I kid you not

Do you ever get uncomfortable watching old school Ben Stiller movies?  You know, like "Meet the Parents?"   Sometimes it always makes me a bit uncomfortable.   You know seeing things go from bad to worse.  I would always think "no one's luck is that bad."  Well, today my friends, I gave Ben Stiller a run for his money.   I was going to write all about my morning in detail, but it would take to long.  So instead, here's the highlights.  Henry snuck outside and hid from me while I was getting the boys ready for school.  I almost had a heart attack, he is okay and we are now putting chain locks on our doors.  Then, thanks to a broken fuel gage, I ran out of gas.  An old man yelled at me for breaking down, seriously.  Then some kind people helped me.  There are two kinds of people in the world angels and a-holes.  I encountered both this morning.  I had to wait on Jason because he lost his keys thus delaying his rush my assistance.  I couldn't call him to let him know about the angels, because he doesn't have a cell phone.  Gotta change that.   Then at the parking lot of the preschool Henry, locked the car doors while he, Alex, my cell phone and my car keys were inside.  At which point I literally have to bite my tongue to keep the torent of profanities that are running through my head from escpaing my mouth.  As a preschool mom pointed out (hi Jenny) Henry's preschool is in a church.  She also let me use her phone.  I leave a message for Jason.  I then get Henry to unlock the doors.  And, you guessed it, I can't get a hold of Jason because he doesn't have a cell phone.  How did pepole live without them?  When he shows up he informs me the car, which we are borrowing from his parents, has a hidden key on the outside. That would have been useful knowledge 10 minutes earlier.  And, the icing on the crap cake?  I received my monthly "gift."  Sorry dudes, it happens.  This sorta kick started the whole drama this morning because I was ill prepared, I decided to run to Target before preschool.  All this happened before 10 am. Seriously.  Although, I shouldn't complain, the rest of my day was uneventful and this morning was been nice and peaceful.

And now pictures of cute kids!  These are from our trip to the park with Valerie and Stella yesterday afternoon.




Baby Alex hates shoes and socks.  Unless it is really cold out, I've just stopped trying.



Alex loves to rub his one little tooth with his tongue, which means we see this face all the time.









Oh yeah, Henry is totally picking nose.



And last, a picture that captures toddler's natural tendencies.  There are literally hundreds of rocks and they both need the same one.

A little love

My mother never really made much of a fuss about anything.  It could have been her personality or maybe it was just the fact that she was old.   I was a "late-in-life" baby.  My personality is prone to make a fuss.  It is just my style.  And, maybe the fact that my mom tended to play the holidays low key has inspired me to go above an beyond.   Also, I have such vidid memories of the few times that mom made an effort to make a holiday or birthday extra special.  I can clearly remember one Valentines that my mom woke me up with a special breakfast and a little gift.  I got out of bed and was totally surprised to hear bacon frying.   She had set the table and on at my seat was a little gift and a card.  Such a small gesture but it made me feel so special. It is one of those memories I wish I could call her up and tell her about how much it meant to me. Because I am pretty sure that as a kid I probably just mumbled something like "cool." Since this is such a vivid memory for me, I knew that I wanted to make Valentine's extra special for my boys.   I loved Valentine's as a kid.  I enjoyed being engulfed in an endless sea of pink and red.  I adored getting all the cards.  Then, in high school, Valentine's kind of turned south.  I didn't exactly have a string of suitors and it made the holiday akward.  And, at 17 the only kind of love that was on my mind was romance.  Over the next few years, I worked on making the holiday just about love in general.  Which, I happen to think is a pretty great excuse for a holiday.   I don't care if it was just created by the greeting card companies.  This year was the first, of what I hope will be, our annual Valentine's day breakfast tradition.

Funny story, I had balloons that didn't have 'Ace' on them.  Jason might have forgotten them at the house.  When he called and said that he found some old balloons at work, I might have gotten a little grumpy.  You know, because I had a vision.  Jason quickly pointed out that Henry wouldn't care and wasn't this all for him anyways?  Burn.



When Henry walked out of his room this morning, we heard a gasp and then the sound of his little feet running through the house.  He ran into our room and yelled "it is happy birthday balloons."  We laughed and informed him that they were "happy Valentine Balloons."  Henry then paused, and I kid you not, said "oh goodness!!!"  I think the morning was a success.  We had presents, cards, cuddles, giggles, waffels and coffee.  I swear Alex tried to say "happy valentine's day"or at least babbled something close. I feel quite blessed and full of love.

PS.  You might notice the rings in the top left corner.  We replaced our wedding bands. We wanted a fresh start as we entered a new phase in our relationship.   They were custom made by a local artist, Avery McNesse who owns the Eager Beader.  It is hard to tell in the lighting, but mine has an emerald set in it.  We love them.  Just thought Valentine's Day would be the perfect day to show them off.  I would like to mention that last week, when we had a sitter, Jason put together a completely wonderful romantic early Valentine's date night.  Just thought he deserved some props.

