Moments In Our Lives

I thought I would share a couple of videos we took of Abby this last week. The first one is of her trying to learn how to do a sommersault. She actually can do one on her own but I have yet to be able to catch it on camera. The second video is of her "shaking her groove thing" with me. She likes to copy some of my stellar dance moves!

This photo is what we found emerging from our closet one night. She will often go into our closet and pull off all the clothes from the hangers on the bottom row so we try to keep her out of it as much as possible. While Jason and I were talking, we noticed we hadn't heard Abby in a while (always a sign of trouble) and we found her in our closet dressed in her "gangsta" best. We thought she looked pretty fun and of course as soon as we started laughing, she had to ham it up even more.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our home this year. My sister Lara and her family arrived on Wednesday night and stayed through Saturday and my sister Tasha and her husband came in the next day around noon and also stayed through the weekend. Jason made an excellent turkey and we all enjoyed eating the delicious food. We ended up having 9 adults and 4 children for Thanksgiving dinner including my two cousins and one of Tasha's friends from work. I was a little worried about how we would accomodate so many people, but everything went very smoothly and we all enjoyed a wonderful day of thanks.

Here are a couple of cousins pictures we took over the weekend. Chloe (9), Paige (4), Abby (21 months) and Tyler (18 months) all had a great time playing together.

I am not sure why so many people are anxious to skip over Thanksgiving and move on to Christmas. I think Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday where we are surrounded by loved ones and can eat such great food all day long. We had a great time having everyone at our home this year and we hope to be able to do it again soon!!

Crazy 8...

Alona tagged me with this "crazy 8" thing so here's my list...

8 things I'm passionate about

8 - Having a clean house

7 - Not giving up when the going gets tough

6 - Being content with what life deals me

5 - Exercising/Running

4 - Having goals and achieving them

3 - My family

2 - My husband/Abby

1 - The Church/Heavenly Father/Jesus Christ

8 things I want to do before I die

8 - Run another marathon (non-pregnant this time!)

7 - Compete in a triathlon

6 - Visit every state in the United States

5 - Travel to China, Africa and Europe (ideally, visit every continent)

4 - Learn how to dance with my husband

3 - Own my own home

2 - Have more children

1 - Be happy!!

8 things I often say

8 - Prayers

7 - Really?

6 - So...(this one is courtesy of Jason's habit rubbing off on me)

5 - No. (This is said a lot with our crazy toddler!)

4 - Yeah.

3 - Thank you.

2 - I'm sorry.

1 - I love you.

8 books I've recently read

8 - The Big Animal Book (Abby's favorite)

7 - Uncle Tom's Cabin

6 - Harry Potter #7

5 - Twilight

4 - New Moon

3 - Eclipse

2 - Charlotte's Web

1 - The Book of Mormon

8 things I could listen to over and over

8 - My running music

7 - My husband saying "I love you"

6 - U2

5 - Phantom of the Opera soundtrack

4 - Les Miserables soundtrack

3 - Abby's giggles

2 - Abby singing "ABC, Three Blind Mice or Old McDonald's Farm"

1 - My husband singing me "my song"

8 things that attract me to my best friends

8 - Interesting

7 - They like me

6 - Principles and morals

5 - Get up and go type people

4 - They remember things I tell them

3 - Enjoy spending time with them

2 - Earn my respect/trust

1 - Easy to talk to/listen to

8 things I've learned this past year

8 - I'm a lot stronger than I ever imagined!

7 - Sometimes you have to agree to disagree

6 - Change is good!

5 - The Lord knows far better than I do what is right for me.

4 - If you want to do something, just do it!

3 - I can train for and finish a marathon!!!

2 - I can love my husband and daughter more each day

1 - Family is so very,very important so don't let the moments pass you by

Gettysburg

My dad was able to spend a few extra days with us after the marathon so we decided to take him to Gettyburg. We all enjoyed walking and driving around the different historical sites. It was a beautiful area, much like the Antietam Battlefield in a lot of ways. It was also very sobering to think about what had occurred on these grounds almost 150 years ago. I thought that I would include an excerpt from the Gettyburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln about 4 months after the Battle of Gettysburg concluded...

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

The Eternal Light Peace Memorial dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 during the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The beautiful grounds of the battlefield.

