Merry Christmas!

Just a little note to say Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends out there!  May your day be merry and bright!  And don't forget the REASON we celebrate!!

A little cheer from my oldest!!

I am very bad at this

This blogging thing.  Really, a stay at home mom should be able to find at least a few minutes a week to be able to jot some thoughts down, but alas, here we are again.  Weeks between blogs. So to stave off your anger, how about some cute little faces!

My sweet sweet girl

Oh this boy, he always finds a way to melt my heart!

Too big......

Too fast!!!!!

Daddy and his girl!  It doesn't get any better than that!

I love my blogging friends

Especially my friend Leah over at  behindthestonewall

She cracks me up almost every single day! 

Thanks Leah for adding enjoyment to my day!  I love your blog :) 

Enjoying all of this

Being an Aunt it SO great and weird to be a first time aunt after having two kids!  I totally HATE leaving this sweet face

 I mean wouldn't you!?!  She is a precious little one and I just love her already, heck, most of us loved her before she was born!  And Katie is a great mommy and Matt is a GREAT daddy!!  Love you all!!

Also love when my kids met her.  Wy kept nuzzling her face......

and Leah kept kissing her on the lips and doing this....saying "ahhhhh"

 This is gonna be fun!!!

Happy Birthday baby girl!!

I have the cutest Neice in the whole world!  Welcome to the world Maelynn you are a long awaited blessing!  I cannot wait to hold and snuggle you in the days to come!  You are one special little girl and your mommy is one awesome lady!

Love you!!

Maelynn Grace!!!!

My niece is going to arrive tomorrow!!! I am just a LITTLE excited!!! 

Congrats!

A BIG to congrats to brother Dave on getting engaged to the beautiful Caitlin!!!  We are SO excited for both of them and their upcoming marriage!!!  Love you guys!

These days

Well not much to blog about.  We've been pretty boring these days.  I am all recovered from the race, and have started training for my next one, a 10k.  I'm excited to keep me going on this whole weight loss journey.  I have lost 27 pound so far and do still have a LONG way to go.  Its frustrating at times, but I know that I am doing as much as I can at this point!

Hubs is doing well, still waiting on word from the church on if this job will be permanent.  Which is a little frustrating.  We are STILL in the parents basement.  It has been such a blessing to be able to have this place, our own space here, but I'm ready to be out, back on our own.  I feel like a teenager most of the time just because I am living with my parents again.  It has really been an amazing experience with very few bumps in the road, we're just ready.  Its hard to be patient waiting on God during this time, we probably wont' know anything about the job until December, and at first I was VERY frustrated, but then I decided it was just God's way of slowing us down a little and allowing us to save more money for a down payment. His timing is perfect, and I want HIS best for us not just my best!  Thankful for a God who always takes care of us!

Wy-man is doing great!  Growing like a weed.  And growing up even faster!  I say to him practically every day "STOP growing!!" and he says to me "I can't mom, well, I'll stop when I'm like 9 no 10"  He's hilarious!! So much fun (most days) :)  We have been doing some "school" to get him a little focused on next year. I can't believe that is almost that time!  Crazy!  I love my little man!

Bean is as crazy as ever!  She is growing like crazy too.  Really this job goes way to fast for as slow as some days can seem!!  She is started to really really talk, some times we understand the words, sometimes not but she is trying to communicate.  More importantly she understands most everything!  I can give the child instructions and she will follow everything (her brother still doesn't do that)  We can also ask her questions about things and she'll nod her head or shake it.  Its awesome!  Very helpful to be able to communicate with her a little.  She is trying to run, which is adorable, and is getting faster every day.  She tucks her little arm up like a wing and off she goes.  She is a great eater and most days a great sleeper, she just wakes up at the crack of dawn! 

Well that's us. Not much to tell!!  Auntie Katie's gonna have her baby very soon and we are SOOO excited for that!!!

Family Pictures

So we decided to have another family photo shoot with the amazing Katie Hall, and well, she did not disappoint!!  I LOVE all the pictures, really, can't choose a few, I love them all!  If you live in the area and want a GREAT photographer, please give Katie Hall Creative a call!!  So, without further ado!

Handsome little man....when did he grow up!  I tell him to stop daily and he refuses!

Peek a boo with Sissy!

SOOO big!!

Sweet big brother!

Favorite favorite!!

Love this one, very stylish!

I LOVE the joy in this picture!

First pic of the shoot!!  Before she started hating the fields we were in!

2nd fav...just with Wy was looking!

This is how she looked most of the time, honestly don't know how Katie got ANY good after the start of the shoot!

LOVE THESE NEXT TWO FACES!!

Very proud of her rock!

Katie was sticking her tongue out so they did it back!

I DID it!!

Well, I can happily report that I survived my first Half Marathon!!!  The whole thing was so much fun, mostly because I did it with some great people!  One of which reminded me so much before the race to just soak it all in, the beautiful day, the beautiful city, the beautiful weather!  Really put my mind in the right place to start the race!  Thanks Jude!!! 

