Last 5:30 AM run!

Another goodbye this morning. I've been meaning my friend Stephanie at 5:30 AM (it was 5:15 AM when I was in training) on Tuesday mornings for the last....well, I don't know how long. More than a year, probably more like two years. We'd meet in the dark and run our 6 or 7 or 8 miles (or 5 like the last two weeks since i'm sooooo slow now). This morning was our last run. Because I won't be able to leave my sleeping kids with David while I go out and run. It was sad. We're going to try and work out another morning to run after I do school drop-off, but it's not going to be the same, or probably as consistent.

She is moving in May (her husband is retiring from the Navy), and she has been such an encouragement to me. We've both been going through the same chaos these last couple months - job hunting, house selling, etc - I have been so thankful to have someone that totally knows exactly how I'm feeling. I'm going to miss her.

The goodbyes have begun...

So here we go. It's begun already. And I don't know that I'm ready for it yet. The goodbyes have officially begun. Today was David's last Sunday at church. We laid in bed last night and were talking about how strange it was going to be. We've been here for 8 years, and at Shores for 7 years. We started out just in the choir and praise team together, and then David started leading worship along with Roger in the main service, or filling in for him when he was out of town. Then 3 years later, the church launched the Kinetic service and hired David to lead worship and oversee that service. That's where we've been for the last 4 years. And today was David's last Sunday there.

The pastors had us come up in each of the services and prayed over us. As we begin this new phase of full-time ministry. To revel in how amazing God's sovereignty is at how just as Kinetic was ending, He brought along this amazing ministry opportunity for David. And to say thank you to David for his years of service as part of the staff at Atlantic Shores. It was really a sweet time for David and I this morning.

When we got to our small group after all this, they had put together a farewell potluck party for David! What an amazing group of people. One of the biggest blessings for us as a couple over these last 6 months for sure. When we followed God's call to step out and start a new small group for young couples last fall, we had NO idea what that would mean or what it would look like...or if anyone would come. But God has brought together an amazing group of people that we now call friends, and are so blessed to know. I felt so loved this morning as several of them told ME that I could call them if anything happened or if I need anything over this next little bit while David is gone. And I know that they will continue to support me - even as they have supported us as we've gone through these last several months.

David went out to dinner tonight with his best friend from school -a bible teacher. Another goodbye. His last day of teaching is on Wednesday. It's getting hard to think about. Thursday is Callie's birthday, and I have a special surprise planned for the whole family. Looking forward to some special family time. But it's getting harder as the days are approaching.

Ready for Pool Time!

Callie's new bathing suit!! Isn't it the cutest? Target had all their suits on sale, and I bought her a regular one, but couldn't resist this one with the rash guard on it! Plus, I thought the two pieces may make potty training easier....at some point this summer....sigh.

Saturday was a good day and a hard day all at the same time. David has been one of the assistant coaches for Track & Field at school this spring. He has really enjoyed it - he's enjoyed coaching the kids, and it's been a great way for him to get some of his runs in during the week without spending extra time after one of his two jobs! :)

Anyways, they had their first meet on Saturday and it was up near Richmond, so he was gone all day. I knew about it, and wasn't super excited about it. After all, he's leaving in a week and I'm a little posessive of our time left with him. But we made the best of it. We had a big pancake breakfast and then went to Target. I had to get a few birthday gifts (and Callie's bathing suits), and they did great. We walked over to Babies R Us and I picked out the baby book for Baby #4 - that was fun too! :) Afterwards, we decided to head out to a playground that we don't go to often because it a little further away, but is so much fun! We were the only ones there, and we all had a great time. After lunch and the younger 2 went down for naps, Josiah and I played some games together. I kept thinking all day long "this is what it's going to be like. Even on Saturdays. Just us." Sort of overwhelmed me a bit. Even though the kids were doing great. I just was feeling emotional, and overwhelmed at having to be their "everything" for this period of time. After naptime, we headed to the Y to swim in the indoor pool (and try out Callie's new suit). We had a great time, and everyone was in bed and asleep by 7:30 pm.

David got home not long after that, and he had a great time at the meet. The kids did great and really enjoyed themselves. So it was a good day and a hard day all at the same time. I'm finding myself looking ahead and wondering what the coming days and weeks are going to be like. I'm trying not to worry about it, trusting God's timing, and knowing that this is the best solution. My mom said it best the other day - she said that the kids are going to be fine - they'll keep going on in their normal routine, with their world pretty much the same (except that david will be gone). it will be hardest on me. Faith-building I think! getting emotional here these days...

22 Weeks (last Thursday)

Sorry - I've missed a few weeks posting these belly shots....and look how enormous I've gotten! It's been a crazy busy few weeks, and yet I'm growing exponentially these days!!!
Here's a snapshot of what ELSE was happening at the time.

