Excitement to come!

After a long, hot, never-ending Arizona summer, cooler weather is coming. Or so the news would like us to believe. I'm still excited. Pumpkins, apple picking, trick or treating - there's a lot to be excited about! I love this time of year because the weather isn't extreme and we can do things outside as a family.

But pumpkins and apples aren't the only thing we're excited about around here! Next week I'm digging my sweaters out of hiding, packing up my rain boots and heading to Seattle for the third annual Near Drown Moms Retreat! I am so excited! I love these ladies. They all know the deal. They all walk the path. And it's just a chance to take a break, relax, connect, and refresh. I am so excited but starting to get that anxiety about leaving the kids and hubby again. Is it weird that I miss them already?

Christian is doing really well! He looks at me when I talk to him, he's been grabby hands lately, and he even hooked my sun glasses and pulled them off! He's been talking to his speech therapist at school a little more and I hear he has a crush on a little girl in his class. Not surprising.

More excitement occurred last week when I found out I was the winner of the Dancing With the Stars: All Stars Super Blogger contest! I entered the contest run by our local ABC affiliate by writing in a short essay explaining why I would be the ultimate Super Blogger. And I won! Well, obviously, I love the show. I've been watching it with my aunt forever. We've watched it through my pregnancies, births, health issues, moves, and everything with Christian. No matter what we were going through we have always found so much happiness in this show. I mean we cheer, we laugh, we are so into it! And I love writing, especially about things I love, so, of course, I'd love to blog about DWTS!

The contest was run in 12 different markets (kind of like cities) and the grand prize is whoever has the best blog out of those 12 markets gets to go to the finale taping in LA! I'm dying! That would be so fun!

I found out last Friday I won and I wrote my first blog last night, which published this morning. I'll be blogging for the next 10 weeks of the season!


http://www.kgun9.com/DWTS/

I run because he can't.

I think everyone should do a 5k.

Don't like running? Who cares?! Do it anyway. Walk it, run it, crawl across the finish line. Just do it.

I know, I'm coming off a 5k high. For the record, I couldn't see us doing a 10k, but I'm quite content with just going around from 5k to 5k and enjoying our little accomplishments.

Crossing that finish line with family, with friends, with Christian, it leaves a high feeling. The I can do anything feeling. Or a - I'm going to eat Chocolate Brownie cookies all day because I just completed a 5k, world! - kind of feeling.

Really and truly, I fell in love with running these 5k's a year ago when we first committed to joining MyTeam Triumph for their first run. Even better...Christian would be our "Captain!"

Running these 5k's is very much like our life, or any life for that matter. And because I love an analogy, well, let me dive right into one.

While running, I had so many thoughts of the way our lives were, how the past three years have been, and how life is now. The beginning of this last race was so easy. We were doing so great! But we didn't realize the wind was helping us until we turned in the opposite direction and we were head on with that very same wind.

There were parts that were smooth and parts that were bumpy and parts where we had to slow down and rest. We pushed through it, we helped each other out, we cheered for ourselves and for other red shirts we saw along the way, and we laughed, too. Like life, right?

The whole thing inspires me. Every single run with those red shirts inspires me. I'm inspired by the friends, therapists, parents, and other loved ones who run because our kids can't. They push these kids over that finish line. They give up their own sweat, endurance, and strength so these kids can have a piece of being able to participate.

I'm inspired by our kids who give us reason to keep pushing against the wind. In the race and on the living room floor with their favorite PT.

I'm inspired by the two "Angels" on our team who chose to pick this 5k, with Christian and his buddies, to be their first 5k ever. It was inspiring to see them cross the finish line for the first time.

I'm inspired by us, as a family. We don't stop. We keep moving. We keep loving and helping each other out, and cheering, and laughing, continuing over the bumpy parts and pushing against the wind. Life isn't always easy with the wind at our backs helping us along. It's ever-changing, always evolving. But for that moment at the end of the race when we cross the finish line, we have reached a happy ending. It's something to celebrate.

If you get down to the meat of why I love running with MyTeam Triumph...

