st george pics details below.

 

 

The scorching hot St george Marathon!!

So since I started this adventure, one of my biggest goals was to get to run the st george marathon. Well since thousands of other people have this goal its been difficult. It does not matter that I was born there, my mom and her family grew up there. That I spent almost every school break and summer there. That my behind has been burnt by I think as many metal seatbelts in that 110 degrees temp as any washington resident. Besides the fact that my grandma could have just signed up and I used her bib:) No I decided to be fair. I tried the lottery 2 years and luckily 3rd year is always a charm. Well I signed up the begining of april and I have been training the last 4 months. After a long fabulous 22.5 mile run a few weeks back I even drove to st. george to drive the course. But in life we all know there are things you cant prepare so instead we learn from them, we grow from them and thats how we become a better stronger person. So I gotta tell you all about it now.
So friday at 11 we headed to St george, nicki(one of my fabulous runnin buddies) We wanted to get there earlier so we could get to the expo, get our bib, have some dinner and get to bed early, so we could load the busses at 4am, Yes Not a type error 4 in the morning, they give away some super cool prizes, we thought we would give it a try with no luck.

So I set my alarm for 325, I was sound asleep dreaming away I dreamed that we slept in till like 11. woke up startled looked at my clock it was 319. So I hoped up, I had been battling a head cold so I thought I would shower to feel good, usually no shower before runs, Oh I had to shave to before I wore my new running shorts. So we hoped in the van headed over and loaded the school bus at 405. We arrived at the start line about 25 minutes later, it was amazing. In a small town off the side of the road, this huge set up. Tables of hot chocolate, coffee, gatorade, water, vaseline, bandaid, safety pins, tape, your a runner you need it they got it. Unless you forget to charge your Ipod and the low battery is flashing and you are going to cry, because you dont want to do this with out your music. I was having a heart attack really.
Anyways here goes the whole 26 of the marathon for me...
1- one strong mind, ready to do this determined
2- two strong legs, trained and strong.
3- three hours of my ipod playing me music, by some miracle
4- four gels, I brought my own my favorites!!
5-five hours of sleep night before race.
6-How many ambulance races runners to hospital(pysching me out a little)
7-seventh mile Veyo hill, there was a sign that said Leukemia sucks, veyo hill sucks they both can be conquered and it said some kids name that was running. Big tough one mile long hill, ( huh what hill:))
8-eight oclock that night, what time I was ready for bed.
9-nine pictures taken, along route, there are few I will admit it I am not smiling.
10- ten toes screaming, yup my toesies are not a fan after mile ten, they are pretty much done.
11- Eleven oclock in the morning I was all done and laying in the grass unable to move.
12- twelve is the number of times I thought I might just be crazy for doing this.
13-thirteen minutes in my ice bath, it felt good, really I liked it.
14-fourteen cups of gatorade I consumed along route.
15-family members there cheering me on, I just cant even tell you how amazing it is when you feel tired and not sure if you can do it to see them, It gives you that extra little push and it  makes me cry alittle, I love em'
16- sixteen ounces of delicious recovery chocolate milk, We love winder dairy!
17-Seventeen weeks of training! Some good, some bad, but all of it neccessary.
18- Eighteen kids I gave 5's too, I'm a mom I see those kids cheering us on, waiting so patiently, yup I will run to the other side of the road to give em a five. I hope my kids got fives too...
19- nineteen cups of water(4 dumped directly on my hot head)
20-It was TWENTY degrees hotter than I wanted it to be, really.
21-Mile marker 21 I was feelin great, 5 miles to go(the loop) was all I had left.
22-Mile marker 22 you are coming into town, I know I am getting closer, I am approaching the crowds the sounds, I am almost done.
23- Mile marker 23, finally someone I recognize, I know I am a big baby, I cry. Run accross street give them five, uncle kyle and Shanna. It revives me a little I gotta look strong now.
24-Mile marker 24, I see a girl to guys carrying her, she is dilerious, shes fallen blood down her shorts. Starts to pysch me out more, its hot people are dropping its hot, i am tired, Can I really do this.
25- mile 25 A lady has a cup of big ice cubes from her fridge I take one its pure heaven, I suck on it, I rub it all over my face, I dream of my ice bath. I stop for water at the table. My legs are a little shaky.
26- mile 26 theres my family, I had been watching for them the whole time, there they were, I cry some more, I tell them its to hot and I dont like it. 84 degrees. TOOO HOT for me.
.2-Most the time I sprint in, one time I even carried Brady. Not this time, most people were walking. I told myself I had worked to hard, I was going to finish this, I reached way inside, I could not sprint, But I kept runnin clear up to that finish line. THey put a neat metal on me made out of native rock.
I just wanted to sit down, before I passed out and I wanted my shoes off and I wanted ice water. Not lukewarm water or gatorade. Really cold water and I did laid in the grass and felt like I might die. But you know what I did it. Not in my goal of 3:40 I was a little over 10 minutes over. But I didnt give up I worked through it all and Guess what else it may sound awful, But it wasnt it was AMAZING. I finish 1810 out of almost 6000 people and I am ready to do it again. Thank you everyone for all your love and support!!

