Time to Start Training

So I'm putting this out here, that way there is no backing out!! I have decided to run my 2nd 1/2 marathon on May 5 for the Capital City 1/2 in Columbus, OH (I would do the full, but they only have a 1/2 on this one) and then I'm going to run my 1st full marathon in Oct at the Columbus Marathon.  So here are some of my training ideas.  I found a 12 week pre-training training program by Hal Higdon's (I used his 12 week 1/2 training for my 1st 1/2).  I plan on doing this only because I'm trying to get to 8 min mile, so I'm dropping my mileage down right now in order to get faster and then I'm going to mix in some tempo runs.  After that 12 week training I'm going to jump right into the 12 week 1/2 training program.  The 1/2 is in May so I will have almost 5 months to train for the full and I will already have a high base mileage to start training for the full.  The question is, do I have enough time to train properly working full time and having a child.  I know it's going to be time consuming, but it's something I want to do.....soooooooooooo wish me luck!!! I need to buy me a new pair of running shoes!!!

LET THE RUNNING BEGIN!!!!

Where has the time gone?

So my little girl will be 5 in less then a month. OMG, she goes to school next year!! So I was looking through some old pictures of her past birthdays and thought I would share:

Kadyn's 1st Birthday: 

Look at those cheeks, I miss them!!

The toothbrush never left her hand

 She actually was taking icing off of my friends cake and brushing her teeth with it, GROSS!!

She hated the cake!! Screamed during the whole cake thing.

 

 

Kadyn's 2nd Birthday:

She was yelling at me to stop signing, she doesn't like people signing Happy Birthday to her!

Unkie Budd taught her how to wash a bike!

 

 

 

 

I'm a bad mom and I can't find pictures from her 3rd birthday, so moving on to

Kadyn's 4th Birthday:

Her amazing cake made by my good friend Jamie!

The Princess herself!!

Her little shit grin, up to no good!!

 

 

 I looked through all of these pictures today and started crying! My baby is no longer a baby. It's amazing the memories pictures bring back and how much she has changed over the past 5 years!! All you Momma's out there with little ones, enjoy every second of it because it goes by so fast. Seeing these pictures makes me want another one and then I snap back into reality and I'm like HELLLLL to the NOOOOO!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

It's OK Thursday

"Its Ok Thursdays"

ITS OK......

I have parked illegally at work most of the week due to being late and not wanting to walk across 2 streets in the rain. 

I bought my daughter a Ninja costume for Halloween. She loves it and has worn it the past two nights running around doing Ninja moves!!

I drank my dinner last night, I love me some Yuengling Light lately, and Ohio finally sells it.

I had my first glass of red wine and actually liked it. I actually liked it so much that I drank the whole bottle that night.

I haven't ran in a few weeks, I have been moving and that's my excuse!!

I let my daughter take 40 minute showers in the morning just so I can have 40 minutes peace and quiet while I get ready. Water bill WHAT??

Halloween is a week from Monday and we still don't have pumpkins or as Kadyn likes to call them pum-kins 

I don't even want to begin thinking about Christmas, I have three birthdays before it.....Where's that money tree I always hear people talking about?

That I'm still trying to figure out all this blog stuff, I'm a newbee and haven't found my niche yet!!

Senior Homecoming

So my little Budd, who is not so little anymore, had his senior homecoming this past weekend!! I think I'm just going to say it....once again Budd and Tay get the cutest couple award!! Every year they always look the best, just take a look:

The happy couple! 

 

 

 

Aren't they cute!!!

Get out of my face!!

See they do like each other

Nathan (my 2nd brother by another mother), Budd and Tay

I love these three!!

 It's hard to believe that these three are seniors!!

Meet my Ninja

So yesterday we went Halloween costume shopping. Now Kadyn has been back and forth on what she wanted to be...we first started out as wanting to be an Army girl, then we moved on to a Ninja, then she wanted to be a police girl, and then finally back to a ninja. So I figured once we got to Halloween City she would see all the girly costumes and princess and Disney characters and change her mind. NOPE, NADA....this girl was going to be a Ninja and that was it. So here she is, Mommies little Ninja.....she is SOOOO my child!!

