Big and Small

I don't know how else to put this, so I'll just come out and say it: Asher is crazy.

I, of course, mean that in the best of ways - the sweet child is extraordinarily active. He climbs, he runs (I mean RUNS), he dances. He investigates everything, which is really just my nice way of saying he gets into every drawer, container, closet, and cabinet, empties its contents, then moves on in search of old food bits that have fallen to the floor.  I'll admit, it frazzles me sometimes.

His absolute favorite thing to do is play outside - looking for rocks, throwing balls, scaling the riding lawn mower, playing around inside the cars. He frequently crawls in the stroller and looks at me expectantly until I push him around the block. I don't mind, because he is actually holding still in one place.

 At Great- Granny's house wishing he could play ball with the big boys

Last Tuesday, Asher took a fall down the stairs. It was horrible. When the poor little guy finally calmed down and we ascertained he was bump and scrape free, we put him down to walk. To our dismay, he started collapsing when he put weight on his right foot. It wasn't swollen, but he continued to limp around on it. All of a sudden, I was desperate to have our wild, active toddler back.

Long story short, nothing was broken.  He'd just twisted his ankle, so we wrapped it and released him back into the wild. The limp only lasted for a day or two. Suddenly, it was a huge blessing to see him back to his old, busy self. What a good lesson in gratitude and perspective.

We're so thankful to our Heavenly Father who constantly teaches us, and watches over all of his children, big and small.

And we're extra grateful for our crazy Asher.

Sweet crip

 

Of course it's real

Brand New Baby

We're missing our baby boy.

Well, it's mostly me missing, but Andrew does too. We've come to realize each stage has its own challenges and rewards, and while 16-month-old Asher has gotten increasingly fun and we love him more each day, nothing beats the cuddly sweetness of a newborn.

....Is this what convinces people to try for another?

Well, until we're officially ready, we'll just have to reminisce. Here's a little look back at our family when Asher was still brand new.




* I prefer to watch this with the sound off so I can focus on how precious baby Asher is without being annoyed by the sound of my own voice. Try it that way.

The Mini

Last Saturday I ran my first mini marathon. What an experience! At 13.1 miles, it was the farthest I've ever run in my life. It was hard, but felt really good to accomplish.

The back story is this: Not too long ago I caught myself eating ice cream while reading Women's Health. I realized my love of fitness is hard to reconcile with my even greater love of food. It's a tough balance to achieve.

 

Thanks for the visual, internet clip art

I enjoy exercising, but my efforts have usually been fairly casual. I wanted to push myself. I have a few friends who had done or were doing the half marathon, so in January I made a goal to run it, signed up and started training. Still too casually, but training, nonetheless.

The night before the race I was too nervous and keyed up to sleep. I had come down with a cold and worried about breathing through my nose the next day. I felt unprepared. My goal had been to finish the course in 4 hours, but I was scared I wouldn't finish at all. I said a series of very serious prayers. When morning finally came, I had a bowl of oatmeal, chugged a Gatorade,  donned my 7-year-old Nike's and anxiously headed out. 

I told you it was hard, and it was. But as I ran, I found myself really enjoying the experience. Imagine - the sun shining, people on all sides cheering you, drum lines playing, and 15,000 sets of shoes pounding the pavement. We ran through downtown Louisville and all the way to Churchill Downs where we were able to run around the infield. I kept myself jogging at an easy pace most of the way, but really started to feel it around mile 10. Mile 13 went on forever. Finally I saw the finish line and sprinted down the last leg. What an incredible feeling!

I finished at 2:36, and want to try for 2:15 next time. If this is what accomplishing a goal feels like, I need to set more and get to work!

Downtown Louisville. We ended the race there on the Great Lawn

The face of a true champion.

Just kidding.