Ella Bella's Birthday photo shoot!!!

My super fabulous, talented, wonderful, strong, amazing friend Amy did a quick little photo shoot of Ella when she was all done up for her party. I dont mean to embarass her. But sometimes she forgets how great she is so I thought I would remind her, give her a little shout out. I love her photos they are really good, If anyone needs family pictures done or any photography, let me know I can give you her info. Ella was being a little difficult, 3 hours at the Er will do that to a person. But she captured some of Ella's faces that she pulls regularly. I love them, My Ella Bella makes me smile!!!

a new post

Went back on my get fit blog, I have not been there in awhile. Wrote a post on my running if you want to check it out runninmommy.blogspot.com:)

My Brady Boy starts Kindergarten!

Brady started kindergarten, he is in the afternoon class. He got chayston's teacher who I absolutly love and adore. He is a little unsure about going to school everyday. He would rather stay home with me. It makes me feel good that he wants to be with me. But it is time. His friend Kendrick is in his class. That made it way easier for him, took away all his nervousness.

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Have you ever seen that epidsode of friends when they are trying to take chandlers picture. Uh well thats about how my photo shoots with brady go. seriously

I am pretty sure thats as close to a smile as it gets. I love this boy he is rough and tough, yet still tender. He is huge for his age. I took him to his school check up. He is in the 98th percentile for his height and weight. His body mass on paper looks like he would need to watch what he eats. But the doc says no worries he is a healthy, active kid. they gave him four shots, pricked his finger, he had to pee in a cup, check his blood pressure and one more thing wont go into detail just glad I am not a boy!! He was pretty much traumatized. But he was brave. He is growing up and as I listened to his teacher test him, I was surprised how much he knows. When the doctor asked him to write his name he said he was not in the mood for all five letters, but he would do 4 for her. She said that would make you Brad. He giggled finally gave in and wrote all 5. I love my Brady boy and I am very proud of him.

My Baby is 3!

Yesterday my Baby girl turned 3. I cant believe it how has it been 3 years already. I think back to the day she was born. We knew Ella Bella would be our last. So we decided to have a huge surprise and not find out the gender. Let me rephrase myself nick decided this and made me go along against my will:) But I will tell you it really was super fabulous. So the whole pregnancy we knew it would be Ella Victoria if she was a girl, Ella after nicks grandma and Victoria after his mom. We never really could come up with a boy name we both loved. I wanted to name him miles, I was a few weeks pregnant with Ella when I ran my first marathon and I did not know it. But nick did not like that. We must of just know we would not need a boy name. After a scary experience with my epidural during Brady. I decided to go ALL Natural. It was really a great experience, I am so happy I did it even if it was my last one. My labor was quick and easy, except for the last 10 minutes, The nurse squeezed face and told me to climb back down the bed and push a couple more pushes and I would be done. When Ella came out she had the cutest little drama queen baby cry I had ever heard and the doctor said This is one pretty baby boy! I was thrilled deep down I really really wanted another girl and she was all mine. It was fabulous With in 20 minutes of having her I felt great I could have cleaned my house. It takes along time for my epidurals to wear off. So it was so great to be done and feeling fabulous. She was beautiful and we were so happy to have her, Back to her 3rd Birthday.