So What Wednesday

This week I'm saying SO WHAT if:

• I bought my first bottle of red wine on Thursday night and drank the whole bottle that night. Shit was good!!!
• I let my 4 year old hit pine-cones in the parking lot at Easton with my brother's hockey stick. Girl has skillz and mama was talking about the game!!
• I haven't ran in what feels like forever!! I have been busy moving.
• I was suppose to run on Sat and Sun but it was just too damn windy out, I didn't want to get blown away.
• I'm thinking about transferring my car loan over to a credit union, they told me if I do it in November I won't have a car payment for 3 months and they will give me up to $500 cash....HELLO Christmas $$$$$$. Somebody might have a nice little Christmas!!
• While I'm at that, I might even transfer my credit card balance over, they will give me $150 for it :) :) :) Mama might be rolling in the dough real soon!!
• I bought my daughter a ninja costume for Halloween, she wanted it. Out of all the princess, Disney, girly costumes she wanted to be a ninja....but a damn cute one at that:
• I just pulled my credit report for the first time in years because I was afraid to face the fact that I have soooo much student loan debt!!! I need alcohol!!

What are you saying SO WHAT to this week!!

ADHD

So I have decided to do a serious post for once. Don't get use to it though, it won't happen often. So my daughter was diagnosed with ADHD last February. Everybody thought I was crazy for having her testing, everybody kept telling me it's my parenting and I should be doing things different. I knew she had ADHD and I approached my pedi about it. Lets backup a few years first, I had Kadyn evaluated at 6 months for behavior issues. Yes I said 6 months old, kid has been a challenge since birth!! At 6 months old, she was almost kicked out of the babysitters...rebel child!! At this time my pedi spent 2 hours with her in his office, he asked me question after question. At that point, he told me I have a "difficult child"...(well no shit Sherlock, I could tell you that).... gave me a few books to read and said she is probably ADHD but they can't treat or diagnose that at this age. So last year I was having a really hard time with her and she wasn't doing well at the babysitters again. (I'm convinced I'm ADHD, which is why I have so many issues getting things done and I do not want her struggling the way I did) So I started doing my research, I started reading article after article on kids with ADHD. I took Kadyn to her 4 yr old check up and asked my doctor about it. He gave me a 15 page book of questions to fill out, gave my babysitter one also.  That was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to fill out. I felt like when he was reading it he would think I hated my child. I had to write horrible things down about her and it was HARD!!! 

I do love my baby, how could I not just look at her:

Lets get one thing straight before I continue...ADHD is not just the hyper activity, it's soooooo much more then that. I can handle her crazy hyperness, I'm crazy hyper all the time!! It's the lack of sleeping through the nights (girlfriend was up at least 5-6 times every night and she is 4), the difficulty she had completing the simplest tasks, the frustration she had from being in trouble, the fact that her mind is going 100 miles a minute and she can't process everything going on in that little head of hers, the fact that she couldn't conform at the babysitters and she didn't understand why she can't sit there and read like everybody else or why she is always in trouble because she can't settle down when it's time to. The fact that she can't do the simple things like get dressed without any distraction. It's tough staying patient with her esp when I'm in a hurry. These are the things that made me question the ADHD and have her tested.

Girl is a bit crazy also:

  

and LOVES being dirty:

People judged me, people thought I was crazy, people didn't understand why I would even entertain the idea of ADHD. Everybody told me it's the age...Wait until she is school...School will change her...She needs to be challenged.  My response, why wait until she is in school....Why wait until it's a bigger problem..Why not fix it before she ends up in trouble at school or thinks she isn't smart, or thinks she has something wrong with her. So go ahead and judge, I put my daughter on meds. YES that's right, my 4 almost 5 year old is on ADHD medication. She takes Focalin XR. It is a slow release drug that starts working immediately and is completely out of her system by 2-3. Yes you can tell a difference in her while she is on it. No she is zombified!!  She can focus, she can sit still, she isn't in trouble all the time, she is sleeping through the night. I never give her her meds on weekends because to me weekends are a free for all, which brings me to my weekend!!