It took us at least 25 minutes to cross the start line...super annoying, maybe it was because of these 20,000 people running the race...

but we finally did and about 100 steps later I got my first glimpse of my cheering squad (these beautiful people +my dad)!
 

Here's their view of seeing me for the first time!

What a jolt to get the race started.  We did the first 5 miles through downtown Philly.  Beautiful and it went by fast because we kept turning and there was so much to look at. (I'm not in this picture, just people running back out of downtown)

 Me running past before the.....

longest 4 miles of my life.  I had to walk some here.  Mostly through water stations, but I was SO disappointed I was walking.  Seriously, I had been training for SO long and I was angry I was walking.  The next 4 miles were a little better, some down hill so that helped. I just kept willing myself to keep going and eventually I saw mile 13 and had to just concentrate on the finish line to keep from sobbing my eyes out!  What an emotional rush. All of those people cheering and hearing the announcer cheering specific people in that he picked out from the crowd.  SO much fun.  My mom kept saying afterward that she thought that the finish was what is was gonna be like in heaven!  The angels cheering us in while someone announces our names.  Some sprinting to the finish, some just powering through, some walking, some being carried through on stretchers and some not being called at all.  Deep mom, a cool parallel

Walked through the post race runners area.  Got my awesome finishers medal and some MUCH needed cold water, cytomax a banana and some fruit and then found my family.  I really wish I had a camera with me on the course to take pictures of what I saw.  maybe next time I will!

Cheesy picture of me with my medal

This is how I found my sweet sissy girl...sleeping through the loudest music on earth!!

Me and my sweet boy!  I loved seeing that face throughout the race!

So that's it, I'd do it again.  Maybe after the next baby.....maybe bofore. Already planning on an 8K in November.   I have a long way to go in my weight loss journey..before we have another baby :) but I'm getting there!!!  This was a great accomplishment along the way!

T-minus one day

So I leave in four hours for Philly to pick up my packet for the half marathon tomorrow.  If I sound obsessed, its because this training has been all consuming.  I have appreciated the incentive to get out and run everyday, but it has been overwhelming at times.  But it has also been amazing.  I have really regained a love for running.  To challenge yourself and put your mind in charge of your body is fun.  To tell yourself you CAN do this and continue on.  It makes the verse in the Bible "I beat my body and make it my slave" have new meaning.  And it also challenges me in my daily walk, to "beat my body " in other ways.  If I can force myself to run 12 miles, why can't I force myself to control my tongue, etc.  So, running has been a spiritual challenge as well as a physical challenge. 

I am looking forward to the race.  Hoping I sleep tonight and am not too nervous.  I am also nervous about leaving my kiddos.  This is the first time leaving Leah.  I'm not really worried, but this is the first time since I have had kids, I am leaving by myself.  Weird!  Pray they sleep tonight for their daddy since he's gotta go to church in the morning! 

Ok, I'll report how it goes to all you (haha ) faithful readers when I get back!!

Its coming

My race is offficially ONE WEEK away!!! Ahh, I'm scared and excited all at the same time!  I feel like I'm ready, and REALLY trusting my schedule that I am ready.  I'm so excited for this accomplishment and ready for this to be done.  To actually run when I want and how much I want to.  I think it will be more fun from now on, becuase I know I can push myself harder than I have before!  Awesome feeling!  Pray for me though, I'm sick.  I haven't been sick in A LONG time and now, of course, one week before running a half marathon, I'm sick.  Popping the vitamins drinking the water and trying to get as much sleep as I can with a 16 month old and a 4 year old running around.  Sometimes I swear they are conspiring to NEVER let me sleep well. 


I digress....back to the race.  If your curious what race it is, it is this one!!!! Heard it was awesome!  My family is coming to watch me run and I'll be there with a TON of people!.  Ok, now I think I am babbling!  I'll keep you posted!!

12 miles

Another week of training has passed.  And while the week itself was bad, after two days rest on Saturday I was able to run 12.35 miles!!!!!!!  Believe it or not I felt better on this run than any run before.  I am pretty sure I could have kept going!  That is until Cindi, who I was running with, ran back to me after finishing and made me sprint to the end!  It was great to be pushed!!!  This past week I found myself not wanting to do the race at all, but after Saturday, I am excited!  It will be a huge accomplishment!  I have lost a few pounds, (25 total so far) and a toenail, and I am in MUCH better shape!  Feels good!  Here's to running friend!!!

