Nervous Energy

I couldn't sleep last night.  I didn't have any caffeine.  I should have been exhausted, but I wasn't.  I tried going to bed at 10:30 and tossed around until midnight when I went to the couch.  I slept...sort of for a couple of hours, woke up at 3 and tossed until my little Bee woke up at 5:30.  I wasn't even sad to have to get up early.  I just couldn't sleep.  I wasn't restless or worried I was just energized.

I have a big weekend coming up.  Its one of those weekends that marks another first in my journey towards IRONMAN.  My first Triathlon.......EVER.  Not only is that big, but I will be doing a 200 mile relay the two days prior.  What can I say?  I am a glutton for "Go Big or Go Home!"

The Relay is gonna be fun.  Exhausting, but fun.  Bob and I are on a team of 12 that will run from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs in the Wild West Relay.  Bob and I have to each run only about a total of 18 miles each (only) over 3 separate legs.  Its gonna be great, even if his 9 miler and my 8 miler are done around the midnight hour Friday night.  Sleep anyone?....NAH!  I'm nervous for many reasons.  The miles....no problem, the terrain, no sleep, and Rocky Mountain wildlife, um yeah.  Plus the fact that this weekend will mark the first time since having Evie that I will not be with her for 2 nights.  I know beyond doubt that she will be fine, Memaw and Papa are awesome, but I just miss her already.  Man I love my girls.  Its so important to learn to let go, but OY, the reality is hard!

So we roll into Steamboat Springs around 2PM on Saturday, celebrate our accomplishment, get in the car and head back to town. Sunday morning bright and early is the Tri for the Cure!

My sweet friend Carolyn asked me if I would do this triathlon with her and I thought it the perfect event to introduce myself to the world of triathloning.  The Tri for the Cure is a sprint distance Tri.  I will swim 1/2 mile in the Cherry Creek Reservoir, bike 12 miles and then finish off with a 3.1 mile run.  The event will take me about an hour and a half, only a fraction of what IRONMAN will take me, but the perfect starting place. I'm nervous, but so excited.  When you set yourself a goal of IRONMAN, you begin a journey.  Each step takes you closer and I am hit with the reality that its starting.....my journey to the biggest physical event of my life.  I got my tri suit this week and it looks awesome.  I feel strong and ready, but nervous.

This weekend is a biggie, and I am full of nervous energy.  Time to turn that energy into fuel.

Its my time!

I'm Tired

Ha, so I just recently had a moment and looked at the last time I blogged.  It was nearly 2 weeks ago.  I found myself wondering what happened?  Has nothing of significance happened recently?  and then I realized, no, its not that our life has been too ho hum for comment, instead its been so busy with this new toddler in our mix, I am CONSTANTLY moving.  Every parent will concur that as your kids get older it doesn't get easier, it just gets different.  You trade one thing in for the next and that is so true of my life right now.

Evie Frances is MOBILE and walking.  She still favors crawling everywhere because it gets her into trouble faster, but she is walking when she wants and loving this freedom movement gives her.  I. AM. TIRED!  It is non stop at my house.  I mean.....non stop.  There are days where I just live for nap time and for running time.  Those are literally the only 2 times a day where Evie is successfully contained.  Key word....successfully.

We have gates up.....she pulls them down.  We have roadblocks for the stairs....she climbs over them.  We close the toilets....she opens them and "splashes."  We keep the shower curtains closed....she navigates through them and plays in the drains.   I give her toys....she screams for the remotes...or the phone.  She climbs EVERYTHING without an ounce of caution or concern.  

I fold her blankets and put them away.....she opens her drawer and removes ALL of them.  I give her a basket of board books......she crawls over them and heads to the real books (ripping paper is awesome!).  The recycling bin contains boxes and plastics....until Evie comes in and disperses them all over the kitchen.  She throws food....because thats fun.  She eats dirt and bugs......because that's fun too.  She finds markers Lily has left around and opens them......black makes awesome lipstick.   She loves her sister....and pulling her hair.  Oh and on the pulling front.....kitty tails are awesome!

Leave a door open.....she's gone.  Leave wipes open....she inspects each one. Take your eyes off of her for one minute and things like this happen.

I will say it again.... It's tiring over here at the Longmire house.

While Evie occupies every ounce of my energy, my little Lily is all about running, tickles, coloring, swimming and getting her nails painted.  She loves braids and dresses and water and dirt.  She is growing up so much, but still is that busy little girl exploring her world and discovering new trouble to get into.  She loves her Daddy.  I mean really loves him and this new reality that he gets to take work breaks for tickling is awesome.  She is rambunctious and opinionated with a will of iron and a spirit overflowing with energy.  She is a good kid....a REALLY good kid and I love her....every part.

I love this life of mine, but man does it keep me busy.  I'm tired!  When I crawl into bed every night thoroughly exhausted and drift off to sleep I always smile though.  Yep, I'm tired, but wouldn't want it any other way.

There's Nothing You Can Do About It

There is a saying out there that goes something like this: "I smile because you are my family.  I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it!"

This picture right here is the epitome of that little saying and just an absolutely perfect example of what family is.  Fun, spontaneous moments like this one capture dynamics in a family so PERFECTLY.  My big brother, the trouble maker, surprising Dad, and me and mom being our perfectly posed selves.  It truly is a spot on picture.

I just adore my big brother and am so unbelievably blessed and grateful that the Lord brought him and his family into our lives.  It truly is a happy thing.  I had the awesome privilege of taking some of their family photos before Bob and my anniversary shoot and couldn't help but smile.  When Mike and little Mikey climbed up on a statue right in front of the Capital Building in Downtown Denver for a father/son picture I laughed.  Yup, this is my family (please no one take us to Capital jail).  

