Anyone who has talked to me in the past 9 months knows my life has been consumed with running and training for a half marathon. The original plan was to run the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon. You can read about that here, here, here, and here. (It was a big deal!)

Up to that weekend, I had decided it was going to be my first and last half-marathon, but its cancellation totally motivated me to keep going. I ran the Georgia half-marathon in March, and completed my Team in Training half-marathon in Nashville in April.

It was so much fun. I got to complete the race with Misty, a good friend I have made through the team. You can see us giving each other five as we cross the finish line (look for the purple shirts to the middle left.)The race started 15 minutes early due to the threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes (I think our team causes extreme weather.) We ran all over Nashville including by Vanderbilt, music row, Broadway, by the Country Music Hall of fame, Belmont University.....) All along the way, there were bands and huge crowds cheering us on. In one area, people were handing out fruit, another couple had a breakfast party and allowed runners to use their bathrooms, and people were even handing out beer along the way. Being part of team in training was awesome because coaches were stationed throughout the course to cheer us on. At one point, someone even yelled my full name, and I'm still trying to figure out how they knew it, but it meant the world to me in that moment. We did see a lot of runners down needing medical attention, making me very thankful for my training. When we crossed the finished line, we were told to get our medals, get something to eat, and get out of there due to the weather. It took quite some time to get out of the finishing area and check in at the Team in Training tent where I met Kevin and Carter. Luckily, we were able to walk back to our hotel before the storms came.


Running has been a HUGE accomplishment for me. If you would have told me 15 years ago, I would be doing this, I would have never believed you, but running has started to define a part of who I am. I don't always look forward to long Saturday morning runs, but knowing I can accomplish something so many people can't keeps me going. (Ok really, the thought of a chicken biscuit really encourages me along with not feeling guilty about what I eat that day.)

Seriously, thanks to everyone who has supported me and encouraged me through all of this. I promise to keep running!

Carter got pretty sick in mid-April. I got a call on a Tuesday afternoon while on a field trip to the zoo that he had a high fever. I brought him to the doctor the following day, and a strep test came back positive. I was somewhat relieved knowing he should be better the following day after starting antibiotics. His fever continued for a week. We even rushed him to after hours care when it hit over 104 on a Saturday evening. Carter was tested for the flu and had a blood test. The best conclusion anyone could make was that he caught a virus on top of the strep. We did take him to touch a truck that same Saturday. He had a blast. At home, his giant Elmo sits in a chair wearing a hard hat. When Carter met Elmo, he really wanted him to wear a hard hat we had bought. Carter just cracks us up!

I just signed up for 500 miles in 2010, but if you know me, that's not good enough. I'm going for 800 instead. I'm currently at 274.63 miles for the year.

Oh my goodness, I just realized I never posted anything about Carter's 2nd birthday. Time really is just slipping away from me. I really want to start a petition to add 5 or 6 non working hours to the day. We had Carter's party at a bouncy place with inflatables. It really appealed to me when I was told we would have the place to ourselves, don't show up early, and just bring cake. Carter had all of his grandparents there, 2 cousins, a great aunt, and lots of friends. We worried many of Carter classmates would be out of town because we had his party during spring break. Many of them did make it, especially his best bud Aaron. Carter received some nice gifts, but not too many (thankfully!) We celebrated at school on his actual birthday. I brought petit fours for his classmates, and Carter and I went to the park after to play.

I just ordered this:


and can't wait for it to come in! Do I have to finish my current book first?

I've been horrible about posting. It's on my to-do list. I promise. I'm just a little overwhelmed right now by life. So overwhelmed I almost cried last week when the dental hygienist told me I needed to floss more than 2-3 times per week. I did get her to quickly change the conversation to the weather.

Our trip to Raleigh was lots of fun. Carter received his first birthday gift, a set of golf clubs from Aunt Maranda. He enjoyed playing golf in her back yard even if her dogs tried to steal the balls. On Sunday, we went over to Grandpa's and drove his golf cart around the yard. After, we jumped on Kaleb's trampoline. We finished our weekend with a yummy Easter dinner at Aunt Maranda's and headed home. Carter didn't nap much in the car. He finally fell asleep about an hour from home and woke up about 5 minutes away. He was absolutely hysterical when he woke up, and there was no calming him down. He ended up rolling around on the living room floor, and by the time it was over, Mom had snot in her hair.

For Easter, we headed up to Raleigh to visit Kevin's family. We went to Aunt Maranda's where Carter and his cousin Kaleb had an Easter egg hunt. Carter had one at school on the previous Thursday. While running errands on Friday, Carter had to take his Easter basket with us. He definitely enjoyed the candy. When Carter insisted on eating bunny money for breakfast, I emptied his eggs. Carter opened them one by one saying, "broke" when he discovered they were empty.

Carter took his spring portrait a few weeks ago with a live bunny and lamb. The order form states all pictures will be retouched. Well, when I received the 8 x 10, there was a big booger hanging out of Carter's nose. While it was hilarious, I figured it should be removed for the price I paid. (If you enlarge these, you may be able to find it!)

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've got lots to write about but the opposite when it comes to time. I want to tell you about:

• Easter
• Carter's Birthday
• My new running goal

Hopefully, I will have time soon!

Kevin is definitely creating a little monster. Anyone who knows Kevin or knows me knows how "frugal" Kevin is. (Ok, it was nicer than saying cheap) Carter and I were playing outside as we often do after school. Carter got into his panic/OCD mode and ran into the house crying. I followed him not knowing what he wanted. He ran to the stairs and waited at the foot, knowing he can't go upstairs by himself. I noticed a penny in his hand. He was insisting on going upstairs to put the penny in his piggy bank.

