8 is Great

RyRy was baptized in April with two of his buddies. It was such a nice event. We were flattered to have two Great Grandpas, two Great Grandmas and numerous family members attend. We are so proud of Ryan. He was very thoughtful in his decision to be baptized.

Ryan is a very sweet boy. He loves his friends and family dearly and he treats everyone so nicely. He has a lot of good friends because they respect him. He is also the ladies man. We are told that a lot of girls have a crush on him. We are so happy Ryan is a part of our family. He may be quiet but he makes us all so happy.

Last Day of School

These guys don't look too excited that it is the last day of school. I think they'll miss it, just a little.

5k

I ran my first 5k March 22. It was cold. I was nervous. I had a great crew. And I ran with my son. It was great. I got my best running time at an average pace of 8:43/mile. Thanks for all the support. I think I'll run again!

Jacob, Rob and I all ran well and placed in the top 2 or 3 in our age groups.

Milestones

Running has become my new hobby. I started off very slowly last May. Seriously, it was walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute. Continue for 20 minutes until I can barely go on. It got easier after a month or two when I could run half a mile and walk the rest. I didn't see much progress until my sister came to town and got me out there really running. We ran 3 miles! I was ecstatic . . . and exhausted! It wasn't until I'd been running at least 6 months that I decided to try four miles. I did it, with a lot of breaks. But, I was excited.

In January a friend invited me to train and run a half marathon with her. After a lot of thought, I decided I had nothing to lose. At that is when I saw big changes in my running and in my fitness overall. I have a schedule I follow which includes three days of running, a Cross Training day and a stretching day. I feel great.

Each new milestone makes me happy and makes me want to push on.

What are these milestones?

Run for 30 minutes without stopping. 5 miles. 8 miles. 10 miles. And most recently, getting my fasting time while doing a 5k. I might be addicted.

4 Months?

In passing a few days ago Jacob mentioned he needed new shoes. I glanced at them quickly and thought, yes, he'll need shoes soon.

Last night when the kids were all in bed and as I sat down for the first time all day, I saw the bottoms of Jacob's shoes. He needed new shoes weeks ago!

He seriously goes through shoes in 3-4 months every time.
Anyone else deal with this?

Mommy Win

Potty training. Just the sound of it can cause a mother of a toddler to sweat. I just potty trained my fifth and last child. I feel so accomplished, yet, it wasn't really me at all. This little guy was ready. He was potty trained in two days and has only had two accidents since.

I used to have a theory that when you are potty training a child you are actually training the mother to remember to take the child to the bathroom. I used this theory to potty train my first four children. It worked, obviously, but I had it wrong.

My pediatrician has a plan for potty training that is amazing. It works, even when I didn't think it would. And it sticks. Train the child when he feels like he needs to go to the bathroom. Tell him if he feels it coming to run to the potty, pull down his pants and sit down. Don't ask if he needs to go. Do tell him he needs to go. Wait for him to know. Yes, there were some wet pants the first day, but that is to be expected. That's how he knows he's feeling he has to go.

*All this being said, it took a few weeks to really get the potty thing down, meaning, it is hard to stop running as fast as this guy runs in life to have to use the potty. But, he has not had a single wet accident since the first week. We are definitely onto the next stage of life.

Bikes on the Boardwalk

We loved soakin' up the sun in sunny California as we road bikes along the board walk. Xander did quite well in his special seat behind me. He was able to pedal on his own so he felt like he was working as much as the rest of us.