Cora

They have been working on convincing Paul for months.  They came up with a plan, sat down, wrote it out, and signed it, then prepared to present it to Paul:

Mission accomplished. 

This kid is so very convincing:

 Meet Cora, who got her name because the boys took my phone then said "okay google, best girl cat name."  Number one on the list, Cora.  

Ryker -"hey Kip, you like Cora."  

Kiplin - "yeah that is good." 

Jovie - "I want to name her mittens."

Ryker - "sorry Jovie, majority rules, 2:1, she is Cora, end of discussion."

Jovie: "Hartley you need to get talking enough to be able to vote on the girl side."

She is 5 months old.  We are fostering right now to make sure we are a good fit for her, and that Jovie's asthma tolerates a pet…only time will tell.  So far, she is settling in just fine.

Snow day

Only in Mississippi do we get school is cancelled notices sent to our text messages, the day before, when not a single snowflake is to be seen.  These pictures depict the amout of snow that is required for schools to cancel here…haha.  Not even enough for a decent snowball fight.  But we gave it a good shot.

Sister wanted out, but screamed and kicked, and flat out refused warm clothes.  So staring, wondering, and snow deprived.

And hot chocolate, because what is a snow day without it.  Home made because the store sold out of that cheap packaged crap that they love so much.

"I should be in math right now, instead I am drinking hot chocolate one handed, and doing arm pit farts. This is the life." - Ryker 

Tuesdays are for Tacos and dates with your daddy.

Jovie went on a date with her daddy to his work today.  It really is kid paradise there, no wonder Paul loves his job.

Paul needs to work on his selfie angle skills, but still cute picture of two of my favorite mugs ever.  Then Jovie went for a run.  Paul said that this age is exhausting, she wants to change activities every few minutes.  

 

 Some amazing hops in the CPR room.  Putting those mats to good use!

 She even was a professor for a moment.  Tiny girl in the front of an empty class.

 and played bouncy ball in the racket ball court.

*****

Meanwhile back at our house, Hartley was helping me decide which CME trip I want to take, and also having a hard time committing to a dominate hand just yet.  

and she was very intrigued by a laundry basket for a long time today.  Put blankets inside, crawl inside without tipping it over or falling, sit down, throw blankets out, crawl out without tipping the basket over or falling, repeat x 1,000.

The boys came home from school hungry: spent most of the afternoon eating.  I was a mean mom because I was "makin em eat healthy" so they refused to be photographed.  Meh.  Whatever.  They did what I told them in fear of their favored Taco Tuesday dinner not happening, even if that meant "eating the bananas that have a brown spot?!"  But after food frenzy, I noticed a big brother reading to his sister.  Of course he had to ruin the precious moment by being spastic and screaming "don't take a picture." 

These two were my almost but not quite attempt.  At least I have the sweet memory of him holding her and reading to her...

 

Then he pouted and got made at me.

Bath time, where accessories were an absolute must, and she proceeded to dump an entire bucket of water on the bathroom floor, and throw a cup of water splashing the ceiling, window shutters and wall.  Guess she just wanted to help me clean, you know at the most convenient time ever.

massive snuggles were had after bath time.

 Paul and Ryk went to the Ole Miss game tonight - they left with a few minutes remaining when Ole Miss was up by 11 (or something), and Ryker came in the door ticked because on the radio it said that they lost.  Kid is somehow becoming a true southern boy: sports game obsessed, and wants HIS team (Ole Miss) to always win.  Haha.

January 9th - Marathon #4

Together, just the two of us.  It hasn't happened since our honeymoon, well excluding when we went to have newborn babies.  We stayed in a sketchy hotel, and ate Subway for dinner.  Some things never change, always and forever frugal and fabulous.  The sketchy hotel was selected because of the distance from the start/finish line, a very important detail when you happen to be the one running 26.2 miles.

After a gourmet Subway dinner, pre marathon meal of champion (not!), we devoured overpriced 3 musketeer vending machine candy bars.  They were chilled.  The simple things in life.  

Outfit specifically chosen to decrease chances of chub rub, and toenail loss.  Niginxa and nitro for some pre race energy chugging.  And pink socks and sports bra, because awesomeness.  

There was this hot guy cheering on at mile 10, and it was the highlight of the race.  

Then at mile 15.5 things went crampy.  Literally.  Right calf cramp halted the pace, I had to walk jog from mile 16 -17 to try and ease the cramp.  Then at mile 18 they had some gel, I've never tried that gel, but figured the electrolytes would be good for the cramp.  Let me tell you as a gel virgin, well it tastes like a thick, nasty, raspberry flavored snot rocket.  I shot it in, and swallowed it down.  Then almost vomited.  Seriously.  So.freaking.disgusting.  

Somewhere along the cheering route, Paul posted a picture of a "pit stop" for him, parked in a fancy driveway.  Typical, and so very "classy."  When you gotta go, you gotta go, I guess.

If you are not going to be the winner of the marathon, well then you might as well place 100 in your age group, because that is about almost as cool as 1st.  This was my slowest marathon to date, but this course was hilly, the rain was torrential, and I've changed a lot from my former marathon self…mainly adding on 15 pounds.  But I finished, finished injury free, and felt so damn empowered.  This mama of 4, full time NP, and wife of 10 years did something for her.  And it felt so.very.good.

Finish line glory.  It poured buckets, complete with thunder and lightening from mile 20 till the finish.  I felt unstoppable, and swore that if they cancelled the race because of thunder and lightening when I had just 6 miles to go I'd be forever disappointed.  I tell you, you get a bit crazy in your thoughts, wanting to continue running after 20 miles, in the pouring rain, thunder and lightening for 6 more miles just to say you finished the race.  I admit, I'm a nut.  Nothing new, carry on.  Anyway, my shoes were filled with water, so much that when I took them off I dumped water out of them.

Shortly after this photo we rushed back to the hotel so I could meet the check out time extension.  I was motivated to run a certain time so that I'd have time to get back to the hotel and shower before the 3 hour ride back home.  The car ride home, I lived the queen life in my husbands fancy car - those heated seats were amazing.

The huge, ridiculous medal.  Screams Mississippi, and I adore it.

Evidence of a busy day: a 50,059 step day.  Impressive.  I laughed in the care because my watch is set to say MOVE! if I haven't moved in 15 minutes.  While driving home from the marathon, with a step count of 48K this watch kept encouraging me to run.  I think by a step count of 20K it should start saying "you are amazing," and then 30K should say "check to make sure your heart is still working," 40K "you deserve a nap" and 50K "you might as well eat a cake."  But alas, it still just said MOVE!

 Post marathon snugs with my kiddos.

 Hartley trying to snag my Panera salad.

Huge shout out to my main man for the endless morning spent solo daddying so I could pursue long runs to make this happen.  Team effort this goal was, and I'm so thankful to have such an understanding guy to support me every painful step of the way.  He truly gets my crazy running mentality.  So thankful that our love story started on the track.