A replica of a Civil War cannon.

My dad trying to soak everything in. We could have been there for several days and still not seen everything.

The Gettyburg National Cemetery where almost 4,000 Union soldiers were buried and many more men and women who have served in an American War. This was also the site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

One of the things I love most about living in Maryland is being so close to so much history. We love it when people come to visit because it gives us a good reason to visit all of these historical places nearby. So all of those who haven't visited us yet (and that would be most of you!!), be sure to visit us soon!

Our Big Announcement

So I totally spilled the beans on my last post, but I thought I would share some more details here since it kind of got brushed over by the marathon update.

I took a pregnancy test on September 25th because I was a few days late and am usually pretty spot on regular as far as my cycles go. The only times I have even really been late or skipped have been when I have been training for past half marathons, so even though I was late, I was pretty sure that I wasn't pregnant and chalked it up to my marathon training. As you can see from the clear blue lines though, I was definitely expecting baby #2. I was really excited and I knew Jason would be thrilled to find out the news since he had been ready for #2 basically since Abby was about 2 weeks old!! I put the pregnancy test in a box and wrote "Congrats Dad" on the lid and gave it to him right before we ate dinner that night. Although we were all thrilled with the news, we had experienced two miscarriages in the past so we decided to put off telling most people until after our first doctor's visit and since that was scheduled just one week before the marathon, we decided to wait until after the big run to tell everyone. I am using the term "we" pretty loosely here because while Jason agreed to wait to tell people, it just about killed him to not share the news for over 7 weeks.

Less than a week after we received the positive pregancy test, the morning sickness (or rather "all-day-sickness") began. I never had it too bad, but it was kind of a constant nausea that would last most of the day and into the night. I had a hard time eating anything because nothing sounded good and between marathon training and no appetite, I was feeling pretty ill. I almost threw in the towel for the marathon in mid-October because, as many of you know, morning sickness sometimes makes it hard to even get out of bed in the morning, let alone get out of bed to face a 15-20 mile run. I endured the tough days and about two weeks ago, I started to feel a lot better and on race day, I had absolutely no nausea to contend with which was a small miracle. So far this pregnancy I have lost about 6 pounds and since I started out about 10 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight with Abby, I am hoping that I can postpone maternity clothes for as long as possible.

Everyone told me that I would probably start showing sooner this time around since this was my second, but still no bump yet. We had our first doctor's visit last week and everything looks great. When Abby got to see the ultrasound, we asked her what it was on the screen and she immediately said "Baby." That was pretty impressive because an 11-week old fetus only slightly resembles an actual baby. But then she said something that floored all of us, including the doctor and the nurse. She looked at the ultrasound picture and said "Baby in the water." We either have a really smart baby that could tell from a grainy picture that this little blob was a baby in the water, or she recalls her own fond memories of swimming around in mommy's tummy. Either way, we think she's a little genius!

We are thrilled about welcoming our second baby into our home on or around May 31, 2008, my official due date. I am also excited about not having to endure the last trimester of pregnancy in the heat of the summer. Jason is convinced that this one is a boy, I am kind of hoping for another girl, but all both of us really want is a healthy baby. And if he/she could be as wonderful as Abby has been, we would consider ourselves to be very lucky!

26.2 Miles...Been There, Run That!!

Saturday was an amazing day. I have wanted to run a marathon for so long, but it was always something do be done in the future. Even when I signed up and started training for it last summer, it still seemed a long time away. Last week, I had a hard time sleeping and was constanly feeling anxious, excited and nervous. I have run three half-marathons in the past and would typically get a little nervous the night before and the morning of, but never something that lasted an entire week! I think that running a marathon was such a huge goal and I was so nervous that something would go wrong that I just couldn't let myself relax. The moment the race started though, all my fears disappeared and I had a great experience. That's not saying it was easy though. Actually I think it ranks as the third hardest thing I have ever done, right behind giving birth to a 9-pound baby and serving an 18-month mission in Brazil. But having all of these complete strangers cheering and encouraging you along during the entire race was amazing and crossing that finish line was just incredible, more than words can even describe.