Carter absolutely adores his Dada, and I often find him imitating him whether he's wearing Kevin's tape measure, playing with a screw driver, or wearing Kevin's phone. When Kevin gets home from work, he often has pens stuck in his shirt. Carter usually takes these from him. On Monday evening, Carter disappeared and came back like this:

On Saturday, we drove up to Winnsboro to the South Carolina Railroad Museum to ride on the Easter Bunny Eggspress. We made it up there for the 9:30 train ride. We rode 5 miles out and then the 5 miles back. On the way, the Easter Bunny made and appearance. I thought Carter would have been afraid, but he was very excited to see him. An hour was a little long for a train ride, but Carter definitely enjoyed seeing the "toot toots."

While in Atlanta, my mom brought me an apron my grandmother had made for me when I was little. I thought it was would be perfect for Carter to use while eating his Spaghetti O's. Of course, he wanted to wear a jacket with it.
And, here's a picture I had to add of the little defiant face that is becoming very familiar:
Just imagine him stating, "No" as he swings his head to the side.

Before we left for Atlanta, Carter woke up with a high fever that came and went over the weekend but wasn't low enough to send Carter to school on Monday. Kevin stayed home with him. Apparently, Carter wanted to put all his toys in the coat closet under the stairs.

We met my parents in Atlanta on Saturday morning and immediately headed to the aquarium. Carter was excited about seeing the "ish." We had bought him some gold fish a few weeks ago, but they didn't live very long. I guess that's what you get for 13 cents. Carter was extremely impressed by the fish at the entrance and continued to enjoy looking in all the tanks and at all the exhibits.
We ate lunch there.
Once we had enough of the crowds, we walked back to our hotel. We couldn't have picked a better location. We stayed right at Centennial Park. Carter took a nap with Gammy and Poppa while Kevin and I walked over to the Georgia Dome, so I could pick up my race packet and go to the expo. We met up with Anna, and I bought my long awaited "13.1" magnet for my car. Once I felt we had sufficiently checked out all the fun running gear, we walked back to the hotel to prepare for dinner. Anna set us up at Maggiano's. We had a delicious dinner followed by a dessert platter that was on the house. After, we drove around and gawked at the houses off of Roswell road in Buckhead. Then, it was time to go back to the hotel and hope to get well-rested for the race. I woke up every hour because I was terrified of not hearing my alarm.

I wrote this last week and forgot to post it. (Very indicative of my life!)

I did it! I completed my first half-marathon in Atlanta on Sunday. I had an early start at 6:10 when I met my friend Anna in our hotel lobby and walked over to Centennial Park where the race began. Anna wanted to meet up with some of her friends. After, we headed over to our start corral. We heard an announcement at the start of the wheel chair race and knew we would be starting 5 minutes later. Officials began to open the corrals, and we slowly walked forward until we were at the start line and began running. We immediately passed my parents who were waiting outside of our hotel. It was very crowded with over 16,000 runners. By mile three, it started drizzling on us which actually felt good. By mile 9, I was ready to be done. At mile 12, I realized, I could walk and still meet my goal of 2:10. Anna refused to let me walk. It seemed there was a hill around every corner, and the race would never end. When we finally made it to the finish line, we wound through, received our medals, and were offered all sorts of food. My food of choice: 2 oreos! I really didn't want anything, but when offered oreos, I couldn't resist. We continued winding our way through the end and eventually made it into Centennial Park where we began looking for my family. I looked for them along the course and never saw them. They watched me at the end, but I couldn't see them through the crowd. After, we said our goodbyes to Anna and headed back to the hotel where I showered, and everyone else went to get breakfast. After cleaning up, I met them downstairs and enjoyed a wonderful plate of eggs benedict. I didn't feel too great for the rest of the day, but I was very proud of my accomplishment. The best part was catching up with Anna. I hadn't seen her since June 2007. Anna is a veteran racer, so it was awesome to run with her. She even filled my water bottle for me as we ran! Now, it's off to Nashville in April.

All babies need to be accessible at all times
via their Blackberry
that can be kept in a holster on their diaper

Once all the important calls are taken care of, a baby boy can finally get to his chores:

We had wonderful spring-like weather this past weekend. On Saturday after my run, we took Carter to the zoo. It was a great day with great weather, and Carter is at a great age to enjoy the animals. We started by looking at a the monkeys. Do you know the difference between monkeys and apes? Well, monkeys have tails, and apes don't. Did you know that? I didn't until i overheard the little 4 year old answering her mom's questions, so I turned to Kevin and asked, "Do you know the difference...."

After, we moved over to the lions and tigers. The tiger was awake and roaring. Carter was extremely excited. Next, was the carousel. Carter wasn't too thrilled about being on it until it started moving. Every time we passed Kevin, he said, "Da da" and "bye bye" as we continued around. He absolutely loved it.

We headed over to the koalas. If you look very closely to the left of the koala, you can see a baby koala's head. It almost looks like the foot of the larger one.
We decided to go to the zoo to see the baby giraffes that were featured in our paper recently:

Carter enjoyed the animals. He saw the turtles who were "night night" and the alligator who says "chomp chomp." He also go to see a "zzzzzzzebra." We definitely need to enjoy our zoo membership a little more this spring.

As for me, it's crunch time. My half marathon in Atlanta is on Sunday. Wish me luck and hope for no freak weather situations or the forecasted thunderstorms. I'll be running it with m sorority sister Anna. It will be great to run it with a friend I haven't seen in awhile. Hopefully, I will be able to post my results instead of a picture of a snowman this time!

Don't you think every baby needs a coozie on their sippy cup?