First Camping Trip

Growing up, my family spent a lot of time camping all around the Texas State Parks. Due to our hot sticky summers, Fall through Memorial Day have proven to be the best times of the year to go camping. We made the mistake going over the 4th of July once and that was the worst camping trip ever!

The kids have been begging to go camping for some time now. My Dad came across a great camping spot that we had never been to before and decided to make reservations for everyone this past weekend. Mason had an early dismissal, so we headed out early Friday afternoon.

We drove an hour and 15 minutes outside of Katy to Fayetville, Tx and stayed at Oak Thicket Park, which is part of the Colorado River Authority. While my kids are used to long road trips, it was nice to be close to home and not have to drive so far to camp.

We unloaded everything and set up our tents before it started to get dark outside. My parents and brother shared their tent, which is the same one we had when I was a little girl. Adam's Dad had given us a tent and I was worried at first if it would fit all five of us, but it worked out perfectly.

Since my parents are experienced campers, we had all the gear and meals planned out in advance. My mom brought buckets along for Mason and Taylor to play with. Those two loved spooning dirt into them and I can't tell you the amount of times I cleaned their faces, hands, arms and legs. Taylor was the messiest of the two, which is funny considering that she is my girly girl.

I was very nervous going into this trip about Peyton. She isn't walking yet, so I wasn't exactly sure if this would be easy or hard. I brought her walker with us, and if she wasn't in the walker, she was in her stroller or walking with us holding her hands. She loved camping and my fears were quickly gone when I realized how much she enjoyed being outside.

Each night we roasted marshmallows and told spooky stories. My kids scare easily, but we didn't water down the spooky stories. My dad always got them to jump and scream. It was hard not to laugh as we watched their faces each time.

Saturday, Adam and Mason had to head back to Katy for a short bit to attend Mason's end of the season football party. My dad took Taylor fishing for the very first time and even though they didn't  catch anything, memories were made.We headed back home Sunday morning and took baths and showers as soon as we got home. We can't wait to go camping again. Our family loved every minute of it and the kids haven't stopped talking about it.

Mason and Taylor as we were pulling into the park.

 

 Peyton had nothing to do with shoes before the camping trip. Now she is obsessed. I love this picture of her sitting in Granddad's chair. She felt like a queen.

 Look at those legs.

 Our tent that slept all five of us. We brought Peyton's pack-in-play and still had room for the rest of us. Eventually we will need a larger tent, but this will due for a couple more years.

 Taylor getting her first fishing lesson from Granddad.

 

 She enjoyed the one-on-one time with her Granddad.

 

Mom, please stop taking pictures.

Weekend happenings

One of the many things that excited me about being back in Katy, was attending the church I grew up in and getting meeting new friends. Instantly we fell in love with our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship aka Sunday School) Insula. There were so many young couples that were our age and had children around the same age. Every month, we have a ladies night out and a guys night out. This past weekend it was the ladies turn.

For dinner, we went to one of my favorite local Italian restaurants, Hasta La Pasta. The food is always so delicious, but the company was better. I loved getting dressed up, although I was probably the most dressed up wearing a tunic with leggings and a heels.

After dinner, we went to Bethany's house for dessert and games. We seriously had the best desserts and Courtney made a snickers dip from Pinterest that was to die for. We played a game that incorporated pictionary and telephone into one. I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. I had tears rolling down my face and will definitely be playing that game again.

This is Nichole and I. Nichole moved to Texas almost a year ago in December and she is from California. Her family lived about an hour and a half from Bakerfsield, so we are very familiar with the city she is from. Our kids adore each other and we have become fast friends.

This is Bethany explaining the sequence of the cards to everyone else. If you ever come to my house for a game night, we will be playing this. Be prepared to laugh!

 

 

Saturday morning, our family has made it a tradition to have breakfast at The Bagel Cafe. Everyone in my family loves this place. I'm so glad to be back in Katy so that I can frequent my favorite eatery more often. Peyton decided to try some of Taylor's bagel and you can tell by her face how much she enjoyed every bite.

The rest of Saturday was spent at the Train Park in Old Katy and watching college football. We discovered how much Peyton loves to swing. This is probably our kids favorite park. We missed Baylor's Homecoming this year, but we were happy to see the Baylor Bears win.

 

 

Sunday was National Orphan and Adoption Day. Our church has an adoption ministry called Tapestry. This year to bring awareness to this special day, the Tapestry ministry asked all families that have been affected by adoption to join them on stage wearing these special shirts.

