5/5 Complete with 3 days to spare!

I did it! I have completed the 5th and final '30 Bucket List' Challenge. Since I will be turning 31 (!?!?!?) in a few days I am happy to have this completed just in the nick of time. We found the falls at Chewacla. It was a beautiful day and the weather was actually not TOO hot. Harper loved watching the tadpoles ("baby fogs") in the puddles! Happy Memorial Day!

Enough

If you do nothing else tonight read this blog post. Awesome. Made me laugh out loud. And want to cry a little at our society. And made me feel grateful for a God who is enough.

Imperfect

So, sometimes by the comments I get (in person or via mass media) I get the feeling that some people think my life is perfect. Well, I thought I would share a little realism just so our blog doesn't sound like we live in a fairy tale. Now, I do think that God has blessed my life beyond belief, but just in case you got the idea that I was Martha Stewart married to Mr. Clean with an angel for a baby, here is the scenario this afternoon: I have a doctor's appointment at 4:15. Takes approximately 15-20 minutes to get to the office. At 25 minutes until the appointment I was changing Harper's diaper and preparing to put her shoes on. This is, by the way, not an ideal situation. Taking your 19 month old to YOUR doctors appointment. Thus is my life when I have her in daycare in another state, though. I hear a horrible retching sound from the living room. Toby was throwing up. I run out to see that "whew", only on the wood floors. I scream at Toby "OUTSIDE". Then I realize that I have left my VERY ACTIVE child on the changing table. So I run back in HG's room. Oops, I realize, I have failed to put Toby outside. I realize this because I hear him puking again. I know, I just know, this time it is NOT on the wood floors. "NOT ON THE CARPET" I scream. I realize that it is too late as I run back into the living room. This time I scream some not so nice words to Toby and put him outside. Then I run back into Harper's room and try to explain to her why I am putting her into her crib (she is a very helpful child. As in, she would "help" clean up by putting her hands in the dog puke). So, I have cursed at Toby, left Harper crying in her crib, and have two piles of puke that I can not just leave before we go to the doctor. So I commence to cleaning. And muttering things under my breath about poor sick Toby. Then I wash my hands, rummage through the house yelling about why we don't have Toby's collar in a designated place, open the door, put his collar on, literally grab Harper and run out the door. I tried some deep breathing on the way to the doctor so that my blood pressure wouldn't read sky high. Doctor's appointment uneventful. Dinner still not cooked. Life happens. This morning I hit Harper's jogging stroller as I backed out the driveway and knocked my bumper loose. Jason popped it back in place. Our purpose in life is bigger than dog puke or bumpers. I try to remember that. I fail. A lot. Happy? I am, actually!

4 out of 5 with 17 days to go!

So...Jason and I had the pleasure of a just grownups vacation this past weekend thanks to my mom and some careful saving on our part. Harper, of course, had a blast with her Grandmother (whom she started calling Grandaddy???) and didn't even notice we were gone! BUT, this trip also provided me with a new state- Wyoming! So check that one off the 30 Bucket List (see here if you are confused by that). It was a blast but we were both thrilled to arrive home (on Mother's Day) to our sweet girl! I also ate Rocky Mountain Oysters while I was there (Jason has a pic, not sure if he will want to share it) so I added yet another 'weird' food to my list as well. Don't be grossed out. They don't taste like anything but fried-ness. Now the texture... Jason did not eat any, he would want me to point that out. Here is proof of my time in Wyoming!

PS- Notice which item I haven't completed. THE ONE IN AUBURN! We will, this weekend. It will NOT be what causes me to not complete this list!

Success!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the kind words and encouragement! I successfully ran the entire 1/2 marathon without stopping (minus at the drink stations, it was HOT!). I have now completed 3 out of 5 items on my 30 Bucket List and more importantly proved to myself that I could do it! Below are some pictures and some highlights of the day.

Harper helping me stretch pre-race. My favorite picture from the day!

Me happy to be still for a moment after running for 13.1 miles!

