It's official

It's official. I have paid my dues and am now registered for my first 5K race. I'm nervous to say the least! I have been working out consistently for 6 weeks now and would like to say that I can run 3.1 miles in twenty minutes or less. But, no. Try doubling that number. My friend Joanie convinced me to do it (easy for her to say she ran a marathon when her twins were 6 months old!) I figured it's now or never. And I really want to run a half-marathon before the year is over so I have to start somewhere. I do have a goal for myself: I have to finish in 45 minutes or less because Brayden wakes up at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast, which is me. Race starts at 7:00 a.m. Finish by 7:45 a.m. Rush home to nurse baby at 8:00 a.m. A mother's work is never done. I would like to have Adam there to watch me, but unless we can convince someone to watch our kids on a Saturday morning at 7 a.m. it's not happening. Who knows, maybe by the time I'm ready to try a half-Ironman my kids will be old enough to watch themselves and Adam can come cheer me on. One can always dream, right?

Other news: Brayden had his 6 month checkup two weeks ago. He is 19.5 pounds and 28 inches long. BIG KID!! We attended my mother's family's reunion (Sampson family) and compared him to my cousins children that were around the same age. He dwarfed them all. And not by a little bit, either. We are proud, but our arms are sore from hauling him around. Brayden has also discovered his voice and YELLS and SCREAMS a lot. It makes my throat sore just listening to him.

Sabrina is learning to read and write. My mom started us on the program that she teaches: The Writing Road to Reading. It's a phonics-based program which I'm totally impressed with. My little 4 year old can read simple books and is learning to identify more complex combined sounds and recite the rule for each one. I'm enrolling her in Pre-school this fall.

Moira is the great middle child. Happy, funny, sweet, content. She's delightful and wonderful. Currently she enjoys chasing Sabrina around the house and playing with Brayden. Her third birthday is coming up in August and as per our tradition we're going to do a huge party for her. She is so excited and talks about it constantly: "pink cake with pink fwosting and white letters and white frowers". Maybe she'll be an event planner someday. I'm thinking a super-hero theme, that would be fun! Then we could have a slip-n-slide in the backyard and have them practice their super hero flying on it! OOOOH, good idea!

Right now Adam and I are losing weight. I, because I burn a ton of calories every day through exercise and nursing and still eat light; Adam, because he eats watermelon for breakfast, cucumbers for lunch, sensible dinner, and no snacking after 8 o'clock. We both have goals that we're shooting for, he will probably meet his before I meet mine because he has less to lose AND men lose weight more easily than women. GRRRRR. But he's very encouraging, especially with my gym membership and getting out of bed in the morning at 6 a.m., which has proven to be more difficult than I thought. Will update the blog on this topic as noteworthy milestones are achieved.

What's in a name?

I have been teaching Moira her parents names in case of an emergency. Initially it was pretty rough going: "Damn Jay Bowers". But now she has Adam's name down: Adam Jay Bowers. My name has proved a little more difficult. Every time I ask her my name Moira says:

"Wendy Bowers Awesome."

No joke.

When she was learning and would say my name right I would respond with an enthusiastic "Awesome". Somehow she must have thought that I was correcting her rather than cheering her on. But since the name seems very appropriate to me (what mother wouldn't agree, I ask you!) I have allowed the name to stick!

Maybe by the time she starts school I'll fix it, until then I will enjoy my sweet toddler calling me awesome every time she says my name!