 

They played Third Day's Children of God song and during the bridge, we walked with our families on stage and sang the song. It was so cool to see all of the families who have been touched by adoption in some way on stage. It was hard not to tear up. I'm so thankful for my family and that I've been adopted into God's family.

Happy Halloween

This Halloween, we went up to our church Fall Festival. Mason decided last minute that he didn't want to be Bumblebee the Transformer anymore and instead wanted to go as Spiderman again. Not a big deal, except I wasn't sure which box our old costumes were packed in. Adam & I searched all of the boxes we are storing in the garage and came up with nothing. I decided to check a couple of boxes we had in his closet and it was in the very last box. I'm just thankful we found it, otherwise we would have had an upset little boy.

Taylor picked out the costumes for her and Peyton. She wanted them to be Kitty Cats. Super easy costume, so I was game. Unfortunately, every time I tried to dress Peyton in her costume, she through a fit. She is in a stage where she doesn't like anything on her head or in her hair. So we quickly improvised and I pulled out some leg warmers and voila...an 80's Aerobic Instructor.

Playgroup Costume Party

Our ABF(Adult Bible Fellowship or Sunday School) class at church has a fantastic Mommy & Me Playgroup. We meet each week all year round, which provides great entertainment for the kids and the Mommy's. My friend Ronna hosted a fantastic Costume Party for the kids at her house yesterday. The weather was absolutely perfect and we spent most of the time outside.

 

Peyton was supposed to be a Kitty Cat, but was not having it, so we pulled out one of Taylor's old costumes. Hopefully she will cooperate on Wednesday for the Fall Festival.

 

 

 Taylor the Kitty Cat

She was so excited that I made her face look like a cat.

All of the kids from Playgroup.

The Chosen Half Marathon Recap

I DID IT!!!!!! I'm only half crazy!

Friday after picking Mason up from school, my dad and I headed towards New Braunfels, TX for the race. I still needed to pick up my registration packet and had to be at U-RUN before they closed. Thankfully, we made it into town around 6:30pm. I texted my friend Ashley, whose team I would be running for and they arrived right at the same time. It was so great to finally meet each other after all these years. We visited for a little bit and then split in different directions to head to our hotels and have dinner.

My goal was to get to bed at an early hour. After laying out all of my clothes and getting everything set up for the morning, I was finally laying in bed around 9pm. That night I had the strangest dreams and did wake up a couple of times to check the clock. Overall, I slept pretty well until my alarm went off at 4:30am.

My plan was to eat a light early breakfast to fuel my run. I brought my Orowheat Sandwich Thins, organic peanut butter, and a few bananas. This is how I start out all of my long runs, so I knew my body would be used to it and I wouldn't have to worry about an upset stomach.

We arrived to the race around 6:15am, but it was rather cold. The weather forecast kept changing all week up until Friday morning. Thankfully, the rain had past but it left behind frosty temperatures and extreme winds. At race time it was 43 degree and the winds were 15 mph.

This is Ashley and I before the race started. They delayed the race a little bit because the sun still hadn't risen. The roads we would be running are not lit. After the full marathoners took off, it was time for the half to start around 7:15am.

My dad prayed over us and then we lined up. Ashley and I ran together for the first mile, but I didn't want to slow her down. We were told that there would be hills the first 3 miles and then the last 3 miles. However, I believe there was maybe a mile and a half that didn't have any hills, so that meant that most of the entire race had hills. I have been to the area a ton of times to go tubing with my family and friends over the years, but have never noticed the hills, probably because I was in the car. It was extremely hill and windy, which mentally and physically was a big challenge for me.

By mile 2, my chest was burning from breathing in the cold air. Thankfully, it passed at 2.5 miles. Everyone was so friendly and encouraging the entire race. That is one of the reasons I love running so much. No matter how fast or slow you are, you are still a runner and everyone cheers you on.

There were several times I wanted to stop and take pictures because the scenery was just beautiful and I loved passing over the Guadalupe River a couple of times. I was doing pretty well until mile 9. I noticed both of my calves were starting to cramp near the back of my knees. I tried to walk for a second, but that made it worse, so I just kept running, but a little bit slower. If I was running the cramping wasn't as bad.

I called my dad when I hit the last mile marker, so he could get ready at the finish line to take pictures. As I rounded the last .1 mile stretch, runners who had already finished were lining up and cheering on everyone that was still coming in. It seriously gives you such a burst of energy.

