Bundles of Babies - July 2011

As mentioned in earlier blogs, in our group of friends, we had five families blessed with five little princesses within 3 months of each other from November of 2008 to February of 2009.  When we all manage to be in the same place at the same time, we attempt to get them lined up in age order and snap a shot.  It generally happens once a year, here is the results of this year's, which was in celebration of Carli Grace's 2nd birthday.

In Age order: Madison, Carli Grace, Avah, Brenna, Jenna

Butterfly Project

For Sammie's birthday this year she received a butterfly house/project from Uncle Mike and Aunt Rachel.  You get the house, then send away for the caterpillars and transfer them in cocoon phase to the house and wait for them to hatch.

Sammie's 5th Birthday

My 34th Birthday

My girls made me a cake, and were so incredibly proud of all their hard work :)

Brenna's Second Birthday

Every year on the girls' birthdays I take the day off to do something with just them.  I like to look at the clock and remember what we were doing at that time on the day they were born, and just be with them.  I also try to find something fun for them to do, this year, I took Brenna to Build-A-Bear, and she had a blast!

Then it was off to the mall for some indoor playground time and some carousel rides!

Then home for naps and the family coming over to help us celebrate that night!

And some dancing with Weeta and Grandpa C. to finish off a great day!

What A Difference...

A year can make.

On my 33rd birthday (last year) I wished for two things.  First and foremost, I wished for my mom to get through breast cancer and be declared cancer-free, as soon as humanly possible, and with as little amount of pain as possible.  Not too long after my birthday she was, in fact, declared in remission, and we will celebrate that anniversary very soon, thank God.

My second wish was for me.  I wished that I would finally get back on track with taking better care of myself.  I wanted to get back to working out, I wanted to lose weight, I wanted to feel better again.  I felt so run down all the time, most evenings after a long day at work, then all the things you have to get done when you get home, when my girls would want me to run around and chase them, or get down on the floor and play with them, etc...I felt too tired.  I hated that, hated that at 33 I felt like I couldn't keep up with them, and decided I was the only one that could change it.  So, a couple weeks after my 33rd birthday, I joined a gym and started working out, for the first time in seven years. 

It was hard, the results did not come right away, as a matter of fact, it took months before I started seeing changes.  It was discouraging, it was disappointing to have it become so obvious to myself how much I had let myself go, but I kept going, kept pushing.  The only result I did see right away was the one that meant the most to me.  I no longer felt run down all the time, I no longer wanted to tell my girls I was too tired to chase them around.  I decided even if I didn't lose weight and look better, that was enough for me, because I want to be there for them more than anything.  And then, it finally started to happen, slowly, but surely, I started to lose weight, and inches.  I took up running in May, and then it started happening even faster. 

In this whole process I've had great support from friends and family.  Nathan has been great about me needing to head to the gym or out for a run, my dad and sister run with me from time to time, my mom is my own personal cheerleader, and my friends (all of which run as well) are like one huge support group of moms who know that it is hard to drag your butt off the couch after a long day of work, dinner, errands, cleaning, taking care of the kids, etc...but we all do it, and we're all much better off for it!

So, what a difference a year can make, today, my 34th birthday finds me:

32 lbs thinnner (-20% for my fellow Biggest Loser fans)

31 inches smaller

able to run 9 miles at a time

and currently in week 9 of my half marathon training for the April 10th half

I never, ever thought that this was something I would be able to do, but I'm excited and thrilled to see how it goes!

Karen's 40th Birthday

My dear sister Karen turned 40 in June of this year.  After threatening to disappear the last couple of years as it was approaching, she finally decided that if we promised no big party or anything embarrassing, she would stay in town and celebrate.  My grandparents flew in to surprise her for her birthday (she is their first grandchild) and spent the week.  We spent the day with the girls at the park, played games, and then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory, YUM!

And yes, we did put 40 candles on the cake, and by we I mean I did it, but hey, that's what little sisters are for, right?