I ran the race!

I did it! I completed my 5k yesterday morning, and am very pleased with how I did! The day was forcasted to be pretty hot, so for that reason only I was happy to have the run start at 8am.

My plan to get a good nights sleep definitely did not happen. Dean and I had a party the night before, and I didn't get to sleep until 12:30am! I slept restlessly the whole night until getting up at 6:50am. Although mentally I was confident about the race, my body just wasn't. My heart was pounding from the moment I got up. I got dressed, had a small breakfast of some yogurt with blueberries, and made sure I went to the bathroom before we left. The last thing I needed was to have to hold my bladder the whole race!

My mom had taken the boys overnight the day before, and it was so nice not having to worry about getting them dressed and ready too. Dean dragged his butt out of bed, and came to support me. Thanks babe!

We walked up to the park where the race was being held. It is usually just a ten minute walk, but with zombie Dean it was more than 15 min. We saw a lady who would be running the race who was at least 7 or 8 months pregnant! After that my only goal was to not let her beat me. We got there with 10 minutes to spare. Just enough time to stretch, get my music situated and line up in the crowd of 1,300 hundred other people. The flag was waved, and off we went!

It was such a beautiful day. Blue sky, sun shining and not too hot yet. My plan was to keep a steady pace for the first 2 miles, and then try to book it for the last 1.1 miles. The first part of my plan went great. I kept a good pace for the first 2, and was feeling good. The kicker with this race is that the last mile stretch is all uphill. So really my last mile ended up being slower than the first 2. That last mile was tough. The sun was getting hot, and my breathing was getting faster. But I stuck with it, not stopping once. Once I saw the end was near I took off as fast as my short legs could go. As I approached the finish line the time was at 31:58...59 sec. I really wanted to get under 32 min, but my official time was 32:01. Beating my last 5k time by 2 min 16 sec.

I came in 665th place out of 1,296 people, and I was in 44th place out of 106 for the female 25-29 age bracket. Not to shabby!

Besides being hot and out of breath I felt great. Not once did I feel nauseous, and best of all I beat the pregnant lady. Booyah!

Being a mom

I wish I was able to fully understand how selfless and amazing my own mother was and still is earlier in life. But having kids of my own now....I totally get it. My mom rocks. She homeschooled all of us 8 kids, and kept the house as clean as she could with kids always there to mess up a room, closet, table or whatever it was she had just cleaned. She had a meal for us every night and was always catering to what each kid preferred. For example: Half this pizza had onions, the other had none, this corner had no sauce, this one had mushrooms. One kid likes blue cheese with theirs, the other likes ranch. Rarely did she have anytime to herself, and I have no memories of her ever complaining about it. And most importantly she made sure we knew at a young age, that Jesus Christ had given us the ultimate gift through the sacrifice of his life. She is the best example of a Godly mother (and wife!) that I know, and I thank her deeply for that.

Being a mom is hard work. Dealing with the whining and constant want of my attention. The never ceasing mess and all day long food preparation. Trying to stay consistent with disciplining and teaching them right from wrong. Don't take this as me boasting either. Yes, my "job" is hard, but I am a ways away from being great at it. My house gets dusty and dirty, and the laundry can pile up. My kids eat peanut butter sandwiches too often at times, and go way too long without baths. My patience can wear thin, and my voice gets raised more than it should. Some days I just want to quit.

But then I hear my one son tell me "I look cute" in a new dress I was trying on, and that I am his "best friend ever." I see my other son's face light up and have him run to me laughing when I come back after being away. I see my children's sweet faces as they sleep sloundly in their beds. I remember that it's all for greater purpose. This is my calling. To serve my children (and husband) for the Glory of God! And then, it's all worth it.

"You wonder sometimes does it matter at all.

Well let me remind you it all matters just as long as you
Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace
With every move that you make
And every little thing you do."

-Steven Curtis Chapman

Burrito's at the park.

I probably have said this before, but I love Mondays! It's a day to get back on track with housework after what is typically a busy weekend. This weekend was no exception! The weather has been beautiful, and with nice weather comes much more opportunities to do something other than stay inside and clean!

We started off our Friday evening going out to drive by a couple houses we were interested in (I will write more about house hunting later). Once back home we started up a little campfire in our backyard while the boys played in the yard. Dean ended up having some guys over, so I headed out to the gym for a quick run. I find myself having to get in my workouts in the evening more and more lately, and...I love it!

Saturday, I got to the gym bright and early, had our church's Mother/Daughter Tea in the afternoon and then spent the evening eating taco's with some friends!

Sunday, Sam woke up crabby with a fever (hoping it's just teething!), so we stayed home from church. We had a relaxing morning at home, and after Sam's morning nap we grabbed some take out from Moe's and headed up to Highland park for a picnic!

We brought along a bat and ball, so daddy and Will could play some baseball. Dean told Will to back up a little so he could throw him the ball to hit. He may have over exaggerated just a bit.

We walked around the park for a bit to look at the lilacs. I neglected to take any pictures of them, but they were so pitiful! It was so sad seeing these half dead trees with just a few flowers here and there. This crazy weather sure did take it's toll on them.

 The tulip garden! At least what was left of it.

I really need to get to know my camera better. We are not on very good terms when it comes to sunny days.

  And of course, no outing with Will is complete without a game of hide and seek.



