First Snow.

We were hit with a nor'easter a few days ago, little storm called Athena. Come on Connecticut... calm down a little ok? Luckily we didn't lose power as they suspected and instead we got our first snowfall. It has mostly melted now and with temperatures supposed to be in the 60's this weekend it won't be here long. Caiden was mesmerized by it, so we got bundled up in our snow gear and played in the snow. He loved it. Afterwards we had some (lukewarm) hot chocolate. Caiden loved it that too. Looks like we are going to have a fun winter!

A Sandy Fort.

While we were weathering the hurricane we struggled to find ways to entertain Caiden. One of the days without power we decided to build him a fort. We stayed in jammies all day and hung out in our fort. He loved it, he wanted to do everything inside the fort! That night, after Caiden went to bed we took the fort down. In the morning he kept pulling blankets over his head to watch videos on my phone. He wanted his fort back. Until next time baby boy.

A Sandy Halloween.

As many of you know we were hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy the day before Halloween and lost power. Halloween was thereby canceled. Awful. But luckily we had our ward Halloween party the Saturday before. It was the perfect night for a party. I sewed Caiden and my costumes completely, right down to Caiden's little shoes. Unfortunately I ran out of time and didn't have a chance to finish Miles' Donald Duck shirt (shorts, yellow leggings, and hat were all done.. so close). Miles was so sweet about it and came up with an impromptu costume a few minutes before we left. I still feel bad about it. We ate chili, played games, and went trunk-or-treating. It was a lot of fun.
Jen hosted a little party on Halloween, and honestly I think it was better than going trick-or-treating. We went out to dinner fully dressed in our costumes and then back to her house. The kids got to hunt for candy with flashlights (power still out). My mom put together a fun pinata for the kids with little toys and goodies inside. Sandy tried to bring us down, but we had more fun than freezing our little bums off outside AND we still got lots of candy!

26.2 for Hope.

A few months ago I was reading a favorite blog of mine when I came across a post about her friend's daughter. She is this sweet 2 year old in Salt Lake City that was diagnosed with leukemia. I read the entire blog in one night, sobbing in bed. When I was done I said a prayer of gratitude and a prayer for Taleah and then went into Caiden's room and held my sweet, healthy, no longer sleeping boy tight. I woke up the next morning wanting to do more than just be grateful that Caiden was healthy, it just didn't feel like enough. So I did some research. In January I am running the Disney Marathon at DisneyWorld. As a part of this experience I wanted to do more than just run 26.2 miles, I wanted to make it worth something to someone, someone like this sweet 2 year old girl, Taleah. I have decided to become a St. Jude's hero for the DisneyWorld marathon. I am attempting to raise $100 for each crazy mile that I run. If I'm going to run this thing, I want it to mean something to someone, and to myself. I want to support St. Jude's Children Research Hospital and their lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children.

Now let me say, I am not a runner. I ran a 5k as a part of soccer tryouts in high school and a few 5k's since. I've enjoyed many team sports and even ran indoor track in high school, but up until training for this marathon I had never run more than 3.1 miles at a time. So naturally I am terrified to run a marathon. But I am a mother. A mother with a healthy 20 month old son. A mother that hates the thought of children suffering with cancer. That just doesn't seem fair to me. That's what gets me up and training. I'm not running this marathon because I like to run. I'm running this marathon because I am attempting to make a difference. An immeasurable and unknown difference that is important to me. Even if all it leads to is hope for these children and their parents. Hope to see their 5th, 20th, 50th birthdays; hope to some day have their first kiss and dance at their own weddings, the simple hope to one day be healthy. These children run more than a marathon each day. It's the very least that I can do.

I'm raising funds as a St. Jude Hero to support St. Jude's lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children. But I need your help to reach my fundraising goal for the kids of St. Jude. Any amount, great or small, is so greatly appreciated. To read more about my fundraising efforts or to donate please click the following link. (http://heroes.stjude.org/chelseyheidorn) The donation deadline is November 20th so please donate soon. Donations made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital are tax-deductible. They will provide a receipt for all online gifts that can be used to claim a tax deduction.

As far as the training goes, I have now pushed myself to run 10 miles, going on 11 miles today. The human body is truly amazing. Between pre-training and training I have now logged over 125 miles. It's crazy to say, but I'm anxious to get out there and run more. I never thought I would be anxious to run, but I've been really excited to see how far I can push myself. For the first time I'm planning run routes that run to the hills of Connecticut, not shying away from them. Caiden runs with me during my weekday jogs. He has been one of my biggest sources of motivation. During a 4 mile jog a few weeks ago my music stopped playing and I could hear him in his jogging stroller saying "goooo mommy go go go!" And just last week after a 5 mile jog he started crying when we reached the driveway and started walking and said "no mommy, go!" Looking at the top of his head while I jog reminds me why I'm doing this. Children are so sweet and so innocent. I'm proud to be a St. Jude's supporter. 26.2 for Hope! 10 miles down, 16.2 to go. With your help I've got this.

Hurricane Sandy.

I'm writing this post first and foremost update our family and friends and let them know where okay. We lost electricity around 5 PM on Monday evening and got it back last night. We made the best of the tough situation. We were well prepared with water, batteries and warm fuzzy jammies as well as nonperishable foods. Lucky for us the weather wasn't too cold. There is no major damage done to the house, our only casualty was the pear tree outside the family room window. Lucky for us Miles had the first two days of the storm off of work. We sure enjoyed our extra daddy time. The hardest part was keeping a one and a half year-old entertained while being cooped up inside with no electricity. We made sock puppets, built forts, played with playdoh by lantern light, drank lots of hot chocolate, went to Panera for cookies, played in a kiddie tent that I had when I was little girl, bundled up and went on our morning adventures when the sun peeked its way through the clouds, and explored the mall in Farmington. We are so grateful that our power returned before the temperatures drop this weekend. We are so grateful for all your thoughts and prayers!