Florida Vaca 2012

Ahhh, vacation. We've looked forward to this past week for over 6 months. Felt like it'd never arrive but alas, it was Spring Break. The week preceding our vaca was extremely hectic as we put our house on the market just days before we left. Let me just tell you...getting your house ready to sell is cumbersome and exhausting. Vacation couldn't have come at a better time for our family.

Mike's dad (Bob aka Bobo) and Laura offered (!!!) to pick up the girls on Friday morning and drive them down a day early. Um, are you sure?!?! We quickly obliged as it gave us one more day to pack ourselves up, run last minute errands and get the house in tip-top shape for showings. Mikey and I left at 3am on Saturday and the drive down was a vacation in itself. No passing snacks, changing movies, potty stops or entertaining the kids. Nope. Just blissful reading and adult talking. We did meet up with Bob, Laura and the girls somewhere in Alabama and caravaned the rest of the trip. Arrived in Florida around 3pm-ish, unpacked, changed into our swim suits and hit the beach. Pronto.

 We stayed across the street from the beach, about a 3 minute board walk to the ocean. The house we rented had 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, 1 of the bedrooms being a double bunk room where all 4 kids stayed. This was a different house than we stayed in last year, but the same beaches of Destin. Sugar white sand, clean and not crowded...just the way we like it. We'll be staying in this house again next year as it was so accommodating to our every need. Truly.

Anyway, back to the beach...

 Sunday morning was a bit overcast so we took a long walk on the beach. The girls were bound and determined to find seashells; however, the beaches are so clean that it's slim pickings. I believe we came home with about 20 seashells, all white and all the same size.

 The day cleared up and we soaked up the sun in our private pool, waiting for the Morse family and Lou & Gemma to arrive.

 Monday was picture perfect. Sandi and I woke early for a 5 mile run and the second we got back we were all in our suits and SPFing ourselves to hit the beach. The weathermen kept saying how temps were at an all-time record high, being 10-15 degrees above the average. The temps were in the low 80's while we were there and the ocean temp was a very comfortable 70 degrees. Perfect I tell you.

 Mike is a big fan of digging holes in the sand then filling them with ocean water (and our children). Lots of digging.

 How cute are these four? They played very well together all week and kept each other entertained all hours of the day. Watching movies together early morning, crafting, hop-scotching, dancing, and late night giggle fits when the lights went out. I think it's safe to say they had a great time together.

 Each family took turns making dinner throughout the week. We ate a lot of fresh seafood from the fish market, surf & turf, lobster boil and Bob's famous homemade pizzas. Was so much fun to all be together each night even if we went separate ways during the day. Lots of laughing and late night games were had at the large dining table.

 These are two of the best dads I know...always playing right alongside the kids. They joke that they are still kids at heart...and if that's the secret, then they have it right. They taught the kids how to fly kites and it was just so much fun to watch.

 Even Buggy flew a kite with Bobo!

 We had 2 rainy days, which we spent travelling to Seaside for shopping (the boys were at a bar while we shopped) and Outlet store shopping. Bob & Laura were gracious enough to offer to watch the kids while we got out for a day. Our pool was also heated (the kids joked it was a hot tub) so swimming was still had rain or shine.

One evening we ventured out for a sunset beach walk...

 We got into the routine each day of beach in the morning, come home for lunch, then pool the rest of the day until dinner. Sandi and I ran 3 times while we were there. Wednesday morning we did a few miles of fartleks on the walking trail and then crossed over to the beach to run a few miles back home. About 10 minutes into the beach run I looked back to find Sandi picking up garbage. I just laughed, as this is so Sandi. Anyway, we also went on a 2 hour run Friday morning. Was fun to see all the Midwesterners along the trail; lots of IU, UK, and Colts sightings. My favorite? I saw a man wearing an Alma College shirt and I hollered to him that both my parents went to school there. Small, private college in Michigan. Great people watching, that's for sure.

 Bob was the king of the blender, making Pina Coladas and margaritas for everyone...even virgin drinks for the littles.

 Sandi and I decided we were going to do family photo shoots our final night in Florida. We had the perfect sunset and took loads of pics.

 Fraternity brothers: Jason, Lou & Mike. Otherwise known as trouble.

