Let's Play Catchup

I have been super busy with A LOT on my plate lately. Surprising, my blogging has suffered, not only here but on my fitness blog as well. As a matter of fact, I should be sleeping right now because I am getting up at 430 tomorrow morning to make sure I have time to workout before I go to work at 615. Agh. Anyway, this blog is about my daughter in life and stuff and I know that my sisters want pictures of Makayla, and I promise I will get back to taking some, but I just need time to breathe. We both do. Makayla isn't feeling well, as a matter of fact her cough is a little worse and it concerns me to the point that I am giving her breathing treatments twice a day. If it isn't better by Friday, I am calling the pediatrician. Maybe she needs her other medication refilled, I have no idea. Makayla is a trooper in all of this, she usually does what I ask her too, and lately she has been holding her mask for her breathing treatment herself with only a little confrontation and whine. Whining is how I know she doesn't feel well. Anyway, to try to make things a little better around here, I am hopefully getting our Christmas tree this weekend. I am hoping for Fri so that I can put it up and it can rest and then Saturday we can decorate it, but I am flexible. It is my four day weekend so hopefully I will get some Christmas in my house.
The blogging might start to be a little more vague then usual when it comes to other aspects of my life outside of Makayla because things here are weird. I will leave it at that, but I will ask for some prayers and good vibes. The next couple weeks are going to be really hard here and I am just hoping that God will show his plans to me.

With that being said, I hope to take some pictures tomorrow of Makayla or at least have something good to blog about. Tomorrow I will be in the Operating room working with DaVinci, he really needs a better name, our robot DaVinci, not DaVinci himself. So, hopefully I don't get out too late that I can spend time with Makayla but also blog. Have a good night!

More Photos from Chicago

As you know for the end of October we went to Chicago. As you also know, Hurricane Sandy prevented us from coming home which equalled an extra day in Chicago. It was awesome! My sister lives in a beautiful little town, and the accessibility to parks made me jealous. Anyway, the kids all together had all sorts of fun, and seeing them do yard work made me wish I had a yard. Anyway, here are some pictures from the adventures in leave raking...

 

All the kids were excited to help, Makayla preferred to help her Joe-Joe.

 Here, we were trying to encourage the kids to jump in the pile of leaves, instead, they preferred to rake them..

 Makayla saw that Jacob was watching, he became her baby, and she wanted to kiss him ALL.THE.TIME.

 Don't worry, the kids were supervised. I think Jaime loved the fact that they yard was getting raked. I LOVED raking the leaves, it made me wish I had a yard.

Makayla is looking at her work. She loved the rake, maybe for next year, I will get her her own.

 

She tried to be gentle, but really enjoyed kissing Jacob. She really loved him, and misses him. She talks about Jacob, Joe-Joe, Joe-Joe's mama and Joe-Joe's dada all the time. Other than the drive home, I think she enjoyed herself. I know that I miss it and cannot wait until our next trip. Thanks Jaime for having us!

Over the river and through the woods...

Yesterday was the Quiet Valley Rooster Run. My friend Stef and I signed up for it without really knowing anything about it. Once we got there, we found out that the run benefits Quiet Valley Farm.  Read all about the farm here.  I do have to admit, it was a challenging course.  Let's just say, the course started with a hill that was approximately 1/4 mile long straight through the woods. I admit, I thought I was prepared since I used to run at Jacobsburg, but like I said, "used to."  I really need to look into changing that. Just like Jacobsburg, there were inclines, declines, flat areas, rolling hills, steep pitched hills, even a bridge to run over.  While I was not prepared for the run, I do have to say how beautiful the run itself was.  The race started in a field (not sure if it is associated with the farm) and then traversed over the river and through the woods. Do I have any complaints about this course, no, just that I wish I was more prepared for the hilly terrain.  There were even piles of horse manure you needed to navigate around, all in a days work, right? My friend Stef developed some pain, so when running it became tougher for her, I told her our objective was just to finish it. When she needed to walk, I walked with her. When she could run, I ran with her. I did not and would never leave her behind, that is not what friends do. We signed up together, there is no way we wouldn't finish together.  Would I run this race again, possibly, depending on what races I find this time next year, and what else we have going on. I believe that there was something after the race where we could tour the farm.  Maybe Makayla would be interested in that, but we will see what next year brings.
My sister J and her entire family are in from Chicago. This is a BIG deal to me because yesterday I got to meet my nephew Jacob for the first time. He is absolutely adorable. He is tiny, and I don't ever remember Makayla being that little. He is so long, and so precious, I couldn't wait to hold him. However, Makayla is not yet used to me holding other babies, so I had to wait to hold him.  Later we went to my cousin Kim and Phil's. They were having a meet and greet of their sweet baby girl Stella. Stella was born a month early and she is doing great! Holding her is like holding nothing, but she is so awesome. At this meet and greet, I got to hold Jacob. He is the sweetest little boy with the deepest blue eyes. I am sad that my sister and her family live so far away, but hopefully, now that things are changing around here (the hubs finally got a job after 2 months of not working) M and I will be able to make trips out there. I believe they are doing something around Joey's birthday for both his birthday and Jacob's baptism, so if that stays as planned, we will be going out to Chicago then. And then we will be able to plan trips hopefully more frequently.
Hey...did you see the new badge on my page?!? I am now a Sweat Pink Ambassador. Their mission