I will start giving her them on weekends because it is bad when she isn't on them. It's frustrating for her and it's frustrating for me. The task of getting dressed is a 40 min production!! So this weekend was the last weekend of me NOT giving them to her...OMG I almost started drinking at 8 am on Sat and Sun!!

So before you judge listen to my reasons for medicating my 4 year old:

• She was always in trouble and I do NOT want her thinking she is a bad child because she has a chemical imbalance that makes it hard for her to do things that a normal child has no problems doing
• I struggled in college, high school, and even at work to accomplish the simplest tasks because I can't focus and I do NOT want her to struggle like I did. ADHD is not an excuse to be lazy
• I want her to be able to thrive with every opportunity given to her.
• I want her to do well in school and be able to focus on what needs to be done.
• I did NOT want to see her frustrated anymore!!
• I want her to be happy and know she is smart and can do anything she puts her mind to.

 But she is a HAPPY little 4 year old:

A Little Bummed!!!

So this Sunday is the Columbus Marathon and due to a knee injury this summer I will not be able to run my second 1/2.  I missed out on 3 months of running and considered running anyways. I mean if I had to stop and walk I would do so since I am completely out of shape. Then I got to thinking, I'm going to pay $90 to not be satisfied or happy with my time...NOT DOING IT!!! So I decided not to sign up and now that the race is this weekend, I'm kicking myself in the ass for not signing up!! I have a couple friends running their first full marathons and I'm sooo excited for them. They have been training very hard this summer and are totally going to rock it Sunday!!

Looks like I better start getting my lazy ass motivated again so I can run the full marathon next October. My plan is to run Capital City 1/2 in May again and then train all summer for the full.

My Best Friend is a Hairstylist

So my best friend is a hairstylist at Kenneth's. She has been there for 8 years and makes good money doing it. She has always done my hair along with Kadyn's. Well a couple of months ago Kadyn decided she wanted short hair. Instead of asking me to take her to her Aunt Chels, she decides to ask a 5 year old to cut her hair. OMG, I cried!!

The hair cut from a 5 yr old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG, Brian had to cut the tails hanging from the back because I took off running outside crying and blowing up Chels' phone. I was the psycho who dials, hangs up, and dials right back. Yep, 10 times I did that before leaving a voicemail. Thank God, Chels is good at what she does:

Cute right?!?!? It is, but it is still completely uneven throughout and she has about 1 in spikes on the top of her head that are going to take forever to grow out. Now, I'm not upset and I'm not mad...after all it's hair and hair grows back. But I will tell you, I miss her long her hair. She had the best hair ever. She has never had that baby fine hair. Her hair has always been great. Take a look:

Look how silky smooth it is!!!

I can't put pony tails in anymore and look how cute that face is!!

So needless to say, I miss my baby's long hair!! I miss being able to put braids, pony tails, pigtails, headbands, etc in. Think it would be bad to give my kid pre-natals to make her hair to grow?!?!

In need of some wine!!

So I'm not really a wine drinker, at all. Occasionally, I get in the mood for some. Well guess what, I'm in that mood right now. I'm stopping on my way home from work to pick up a bottle, the problem is I don't know what to buy.

It took me awhile to start liking white wine. I will drink pinot grigio or riesling. I want to try a red wine, I think but I don't want anything really dry. I need HELP like ASAP. 

What are some of your favorite wines and what brands?

Meet Mr. Ohio ~aka~ my Brother Budd

Before you get any ideas, no his real name isn't Budd it's Kyle! 

Come on now we aren't that hillbilly...

ok maybe we are!!!!

Budd is something I have called him since he was, well born!! Mr. Ohio would be what everybody started calling him last hockey season because he is "that kid".  You know, the one that is good at everything he does. The one that can pick up a sport and in within a week he is probably in the top 2 best players on the team. I mean after all he does take after me :) :)

I only found it fitting to write a post about him this week since his first hockey game of his senior year is this Friday.  I can't believe my little Budd Budd is a senior this year!! God I'm old!!

Here is Mr. Ohio...check that form out

Just a little background, there's a huge gap between Budd, Maddi (my sister), and I.

Here we are!! Almost 29, 18, and 11

Yes my parents are/were nuts or smart depending on how you look at it!!!

