Dear Monday 4.30.12

link up with Megan at Happy Day

Dear Monday, it's not Halloween. Stop disguising yourself as a Friday. It's been such a good day, you're really starting to freak me out.

Dear Stiletto Stampede, you were amazing Saturday! I had a blast watching kids, dogs, women & men show their support by running full blast 100 yards for Susan G. Komen. Next year though, it's on like donkeykong for the prize of best dressed. {more pictures & a better blog later!}

Can you find me?

Dear Running, we have not been on the same page for the past week. It's like someones best friend's cousin of their brother's uncle told you I was cheating on you and so, you're being mean to me. That's not true! I mean, I have been working out with Moj, but it's nothing. I promise, you're still my first love! Can't it just be like it used to be? I run and listen to great music and afterwards we talk about how awesome we are for completing that last mile like a champ? I miss you.

Dear Alfred, even though I wanted to punch you in the throat because you were purposefully getting on my nerves when I was trying to make a redneck water bed {DIY tutorial funness on its way soon!} - you totally made up for it with this photo.

Dear Lillie, I hate your cuteness. Even when I want to be mad and upset with you because I absolutely can not eat anything without you all up in my grill, I just can't. And it's the most frustratingly, awesome feeling ever. You've got me wrapped around your little finger and I ain't going nowhere.

Here's to a great week, my friends!

Mudquest 2012

Lately, I've been trying to up my fitness game - partaking in a walk for the March of Dimes, Miracle Match 5k in January {that pretty much made me want to gnaw off my legs} and a 5k through Baylor University in March where I shaved nearly 10 minutes off my time from January. {Winning!}
I've also been working out once a week with one of my co-workers, Mojgan, {who has made me see baby Jesus - and reach for him at least twice - but in a good way} and has been a great source of information about fitness and eating well. I actually ate edamame for lunch today - and.liked.it. {Please sing that last sentence to Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl for full effect.}
Anyway, in keeping with this health-kick when I saw their was a mud run coming to our town, I had to sign up. And sign up I did - but not before convincing a couple of friends to join in on the fun.

Christine, Marcie & Me. Looking way to clean if you ask me.

They have 3 courses (actually 4 if you count the kid course) - the 2 miles, 5k and a 10k. Since this was our first go-around we opted for the 2 miles. It was still most definitely a challenge.

This picture does not capture how truly hard this was.

Luckily, my hubby was willing to give us a hand!

I hate that I don't have a lot of photos to share with all the mud situations - although, you can check out their facebook page and there are plenty posted. I had a couple good ones from the professional photographer, but I don't know if they're good enough to buy...yet.
It took us probably right around 50 minutes. We ran some, jogged some, walked some, laughed a lot and I think all decided at the end of it - this was something we'd all do again. Even the husband was interested! And he hates it when I try to get him to run with me.

Yeah, badasses, we know.

 And, of course, we had to be hosed off by the fire department.Because Lord knows, none of us were getting in our vehicles with all the mud we had on us. {Don't you know you're an adult when you worry about a little mud!}

I'm pretty sure I felt a lot sexier than this picture depicts

And after it was all said and done, we got our 2 free beers (yay!) and a banana because apparently, the banana eating contest fell through {when the lady in charge told us that, we almost died laughing}and they had a whole bunch {get it, bunch, because you call a group of them a bunch of..oh never mind.}of them left. Christine had to head out almost immediately afterwards for her daughter's softball game, so she wasn't in this picture with us.

Yes, we get crowns. And beer. And bananas.

But that's no worries because I got a good picture prior to the race of just us.

Also, I can't lie. I feel like I'm looking exceptionally thin in this photo and I'm not mad at it.

We can't wait for the next one - it's actually going to be in October where we can dress up in costume for Halloween! And if you know anything about me - know this - I LOVE HALLOWEEN!! So, there's no doubt in my mind what I'll be doing to celebrate.
A huge thank you to our friends, Justin & Emilie, who came with us to cheer us on {Emilie took some of the photos above}, to my husband {who was amazingly supportive}, to Christine and her family for coming out and cheering us on, to Marcie & Jonathan {he also took some great pictures above with their camera affectionately called Carlos} and to Wing Stop who let us bullshit for nearly 3 hours in their store while we ate and laughed about life together. It was a spectacularly wonderful day.

