That time I ran a marathon.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to say in this post. There aren't a whole lot of words I can use to describe this experience, like childbirth you kind of have to experience it to know how it feels. It was painful. It was daunting. It was exhilerating. It was amazing. It was awful. It was emotional. It was spiritual. It was grueling. It was the best worst moment of my life. I ran 26.2 consecutive miles. That is an accomplishment that I am proud of. While running I hit 3 walls: one at 16 miles, one at 23 miles, and the last at 26 miles (honestly the last .2 were the hardest of the race for me) and I powered through them all with good music, texts from family members, and by looking at my St Jude's singlet and knowing that I was doing this for a reason. And aside from an incredibly bruised, blistered and battered right big toe and some IT band issues on my right knee, I'm fully recovered. I've realized I do not photograph well while jogging as evidenced by these photos: that at some points in the race I was feeling great and at others I wanted to lie on the side of the road and not get up. My pace was relatively slow, especially at the end. Slow and steady may not win the race but it got me over the finish line without stopping and walking. It was much hotter than the weather I had been training in which was draining and we didn't get to run inside the parks as much as I had hoped. There were a lot of boring parts and I had to entertain myself to keep going (aka singing out loud and dancing, sorry for the people around me) but the moments when there was a crowd cheering us on I felt invigorated. I'm so grateful for the support I received along the way. I'm so grateful that I was able to exceed my fundraising goals to help St Jude. I'm grateful for all my generous family members and friends that contributed. I'm grateful for a strong and healthy body. I'm grateful that Miles and Caiden were there waiting for me at the finish line. And I'm grateful that it's over!

The family goes to Epcot.

Day 3 in Orlando we went to the marathon expo at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. I picked up my bib number and goodie bag and headed to the St Jude booth where we got our tickets to the Pasta in the Park party for that night. We walked around the expo and ran around on the fields before heading back to the resort for a nap. When Caiden woke up we went to Epcot. We enjoyed a pasta dinner at Epcot with other marathon runners, met Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck (Caiden wanted so badly to see them but got really shy when he got closer as shown in the Minnie Mouse picture), danced, and hula hooped. There was also a firework show that night, but we headed out before it started so that we could all get to bed. 3:00am was coming whether I was well rested or not so I went to bed early!

The family goes to the ocean.

Day 2 in Florida we hopped in our swim suits and headed to the coast. We ate lunch at Waffle House (my southern favorite) and continued to the beach. The water was a bit too cold for Caiden, but he loved playing in the sand. He loved digging his toes into it, burying himself in the sand, using a piece of drift wood to draw in it, and bending down and searching for shells. He loved chasing the seagulls and kicking a ball to his daddy. We got Chick Fil A milkshakes and headed back to our resort smelling like salt water and sunscreen with sand in our shorts and smiles on our faces. DisneyWorld is magical, but so is the ocean.

The family goes to Disney World.

Last week we got our summer clothes out of storage and headed for a long weekend in the sunshine of Orlando, Florida. We arrived Wednesday and basically went straight to bed. When we woke up on Thursday we headed to the Magic Kingdom. The first thing Caiden saw when we walked in was the "choo choo" and he went crazy! So we hopped on board and took the train to Frontierland. We got off because we saw Jessie and wanted to know how he was going to react to the characters. He was a bit shy, but he got the hang of it. He absolutely loved meeting Buzz, there was no adjustment time necessary. He also loved every ride we went on and had a special little crush on Ariel. I think his favorite part of the day was the parade. By the end of the day we were all tired but we kept making excuses to stick around the park. We finally decide that it was time to get going and Caiden grabbed my face and said "no mommy a gucks" which translates to "no mommy I want the ducks" so we went back over to the bridge by Cinderella's castle to say bye bye to the ducks. I could see the parade was going to come by. Caiden had enjoyed the short one earlier in the day so we decided that since it was on the way out we would hurry over so Caid could watch it. This parade was different. The songs and the characters in it were different. I put Caiden on my shoulders so he could see and he was dancing and going crazy. Then Mr. Incredible came by. (The Incredibles is Caiden's favorite movie). Just as his float was passing the parade stopped right in front of us. Caiden could not contain his excitement. Then all the characters got off their floats to dance with the crowd, and Caiden had a front and center spot to dance with "the guy." It was like a dream come true for him. I think it's safe to say that Caiden was in heaven all day long. I've never been given so many hugs and kisses. Every time we got on a ride he gave me a hug, every time we got off he gave me a hug. He would just pull me in for kisses all day long. I think it was his way of telling us he was having the greatest time. It was a dream come true for me to see that priceless look of pure joy on his face.

The Boy is 21 Months.

I can't believe that Caiden is 3 months away from his second birthday. Some days I can't remember what life was like without him in it, and that makes me feel like he's been here all along. But time is slipping by so fast at the same time and it feels like the last 21 months have blown by in a constant blur of joy and love. Here's what Caiden's been up to in the last 3 months:
- His vocabulary has exploded, I can't even keep up with all his new words any more. He learns so quickly and loves discovering ways to converse with us. Some of my favorite new words are: hat, sleep, outside, I want, and buddy.
- The boy started forming little sentences stringing his words together.
- He said "I uh you" meaning "I love you" for the first time.
- Caiden learned how to blow his nose with a tissue, which as been amazing!
- He is really starting to understand every thing I say to him and ask him. He is a great listener.
- The boy survived hurricane Sandy with no power for 5 days, and did so like a champ!
- He has gone through so many favorites: Barney, Elmo, Mickey Mouse and his current favorite is the Incredibles. He likes to "do do" his gun and make force fields like Violet and run really fast like Dash.
- Caiden loves to sleep with a toy each night and at nap time. Some particularly funny ones have been his skate helmet, a vacuum hose, books, trucks, an egg beater, shoes, Mickey Mouse gloves, baseball caps, beanies, Mr. Incredible action figures, and toy motorcycles.
- For a week straight he wouldn't sleep unless he was in his Mr. Incredibles costume.
The boy will not miss an opportunity to set the dogs straight. He commands them to sit, claps and whistles and calls for Nixon when he runs away. He also loves to sit on their backs, hold their ears, and ride them like a horse.
- He has become technology obsessed! He calls TV "meem" and asks for it constantly.
- My two favorite sentences that he says: "I ont a gookie" (I want a cookie) and "mommy, you seepin?" (mommy, you sleepin?)
- He loves to sing. It's so cute. His voice gets really soft and high pitched. It's one of my favorite sounds.
- Caiden started doing the sweetest thing. He grabs your cheeks with both of his chubby little hands and whispers to you in this angel voice. He's smiling big the whole time and ends it with a kiss. It melts me.
- The boy is incredibly expressive with his eye brows. You'd have to see it to understand, but it is hilarious. He nods his head yes with his eye brows. When I do his hair in the mirror for church on Sundays he just sits there giving himself the eye brows. He can tell entire stories with those babies.
- Speaking of babies, Caiden is obsessed with babies; real and toy. Someone's going to have to break it to him someday soon that Kaitlyn is his cousin and won't be able to be his girlfriend.

My life is so fulfilled by hanging out with this little man every day. I couldn't have asked for a better son. I'm so blessed and thankful for him. Every day I think I can't love this kid any more than I do, right now, in this moment. But my heart just keeps expanding and my love keeps growing.