So Mr. Ohio..Budd..Kyle whichever you decide to call him, is probably the best Uncle a girl could ever ask for. According to Kadyn, Unkie Budd (yes that is what she calls him) can do no wrong. I called him retarded one day and got my head bit off by her.

 Girl LOVES her Unkie Budd!!!

So in honor of my brother and his senior year, I'm thinking about doing what any big sister would do. I'm making SHIRTS!!! Yes, I will be the sister with a shirt made that I will wear to every game. It will probably say Mr. Ohio and Budd on there. My goal is to embarrass the shit out of him this season. Any ideas for shirts for Kadyn and I to wear to his games? 

So What Wednesday

Linking up with my cousin Shannon for some SWW

This week I'm saying SO WHAT to:

• If I grounded my 4 yr old from going outside on Thurs and it back fired in my face. 
• If I ate a ham, salomi, and spicy mustard sandwich for breakfast today.
• If I haven't ran in like 2 weeks and have been eating for 6 lately, I have been busy moving.
• If I still haven't gone to get pumpkins yet, I still have a few weeks.
• If I have been celebrating my birthday all month instead of just a day, I feel like I deserve it.
• If I still have stuff at my old house, I'm just pretending it doesn't exist right now. I'm taking this week off from moving. I have what I need!!
• If I dropped Kadyn's clothes off at Once Upon a Child and they said it would only take 30 min if I stayed in the store to wait but if I left I couldn't pick them up until tom and I left. I'm not waiting 30 min in there with a 4 yr old who will want everything under the sun in there.
• If I'm going to be 29 at the end of the month and I still have no idea what the hell I want to do with my life!! I'm hoping one day I will decide.
• If I let my 4 yr old dress herself and do her own hair and half the time she doesn't match, I'm not fighting over clothes. She's and individual!!

The Big Move!!!

So Brian and I have been talking a lot about moving in together for the past several months. So naturally, we started going through stuff, re-organizing things, downsizing belongings, etc. Well after our trip to New Hampshire, we seriously talked about it and decided Oct would be the month. 

I'm like perfect, it's my birthday month, he has every weekend off this month (AMAZING!!!), and the weather is nice. So I take that as moving the end of the month, he took it as you live here TODAY (the day he said move in). Gotta love the communication gap between men and women! So spur of the moment we decide to move this past weekend. He decided he wanted my couch there ASAP, I mean we could watch the Buckeyes blow it PLAY on Saturday. So Friday we decide to go get it, just the two of us. I have sectional with recliners on both ends, HEAVY as a MF'er. So in one weekend I managed to turn his bachelor pad into a home. It looks so good, I'm sooo excited to be living with my best friend.

The best part about it, the kids are all extremely excited and happy about it. Yesterday was my first day leaving work and going to my new home. It was so nice going home to somebody!! The sense of security, not living out of a bag, seeing his face when I pulled into the driveway!!

Moving in with Brian was one of the best decisions I have made. I have never been happier, Kadyn has stability and consistency, and he is just the most amazing man I have ever met. I'm so excited for the holidays and spending them all with Brian and all three kids! 

Tonight will be my first night in my new home by myself, wish me luck!!

A Little Weekend Getaway!!

So the weekend was a success.  I had so much fun!!! We left Friday morning at the ass crack of dawn, dropped Kadyn off at the sitters, hit up the airport.  Good news, they didn't lose my luggage and I didn't get stripe searched!! BONUS. I did have to throw my favorite travel coffee mug away because apparently you can't bring it through the gate.

A nice little view from the airplane:

I love flying, Brian on the other hand is not a big fan of it. He white knuckled it the whole way to Baltimore. We landed in Baltimore and met the rest of his family there and then headed out to Manchester.  So his dad goes to get the rental car, little did we know we would be riding in style in a fully loaded Caddy!!