Thursday Thoughts 4.26.12

My first link up with Sar over at [life of love].

{1) The Lillie-kins has been out of sorts lately. She's been running a low temp fever and not being the smiley, adorable kid everyone has grown to love. She has never just fell asleep on me. Even as an infant, she never wanted to be rocked {by her grandparents, sure, but not good ol' mom - ugh!} but last night she fell asleep on my chest for about 20 minutes so I know she felt bad. Please send good thoughts our way that it's only a 24 hour bug and not an ear infection.

 

{2} Speaking of babies, I went to a baby shower for a co-worker today and it hit me again. The Fever. When did boy things get so adorable? Seriously, not okay Fever. Not.Okay.

{3} Have you people heard about this new phase where kids are drinking hand sanitizer to get their drank on? And then, I had more than a few people remind me that people {girls and guys}are inserting tampons soaked in vodka for the same effect? Seriously, this is why people think kids are nothing but a bunch of hooligans. Stop making me feel old by calling you hooligans. 

{4}. I'm super pumped about this Saturday. Why? Because I'm running a 100 yard dash in 5 inch heels! Sounds crazy, right? But it's not, because it's for breast cancer. For some reason, although I've not personally been affected by breast cancer, I always feel really strongly about this cause. So as major shoe whore, I felt it was my responsibility to make this happen.
It's in Waco, Texas at 10am. You don't have to run it. I'm actually puhh-retty sure I'm going to push the kiddo in her stroller for it. But if you want to just come and cheer people on, that's more than encouraged too! I'd love to see you guys!

For more information, here's their facebook page and their website. Or email me at Tamara0827{at}gmail{dot}com, and I'll find out for you. You can register prior to the race at the event, it's not too late I promise. And if you come, you'll get to see my bitching shoes before I post them for everyone else to see {trust me, they are totally worth it!}

{5} And here's hoping that the turkey meatloaf recipe I received from my friend/personal trainer-who-makes-me-see-baby-Jesus every Wednesday goes well tonight. I'm not planning on telling the husband, I'm going to see if he notices the difference. Muwahahaha.

Hope everyone's Thursday is going spectacular. Only one more day to get through for the weekend! You can do it!

Hand Sanitizer

Being a mom can get kind of nasty at times.
Between pee & poop & boogers & slobber & spit &...{do I really need to go on?}
there's no doubt that I've used my fair share of hand sanitizer.
Actually, Lillie is so accustomed to it that after a diaper change she'll hold out her little hands for it {Yes, I have a bottle on her changing table}. She'll rub her hands together for 2 seconds and then want more.
She's kind of a hand washing Nazi. Sometimes she wants me to wash her hands in the middle of eating dinner. weirdo. I don't know whether to be proud, or completely worried at this point.
But when I saw this - Teens Getting Drunk On Hand Sanitizer - on the news, I'm pretty sure these words flew out of my mouth before I could even think about trying to sensor in front of the kiddo -
ARE.YOU.FUCKING.SERIOUS.
I could not believe people would be that moronic. I mean, don't get me wrong, I remember doing stupid things in high school too. {Stealing beer and driving on the back roads, for one. Gotta love growing up in a small town!}
Or watching other people doing stupid things {ahem - the husband in particular - ahem}. But hand sanitizer? That thought I can gladly say never crossed my mind.
But you know what makes this even more crap for parents to deal with?
Do you know what's going to make your bitch slap hand twinge in delight?
That in that moment when your kid says something completely idiotic and horribly vulgar - your threat of cleaning out their mouth with soap -
will mean nothing.
Because these dumbasses already have - literally - the cleanest mouths on the block. [*ba-dah-bing ba-dah-boom*]

Have you ever done anything you can look back on now and say, "Damn, I was an idiot!"? And then pray with all your might your kid never indulges or finds out for that matter?

Dear Monday 4.23.12

link up at Happy Day

Dear Monday, despite you making me forget my purse this morning, it's still been a pretty good start to the week.

