A Wonderful 1st Christmas

Madison has got to be one of the luckiest little girls, aside from her cousins I don't think anyone could have been more loved this christmas. What a special 1st Christmas!

That morning Jeff came in the room like a kid in a candy store..its Christmas its Christmas!! wake up, lets go!! So we all piled downstairs to see what Santa had brought us. It was a fabulous morning and we all must have been very good this year...even Zeus and Renegade were not left out. They had an entire stocking of toys that took all of 5 minutes to destroy. :) But they loved doing it!

Then off to Evie beans place to see what exciting things Santa delivered there..oh boy oh boy...Evie and Chloe are two very special girls indeed. Santa was really good to them as well.

We had the whole family over (minus Zeus and Renegade)....Christmas included the 1st timers Evie and Madison, Chloe, Gabriella, Brian, Joe, Rosalie, James, Lyndsey, Jeff, Jamie, Nana Sue, Papa Joe and we can't leave out Honey, Coco and Duke too.

There was a fabulous feast for all to enjoy from nursing to turkeys and stuffing we ALL left the table STUFFED like a jolly old elf!

Presents were presented, paper and bows filled the air for gifts were abundant for all to share. There were racing cars, video games, pillow pets, musical toys, and fabulous steve madden boots. :) There was so much fun and joy being spread I couldn't imagine a better Christmas for all. The most special gifts were given a few months early with the arrival of Madison and her beautiful baby cousin Evie. These two enjoyed the 30 minutes they were awake I'm certain of it.

Madison has a few favorites since Christmas. Her Baby Einstein DVD's are a big hit, she LOVES LOVES LOVES her very first build a bear smallfry, she's a kittie and is appropriately named smallfry, her star stacker, her rattle and her very first Christmas story recorded by Nana and Papa.

What a blessing to share such a joyous occasion with the family. Our day together ended with us all enjoying a wonderful slice of Happy Birthday Jesus birthday cake. YUMMY!






Here are some after Christmas images:Madison asleep on daddy playing wii ...this has happened now 3 times!!
Her new arm position every time she watches baby einstien and her big brother protecting her from Renegade while she watches her baby einstein. TOO CUTE!

A Christmas Carol

Last night Madison went to her 1st play to celebrate Papa's birthday and the coming of her first christmas. A Christmas Carol at the Glendale Theater

Daddy and I took turns with her in the upstairs lobby area because the noises where to much for her BUT she had the luxury of meeting most of the actors and actresses and they just adored her. They loved her outfit and even more they loved her smiles. We even had patrons attending the show comment on just how wonderful she is and how awesome it was that we were getting her started at such a young age. One guy said "This is the age you gotta start them, then they fall in love!" Sounds like a plan! I've always wanted to go to more plays or ballets and just never did, now I have the perfect reason!

The whole cast was singing on the way out the door and they all waved and said by to her as we left. So sweet! She may not remember it but I sure will.

Don't worry mommy and daddy enjoyed the show too...Daddy got to watch it on a monitor in the kids dressing room and Mommy was able to hear all the wonderful music. And we took turns and got to see the play while the other one was enjoying baby time.

The lord sent us an angel in the form of a fussy baby about 12 minutes down the road, when we got back on there was a very bad accident. So we are glad we had to get off the highway even if it meant sitting in some traffic...I'll take that any day over being the one in the accident.

Thanks Nana and Happy Birthday Papa!

Weights

At less than a quarter of a mile today my knee said..."NO WAY!" to 3 miles so I decided to see my 1 mile time..even though I had basically jogged my first lap at a speed of 5.3 I decided to see what kind of time I could get out of the next 3 laps. 1 mile completed in 10:15. I was hoping for 10 but what did make me happy was I finished at a speed of 7.6 without completely gasping for breath at the end and my heart rate was not through the roof! That made me happy.

I decided to add some weights to my workout. I've always struggled with weights in that I tend to lift heavy and try for heavier and heavier. This is something I CAN NOT do right now. I need to lift lighter and slim this "baby body" down before putting the muscle back on. So today was a upper body re-introduction with some simple exercises..one per muscle group. Then I did some abs and away I went.

My body felt my previous run, again not something I would call sore but I definitely felt it. As to be expected.

All in all, its feeling good to be back.

Reason for the Season

With all the plays, concerts, errands, cooking, shopping and running around its easy to forget the reason for the season.....and why this is called the "Most Wonderful time of year"

Today in church we discussed the stresses of the holiday season and where given a good reminder of what the season is really all about.

This year its hard not to let financial stresses make us forget what its all about...I think we are guilty of thinking about the best gift for that person or this person, the most unique toy for the kids or the "MUST HAVE" of the season OH and don't forget the neighbors, the co-workers, the pets and the distant cousins.

The financial stress hit home and it hit hard this year...but we are very happy to have been able wrap presents and put them under the tree AND we were also able to wrap presents for each family member on Christmas day. The sacrifices we made to our personal needs to make this happen are something I know we would do again to see smiles on the faces of the ones we love and each other.

