7 years of fun

Today my baby turns seven. SEVEN I say!!! Can you believe how fast time has flown? Well neither can I. And oh the changes with this little girl. She has grown to be so beautiful, smart, caring, nurturing, loving, funny, sassy, creative, and just down right wonderful!

My sweet baby girl, you are the light of my life and the joy in my heart! I love you dearly and wish you the Happiest Seventh Birthday!

quick trip

Several months back we decided that it would be fun to go to Nashville for a long weekend and when I learned that there was a race there in the spring I didn't need any more convincing. I signed myself up for the half marathon (chickened out of the full) and Elizabeth up for the kids race. Well, any military family knows that things come up and vacations have to get cancelled on short notice. So to make the best of it, I stole my friend for the weekend, left the kids with my mom and headed to Nashville for a short weekend.

We left on Friday and took about 8 hours to get there. Do you know how many years it has been since I have been in a car for that long without having to stop 300 times to go potty, do gymnastic maneuvers to reach a sippy cup, listen to some goofy movie, or sing children songs? Seven years! But I digress...

We drove straight into downtown to the expo to pick up our bib numbers and packets. (We had to take advantage of a photo op. while we were there.) I really wish that had been my actual time. :)

A good friend of mine and Mike's was in Nashville to run the full as well. We commandeered him to take our photos several times. :)

Arriving at the race start. The forecast was for high winds, thunderstorms with damaging hail and tornadoes. Fantastic! They started the race 15 minutes early in hopes of getting a head start to the race. As it started there were patches of blue and it was actually kind of nice out.

Towards the end of the race I was out of energy and out of good spirit as well. The weather was quickly turning bad and all I wanted to do was be done. BUT, Lynette, being the very seasoned runner that she is, was skipping along taking my picture and I just couldn't help but laugh. I was so thankful she was there to run it with me.

After making it to the end of the race and back to the hotel without encountering any tornadoes, we showered, took a nap and then headed to The Bodies Exhibit, which happened to be in town then. We figured it was safer to be indoors. We then headed to back to the area of the hotel for some dinner to find out that the power was out and no one was serving anything. Anyone that has run before knows that after a race, you are STARVING! So off we went on a hunt to find a restaurant that had power. Thank goodness for iPhones! Ha!

As we ate the weather started to clear up a bit so we decided to take advantage of being childless and head downtown to some bars. We quickly realized that we were the 'old folk' down there and it had been a very long time since we had been to a bar. We weren't exactly dressed for it but hey, we had a beer or two and are now able to say we have been there and done that.

Of course I had to have a drink with our old college friend. After all, that is pretty much all I remember doing back then.

In the end, it was a quick trip full of many hours of watching the weather channel and a few miles run in between but it certainly is a good memory. Thank you Lynette for going with me and thank you Mike and Mom for staying back and watching the kiddos.

5 years ago...

Five years ago on this morning I was sitting in the hospital awaiting your arrival. You amazed us from the beginning. You amazed us with your calm serenity after birth. You amazed us with your undenyable perfection.

8 days old

You continued to amaze us with your wiggling feet as you learned to sit. You amazed us with your ability to make an entire room smile with your giggle. You amazed us with your presistance and determination to learn new things. You amazed us with your desire to sit for hours just to be snuggled.

5 years old

You have amazed us with your persistance. You amaze us with your dare devilish ways. You amaze us with your ability to get dirty without even trying. You amaze us with your love for school.

And you continue to amaze us every day! You are growing up to be such a wonderful young man. We can't wait to see what you are going to amaze us with in the years to come. We love you so much AJ! Happy Birthday!