Dear Flashmob, you just happened downstairs from my office. And while you weren't mindblowing, you still let me check off something on my bucket list. {I freaking love flashmobs!} Kudos to the students who participated and to my friend, Marcie, who let it slip it was going to happen. Now, to actually be in one and my life shall be complete.

Dear MudQuest, you were a friggin blast and I can't wait to do it again! Even the husband admitted he was jealous of the fun {so, yep, he's been commissioned to join the next one!} Thanks to Christine & Marcie who ran it with me. Y'all kept me motivated and laughing the entire time even when we were falling face first into the mud. {true story}.And to making new friends - Kayla - we've got to get BeerQuest up and running asap!

{a better blog to come when more pictures come my way!}

Dear Husband, is it wrong that I loved you a little more when you refused to uncover your face or talk to me when I mentioned you'd be 30 next year? Even with a full beard you'll always be that 19 year old kid down on one knee in front of a teensy weensy little message of Will You Marry Me? out in the open field confused by my tears of joy .. {Wait, so that was a yes, right? Because you actually never answered me.}

Dear Lillie, sometimes this mimicking stage you're in gives me mild strokes but other times, it's just preciousness beyond word especially when I see how happy it makes your dad.

 here's to a great week my friends!

Fever

Here's the deal - I'm not a fan of the kids.
and yes, I know, I have one -
so that statement seems a little silly,
but it's true. they make me feel awkward and crazy
and just plain stupid.
it feels like it wasn't long ago that i was a kid
so, it always seems i end up trying to bond during one of those awkward silences that their parents always do to you by leaving you alone with their kid for a few moments.
Easy, right?
Not if you're me. Because there's no doubt I'll end up saying things like
"Wow, how about that Miley Cyrus, she's turned into quite the slut hasn't she?"
<insert silence>
"Uhm, so you want to watch a VHS?"
<insert silence and a look of confusion by the letters V.mothereffing.H.howoldamI.S.>
like i said
awkward.
actually, for the majority of our relationship
Alfred and I told people we weren't even interested in having kids because
1. we were in our very early 20's when we got married. (Actually, I had just turned 20 like 4 days before!) The only thing we were interested in at that point was how many beers we could shotgun consecutively.
and
2. We had school and other crap (like buying more beer) to get out of our system before we were ready to lock ourselves down to some tiny, crying little 7 lb person who poops on themselves.
and
3. I was deathly afraid of birthing a child. Yeah, when they say show a middle schooler the 'miracle of life' during health class will scare the slut out of them? It does. Trust me.
 But the thing is, people don't care about that when you get married - all you ever get is
Soooo, when are the little ones coming?
And after years of it, you don't want kids just to spite them. Ironically, that seems pretty childish in itself.
Anyway, when 2 of those 3 excuses above stopped working - we were now in our mid-20s and both out of school - and we had decent jobs, and a mortgage and we were actually responsible adults (yuck) we thought yes, we are ready. let's do it. {pun intended!}
And we did. And we have a wonderfully awesome, beautiful baby girl who is kind of rockstar in our book and we couldn't be more grateful for.
With all that said - the first year was hard (still is at times) to adjust our life and our time around her. Learning how to be not just a husband and a wife, but a mother and a father at the same time was/is so exhausting. And we've finally got a good routine going on. We shouldn't want to interrupt that, right?
Unless you watch the most recent episode of Private Practice, where Addison finally gets her damn baby she's wanted for 5 seasons and all you can think of is
"I WANT A BABY TOO!" and then you start thinking about how adorable and fun it was when your kid was just a wee little baby and wasn't that just the most magical time of your life? You forget that during those fun moments you were drenched in poo, or pee, or spit up, and silently hating your spouse because he's drinking a beer while the baby is attached to the boob. And then you realize you're being emotional because Aunt Flo is a whore and has come to visit and then you get all flush and then it hits you.
You've got the fever. And not any type of fever, but one that flairs up every time you see a toothless, smiling baby cooing at you from afar.
The dreaded baby fever.
I feel much better today. I do, so don't worry. I mean, it comes and goes. I honestly never thought I'd fall victim to it, based on my history, so it was pretty frightening when I realized what it was. And so, I just wanted to warn you all - that it can happen to anyone. At any time. Any where.
There's no cure. All you can do is look away when you see things like this -

