Baby Love

Something amazing happened today. Another first for Giuliana, and possibly, my favorite so far.

I was folding some laundry and she was "helping" me. Her helping consists of picking up items that I've already folded, shaking them out, and then laying them back down. Extremely counterproductive, but you better believe I will not discourage her form assisting with any chore, even if that means more work for me!

Anyway, back to one of the best Mommy moments ever. She was so adorable that I stopped what I was doing to just look at her and admire her. I laid my head down on the couch, so now her head is above mine and she's looking down at me.

In a moment of pure emotion, she grabbed my face with each of her sweet little toddler hands on my cheeks, bent down and kissed me. Then she pulled away, my face still cupped in her hands, and said as clear as day, "I love you, Mommy."

This should not have caught me as off guard as it did. She has been talking for a while now. She regularly speaks in full sentences now. And one of the first things we taught her to say was the phrase "I love you." But we've always had to prompt her to say it. "Do you love Daddy?' "Tell Nona you love her."

She's also always been very sensitive. She likes to stroke my face as she drifts off to sleep. She frequently asks for "big hugs" which means that as soon as you wrap your arms around her, she squeezes you back as hard as her little 2 year old body will allow.

But this was the first time she came up with the words all on her own. She wasn't asking for anything or being silly. She was just acting on what she was feeling. It made me pause for a moment. I was filled with pride that she was able to put these words together to form such an amazing sentence. I was filled with wonder at her sweet little brain was able to correlate her emotions with her actions. Most of all, I was filled with so much love for this little girl that I felt like I was going to over flow with it.

I jumped up from the couch as fast as my soft postpartum body would allow me and I told her I love her too as I swooped her up into a big bear hug.

This little girl is the walking definition of love and my greatest accomplishment to date. She most likely will not remember anything that happened today, but it was one of the best, most real moments in my life, and a memory that I will cherish forever.

Beneath the Walnut Tree

This is currently my "About" page, but if all goes the way I want it to, I will be updating that page very soon. :)

Triathlon!

 I've always been an athlete. About 5 years ago, I had placed first in my age group at a local 5k, participated in my first triathlon, then half marathon, and then the full 26.2... and I loved it. I was playing tackle football on the weekends and flipping friends on the mat during some after-work Jiu Jitsu sessions. I didn't know it at the time, but I was at my highest level of fitness to date. When I first started this blog, I was in my mid-twenties, newly engaged, and eager to lose about 5 pounds to look awesome on my wedding day. I was ready to try any and all new activities. When I originally started this blog, I called it The Try-Athlete. It was going to be about all of my athletic adventures and I thought I was pretty freakin' clever.

At the finish line of the LA Marathon

Meanwhile...
My mileage was shrinking to nothing. Well, nothing to keep track of and blog about, anyway. My nights gave way to DIY sessions for our upcoming nuptials. I kinda started falling in love with crafting.

Our wedding was perfect. Outdoors in a walnut grove surrounded by all of our friends and family.

Cut to 3 years later... we are the proud parents of our two year old daughter, our newborn son, and an enthusiastic Labrador Retriever. We are the new owners of a 50 year old fixer-upper. We both work full time. Needless to say, my priorities have changed and I won't be up for consideration for world's most amazing athlete any time soon.

This blog is a little bit of the stuff I love. I love my family. I love making over our new (to us) home with my husband. I love decorating my babies' rooms. I love doing things with and for my family- going to Disneyland in particular. (If I ran as often as I go to Disney, I would be ultra-marathon ready.) I love making things with my own hands. I love party planning. I admit, I have a love-hate relationship with writing and running (and if I'm being honest, cooking and cleaning), but I want to conquer it all. 

And so here I find myself. I might be a little softer than I used to be. My mile time might be is significantly slower than before. And sometimes, just a full day with a toddler and an infant is a real struggle. But my heart is happy and my life is full. Everything that I do, everything that I am- I am because of those precious moments when we shared our vows beneath those walnut trees.