Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas

I have recently been reading a blog about a 5 year old girl battling brain cancer. Her mom post's updates on her health daily. Every day it brings me to tears. Kate has such and amazing heart. She has started Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas. They are collecting gifts for the kids in the hospital. If everyone could take a look and donate a gift to them that would be awesome.

Each year we take one of our boys' birthday gifts and give it to Toy's for tots beings their birthday is so close to Christmas. But this year we are going to give them to Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas. Just think of the smile you will put on some poor kids face when they see that someone has thought about them. Below is the link to the facebook page where you can find more information. I will also put the link to the blog if you would like to read her story.

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http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate/journal

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Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas

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A trip to the ER

Monday night we were eating dinner at the table like we do every night. Jay and I were arguing with Jaxon about eating his dinner. I finally decided that I was going to start on the dishes and Jay walked away from the table too and let the boy's finish eating. I had just started to run my dish water and all of a sudden I hear the loudest crash ever. Jace had put his legs up on the table and pushed off. His high chair is a booster straped to the chair so him and the chair came crashing down. I have never had to experiance my babies getting hurt like that. After repeating "OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH" a few times, I un strapped him from the high chair and realized he had taken a bite of food right before he crashed. Thank goodness he didn't choke, but I got all the food out of his mouth and tried to check him out. But Jay came over and yelled at me saying "do you even know what to look for?" I was so mad at him and said let me look at my baby. I didn't want to let him go. I then gave in and let Jay look at him, once Jay had him in his lap Jace started to act like he was going to fall asleep and we saw a HUGE bump on the back of his head. I freaked out and said "I'm calling 9-1-1." I know I know I was a little over the top, but my baby was hurt and I wanted help for him. Luckly Jay was calm cool and collected and said "NO we will take him to the ER." So then I knew I had to rush and get Jaxon dressed, call someone to watch him and head out the door. But panic still had the best of me and I couldn't think at all. I don't even know how to explain it. I knew I had to get Jaxon's shoes and pants on, but didn't know where they were or even where to get them. I went into his room and just paced back and forth trying to figure out what to do. I then told Jay " you have to do this, I can't think right now." And he told me to calm down. Easier said than done. So I took a couple breaths and finally found his clothes got him dressed and called Jay's mom and headed out the door. I was to affraid to put Jace in his car seat because I thought he would go to sleep. So I heald him all the way to the ER to try and keep him awake. We got him all checked in and waited and waited and waited. Jace wasn't his spunky little self. He just sat there with us and let us cuddle him. Finally we got our turn to get a room, but we had to sit and wait another long time. That was when he snapped back into the Jace I know. He wanted to get down and play. But I didn't put shoes and socks on him or have anything for him to play with. So he was getting antsy. Then the Dr. came and gave us the ok to go home. Praise the Lord nothing worse happened. I am so glad he didn't have a concussion. That night thought he didn't sleep very good. I think he had a head ache. But after a little Tylenol and water he fell asleep.

Mission Complete

Ever since watching the "Biggest Loser" last season, I have been so motivated to run a half marathon. My sister Megan and I talked to each other and decided that we would train together and run one. I looked online for a race that we would want to do and signed up for it. We decided on the Champoeg 5k/half marathon that was on September 19th. We started out with 2 weeks of just running for 30 min. And then we found a 10 week training program that we followed. The schedule looked like this.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3	Rest	3	3	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	13.1	Rest	21.1

There was 3 weeks in there that I couldn't run because I broke my toe, but other than that I stayed on the schedule pretty good. I must say I got a little wore out of running about half way into it, but I knew if I slacked I would regret it down the road.



After months of training it was finally race day. I was so excited and nervous. I just wanted to get it over with and say that I completed 13.1 miles. My friend's Mindy and Desi came over the week before the race and we all tye dyed shirts for everyone to wear. It was so much fun and got me even more pumped for the race. On race day I woke up at 5:30 am, and heard it pouring down rain. I was so mad. I don't mind running in the rain, but not pouring rain. Finally at 6:45 we had the boy's all ready and headed out to Champoeg.

Megan and I had an amazing support system. My friend Desi and Mindy were there with their kids. Our parents were there and so was Megan's in laws. Megan's friend Jenna also surprised her at the finish line.

Our race stared at 8:30. We took off and I felt good. I was going to stay with Megan but needed to go ahead. I was kind of nervous at first because I though am I going to tire out? Maybe I need to slow down. But I couldn't. I keep on going. Once I got to the 2 mile mark I was doing about 8 min. miles. I got to mile 7 and started to feel a pain in my foot. Yep... it was a blister. I didn't have moisture wicking socks on and my soggy foot was rubbing on my shoe. I pushed through the pain and keep on running. After a while it didn't hurt as bad. I keep on chugging my gel packs and finally after 1 hour 56 min. made it to the finish line. Oh man was I so excited to get there. The first thing I did was give my family a hug and get a banana and water. A little later I decided I was going to go find Megan and run in with her. I cheered for her and told her to pick it up. After I cheered her in I finally took off my shoe and discovered how big the blister actually was. It is HUGE! But I didn't care. I was still on my high. I felt so accomplished and proud of myself. People have asked me if I am going to do a full marathon now and my answer is NO!!!! I don't think I could do one. 13.1 miles is a long way and 26.2 is WAY TO FAR! I couldn't imagine how I would feel after that race.