Family is such a special thing and I won't miss a moment to say how much I love mine.  I'm really glad we are stuck with each other and so happy that my girls have this legacy.   Its a fun group.

Sometimes family might be tough, and different personalities will clash, but hold onto those people with everything you've got.  You only have so much time to love them on this earth so find a way to keep close.  Forgive easily, love unconditionally and laugh often.  After all, you're family, and there is nothing you can do about it!

Lucky Little 13 Months

This kid, man is she adorable and SO much fun to take pictures of.  She is becoming this incredibly rambunctious toddler these days and likes to stay in constant, never ending motion!  I am so completely grateful that 1. I am in REALLY good shape, and 2.  That I stay in shape by running!  I am always on the move.

Evie is still completely content with crawling everywhere she wants to go, but has started to just arbitrarily stand in the middle of the room or in the middle of the yard.  She doesn't like to take steps, but she is so proud of herself when she finds herself standing on those little nubs she calls feet.  Her little white sandals have squeakers in them so she is starting to discover how fun it is to make sound when she moves.

This little lady is strong and coming on in a big way.   Lately she has taken to screaming and I am talking loudly!  When she gets mad or feels neglected, she will go red faced screaming at the top of her lungs for 5 seconds.  It really is epic.  This girlie can scream.  I can tell that she is frustrated with her lack of language skills because she screams and points at things often.  We are working on sign language, but it is just not sticking real well.  I am determined to give her tools other than volume for communicating with me and others, but its proving to be a challenge!

For as little as this little Bee is, she can EAT.  Holy Moses!  She is constantly hungry and eats like she is starved.  She loves chicken nuggets and anything meat.  Blueberries, beans, avocados and yogurt are favorites too.  She is just growing, growing, growing, in spite of getting horribly sick a week ago.  

Other favorites are climbing the stairs, cuddling with her blankies, opening her dresser and removing all of her clean blankies for snuggling, Memaw and Papa and her Daddy.  I occasionally get a "MeeMee" for Mom, but this little girl talks about "Daaaa Dy"  all day long.  Lucky guy.

Little Evie, I love you so much and with each day my heart grows even more for you.  You are so special, so full of life and so strong.  I LOVE watching you grow peanut.  You have such a sweet heart and simply love to cuddle and give kisses.  They thrill my heart so very much.  Bee you are beautiful.  We are lucky and blessed to call you ours!

Love, Mom

A Mountain Holiday!

What a weekend we had a few days ago!  We simply could not wait for the July 4th weekend this year because we just knew it was going to be an adventure.  Grandma and Grandpa Longmire decided to come to town and we all headed up for a weekend get away in the mountains.  

On the 4th we met G and G up in Breckenridge for some holiday festivities including a parade......

seeing the big Budweiser Clydesdales........

sitting on the biggest, shiniest, brightest red fire rescue truck ever.....

and a FIRST Gondola ride!  What a blast going up the side of a mountain in the Summer.  Lily and Evie LOVED every minute of the ride up the mountain and Lily kept asking, "Mommy when are we gonna ride the granola again?"  

Some people think that Ski resorts are only focused on the winter sports, but such is not the case.  At the top of the Gondola ride, there was an entire activity park. Lily, Bob and Grandpa got their lift tickets to ride the alpine slide and we all tackled a game of miniature golf.  

 

When we started our golf game we were all trying to wrangle the very active baby in the stroller.  By about the 3rd hole we decided to just let her chase the balls.  What ensued was a picture worthy mini golf game.  The girls had a blast!  

We made it to our cabin destination outside of the tiny town of Twin Lakes CO amidst the pouring rain and bad directions.  The cabin was perfect, right at the base of one of CO's fourteeners, La Plata.  The cabin came complete with a fire pit, bear door and instructions for mouse defense.  Our night was wonderful and spent in good company eating smores, snuggling in the cold and gazing at the moon.

Saturday took us to Leadville for a trip on the Railroad.  What a gorgeous trip and such a fun experience.  Bob and Grandpa got off half way and went zip lining (so fun).  The trip was beautiful and such a fantastic way to spend the morning!

Sadly the day ended with Lily getting food poisoning and poor Little Evie having explosive diarrhea from a virus she had been fighting.   It put a bit of a damper on the afternoon, but Bob and I managed to go for an hour and a half bike ride and get the girls comfortable and sleeping.

Sunday was a great day.  We started with a hike up to a waterfall right outside of our cabin.  The climb was perfect and short, even if I did end up with 2 ticks on me (so GROSS!!).  The weather was perfect and such a relief from the heat of the city.  

Here is the crew....all together!

We got all showered and packed, said goodbye to our cabin and headed on a road trip to Aspen, CO. 

The road to Aspen was breathtakingly beautiful and a fun drive complete with several sections of road with no guardrail and single lane driving.  It was very cool!

I wanted desperately to go to Aspen to see for myself this gorgeous area called Maroon Bells.  It is one of the must see sights of Colorado and it took me 31 years to get here!  But man was it worth the wait.

We spent a couple of hours hiking around the base of the bells and taking as many pictures as possible.  It was so peaceful and lovely.  The lake was filled and the rivers were running high.  Wonderful to see the colors and the life that water brings!

What a place!  Grandma and Grandpa loved seeing the mountains and the girls soaked up every minute with them.  Even though they both were not feeling all that well, they were precious and I am so glad that I could take them to see such a glorious place.

We finished our hike and headed back down towards the city.  It was a wonderful weekend spent having adventures and making memories.  It must have been fun because the girls slept nearly the entire 4 hour trip home.

We loved having Grandma and Grandpa Longmire here and enjoyed every minute exploring our mountainous state in this America we call home! Happy 4th of July!