Sunday Run? Not Me.

I have debated on whether or not to even write about this topic, but I am getting tired of explaining myself over and over again. I love my faith, but I hate debating it with people. Especially my family. So let me preface this by saying, I am not going to debate this with anyone. I am, however, willing to answer questions. Please do not ask me questions out of hate or spite. I am happy with my choices. So here it goes.

Firstly, for those who don't know, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a Mormon. I am the only one on "my side" of my family. My husband and most of his family are members.

Secondly, I do not run on Sunday.

It is a religious choice. I say "choice" because even though God gave us the commandment in Exodus 20:8, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,", He also gave us agency. Agency allows us to choose. I choose to follow the commandments of God. With agency comes accountability. Which basically means that I am free to make my own choices, whether good or bad, but I am NOT free to choose the consequences.

It. Is. Difficult.

Especially when almost every single race or marathon I want to run in is held on a Sunday. It is hard to find big races that are held on a Saturday. At least, ones that are close to where I live. All the big marathons that I want to participate in (Chicago Marathon, IMT Des Monies Marathon, the Quad Cities Marathon, Disneyland, etc.) are held on a Sunday.

Even though I am proud of my friends who sign up for those events, it is so hard for me to not be jealous. I want to run with them. I want those memories, too.

I struggle with it.

But when I decided back in 2007 to commit my life to living the gospel as best as I can, I never thought that keeping the Sabbath day holy would be such a challenge. (I was baptized in August of 2005, but fell away shortly after.) Since becoming a runner again, it has become a challenge.

Our church has a small booklet called "For the Strength of Youth". I love it! It's not only for the youth in the church, it is for all members of the church. In the section about Sabbath Day Observance, it says, "Sunday is not a day for shopping, recreation, or athletic events."

There it is. I want to tell you that it sucks... but I get why we need our days of FULL rest. Not just physical rest, but rest from all the other day-to-day worries. Buying groceries, buying gas, trying to fit a workout or run in, etc. It is nice to just spend a day with my family, focusing on the Lord.

I am not saying that it is easy. But I KNOW that it will be worth it. When I look at my life, there are many earthly things I want to accomplish, but there are also so many spiritual things I want to accomplish. I have found a balance between both things.

I am training to run the Dam to Dam in June. I am following a half marathon running guide from Hal Higdon. The thing I like about his running guides is that I can change up the days I run, as long as I make sure to get all of my miles in each week. I think that all of his guides have runners running a long run each Sunday. I knew from the start that that wouldn't be possible for me. I just changed the days on the schedule around and my long runs are now on Saturday's.

And with a little detective work, I have found many races held on Saturday's here in my state! I have signed up for a few 5K's, a 20K, and a marathon so far! I am going to be signing up for a half marathon in the next few weeks! It will be ran the week after the Dam to Dam!

I don't think it sounds silly for me to say that I have been blessed for not running on Sunday's. I have lost count of the many blessings that God has blessed me with in my life. I always feel wonderful on Monday knowing that I rested on Sunday. I feel refreshed and ready to take on the week ahead of me.

I also want to say that I do not look down on people who work out, run, shop, and what-not on Sunday. We all have choices. I know not everyone is a Mormon. I know that everyone is different. We all have different beliefs. I love all of my family and friends, each and every single person, just the way they are! I'm not asking anyone to stop running on Sunday, I am just explaining why I do not.

Running is a gift! And I thank God for my ability to run! It is a privilege  I thank Him for my body and that everything works as it should! I am thankful that I haven't been seriously injured. I am thankful each and every time I go out on and return home from a run.

I hope to set a righteous example for my children so that they know the importance of keeping the Lord's commandments.

My Virtual Run for Boston

Ever since high school, I have had this dream to run the Boston marathon. I'm not sure who gave me the idea, but I remember wanting to run THE Boston Marathon. I don't even think that I knew exactly how many miles were in a marathon! All I knew is that I wanted to run it.

Yesterday, a friend asked me if I was sure that I wanted to run it after the awful events that took place. My answer was simple.

