On the Road Again!!

I know I haven't written much lately....sorry about that. We have just been trucking along at a steady pace. Lots of normal happy family stuff going on.

I have had one big change though. I have started running again. Some of you may not realize that I used to run a LOT. I trained for several years. I ran the Houston Half Marathon in January 2006 and then I finished the Rocky Raccoon 50 Miler in Huntsville just a few weeks later. I had peppered in a few 5Ks too. I have a nice shiny little pile of medals to show for it and some cool t-shirts too.

So why did I ever stop? Well, we eventually decided to add another little one to our family. My legs and hips cannot handle running during pregnancy...my joints just get too loose. I stayed pretty fit through my pregnancy with Reagan though, and as soon as she was born I was back on the road and putting in my miles.

Reagan and I put hundreds of miles on our now worn out jogging stroller. I had worked hard to build up my base mileage and I had finally decided to start adding a weekend long run to my weekly mileage. One fateful afternoon in the middle of my 12-miler I developed a pain low in my hip. It wasn't anything I had felt before, and it stopped me from running. I walked the rest of the way home. The pain lingered for several days, and then I had an awful fever and chills for a week.....I had never been so sick in my life. I had gone to the doctor and was told I was fine, so I sucked it up and moved on.

Nothing was ever the same after that. My mile times got slower and slower. I never managed to run anything close to a 12-miler since the day that I walked it in with the unidentifiable pain. Eventually I couldn't even push the jogging stroller because of fatigue. I never realized how sick I had become. It wasn't until 9 full months after that awful run that I would learn what had happened. The first weekend in October of 2008 I developed a pain under my ribs so excruciating that I could not lay down. Steven vetoed any effort I made to avoid going to the ER. In the ER a CT scan showed that I had a mass on my liver that we later found out was large abscess. That abscess had festered and grown for those nine months and was caused by an untreated case of appendicitis. (That's what had sidelined me all those months ago)

So after all of the recovery from my medical mess we decided that we needed at least one more set of little feet to run around our house.....so another pregnancy and still not much running.

Well, now my time has come! I have been working out pretty regularly for the last year. When the weather turned nice this fall I took to the roads for a nice run outside instead of my usual run on the treadmill at the gym. That's when I got bit by the bug. I realized how much I missed running. I have decided that I WILL run the Houston Marathon in January 2013, and I will most likely shoot for the 50-miler again. I love, love, love to run long distances. I love heading out the door and knowing that I will run a step farther than I did the day before. I love the accomplishment I feel when my muscles feel like jello. I love the time it gives me to de-stress and meditate. I love being able to do something that most people cannot do.

So far I am 3 weeks into a training plan that will have me running a 20-miler in just another 13 weeks. Next Saturday my long run will take me 11 miles. Some people have asked me what I am running from, but I'm actually running TO something. I am running to finally overcome all that I had faced. Next week I will tackle an 11 mile run....That's just one mile away from conquering all of the bad medical stuff in my past. I am looking forward to putting all of that behind me and reclaiming my health and my body.

It's about a lot more than just the miles.

Logen's Baptism

We held Logen's baptism on July 23, 2011. It sure was  special day. I cant believe that he is eight already. He was the first of our children to be born in Texas. We moved to Texas just three weeks before Logen was born. We moved to the home that we still live in when he was just six months old. The ward we live in is the only ward he has ever known.

Corben wore the suit that Logen wore for his baptism. It turns out that Logen is just a few inches taller than Corben was when he was eight. It still looked very cute on him. You could tell how special he felt on his big day.

Many family members and friends joined us for the baptism. Logen sat in the front row all dressed in white and ready for his baptism. When it was time, he went with Steven to the font. Steven dunked him good and put him all the way on th bottom of the font. The whole room chuckled. After the guys got dressed Logen came and sat with me. I put my arm around him, and his hair was still wet.


After the baptism the family joined us back at the house for a light lunch and some dessert. You could just tell how new and special Logen felt. I will never forget how he kept his church clothes on until bed time. He had a new measure of reverence in his attitude that lasted for days. You could tell that he knew the importance of what he had done. I am so proud of him. He is a very special guy!

Christmas in July

I don't know how this happened, but we have these three great kids that were all born in July. We honestly did not intend for them all to have birthdays that are all within three weeks of each other....it just happened. It sure makes for a wild and crazy summer. We joke every year that we are just going to set up the Christmas tree and decorate it with birthday streamers and throw all of their presents under it. For the last three years we have just combined all of the July birthdays into one big birthday bash. I decided that this year I kinda owed them all a separate birthday party with their friends. Don't know what I was thinking. That was brutal. They all had a great time though.

Logen had the first birthday party in July. His was a pirate themed party. His friends from church came over for a swim party and cake and snacks. His cake was so cute!

Logen turned 8, so that added a whole other reason to celebrate this month as well. In our faith we consider eight years old the age of accountability and allow them to be baptized if they choose. I have another post coming about Logen's great baptismal ceremony.

The next birthday we celebrated was Hayden's. She turned 10! Can you believe that 3 of my 6 kids are in double digit ages? Me either. Hayden had a swim  party with her friends too. She has a good group of friends.

We made these really cute cupcakes for Hayden's party. The bakery just didn't have anything tht matched our beach party theme, so we came up with these. The girls just loved them!

Hayden has such a great smile! She had a really good time with her friends.

.

Princess Reagan turned 4 this year. I can't believe she is 4 already. She had a great day. She kept saying, "I'm so "esscited" I'm FOUR". She is really looking forward to growing up. She wants to be big like her big sister Lauren.