Was the perfect vacation for our family. No one got sunburned, so that's a success in my book. Can't wait for next year!

Little of this, little of that...

Believe it or not, Indiana's weather has continued to be in the 70's and 80's. Know what that means??? Time to bust out the jelly shoes! Our girls don't care much for the flip flops that have that "T" strap in between the toes. Can't tell you how many different pair I've tried. They have either all been returned or handed down to friends. So we resort to C.rocs, Jellies, and K.eens all summer long.

 We've been watching a lot of basketball as of late. Our Hoosiers made it to the Sweet Sixteen but the results weren't so sweet.

 We're still spending our Friday nights with the neighbors. Love that Bug will come up to us and ask to go to bed (we stay late) and then has no problem going right to sleep in Sammy's bed. He's got a kick butt sound machine. Puts our mini fans we have in every bedroom (and travel everywhere with) to shame.

 This is how I found the girls when I got back from a long run. Since we converted the play room back into a formal living room all of the girls' toys have been either packed up or put into our built-in cabinets in the basement. The only "toys" we still have out in the open are the girls' dress up bins. And do they ever dress up. So very creative, these two.

 We continue to go to gymnastics every Saturday and Izzy loves it more and more each week. Her confidence and excitement grow with each class. Really hoping this enthusiasm continues, as Izzy is getting to be pretty good (for a 4 year old).

 Last weekend all the Perfect Stranger girls ran in a half marathon near our house. The race didn't start until mid-morning so I opted out. Instead, I got up early and ran with a few friends from work and on my way home ran into the race meet-up site to wish my girls good luck. They rocked the race, per usual. I was just so darn happy to see them before they started. Got some great girl time in in just 10 minutes. Sometimes that's all it takes, right?!

 Last weekend we also had the opportunity to spend the evening with our friends, the Moosbruggers. Meg & Eric cooked up the most delicious (Pale.o) dinner and dessert and it was so much fun to catch up with them whilst watching the littles play. 

 Bed time at our house is my time with the girls. Sometimes it's a rough hour of the day, and others it's like I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Reading stories, singing songs, video taping ourselves and of course documenting our silly faces. I just love these girls. Hope they look back on all these pictures one day and realize that we had loads of fun. Maybe it'll be me that will have to look at these during their teenage years. Who knows. All I do know is that life is good. Really good.

 I've put in some long sessions lately with my coveted foam roller. If you run long distances and do not own one...buy one. Now. You won't be disappointed. This little blue demon rolls out the aches, the pains, the built up lactic acid, the tight muscles and the deep tissues you didn't even know hurt. Both girls often times will roll on it and say, "Owwww!" or "Oh Nellllllly!" Seems as if they've witnessed my pain during my rolling sessions. If they mimic my rolling, think they'll mimic my running one day? A girl can dream.

 The bike riding occurs almost every night around here. Laney Bug is starting to get the hang of peddling...

 Watching the two of them ride down the street never gets old. Ever. Their independence grows daily and it never ceases to amaze me.

 And finally, our house went live today on the market for sale. It's legit. Mike and I have put in countless hours prepping the house for this day. Mike in the yard mowing and mulching and trimming, painting the house, repairing the house, organizing the garage. I could go on. I've been organizing and de-cluttering and cleaning. And having a lot of emotions about letting our house go. But that will be an entirely different post, as there are so many things I want to write down and not forget about this whole process.

We met our contractor for our new house this week, picking out all the final details: flooring, counters, hardware, lighting, et al. That meeting couldn't have come at a better time; just when I was getting pretty emotional about our current house my excitement was reinvigorated with the plans of our new house. Plot plans. Elevation. Drainage. Basement pouring. Lot lines. I'm learning so much. And I can't wait for what the next few months hold for us.

In the meantime? Our ground will be breaking in less than 2 weeks. We'll have a hole. To visit. To envision. To begin new memories.

Madness...

I'm not really sure how it's almost April...I feel like we just celebrated the New Year! This month (and year) have flown by. The month started with Mikey turning another year older. We celebrated by having dinner with friends. Nothing fancy. But every year on Mike's birthday we talk about how much fun his 30th birthday party was...we rented a party bus and went roller skating. Pretty sure we were the minority there. But we were having just as much fun as the rest of the kids. I mean, I even danced (skate-danced?) with the large, purple, dancing dinosaur. Doesn't get more crazy than that.