Thankfully we are blessed to not feel some of the other stresses they talked about in church today.....we have a great relationship, we are both healthy, and we are emotionally strong and happy. All things said we have every reason to take time and remember the reason for the season.

We are very blessed to have each other, our favorite lil girl Madison and a growing family!!

maybe next year secret santa..LOL!

God Bless and enjoy this youtube link to help bring humble you for a moment in this chaotic yet wonderful time of year...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSSsNbF29I

Forward Progress

Day 3 update

My goal today was to make it 2.5 miles in somewhat of a decent time. GOAL CRUSHED! I did 3 miles today in 33 minutes. Happy with the distance the time needs work, but I'm only on run 3 since starting.

I improved my speed on my first two miles and after a short walk and some water completed my last mile. Mentally this is all still a huge challenge and humiliating but I'm coming along. When my first two miles felt decent I decided to make it 3, at 2.5 my knee starting popping but I wasn't ready to stop so after a 1/4 of a mile the popping stopped and I was able to finish 3 miles.

Speed update: I was jogging regularly on the treadmill at a speed of 6.3 - 6.8 finishing at 7.2 - 7.8. Today I ran 5.3-5.8 and finished at 6.3 then sprinted the end at 6.8.

All I can say is I'm making forward progress and that made me feel good after the gym today...I needed that!

Across the Miles

Madison has now traveled almost 5,000 miles at the ripe old age of 3 months. She and I flew to Nashville, TN then drove down to Milton, FL and did it all in reverse a week later.

Her first flight was picture perfect, not a whimper. A guy sitting behind us even stated at the end of the flight, "I'll fly next to that baby any day!". Proud mommy! :)

We then went to visit Auntie Jennifer, Ann and then to Chris and Mandy's house where they so graciously (last minute) let us stay before our long road trip.

Road Trip: So I was very nervous about the road trip, Madison doesn't sleep long in her carseat and she doesn't like being in it. She likes to kick and play, lie flat on her back and be held..you can do none of these in a car seat. Another proud mommy! She did great..4 stops and we made it in 8 hours. I did spend the entire time with my hand helping keep her pacifier in her mouth but thats OK.

She is a very lucky lil girl and got to meet her Great Grandma..not many get to have that luxury. We visited her grandma's grave, hung out with lil Chloe (my dads dog), visited a friend and went and got pictures made with Great Granny. Upon arrival I heard from Granny...Did you feed that baby?, you need to feed that baby, I bet that baby is hungry, AND Is that baby wet?, do you need to change that baby, I bet that baby needs to be changed..OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER. But the morning i left I got the best compliment out of my toughest and most honest critic ever.."You are a really great mother." That put a TON of pep in my step and makes me smile as I type it! It also made up for her "So when do you get to start working on your midsection again?" comment. :) LOVE HER!

On the return drive we made 7 stops and made it in 6 hours (not sure how that happened, but it did). She met a TON of her Nashville family this time..Chera got a nice long visit and Andrea, Judy, Boogle, Katherine, Candace, DeMonty, the donelson pike Shoney's and Sarah all came out to give her good loving at lunch! :)


The return flight was a little rough in the beginning...she was sound asleep and had an explod-a-poop. yep entire outfit needed to be changed, blanket and boppy pillow were not spared either. :) After a brief (maybe 30 second) screaming session she slept the entire flight back to Cali. WHOOHOO!

As a mommy this was exhausting but she made it so easy and so wonderful! Thank heavens for an easy child with a melt your heart smile!

P.S....the planes don't give infants their flight wings...but she deserved them for sure!

Back to the Races

I'm back to the gym. After not being able to get my heart rate up at all due to Madison's lil heart in utero and not having a pump to get milk for the hubby while I went to the gym it has now been 6 months since I worked out or went on a run. Its been hard but I'm back to the Races! I plan to document on this blog my return to the run and hopefully returning to my next half or full marathon by spring. Knee surgery didn't stop me, pregnancy won't either.

The first day was HUMILIATING!! Mentally I'm still the fit runner I've always been but time away tells a different story. It was a painful realization that I am starting at a new bottom! I've never been this out of shape EVER!!

I completed my 1 mile goal in 11:45..UGH! Then I did 100 or so ab exercises and away I went. Resulted in my entire body feeling it the next day but I wouldn't say I was sore..just more of a wake up call.

My weight is currently 7 lbs less than when I found out I was pregnant last december but you would never guess it looking at my body! It also tells a different story. I have no goal of weight loss just to tone up and see what happens. But I currently weigh in at 143-ish. I would HATE to know my bodyfat percentage..something else humiliating I will probably admit on this blog later. Do you realize that I once weighed 136 with a body fat percentage of 7..NOT A TYPO..7% bodyfat..I rocked it too! I may never see 7% again, nor do I want to...but I MUST get it down from where it is now!

Workout number two (still concentrating solely on running and some core exercises)
2 miles 24 minutes..UGH UGH UGH! Then a couple hundred ab exercises. I have doubled what I did only 2 days ago, but saying it that way is just making me feel better! Still didn't accomplish much mentally.

Cheers!