I love my little boy!!!

I must confess, when I first found out I was pregnant with a boy I was a little bummed. I LOVED having a girl and Isabelle was (and still is) such a love!! I felt like little boy clothes were so lame and cheesy.....so hard to accessorize for a little man. I doubted that any child would be as easy to love as Isabelle. ( I think this is the fear of every mother of one....until she has her second and realizes it is sooooo wonderful and easy to love another just as dearly) Anyhow-I had Judah and oh my does he have me wrapped around his finger. He coos and smiles in the most precious ways!! I could stare at him and chat for hours. He truly goes from a normal face to a full blown face of joy when I just say hello.......it is heavenly!!! Little boys, or this little boy, is precious. He seems to be saying "I will protect you mommy, I will love you always mommy..." even though he is still such little nug. (nug is a term of endearment I use for a small wonderful things) I love thinking that he probably is so much like what his daddy was at that age....sweeter than sugar and just so wonderful to talk to-nothing changed in Nate when he got older:)...I hope the same stays true for Judah.

I love when I am nursing him and his body is in a the complete state of peace. He just lays there, holding my hand and staring at me or dozing off. I love him. My first impulse was wrong. Enough said.

If you need proof that he is the sweetest, check out Exhibit A below.

Why I Love Running

I know....when did this happen? When did I go from being the girl that dreaded the mile in gym class (literally for the whole year) to a woman who finds it being one of the high points of my day? I started to really run in college and that was as an escape. Living with a roommate and on a floor of 40 women makes anyone need time when they can get away and let off some steam. My sister talked me into running the Indy Mini-Marathon my Senior year of college...and I finished with the time of 2:03. Looking back I realize how much more in shape I was then I even knew.

Now here I am, out of college, married, the mother of two children (one of them being only 2 months old) and I find myself gearing up for another Mini-Marathon. This time I am training-since I just had a baby the body was not in the shape it should be for running a bit over 13 miles. And training now has become a lovely thing. I love to climb into my running clothes, grab my ipod and head out the front door. I either run around town or go to our Sports Club and nail the treadmill. ( I had never run on a treadmill in my life until a month ago...wild huh?) I find that running clears my head, clears the negative emotion I have build up from the day and puts me in a mood that I love. There is something so real about running. You are not relying on anything mechanical to spur you forward-the only thing you are relying upon is your own body. Every step you take your body is responsible for....you lift up and down your weight every stride you make. I love that.

Now I should clarify. I am not some amazing, beautiful to watch run kinda girl. I have never been trained "in running correctly" and I get neon red when I run. I sweat through my clothes, I get chaffing, my knees have to be iced-I am not a poster child for the activity. But sometimes I cannot hold in my smile when running. God must love when we run, because my heart is so drawn to Him when I do. Perhaps it is because I think of all the verses in the Bible that use running analogies....and I love how much greater of an impact those verses make on me now that I run. I love that God has made our bodies able to train and improve over time. Literally the first time I went running after my second babe I could run maybe a mile. Now I have run 10 miles....just from being persistent in my running. How amazing that are bodies were created to respond like that....I LOVE IT!!!! I love that I experience such strong emotion when I run. I often tear up on my runs-almost always at the end-because my heart is exploding with joy, contentment, or longing.

Those are some of the reasons I love running. Tell me why you love something you do.......I want to hear!!

Haircuts

So I cut my hair-a few inches...nothing too shocking. (I have cut my own hair for a long time...and highlight it...so much cheaper and you can do it whenever you have a free moment-very nice) Anyhow, I decided to cut Isabelle's hair. Well-things did not go as well as hoped. I did it while she was running around-first and biggest mistake. It was all going well until one fatal cut. I almost cried. It was the side/front of her hair I cut....so luckily it is the part she always wears in a hair tye-but oh my!! I kept telling Nate she looked like an 80's style rocker. The front part of her hair was a blunt cut that angled from shorter to longer starting at the back going to the front. I will confess that when she woke up this morning it didn't look as bad since she had slept on it and made it a little more normal. Anyhow-I included pictures, but not ones of her hair down. I vowed I could not do that to her or me. Honest-I really can cut hair.

Make Up Fun

I have had a blast lately doing looks I would never really wear out-or do not have the guts to wear out yet. The funny thing is, they always look far less dramatic when I take a photo of them. Oh well...here are a few ones I have done lately. I can always have my creative makeup outlet just be online:) I would LOVE if some of you would take this challenge and do some "out of your comfort zone" eye makeup and post a picture of it!! Please do it!! ( the pictures of me with the red headband has eye makeup that I did entirely using eyeliner only...no eyeshadow....another fun challenge:))

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The last two days

So, I have not written in eternity. Sorry....to make up for it let me share with you my last two days:) The really great parts of them.

On Wednesday Isabelle was crying because she wanted her "cell phone" this is a play phone she loves to chat on all the time. She had left it outside from when we were playing out there. I kindly went out to grab it and what do you know...she shut the door on me. This would not be a big deal except for the fact that the door was locked. All the doors were locked. I did not have a phone and to make things absolutely amazing I was wearing embarrassing high school sweat pants that say "slap that bass" on the rear end of them and a less than modest nursing tank. Perfection huh?? I have locked in my house a 20 month old and a month old. Great! I calmly walked down the the neighbor I feel most comfortable with (a woman) and plan how I will explain what I am wearing and what has happened. But of course....she is not home. Nor are my next door neighbors. I then stand at the window and try to keep Isabelle occupied by playing hide and seek through the window with her. She did go downstairs at one point and lay on top of Judah-who was...until then...content in his bouncy chair. Finally my hubby got home (after 40 minutes of not knowing what to do besides make sure I kept Isabelle in sight and periodically checked Judah) and all was well. So that was day one.

Now for day two. I need to make this quick since Judah just is waking up. I was making a yummy Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps for dinner. I had hot oil on the stove to toss all the chicken and veggies in. Isabelle was in her high chair, and Nate was changing Judah upstairs. I placed a large spoonful of canned minced ginger into the pan and it started steaming insanely!! Not normal I thought...and thinking quickly I took the pan off the stove to stop further smoking. But somehow as I did that the entire pan lit on fire. Not little pathetic flames...but literally flames that went to the ceiling and filled the room with heat! I called out (quite calmly impressively enough) for Nate and he....not knowing what I was calling for came down the stairs with Judah. He...seeing the flames placed Judah rapidly on a chair and came running in telling me to bring the pan outside. I must credit my friend Carrie Potts here-she told me a story once of a girl who brought a pan of boiling flaming oil to an open door and the wind blew....blowing all the flames unto her body and burning her badly. I-thank the Lord-recalled this story as Nate told me to go outside. I chose to place the fire ball pan back on the stove and to step back to ensure Isabelle's safety. Nate.....as I mentioned came running it. Well...the floor was coated with oil at this point-from the spraying that prompted me to take it off the stove...and running Nate bites it and slides across the whole floor nailing his whole body into the cabinets. He then crawls out of the kitchen....injured. The fire has not burned everything possible in the pan and has fuzed out. Our house smells like a Chinese restaurant, Isabelle is crying from the whole episode, I am shaking from it, and Nate is slightly injured. Another lovely day:) But I will say....the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps were delicious!!