YES!

When I woke up this morning, my Facebook feed was full of posts from running blogs about wearing a race shirt in honor of the victims in Boston. I put on my Color Run t-shirt. There was also an event for a virtual run called Runners United to Remember. I joined the event and knew that I would be running my scheduled four miles for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

I ran the four miles today in silence.

I prayed the entire time for the victims and their familes, for the FBI and police officers investigating the bombings, and for all the runners who were affected by this.

My heart is still saddened by all of this, but I know one thing for sure:

It won't stop me from reaching my goal of running the Boston Marathon someday.

I will get there.

After my run, I noticed that my "elbow pits" were especially sweaty today... so I had my husband take a quick picture! I always sweat from my elbow pits when I run! I guess I never realized how bad!

Happy 4th Birthday Caitlin

I did the same thing I did last year. I put out some photos of all the things my girls love. Dora, the Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell, Belle, etc. I told Caitlin to pick what she wanted to use for her party theme. She picked Tinkerbell!

I started party planning and I made her birthday invite!

I used the entire week before her party to prepare for the party! I've got a lot on my plate with the girls, marathon training, working out, cleaning, etc, so I wanted to make sure to spread things out over a few days so that I wouldn't feel rushed on the day of her party.

I decorated the house using the $0.97 table cloths from Walmart, cut into four strips. I hung them on the ceiling with balloons! Caitlin said it looked like a spider!

I made EIGHT POUNDS of ham balls the night before her party. I was up until midnight! It took me a few hours, but I was able to catch up on my Hulu queue!

The morning of her party, I went on a 5 mile run at 7 a.m. with my friend Desiree, got home as fast as I could, showered, got ready, and started working on Caitlin's cake! I posted a few ideas for the cake on my Pinterest and showed them to Caity. I told her to pick the one she wanted. She picked this one and I decided to make it using this Wilton mold for the leaves! This is how it turned out!

It took me about an hour and a half! I will be making a tutorial for this cake on my craft blog with all the details on it! Everyone loved the cake, too! I got a lot of wonderful comments and compliments for it! But most importantly, Caitlin LOVED it! I wanted to take a picture of her with it, but she refused to give me a decent smile!

We had a wonderful turnout for her party! Cailtin got a ton of gifts and our house was crammed full of people who love our girl! She is one blessed *not so* little girl! Here are some more photos from her big day!

Tinkerbell cake, cupcakes with purple fondant flowers (from the Wilton mold), and all of the Disney Fairies in jars!

Fairies in jar idea here.

Iridessa, Fawn, and Silvermist in jars!

Rosetta, Periwinkle, and Tinkerbell in jars!

Cupcake tower!

We served ham balls, a fruit platter (fresh strawberries, green grapes, purple grapes, and bananas), a vegetable platter (carrots and celery with sour cream ranch dip), party punch, and birthday cake!

Silk flower basket I bought at a fundraiser! Silvermist and Rosetta had a special birthday sign ready for Caitlin! She thought that they wrote it!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to my four year old!

Making money!

Ariel Pool!

This picture cracks me up! HUGE Dora pen!

Tinkerbell and Periwinkle poster! Caity was BEYOND excited for this!

I'm not sure what face this is, but this is the plate, bowl, cup, and silverware set Charles and I got for Caity! She screamed at the top of her lungs when opening it!

There were some friends who came after everyone had left. My Mom stayed and gave the girls their late Christmas presents! Of all the gifts Caitlin got, she was most excited for the two Barbies she got!

I still cannot imagine my baby being FOUR whole years old! Where has the time gone? It seriously seems like yesterday that I was sitting in the NICU watching her tiny stomach move up and down with each breath she was struggling to take... now she is a vibrant little lady with so much energy and zest for life! She takes my breath away!

8 months pregnant with Caitlin

Caitlin Nadine born at 35 weeks, 6 days

Happy First Birthday, Caitlin!

Happy Second Birthday, Caitlin!

Happy Third Birthday, Caitlin!

Happy Fourth Birthday, Caitlin!

