Week 13 and 14

Week 13 - I ran 13 miles and it was not good. Week 14 - I ran 20 miles and it rocked!! It definitely made me feel more confident about at least completing the marathon, so I'm going for it. This is one of those things that I'm working hard for purely for the self-satisfaction of knowing I can do it. It sounds selfish when I write it out, but I think it's actually important for everyone to have those one or two things they do just take care of themselves. All day everyday I'm a wife, a mom, and an officer, but sometimes it's good to be just me, and that's how I feel when I go running. I have a feeling this will be my last marathon for awhile though, because I do miss have lazy quiet weekends with Tom and Julia ;).

Week 12 - 16 Mile Run

This was by far my worst run. I know I've said this before, but I actually had to sit down at one point. I don't think I prepared for it well, and I took too much time in the morning getting ready, so it was later than usual when I started. I was definitely not hydrated (after 10 miles I drank half a Gatorade bottle and still had a dry mouth...), and haven't been eating well enough, or enough to properly fuel myself. Yuck. Bottomline though, what should have only taken 2 hours and 40 minutes took 3 hours. And...since it was a gorgeous sunny day, I got sunburnt. Lesson learned. Also, this midwest wind is killing me! Literally half my run I was running into what felt like a 20 mph wind! I'm sure that'd make anyone tired! Hopefully I make it to the marathon. I really want to realize the results of all this work. Tom has been very encouraging and patient (since long runs take up a good portion of our weekends), and that means quite a lot to me.

Catching Up...

Oh my goodness, we have gone through so many changes lately! We're all moved and in our new house now, and Tom and I are both working full time in our jobs now. I didn't take too many photos of our whole moving process, mainly because we were just too busy. Julia did so well with everything, but we did notice a change in her attitude while we were in limbo, staying in temporary hotel rooms/houses, but now that we're in a home and back into our routine we have our Jules back! This weekend we celebrated her 2nd birthday too! (Photos soon) Here are some of the things she's doing and saying!!

• Proficient at STAIRS! (we had a difficult time finding a gate to fit across the stairs, but in a few days Julia had them mastered anyway!)
• Sleeps without the side on her crib! She's been getting up in the early morning to snuggle with us :)
• Refuses to use toddler tableware, and is only using sippy cups for car rides
• "Montey" (for monkey)
• "Awesome"
• "Hannah"
• "Isaac"
• "Papa"
• "Gamma" (for Grandma)
• "Toast"
• "Bread"
• "Cooking" ("Mama cooking!")
• "Yellow"
• "run run run!" ("mama, run run run!")
• "go mama, go mama, go!" (we have no idea why she started saying/singing this!)
• "Go home" (she says this when she's tired and we're out and about, so precious!)
• "Bird"
• "Cool!" (I think she gets this from me!)
• "Walking"
• "I Julia!" (she says her name REALLY well!)
• "Bro-key!" (for broccli, by far her favorite veggie)
• "Juice"
• "Yeah"
  

Julia's 1st Pair of Rainboots!

Monkey Jammies!

One of Julia's most favorite stuffed animals is her stuffed monkey. I actually bought it for myself while I was in college and roadtripping from Vermont to Oregon. My friend and I stopped at a teddy bear museum, so naturally, I bought a stuffed monkey! Tom and I picked out these jammies for Julia while we were in Oregon, and they're some of her favorites! They're quickly getting too small for her though, so I thought I'd take some photos of her in them before she can't wear them anymore. We're usually pretty good at "retiring" small clothing for her, but we're seeing just how far these poor jammies can stretch! Tom was folding them tonight actually, and gave the belly area a little tug to stretch them out for the next time she wears them :).

Tired Girl...

I honestly can't remember the last time Julia fell asleep on my chest, so when she did the other day I immediately asked Tom to take a photo! Julia is such a big girl now, we only get very brief, but sweet, moments of cuddling with her. She's constantly busy doing something, running from one thing to the next, and usually only pauses long enough for us to get a quick hug or kiss in! We love her rough and tumble, 100 MPH, personality, but we certainly enjoy quiet moments like this :).

Week 9 - 10 Mile Run

This week I think I was supposed to run 12 miles for my long run, but with everything going on, I think I could only, mentally and physically, handle about 10 miles this morning. It was a sad run too, since it was the last long run I will be able to do with my usual group of folks, since next weekend we'll be in Illinois! Next weekend I think I'm supposed to do 16 miles, which should be interesting! I've decided to invest in a Garmin GPS watch once we arrive in the States as well. They're pretty spendy, but running by myself in a new area is a good combination for getting super lost. Not something you want to do on a 10+ mile run. Or any run, for that matter!

Also, I realize my posts have been seriously lacking in Julia photos, so the next few posts will be totally dedicated to her :).