Ladybug Garden Tea Party

Baby Maggie is coming! My sister in law Amanda is expecting a baby girl on September 10th (the day after my b-day).

Amanda is one of the most selfless, generous and deserving people I know. She is not however one of the easiest people to surprise. She always finds out! When we threw her a wedding shower she was on to us long before she opened the door and we yelled surprise. We did manage to surprise her with a shower for her son Will but that doesn't mean Tracy (Amanda's sister), Rachel (their cousin) and I didn't jump at throwing a girly shower!

Baby Maggie Ann's room has ladybugs in it so we started with that and ran with it. We probably had the most frou frou party imaginable and it was darling! In true Becca and Tracy fashion we waited until the week of the shower to put everything together so we were up into the wee hours of the morning finishing tissue paper flowers and gift bags. (Christina, Tracy's lifelong friend, was in town as well and we recruited her against her wishes to help up with the girly ridiculousness).

There were a lot of people in town from St. Louis for the weekend of the shower, we used a housewarming party for Tracy as the decoy. We also had Rachel take Amanda shopping for a gift for Tracy before the shower as a way to get her out of the house and over to Tracy's after everyone else. I think she had the most fun job!

The colors we used were pink, green, red and black. We made tissue paper flower garland and flowers to hand on the walls. We used twine, clothes and clothespins as decor as well. (So great when your gift can also be decorations)! We had a diaper cake and a bunch of dolls and little tea sets. It was super girly and very fun!

In the end, Amanda was surprised and there were many family members and friends who were able to share the joy of a new baby on the way. We are so excited for a new family member and can't wait to meet little Maggie!

Keep Truckin...

I am so stinkin glad the weather is cooling off! When I got up to run this morning (at 5:30) it was only 68 degrees! I was only somewhat drenched when I got him instead of monsooned. I have actually kind of slacked in my training the last couple weeks but I am determined to get back on track with my long runs!

I did run 5ks the last two weekends in a row and placed both weeks! I ran the Smyrna Parks 5k two weeks ago and ran a 23:16 with second place in my age group. I ran the Fenton Payne and Fred 5k last weekend and ran a 24:04 and also placed second in my age group.

So far this week I have logged a 6 mile and 4 mile run. I am hoping to get a 10-11 mile run in tomororw and get back to my schedule next week.

I really have to get serious on my fundraising as well. My child partner this time is adorable and I can't wait to meet her. Her name is Maleigha and her photo is below.

My name is Maleigha. I am four years old. I have Spina Bifida and have been goign to Special Kids for physical therapy for two years now. I have two brothers that I love very much. I also love Dora the Explorer and anything with princesses.

If you would like to see my training schedule or to make a donation to support my training and Special Kids you can visit the site below:
www.teamask.org/athlete/rebeccageorge

Happy Trails!

Family Photos

You know how you go trucking along in life thinking that you aren't aging and you are staying the same and then wham, all of a sudden you realize the days and months are passing by so quickly? Is it just me? I know this is so cliche and everyone says this, but after you have kids you really come to realize how fast the days, weeks and years are passing you by. Cian is approaching two very quickly and I can't belive he has been part of our family for almost two years! At the same time, I can't imagine our famly without him. For this reason, I feel it is so important to document our ever changing family. Cian will not always be this smiling, ball throwing, loving little guy. He will grow up and we will age as well (though I have decided I'm stopping at 30). We will add to our family and the dynamic will always be evolving. I want to have these moments and years on film (or hard drive) so that we may pass them down to our children and grandchildren one day. I want to be able to look back and remember who we were in 2010.

It just so happens that we know two amazing photogrphers (who just so happen to be amazing people). We had Chris and Adrienne Scott take some photos of our family when Cian was 18 months old. Below are the photos that are on a beautiful canvas on our wall. (You should come over and see it sometime).

Chris and Adrienne are so talented and did such a great job capturing our little family! These are truly heirlooms we will cherish forever!

Here is the portion of the blog where I give them a shameless plug: You can see the rest at http://www.chrisandadriennescott.net/ or check out their site at http://www.chrisandadriennescott.com/. Not only can they make you look this good but you are guaranteed to have a great time and laugh a lot while you are around them. Call them. It will be good for your health.

Mommy Monday. Poop.

Warning, this is not for the faint of heart! If you have a squeamish stomach leave now and come back later to see the cute baby shower post.