As we go into Caitlin's fourth year here on this earth, I am excited for it! The journey so far has been a wild one! She will be starting school this year and learning new things each day! I am glad that I kept her home for a year before putting her into preschool. I wanted that extra time with her. I know that preschool isn't very long, but I didn't want to sacrifice those precious hours with her! She amazes me each and every single day. Sometimes, every hour! She is smart like her Daddy! I cannot wait to see what the Lord has planned for us in Caitlin's fourth year! I have so much love for this girl! I thank God for blessing me with her! I am thankful for each and every minute! 

I love my Caity Bell!

My Third Virtual 5K

I ran my third virtual 5K today! It was the second run in the 13 in 2013 Virtual Race Series, the St. Patrick's Day Virtual 5K. I started training for a half marathon a little over a week ago and my first long run was this past Saturday. 4 miles. I was planning on using that run towards this race, but that was a slower run. And it was very cold and windy that day. 

My friend Desiree and I weren't able to run this morning like we have been, so I decided this afternoon to run a 5K on my own to count for the St. Patrick's Day race! (Even though it's not St. Patties... oh well! I wore my GREEN Bay Packers hoodie to be festive!) The weather was a little chilly but GORGEOUS and I had enough time before my circuit training class! My goal was to finish in under 30 minutes. This was my first virtual run on the pavement and NOT on a treadmill!

I finished with a time of 28:10! I started off fast and I knew it right away! I was excited to be using my new Garmin! It is wonderful know my pace! I slowed down enough to get a nice pace going during mile 2. I kept it there! I had some pretty tough hills during my run, but I powered through them and finished strong! 

I hope that I can finish some of the 5K's that I've signed up for with a time this good! I don't think it's fast enough to place high, but it's fast enough for me! I was very tired by the end of this run, so hopefully with some more training, I can get a little faster!

Registration for the Dam to Dam opens tomorrow! I will be registering as soon as I possibly can to ensure that I get in in time (there are only 8,000 spots and they fill up fast!)! Considering it's the reason that I've been training! It will be held on my one year anniversary for my lifestyle change! What an awesome way to celebrate! I'm going to be running a 20K! Woo hoo!

My First Virtual Half Marathon

I signed up to run a virtual half marathon this month! I paid $20 to help raise money for Breast Cancer awareness! $15 will be donated to Susan G. Komen while the other $5 was for the medal and it's shipping. My aunt is a breast cancer survivor, and I have friends who are survivors and some who are fighting right now. They were the reasons I ran this event!

I have never ran a half-marathon, but this virtual race had the option to break up the run to make it easier for everyone to do. I had planned on running the entire thing all at once, but it didn't happen. I ended up needing to run it in two days. The weather has been awful these past few weeks, so my original plan to run it outdoors was a no-go.

I ran 3.1 miles one day on the treadmill, then finished the last part of the run, 10 miles, yesterday on the indoor track at the Y. Since school was cancelled, so were the fitness classes at the Y. So instead of Power Hour, I spent one hour and 40 minutes running 10 miles! I started off with a faster pace, but slowed down around mile 8. The average for the run was 10 minute miles, which makes me happy! That is a good starting pace!

I got my medal in the mail and kept it inside of the envelope until yesterday. I had my husband put it around my neck! I wanted him to do it since he is my support, rock, and reason for running. I teared up a little after he put it around my neck, it was quickly stopped as Vivian wanted to play with my medal! I wanted Charles to take a quick photo of me wearing the medal, Vivian wouldn't let me put her down! So she's in the photo with me!

Sorry for the crappy camera-phone photo!
And yes, Vivian has a diaper on! She's not nudie!

I am looking forward to running an actual half marathon all at once! I need a little bit more training, though. I am very sore today! I learned a lot about myself yesterday while running those 10 miles! But the most of it is that I need more training! Ha! It's a good thing I start half marathon training in 12 days!

