Nick's Wedding on the Farm...

Saturday after my run we headed up to Fort Wayne to celebrate Mike's step-brother's wedding on the farm. I took the opportunity to take a few pics:

She is such a ham
But yet so stinking cute

Laney was showing off by walking barefoot in the grass

Mike & his girls (do you not love the matching dresses? Laura got them for the girls.)

Bob & Laura with Rachel & Nick

Izzy wanted to dance, not take pics

Just the girls

Laney with Grandpa Bob

Izzy participating in the toast (hers was juice/water)

Izzy's kind of a scene stealer: she got in on the mother/son dance!

Sister Sarah with Delaney. I'm serious when I say Buggy was doing this for 30+ minutes...she just wanted to be upside down!

Touching some of the pretty decor

Mom & Bug

Showing off yet more walking!

**My mom is arriving in town tonight...the girls will be quite surprised when they wake up!**

GS Trike-a-thon

Last Friday was a Trike-a-thon at Godd.ard. The girls are too young to fundraise but they were able to participate in the day's activities:

Izzy was wreckless on her trike
The teachers said she was on a mission and nearly ran over 3 of them (she tends to focus on the peddling instead of the stearing).

Meanwhile, Laney had a taste-test in her room among a variety of fruits. This was the lemon and she did not care for it!

Bug is obviously too little for a bike, but she managed to do some serious walking behind the push toys.

PS-Buggy started WALKING this week!!!

I did it!!!

I ran 20 miles yesterday. I'm still in shock my body allowed me to do this to it and that I survived to talk about it. It's just not natural. But I did it. And I don't hurt all that badly. Who'd have thought? Me? Me!

I set out at 6am complete with iPod, a fuel belt consisting of $2, 20 ounces of Gatorade, 1 energy bar and 1 pack of Gu Chomps, sun visor, two tendinitis knee bands, long sleeve jacket, 1 watch, 1 blinking red light and 1 Power Balance necklace. That's a lot of gear for a sport that requires minimal equipment! It was dark and chilly and within 2 miles I had stripped myself of the North Face jacket, tossed it to the side of who knows where. I realized once I hit the Monon Trail that I couldn't see anyone approach me until they were virtually right in front of me so I was immediately paranoid. Around mile 4 I was convinced there was a man chasing me (I don't turn on my music until it is VERY bright outside so I can hear said chaser). I sprinted over a half mile as the adrenaline that I was about to be attacked kicked into my running legs. Phew, he didn't attack. Mile 11 I stopped at a McDonald's to refill my fuel belt and sat down (bare-@ssed on a PUBLIC toilet - gasp!). Around mile 12 I ran into my sometimes running partner & fellow marathon trainer, Meggie, and fell into her arms crying. Meggie: You doing ok? You look great! How's it going? Me: (sobbing) I can't believe I'm doing this, my knees hurt, I miss you with me, Am I really doing this?, I took pain meds, I sat on a public toilet, someone was chasing me in the dark, I STILL HAVE 8 MILES TO GO! After another hug I was off. On my way home I FOUND previously mentioned North Face jacket and as soon as I got to my street I was in tears. Not so much out of pain, but out of disbelief. I did it. 20 miles. And in 3 short weeks I'll have to do 26.2. Holy. Moly.

Anyway, I've completed 15 weeks of marathon training and have 3 more to go. Three weeks of tapering. I'm probably going to go crazy, as this whole running thing is 99% mental and about 1% physical. But just knowing I ran 20 and have that behind me is a huge confidence builder. Huge. And I still can't believe I did it.

Do you think she loves school?

And I was worried she'd have a hard time transitioning back to school...

I'm pretty sure she LOVES going to school...
Don't ya think?!

Indoor Pool & Big Girl Undies...

Mike headed up to Ft. Wayne for Saturday/Sunday for his step-brother's bachelor party, so we girls hung out at the library and the indoor pool all weekend. Saturday it was overcast and rainy/chilly...so we the indoor pool seemed natural. However, Sunday was beautiful and it was just strange being inside when it was so warm outside. So we played in the backyard the first half of the day until Mike came home...then we went to the pool again. Izzy is becoming VERY brave in the water, swimming across the entire pool by herself in a life jacket and even jumping in from the side (and going under while holding her breath!!!).

Laney enjoyed playing in the shallow end
And we also did some swimming in the deep end with Izzy. I had my hands full with both girls alone but did surprisingly well. Had Izzy not been in a life jacket I would not have been able to man them both in the water alone.


The girls loved having Mike in the water with them, as he swims underwater while they climb on top of him. I suppose he's much more fun that I am :)

Some cute pics of indoor playtime Sunday morning


Mike took the girls on a long walk while I stayed home to get some things done around the house after he came home.
And here is Izzy showing off her big girl undies, Elmo style. We have officially been wearing undies full time (with the exception of nighttime pull-ups...and she wakes up dry every morning!!!) for about a week. Accidents here and there with #2 but we're WELL on our way of being dry. We've pottied in public places all weekend: the library, indoor pool (on the potty, not in the pool!), out for breakfast, Sam's club, etc. BIG time change in daily activities and such a big girl. Izzy even dresses herself and once the undies are on she will look down and say, "Don't worry Tinker Stinker, I'll keep you dry today!" Love it! She's growing up before our eyes!!! Can't believe she turns 3 in a few short weeks!

Buggy has a new chair!

My dad and step mom bought Delaney this chair for her birthday:

And Buggy very much enjoys it...
Especially when she and her sister play on it together

They climb all over it and each other

But even alone she snugs in it
Making room for sis
Sister lovin'
Relaxing
And if you can remember when Izzy got hers for her 1st birthday from Grandpa Tom and Grandma Anna:

Thanks so much for the fun new chair!

Neither here nor there...

A few of my closest friends (JZF & BA) and I have a small obsession with reading blogs. Other peoples' blogs. Perfect strangers' blogs, in fact. It has been going on since early 2007 when I first discovered the blog-o-sphere. Reading random blogs while pregnant does not make a happy wife. Or friend. It made tears stream and phone calls made and blogs shared. Husbands had to intervene. I had to go on a minor hiatus from reading blogs that would tell me about horrible pregnancy stories or birth stories or diseased children stories. Now that I'm no longer pregnant, I find myself still reading these blogs (I have to know how the stories end) and following new ones.

I have recently found one about a girl who wasn't even 2 years old yet and she drowned in a freak accident. Her mother (my age-ish) has been blogging about her days since the accident and she says the one thing she'd do differently is video her daughter more, take note of the every day more and remember all the details. This made me think I need to be doing the same.

I mean, I do blog weekly. But am I really blogging about the mundane, the everyday activities? No, as I'm sure that would bore my readers (all 7 of them). But I suppose I do blog about what we do together as a family. How we spend our coveted weekends together. Together. We take every opportunity to be a family and create our own traditions and special moments. I just don't want to forget one thing. Ever. Without a blog, would I really remember the random weekend we spent together at the pool doing absolutely nothing? Probably not. But here I have it all documented. At my fingertips. To remember how precious this little Bug was at her first birthday party:

To remember what her little face looked like scrunched up taking the first bite of her cake.
And what a clown she looked like after she demolished it.

I don't want to forget any of this. Ever.

(Special thanks to Jill, our great new neighbor, for sharing these pictures with me.)