Why can't my children crawl normally??

Carson army-crawled for the longest time, and then he finally switched to a sort of crawl/bum scoot/walk with one foot. Everett's been crawling normally for a couple of weeks now, but these last few days he is starting to do the one-leg thing like his brother! Is it me or them??

26.2.

I did complete the marathon!
I did not reach my goal of doing it in 3:40.

I did run it as hard and fast as was physically possible for me that day.

I did not enjoy the cold, and the hilly downtown Charlotte course.

I did experience the miracle of my knee pain (IT band) not being a major problem on race day.

I did have the most dedicated support team of any runner, with my dad and husband biking on either side of me for the last 10 miles of the race.

I did collapse as soon as I crossed the finish line and was taken to the medical tent. Embarrassing!

I am in serious pain right now: my quads and knee are still very sore, the bottoms of my feet feel like one big bruise, and my right big toe one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. (See nasty picture, if you dare.)

I am so glad I trained for this marathon. The four (early!) mornings a week spent running with some of the most wonderful ladies I know were absolutely priceless!

And I am so grateful for two good baby boys and their wonderful grandmother who took care of them all day!

This must have been taken in the very beginning of the race, hence the smiles.

Me and my dad.

The swollen toe that is my nemesis right now.

Robyn, Emily, Page and Ann.

This knee.

This one little knee could just cooperate and make tomorrow a wonderfully rewarding experience, or... it could give me trouble and make the last four months of training all for nothing!!!!!!!

Let's see if it can hold out for 26.2, 8:23 pace.

A typical playroom scene.

Carson outfitted to fight the nearest fire, laying on the floor singing and talking to whomever or whatever will listen. (If you sneak in, you can hear streams of thought like, "I haf hel'copter cake...Daddy bwow candles wif Carson!...Hel'copters haf pwopellers...Go to hospital... Doctors hewp sick people...Kate is sick...She in bed...I eat quesadilla!...Yummy dinner, mommy..." He just goes on and on.)

Everett trying to crawl, making it a couple of feet and then sitting back down, looking a little puzzled as to what just happened, often ending up on his hands and tip-toes, bum in the air. Everett nearly always, always, always happy as a clam! An excerpt from my entry in Everett's journal last night: "You may look like me, but I believe you have your father's perpetually optimistic nature... You smile and laugh when others might cry, you are so patient with me, you eat anything I serve you, you make me smile all day long...just like your dad!

We sure do have some sweet boys over here!

Book Review.

With Christmas crafts to finish, a trip to Utah to prepare for, and so many errands to run, sometimes I joke with Rick about pulling an all-nighter to get things done. Well, last night I sort of did that on accident. But I wasn't crafting, or running errands... I was finally finishing my book for Book Club!

And I couldn't even get to sleep once I finally crawled into bed, because I was still completely taken with the story. This book is one of my new favorites. The story is oh-so tragic, which provides a wonderfully good cry. It is also symbolic and deep, which teaches life lessons and leaves you thinking about your life and the way you treat your loved ones. It is obviously a book that you can't put down, since I read almost all of it in one night!

For a super quick re-cap, the main character is a former heart surgeon who left his trade after his wife, victim of a genetic heart defect, tragically died. Their love story is so sweet, and the book often flashes back to their childhood and short years of marriage. The story opens as Reese meets a little girl who also has a heart defect, and little Annie is determined to receive a heart transplant. There are a million more parts to the story, but it focuses on Reese's quest to mend Annie's broken heart, as well as his own.

I LOVED this book!

He had a good Thanksgiving.

So did he.


We all had a good Thanksgiving!


And apparently Everett didn't get his fill, because the day after Thanksgiving he (and his three chins) kept trying to eat this dog's nose.