Carie's Weight Loss Journey Week 38

I started this month off strong with two healthy living challenges! One personal challenge via The Biggest Loser's website, and one with friends for the Live Healthy Iowa challenge. I decided to post a photo of the scale each Monday morning to remain accountable to the other people in the group as well as myself. The photos so far have been these:

1/28/13 - 151.8 pounds

2/4/13 - 148.2 pounds

2/11/11 - 153 pounds

2/18/11 - 150 pounds

That gain SUCKED. I had such a hard time posting that photo. I even thought about putting the scale on an uneven floor or something to get the weight to show lower, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I had to be honest. Because in life, you're going to have your gain weeks and your loss weeks. I think what was so frustrating was that I had done everything right with my food and water, yet there was still a five pound gain. I'm positive it had to do with my time of the month. (Sorry fellas for the TMI!) Not to mention the fact that I was late on my period and stressing out. Not because another baby wouldn't be welcomed, but because I hate NOT knowing. I didn't want to buy a pregnancy test just so that it can tell me that I'm not pregnant. I know that that is what they are for, but we're tight on money, so I decided to wait it out. I started on Valentine's Day. Hubby wasn't too happy about that!

But all in all, I am proud of my gains and losses. It shows me how my body reacts to different things. The morning I had the 5 pound gain I decided to change up my calories each day to give my body something different each day. I lost 3 pounds by the next Monday! So for now, that is my plan! Changing up my calories each day and sticking to my normal workout routines.

I know that Lent is going on and I'm not Catholic. I debated back and forth about if I wanted to give something up for Lent as a way to help me break my addiction to sweets. I had a week or so to decide, but in the end, I decided to do it. What did I give up? I had to think about it! I have been ice-cream free and binge free for FOUR weeks. Which is HUGE for me! I have had to pass up ice-cream on more than one occasion! And it was HARD! And by changing up my calories each day, my urge to binge is gone. So I had to focus on the trigger foods in my cabinets and what I wanted to stay away from. I finally decided on these:

They are anywhere from 80 calories to 100 calories per pack, depending on how many smiles are in the package. We usually buy the huge box because our girls go through them so fast. But since we've decided to cut back on as much high fructose corn syrup as possible, these delicious, sugary treats were first on the chopping block! We still have some left from the last box we bought, and every time I go to the cabinet, I have to fight myself to leave them alone. I can easily eat 2 to 8 of those little pouches. Which is anywhere from 180 to 800 extra calories per day. And I need my calories to count! I am addicted to these fruit snacks. I was introduced to these in college and have loved them since. I am giving these up for Lent, and hopefully, for good.

I am 16 days away from starting my half-marathon training! Technically I'm training for the DAM to DAM and it's a 20K! I am going to be following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Half Marathon Training plan. I am going to be running it with two friends, one who lives in the same town as me and one who lives in another town. I'm not sure exactly how our schedules line up, but hopefully we can all run a long run or two together! As soon as the DAM to DAM is over, the Monday afterwards I start marathon training! I will be following Hal Higdon's Novice 1 Marathon Training plan. This will be for my very first Marathon in September! That gives me 6 months of training before my first marathon! I am excited! I also want someone to buy me this shirt so that I can wear it while I train:

Available here!

I noticed a week or so ago that I had developed "runner's toe"! It's a bruise underneath a toenail. It can come from running too many hills, breaking in new shoes, and/or not having enough toe room in your shoes. I am positive mine came from breaking in my new running shoes while doing an inclined treadmill workout. My toe hurt the night after my workout, but I didn't think much on it! I was removing some old nail polish and couldn't get the color to come off of one of my toes. That's when I realized that I had runner's toe! I was so proud! I haven't had runner's toe since high school! The town I lived in had hills EVERYWHERE, so I constantly had runner's toe!

Pardon my ugly toes! 

Starting this coming Monday, I am going to be starting Jillian Michaels: Ripped in 30. I want to start toning my body all over, not necessarily be "ripped", but tighter! I still have my "problem areas" that my clothes cover, but one of my newer problem areas since having kids is my lower stomach/abs. I realize that I will probably never have abs... I'm not even sure I want them... but my posture is terrible and it makes me look "skinny fat". Which is frustrating. I find cute clothes that I can now fit in, but my leftover baby pooch makes me look like I'm newly expecting. Someone even thought I was pregnant a while back... But no. It's just my un-toned baby pooch. But I also want to do the Ripped in 30 to help my core strength before I start training!

