Preparing for Ironman

We have made it safely to Panama City. The boys did very well on the car trip and both took naps not too long after we arrived. Jason is all registered and will do a swim, bike and run down here over the next couple of days. There are a ton of folks already here and training. Lots of folks in skin tight wear, riding bikes and pounding the pavement. This is going to be a wonderful experience for the whole family. We are all in that really excited place. Now, off to take Eli to the beach for the first time. :)

The Cousins Meet

Saturday, for the Auburn vs. Ole Miss game and a delayed birthday celebration for Matt, Hannah and Leah got to come over. It was great. They were all decked out in their best Auburn attire and as precious as tiny little girls are. They made it through two feedings here and enjoyed the many choices of family arms to be held in.

Walker has been saying Hannah and Leah since before they were born and we have been practicing this week, but of course he wouldn't say a word when they were here. However, when he woke up this morning he was saying, "Ally (aunt allyson), two babies." He did give me a sideways look when I was holding Hannah like, "you're not going to keep that are you?" Eli was only slightly more interested. He grabbed for Leah like she was a new toy put on the floor for him. She didn't seem to mind.









We loved having them here and we look forward to having all four of them running around in the not to distant future. I got my tiny baby fix in and Jason breaths a sigh of relief for a little while longer.

Ironman Is Coming

Jason's big race is coming. He is getting excited and nervous at the same time. I am getting nervous and excited, notice the order. He will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles. It is a big stinking deal and if you want to get more hyped up about it check out this link. This husband and wife did it last year (this isn't anyone we actually know, just a YouTube video). No, I will not be doing it with Jason next year, or any other time for that matter. Here is Jason's video for when our friends did it last year. Ben will be doing it again this year with Jason. They have been training partners through the whole season. I really don't know how someone would do it without a training buddy.

Jason's bib number will be 365. Start praying for his safety, his health, is perseverance, good weather, and that after all this training he will enjoy every minute. You can follow him on race day on the ironman website. He expects to finish some time after 9pm.

A New Family Member!!!

No, I'm not pregnant! My brother is engaged. My dad had mentioned that Matthew had bought a ring, and that he would not be able to hold onto it, and he was right (must be a family trait). He asked Friday night, and they are both over the moon (or as over the moon as my brother gets). They came over on Saturday to share the news. My dad was out of town, so that is right ladies and gentlemen, I found out first.

They are thinking next October. Elaine, the fiance, is a fashion design major at that lesser school in our state. She will be designing her own wedding dress, and I'm sure it will be fantastic. Matthew will head to California after the first of the year for more training. This will make their engagement a challenge, but then the fun marriage stuff will start! Congratulations Matthew and Elaine!

Quesadilla!!!

I have been trying to get video of this for about a week now. Walker's vocabulary has always been impressive and now he has hit that language explosion where he repeats and understands 90% of what we say. He also responds to questions well. In the video I ask him what is on a quesadilla, expecting him to say cheese. He tells me what the quesadilla is on -"a plate". I totally missed this until I watched the video. He is always thinking and trying to understand what is going on around him. I am so blessed to get to be here for these moments.

He loves to eat quesadillas and I have found some whole wheat tortillas with added omega 3's so I pretend it is a healthy lunch. :) Although, I would like for someone to explain to me why it takes me 20 minutes to cook one on medium heat, but if I put the heat on medium-high heat it burns in 2 minutes.

Eli on the move

Eli has been working on moving for a while. He mastered the art of rolling and he would get up on all fours and rock. Now, he can army crawl and get wherever his heart desires. This a good thing...he is much happier now that can follow his brother; and a bad thing, now I have two to chase. He has also fallen in love with his pacifier. It is a recent development, so it may be teeth, but for right now he always has it in his mouth.

Baby Dedication

With our family and church, Jason and I dedicated our boys to the Lord on Sunday. We had already made this commitment in our hearts, but it was nice to have a ceremony with our church and family committing to join with us on this mission. Jason's parents, my dad and Jayne, and three sets of great-grandparents were able to attend. Both of our brothers were sick, so they were unable to attend. I hate that we didn't get a picture of everyone after the service, but it just didn't work out.Our pastor, Chris, and his wife, Cathy, did a great job and really made our family feel special.

One of the neat things Cathy asked us to do was to pick a life verse for each of the boys. This is something we probably wouldn't have thought to do, but now I realize it is a great way for parents to offer another blessing on their child straight from God's word.

We chose Colossians 3:17 for Walker. It is all about doing everything for Christ and offering thanks in the doing. I believe Walker will be a doer, and he is a very grateful child. Our pastor has been doing a message series in Colossians and I have found several wonderful verses on guiding our lives in it, and this one seemed particularly powerful.

For Eli, we chose Philippians 2:13-15. Those verses are all about shining like a star for God on this earth. We both believe that Eli will be a more passionate person who has the opportunity to be a shining example for Christ (Jason said the one with anger should be for Eli; he has his extremes:)). I have always loved the book of Philippians and have always felt that my mom like that book, which may or may not be true. I carried around a paper where she had written some verses out of Philippians for many years (I have no idea what happened to it).