Saturday, April 14, 2012

My first 5K!

Over Easter, my sister told me about a 5K that her church was hosting this weekend benefiting Hope Hollow, a local camp for handicapped children. Paul and I have been working out pretty consistently for over a year now so I have really been wanting to do a 5K to see just where I am physically. Kaleb had another birthday party to attend at 11:30 today so I told Melodie that I wouldn't be able to do it. But she told me it starts at 9 and we should be done by 9:30-10:00. So I thought 'what do I have to lose?' I registered online Friday and showed up at 8:30 for my first ever 5K! I have to say that I was extremely nervous. Paul had other plans so I brought Kaleb and his stroller along. It got started a little late but when they yelled 'GO!', everyone started jogging. I was doing pretty good at first. I made it past the 1/2 mile mark before I got out of breath. I think that's pretty good for pushing an extra 40lbs of toddler and stroller. Kaleb did really well until about the Mile 1 marker. He did not want to bein the stroller anymore! So I let him out, hoping he would walk or run beside me for a few minutes, then want back in. This was the case for about 2 minutes, then he just stopped and refused to move. I picked him up and carried him for a minute or two but that was hard trying to push a stroller and carry a three year old. So I just put him back in the stroller, kicking and screaming and took off running! At the 1/2 mile left point, Kaleb decided he wanted out of the stroller, mid run! I swear I about ran him over! I ended up leaving the stroller in the Elementary school grass (where my car was parked) and carrying Kaleb, piggy back, to the finish line. When Melodie saw me from the finish line (she finished in under 30 minutes!), she ran and got Kaleb from me so I could finish strong! My final time was 46:20! I'm pretty happy with it considering having to deal with Kaleb. My next one will not involve a stroller though, I can tell you that much! Hills and a head wind make that thing feel like 100lbs! Here is a pic of me and Melodie after the race!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Better Late than Never

Sorry it has been so long since I updated! We have been going NON STOP for the last few weeks. I don't have all my pictures ready yet, but will upload them soon.
In case you didn't already know, Kaleb's birthday was March 29. My baby boy turned 3! I am still in shock at how fast the time has flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday when he was so tiny that I would sit and hold him for hours, just watching him breath.
It is so hard being away from family and trying to throw a birthday party. Kaleb is finally at the age where he really likes all the kids in his daycare class. He had been to everyone's birthday, which were SO much fun, that Paul and I decided that Kaleb would have not one, not two, but THREE birthday parties this year!
On March 25, we had Kaleb's 3rd birthday party at the Mississippi Children's Museum. It was such a great time and I am VERY thankful for everyone that came. We invited all his little friends from 'school' and almost everyone showed up. We had one incident where an invitation got lost along the way. It was one of his little friends that I just knew was going to be there and was a little disappointed when they didn't come. They had just moved into a new house (and we all know how stressful that can be), so I tried not to think much of it. Well, the mom saw me in front of the daycare one day dropping Kaleb off and casually brought up the fact that they were sorry they didn't get to come but never received an invitation! If you know me, you know how HORRIBLE I felt. I have extreme guilt issues, even if something is completely not my fault, or even that big of a deal, I feel responsible and guilty over it for days to weeks. I apologized and she mentioned getting Kaleb a birthday present anyway, but I assured her that he had WAY to many toys already and we would just have to have a play date soon to make up for it.
Anyway, back to the party.... Our children's museum is really great for kid's Kaleb's age. They have 3 floors of activities for the kids to do. His theme was John Deere (of course), and I'd like to think that everything turned out really cute. (pictures to come later, I promise... My camera malfunctioned and I am having to get mom's that she uploaded to CVS for me). I was really excited that my mom, niece, nephew and sis-in-law got to come down for the occasion! They were really great and kept Kaleb for me and Paul while we got everything together and ready for the party. Kaleb is getting better about his social skills, but he is a lot like his momma, and doesn't like to be the center of attention. So, when it came time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles, he froze and refused to blow out the candles. Luckily, there were plenty of kids around to help with the candles. We got a genius idea from another party, and didn't let him open presents at the party. We loaded them up and let him open them at the house later that evening. It would have been hectic with about 15 three year olds trying to see all the trucks and tractors and other great toys he got. Needless to say, I had to DRAG that kid out of the museum when it was time to go, and he fell asleep not 5 minutes into the ride home. Here is one picture I managed to get with my phone, amidst all the chaos:

