ACCIDENT

How did we spend a chunk of the beginning of our weekend?

Before you freak out let me fast forward to the part where everyone is okay. The mr. had not
even been on the road for 2 minutes before CRASH. Both cars were considered totaled. Not "how did
he survive?!" totaled. More like "insurance company is going to scrap that" totaled.

Pause. The Nissan is ours. That semi-circle being pointed out by the arrow? That is an imprint from the
front passenger tire of the other car. This is what happens if you T-bone someone.

Bye, Nissan. You will not be missed. That building being pointed out by the arrow? That is
the State Bar of Arizona, where the mr. works. I told you he was on the road less than 2 minutes.
ps. Man in the orange shirt is definitely not my mr.

Though the mr. caused the accident, luckily, he is not at fault. The other driver was making a left turn and blindly pulled out in front of him. She was given a few citations; he was not. His airbags exploded, giving the mr. a few burns on his wrists. Other than general soreness, he is okay. The car is "broken" and "in the trash" according to the boys. The car suffered a broken radiator, busted fender, cracked windshield, bent hood, and other various injuries. Not worth saving. So we are down to one car until we figure out our next move. The mr. has been bugging me about how much he misses his truck lately...

PATIENCE

Oh boy.
I have been trying to learn patience. Which sort of feels like a joke as I am the most impatient person I know. So impatient, I once cut my own hair because my neighbor/friend/"sister"/hairstylist would not do it on a Sunday and I just couldn't wait until Monday. Fail. Or take look at the spacing of my children: 12 months - 20 months - 12 months. Most people put an average of 2.5 years between children, but I couldn't wait that long (and honestly, 20 months felt like forever). Now that we feel done with adding to our family, I feel like I can focus a lot more energy into exercising patience. The one thing I remind myself daily is that my little ones have a completely different time table than I do. Tasks that I feel should take less than 60 seconds always seem to last at least 10 minutes. And I need to learn to be okay with that. By doing as I have asked, they are proving that they are listening and striving to do their best. Which is ultimately the most important thing. So I need to relax and stop rushing them constantly. And lets not even get started on patience in matters of money or physical fitness... I know patience is something that I will never master, but I do know that it something I can continuously improve upon.

HOSING AROUND

After-haircut party Saturday morning:

EARS PIERCED

When I was three months old, my parents took me to the mall and got my ears pierced. So I've had earrings my entire life. Never gave them a second thought. I knew if I had a daughter, I would do the same.
And then I had a daughter.
Piercing her ears never crossed my mind in the first few months. At 3 months, I dismissed the idea. It just wasn't time. But on Wednesday, at just a few days shy of 4 months old, it hit me. I felt it was finally right. So yesterday, without hesitation, I headed to Claire's. I picked out some CZ studs. Held her tightly on my lap. And watched as my little girl got her ears pierced. She hardly cried. I think she was more angry at me restricting her head than hurt from the sting of the pierce. When I arrived home, I bawled like a baby. Not because she had been in pain. But because I felt as if I had taken something away from her. Her beauty was completely uninterrupted. Flawless. Pure. And I changed that. It is ridiculous, I know. But I was so upset that I came close to taking the studs out and allowing the holes to close. Now that she has had them for a day, they are growing on me. I don't feel quite so bad. Definitely was not expecting to have such an emotional reaction.
I know not everyone agrees with piercing babies' ears. We are each entitled to our own opinions. If you are offended or upset, I ask that you please keep it to yourself. Negative comments are not nice.

IMAGINATION

So L runs up to me as I am heavily focused on my blog. "Mom. Mom. MOM. Moooooooom. MOMMY. Mom mom mom. MAMA!" What, child? Love his silliness.

ENDURANCE

Pushing harder and stronger for longer. Both in my running and in my life.
As I was running this morning, I thought a lot about endurance. I just started running a couple of weeks ago, but I decided today was the day I would run a full mile before stopping (and by stopping, I mean slowing to a walk). Something I have not done for about 8 years. The entire time, I told myself, "one step at a time - one foot in front of the other". I tried not to look at how far I had to go. Or to think about how bad my lungs and legs ached. Instead, I looked at the ground in front of me and thought about my running goals. 5k. 10k. Half marathon. Full marathon. No set date to accomplish all of these (but aiming for before my 30th birthday in just over 3 years). I know that I will be running in a 5k in January - the Color Run. And I am hoping that I will be strong enough for a 10k in February - Ethan's Run. So I used the thought of my goals to push through the discomfort so I could complete my first full mile. And I DID IT. Twice. Over two miles down with just a 10 yard speed walk in the middle. It didn't feel great. At least not physically. But mentally, I was on fire. And that's enough to keep me going harder, stronger, longer.

While I was running, I also thought about the endurance needed in every day life. Some days, we can run through life. Some days, we might need to walk a little (or a lot). And some days, we might stumble and fall. But if we know our goal and keeping going one step at a time, one foot in front of the other, we will make it. We may not see or understand the rewards immediately. But they will come. And we will be blessed for our efforts and our endurance.

SWIM

Every week since N was 6 weeks old, we have gone swimming on Saturdays. It's such a great way to escape the Arizona heat. J & L, who were like cats in water at the beginning of the summer, have transformed into little fish. D & N are happy as long as they are being held tight. I miss the days when I could swim to my heart's content, but I enjoy watching my little ones learn to love the water. The boys were being rather uncooperative for the camera, so just me and N