I snapped this picture because Izzy is in the habit of spelling & recognizing letters...one evening at dinner she looked up and read aloud every single letter (minus the lower case "e" as they only know upper case). I was so stinkin' proud of her. She does this everywhere and it never gets old. Izzy also counts constantly, "Mommy, there are FOUR of us at the dinner table!" Love how proud she is of herself and witnessing her using her new skills.

 A few weekends ago Nanny Natalie was home for Spring Break and she came over to play with the girls a bit and then accompanied us to gymnastics. The girls probably talk about her (or her parents) at least once a day, so it's always special when she makes a visit.

 The Big 10 Tourney was in town a few weeks ago and our Funster group made an entire day/evening out of the games. Although I was sad that I couldn't watch IU play (as they lost after the first round), I was more than happy to watch some March Madness with some of our closest friends.

 Mags was our beer girl

 Mikey & Clay...the two of them together spells trouble. For reals.

 Molly, Brandi and Mags

 Clay, Adam and Brian

 We've had some visitors the last few weekends as well...Mike's mom & step dad came to watch the girls so we could celebrate his birthday, then Mike's dad and step mom came down so we could have a Funster outing. Both weekends we brought the parents to the model of our new house. Mike and I always laugh, because as much as we visit it...it just never gets old. Lots of excitement surrounding the move. But also lots of emotions. That topic will take up an entirely separate post in itself.

We checked out the park in our new neighborhood as the weather started warming up.

 Speaking of warm weather...it's been in the 80's here. In Indy. In March. Now that's madness. Let's just say we've been outside. A lot. Little Miss Iz has mastered her bike (with training wheels, obv). I've been video taping her constantly, not wanting to forget any of it. I cringe when she goes down hills (aka steep driveways) or when she rides in circles. But I think my sweaty armpits will cease by mid-summer. Maybe.

 These two. Ugh. Those smiles. Don't let them fool you. Bath time at our house is the longest hour of my day. Pure. Chaos. But so darn cute!

 We had Buggy's follow up Ped Neuro appt last week and she checked out with a clean bill of health. EEG was normal. Cognitive skills, normal. Night waking, normal (not cognitively related). In fact, our doctor told me that Bug is quite articulate and cognitively mature for her age. Looks like Lane will be heading to kindergarten just one year after her big sister (she only makes the cut off by 3 days, some parents would wait another year). I also learned that she weighs just 3 pounds less than Izzy. Sister is healthy, that's for sure.

And finally, last Friday was my Flex day off and it just so happened to fall in line with 4 of the other girls' days off. The stars were aligned for us all to get our long run in then spend the afternoon day drinking. Something about these girls, my Perfect Stranger running buddies, that I can't quite put my finger on. I connect with them on so many levels. We've shared some very intimate times together (when you're running for 3+ hours at a time, things get brought up...plus, we see each other in some of our darkest hours trying to make it to the end of a marathon). You can read Meggie's blog recap and also Bri's blog recap about our shenanigans. It was quite the day. Our conversations started out light and funny, then we turned deep and emotional. Very fitting and can be related to a long run; starts out fun and hours later you're digging deep to make it through another mile. That's why I love these girls...they make me laugh, cry and overall just make me want to be a better me. I'm so lucky to have found them!

The Monon is where my heart is...

I was planning on running my long run on Friday this past week. See, I have every other Friday off and have attempted to use those Fridays to get my long runs in. Mostly so I can sleep in on Saturday mornings. Regardless, this past Friday you may have heard that we here in Indiana encountered severe weather. Tornadoes to be exact. Funnel clouds. Hail. Winds in the 40-50 mph range. I decided to postpone my Friday run and opted to run with my Perfect Stranger girls on Saturday. However, my heart was racing so fast for a solid hour on Friday that I felt like I had just run for hours.

