Half Marathon

I'm not exactly sure how it came about, but in the fall, Betsy and I started talking about doing the Illinois Half Marathon together.  It might have started when I told her that I was considering doing a 5K, and she said "that's cute."  Haha!  Betsy is a marathon runner and has run in several full marathons and even a few 30 mile + runs!  She was convinced that I could pull off a half marathon, so after quite a bit of hesitation, I decided to just go for it.  My original goal was to be able to power walk the whole thing.  I figured if we pushed it walking, we could finish in 3.5 hours.  

I trained for about three months, following Hal Higdon's walking schedule.  I stuck pretty closely to the schedule, only missing a few of my scheduled walks.  Thank goodness for my treadmill.  With Josh's work schedule and having young children, I never could have done my training without it.  I got a lot faster and built endurance over time for sure.  I even lost the rest of my baby weight.  And by that, I mean I finally got back to where I was before I had Hannah.  Yes!  

The weather was not what you would expect for late April.  The previous Saturday had been 80 degrees, but it was predicted to be in the 40s for the entire race with thunderstorms.  Great!  We were a little chilly right before the race started, but that did not last.  We did get rained on and were pretty wet by the end, but we were never hot or cold, so I can't complain!  In the 13th mile, I heard thunder, but luckily we were able to get to the finish line, get our medals and take cover before they called the race off for everyone else who was still on the course.

We ended up finishing in 3 hours and 9 minutes, which was about 20 minutes faster than my goal.  I was happy with that time, but the competitive side of me now knows that I could have done it under 3 if I had tried a little harder, so I am anxious to do it again and do it faster!  We did end up jogging here and there, including the entire first mile.  As of 8 days before the race, the longest I had gone was 8 miles.  We did 10 the week before and 13 (actually closer to 14) the day of the race.  Let me tell you, the last couple of miles, I was feeling sore!  But I was so excited to cross the finish line.  It was such a feeling of accomplishment for me.  I was very happy and proud!

I'm so happy that Betsy did this with me.  I would not have done it alone, and I know she could have KILLED our time.  She was not sore at all after the race.  I was pretty sore on Sunday and Monday but was feeling pretty normal by Tuesday.  

It's kind of crazy that my first race ever was a half marathon, but I actually think it was the perfect challenge for me, especially since I was not concerned about time.  It was more a challenge of distance than time for me.  I immediately started thinking about what I want to do next.  I think maybe a 5k is in my near future.  It's much shorter, but I would like to try and increase my speed.  We shall see!  

Spring and Summer-Like Weather!

We were so happy when spring finally arrived, and we got to take advantage of the weather and play in the backyard!  Aleah is big enough for the baby swing this year, and I think it's safe to say that she loves it!

Having these three seats full this year just makes me smile!

Hannah is finally strong enough for the monkey bars!

The kids somehow convinced daddy to get out their swimming pool in APRIL because we had an 80 degree Saturday!  This was the kids' Christmas gift.  Our neighbor Jack joined in the fun.  Our kids LOVE playing with him and his sister Grace.

 Yay for spring and summer like weather!

Aleah's First Birthday Party!

 For Aleah's first birthday, we did one big party with all three of our families.  We decided to go with an owl theme because I saw this cute outfit on Etsy.  I tried to take pictures of her for her invitations, but she was not super cooperative!  It's hard to take pictures of a baby who can crawl away as soon as you set her up!

 I really debated having someone else make the cakes this year, but I'm glad I ended up doing it myself.  I made Aleah an owl smash cake that turned out pretty cute.  Then I made three flavors of cupcakes: Strawberry Lemonade, White with Buttercream, and Chocolate with PB icing.  They all turned out pretty yummy, and everyone had a different favorite.

 Hannah was excited to randomly have a shirt that perfectly matched the theme!

 The "triplets"

 Getting a picture of the kids was more of a challenge than anticipated, haha!

 Aleah learned to give kisses the week of her birthday.  

She just hasn't figured out closing her mouth, ha!  Oh how I love this girl!

Aleah: Months 9-12

Aleah has already changed so much this year!  She went from army crawling to real crawling to taking steps to walking across the room in no time!  She took her first steps right at 10.5 months, and was walking across the room by mid-March (11 months).  By her first birthday, she was walking all over the place with ease!

Also by her first birthday, she had 10 teeth!  She is more like Jacob in the teething department; they both have had an easier time with them than Hannah did. 

I don't even remember when I could officially say Aleah was consistently sleeping through the night, but it was definitely much later than my other two!  She usually sleeps a good 10 hours now with an occasional wake-up.  She has never been inconsolable in the night though, so waking just involves feeding her and going back to bed.  I actually don't mind those kind of middle of the night cuddles!

Aleah is a pretty good eater.  She didn't do too much baby food; she liked table food early on.  We do still have a little baby food though and will pull it out when needed!

Aleah likes to be held a lot.  There are times when that can be hard, but really, I know that she likes it because she's used to it, and I am glad for that!

Aleah says a lot of words, but she seems to get stuck on one for a long time and then move onto the next.  Her favorite words to say have been, "happy," "peek-a-boo" (it's crazy to me how early and clearly she said that!), "dada," "mama," "hi," "bye."  She is really good at mimicing sounds and actions.  Her new favorite thing is giving open mouth kisses.

This was the first time I noticed her standing without any help getting up.  I was surprised!

Taking some of her first steps in February!

My two favorite Aleahs!  Aleah Carder & Aleah Downing

All three kids in the tub!

I just love this girl.  She has brought so much joy to our family.  

Her life is a blessing to us all and makes our family feel more complete!