Yaya dropped off a bunch of balloons the night before. She woke up to balloons, her favorite thing. I was tired from working late and staying up grocery shopping, preparing food. I did not want to get out of bed. But when I heard her walking down the hall singing happy birthday to Me! I figured I better get up and celebrate with her!!

I love this little girl. She is a sweety. She has limits and she does not get pushed around anymore. The kids call her avatar Ella. She gets mad and growls and they know the have crossed the line. She makes me smile, she is stubborn, I look forward to quiet afternoons with Ella this year. We have not had much quiet alone time in her life. She entered my Chaos and just goes with the flow. She is a good little caboose to my other children.

Well if anyone knows much about my life lately. My mom says the song if it were not for bad luck I would not have any luck at all, reminds her of me. In all the birthday excitement. Ella fell off a bar stool and hit the back of her head on tile, hard. Immediately you could tell she was not feeling well. We watched her a bit and then when she started to throw up I went to instacare. Well they sent me straight to ER, UGH. We spent 3 and a half  hours at the hospital, no fun. When the girl put the hospital bracelet on her, she said thank you, she thought it was a gift. With a 300 dollar copay can you imagine the bracelet I could have bought her. Everything was ok, they did a scan her brain and skull were fine. They did discover some severe sinitus, bad sinus infection we did not know she had. So with some anitbiotics she will be good to go.

She had a great day this is her in her birthday princess Jammies. It only took 10 minutes to convince her to put them on , she thought they were baby pajamas.

She got her new Dora Bike and was done at the hospital in time for a family party and plenty of time to celebrate her. We love you ELLA Bella and are so happy you are ours!!

first day, #2

So today Char started her first day of school. I cannot believe she is in 8th grade and next year is high school. How, How I just dont understand. She was very excited, we did our usual fashion show so every
one could vote on her outfit. She is a beautiful, fabulous young women who I am very proud of.
List of 8 things I love about her for my 8th grader:

1- I love how she says it like it is, sometimes she hurts my feelings or others. Opposite of her mother who sugar coats it. I love that she speaks her mind and reminds us of what acceptable.
2- She is stubborn. Let me tell you there are times I dont love this trait, but I hope she continues to refuse to budge when it comes  to her goals.
3-I love her creativity, she is always making little village out of rocks or buttons. A home for Ellas zhu zhu pet. SHe is very creative I love that.
4- She is strict, she is my best helper with the littles when she is in the mood. When I got back from my trip to Texas the kids were calling her mama char. She does not let them bend the mood, she is always reminding them of consequences for there actions. I know I should work on that.
5- She is such a great student she almost had straight A's last year, all on her own, she rarely asks for help.
6- She is very compassionate for those around her. She is a good friend.
7- I love that she keeps me in check. She is constantly helping remind me of all that is going on in our busy schedule. If there is ever anything really important I let her know and she makes sure I remember.
8- She also is a great leader, she makes me proud, she is organized and strong.
Teenagers are alittle tougher than I thought they would  be. Dont get me wrong, I have some pretty great kids. I just always thought I could be the cool mom and understand them and that they would always look at me like I was great. They dont! They get frustrated with me. I learned alot in my life and I am not very old. I may not be the most experience mom. But it was not to long ago I was a teenager and I made some not so great choices. I just have to find the balance. Nick and I worry alot and want the best for them. She did great she came home with a big smile and I have a big smile thinking about what a great girl she is.....