I learned this weekend that it is not a good idea to leave your unpotty trained toddler in the bathroom naked while you take a shower. Ever. I was getting ready for work on Saturday, I brought Cian in the bathroom with me so he could play on the floor while I took a shower. When I started the water he reached for the tub and started saying "shower, shower" so I put him in the shower. Well, he is not really one for water on his face so this wasn't really his thing. I took him out and just set him on the bathroom floor and got in the shower. I thought, "it will only be 5 or 10 minutes, he'll be fine naked." Uh-oh. I was showering and kept looking out to check on him. During one of these checks I noticed that he was squatting down in front of his little potty. I had a suspicion that he might have to poop. I said, "Cian, sit on your potty," and he got right on! I thought, sweet, he is going to poop in that thing.

The little potty plays a song after something is dropped in it (we haven't heard the song played from actually going in the potty yet but Cian has taken it apart many time to press the button on the bottom). I heard the song play and thought, awesome! But I looked out and Cian had just taken it apart but there wasn't a sign of feces anywhere. This should have been my cue to simply get out of the shower, but no--I was just signing along and enjoying the warm water. The next thing I know I smell something very foul. It had happened. I looked out and realized that it had happened all right, all over the bathroom floor! I have to give Cian an E for effort because he did poop directly in front of the potty. At least he was in the right vicinity. Unfortunately it was smeared all over the floor and he was standing right in it! EWWW.

I finally took my cue and was out of the shower in a flash. I didn't even have to turn the water off all the way, I just started filling the bathtub up for my little poop monster. Cian went right in the bath and I went right to my job as pooper scooper. The convenient thing about it being on the bathroom floor was that I could just clean it and throw it in the toilet.

I learned a very valuable lesson: Never leave a naked baby boy in the bathroom to his own devises. They might just end up all over the floor.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Abbey Road, London (in high school)

Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Picture Jessie and I in the Bridgestone Arena seeing Paul McCartney in the flesh! This night was the culmination of years of listening to the Beatles and wishing there would be a chance to hear them live, even if it was just a fourth of them. First, I should give some background, my best friend Jessie and I have been Beatle Maniacs since around eighth grade. We listened to them, wore Beatles shirts, read books about them and even made tests about the Beatles for our friends to take. (Yes, we were a bit pretentious with our knowledge). I have spent years listening to Beatles songs and relating them to what is going on in my life.

I heard that Paul was coming to Nashville and immediately tried to forget about it because I figured I couldn't afford to go anyway. (I know, when did I get so cheap and what kind of Beatles fan am I)? When Jessie called a few weeks before the concert to tell me she got tickets and to see if I wanted to go with her I was still a little worried about spending the money on the concert. I actually told her I would have to think about it. I was still thinking about it one day when I got home to find a note from my wonderful, loving husband and the money for the ticket on my desk. I have to say that I squealed and was beyond excited!

Fast forward to Monday, July 26th. I met Jessie and we headed downtown. Because we are cheap, we drove around until we found some $5 parking. This was in a pretty sketchy area and I was a tad afraid that the car might not be there when we got back. We were hungry when we go there so we decided to walk around to find something to eat. We ended up walking a few blocks to 2nd avenue and going to an Irish pub called Mulligans. (I immediately started calling it Mcgillicutty's). They were playing Beatles' music and our server had an accent--this was a good start! We ate fast (harp, beer cheese soup and a banger sandwich, yumm) because in true Becca and Jessie fashion, we were running late. By the time we finished eating there was a tornado warning and the sirens were going off downtown. This was not going to keep us from seeing Paul. It looked like it was about to monsoon and a few rain drops were falling so we ran/walked the blocks back to the arena. Luckily we ran into a really nice and familiar looking girl with an umbrella.

We got inside relatively dry and went up, up, up the escalator to find our seats at the very top, behind the stage. We were a smidge bummed because our seats were so high and behind Paul but not too much because we were seeing Paul McCartney!! We walked by the section where our seats were and decided not to go in and sit down immediately. We had more important things at hand like finding some beer. The beer closest to us was Budweiser so we went searching for something a little lighter. We walked about halfway around the upper bowl in the Bridgestone Arena when we were stopped by two girls walking by. They asked us, and I quote, "Do you guys want to upgrade your seats, FOR FREE?" This is the part where I had to keep from squealing and jumping up and down. We had a resounding yes and they told us they had been holding a section and needed to fill it because they were filming the concert. This was a sold out concert, since the day it went on sale--this just doesn't happen! We took the tickets and saw that they were down on the 100 level and immediately booked it down the stairs, but not before we gave the girls a giant hug! Jess and I didn't hold the squeals in any longer--we were like fifth grade girls about to see Justin Bieber. We went to found out seats and behold, we were 8 rows from the stage! This was too good to be true, I just keep thinking that stuff like this doesn't happen, but it was happening to us!

