Fall Cuties

Aidan & Abby are having a great Fall. Aidan is loving every single moment of Pre-K. We have heard nothing but good things from those who have seen him in school or parents of classmates. He's a great friend and helper as well as polite. We couldn't be more proud of him. Sean's quite proud that we heard he's probably the class heartthrob. He's also winning a lot of "crab races" in gym class. Abby is also doing a great job going to the library with mom-mom and hanging out with her buddies Josh and Camryn the rest of the week. We love the little crafts she brings home from the library and it reminds us of when Aidan went at that age. She's already a little mommy and loves to take care of her babies and also make sure to bring us things that we're missing...like shoes, remote, cell phones, and anything else we've put down. The two of them are growing up so fast.  

{Happy Halloween!!!}

{Pumpkin picking at his friend's birthday party}

{Walking to Aidan's soccer game on a chilly, Fall day}

Tooth #7

Tooth number 7 popped through this weekend for Abby. It's on the bottom right next to the middle ones. I can't imagine her with anything but those two bottom teeth and the four on top but her little smile will soon be changing.

Dragon Run 2012

34:20 chip time

While I had hoped to run it a little quicker, I know I put my all into it. It was quite a tough course with hills, but it was a good time. Meagan and I ran this together, which I was glad about since we ran well together for the Wild Half 8k in August. She pushes me when I need it and reminds me to slow my breathing when I'm hurting (and breathing like a 90 year old woman with asthma). She rocks as my running partner! Now I'd like to get back into a habit of running twice a week and getting to the gym at least once. I've got at least five pounds I'd like to drop, but really I'd like to tone up what I've got hanging around. Hopefully I can find time to make it happen!

Oh, and Sean rocked this race! He was 24th out of almost 500 runners! That's awesome. 

My thoughts on life right now:

I need to get back into a running routine.

Maybe that would help relieve some stress and help me sleep better.

I'm proud of me for running, considering I was never a runner, ever.

'Twas the Night Before Pre-K...

...and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, well, at least not a mouse. The daddy was watching football with the guys, the mommy was trying to not let out any cries. The sister and brother asleep in their beds, with visions of Mickey Mouse in their sweet little heads.

Okay, enough avoiding the facts. Aidan is heading to Pre-K tomorrow. Yup, my sweet little guy is going to real school. This isn't his first experience in school as he did go to preschool as a two and three year old. So this will be his 3rd first day of school. Though you wouldn't know it by the way he was staying *thisclose* to Sean and I during orientation. I'm pretty sure that he's really excited and only a little nervous but only about riding the bus. Me, well, I've been keeping busy enough in my classroom prepping for my students that I haven't had the time to just sit and think about how my little guy is growing up so fast. But, I'm holding on to the fact that I still have three years before Abby goes to pre-k. :)

Tonight I tucked in my little guy for the last time as a preschooler. We enjoyed a great book, The Brave Little Bird. It's a great little book about a determined little bird who is afraid of heights. It comes time for him to leave the nest and find his own way. He crosses a big fence, wide river, and busy road. He proves to be braver than he thinks when he does all of those tasks and conquers his fear by climbing a tree and flying away, leading his sisters and brothers. As I finished the book, I hoped that Aidan would run, hop, swim, burrow, and climb his way through life leading the way as he goes. He is my brave little bird. I know he can do it and I know we'll be there for him when he needs the encouragement to be brave.

My thoughts on life right now:
I WILL see him off on the bus for Kindergarten.
I'm thankful Sean is home and can get him on and off the bus. 
I pray for guidance, strength, and safety. 
I am going to be exhausted tomorrow afternoon. 

Happy 1st Birthday Abigail Rose!

I truly can't believe my sweet baby girl is one today! One whole year old!

Abby girl, At 10:40am on August 25, 2011 you entered this great big world and have brought joy to everyone you have met since then. This past year has been the fastest year ever. It has also been one of the hardest, yet most rewarding as well. You might wear me out most days with your running around and getting into things, but you make me smile every day. You are one silly girl who knows when and what to do to make us laugh, especially at dinner time when it's fairly quiet. Somehow that's always when you decide to crack up laughing to get all the attention just because, and then we always join in because you are just too cute and funny not to laugh with. You make us all so incredibly happy.

{Love at first sight for Daddy}

{Mommy was happy you were finally here}

{Our last monthly picture}

Wow. The last monthly picture. Yup, at this point the screen is so blurry from my tears I'm not even sure I can write this post. Whew. Deep breaths. Seriously, one? How did this happen so fast? I'm pretty sure I still remember having you in my belly and feeling all those kicks, though it does seem so long ago we were dealing with every two hour feedings, newborn cries, and holding and changing you so delicately because we were afraid to hurt you. Now it's every three hour feedings with some sleeping through the night happening lately, toddler whines, and wrestling you to the floor to change you. You are so cute and so funny though it's hard to get frustrated with you. 