Jaime had texted me early on Friday to ask if we had bad weather would I be able to pick up her boys from school if the going got rough (she has been out of town and her huz was as well). We encountered some morning storms and hail. Then around 2:15 the tornado sirens went off. They only go off if there is a tornado watch AND warning (an actual sighting). I hunkered down in the basement with the dog and my laptop...as the satellite was out from all the wind. One funnel cloud was spotted, then a second in the next county over from ours. My panic set in. Mike told me I didn't have enough time to go get the girls and be home in time to take cover. He also told me their school was all brick; they'd be much safer there than at home. Jaime reminded me that the school does drills regularly (in fact they just did one that morning in preparation!) and are trained for taking care of our children in these situations. But I still couldn't relax. I sent out an email to my parents and sister to tell them what I was in the middle of and how scared I was. Thirty minutes later the storm had passed without any tornadoes touching down. The sun came out in full effect and the rest of the day was absolutely gorgeous. However, parts of Southern Indiana didn't fare so well. Complete devastation.

After I was brave enough to go back upstairs I immediately picked up the girls. I couldn't get my hands on them quick enough! There was a buzz about the school, as every child had to be woken up from their naps to take shelter from the storms. Izzy told me all about it while I kissed all over her and then all over Luke (his mom was out of town, someone had to do it!). Let's just say the rest of the day we laid low at home and took comfort in the fact that everyone one was safe and sound.

I woke up Saturday excited to get in a long run with my runner girls. You may remember we had a few themed runs last year (Survivor, Totally 80's, Patriotic)...a few of the girls were running 20 milers so we had to spice it up with another theme: Princess. I arrived bearing tiaras (borrowed from Izzalicious) and donning pink. After a few miles the tiaras were ditched, as they couldn't withstand the high winds we were enduring (30ish mph!).

Knee high socks from the night trail run in January. And see those mittens? Probably the best present ever for a runner! Jaim got me those for xmas and I'll tell you what I told her, "life changing." I have poor circulation in my hands and the mittens rock my world. And the best part? The thumb is a soft fabric for wiping your runny nose. Comes in handy after a snot rocket. You're welcome.

Several other runners thought we were celebrating a bachelorette party. We heard, "Congrats!" and "Nice socks!" all morning long. See? Themed runs keep it interesting! I finished just shy of 10 miles and left the girls to finish up 20. Inspiring, I tell ya. But I was happy to be done, that's for sure.

Wanted to give you a sneak peek at our lot for our new home:

It may just look like a lot of dirt to you, but it'll soon be turned into our home. See those trees? They line the M.onon Trail. And that house behind the trees? That's what we'll get to look out on (not too shabby, right?!). Mikey and I have already chosen our elevation (design of the front of our house), interior & exterior colors, flooring, cabinetry, counters, fixtures and more. It's incredible the sheer amount of decisions that have to be make in order to pull it all together. What's even more incredible is that Mike and I agreed on nearly every one of those decisions (notice I said nearly). So far it's been a fun process and I can't wait to see it all come together in the upcoming months.

In the meantime, we've been getting a lot of projects completed at our current house to get it in order for listing it in a few weeks. We have a large list of things to complete and are slowly crossing things off. I cleaned out, purged and organized 5 closets yesterday and I have to say that I'm pretty surprised by how roomy they look now that all the clutter is out! Next up: turning our coveted toy room back into a living room and turning our small den back into a dining room. Will be more purging happening at our house as I try to get all the toys to fit into the built-ins in our basement. Should be interesting.

Saturday evening Mike's mom and step-dad came down to watch the girls for us so we could have a date night with some friends. The girls had fun with their grandparents while Mikey & I had a relaxing night out.

Larry is such a trooper with that headband...what a riot!

Don't be a stranger...

I've been out of pocket in the blog-o-sphere lately. Wasn't intentional. Life just got in the way. I had no idea how many people actually read this blog on a regular basis until I stopped posting weekly. Emails and phone calls and texts have been coming in from many friends (and even family) asking if everything was ok. Everything is more than ok...we're simply living life and enjoying the small things. Such as snuggling with daddy...

 And sister snuggling...

 And mommy snuggling...

 Mikey and I were able to get in a long run together (I know, we look so hot). Mike's back has slowly started to feel better and he's easing back into running. He was shocked to run with me for the first time without my headphones in...we actually talked the entire run. Thanks to running with my Perfect Stranger girls to being able to run for hours on end whilst talking. That takes talent, you know. And huge lung capacity. Just sayin'.

