Happy Birthday Payton!

I cannot believe that today Payton is turning "5". It seems like just yesterday Reddin and I were going to the hospital to have her. The last five years have gone by so fast, and we are so blessed to have Payton as a daughter. She is beautiful, funny, kind, loving, helpful, friendly, and much much more. She is a great big sister, and Kayda wants to be just like her. She loves dancing, playing with friends, swimming, crafting, watching movies, playing games, and just playing in general. I am amazed everyday at the things Payton is learning, she is learning new words in Spanish, and I was pretty surprised the other day when she could count to 30 with no help (she can count to 10 in Spanish). She has been so excited for this day to come, her requests so far for the day are to eat at krispy kream donuts, and to go to the mall for lunch and get a pretzel. Payton we love you so much. Happy 5th Birthday!!!

Payton when she was born

So Sick

I have been so sick for the past 4 days that I am going crazy. I do feel better today, but still not back to normal. My kids have been at my friends houses, and with my mom for the past three days. I don't know what I would do without all of their help. I am luck to have a mom that is so close that can drop everything and come over at 7 in the morning to take care of me and my girls. I am grateful for all my friends that took care of my kids for me, and brought me rolls and sent me texts to see how I was doing, and I am grateful for my husband that is doing whatever he can to help me feel better. I have had the flu before, but usually I feel better after 24 hours this one has been no fun, I really hope no one else gets it, but this experience has made me really grateful for my friends and family this week.

A few days before I got sick I had the chance to run in the women's half marathon, and I was really happy with my time. I finished in 1:45:38 my average was under 8 minute miles and I couldn't be happier. I had a good race and it was such a fun experience to be running with tons of women who were running/walking to support breast cancer.

Happy Halloween

I hope you are all having a good Halloween. This is a picture I took yesterday at our trunk-or-treat, we came home with lots of candy, two kids full of sugar, and a fish. The girls are excited about the fish I hope it lives more than a few days.

Long Beach Recap

I have been home for a week now so I figured it was time to write about my trip to Long Beach before I forget the details. First of all I need to start by saying I had a great time and want to do it again. We all had so much fun, I don't think I have taken a girls trip since I was a senior in high school and I don't know why. Cynthia, Lisa, Lindy and I left Friday afternoon, we talked the whole time, we shopped at the outlets and then we stopped and ate at Pei Wei before we got to our hotel.

(Saturday run)

On Saturday we slept in a little and then went for a short run, then we got ready and went to the expo. After the expo we went to the American doll store. The store was amazing I really wanted to get my girls some dolls from there, but I decided to resist for now.

After a little shopping we went and had dinner on the Queen Mary Ship for the Carbo Load feast. We ate tons on pasta and then finished the night by walking around the the ship.

(eating dinner)

(on the Queen Mary Ship)

The next morning we woke up early, got ready and walked down to the starting area, and waiting in the potty lines, and then to drop off our bags. Lindy and I cut it too close and we missed our first wave start and our 3:40 pacer. I was kind of sad but figured we would be okay. We ran really fast at the start and then seemed to fall into a pace of between 8:00 to 8:20. I was on target to reach my goal of 3:40 but at around mile 16 I started to fell dizzy and sick. I think I hadn't eaten enough or maybe I had some bug (I am not really sure), but the last 10 miles were hard from me and I ended up finishing in 4 hours and 1 minute. Overall I know I did the best I could for how I felt that day, so I am proud of that. I now understand what it is like to have a bad race day. After the marathon we all went and ate at a pizza place, it was really good I didn't feel like eating but I did feel better after I ate something (I need to remember to force myself to eat something next time)

(After the race waiting for our food)

After our lunch/dinner we walked around the Long Beach aquarium and surrounding area for several hours, and then we went back to the hotel. (Lindy and I at the aquarium)
(Lisa, Cynthia, and I)

On Monday we drove home. I am sad our trip is over, I have great friends, and I cannot wait to do it again someday.

Marathon Count Down

I leave tomorrow for long beach and I cannot wait. I am excited for a fun girls trip and I am excited to see how my second marathon goes. I am a little worried that I might be getting sick, but whatever happens happens. I think that if everything goes well I might reach my goal, but if not at least I will know I did my best.

12 days and counting

I have only 12 days left before I run the Long Beach Marathon. I am really excited and cannot wait for that day to be here. I am also a little nervous, because I have a huge goal I hope to accomplish, but at the same time I don't want to be too disappointed it I don't reach it. I would like to qualify for Boston, which means I need to finish in under 3 hours and 41 minutes. I have been training faster this time and I think I can do it if I have a good day, but you never really know how you are going to feel until the day arrives, so I really hope I feel great and I hope adrenaline kicks in and helps me run faster. I cannot wait for a fun girls trip and hopefully a great Marathon.

Movie Time

I feel like we have had a really busy week and I am glad it is coming to an end and I hope next week we can relax a little bit more. I like being busy, but this week seemed busier than normal. This what we have been up to

• preschool
• cheer
• swimming
• pictures for Kayda
• Had a baby shower at my house
• Starting training for my new job at lifetime fitness
• Worked on stuff for the primary activity on Saturday (my activity day girls are helping)
• Cleaned my brother's house
• Filled out new hire paperwork (it has been along time since I have done that)
• Ran a lot (I think after tomorrow's run I will be at about 45 miles for the week),
• Reddin has been working really hard to get our new truck registered and drivable
• Reddin replaced the radiator and some fan in our van (he was up until 1:30 I think)
• Took a boot camp class at the gym
• Started doing surveys online to earn a little extra money (not sure if it's worth it yet)
• All the normal stuff, cleaning house, grocery shopping, laundry

I think after this busy week we are all ready for some movie time in my family. I but on Beauty and the Beast for the girls and came down stairs to discover this, I think it is so cute Kayda wants to do whatever Payton does.