I just want to say, though, that I am very proud of my body. I have lost my weight slowly. My body has had plenty of time to "bounce back" with me. This is the way I wanted to lose weight to begin with. Slowly. I am very happy with how I look, but sometimes, I am still overly critical. I am working on it. I am trying to love myself again. And I do love myself! But I still have my days and weeks where all I do is trash talk my body and self-sabotage. I am working on it. I am not just a number on the scale. I am worth it. I am enough.

I have been doing much of the same workouts that I have been doing. Zumba, Power Hour, Wave Power (water aerobics class), swimming, running, and Jillian's 30 Day Shred. I very much enjoy my workout schedule. I have been getting up early in the mornings to get in 20 to 30 minutes of cardio in each morning. It helps me to wake up and start my day off right. I am doing this so that I can start waking up early to run in the Spring!

Start to Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 7, Week 13, Week 26, and Week 38 progression photo:

Start to Week 38:

Starting Weight: 202 lbs

Week 1 Weight: 193 lbs

Week 2 Weight: 190 lbs

Week 3 Weight: 190 lbs

Week 4 Weight: 189 lbs

Week 5 Weight: 188 lbs

Week 6 Weight: 184 lbs

Week 7 Weight: 182 lbs

Week 8 Weight: 179 lbs

Week 9 Weight: 177 lbs

Week 10 Weight: 175 lbs

Week 11 Weight: 174 lbs

Week 12 Weight: 173 lbs

Week 13 Weight: 171 lbs

Week 14 Weight: 172 lbs

Week 15 Weight: 173 lbs

Week 16 Weight: 169 lbs

Week 17 Weight: 168 lbs

Week 18 Weight: 167 lbs

Week 19 Weight: 166 lbs

Week 20 Weight: 164 lbs

Week 21 Weight: 162 lbs

Week 22 Weight: 161 lbs

Week 23 Weight: 160 lbs

Week 24 Weight: 157 lbs

Week 25 Weight: 159 lbs

Week 26 Weight: 155 lbs
Week 27 Weight: 151 lbs
Week 28 Weight: 156 lbs
Week 29 Weight: 155 lbs
Week 30 Weight: 154 lbs
Week 31 Weight: 154 lbs
Week 32 Weight: 153 lbs
Week 33 Weight: 152 lbs
Week 34 Weight: 151 lbs
Week 35 Weight: 148 lbs
Week 36 Weight: 153 lbs
Week 37 Weight: 150 lbs
Week 38 Weight: 146 lbs

Weight Lost Since Week 34: 5 lbs

Total Weight Lost: 56 lbs

Weight To Go: 11 lbs

Was anyone as tired of the 150's as me?! BLAH!! I cannot believe I have ELEVEN pounds until goal! I'm so, SO close! This week's weight loss came from either the stomach flu or from food poisoning. I'm not too sure since no one else in my house had any sort of sickness. I made sure to stay hydrated and eat all of my calories for each day. I know that the last few pounds are going to be hard to lose. I get asked, "Haven't you lost enough?" Maybe so! Maybe that's why my body was hanging out in the 150's for so long. But I want to make it to my goal weight. I know that I can. But I'm not going to kill or starve myself to get there! I know these things take time! And I am going to work as long as it takes!

I am proud of my progress. I am proud of my health.

I got a new Polar FT7 Sports Watch/Heart Rate Monitor and a Garmin Forerunner 110 Sports Watch. (they were running a deal when I bought them. I spent MUCH less than Amazon is selling them for right now.) I got the Polar to help me keep track of the calories I burn during Zumba, Power Hour, and other fitness classes. I got the Garmin to help me keep track of my time, distance, pace, and calories burned while running when I start half marathon and marathon training. I haven't had the chance to try them out just yet, but I am very excited to use them! (Come on warmer weather and Spring!)