 I've also been reading an amazing book. Lance's ex wife is a runner. And boy can she ever write. And relate. She runs with a group of women every week dubbed the "sweat sisters." I've been highlighting all my favorite parts that I can relate with and will be passing this along to every one of my runner girls.

 My sister and her boyfriend was (briefly) in town and we met her out for breakfast. The girls loved seeing their KiKi and so did I.

 I had a girls' night out last weekend with some fellow mom friends from the girls' school. Have to admit, I had so much fun and made a handful of new mommy friends. 

 So here's something super fun, Izzy's school has called me twice in the past month about "issues" she's had. Both times were on Fridays. The first time was to tell me she had a piece of rock salt stuck up her nose. She sniffs everything (and I have no idea where she gets that from) and apparently found a little piece of salt on the floor at school and sniffed. Said salt got lodged in her nose. Every time the teachers asked her to blow her nose to get it out she sniffed (she still hasn't mastered the art of blowing her nose...when is a child too old to not know how to do this?!?!). Which only made the salt go further up her nose. We left her at school (she wasn't bleeding or uncomfortable) and believe that it eventually dissolved. So that was fun.

The second time school called was to tell me they thought Izzy had the measles. Come again!? Since there was a recent outbreak of measles in a nearby town none of us took this lightly. I called the ped and they asked us to come immediately and to knock on the back door of the office so we could enter wearing masks. As soon as we got into the doctor's they realized it wasn't the measles. But it was definitely a bad case of hives. Not a rash (contact dermatitis, caused from lotions or laundry detergent) but hives (usually caused by a food allergy or a virus). We were able to narrow that day's food Izzy ate down to peanuts being the only culprit. After a referral to an allergist and the strong suggestion to keep away from the peanut family, we were on our way.

Izzy made sure to remind me the next morning at Dunkin' Donuts while I was eating my coveted peanut donut that she had to stay away from the peanut family and now I had an entire peanut family in my tummy. Mmmkay.

We visited the allergist and we have to get blood drawn in a few weeks to determine if a peanut allergy is truly what Izzy has or if it was just a reaction to a virus. Learned that usually a food allergy presents itself with hives and is accompanied by a systemic side effect (cough, throat tightening, etc). Since Iz didn't have any other symptoms it may not be an allergy. So off we went with an epi pen and we'll wait to see what the blood test says in a few weeks.

 In the meantime, Izzy has been enjoying her gymnastics classes and learning a lot of new skills. Just last weekend she learned how to climb the rope! It's a huge deal at the gym if you can climb all the way up and ring the bell. Izzy's class was only able to get about shoulder height before getting scared and climbing back down. Just so darn proud of her and I love watching her learn new things every week.

 Another topic I've failed to keep you updated on is the state of this little girl's health...

 We received the results from the EEG and they were negative. Meaning there was no abnormalities in Laney's brain activity. This is inconclusive as the neurologist said kids with epilepsy can have normal EEGs. The doctor challenged us to pinch Laney the next time we saw an episode. Wouldn't you know it that we haven't seen one single episode since the EEG. It almost seems as if they have disappeared as quickly as they came about. We're just happy to have some more knowledge on epilepsy and what to do if we see more absent behavior from Buggy. And many thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and emails you sent our way.

On yet another random note, Laney has been going through a strange stage where she'll get out of bed in the middle of the night and either falling asleep in the hallway outside of her room or coming into our bedroom and just sitting on the floor watching us. Mind you, we sleep with a very loud fan on so we never hear her come in. I'll roll over while sleeping, notice our door is open, and sit up to find Laney just sitting there. Quite creepy. I'll be bringing this up with the neurologist at our follow up appointment to see if this has anything to do with abnormal brain activity or is just a stage. But strange, no?

 Bug is quite the ham these days. And she knows it. Plus, her daddy is getting pretty good at pig tales which makes her even more cute and irresistible.

And Laney is quite the bruiser these days. Rough and tumble is her middle name, that's for sure. Check out her black eye from falling on the playground.

Happy March Madness everyone. We're looking forward to going to the Big T.en Tourney next weekend for some basketball with the Funsters! And I promise not to be such a stranger. I'll have lots to update you on in the coming months, as we just started building a new house. Say what?!?!?