Run Mama, Run !

One-third of the way through on my training....for my first Half Marathon !  (Last year, I posted enthusiastically about training for the same race but never had the chance to run the race.  I was a few weeks into my training when we found out that we were pregnant and stopped training competitively.  A few weeks after that we lost our precious baby and running was really far from my mind).  

So, here I am again...another year older and trying to accomplish this goal !  I waited until this week to post because this weeks long run was 8 miles.  That is the longest run I've ever done - even as a youngster.  I feel like I've gotten over a big hurdle with this weeks progress.  I love setting goals and having something to work towards...it really helps overcome "some" of the monotony and loneliness of running. 

Exercising and keeping fit is something I have always tried to keep as a constant in my life.  My father instilled a great value of HEALTH in me from a very young age - and I really hope to do the same for my own children.  I try to involve them in our meal prep, exercise time, and other good habits.  Healthy living really is a lifestyle choice for us - and so much easier instilled in us when we are young.  I try to emphasize how exercise keeps our heart healthy and the benefits of healthy eating.  I don't want my children growing up with an issues with their body image or obsessively looking at the scale. God gave us these amazing bodies and we should know how to care for them in a very respectable way.  We should be more amazed at the things our body can DO rather than how perfect it looks to others.  

I've made a few changes to the "official" training program that I am following, to accommodate for some traveling, family visits and a few other races that I am interested in doing in the next month.  Hopefully, it will still work out in a positive way !  I have added a training widget to the sidebar - to add some accountability to this post :) !  

Many years, little one !

September 11, 2006

I can still remember how afraid I was that day at the hospital hearing the nurse utter the words "You'll be having this baby today".  My sweet husband smiled ear to ear in joyful anticipation...but all I could think was it was too early.  We had been in and out of the hospital, bed rest, meds....all to try to keep this precious baby in my womb just a little while longer.  She was my first...and I had no idea what was really happening.   I was so afraid...all I could do was pray that this little blessing would be strong.  They made me even more fearful as the delivery became imminent with NICU team waiting for her...waiting to take my little baby away from me.  That's how I saw it, anyway.

Glory to God for all things...our little girl was bigger than they thought, strong, healthy....and looking quite full-term to all of us.  We spent every second with each other after her vitals, they never had to even take her out of the room.  Thanks be to God.

When momentous occasions occur, like this birthday....I always seem to say the same thing to my husband.  "I can still SMELL the day she was born".  Sounds so silly...but I really can. I am transported back to that moment of inexplicable joy...and choke back the tears.  Just like now.

So, here we are....and she turned FIVE this month.   She has had quite the celebration too.  We surprised my inlaws (and our children) with an unannounced visit to their home in the Berkshires.  It is not easy to travel as a family of four...but it is MOST difficult to plan a trip like that in secret.  We video chat with them quite often and it was hard for my hubby to talk to his parents without slipping (which is exactly why it had to be a surprise for the kids too)!



Her actual birthday landed during this visit, so not only did we show up unannounced but they gave their granddaughter a little birthday party as well.  She was thrilled and loved celebrating her birthday at her Noni and Granddad's house !

Upon our return home, we had a very special tea party and invited her two closest friends.  We celebrated her Name Day and her birthday with her friends.  We had such a great time...and turns out, I actually like throwing tea parties for little girls!

The next night we had Yiayia, Popou, Nouna, Nouna, Thea and her favorite Big Cousins over for gyros and (yes, again) birthday cake.  She got a brand new bike and we've been riding it at least twice a day since she first got on it. (Thanks to Popou for the very loud horn on the handlebars)!  

I finally popped all the balloons and yanked all the streamers down today !