Motivation finally kicked my lazy butt

I told myself, when I was pregnant with Will, that I would run a 5k (3.1 mile) race after I had him. I had never done one before, and I thought it would be a good motivator to get back into shape! I begrudgingly stuck to my word, and signed up for the Lilac Festival 5k race 7 months after I had Will. I went into it not feeling very ready for it. I ran a lot leading up to it, but had never run the full 5k in my praticing. During the race I pushed myself pretty hard and ran for the first 2 miles, but slowed to walking at a water hand off point. The last 1.1 mile was killer. I had totally lost my groove, and walking/running the last stretch I felt like I was going to puke the whole time. I was just hoping not to go over 35 min, so I was happy to get 34 min 17 sec as my official time. I felt so terrible once I was done though. Completely out of breath, and sick to my stomach. I was glad to have accomplished it, but even more glad it was over!

After I had Sam I was trying to talk myself out of doing one again. I definitely was not able to get into good enough shape in time to do the same race last Spring, when Sam was 5 months old. I am sure there were other races later on that I could have done, but I wasn't ready to commit to it. This past Winter I was battling it out in my mind whether I would stick to what I said and do that race before another baby came along. My motivation finally kicked my lazy butt, and I signed up to do the Lilac Fest 5k.

I am actually pretty excited about it this time around. I not only want to finish with an even better time, but I want to feel great at the end! I have been so pleased with my training so far. I can totally see a change in my endurance. Just this week I ran the full 5k with no stopping for the first time ever! Most of my running has been on a treadmill though, which is definitely easier. The race is on May 20th (at 8am!), so these next two weeks before the race I definitely need to get my butt outside to run!

Our week in pictures

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was busy, which is why I am JUST now able to sit down and write this!

This week at our house...

We started off our week with Will getting sick with a sore throat and fever, but with lots of laying on the couch watching movies and good nutrition he was back to himself after a few days. I am so happy we still have the juicer too. Since his throat hurt he didn't want to eat anything, but I could get him to drink some carrot, apple and kale juice through a straw!

Sometimes you've just gotta let your baby walk around in his diaper and take picture of him from behind because it is just that cute.

Step one: Push toy over the step and let it crash to the floor; Laugh.

Step two: Cry until mommy gets you your bottle.

Step three: Chug bottle for aproximately 45 seconds.

Step four: Stop drinking and procede to push in the nipple.

Step five: Gotta make sure that nipple is reeeeaaallly pushed in good.

Step six: Make the I-know-mommy-just-told-me-not-to-do-this-but-I-am-going-to-keep-doing-it anyways-face, and hope that the cuteness of it makes her forget that I am not listening to her.

Step seven: Mommy takes away your bottle, so you are forced to move on to other activities. Like playing with rolling pins and water jugs.

All of that was a typical rundown of what happens when I finally get to sit down for ten minutes and eat my breakfast.

Will made a train in the kitchen.

They love playing hide and seek in mommy and daddy's bed! I love how Will is looking at Sam in the last picture!

We had my two youngest sisters over for the weekend while my parents were out of town. I loved having them there, even if my house did look like this the whole weekend:

Friday night we had pizza and ate junk food while watching a movie. Saturday morning I was able to run out to the market on my own which was lovely. If anyone has ever gone to the Public Market on Saturdays imagine doing so with two kids in a double jogging stroller. It takes lots of patiences, and I am pretty sure EVERYONE wants to hurt me. Moving on.

After Sam's morning nap we headed out to do some shopping at Target. Once we were back I got the boys down for naps and then headed to the gym for a 30 min run. Ok, so maybe it looks like I was taking advantage of the girls being there, but it totally wasn't the case. I mean, I let them sit on the couch and eat candy and chips while watching Netflix all day, and didn't get on their case about it once. Sounds like a good deal to me! I made a quick dinner and then Dean took Will and the girls out to the arcade and go kart track! It was so nice having a quiet night. I got Sam down by 7:45pm, did my Jillian Michaels Yoga dvd, and finally ate my dinner in silence. I could really get used to having live in baby sitters!

Carrot, beet and kale juice? Oh yes.

Spring is here, and you know what that means; Time for some Spring cleaning! And I'm not talking about my house (although it could definitely use a good cleaning too!) I'm talking about cleaning out the body. Our body naturally wants to cleanse itself in the Spring and Fall. My body has definitely been feeling a bit sluggish on the inside lately. I decided that I would do a juicing cleanse, and was able to borrow my mother in laws (awesome! ) juicer. I was shooting for at least 3 days of ONLY juicing. I am also training to do a 5k next month, so I didn't want to stop doing my workouts and running. I wasn't sure if my body could handle not eating while still exercising. The point wasn't to lose weight, but to get my body working better. So, I was open to changing it up if my body wasn't feeling it.

Day 1 of juicing I was feeling good all day! We were out and about, and I got in my workout. I juiced 5 times that day, but by 10pm I was HUUUNGRY! Like stomach grumbling so loud you could hear it from across the room hungry.  I didn't give in that night and have the brown rice cake I was so desperately craving, but the next morning I had some eggs before going to the gym. I went back to juicing, but by dinner I was super hungry again.

So, my attempt to only juice for 3 days didn't quite pan out. I have still been incorporating juicing into my diet though, usually having it for lunch, a snack and sometimes after dinner. The boys love it too, which is awesome. Especially for my picky eater, Sam!

So far we have been juicing carrots, sweet potatoes, cucumber, celery, zucchini, apples, oranges, kale, beets and their greens!

Will laughed so hard when he first saw, what he calls, "carrot poop." I am on the search for a good recipe or two to use the leftover pulp instead of just throwing it out.

I have done a little research on the do's and dont's of juicing. As with anything, you always get varied opinions on what the RIGHT way is. I've read your not supposed to juice fruits and veggies together, but also read that certain fruits are fine with certain vegetables. I've heard that you shouldn't juice spinach because it can mess with your thyroid, but then almost all websites I went to for juicing recipe's include spinach! I just take it all with a grain of salt, and make my own decision I feel is best for us!