I run because Christian can't. For the span of the race, he has legs. And he gets to fly.

Besides, my baby may not be able to run, walk, or even crawl. But he has completed THREE 5k's with MyTeam Triumph. THREE of them! I mean, how many four year olds can say that?

Team Christian!

Today was the day!

It was MyTeam Triumph 5K day!

Just to refresh your memory, the way it works is Christian is the "Captain" and we, his runners, are his "Angels." Daddy has an injury he's resting and Gabe has early Saturday morning football practice. So I enlisted amazing ladies to help Christian reach the finish line. Going forward they will be referred to as "Christian's Angels."

Is that Christian bundled up in MyTeam Triumph red, you ask? Why, yes. Yes, it does get really cold before the sun comes up in Southern Arizona. So Daddy wrapped him like a little red chili burrito. He was diggin' it.

Lola, on the other hand, is not exactly a morning person.

Baby Burrito!

Getting ready at the start line. Can you find Christian?

There he is!

If you're wondering if Christian is riding in his own chair, you'd be right. The attachment swivel wheel was supposed to be for another little girl whose family was thinking about running. She was on a vent so it was really important she stay in her own seat so it could accommodate her vent. Manny created a piece that would attach the wheel to the already existing Zippy base that was similar to Christian's wheelchair. So we got to be the guinea pigs and test it out earlier this week. It turned out that the family ended up not running so Christian got to try it out for the actual 5K! It handled so well! It swivels and turns so smoothly, it's easy to push, and the important aspect of all - Christian was so comfortable! Not a peep out of him. Last year he got a little upset about some of the bumps and toward the end he started to whine and extend his arms and legs, which means he is done. But with this chair, which is his chair, custom for his little body, he was perfectly comfortable. I loved it and can't say enough good things about how this adaption turned out.

Thanks, Steve King and Daddy for making it possible for Christian to enjoy the race more than ever!

Back to the races...

Almost there!

Go Emily! Pushing Christian in PT and pushing him in 5K's. Best PT in town!

And here we are! Christian's Angels heading toward the finish line!

All done! Team Christian rocked it!

Perfectly Imperfect

I think this "family portrait" is one of the cutest stinkin' things to ever come out of preschool in the history of preschools. Ever.

Not only does it have our family (minus Ruby, the dog), but each of our little heads are made from Christian's very own finger print. Holy cuteness!

I also thought it was funny that we were all painted with blond hair. Two possible reasons for that. One is that the school really only sees me and the two munchkins and we're all blondies. The other reason, probably more likely, is that whoever was helping Christian with this picture had a yellow marker in her hand and that meant we all got yellow hair. Would have been the same if she had a purple marker in her hand. Either way, still way cute.

Another one of Christian's masterpieces from last year...

All the kids from Christian's preschool class had their masterpieces in a little school art show last year. So I keep this one on the refrigerator. A little girl was at our house and she asked, "What's wrong with that flower?"

I thought her question was funny, actually. I mean it's a reasonable question. Obviously, those flowers were supposed to be big red hand prints.

From this work of art I can tell that Christian was not idly sitting by, allowing for his hands to be molded into a perfect high five. He was resisting. That's what I see in that picture. Resistance to the big red hand flowers. And it makes me laugh.

So nothing is wrong with it, little girl. It's perfectly imperfect.

I have a problem with collecting art work of Christian's. I've gotten it to where I'm at least purging the colorings that are merely smudges or crayon scribbles. But I have a compulsive need to keep everything he ever creates, even if it's with the help of others.

Which results in the following picture:

That's all from last year. It's the best of the best. My favorites. If you look closely you'll be able to see the seasons, passing you by. You've got fall leaves, a Halloween spider, a Christmas tree, a four leaf clover, a fish, and, folks, this is not the end of it. It's just all I could fit in one frame without backing up too much. And, again, it's from last year!!!

P.S. I have a building stack of perfectly imperfect, beautiful, genius masterpieces already from this year, which includes his absolutely adorable yellow haired, finger print family.

Time to streamline so my kitchen wall doesn't turn into an 8th grade magazine collage.

Art wall to be continued...