Showers of Blessing

A dear friend of mine, Irene, asked a few months ago if she could give me a baby shower before we move. It was so sweet of her to offer, and I thought it would be great to get together with some of the sweet ladies that surround me. We decided that it would be March 22 (Sunday afternoon), which was the afternoon of Beth's race. That way she could be there to celebrate with me! I appreciated Beth's sacrifice - I know she was tired and probably could have used a nap, but she was there with me! It was a sweet afternoon - spent with friends, ladies from church, women I've been in biblestudy with for years. Such a treasure of friends.

Usually every picture of Beth & I, we're in t-shirts or something "mom"-ish. So we had to get a "dress-up" picture. I MADE Beth wear her medal to the shower!
Irene makes fabulous cakes, and this was no exception!

One of my (and David's) favorite outfits from the shower is the blue romper on the left of the picture - it has a picture of an electric guitar and says "Rock Me"! How cute is that! Some babies come home in smocking and bonnets from the hospital - ours will probably come home wearing that!

My dear friend Sandi was there (with her baby Morgan). Sandi and were pregnant with our first babies together, and she has been a sweet, sweet friend ever since.

This is not even half of the food that Irene made. She can DEFINITELY make some amazing party food!

Beth's Race Day!

So race morning started at 5 am. Well, that's what time I picked Beth up. We were both up at 4 am I suppose. I met Beth and sat with her while she fed Addison (the last feeding for a WHILE...poor baby!) Beth was ready though - excited, nervous, ready to go!
Here's the injury that completely messed with Beth for the 3 days leading up to the race. She felt pretty good on race morning (thankfully). My biggest concern - I knew that it wasn't going to keep her from being able to run - but my concern was that it would hamper some of the fun for her. Thankfully it didn't!

The potty stop at the hotel. People started giving me crazy looks there. I was wearing my running clothes (knowing that I'd be doing some running to get to my "viewing" spots to see Beth, so I came dressed and prepared. I guess people think it looks funny to see a 5 month pregnant lady in running clothes. Go figure!

Just ONE more potty stop before hand!

I had to leave Beth here so I could get to my first viewing spot at Mile 3. I wished her luck and told her she'd do GREAT! I couldn't wait to see her again...and hoped she'd be smiling! Then I took off - I ran next to the racers for 3 miles to get to my position.

Beth's sister decided to run at the last minute too.

Here she comes at Mile 3...is she smiling?

YES -she IS smiling! I was relieved! I ran with her for a bit...asked her how everything was feeling, and then sent her on her way. She was heading into Ft. Story - which is a military base, so regular folks like me can't get in. I thought it was the loneliest part of the race, because there's not many spectators. I told her I'd see her at Mile 9 - right when she came out.

And here they come - at Mile 9!!! They've made it through Ft. Story!

AND she's still smiling! I was SO excited for her at this point! I knew she was doing great, was on pace, felt good, and was ENJOYING it!!!

While I was waiting for Beth at this point, some crazy man came and stood next to me for about 20 minutes. I was cheering for all the runners (I LOVE being the obnoxious cheerleader...because I know how much it means as a runner to have people cheer for you!!), and he kept asking me random questions and talking to me. He was creepy.

I ran with Beth for a bit again, asking how everything felt, if she needed anything else. She gave me her jacket and phone, but said she was doing great!!! I sent her off and told her that her mom & hubby were waiting at the finish. I knew I couldn't run with her the whole way back (4 more miles). I had already run 3, and thought it probably not the wisest thing to run another 4 while holding all of our stuff. I ran most of it, but stopped to walk a few times. Still, I sort of felt like I had my "fake" race experience.

And here she is at the finish - she did it! Finished the half-marathon and beat her goal time even! She finished in 2:24 (I'm sure her blog has the more EXACT time...) - when she signed up, she hoped to finish in 2:45!!!! Way to go Beth!

Two years ago, nobody would have BET that either of us would finish a half-marathon...and now look at us - we've BOTH done it! :)

Addison was a trooper! Beth finally got to feed her after the race, and she was glad to have her mommy back!

Here's Anthony & Beth - guess which one has finished a half-marathon. NOT Anthony!! (although he's got to bug - I just sent him David's training plan from Rock & Roll...I think he's my next convert!)

It was quite a morning. I was SO proud of Beth. I knew she could do it - I think even before SHE believed that she could do it. She watched me train last year and saw how I was able to do it. Somebody with ZERO athletic ability, ZERO running experience, and a busy mom with two active boys and a new baby. That was exactly where Beth was. But she did it! She followed the same training plan that I did for Shamrock the year before, and she did GREAT! Now she's hooked (as I KNEW she would be), has lost more than 50 lbs, is healthier than ever before, and feels (and LOOKS) amazing!! I'm so proud of you Beth! I know it wasn't easy, but you pushed hard and never quit! You ROCKED the SHAMROCK!