"We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we’re also no strangers to just rolling out of bed and going. We’re convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourselves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We’re all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We’re all for looking great and feeling even better. We’re committed to finding our best fit, and making it stick."

I believe I will be able to live this mission as it is my mission to push myself and yet give myself a break. In the days to come, I will be learning more about what this means and will be sharing that with you.

Things around here are starting to look up, thank you for sticking around, I promise it will be an interesting adventure.

What doesn't kill you...

Makes you stronger.  The Kelly Clarkson song Stronger, while is not about being this kind of strong, fits completely. " What doesn't kill you makes you stronger/ Stand a little taller/ Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone/ What doesn't kill you makes you fighter" So, today, 2 days later I am finally feeling the affects of the steps.  I am not complaining, it actually feels good to know that something is working on making me a better, stronger runner.   I found this picture today, and thought it was perfect..

http://www.positivequotes.us/

I will have to remember that when I hit the steps again next week.  I know that these steps will help me in the long run and while I was disappointed I couldn't run all of the steps 10 times, I did take that first step and I did run them 10 times. That is huge for me. And crazy me, is looking forward to doing it again next week. I had every intention of going to the gym this morning, but Makayla had other plans. I went to kiss her goodbye and she said "Hi, Mommy!" She wanted nothing to do with me leaving so instead I just held her and we nuzzled and hung out. I made breakfast, she wanted breakfast. She wanted my cereal with milk, so I gave her cereal with milk.  I have to say, I really enjoyed the time we got to spend together this morning even though it meant I didn't get to go to the gym. I am sure there are going to be days when she wants nothing to do with me, so I will hold onto these moments forever.  While I am hoping the pain in my calves is only temporary, since I have a 5K tomorrow. It is the Quiet Valley Rooster Run. From what I read, it is mixed terrain and cross country. I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, but with a name like Quiet Valley Rooster Run, it has to be fun right. Stick around tomorrow, I will sure to tell you all about it.

Speaking of tomorrow, my sister J and her family is coming in from Chicago tonight, er um tomorrow for the weekend. I am finally going to meet my month old nephew for the first time. I am sure the kids are going to be up to no good, and I cannot wait! Have a great Friday!

Happy Halloweenie Birthday

Today is my nephew's third birthday. Yes, I know it is also Halloween, but it is more importantly his birthday. This year, my folks are there celebrating it with him. In 2 short months our daughter's first birthday will be here and then the grandkids are 1, 3, 5. Good numbers huh? Anyway, this is about him. I love how much Joey loves my daughter. He calls her His Kayla. He loves on her so much. He hugs her and kisses her, it makes my heart melt. Well, this is how he is with Shae too, but there is something about how he loves on my daughter that makes any day better. Whenever we miss him, I think about how much love he has for her, our trip to the Shore, for example when he never wanted to see her go. It is exciting to see how much their loves grow as they get older. Anyway, since my daughter is not able to sing it to you yet, here is a HAPPY BIRTHDAY video for you Joey. Hope you have a great birthday! Hopefully next year we will be there with you!

MIA

Soo sorry. I haven't posted in a while. It's not that I didn't want too, it's just, who wants to read about a walk that I took my daughter on? There are a lot of more interesting stuff going on in the world and it seems like my little corner of the world is insignificant. I did however find some pictures from when my sister J came to visit from Chicago. It was great to see her, I know Makayla enjoyed the visit.


Now that I am 3-11 at work, I will try to do my best to take more photos. The weather is starting to get nicer out, so we will definitely be outside more. Here's to a great week!