I also want to start doing more exercises with my own body's weight. Like standard push ups, sit ups, etc. They sound easy, but I can't do very many at all. There was a time I couldn't even do one... but now I'm up to about 5 normal push ups and 15 sit ups without stopping. Small progress, but I am proud of myself! I really do not like push ups. I can do a lot of the modified version of push ups, but when it comes to having my legs straight, I struggle! I don't have a set number in mind, I just want to be able to do more than 5 without feeling like I am going to die!

I want to start pushing myself to do more during my workouts. Mainly for Power Hour and Wave Power. I can do jumping lunges for the first 30 seconds of a one minute circuit, but I have difficulty going any longer without stopping. I want to push myself little by little to be able to do them for the whole minute. There are lots of exercises for both classes that I have trouble doing for longer than 30 seconds. I want to push myself to know that I can! I am going to have to be mentally prepared to push my limits when I run my marathon later this year, I want to start breaking down those walls and barriers in other aspects of my life as well! I want to feel myself get stronger.

I want to push my limits.

My motto right now:

Thanksgiving/Christmas Catch-Up

How is it possible that I just now realized that I haven't done a family update in a while?! Since Halloween... Sheesh... I'm on the ball! AND I haven't posted about Thanksgiving OR Christmas yet! Yep! I'm a slacker! I've posted small updates, but nothing big. SOOOOOO, family update time!

We spent the first half of November soaking up what was left of the fall weather before it started getting colder. There were so many gorgeous days! The girls and I were invited to the park by their friend Claire. It was just warm enough for jackets for the older girls and a sleeper and hat for Vivian!

The same day, later on in the evening, Vivian started walking for the first time! We had been trying and trying to get her to walk on her own, but she just wouldn't budge! She'd push around toys and hold our hands, but she would never just do it. That day, she decided it was time! And the best part, Charles was home for it!

A few days later, after Vivian's weight was finally enough, she moved up from her backwards-facing car seat to a toddler seat! I don't know who was more excited about it! All three girls giggled like crazy when we were driving around!

This brings us into early December! The church hosted a Primary Activity and Caitlin was invited to attend! They had all the kids make a gingerbread man or woman ornament, sing Christmas carols, and then finished with a HUGE Gingerbread house kit! It was so hard for Caitlin to be patient enough for the frosting to set up, but she did so fantastic! She was super meticulous about the decorations! She pointed to where she wanted me to put the frosting, and she applied the candy! Caitlin got mad if I tried to help! When I brought the gingerbread house home, Charles asked me if she decorated it on her own because it looked like something that I would do! I took it as a compliment!

The cookies in the above photo are some of the cookies that the girls and I made during a snow day! Rosalie and Caitlin had SO much fun using the cookie cutters, watching me put them in the oven and taking them out, and then decorating them! It was a fun mess! And the girls got sprinkle happy!

For Christmas Eve, I wanted to start a tradition of watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows, followed by opening one present early! Of all the movies we own, the girls decided on watching Mickey's Christmas! I prepared their hot warm chocolate with marshmallows, but gave Vivian a cup full of M&M's mixed with marshmallows!

Charles and I enjoyed our HUGE mugs of hot chocolate on the couch! Half-way through the movie, the girls came over and cuddled with us on the couch! All five of us were snuggled together in a Christmas-Eve cocoon! The girls opened one present afterwards, which was a baby doll for each girl! They took their babies to bed, and soon after, Santa set out all the presents and the girls' stockings!

Each girl technically didn't get a stocking, but I want to make them ones for next year! Santa decided to set out some goodies for the girls on the coffee table! Caitlin got a Barbie cup, a horse shirt, a Strawberry Shortcake figurine, a package of four Ring Pops, and a snowman baggie full of Hershey's kisses! Rosalie got a Cars cup, a striped dress, a My Little Pony figurine, a package of four Ring Pops, and a Santa bag full of Hershey's kisses! Vivian got a Beauty and the Beast cup, a flower shirt, a My Little Pony figurine, four dum-dum suckers, and a snowman baggie full of Hershey's kisses!

