On To Bigger Things

Goodness, May has been a busy month! Pretty sure I'm on a blogging record for this week but I just have so much to share! 

On Tuesday, Brady graduated from preschool. I'm pretty sure he just started preschool like 10 minutes ago but they tell me it was much longer than that and that now I have to send him to kindergarten in the fall. (Cue the tears). 

He was so excited to wear his tie!

They had an adorable little performance.

Is there anything cuter than a bunch of preschoolers performing?

His preschool class. And yep, 3 boys, 12 girls. He will probably always want to go back to those kind of odds in school.

I was fine during the performance and then when they called his name to get his diploma, I kind of lost it. I have this syndrome called "Cry at the worst times, think the saddest things possible, work through my emotions in public-itis". It's fun. 

He adored his teachers this year and we're going to miss them!

"Look what I got!! Bubbles!! And this paper thing!"

Layla wasn't thrilled that she wasn't a part of his preschool class (she talks about everyone Brady talks about like they're her friends) but she was willing to get her picture taken.

Our preschool graduate!

Family shot. Layla, not having it again. Remember my last post about her mood swings? Prime example!

And just for fun....

Brady on his very first day of preschool when he was 3

And his first day of 4 year preschool and last day.

Afterwards all he wanted was doughnuts (smart boy) so we headed to Dunkins and my 5 year going on 20 year old got his donut fix.

Selfie with my big boy!

The next morning we went to his new school for some testing and he's counting down the days until he starts kindergarten at the "big boy school". Lord help me, I'm going to be a mess come August 17th!

Well, I Survived

This past weekend I ran my first half marathon. It was the Colfax Half Marathon in Denver, Colorado. To say I was nervous and a bit unprepared would be putting it lightly. Training for races is hard and time consuming and with vacations, sicknesses, Brian being gone, bad bouts with shin splints, and 2 little kids that don't like to go more than 3 miles, it was tough to train. The furthest I was able to run during training was 9.6 miles. So I was nervous!  But I was determined to do it and so when race day suddenly showed up I went with the mentality "Just CROSS the FINISH line!". 

I was so lucky to run the race with so many friends. Melissa, my good friend here, my good friend Jessica from Omaha, her best friend from Idaho, Jennifer, my good friend Taylor from Omaha, and not pictured, Bobby a good high school friend that now lives in Boulder. It was a early 6:45 am start time.

There were a ton of runners. We're talking 18,000 runners. It was madness!

We were corral O. So needless to say we waited to start 30 minutes after the first group left. It was super nerve-wracking!

Ready to start! I was all about the thumbs up this morning, apparently!

Mile 3 was run through the Denver Zoo which was really neat but there were hardly any animals out which was disappointing!

The sun was bright. And in our eyes most of the run.

I think this was at about mile 5? Trying to stay motivated, haha!

Running through the Aurora Fire Station!

I hit a wall at about mile 8 and my body just wanted to be done. I pushed through and although I walked a lot more than I wanted to those last couple miles I finished all 13.1 miles! 2:35 was my official race time which was way slower than I anticipated but I think all of that walking at mile 9 really slowed down my pace.

SO happy to be done!! You can't really see how much pain I'm in but man oh man did I hurt!

We did it!!

I knew we were near a Caribou coffee so I figured I earned a caramel cooler.

And then a nice big beer at lunch at the Rockyard in Castle Rock.

I'm so glad I set this goal and accomplished it. I definitely didn't do as well as I wanted to but I finished and that was all that mattered. I'm still nursing some pretty sore muscles but I'm excited to get back out there and complete a couple more races this summer. I think I'm sticking to 5k and 10ks though, this half marathon business is tough! :)

She's 3!

On Friday, May 15th, Layla turned 3!

They think crepe paper on their doors is like the coolest thing ever. And I'm pretty much the coolest mom ever, so I oblige.

Pretty dang excited to be 3! Wearing her crown Nana and Papa sent her!

Because I'm a mean mommy I scheduled her 3 year well check on her birthday (whoops). No shots though and just a very quick check up. She was super brave and is a healthy girl! 37 inches tall and 30 lbs exactly!

After that we headed up to Castle Rock to meet up with some Omaha friends that were in town. It was 70 and sunny at our house....50 and cloudy and rainy when we got to the park. Oh well, we still had fun! This Colorado spring we've been having, oh that's a whole 'nother post!

ha

After our park playdate we went up to Denver to Toys R Us to pick out a birthday toy and then it was on to lunch at Benihana's. 

Brady loved it, Layla wasn't so sure. She just wanted her birthday ice cream and didn't appreciate the chef calling butter, ice cream. Big let down. 

Horrible lighting birthday lunch selfie!

Mommy had to pick up her race packet in Denver (race post coming soon, don't you worry!) but right next to the museum was a huge fun park. So we got out, ran around, rode bikes, and sang to this sweet birthday girl.

Yummy Frozen cupcakes!

Brian was TDY  during her actual birthday but when he got home we had another birthday celebration full of more cupcakes and presents.

And now to reflect..

My sweet little princes is 3, how is this possible?!

She is sassy, oh my is she sassy. She loves being the center of attention and will talk to anyone she encounters. Which is why the day we took pictures at the Garden of the Gods she insisted on keeping on the crown and loved getting all of the attention from it.

She is silly. She loves saying silly things to make us laugh.

She's smart. Her vocabulary blows us away sometimes and people are so surprised that she talks so well for how young she is! And she knows how to get what she wants!

She's dramatic. They weren't lying when they say girls bring the drama. She's happy, then sad, then mad, then laughing all in the span of 2 minutes.

She's creative. She's got a good imagination. She makes us laugh with the things she comes up with sometimes!

She's a lover. She thinks her brother is the coolest kid in the whole world. Although they fight like all siblings do, they sure do have a sweet bond!

She's so sweet and we're so glad she's ours!

Layla at birth

Layla, age 1

Layla, age 2

and Layla, age 3

We can't see what the future holds for you, we love you Layla!