And a picture of him OUT on the way home:
Here is a picture of him with all his presents he opened after he woke up from his nap:

The second party was a little traumatic for me but great for Kaleb. He was in Florida, WITHOUT ME, on his actual birthday! Talk about one sad momma! Paul's cousin, who lived in Jacksonville, got married on March 31 and they had asked Kaleb to be the ring bearer. We were VERY honored, but a little hesitant with Kaleb and his lack of social skills. They suggested that we come down a few days early, so Kaleb could get to know the family and hang out with the flower girl (Aliyah, his cousin). It was a GREAT idea, except I don't have the vacation time to take off. So, Paul and Kaleb drove to Florida on Wed, while I flew down to meet them that following Friday, with Kaleb's birthday being that Thursday. His family is wonderful and made sure that they had a birthday cake and plenty of presents for him! It was still really hard to be away from him. Luckily, my lovely sister knew how much I was missing them and decided to take my mind off things. She took me to the painting class they have here where you drink wine and paint a canvas. We went on a particularly difficult night apparently, because we ended up painting an ARTICHOKE! Agh! We had a great time and our paintings turned out great (as long as you don't compare it to any of the others in the class!).
 Luckily, Friday morning, I got to get up before the  sun, head to the airport, fly to Charlotte, NC, and then after a 3 hour layover (and a pedicure), I landed in Jacksonville, Florida where my wonderful son and husband were waiting on me! Then, in a whirlwind of a weekend, we had the rehearsal and dinner Friday night, wedding pictures starting at 12 on Saturday, wedding at 5, then a 12 hour drive home on Sunday! Whew! The wedding was great. I was REALLY nervous about Kaleb because he didn't really behave at all during the rehearsal, and he wasn't able to get his nap in due to the photos before the ceremony, but he did well for a three year old! They let him carry his tractor down the aisle, which was very sweet and very smart. He made it all the way to the end of the aisle, then FROZE! Luckily, Paul's aunt was there to scoop him up, hand him to Paul and the wedding went off without a hitch. Then, at the reception, a great time was had by all. I was really hoping Kaleb would want to dance like he does at the house, but of course he wanted nothing to do with anything that would draw any extra attention. After a long day, and night, we got up bright and early and hit the road for an interesting and LONG 12 hour drive home. I actually wasn't that bad but let's just say that everyone involved was happy to be home!
Went all the way to Florida and this was as close as I got to the ocean!:


Here is a picture of him in his shirt they had made for him for the rehearsal! How cute is this:
It says "I'm in charge of the rings!"
Here is a picture of my little man in his suit! He REFUSED to wear the jacket!

Here is pic of the three of us at the reception. Love this picture!


The very next weekend was Easter weekend so we headed up to Covington to celebrate with our family and have Kaleb's third and final birthday party of the year! Let me just tell everyone right now, my child is not spoiled AT ALL (insert sarcasm here)! This was a smaller party for Paul's mother and my grandmothers to come over and tell Kaleb happy birthday in person. We didn't even bother singing or candles at this one. If he hadn't gotten it by now, he wasn't gonna do it! Plain and simple as that! We had Laurin and Walt, Cayden and Kylie, and Randall and Sawyer over to hunt Easter eggs and to help eat the cake! It was TONS of fun had by all.
Safety First! Playing with his tool set he got from Randall and Sawyer:

Now, we are back in Mississippi, trying to lay low for a few weeks! We have a BIG vacation coming up in May and believe me, it can't get here soon enough! 43 DAYS, AUBREY!!!!! 43 DAYS!!!!