old, not needed)

Marathon Training

Okay so I am writing this about a week before posting so I suppose things could change.

My 1/2 marathon training has been up and down.  I have never been one who suffered from many injuries but this time my knee has been acting up and then I got that horrible sinus infection/fever virus. So training has been difficult.  2 weeks ago I did an 8 mile training at a 12 min flat pace (all race walking).  I was very happy with that pace.  Then a few days later I decided to throw in some running into a workout and the next day my knee hurt so some time off and frustration.  I then did a 9 miler and kept myself at a pace between 12:30 to 13 min since I was not sure that my knee was really ok.  I did not feel awesome but the knee just felt stiff, no pain.  So I am 3 days out from the 9 miler and things feel ok.  I am fairly confident that I will be able to do the 1/2 marathon but race walk it.  I would love to keep a flat 12 min pace or lower but I have to be realistic that I have not done one of these in awhile so I should just focus on finishing it without injury!  I admit that I am bummed about not running primarily because I just look funny racewalking.   I do enjoy the sport, which makes me irritated too because I just look odd.  But did you know that walking at a 12:30 pace or lower burns more calories and works more muscle groups then running at an average pace (8 min miles)?  It also is easier on the joints.  I am hoping that this 1/2 marathon has quite a few walkers as it has a 6 hour time limit with an option to even start 45 min. early if you do not think that you can finish in that time.  They do offer a full marathon so that would be more of a concern for a full I suppose.

I am supposed to do a 10 miler sometime this weekend, wish me luck!

Okay so enough about that!!

I leave you with some cute pics of the girls

Science Museum

My sister, niece and nephew visited my Mom during Spring break so we made a trip to my Mom's house for a few days to see them.  On our trip we went to the Science Museum.  Audrey had the best time!  The big kids liked it but were more into pressing the buttons and moving things.  Of course for part of it Audrey for some odd reason was on a mission to go see Monkeys.  Perhaps she thought she was at the zoo?

The car ride there, we were able to fit everyone in my

sister's van.  Audrey had a great time!

We were able to fit everyone in the van because we only took 1/2

Ok, just kidding!!!  Isn't this a great effect? 

Katie body

 Celia body

 Vickie head

 Celia and her world.  Contemplating

a plan to rule the world perhaps...

Audrey had the best time playing with these things.  She spent a good bit of time building

something really big and then she put the finally piece on and said

"I did it!"

Surprise

I look at Audrey's picture as a tiny newborn 

and I am not so upset about a surprise little one.  So in the Fall of 2013...

There is no way on earth that we will be expecting anything other then Fall!!!!! April Fools folks.  Pete and I would go hand in hand running and screaming if that was the case.  Pete has started sleeping out in the hall just so it does not happen by accident.  We love our kids but Audrey has left us shell shocked at the moment.





Happy Birthday Uncle Bump.