My Love/Hate Relationship with Running

So, I'm training for a 5K. I always hated running when I was younger but since Joel, my sister, and her husband have started running a lot, I figured hey, why not? I found a great training regimen called the "Couch to 5K" training (I LOVE the name!) and it's been going very well. However, like most things, there are things about running that I absolutely HATE. Here they are in no particular order:

~My face turns bright red when I get hot. So as I'm running, I look like I'm going to pass out. Some days, that may actually be pretty accurate!

~I nursed 2 children. My boobs are huge and even wearing a sport's bra, I'm fearful the knockers are going to fly up and knock me out. And seriously...why can't sport's bras be a little more attractive? All they do is smash the girls together and give me a uni-boob.

~I hate running on the treadmill next to anyone who is a more serious runner than me (which is many people). I end up running the same speed as them which is not a good thing.

~My knees hurt!!!

~Every slight incline in the road feels like you're climbing Mt. Everest. Not good. Even worse when there's a head wind.

~I hate running through my neighborhood when the neighbors are out in their yard. I'm convinced they're staring at me and wondering if they should be calling 911.

Even with all the things I hate about running, I never thought I'd want to run so it's a sense of achievement after completing every week's training. Plus, I try to remember how skinny I'm going to get. Still waiting on that part though :)

My kids are growing up WAY too fast!

I know every single mother in the world has said that exact same phrase at one point or another. It wasn't until I became a mother that I can actually understand how the little munchkins literally transform in front of your eyes. It's like watching corn grow. One day it's a little seed and the next day *BAM*! Your little seed is a giant corn stalk. Wow, that was a profound statement. Not sure where that came from...

Noah is growing like a weed (there I go with the plant analogies again). He doesn't have another doctor's appointment for a few more months but just looking at how his clothes are fitting, he's getting bigger. That boy can eat like there's no tomorrow! Eating has never been his problem. He has the metabolism we all envy. He eats whatever he wants and doesn't gain weight! He crawls so fast that he burns every calorie he takes in! Don't we all wish we had that problem!? Now he goes through a giant container of yogurt every few days (seriously, not kidding. One of those big tubs of yogurt...every 2 days). He will eat 2 big pancakes for breakfast and still be hungry. Take a big can of ravioli, dump it on his plate, and it's gone in a few minutes. It's amazing to watch. Granted, plenty of the food goes on his shirt, in his hair, some even on the floor. But the vast majority goes down the pie hole. Oh, and pie! He likes that too. The only food he absolutely will not eat is vegetables. I try to sneak them in to other foods and he'll work the food in his mouth until he can spit out the vegetable. He's a smart boy.

Hannah is talking so much better now. She's always been a good talker but she would have a hard time with pronunciation. For example, Wal-Mart would come out "Worm-bert". It was cute for a while but now she's about to start pre-school and really needs to learn her words a little better. So, lately she's slowed down and worked on saying everything the correct way. You can just see her little brain focusing on the word then saying it really slowly to get it right. It's cute. We, of course give her lots of praise which she eats right up. She gets a huge grin on her face and says the word faster and faster until she nails it every time. My little genius. I can't believe she's going to be starting pre-school in the fall! She's attending Small Discoveries Preschool. A neighbor and several teachers I know suggested that preschool. There are a lot of really good ones in here in Ankeny but that one kept coming up as one of the best. She was wait listed for a while but I got a call a while back that she's in. She's guaranteed the afternoon class right now and is on the wait list for the morning class. I'd rather her be in the morning class but it's not a huge deal. I'm just happy she's in! I got all the paperwork in the mail to fill out and have her doctor sign. Man, that's a lot of paperwork! I was surprised. I'm glad the preschool does a good job at making sure the kids are healthy and properly immunized before attending but it's a lot of documentation! I'm sure this is only the first of many papers I have to bring along to the pediatricians appointment. :)

Birthday Party!

Since Hannah and Noah's birthdays are just a month apart, I decided to have one big party for them. I realize that makes me a terrible mother. But since Noah's 1 and doesn't have a lot of little friends yet, the same people were going to be invited to both so why make them all come to 2 parties? So, Hannah really wanted a party at Pump It Up. It's an awesome giant inflatable slide and jumpers. You're in a room with just your own party so you don't have to worry about other random kids plowing over your children. Even though Noah was a little young to really enjoy everything, he still had a great time going down the slide with Joel and crawling all over the place. Hannah had a fabulous time.

Here are some pictures from that day. They're a little backwards since the first picture is of Noah after the party. But that's just the way they uploaded so I'm going with it...

Noah absolutely sacked out on the way home! I think he fell asleep within about 3 minutes.

Enjoying his birthday cake

This was what Hannah looked like after she ate her cake with green frosting

So when Joel brought Noah over to his cake to blow out the candles, Noah just reached his hand and swiped some frosting. If you look closely you can see the frosting on his fingers. He's a boy after his mother's heart when it comes to frosting! YUM

The 2 cakes. Hannah really wanted a Thomas cake; Noah got a Little People cake

Snuggling on the big birthday chair

Noah LOVED going down the slides!

Hannah had fun too

Noah and my mom

Birthday Girl

Birthday Boy

Noah in a constant state of motion!

Here are a few pictures from Hannah's Awana award's ceremony. It was her first year in Awana and she was a Cubbie. She absolutely loved Awana and is already looking forward to being in Cubbies again next year!

Showing off her Awana bear award that she completed her first year Cubbie book!

Hannah singing with her Awana friends. Her best friend, Piper Robie is to her left. Apparently Piper didn't know the motions :)