Running: How I feel vs. How I look

I am not a runner.  I have never been prone to athlectitism.  Why push yourself when you could just eat another cookie?  That being said, I have resorted to excerizie from time to time in my life.  You know, because I wanted to not be embrassed in my bikini or because I wanted to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. But the thing is, I have never really enjoyed it.  I mean they don't call it "working out" for nothing.  Exercise is hard and running is the worst.  But people, let me tell you, I am almost there.  I kid you not.  The other day as I on lunch break, I saw a woman running.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  I caught myself thinking "oh I wish I were running right now."  And then I literally stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell?  I, Jaime Lynn Barks, was just envious of someone running?  How is this possible?  I almost like running.  I say almost because I get all pumped about doing it but the first couple miles always suck.  Then, I just get in my groove and it feels good.  I am in the best shape I have ever been in.  On my long run the other weekend, I actually ran through Lee (the college I attended) as away of saying "suck it" 20 year old Jaime.  I am 30 and have had two babies and I am in better shape than you.

The whole running thing started again with my awesome sister deciding that she wanted to do the Disney Princess half marathon.  This was back in August, I wrote about starting to train (still using that ipod holder by the way).  My sister has been a total inspiration to me.  She has pushed herself so hard and has accomplished so much.  While I have dabbled in running over the years, it was a total foreign concept to my sister.  The fact that she, and the rest of my family have been training definitely helped provide motivation.  But maybe even a little more than peer pressure, I think I needed to prove I could do this for myself.  I've mentioned it before, but this year has been kind of rotten.  With all the babies, hormons and shitty experiences, I needed something I could control.  Something I could force into submission.  Running gave me this. When I run, it is up to me and only me, how I perform.  Now, please don't get me wrong.  I am still a crappie runner.  When compared to other runners, my time is abysmal but for me I am doing well.   Like, I can almost tell someone I am a runner without feeling like they are going to look at me and laugh.

You see, when I complete a run I feel like this .  . . .



But in reality I look like this . . . .



Or maybe even this . . .



The thing is, I am never going to be one of those girls who run with grace and fluidity.  You know, the gazelles.  They prance along like they are skipping through a field of flowers.  I never see them panting or sweating.  And, I have come to peace with the fact that I am not going to ever make running look easy.  I have almost stopped fantasizing about tripping those gals who make it look so easy.  Almost.

Oh, there is one other motivator for running (you know besides the day dream of looking smoking hot in a tiny bikini) . . . my kids.  I want them to be healthy.  I want them to have a momma who can keep up with them.  On the day we snapped the photos above, Jason took the boys to the playground while I ran (schimmels park for the locals).  Once, when I was lapping the playground, Henry annouced he was gonna run with mommy.  It was the sweetest thing ever.  His adorable little toddler legs chasing after me.  So, when my need for control, vanity and family peer preasure fail me, I have my boys.  Thanks for encouraging momma Henry and Alex.



PS.  I can't say enough about the Get Running app.  I know everyone is different but the timed run totally helped me build my endurance.   Once I mastered the 30 minute run, I started doing two 30 minute training sessions a day and eventually three!  This might not make sense, but if you have seen the app it might.  For me, setting time goals (like running for 10 minutes), was much easier than distance goals.

PPS.  I have a Nike+Sports watch and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!  Thank you to my amazing sister Janine for this great gift.   If you are on Nike+ my screen name is 'jaimebarks.'  I love being able to chart my runs and I really enjoy being able to look at my wrist and see exactly how far I have ran.  Of course, I realize I must look totally bizarre as I continually look at my wrist and grin (or cursing if the run isn't going well).

PPPS.  This aint' my first rodeo.  I did a half marathon in 2010 and wrote all about it.  Since I've trained a lot harder this time,  I really hope I don't feel like I am going to die at the end of the run.

When they aren't making me crazy

When they aren't making me crazy, my boys fill my heart with intense joy.  It is amazing.   I am constantly surprised by how full my heart is.  My favorite time is they play together without any prompting.  It is happening more and more.  This morning I heard lots of giggles. I went into their room and discovered that Henry had climbed into Alex's crib.  I am now rethinking their bed placement because I see the potential complications of Henry climbing in and out of Alex's crib, but the sentiment is so sweet.   I just needed to take a second to savor the charm of their ages.  Right now I just feel like life is swirling about so fast that I am missing the wonderfulness.  Henry is ridiculously funny.  He is constantly coming up with the most interested ideas.  About 100 times a day he cracks up with the songs he sings, stories he tells and the way he sees the world.  He also has mastered the art of "throwing a fit" and defiant behavior.  You know, normal two year old stuff.  And Alex, well he is just our little jovial baby.  He laughs and babbles all day long.  I do think he will be a good match for Henry.  Just in the last week or so he has began to take toys from Henry (only when Henry tries to take them from him first).  The look on Henry's face is priceless.  He is totally shocked that baby Alex is standing up to him.  Fortunately, Henry tends to be a pretty good at sharing (for a toddler).   Last night I had a dream that Alex had started walking and they kept sneaking off together and getting into all manor of mischief.  I am sure there is a bit of truth in that dream.  Basically, I just wanted to take a moment during nap time to take a deep breath in and mediate on the wonder of our two little tiny people.  We are so very lucky to have the chance to be apart of their lives.  Even if sometimes they makes us a little nutty.