It was the first thing the girls noticed on Christmas morning!

Vivian was the last one to wake up, so as soon as she rummaged through her goodies, we sat the girls down to take a picture and let them rip into their presents!

It was hard to keep up with each girl opening presents! Caitlin and Rosalie went SO fast while Vivian took her time! There were squeals of excitement and shouts for joy as the girls opened their presents!

After all the craziness was over, we picked up all the wrapping paper and assembled the bigger toys! Then our house was silent for a few hours while the girls played with their new toys!

I want to take a moment to thank the generous family that adopted our family and gave our girls a Christmas this year! We were nominated and chosen. It was wonderful news for Charles and I. We don't like talking about our financial issues publicly, but there were some people who knew that our entire Christmas fund was spent fixing our family car after Thanksgiving. It had died on me twice while driving, and then stopped working all together. We spent every single penny of our Christmas fund and then some. It had both Charles and I in a non-Christmas mood. We had no idea what we were going to do... we know that Christmas isn't about the presents, but we didn't even have enough to buy the girls any presents. It was hard on us.

I ended up crying about it in Walmart. I sucked up my feelings and continued my grocery shopping when I ran into a friend while shopping. She asked me what was wrong, and I passed on telling her exactly what was up. But she knew I wasn't being 100% honest. I finally broke down to her... later that night, she surprised me with gifts for the girls. I was overwhelmed by her kindness!

And then when the gifts from the adopt a family were dropped off, it was unexpected and completely overwhelming, once again. Our prayers were answered! I cried a lot. And when I told Charles, he cried, too. It was a wonderful Christmas blessing. We will pay it forward one day to another family in need!

We went to Charles' parent's house Christmas afternoon to open more presents and eat Christmas lunch! I forgot my camera (Yep... I'm awesome!) so I don't have any photos of the girls opening those presents, but they got lots of new toys and clothes!

This brings us to New Year's! *Happy New Years!* We stayed home that night and invited a friend over to toast some sparkling grape juice to the new year! I ended up falling asleep a few different times before midnight, but Charles made sure to wake me up for my toast!

I took some photos of the girls to celebrate the New Year!

Charles turned 29 on the 8th! We had made a Darth Vader rice-krispie cake for the family birthday party, but on the day of his birthday, I had the girls help me make a cake for their Daddy! They did so good helping me mix everything together and then decorate the baked cake! They even did a fantastic job of devouring the cake!

The girls are now playing more together now that Vivian is a little older! This is a wonderful thing, until they all start crying and fighting! But for those moments when they all play together nicely, I am such a proud Mama! I always end up crying... in a good way!

We had a great visit from our new Parent Educator in January. I was hoping the girls would do well with the new woman. She brought A LOT of play food with a chef set and a shopping cart. She had the girls won over in a matter of seconds! The girls played for the entire hour and shared the chef's clothes!

One of the gifts that Charles got for Christmas from our friends Mike and Karmen is a Darth Vader throw blanket. I cannot even tell you how many blankets are in my house! But the one that the girls want to play with and cover up with, is the Darth Vader blanket! (Caitlin calls it the "Darth Mater" blanket! Love her!) I noticed that they started playing with it immediately, but I thought it would get old fast... I was wrong! They have used it as a magic carpet, a fort, a superhero cape, and more! I have had to wash it numerous times already because the girls spill their snacks and juice on it almost daily! They are their Father's daughters!

This brings us to Valentine's Day and now! The girls enjoyed their 14 days of healthy Valentines! Very much, even! They keep asking for the same snacks each day now! Which makes me SO happy!

The rest of this month is going to be spent planning Caitlin's fourth birthday party! She has decided on a Tinkerbell party! Or rather, a Disney Fairies party! It is her latest obsession! She's liked the movies for a while, but as of lately, I have to wash her Tinkerbell jammies daily so that she can wear them to bed each night! She cracks me up!

I love my life!