So my high class boyfriend decided he needs to drink a PBR in the Caddy, so that's what he did. I mean REALLY who buys PBR? He is thinking about switching to PBR for good, I said I'm not drinking that shit!!  So then we get to the hotel and head out to get lunch!! I was forced to eat steamers (steamed claims) SICK!! I couldn't get past the texture. I wasn't that impressed with the seafood there. The place we went to on Saturday was 100 times better. But I was forced to eat this little guy:

Oyster:

Looks like a huge snot rocket on a shell. It took me 20 minutes to finally try it. It hit my tongue and I freaked the eff out and took a bite out of it, then immediately spit it in my napkin. And in return, Brian spit his beer out laughing at me. Since we decided to eat lunch before the wedding, and I was with 3 guys, I only had 20 min to get ready.  I still needed to shave, paint my toe nails, touch up my finger nails, curl my hair, and put on my make-up. Well non of the above happened except for shaving my legs. I went with a side ponytail, curled, with a flower. You can't see my hair in the picture because I'm a dumbass and held the camera on that side to take it:

The final product:

It was a great weekend. We got to spend a lot of time together with NO kids. Let me tell you how nice it was going out to eat and not having to worry about the three kids and what they were doing and making them eat all their food!! So relaxing. We even got to enjoy the hot tub and pool. Now starts my diet, I ate way too much food and drank way too much alcohol this weekend. It is good to be home!!

Leaving on a jet plane......

So tomorrow I will be heading to New Hampshire with  the boyfriend and boyfriend's dad for a wedding!! I'm so excited I can't stand myself right now.  My boyfriend is pretty much awesome and his dad is just as awesome, so it is going to be so much FUN!! 

So I finally found the right shoes and the perfect jewelry for my dress:

The dress

Disregard Brian's Loud mouth golf pants in the background, he actually asked if he can wear loud mouth pants and jackets in our "wedding"

The Shoes:

Now disregard my messy desk, yes I wore them to work today. I had to give them a test run before Sat. Just to let you know, they are too big and I keep walking out of them! Epic fail!!

The bracelet:

Disregard the post-it notes, again at work! I completely love this bracelet and I'm not a pearl wearing kinda girl!!

The earrings:

I'm super excited about my outfit, I'm going to tower over Brian though. I wasn't looking forward to that big of a heel, but let's face it, they are going to look great with the dress!

 

Some things I'm looking forward to about this trip:

 

~ A NO kid weekend, Mama needs a break

~ Hanging out with Brian and his family, they pretty much ROCK!!

~ Lots and LOTS of seafood! And good fresh seafood. Bring on the crab legs

~ Getting all dressed up

~ Flying on the plane, even though Brian is scared to death. He hates to fly, but I told him I would protect him. By protect him, I mean give him lots of alcohol.

~ Staying in a hotel room, I get room service and a maid there!!

~ The amazing Fall weather

 

Hopefully I remember to pack the camera and don't forget anything!!! I'm new to the blogging world and have to remember to start taking pictures.  

 

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!

So What Wednesday

Today I'm linking up with "Life After I Dew" for some So What Wednesday!!

This week I'm saying So What if.....

• I ate Chipotle on Mon with double meat, extra sour cream, a whole bag of chips and guac for lunch and then turned around and ate 1/2 a frozen pizza and cookies n' cream ice cream for dinner.

• If I lie on my MyFitnessPal to make me feel bettter.  If that burrito isn't on there, I didn't eat it...RIGHT?

• If I drank a 24 oz Miller Lite on Sun before my 3 mile run...At least I still ran!!

• If I waited so long to do laundry that I did 8 loads in one night...Hello Friday night fun.

• If some nights I would rather drink my dinner then eat it...Sometimes this mama needs to unwind a little.

• If I canceled Kadyns follow-up apt this week b/c I just don't have the time to take her, plus I don't want to pay a $20 co-pay just for them to tell me she is perfectly fine.  She can go next week.

• If I'm already trying to figure out a way to watch the Buckeyes play Saturday during the wedding/reception. Everybody knows you have to plan your wedding around Buckeye football. After all that's why they have bi-weeks!!

• If I still do not have shoes or jewelry to wear Saturday. 

What are you saying So What to this week?

Makes You Think

So every Tuesday I go to my 91 year old Great-Grandma's for lunch, you know to check in on her and make sure she is doing good and staying out of trouble.  Grandma is a firecracker at 91 years old. You will probably see more posts about her, she is so much fun!!