We sat down and eventually went to get our beers, but we couldn't get over how close to the stage we were. We kept saying, "this is so cool, this is so cool". Paul came out and we went absolutely crazy! Sheer awesomeness ensued for the next three hours. It was incredible to see a musician I had idolized for so long on stage and to hear songs I never thought I would hear performed live in my lifetime. I had goosebumps for about half the concert. I laughed, I cried, I danced and I went absolutely nuts! He played so many Beatles songs and so many that I wanted to hear. When he played "Hey Jude" I screamed like the girls you see at the Beatles final concert at Shea Stadium.

I am so thankful that Steve helped me go to this concert and for the way everything happened. It would not have happened this way had I not been there with Jess. I definitely have to say that this was one of the top five nights of my life.

Edit this setlist | More Paul McCartney setlists

You can read some more about the concert (from people who actually get paid to write) check out below:

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2010/07/paul-mccartney-delights-in-his-first-ever-nashville-show/

Cian and I wore our Beatles shirts all day to get ready for the concert
Jessie and I once we found our seats

Paul!!

Pyrotechnics during "Live and Let Die"Our view of the sold out arena

Mommy Monday-Lighten Up

Mom's need to lighten up. Yep, I am one now so I can say that fairly. And I don't necessarily mean on their kids, I just mean they (we) need to learn sometimes to let the little things go.

I am sometimes jealous of Steve, or dads, because they can just play. They can get out in the yard, leave all responsibility behind and just play with their kids. It seems like they aren't thinking about how the dishes need to be done or there's too much dog poop in the yard or that everyone needs a bath. Dad's can just let themselves be little boys again and have fun with their kids. Have fun and give them the attention they want and deserve. I sometimes feel like I am thinking and worrying too much about what needs to be done around the house and what I should or could have accomplished in the time I spent playing outside or in his room with my son. Maybe moms are so serious because they spend more time at home alone with their kids and need a break or maybe we just feel like we have to be able to do it all; work, be supermom, stay fit, be well read, keep the house clean, cook dinner and on and on and on. I know that the house and the yard need attention too but at the end of the day is it really going to matter that my baseboards were clean or that I swept up the dog hair three times a day.

The truth is that there is not anything that will be more accomplishing or fulfilling than spending these precious moments with my son. One day he will not be a little toddler who thinks I am the coolest think since Curious George. That day, I will have all the time in the world to do the dishes and dust the house and those things will feel so empty compared to the hugs and kisses and mommy I love oohh's. What I wonder is, how do you find the balance? How do you learn to let yourself simply spend time enjoying your kids and the fleeting moments without thinking about that to do list that is lingering on your desk or your fridge? Currently I am working on being more like a dad, letting go and enjoying those moments, enjoying the sweet once in a lifetime moments that God is giving me with Cian every day. I think this might take years. I might be a grandmother before I master it but I hope that I squeeze in enough time that my son,my husband and any future kids know that the moments with them are the moments I am living for.

Marathon

26.2. I am not talking about minutes here, I am talking about miles. Miles that I am planning on running. I am officially signed up to run the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL on December 11th. I am nervous and excited and all I can think is, "wow that is a freaking long way."
In April I ran the Music city Half Marathon for Team A.S.K. (www.teamask.org) and Special Kids. The half was great, I was really excited with my time (1:53:53) and I met a lot of great people running with a team. With music city the full and half marathoners run the first 12ish miles together and then there is a turn where the fulls go on for another 13 miles and the halfs are almost to the finish line. I distinctly remember thinking at that moment how happy I was to just be doing the half. I was even happier as I crossed the finish line after the last grueling mile. After I was finished feeling hot and wobbly I felt accomplished. I had crossed something off my bucket list. I really want to add something to my list and cross it off with a full marathon. I never every thought I would run 13 miles much less be training for 26.
A 22 week training plan started last week, so naturally I am just getting around to starting it this week. Below is my training plan for the week:

Monday: Run 3 miles at an easy pace
Cross Train for an hour (high intensity)
Tuesday: Cross Train for an hour (high intensity)Wednesday: Run 5 miles at an easy pace
Thursday: Run 4 miles at an easy pace
Friday: off
Saturday: Run 7 miles at race pace with team ASK

I try to run early in the morning, getting out the door no later than 6. I do this so I can get out and back before Cian wakes up and because it is too stinkin hot to run if I wait any later. I run a little later on Monday's because I run with Cian in the baby jogger.
To see my fund-raising efforts and to learn more about Special Kids you can visit www.teamask.org. See you bright and early!

Tracy and I after Run Chikin Run 10k last year