I ran with my two sisters Lara and Tasha. Lara ran out ahead and set a personal record for her third marathon. Tasha and I ran together from start to finish, and while we didn't finish fast, we did finish strong, and well....we finished which was our number one goal. I was hoping to finish with a better time, but I do have to cut myself some slack. Some of you know, but for those of you that don't know yet, I am almost 3 months pregnant with baby #2. My sister Tasha is 4 1/2 months pregnant also, so just finishing the marathon together was a huge accomplishment. Running a marathon is something that most people don't even attempt to do, and far fewer attempt to do it while pregnant so I am pretty proud of both of us.

Some people have since asked me if I think I will do another one. If you had asked me at mile 23 or 24, I would have said "Never again!" and meant it. But even just three days later, I am already thinking about another one. I think it's kind of like child birth, you need some time to separate yourself from the experience in order to think about doing it again. I will not run another one pregnant, but I would like to see how well I could do when I am not expecting. Only time will tell!!

But no matter if I do another one or not, for the rest of my life I can say that I am a marathon-finisher. And that makes me pretty happy!!

Here are the three of us at the starting line, waiting to begin our long journey through the streets of Richmond, Virginia. We were all pretty excited and nervous, but most of all, we were just ready to get the experience under way.

Here is a picture that Jason took of my least favorite part of the whole race. We ran across this bridge that seemed to be never-ending, especially as we faced some pretty strong winds as we ran across it.

All three of us ran with shirts that said "Dad's Legacy Continues...Fight On!" My dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer last July and is now facing the biggest battle of his life. He has always been such a great example to us of love, strength, commitment and dedication so we all decided to run to honor him and the legacy of life and running that he has passed down to each of us. It was very special to have him there, cheering us along. We love you Dad!!

Here is me receiving one of my most cherished possessions now, my finisher's medal. I would wear it everyday if people wouldn't stare at me funny!!

Here are our youngest fans cheering us along...Abby, my nieces Paige and Chloe and my nephew Tyler.

Here is some video of us crossing the starting line, at various points throughout the race and then crossing the finish line.

I do have to give a big shout out to my wonderful husband Jason. He has been my biggest fan and supporter throughout my training and especially on race day. He was there to cheer me on at the beginning, at mile 13, mile 19 and then at the finish. Thank you for your love and support. I appreciate it so much!!

Our High-Heeled Wonder...

So our little girl loves shoes, especially big people shoes. On Sunday, Abby's nursery teacher told me that she had taken off her high-heeled shoes in order to relieve her feet a little and before she knew it, Abby had taken off her own shoes and was walking around in her nursery teacher's high heels. On Sunday night, Abby decided to do the same thing with my Sunday shoes. She actually walks pretty well in them and you can tell she thinks that she is pretty hot stuff as she prances around the house wearing shoes that I even have a hard time walking in. She is quite the character and keeps us in constant laughter around here.

What the......?

The title of this blog is exactly what Abby was thinking as we took her out Trick-or-Treating last night for the first time. My sister Tasha came up for the big event and we all got a huge kick out of our cute little black cat. At the beginning, she appeared to be quite disturbed with all the people decked out in costumes roaming around our cul-de-sac (there were a ton of trick-or-treaters out in our neighborhood which was really fun to see.) It didn't help when we walked up to the first house where our next door neighbor was sitting outside in a gorilla costume. The next few houses she had to be carried since she was afraid of more ape sightings. She soon caught on that this was a pretty nifty idea though...walk up to people's houses, knock on their doors and they would give you candy. She even started to knock on the doors by herself and say "Trick-or-Treat" by the end of the night. We walked around for about 30 minutes and by the end, her little bucket was getting pretty heavy. She was dragging it on the ground, but nothing was going to make her let go of it, because she knew the precious commodity that was inside, lots and lots of candy!! As soon as we got home she quickly sat down to check out her loot. It has been a long time since any of us had been trick-or-treating and we all had a great time.

Abby looking cute in her costume, saying "Meow." Notice the cat carrying the doggie!!

Heading out the door for her first trick-or-treating experience.Still not quite sure what this was all about, but loving getting all the candy.Walking around with mom and a bunch of other trick-or-treaters.Knocking on the door all by herself, "Hey, this isn't so bad."Checking out her loot at the end of the night.