Christmas Spirit

We had lots of different events leading up to Christmas. It sure was nice having so many things happening to get us in the Christmas spirit.

My parents and grandma came down for our half marathon plus a few days extra, so we decided that while they were in town we would do a mini Christmas celebration with them. We had a nice dinner and exchanged gifts. It was such a treat having them visit. They even got to see Hudson's preschool program which was just about the cutest thing ever. We also walked around Uptown one night to see all the Christmas lights. It was a great couple of days having them in Charlotte.

Getting ready to see Hudson's preschool program -- so excited! 

There he is about to lead the wise men in. He stuck his tongue out at Grandpa (who took this picture for us). Silly boy. 

On stage! Just about the most adorable Christmas program. 

So proud of our boy!

Video of Hudson's class:

Walking through Uptown looking at Christmas lights with Ma & Pa. 

Love this picture of Amelia!

A few other things we did before Christmas (see pictures below): Christmas tree lighting in Uptown, Community Christmas Celebration, made sugar cookies and delivered them to friends, and other things I am forgetting. I love that Charlotte has so many events around the holidays. I found a calendar on a local Charlotte website that listed all of the events going on during the month of December. It was crazy how much there was, each day had at least 7-10 events going on in the Charlotte area. I wanted to do everything, but that obviously would have been a little too crazy. I'm glad we picked a hand full of things to do, and I'm sure we will do a little more or even less as the kids get older.

Uptown Charlotte Christmas Tree Lighting 

 We took Hudson and Amelia to see Santa. Hudson ran away fast, and Amelia screamed bloody murder. Classic picture, right? 

Community Christmas Celebration
Our church congregation hosted an event where families could come see a variety of nativities and musical numbers. Hudson liked dressing up and being part of the nativity. Obviously, he opted for an animal costume. 

My little cookie decorator. I love this tradition! 

Next post: Christmas and Uncle Tommy (my brother) came to visit. 

Half marathon

Logan and I ran our very FIRST half marathon together mid-December. We started running more during the summer after moving to the Charlotte area. It's been a great outlet for me because I came to really enjoy being up in the morning before the kids and Logan are up. It's so nice to get up and do something for myself right off the bat. It's also refreshing to be up before all the chaos ensues. I loved coming home after my runs to seeing the kids in their jammies and eating breakfast with Logan before he left for work. It is always their special time with just dad. Really sweet.

I signed us up for a half marathon mid-October, giving us about 8 weeks until race day. My first one! It was the Huntersville Half on December 13th -- a pretty hilly course (not cool), but that's most of Charlotte. I made Logan sign up to run it with me even though I knew he'd blow me out of the water regardless of how much he trained or not. Luckily, he told me this race was for me and that he would run it with me. I was really glad to hear that. I needed someone to push me and encourage me along the way, and he did just that. My main goal was to just finish the thing, but I also had the goal to finish by 2:30. I trained doing short runs on the weekdays and then longer runs on Saturdays. The longest I ran prior to the half was about 8 miles. What really killed me was the week we were in VA for Thanksgiving. I only ran one time while we were in VA, so coming home from that I knew I had two weeks to get myself ready.

My parents and grandma came down the weekend of the race to help with the kids and we had a nice little Christmas celebration with them too (more about that in the next post).


Race DAY --- It was a beautiful day. So grateful for that. I had heard that the previous year was wet and rainy. I wasn't exactly nervous; it was more like a "let's get this over with" attitude. Ha! We got there and it was so exciting to see all the other runners and their families there. There is nothing like the energy from a race. It was a great boost.

Before the race. A little cold, but it warmed up pretty quickly.

Logan and I ran the first 10 miles perfectly. We were on track to finish before the 2 hour mark (between 1:50 - 1:55). It was all going so well until I decided to stop and re-tie my shoes. They didn't come completely untied; they were just looser than normal. I like my shoes laced a little tight. Bad move. I should have sucked it up and finished the race with loose shoes. Once I stopped to re-tie the laces, I could feel discomfort and just how tired I was. I could feel my right knee was aching too. I kept thinking okay just keep going, but I was getting slower. The 2:00 pace group passed us. Dang. Logan was hitting a good spot and I could tell he wanted to keep on pace, but he slowed down to keep up with me. At this point, I was a little frustrated because I didn't have that far to go and this is the time in the race where you want to finish strong. Well, I certainly didn't feel that great. My right knee was bugging me, but I kept going. Slowing down to a brisk walk and then running again. I just kept doing that over and over -- brisk walk, run again, repeat.

Mile 10 1/2 is when the giant hill of death came. It sucked. I walked up that hill because I was just not having it. So dumb. The 2:05 group passed us. Ugh. At this point, Logan was really encouraging me and telling me to keep going. Not going to lie, I asked him to slow down a few times and stay with me. We were about a mile left and I decided I was going to finish it even if I was running VERY slowly. Mentally, I kept thinking there was no way I would let the 2:10 pace group get in front of us. So, I just stayed in front of them for the last half mile and finished with them! 

It was a great feeling to accomplish something that was hard to do and something that I have had on my bucket list! I also thought our time was decent with it being our first (2:10 with a 9:54/mile pace). Although Logan could have finished much faster, I am so grateful he stuck with me. I especially loved our medals and how they lit in Christmas colors. It was a great experience and I think I would definitely do it again, but maybe with a less hilly course next time. ;) 

Beginning of December

Happy 2015, but wait for it -- I'm still blogging about 2014. Ha! Just the month of December though.

So here's what we did beginning of December --


1. Decorated for Christmas -- complete with our very first real Christmas tree (new tradition). The kids loved going to pick out a tree. It smells amazing in our house (yep, we still have the tree up). We put lights up outside and decorated the tree for a family night activity.

Kids being helpful while picking out the tree

Notice how there are no lights and ornaments on the bottom? Kid-proofed it! 

Christmas lights outside

2. Singing Bears at Bank of America -- we actually did this a few times throughout the month. The kids loved it so much! 

3. Attended Logan's work party. His company does an annual Christmas party, and I guess it's a big deal every year. We got dressed up, had a sitter (from our babysitting co-op) and were party animals for a night. It was "rock n' roll" themed so the venue was at a popular concert venue in Uptown. There was even a live band (which unfortunately we missed most of it because we had to get the kids). Super fun night though getting to party and meet some of Logan's co-workers! 

3. Celebrated Logan's 28th Birthday (friends were in town too -- more about that below). 

Leilani and Hudson. These two helped make the cake.

Hudson decorated the cake. 

I think everyone should hire him as cake decorator. ;) 

I said, "make a dinosaur face" and this is what I got. Amelia's face is the best, in my opinion. 

4. Our friends, the Wrights, came to visit. It was so fun having them in town, even though we didn't do much besides stay in and play (somehow one of our kids usually ends up getting sick during these visits -- better luck next time?) 

Vito and Amelia watching the singing bears. 

Cuties 

Video: Hudson and Leilani doing what they do best -- wrestling