I teared up crossing the finish line. It was the hardest thing I have I have ever done, but so worth it. I finished at 3:11:21. I wasn't running for time, but next race I will be. I can only get better from here.

Ashley's son Noah and daughter Landry made this sign for us to cheer us on. They were precious!

Finishers of our very first Half Marathon and still smiling. I'm so thankful that I was able to run this race with Ashley and support her family as they plan to adopt internationally. I seriously love this  girl!

After showering and getting cleaned up, my dad and I headed to lunch before leaving to head back to Katy. We stopped in Gruene at The Gristmill for lunch. It is one of my favorite restaurants and is historic to the area. We drove back to Katy so I could make it back for Mason's last football game. I'm so glad I was able to see him play one last time this season and cheer his team on to be undefeated the entire season.

 

I came home and was told to go through the front door, instead of the garage. I walked into the house to find these signs that Adam and the kids made for me. I seriously love my family and I'm so thankful for their support and encouragement. They are the best!

Training completed

My journey to run The Chosen Half Marathon began back in May. I decided that I wanted to become a runner and needed motivation. My desire to run began back in college and but I only ran about a mile a day. At the time, that was all I felt I needed to keep my metabolism up and the weight off. It helped that I was toned and liked having runners legs. Fast forward 10 years later and three kids with years of not running and you can only imagine what that can do to my body.

I had purchased a treadmill with Christmas money back in January and loved not having to leave the house to run, especially with three little ones. At the beginning of the year, I worked my way back up to running a mile. It's sad that I had to do that, but like I said, I neglected my body and I wanted a change.

I started doing some research on half marathon's in Texas and came across The Chosen Marathon. I knew I wouldn't be ready to run a full marathon, but the half definitely intrigued me. This race is extremely special because it raises money for families that are adopting and orphans. If you race for a team, all the registration fees go directly to the family or organization you are running for. Adoption is very close to my heart. I decided to check on Facebook to see if any of my friends would be interested in running with me. One friend, Ashley had been looking at the same race and we decided to run it together. Turns out that her family is looking to adopt a child from Cambodia next year, so that would be the team I would run for. Last I checked, there are 13 of us running for Team Alexander.

The journey has not always been easy and there are some days that I feel like I took several steps back. I'm not running for time, but just to finish. I'm not fast and I'm okay with that. I average about 12 to 13 minute mile, which I consider slow, but at least I'm running. I do plan to run another half marathon in the future, and will train to have a faster time. There is always room for improvement.

I ran my first race ever, which happened to be a 10K back in September. It was exhilarating and exciting. Adam and the kids won't be able to be at the half marathon this weekend because Mason has his last football game. So my dad will be making the race with me and I'm really excited about it. Since Adam knew he wouldn't be at my half, he made sure that I had my cheering squad for my 10K. Mason and Taylor had flags and pom poms and were the best cheerleaders. It meant so much to me to have them there cheering me on. Taylor tells me that I'm her best runner. It melts my heart.

 My shirt

 About to cross the finish line

 It was so hot, I was extremely thirsty

 Adam and the kids cheered me on and were the best cheerleaders. Notice Taylor's hair...that is what happens when Adam gets the kids ready in the morning.

Finsished my first race and 10K

Peyton at One

Peyton turned one a few weeks back. With her being my last, I felt like this year went by a lot faster. Her birthday was very bittersweet, knowing this would be the last first birthday we would be celebrating. Since we had her party the day before her birthday, we spent her actually birthday celebrating with my dad, since he has the same birthday.

At one year, Peyton is:

* crawling like a mad women all over the house
* not walking yet, but neither Mason or Taylor started walking until 13 months.
* pulls up and likes to stand on her tippy toes (like her brother)
* bottle free as of 11 months
* drinks from sippy cups and likes her milk
* feeds herself and is extremely independent
* still takes two naps, but can sometimes go without her morning nap
* sleeps from 6pm to 7am
* adores her brother and sister
* can say Mama, Dada, Bub-bub (Mason), Tay-Tay (Taylor), Nandad (Granddad), Nina (Aunt Christina), Mimi, No, Water, more, ball, baby, go, miss, up
* loves to dance anytime she hears fast or slow music
* loves her baby dolls and her tiny beauty shop
* is a bit of a dare devil...she will be the only one that will crawl out of her crib

Stats:
Weight: 22lbs (70th percentile)
Height: 31 inches (98th percentile)