 

and even that, my friends, may not help.
{sigh}

Through Her Eyes

life is busy. 

we get sidetracked.

things are pushed to speed up instead of slow down.

and sometimes we forget that we have little people
who count on us.

who look up to us.

who look at the world
in an entirely different way than we do.

and when you really start thinking about that, 

it's kind of freaky as hell.

they have all these beautiful new experiences

in store for them

things you may take for granite

or things you never even knew existed.

it can be pretty overwhelming as a parent

to just allow yourself to let them do things

you think they're better off not doing.

or messing with things

they're better off not messing with.

like, oh, i don't know, your camera for one.

but then, if you do

 if you let go and remember we, their parents,

are their number one source of life.

{and silly faces}

 sometimes you'll get a nice little surprise

when you upload your camera pictures...

and it's a great reminder
that even if you find it annoying at the time,

because there is something else more productive you could be doing,

holding a pink bucket to carry around a crapload of rocks

your daughter has precariously picked out

is really the most important thing you could be doing
in that moment.

there will always be dishes to wash,

clothes to fold,

carpets to vacuum..

but there won't always be a beautiful little 18 month girl

looking up to you. 

and i just wanted to share

and say thank you to her

because through her eyes

she helped remind me that 

making the best in what we have at that moment
is a luxury not everyone can afford

and simply put we're just lucky to have one another.

here's to your week my friends.
wishing you all the happiness in the world.

Dear Monday 4.16.12

linking up with Megan at Happy Day

Dear Best Friends, i woke up this morning in a wonderful mood after spending the evening with y'all, laughing about life, eating fajitas, crushing cans redneck style & making future plans for our babies to play together.

Dear Running, we've been hanging out a lot lately and at first, I was kind of annoyed at you when you came around, but lately, I've really enjoyed your company. Our 4 mile time together last Friday was a highlight of my week. However, our time together yesterday on a trail behind our house made me want to punch baby kittens.
And I love baby kittens.

Dear MudQuest Run, I am super excited to get muddy, drink a cold one (or two, or three..) with some good friends and just enjoy the redneck lifestyle I adore so much.

Dear Diadeloso, I just bought my shirt for Thursday! And I completely understand this is for students, but man, do I wish you had toddler shirts so the Lillie-kins could show her support at the festivities too!

Dear Husband, thank you for supporting me in this running madness. Sometimes when I'm running, I imagine you at the finish line of the half-marathon I'll complete one day cheering me on...and yep, it pushes me that much harder.
I'd run into your arms any day.

Dear Lillie, thanks for letting mom push you around this past Saturday at the March Of Dimes event and for being possibly the cutest baby there. That event helped remind me of how precious our time is together and how grateful I am to God for the joy you bring me every day.

here's to a great week my friends!

Dear Monday 4.2.12

 my first link-up via Happy Day

and one i've thoroughly enjoyed
since falling in love with Sar at Life of Love

i think it's just a wonderful way to start the week

so, here goes

{i did make my own banner, gotta throw my Lillie in there!}

 dear monday, i had a 3 day weekend just for the heck of it, and you still totally came out of nowhere,
you sneaky bastard you.

dear lillie's godparents, thank you for loving us so much and allowing the husband and i to have a kid-free weekend. we missed the heck outta her, but it was nice to tone down the mom-worry from 150% to just a 110% for more than a few hours at time.  she is one lucky kid.

dear golf cart, thank you for not dying on us while we were cruising back roads trying to catch crayfish. we should really plug you in more.

dear upcoming Easter holiday, i can already feel the exhaustion from you looming over me. and i couldn't be more excited.

dear little sister,  you April Fooling me into thinking you weren't going to visit was super sucky.
well played, grasshopper.

dear husband, thank you for making me laugh and killing the mice that i love to hate, but won't do anything about. you are my hero. no doubt.

dear lillie, thank you for leaving dad on the floor to lay with me on the couch last night. i know you love us both, but man, sometimes it feels good to be loved a little more when you least expect it. you amaze me everyday.

hope you have a wonderful week!