Here's a little peek into your great big toddler world:

• practically running around the house now
• can climb up steps, and even come down one or two
• keep trying new foods with you even though most of the time you try to hand them back after chewing a bit
• cheerios are a big hit
• enjoying your baby dolls
• love to pet Toby and always call for "woof"
• chatting up a storm and trying new words all the time
• love the bath and pool
• swinging and going for wagon rides are outside favorites
• Aidan is your best bud and you want to do everything he is doing
• you give lots of kisses and hugs now
• still nursing, though I'm trying to cut back to just wake-up and bedtime
• drink whole milk, though it usually has to be warmed
• wearing size 12 months clothes
• wearing size 3 diapers
• probably a size 4.5 shoe right now
• and I'll update your growth stats after the appointment

So baby girl, I'm not sure how the past year flew by so quickly, but I do know that it was one of the best years of my life. We were blessed with an amazing daughter who is the perfect sibling for Aidan. You make us laugh and smile and appreciate so many of the littler things in life. Love you SOOO much!

My thoughts on life right now:

I need more tissues.

Best year ever. 

So blessed. 

Chh chh chh changes...

Too many to be quite honest! I don't do well with change, not at all. And the end of August is going to drive me straight down Stress Street. Maybe if I get it all out in the blog I'll be a little calmer about all the things to come. And maybe, just maybe, I'll realize that I'm not the one in control and it'll have to be okay. Because everything always works out, right?

• Abby turns one.
• started the transition to whole milk and trying to cut back on nursing her. never thought I'd make it more than a few weeks and now we're having a harder time weaning. what an emotional rollercoaster in more ways than one.
• blessed to have two healthy, amazing children. doubly blessed that we have a boy and a girl. wondering if this is it for us, or if there's more to come. if she is my last baby i want to soak up every second of the tiny tot stages.

• Aidan goes to preschool.
• he'll ride a bus. and i won't be driving. nor will i be buckling him in to be sure he's 100% safe and protected. i won't be there if anything happens or to make sure there's no bullies. because yes, even preschoolers can get bullied. 
• he'll be in the public school which is fabulous, but it's just one step closer to the big K and that is just crazy. he was just a tiny baby not so long ago. how can he be in real school already? 
• how will he deal with a new school? new teacher? new friends? will he be nervous? will he remember to use the bathroom?

• I'm teaching a new-to-me class.
• i haven't even thought about this kind of class since college.
• i don't know how i'll run the room.
• i hate transitioning into something new.
• i'll have two aides, which means micromanaging. and also means that they could potentially think it's okay to have a whole lot of social time and i hate confrontation.
• did i mention i've never done it before?
• i am my biggest critic, and while i know i can be a good teacher, i worry that my best isn't good enough sometimes.

• Abby is going to two places. 
• Kathy will be watching Abby twice a week and Jeneen three times a week. 
• family is a little more accepting of the rough days and difficult kids, just hoping a friend will be too (I know she will, I guess I'm just worried she'll tire of Abby quickly).
• will abby be okay with two different places? will she eat well? nap well? still get to go to story time at the library with mom-mom? 
• will i remember where i'm taking her on which day? will i get to work on time?

ugh. i think that's all for now. but i'm not promising i won't come back and add more. and i'll admit to deleting some others that typing them out made me realize how ridiculous it was to be worrying about it. 

My thoughts on life right now:

worrying has got to be a genetic trait. thanks mom. :p

am i the only one who likes needs to have so much control?

when will i be able to just loosen up?

Run, Staci, Run!!!

February 13, 2012 was the start of my new beginning. The one where I tried to make myself love running, and though I may not actually love the act of it, I love the feeling after completing a run and the results I'm seeing in the mirror. I started Couch to 5k that day and began a new outlook on running. At the end of April I ran my very first 5k (Phillies Charities 5k), then I ran two more in May. One for Juvenile Diabetes and one for my school's PTO. Friends started discussing running the Wild Half Marathon and the 8k on August 26th and all I was thinking was how Abby would turn one the day before. 

Fast forward to a run a couple of month ago where it hit me. The whole reason I started running was to feel better, not just for me, but for my kids. I was sluggish and tired all the time with little to no energy to play. I didn't want to be that mom. I wanted to have energy, be fun, and yeah...look pretty good while doing it. So that's when I convinced Sean to do the half marathon that he showed interest in and I'd sign up for the 8k. Once we got the logistics of staying somewhere and babysitters, I committed to running it. 

Today I laced up my shoes and tried completed the longest run I've ever done. 4 miles. 4 whole miles. Crazy! I've never run 4 miles in my life but today I did it. And when I felt so tired and sore that I just wanted to stop and walk home, I thought about my kids. About how I want to be around for a really long time for them. About how I want to have the energy and ability to play all day with them. And that's when I pushed myself that much harder to keep going, to finish that whole 4 miles. And when I was done? Well, I looked down at my MapMyRun app and was mad at myself for not going a little further so I could have "closed" the rectangle I drew on the map with the GPS tracking! ha! There's that self-guilt again. But then I stopped and thought "wow. I really just ran four miles. I did it. And to think it's only been six months of irregular running." I'm pretty proud of myself. 

{Avg. 11:55 min/mi...slow & steady}

My thoughts on life right now:

It may not have been the fastest I've ever run, but I ran.

My work clothes may actually fit me this year.

I need to keep up this healthy habit.