I woke up this morning and every muscle in my legs hurt. I couldn't get out of bed without holding on to the wall. I don't think I have ever been this sore after a run. But it is all worth it. As soon as this blister goes away I will be hitting the road again for more running. That was not my last race, I look forward to breaking my time!!

a before shot

Megan stretching

Getting ready to start

Patiently waiting while eating cheerieos

My babies chearing me on

Our fan club minus my mom

Mile 2

I don't remember what mile this is

1 hour 56 min later

Sweet sweet victory

My amazing little family

The rodies

our cool shirts

addiction update

So my plan was to update my blog more often about my journey to quit drinking diet pepsi or anything with artificial sweetener in it, but I have been so busy. I went 1 week without taking a drink of DP. I didn't want or crave it at all. i was very surprised. I thought for sure it would be so hard. It must have been a sign that I needed to quit. But I went to Bend to visit my sister and we had pizza. And you CAN NOT have pizza with out a pop. But I only had a tiny bit. And again to my surprise it didn't taste as good as I thought it was going to. Whenever I want something other than water to drink I will get an iced tea without sweetener in it.

So on my second week I did really good too. The only time I really drank DP was after my half marathon. My dear friend's Desi and Mindy brought me one at the finish line, but I only took a few drink of it and threw it away. And then today I did have a can at lunch. But I am not going to go back onto my 2 32oz cups of it a day. I am going to try and stay away from it. If I am out to dinner or something I MAY have one, but I will try and always get a tea.

ADDICTION!!

For as long as I can remember I have been addicted to Diet Pepsi. I love everything about it. When I was pregnant with Jaxon I quit drinking it, but then once he was born I started up again. I actually had one with my dinner once I could have food after my c-section. I tried to quit when I got pregnant with Jace, but I couldn't do it for the life of me. I think that is when my addiction really started to get bad. I couldn't even quit for the baby growing inside me. Ever since then I have tried to either quit or cut back, and have failed at both of them. It seems like once I tell myself that I am going to quit I want it even more. So last night I decided I am going to quit cold turkey, and I am 100% sticking to it this time. I know I will feel so much better and I could lose the extra pounds I have around my mid section if I just stick to it. So I am going to journal throughout my recovery process. I think it will help me and it will be fun to look back and see how I felt during the whole process.
So today I did really good. I didn't have a single drink of it. But boy did I want one. I am really trying to stay away from the artificial sweetener that is in it. But I did have a couple glasses of iced tea with some sweet n low in it. I just wanted to get it out of my fridge. So now if I make tea I am not going to put the sweetener in it, and I am going to drink a lot more water. I even put a gallon of water in my fridge so it will be nice and cold for me when I need it. I have not had a real craving for it today, but it is only day one. We will see what the rest of the week holds for me.

A Lunch Fit for a Toddler

I am always wanting to try new things for lunch and snacks for the boy's. I know I get tired of the same ol' food, so I know they do too. So today for lunch I made chicken and shells. Jaxon LOVED them, and I thought they were pretty good too. And for Jace, I just ground it all up so I didn't have to make two different lunches. Anyone out there with kids I hope your kids will like this as much as mine did.

jumbo pasta shells
ground chicken or tuna
cheese

I just boiled the noodles, and mixed my chicken with mayo and stuffed the shells, sprinkled cheese on top and baked them just enough to melt the cheese.

Family Matters

I have one of the best families in the whole world. I don't know what I would do without them. Growing up I didn't have the best relationship with them, but through the years I have gotten really close with them. 10 years ago I would have never though I would live 2 min. away from my parents, and talk to them every day. I LOVE being so close to them. And I think they like it too. I just wish that my sister and her little family could live closer to us. Living in Bend is to far away. Sure it is only 3 hours. But when we each have kids 3 hours is a long time. When we do get together we make up for the time away. Just this last Sunday we went over there for the day and had a blast swimming. I just hope that our boy's can grow up and be amazing little pals. I pray every night that Tyler's job will bring him closer to us so we can see them more. But only in Gods time will that happen. Someone I really wish I could see more is Brett. He is living in Seattle right now. We never get to see him. I pray that one day God will put him closer to us too. He needs to see his nephew's more than he does. When our whole family gets together we have so much fun laughing, playing games and just telling stories about "good ol' times." Not everyone is as lucky as I am to have such an amazing family.

