four mile thursday

Kevin has an MD appointment this morning and doesn't have to leave till 8. I ran four miles with the extra time I had this morning. I really think 4 miles and a 45 minute run feels better than the 30 minute run I usually do. Why is that? It was cool this morning but I warmed up quickly and the sun rise was magnificent. One week and I will be trotting with the rest of the turkeys!!! It will be a good race.
Meanwhile I came up with a few more Christmas gift ideas today on my run. yeah!

Stroller Again

Big M was in the bed with us this morning and turned off the alarm for us...what a sweety-she already knows how to snooze the alarm for us and was just helping. So I missed my jog time. I bundled up the girls and went for a jog after Kevin left. It was not a breezy day so I had a better time jogging. I did not do my full jog but I went far enough. I always think the hardest part of exercising is getting your shoes on!
My mom has decided jogging is not for her so she is going to walk the trot. Her trainer that was going with us just busted up her hamstring at a marathon this weekend so I may be trotting by myself on Thanksgiving. Kevin is very supportive-it will get me in gear for the big day in December.
Thank goodness I jogged today I guess I will try again tomorrow.

Turkey Trot

I signed up for the Ft. Worth Turkey Trot this week. It is a little over 3 miles and early in the morning. I guess the idea is that if you run that morning you feel less guilty about eating all that pie later in the day. I am excited. It will be a good warm up before the BIG run on Dec 14th.
I am keeping up with running, not as often as I should, but I am doing it still. Four miles takes a bit longer than I can dedicate during the week, but weekends will be where I can train longer these next few weeks.

We have been going and going and going all week and I am going to take a bit of time today to do what I want. We leave in the morning for a wedding in Austin and next week I am not doing a thing!!! (yeah right!)

Little M is 6 months old

Hello there,

It is the 11th of the November, which means little M has turned 6 months old! We can not imagine our family or life without her. Yet it has been such a short time she has been with us.

This past weekend we made the trip to Amarillo for my grandmother Ione to finally meet little M. They got along great. You can see in the picture that they had a fun time getting to know each other. Little M is GG Ione's third great grandchild (She will get two more this week when my brother and his wife adopt their kids on Thursday!) Little M didn't really like being in her car seat for 6 hours on the drive to and from Amarillo but she made the best of it. Big Sister always has fun on these trips and was a trooper this time as well!

In the pictures you can see how she is growing, she is scooting around on her belly, she may be like Big M and never really crawl. And she is eating now. We love the pictures where she looks like "what is this stuff???" She enjoys eating though and it has helped her to sleep through the night more regularly. Her first tooth broke through just yesterday and the second is not far behind I am sure.

Kevin is very active with our girls in the evening and they have all been piling into the big leather chair and reading stories before bed lately. Little M loves the stories and touching the books. She is growing so fast and we are loving every minute of her. We hope that this finds you and your family well as we gear up for Thanksgiving-I just saw a woman yesterday at the store buying more chicken broth than should be allowed. Please know that you are in our prayers-may you have a Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are.

Happy Veterans Day today!

Run, Run, Run

I ran this morning. Last week, I ran once, but today feels like the start of a new routine. We were away this weekend and no time to run. It felt great to run this morning and get my body moving after being in the car for so long this weekend.
Little M is sleeping better through the night. Fall is coming and the temperature and weather are beautiful. I had a few rain drops on me this morning but the breeze in my face was exhilarating.
What a great start to the week!

Jogging Stroller

I got a jogging stroller last week from Craigs List. The first thing I have ever bought off of Craig List and I got it for a song. Really nice, brand new double stroller. Right after I got it though I came down with a killer ear infection. I have taken off this week to let my body rest and heal. Today though, I got back on the trail.
I bundled the girls up for the 50's and headed out. It totally kicked my butt. It is much harder to jog without moving your arms and fighting to push the stroller ahead of you. I lasted about 20 minutes and then walked the rest of the way. Thank God I don't have to push the stroller during the race in a few weeks!!!
We leave for Amarillo tomorrow. My 94 year old grandmother is very excited to meet her third great-grandchild. It will be a fun and memorable weekend. We will see if I get any jogging done; if not. Next Monday I'll be back out there.

Sunflowers

I teach natural childbirth. I really teach dads how to coach moms through labor and birth. They are the coaches, it is a complicated job to help a woman birth a baby naturally. My husband was my coach for both of my births, both natural. He is also my coach now. It is a beautiful snuggly Saturday and it would have been great to stay in bed, but he got me up and said he was proud of my efforts and how much running I am doing. That felt great!

I have slept for two nights straight and have realized how much energy it was costing me being up to nurse little M at night. Wahoo for babies sleeping through the night!!!

There are beautiful sunflowers along my run. They are behind an iron fence so I can run right by them, it makes me feel like they are in the zoo or something-caged. But they are so bright and cheerful, it is a nice change from the brick fence I run along most of the time.