Lots of presents to open.

Steven managed to get us some circus tickets at work. We took all of the kids to the circus for Reagan's birthday. She has always wanted to see a real live clown. She had a terrific time. The circus was way better than I remember it was when I was a kid. It is always fun to see things through the eyes of your kids.

We got to the circus early to see the animals and the pre-show. These two clowns were pulling silks out of a bag and then pulled out a great big pair of granny panties. The clown on the right acted really shocked and threw them into the crowd. They landed on Logen's head. He was mortified! He now hates clowns. I think he is scarred for life!


The whole month was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work for sure. They will probably have a big combined birthday party again next year unless I lose my mind next year. I think that we made a lot of memories though. :o)

Free Snuggles

One of my most favorite memories from each of my babies is the opportunity I had to share my nights with them. In the beginning Steven did not want to have our babies in bed with us. I remember those first few nights when we brought Lauren home from the hospital. It felt so wrong to me to lay her down even in the cradle that was so close it was touching our bed. I needed to be touching her in order for me to relax enough to sleep. It was obvious by her frequent waking yet sleeping once she was held that she needed me too. Babies spend 9 long months cuddled inside us. It is only obvious that they were designed to be kept close even at night. It didn't take long before Steven could see it too, and she was sleeping half the night snuggled up on his chest.

I love this part of parenting. I love having my babies drift off to sleep in my arms. I love being so close to them that I hear them giggle in their sleep and wonder what they are dreaming about. I love that I get to cuddle them without them fighting back. It is my time to recharge and reconnect with a busy toddler that doesn't want to slow down during the day. I love that my babies are content and secure knowing that someone who loves them is close by.

This time passes quickly. Each of my babies has moved on and out of our bed. They have outgrown the need to be kept close. They are secure and sleep well at night. I love having Hudson with us now. He is extra cuddly. I know I will eventually miss the time when I have a sweet smelling downy little noggin to kiss goodnight to.

My sweet doll Hudson...just a few days old.

How can you have a bad day when you wake up to that smile?

Hudson is staking out his territory.

Even his big sister knows that babies sleep best when they are snuggled.

Time Marches On

How on earth does a whole year fly by so fast? I am a bit disappointed in myself that I have not kept up with my blog. My memory is completely shot, and I LOVE to go back and read my old posts and relive the time that has gone by with my kids.

I won't try to catch up on an entire year's worth of posts at one time. It will suffice to say that things are wonderful. I. love. my. family. I love these little people and the bigger people that they are turning into. Reagan absolutely cherishes her little brother. Seeing her interact with him and love him just makes my heart smile. I am constantly reminded that loves multiplies.....it doesn't divide.


A few pictures to hold you over.






Updates to follow soon....

Settling In

Well, Mr. Hudson will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. Time is flying. I wish that the newborn phase lasted just a bit longer. I'm sure it does for most normal women who give birth to normal size babies, but since mine come out 3 months old they just don't stay little long enough. He is getting so big already. We identified a second chin just a few days ago, and the buttons on his newborn size clothes are starting to spread apart.

So far Hudson has the sweetest temperament of all of the kids. He has been very predictable from day one. He sleeps several long stretches at night and wakes around 7am. He likes to sleep snuggled right up beside me....he is a cuddler!! He stays awake from 7am to around 10am, and then heads off to dream land for the afternoon. He snoozes and eats on and off until about 5pm and then stays up until bedtime at 9pm. You just can't ask for a better baby than that!

All of the kids just love him to pieces....even Reagan. She likes to hold him and snuggle him too. If I'm not holding him Reagan gets concerned and asks "Where is baby??" She has learned very quickly to be gentle with him and loves to kiss him. So far so good!!

Love multiplies, it doesn't divide

On Friday May 21st we welcomed Hudson Paul David Pierce to our family. I labored off and on for an entire week with contractions that would start and stop. Finally, on Thursday night it turned into the real deal. After trying my best to get some sleep I ended up on the couch in the early stages of labor. I spent the night puttering around the house, watching TV, and getting on the computer. When the sun came up it was time to call the midwives to come over. We got the kids off to school and labor started to pick up. Eventually, my body started to get tired and things slowed down. Finally after frustration and me just wanting to get the job done the midwives helped hold back a lip of cervix while I did my best to push that big boy out. He weighed in at a whopping 10lbs and 7ozs with shoulders bigger than his head. Reagan watched the whole birth and exclaimed that "he has no clothes!"

Fresh Out of the Oven

All Bundled Up

Sweet Sweet Boy

When Hudson was a few hours old we noticed that he was breathing to quickly. We watched him for a few hours and then decided to take him to the hospital. He was seen very quickly and ended up in the NICU. The poor poor guy was poked and prodded....nothing a baby should have to go through....nothing a new momma should have to watch her brand new baby go through either. After 24 hours he finally stabilized, but we had to stay for 2 more days to wait for his blood cultures to come back clean. He ended up being just fine and we were released. He just had a hard time adjusting to life on the outside and needed a little help.

We are home now and resting very well. This little boy is a pure angel. I have never had a baby so sweet and peaceful. I was prepared for him to be a little high strung after his hospital experience, but once we got home he settled right in. He nurses great and spends his days in a milk drunk coma. He hardly cries, and just loves to cuddle. He is absolutely amazing. It's such a sweet reward after all we went through. We are so happy to have him in our family! Babies are the most amazing blessing. My heart is so full it feels like it will burst!