another wordless wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Monkey See Monkey Do

As you all know I am training for a half marathon. So that requires me to run a lot. Every time I go out for my runs I stretch really good. And Jaxon always watches me while I do it. Last night as I was preparing for my 11 mile run to Monmouth Jaxon decided he would like to run with me. He put on his shoes (they were not running shoes, they were the ugliest pair of sandals he has and they were backwards.) and he had his shirt and underwear one. He came out and said "mommy I go for a run with you" and started to stretch with me. It was so cute, he did everything I was doing. And he really concentrated on it all. I felt so bad when I was done and on my way out the door. He really thought he was going to go with me. He threw the biggest fit ever. He had one hand on the door, and one hand on the door frame and wasn't letting me shut the door. I felt so bad, it made my heart break. I told him that we could go running tomorrow. So I guess today I have to take him out for a little run. I just love how it wants to be just like mommy and daddy. I really hope he grows up to be an athletic little boy.

A day of Enchantment

On Wednesday we decided that we would take the boy's to Enchanted Forest. The weather was going to be awesome, and we thought that Jaxon would love it. So we got up and got ready for out day of Enchantment. We had lunch at Popeyes Chicken (and will never go back) and then headed to the park. Jaxon had never been anywhere like this before. The fist thing we did was just walk around and read all the little nursery rhymes. We knew that if we started on the rides and games he would never want to leave so we saved those for the end. We spent a lot of time on the shoe slide. That was something we could do with Jace. So Jay and I each got to take the boy's on the slide. Jace didn't look like he was that into it, but Jaxon had a good time. After a couple hours we went to watch a play. It was Snow White. We watched a little bit of it, then Jaxon got tired of sitting there so we moved on the the rides. Jay took him on his first roller coaster ride. I was a bit sad because I wanted to go on it with him too. I got to take him on a boring train ride. He did have a lot of fun on the train though. He got to steer it and push a button. Jay also took him into the haunted house (another one of his first's). I was a little nervous for him, because, I am scared of haunted houses. But he did a really good job. I was waiting at the end to get a picture. Because I though for sure he would have some priceless look on his face, but he didn't. I was kind of disappointed. We spent about 3 hours there and Jaxon was so tired. On our way out we let him pick out a toy to buy. He got so tired of walking, that he plopped himself down and didn't want to move anymore. Poor guy fell asleep right when we got into the car. We had such a fun time. I love taking him fun places like that and just watching him have fun. We can't wait for Jace to be old enough to enjoy it too. We have so many more years to create amazing memories like this, and I just can't wait.

First stop (the knight)

getting ready to go down the witch slide

Wee

Jace and I on the shoe slide

Jax and Jay

Waiting for the play

looking at an airplane

Jax and Jay on the roller coaster

Haunted house

Good ol' train ride

Jace and I waiting for the other boy's

a hairaising expierence

I have been a blond my whole life. When I was little, I had white hair, just like Jaxon but maybe even blonder. When I was in high school, I would use "sun in" and make it even more blond, and then by the time I was a Sr. in high school, I was having my friends and my mom color it blond. Well then I went to beauty school. I did try some new colors, but I always went back to blond. Because I have done so much to my hair, it was totally dry and just damaged. For a LONG LONG time now I have been telling myself I was just going to quit talking about going dark an actually do it.

I am going to have some boudoir photos taken of me for my husbands birthday present (it is a surprise, so don't tell him) and I have asked him what he thinks is sexier, blonde's or brunette's. And he told me he has always been attracted to brunettes, but I was an exception. So I decided to actually do it. I want these pictures to be what he thinks is sexy. Even though I think blonde's are more sexy, I took one for the team and went darker. And when I say darker I mean DARKER. I have been pretty much a platinum blond, so for me to go this dark is drastic for me.

I am so lucky to have an amazing friend who I used to work with. So once a month she comes over with her son Isaac (who is a month older than Jaxon) and we do each other's hair while the boys play. Beings I was so blond, I had to "fill" my hair first. Which means for non hair stylist... I had to use a gold based color so that the dark would grab and not turn a muddy brown color. So I did that part last night and Bri did the final step this morning. To my surprise, I actually kind of like it. It will take some getting used to, but I like it.

before

after filling it

the new me

Wordless Wednesday

I forgot to post this yesterday.

I

Tackle it Tuesday

I don't know about everyone else, but the refrigerator is the one thing in the house that gets neglected. I always tell myself I am going to clean it every time I go grocery shopping, and it never happens. Today I had enough. There was left overs from who knows how long ago, condiments that I NEVER use, and just a bunch of junk. I took all the food out and wiped down all the shelves and organized it all. Now I can find anything I want, and it looks so bright inside. Having a clean refrigerator makes you feel so good!!

Pool Party at the Minton's