Me with my support crew/coaches/training partners

Highlights of the day: 1.finishing! 2.food: no one told me they FED you during races, if I had known I would have run a 1/2 much sooner! 3.the crowd: the people of Nashville were out in force and I got more high fives from kids and cheers from people that kept me motivated than I ever imagined! Plus all the cute kids and dogs along the route were super entertaining! 4.the signage: there was no lack of motivational signs along the way...some that were HIlarious but I can't repeat on the blog because I'd like to keep this G rated (if you really want to know ask me in person!). 5.seeing Harper's face blowing me kisses after I crossed the finish line :-) 6.the two military guys walking to raise money for St. Jude...in full cammo, boots, and a packed ruck sack. It was SO hot in my high tech running gear, I can't even imagine wearing boots. THANK YOU for your service and THANK YOU for your support of St. Jude.

Oops, I forgot to add one more highlight: Getting to run past my freshman dorm (and wave to my old window) that is slated to be torn down next month. In that room is where I first got the illness that started this whole running craze. Good times in that dorm but good riddance! It needed to go a long time ago!

Why I run...

So, if you know me, you know I am preparing to run my first (and probably only) 1/2 Marathon soon! I am hoping just to survive the experience but am looking forward to seeing all this hard work 'pay off' (i.e. I finish the 13.1 miles!). 'Meredith' you ask 'why do you want to do this? you are not a runner?'. Right you are! Even the fact that the registration form/waiver says "athletes signature" kind of freaks me out because I am by no means an athlete. I do have my reasons for running and I thought I'd share them! Besides the 'check it off the bucket list', here is why I really run. Because I can. I am not trying to be glib or sassy in saying that. I run because there was a time when I couldn't. To spare you a very long story, when I was a freshman in college I got really really sick with a lung infection. It wasn't exactly life or death but required surgery and 9 months of medication and it left my lungs weakened and me unable to work out much at all, let alone run. I was never really a 'runner', in grade school I could run the mile without too much effort but I was never the fastest or the slowest. But when I COULDN'T do something it made me mad. I couldn't hold my breath underwater for as long when swimming, I couldn't do 20 minutes on an elliptical without being sick, couldn't run 1/4 mile without stopping, etc. With my personality, if you tell me I can't do something you might as well have told me I have to. So between grad school, having a baby, etc I've never made found the time to train. Having a toddler really doesn't help in the extra time department but I decided that before I am no longer 30 I want to finish this goal! This whole goal makes me think of the verse from Hebrews 12 "...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Not just because of the word race, but because of the persistence and time it has taken to get to the point of being ready for the race. I wish I would set my eyes on Jesus and put the same effort into my pursuit of him. I would desire to spend time thinking on him, studying him, learning about him. However, just like in my pursuit of the 13.1, I often let other things get in my way and don't prioritize my time. I don't want someone or something telling me "you can't" to help shift my priorities. I want my love and desire to worship our Savior to capture my time! I want my time, words, and actions to reflect what is important to me. That is why I run. That is why I will continue the race with perseverance.

Chatty Cathy

So first of all, after I wrote the title, I realized I feel sorry for anyone named Cathy because I am sure at some point in their life they were referenced as a "Chatty" or a "Not so Chatty" Cathy. Anyway....that was way out of left field!

So I had an old copy of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory from grad school (I've since used it a couple times at work) so I brought it home and Jason, Harper, and I filled it out tonight. Among other things it includes a vocabulary checklist (divided into categories such as Descriptive Words, Pronouns, Prepositions, Question Words, etc.). We used this to calculate Harper's total number of words said spontaneously as of today, 4/3/2012. She gets a new one almost every day so if we did this in another week it would probably be different. She currently has 186 words!!! That is so wild to me. But this mommyspeech-languagepathologist is very happy with that. I included Harper in the "help to fill it out" because we talked about it at dinner and she would pipe in every now in then with a word that we would be talking about "Does she understand what ___ means?" or "Does she say this spontaneously?". I am saving this in her baby book and will fill it out again maybe around her second birthday. I am just including it in the blog mostly for our families who I will probably forget to tell!


PS- If you are ever concerned about your child's language or speech please don't hesitate to ask your pediatrician for a referral for an evaluation. If they try to 'yeah yeah' you but you are still concerned press the issue. It never hurts to check it out and in most cases your insurance will pay for all or most of the cost of the evaluation.