I am struggling at the moment to remember all the wonderful things that have happened and been said since the last time I wrote. I will do my best. Now that all three kids are talking non-stop it is getting harder and harder to keep track of who said what!
I will start things off with a prayer. “Dear Jesus, thank you for my Jesus, thank you for my family, thank you for my friends. Amen.” That is the prayer Nico said last night before bed. As if a three year old folding his hands and closing his eyes and praying isn’t cute enough, to hear him stay thank you to Jesus FOR Jesus, well, I get teary just thinking about it. And as I remembered his prayer this morning I thought, you know what, we don’t say thanks FOR Jesus nearly enough. Perhaps the little guy is clued into something far deeper than we think. At any rate, it was sweet and heartfelt and it made this mommy’s heart leap with joy. Now, let’s not forget that the same child is still potty training and isn’t making much progress. On Saturday we decided to put him in underpants all day, no matter what happened. He had been doing really well up until then, telling us when he had to go or going on his own! Still no poop, but I will take what I can get. So, we put him in underpants and not 20 minutes later he had an accident. Ok, no big deal I thought, I hadn’t taken him potty after he woke up and he got distracted. So, pair #2. We got through the entire morning, including soccer for both boys and then we had accident #2. I was not happy, but thought, ok, we had been out, he was wound up, I forgot to ask him if he needed to go. So, on to pair #3. Well, that didn’t end well. Let’s just say a bath had to accompany the last accident and daddy was not happy. We put Nico in time out and didn’t put clothes on him for a while. At one point he asked if he could get up, we said no, you are still in trouble. His response, “I don’t want to be in trouble, I want to be really, really happy.” Hard to argue with that logic. He stayed in trouble for a bit longer but now whenever he goes in the potty we tell him we are really, really happy! He gets it now, I think. No accidents the last couple days, but I am not braving underpants for a while.
As some of you know Joe was out of town all of last week. Luckily I had Janis here to help for a couple days which was so great! And the boys were really, really good the entire time daddy was gone, I have to say. However, upon his arrival home things started to get NUTS! I know it was excitement from daddy being home after so long away, but it was like they had all taken speed and downed one of those HUGE straws filled with sugar. They were out of control for most of the weekend. On Sunday night we were eating dinner and it was a rare meal where we were all there, eating together. Most days we eat in shifts since the boys are hungry long before daddy can get home. So, this was a treat, at least for me, but they were not cooperating. There was poop talk, spitting, falling off chairs, etc etc. At one point daddy said, “why are you guys so bizarre?” Dom chimes in “and stubborn!” Well, yes, as a matter of fact. Oh well, it was just nice to be all together.
Today was kind of a fun day for nature sightings. While waiting at a stop light Nico and I watched a hummingbird feed right next to the car window. I have never seen one that close up for that long before. It was really neat. Later on while going to pick up Anthony there was a road runner in the road! They do move fast, I will say that.
I am running in my first race ever this Saturday. It is only a 5k (3.1 miles) but it should be a good first race. I am excited and nervous. I know I can run it, but I don’t usually run WITH people, so that should be interesting. I am not what you would call, swift, but I do my best. I made a huge stride at the gym today, finishing 5 miles in less than an hour on the treadmill! If you know how slow I run than you know what a HUGE deal this is. So, I am feeling very proud of myself and feel I will be more than ready for the 13 mile half marathon next month. At that pace I will be able to finish well before the time I allotted myself. I also crossed that hurdle of boredom, which comes on me right around 3.5 miles. Today I could have easily kept going but needed to let someone else use the machine. Remember, I HATED running when I started this process, hated it! Now I actually like it. I wouldn’t say love just yet, but I might get there and perhaps next year I will run the whole marathon! Something to shoot for, right?
Well, May is going to be a busy month so I will do my best to keep up. 
