7 years!

I think I speak for the both of us when I say that if we would have had a glimpse into the future and would have been able to see the craziness the first seven years of this marriage would bring, both of us would have decided that showing up at the church on that sunny, Saturday, July 30, 2005 might be the most..

Ahh youngsters on our honeymoon!

...amazing and best decision we could have ever made!

 I am also 100% positive that that both of us wouldn't trade a moment we have experienced together in the past 7 years.

Actually, not a 100% sure...I may trade in that part where we got Mayzie.  Just kidding.  Kind of.  No I really am!  I love you, Mayzie.  (Seriously though, you are throwing a fit because your pony tail is too tight 3 times around but too lose 2 times around.  FOR AN HOUR).

I love you!  And I am sure this crazy is sticking around for a while, and I am sure Mayzie will still be throwing this tantrum when you get home from work so I am glad to be on this roller coaster  with you!

Family pictures yesterday.  I asked for this one from our photographer...unedited and a "sign of the times"

Dear God,

Please make these last 3 weeks of summer go as slowly as possible.  I just can't send him to kindergarten.  He's ready.  But I am not!  What will I do without him everyday?

OR  please have the school board instate a new rule saying..."you may send your firstborn son to kindergarten HOWEVER if you so choose you may instead send your 2nd born daughter."

And I will be just fine!

Seriously, our entire family is about to drown in pool of this girl's 3 year old drama.

"show me a day when the world wasn't new."

One of my favorite quotes, demonstrated in these photos by Liza Nell who has recently discovered her feet! She is so excited she can't even open her eyes!

Spit Fire

Dear Mayzie,

You are a spit fire.  I have known this, but the gymnastics coach called you this last week.  She is dead on.

You are fearless.  When you are happy everyone knows it, when you are mad everyone knows it and when you don't want to go to bed...everyone knows it.  You go go go until you crash. You swim like a fish.  You jump off the diving board. You aren't afraid of anything, including getting hurt.  You ride your bike like a demon with fire coming out the back of it...zipping past Theo, weaving in and out of drive ways, up and down hills, making sharp turns.  You bounce and flip like crazy at gymnastics.  You pitch a fit like I have never hear or seen in my life.  When you run you go as fast as you can.  You get this crazy look on your face that is somewhere between a smile and the look of a devil child when you go to hug Liza, Georgia and Tillie.  I am not sure if you are going to hug them or try squeezing them to death.   You are a  DADDY'S girl. And, I am pretty sure you only eat candy, despite my best efforts.

As frustrating as this is sometimes, I wouldn't trade it in.  I think this is going to serve you well in the future.

Sometimes you are pretty sweet too, SOMETIMES!

What the App Doesn't Know...

I use the Map My Run app on my phone.  I have a love/hate relationship with it...I love it because its easy to track, distance, speed, time, calories, elevation and all that jazz.  I hate for the same reasons.  It tracks all that stuff so it pushes me farther, harder faster.

I recently started training for the Des Moines Marathon.  I know boring, right?!  I should have chosen a fun, big booming metropolis to run my first marathon.  But, I actually didn't chose to run this, per se.  I wrote an essay about why I should be chosen to have free training and got selected to train with a group of people and an awesome trainer.  FOR FREE!!!  I don't remember what I wrote but I do remember I typed it one-handed sitting on the back deck nursing and watching you older kids play in the pool. As soon as I submitted it, I had a chilling feeling I was in, and I was right :)

I am doing this because I have been someone else's body for the past 6 1/2 years...pregnant, nursing, pregnant...over and over, non-stop.  I'm still nursing!  Anyway, I needed my own goal for own well-being.  And in turn this will probably benefit you all and Daddy.  I love to run, LOVE to run.  So I am LOVING practicing getting faster and going farther at the same fast pace.

Some days take a little motivation and some days are rougher than others, but the little "man" in the "Map My Run" app still calculates the miles and the time.

HOWEVER, what he doesn't know (particularly this week) is that some nights I am up with a fussy baby, or toddler nightmares most of the night.

Some runs my ankles are bloody and raw because I was an idiot and ran 13 miles in my new shoes without breaking them in last weekend.

Some runs I am pushing a running stroller at 6:00 am with a baby that would not go back to sleep, yet she somehow goes right back to sleep 5 minutes into the run.

Some runs (like today)  I have a paid babysitter  come over at 5:30 am to go run for a couple hours because Daddy is traveling and I am determined to NEVER miss a run or any part of one.  Thats right, pay someone to come over here and sleep while you are all sleeping just in case one of you should wake up.  Trust me, I have thought about just taking the baby and leaving the rest at home peacefully sleeping and they would probably never know I was gone...but in reality it would be that one time.

The little app man doesn't know any of that, and doesn't take any of that into consideration.  He still just keeps the miles, the pace, the elevation.  Because he can't make any alterations to any of those things...they are what they are no matter how hard the morning was or the night before.  And its the same for everyone.  We all have a reason not to do it.  But I no longer have a reason not to do it, from now on its just one foot in front of the other over and over again.  It feels so good to love to run again, instead of just loving to get it over with and get on with the day.

I hope you all find a sport/ physical activity that you can always love doing  and that each of you will always love to push yourself  while doing it!

Love,

Mommy

4 Month Comparison

Just for fun...who is who???

Had it been my firstborn I would have pulled the car over, taken him out of his carseat, looked him over and monitored his behavior for a while. I most likely would have even been on the phone with the doctor!

Had it been my second born, I would have pulled over and gotten her out and looked her over to be sure she was ok. Probably would have skipped calling the doctor though.

Had it been my third and fourth born, I would have skipped getting them out. I instead would have just looked for a quick responsive smile from them letting me know they were ok.

But it was my fifth born...which is why when her carseat did a triple barrel roll across the backseat of our rented suv in Denver because we forgot to strap it in with the belt, we just kept on going. No stopping the car, no looking you over, no calling the doctor. We didn't even wake you up (that's right you stayed asleep). I just crawled back there and buckled your infant seat in. And then we laughed about it, as you slept... after doing a triple barrel roll across the backseat?!

You are going to be tougher than nails, girl!

On second thought, had it been my first born I would have never forgotten to strap the infant seat in securely in the first place :)
Love,

Mommy