The Expo (but not for my race)....

So one of the most FUN things about race weekend is getting to go to the EXPO. For the big races, they'll set up an expo in the downtown convention center and have all kinds of vendors, running stuff for cheap, display booths about upcoming races, etc. It's really alot of fun. We got to go with Beth last Saturday to pick up her race packet and then walk around the expo with their family. Our kids are pros at this now, since they've been to both mine and David's expos. They new they were going to see the Geico gecko (he's ALWAYS there), and make some cheer signs for Beth. And we did both! I will have to admit - both David and I were definitely sad not to be "runners" this year in the race - we're ready to do it again. I've got to get this baby out of me first (I suppose), but David's ready to hit the training road again once he gets settled down in SC this weekend.

Part of the other special thing is that I remember SO clearly doing this very same expo last year. Shamrock was my first half marathon, and Kelli was there to cheer me on. This year, it was Beth's turn. She said she felt very out of place - I remember that same feeling - and yet I kept telling her that she deserved to be there! That she had trained and was ready - just like all the other "real" runners! It was excited to see her there and get her ready for the race (and get her mind off her banged up knee that she had hurt that week! ugh!)

The bib number!!! You can sort of see Beth's face injury in this one. She fell the Thursday before the race and scraped up her face and her knee quite badly. Luckily, it was all surface wounders (nothing sprained or broken), but hurt like the dickens, scraped her up pretty badly, and got her even MORE nervous about the race.

Addison was a trooper - she was quite happy and content (poor thing didn't know what a long day awaited her the next day!!)

Here's Beth getting her official race shirt! (The most fun thing is that I got one too!! When I was cheering Beth during the race the next day, there was one on the side of the road that a runner had thrown off....so we match! And I can pretend that I actually did run it!)

The 4 boys working diligently on their cheer signs for Beth.

Harrison drew Lady (from Lady and the Tramp) on his.

Josiah drew Beth running - complete with a cute little pink running outfit! He knows this stuff is serious business!

One of my favorite vendors is "One More Mile" - they have all these hilarious running shirts. These were my favorites. This one says "I know i run like a girl. Try to keep up"

"My sport is your sport's punishment" - love it!!

and

"May the course be with you" - had to take a pic for my star wars boys!

Me and Addison!

Here's the famous gecko - always at the expos!

"Does this shirt make my butt look fast?"

"Toenails are for sissies" - if you are a runner, you can definitely appreciate this!

"Some girls chase boys. I pass 'em"

Harrison's Suprise Party!

Harrison's 7th birthday (good grief that's old!!) was last Friday, the day their family came in town for the weekend for Beth's race. Beth thought it would be fun to have a surprise party for him - and it was a blast! David and I were laughing about how we could NEVER do that for Josiah - he'd fall apart. Anyone remember how the "Happy Birthday" song would send him into hysterical tears for the first 3 years of his life? Not Harrison - he LOVES to be the center of attention!
Jacob and Jackson - these boys are SO alike! Both our 2nd born boys. Both have older brothers. Both have younger sisters that they CAN NOT keep their hands off of. And both were in Beth's sister's house that night (who only has girls) with all GIRL and PINK stuff. They made it work though! :)

Seriously probably the best cake I've ever eaten. Beth's grandma took a cake class and has learned the secret - it was delish!

Callie and Anna made themselves quite at home with all the toys. Callie LOVED the house with all girl stuff - she was in heaven!

Who doesn't love some yummy pizza! (Note that she doesn't want it cut up. She wants it big like everyone else. And she does just fine with it.

Erin and Anna - these girls crack me up. Especially Anna. She is a girl after my own heart. She was sitting next to Jacob, and when he wasn't looking, she'd try to steal the food he hadn't eaten from his plate! Way to go Anna!

My Two Babies

Here's how Jacob and Callie sit every morning after we come back from the Y for my run. I go take a shower, and I turn Curious George on for them. She climbs up in his lap and sits to watch, usually only 5 minutes or so and then she's off to read books or play. But they're cute while it lasts, and Jacob LOVES it!

Kitchen Makeover

I forgot to take a picture before we actually started "demolition". But this will give you an idea anyways. it was the original dark wood cabinets - in good shape, just dated looking. And the countertop was the "butcher block" wood-looking laminate. Definitely dated. No question.
Here's the new kitchen!

Still just laminate (sorry new owners - don't have the money for granite for YOU!), but a granite-looking one. Looks so much better. And the lighter cabinets & new hardware really updated the look. My personal favorite is the new sink (twice as deep) and faucet!!!

Sorry it's taken me so long, but here are the before and after pictures of our kitchen. Sadly, those 3 nights without sleep hasn't yet resulted in an offer on the house....but we're still praying!!! At least I'm enjoying a beautiful "new" kitchen in the meantime!