Week Review - - Backwards

As I sit on my bed typing this, my legs are so tired and already sore from my first 1/2 Marathon of the year. Devin, Emily and I got up at 5:30 this morning to drive to Kenosha, Wisconsin for me to run their 1/2. It was forecasted to rain, but the skies were slightly overcast letting the sun peek through here and there. The race was much bigger than my last one, and proved to be a better experience for me physically. I felt like I knew a little bit more about what I was doing and what to expect this time around, and that my body cooperated with me as long as I took care of it properly (nice carbed-up breakfast, hydration, sugar blasts with starbursts at mile 8 and 11, and gaturade.) I finished in 2 hours exactly. There is nothing like that surge of energy/adrenaline that kicks in as soon as you can see the finish line in the distance, and having all of the spectators cheering you on as you start sprinting as fast as you can to finish the race. One of the best feelings I have felt.

This was coming up on mile 8. I needed something to do to take my mind off of running, so I took a pic from my phone.

This is just before getting into the car. I was NASTY! And we're home...I wanted one more picture. Yesterday Emily and I went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens with some girlfriends. It was SO NICE to be with other moms who enjoy talking about kid stuff. And it was especially nice walking around such beautiful gardens on a nice day. Thank you Kira for finding the free coupons!
Kira, Carol, and Danica showing the older kids the water. They were fascinated by water.Japanese Garden
Carol and Kira (& kids)
Carol and Donovan Emily screamed her little heart out/threw a huge fit/had an incredible melt down the first 30+ minutes we were there. It was fantastic! But by the end she was entertained with her new sippy cup that she has learned to drink from.
I took Emily to Petco just to see how she would like the animals. I thought that they would have dogs and reptiles, but all they had were rodents and fish. She really liked the rodents. She was constantly touching the glass. Devin and his brothers and sister had pet rats growing up, and he always says that we are going to let our kids have pet rats too. I told him this is about as close as Emily will ever get to having a rodent...the pet store!
Kira let me borrow her sewing machine, and I finally got to working on the curtains for Emily's room.
They are very basic, but I'm still proud of my domestication (I think Devin was surprised at how I whipped those up...to be honest, so am I!) This is random, but we used to do this to my little brother and sister after changing their diapers, so I thought I would see if Emmie liked it.... ...It lasted about 3 seconds. We took Emily to the park/playground right by our house, and she LOVED the swing! She loved it so much that I have taken her every day since. Ready for warm weather! The funny thing is that she actually leaves these sunglasses on for hours! Se likes them. She sat in her stroller while Devin and I played tennis. She actually lasts about 45 minutes if we give her stuff to play with. Thanks Emily! She likes looking up through the sunglasses when they fall to the bottom of her nose. It's cute. We got the funny idea to put my hair on Emily's head to see what it would look like.