Training

So I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I am training for a half marathon.  Have been for the last 12 weeks or so.  I need to lose all this baby weight (and then some) and I do for the most part enjoy running.  But let me tell you, this has been hard!  Very rewarding in a lot of ways, but it takes a lot of time.  I am running 4 times a week anywhere from 3 miles to today's longest distance so far of 10 miles.  Yeah that right.....10 miles.  Two weeks ago I ran 9 miles and then when I tried to run for the next Monday I looked and felt like a 90 year old woman and had to take the rest of the week off.  At least til Friday.  My legs started to feel better but its just been SLOW going since then.  I had 3 very unsuccessful runs this past week my 6 was cut short by daylight and my 5 was cut short by my brain.  I hit a WALL!  I couldn't get past it.  But I was determined to get 10 in today.  So I put my mind to it.  I had to stop and walk 3 times, but I gave myself a goal to start again and only ended up walking less than .25 of a mile. The route was actually almost 10.5 so I probably ran at least the 10 miles.  No matter how many times I say it, it still sounds cool.  I ran 10 miles! 

Bring on the race!

Happy Birthday Wy! (a few days late)

MY BOY IS 4 YEARS OLD!!! 

How did this happen?!  No really, how did time go by this fast!  I cannot believe he is four!  We haven't had a birthday party yet because his daddy has been away all week Loving His Neighbor :)  But this weekend is the big family party, great grandparents and all!!  But for his actual birthday we had a pizza lunch and baked 72 cupcakes to take to the church where his dad is for all the youth group kids to celebrate with us!  Then, I let him stay up til his actual birth time!  9:33pm and then I told him about the day he was born!  Holy emotional!  I carried him to bed and got all teary remembering that "4 years ago" (for all my siblings) I was holding my new little boy in my arms for the first time! 

I am so in love with this little boy!  Sure, he makes me want to pull my hair out at times, but mostly he is sweet and kind.  He LOVES music, trains, tractors, airplanes, Cars, and lately....much to my chagrin, playing "guns" oh boy, I was not ready for that!  He also LOVES his little sister!  Does a little cheer whenever she wakes up for the day or from her nap!  He is becoming protective too which is very sweet!  This little boy has brought us SO MUCH joy!!  I count it a privileged to be his mommy!  Love you sweet boy!

SO busy!

Chris has recently taken a new full time job.  He is now the interim youth pastor at Ogletown Baptist Church.  It is an exciting experience for us but has also made us very busy.  Which I am using as my excuse for not blogging.  My brother keeps yelling at me that I don't blog enough.....but we live close now so why is he yelling.  Anyway, back to our busy schedule.  This summer we have already had VBS, and a week of Jr. High camp at BBC which was awesome.  As well as every week we are having "Wet and wild Wednesday's" (if you live in the area and are of high school age, feel free to join us!)  All fun, but super busy.  Hey, have I said we've been busy...  We are home only for the weekend to attend a birthday party and a wedding and turn right back around to go back up to TLC at BBC again.  Then back home for a week with friends from out of town (which will be super awesome) and then "Love your Neighbor Cooperative" LYNC  at church.  We will be helping our "neighbors" around the area all week.  Then a week off then pretty much back to school stuff.  Man o Man, I'm exhausted just writing this.  All the while I have been training for the Rock and Roll half marathon in Philly in September.  A huge time commitment, but I am super excited.  Hoping to lose 20lbs by the time the race gets here (a little over 10 weeks away)  WOW!

Oh well, that's a little bit of us.  Maybe it will be sooner when I blog again.  I'm sure I'll get some encouragement from my brother to get with it ;) 

Confessional

Seems like a lot of my blogging friends out there are into getting to know each other. So I guess I will join in.  Here are some useless facts you don't know you want to know about me :)

1.  I have two young kids so we watch cartoons.  I secretly love the show Chugginton on Disney.  Don't know why, just do.

2.  I would rather do anything else in the world than clean.....I know I have to do it, but I find a lot of excuses not to do it.  I know WAY too many people who can't stand if there house has a little spec of dirt on the floor.  I am not one of those.

3.  I LOVE to sleep, but with two kids don't get nearly enough.  In fact, I have not slept through the night since I was pregnant with Wyatt.  Seriously, not the whole night!!  I'm thinking this might have something to do with the fact that I am having a hard time losing weight.  I have been challenging myself to go to bed at 10pm lately,  maybe that will help

4.  I am SCARED to death to run a half marathon (much less a marathon) but am going to do it in September!!

It's your party...be sick if you want to!

So I think I am the world's worst blogger!  Days and days (and sometimes weeks) go by and I don't blog.  I'll try to be better.

We had baby girls birthday party last Sunday afternoon.  Poor thing had been sick since the Thursday before.  Seriously sick on Saturday.  She was awake a total of 3 hours on Saturday, high fever, etc.  She was miserable.  Thankfully her fever broke Saturday evening so we could still have her party.  Sunday she stayed home from church (thanks grandma) and got some rest so that when all of the guests arrived, she was a happy little girl.  She ate a bite of cake and that gave her some energy and she was adorable.  She sat in a chair and opened her presents...mostly by herself.  All in all a great day with family, the Morris contingent even made it here from up north!  Yay!


Happy Birthday my dear sweet baby girl!  We are SO thankful for you!

Yummy cake and cupcakes.  Box cake, my sister and I made the frosting and the flowers.  I got the idea from Bakerella  a VERY creative blog on baking!