A little background

****

For the past few weeks I have been doing some serious "spring cleaning" and going through my entire house and getting rid of everything that I have packed away because I'm a pack rat. Well my boyfriend is just the opposite and since there is discussion about moving in here really soon, we have two full houses to combine in one.  So I have been doing some serious down sizing and getting rid of a lot. Now, I donate what can be donated and I throw away all the broken, not so good stuff.  So since my Grandma has a huge dumpster and I go down for lunch every Tuesday anyways, I load up my trunk with the stuff I'm throwing away and take down to her house on Tuesday's. 

So today at lunch, I arrive at Grandma's, I unload my trunk in the dumpster and I go in and have lunch with Grandma.  Usually BLT's and a Pepsi, she knows I love bacon and always cooks a pound of bacon on Tuesday's for me. The funny thing about that is, I don't drink pop ever and I really don't like Pepsi.  For some reason she thinks I love Pepsi and always buys it just for me.  I don't have the heart to tell her I would rather drink water, so I drink one pop a week.  Bless her heart! 

As I'm leaving, I hear somebody talking out by the dumpster, where my car is at.  Now Grandma lives in a terrible neighborhood, so I immediately go into defense mode and I'm walking quickly to my car, hit the unlock button once so it only unlocks my door, and hop in and lock the door quickly.  As I'm backing out, I see this old man looking through the trash and he says something to me.  I roll my window down, and he goes I promise I won't make a mess I'm just looking through the stuff.  My heart broke, I immediately felt terrible, and started to cry.  I wish I had cash right then and there to give him some money. I wanted to drive straight to the nearest ATM and grab cash out. He was so sweet and the look on his face really got to me.  I looked at him and told him don't you worry and you can have anything you want out of there. Part of me wanted to tell him I will be bringing stuff again next week.  If I knew I would see him again I would pack a trash bag full of some food and blankets and towels or anything else I think he could use.

So I teared up the whole way back to work and started to think. I complain, and I complain a lot about not having money. Not being able to buy the things I want or give Kadyn everything she wants. I complain that I have a college degree and I make less then people with no degrees. I complain about the bills I have and living paycheck to paycheck and some months not having an extra $3.00 to buy an ice cream cone for Kadyn until I get paid again. But the bottom line is, I have a car, a house, a bed to sleep in, clothes on my back, food to eat, blankets to cover up with, Kadyn has everything she needs and then some.  I may not be able to take a vacation every year like I would like to, or go out and buy a new outfit just because, or go out to dinner more then one night every few months. But I have a lot and today I have never been more grateful for what I do have. 

I just couldn't imagine being so desperate that I would have to dig through a dumpster in an alley. It really broke my heart seeing him and the fact that he was worried about making a mess. I felt bad for throwing stuff away. Be thankful for what you have!!

Favorite Time of Year!!

So last night I pulled out my Autumn Harvest candle and I was in heaven. I absolutely LOVE this time of year and the smells that come along with it.  The leaves are starting to change, the cooler weather. It's a jeans, hoody, flip flops kind of weather.  It's football season!! And great running weather, if it would stop raining!! I just realized that this weekend is October already, not sure where the Summer went or August and September for that matter.  BUT October is the best month out of the year, after all I was born then :)

But what's not to love about this time of year, just look at that face and the beautiful leaves:

Or how about this one:

I know, cute right!! Don't let those looks fool you, she isn't that innocent.  Besides the weather how about the Fall foods! This weekend Brian made a big pot of chili, I ate it for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday! Brian even ate it for breakfast, GROSS! There's nothing better then some chili, Sam Adam's Octoberfest, and football.  Got to see my Buckeyes and Steelers both pull out wins this weekend!! To top it off, Brian and I started a fire out back and got to just chill and talk. Those are my favorite nights!

But let's not forget about HALLOWEEN!! Just look at the cutest puppy ever:

And the pumpkin pickin:

I'm ready for Fall!!  Hair is dark, might be a little too dark but it will fade.

Packed my UGGS for this weekend in New Hampshire! What's not to love. I'm feeling very blessed this Fall and I have a feeling it might be the best Fall ever!!

HAPPY FALL!!!