Beach to Bay Marathon

My friends Andrea and Stacie talked me into signing up for the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay Race. I was so not excited for the actual race part of the trip especially because I have been having a bunch of knee issues but I am so glad I did it. The race was down in Corpus Chrisi on the coast so it was really hot and humid but thankfully there was a good breeze that kept the heat in check a little bit! It was fun and crazy and I got the best leg of the relay. I got the first one, which was on the beach basically at sunrise and was only 3.4 miles. Poor Jared had the last leg of the race in the heat of the day and it was 4.98 miles. He said it wasn't too bad because of the breeze!!

At the switch point for the 2nd runner. 

Most of these people are all waiting for their  runner so I was not too slow!!

This is the dorkiest photo of me but it is the only one I have. My shirt is rising up and my knee looks all funky but it is proof that I ran in a marathon!!

After we were all done with the race we headed to the beach. The exact same beach that I had to run on in the race.

Kean spent his time playing in the sand, literally. He had no interest in playing in the water and he just threw sand the whole time!!

Kai spent most of her time in the water boogie boarding or just playing around!

I told Kean to hop on the boogie board and so I could give him a ride. This is what he did. It was so funny. He just layed there forever. Um, don't think that is going to get you very far little buddy!!

I seriously love this kid. He is so funny!!!

Give a kid a bucket, shovel, sand and water and he set for a long time!

Stacie and Beckham. They are just one month apart!!

Uh-oh looks like someone got caught in the waves!!

He held that shovel until we had to leave!

He just threw the sand in the shovel, over and over again!!

Kai and her friend Kylie. They have the same name and very similar personalities. The first two years here they just fought a ton but now they get along pretty well. Finally out growing being mean!!

Too much fun to stop for a picture!

After being tossed in the waves a few times he was done. He was cold and tired and just wanted to cuddle with Momma!!

I love his cuddles. I just want to capture that feeling and hold onto it forever!

Brett and Jared chatting it up!

Cuddle bug!!

Oh I love him!!

The beach I ran on. The end of my leg was right under the pier.

Crawling like a dog!!

Time to go out and catch some waves!

Kylie wasn't as fond of the boogie boards as Kai was but at the end Jared got her catching a couple that she liked!

Kai showing off her boogie boarding skills!!

It was so nice to have these two get along!

Me and Stacie with our two little guys!! They will probably be pretty good friends when we move but right now they don't really associate with each other!!

That night we drove home and I went straight downtown and met up with Jenn Gardner who was in town for the night for work. We walked to the river walk for dinner and there was a parade going on in celebration of the armed forces. It was fun to see!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's day this year. It was fun, we had Chad and Molly Cragun and their kids over for dinner since they had all of their stuffed packed up in their house, so it was too relaxing but it was nice.

I love being Mommy to these two cute little squirts. They make life so much fun and also drive me nuts at times as well.

This is what you can find us doing most days just hanging out playing on the floor together.

Kai and McKean both love to be held up in the air by our legs. 

I definitely love being a Mom. I have no clue what I am doing and sometime I wonder if I am completely ruining my kids but they are pretty good so far so I will just keep trekking along!!

JDRF Gala

In February we went to a JDRF Diabetes conference. We brought Kai along and she got to go to the kids club and met a bunch of other kids with Diabetes. She had fun just hanging out with other kids regardless of the fact that they had diabetes plus two of her favorite adults were there, Sister Swigert her  old Sunbeam teacher and Miss Megan her old dancer teacher both of whom have type 1 as well. While we were there, Kai was picked by an artist to be apart of a project he was doing for the JDRF Gala that they were doing in May. We agreed and they took some photos of her and of our hands.

We were invited to attend the Gala. Kai and I got free tickets, we had to buy Jared's, it was a $100 which was a good deal because for most people it was $250. We got to get all dressed up, I borrowed this beautiful dress from our friends Kris and Jamie West. Andrea came over and helped us get ready which was a huge lifesaver. Then we were off. Kai was excited to go to the ball even though she didn't really know what it meant!

The first part was cocktail hour and the silent auction. We walked around and looked at all the cool stuff up for auction and bid on a bunch, I really wanted these marble toys but they went up way to high. We did end up getting some fun stuff though. The ball was at the JW Marriott here in SA and it was a beautiful. Kai wasn't having very much fun during the cocktail hour. The poor girl was starving since it was already almost 7pm and all the appetizers they had she wouldn't even try. Finally, we got into the dining area, she got some rolls and was pretty happy the rest of the night!

The food was pretty amazing. Polenta, steak, with pulled pork and sweet potatoes. The dessert was a let down, I didn't even try it because I was already 5 weeks off of sugar and Jared said it was not worth it. So I didn't try it.

 

Me and my girlie having fun together. We sat with 2 other kids with T1D and their families. Justin who was 8 and had been diagnosed for a year and Abigail who was 15 and had been diagnosed for two years, so Kailie who was 4 and had been diagnosed for over 3 years was the diabetes expert at the table, how crazy is that!!

The art project was the last thing of the night to be auctioned off, before the event Jared and I were thinking we would probably be buying the art. We didn't realize it was all going to be together and after the first live auction bid item sold for like $10,000 we quickly realized we would not be buying the art. One trip to go see The Voice live sold for  $17,000. So crazy.

The four kids with type 1. The artist's goal of this was: " The hands in each portrait are significant to each child and also represent an essential force outside of these children, they represent JDRF and our mission of outreach for the children. One face looks up, one looks directly at you, two faces look towards each other and all four collectively look out into our community, the world and ultimately for a cure.!

The artist, with Abigail!

Kai's portrait. It was definitely not what I was expecting but the more I look at it the more I realize how well it depicts her, don't really understand why it is so dark on her face though. Mine and Jared's hands are above her.

Justin and Kailie with one of the Chairs of the night. His mother was actually the one who ended up with the portraits. Which sold for $27,000!! Pretty Awesome!!!

Was such a little rock star up there. There was about 800-1,000 people in attendance and she did great. She is so cute. I love her so much!!

I am so grateful to all the super wealthy people out there that attend these events and donate their money to help find a cure and just to make this disease easier for all those who deal with it everyday!

All night Kai kept trying to hold up our number, which of course would have been horrible if she accidentally bid on a $19,000 trip to Africa or something else so when they got to the part where we could donate some she was so excited to stand up and hold up our number. We are grateful that we are able to help out as well.

Andrea helped me with my hair. I just wanted something simple and this worked. I definitely am not talented enough to do it myself.

The final evening total was  $1,824,487!! Soooo incredible and amazing. In one night they raised that much. Jared and I hope to be able to attend next year as well, but we will probably leave our little Cinderella at home!!

Our goodies we won. We won two different things at the auction, the first was Pampered in Austin. A hotel room for one night, plus a hair and make-up appointment plus a whole slew of redkin hair products. Pretty awesome and we got it for $180. The next was like a road trip basket full of games, movies and various other gift cards and treats. We shared some with the other families we met that night and with our besties the Keck's who graciously watched McKean for us even though they have a brand new baby!!

Kai was so good all night but she got really tired at the end. Her part wasn't even until 9:30 which is way past her bedtime. She had a blast and kept asking the next day if she could go to a ball again.

I'm Tickled Pink Dance Recital

Kai had her cute little dance recital.
Her teacher from last year Miss Megan got pregnant and ended up being high risk so she didn't teach dance so I found this other teacher through a friend. She is more basic but Kailie had fun none the less. She was so super excited for her recital, can you tell?

(I sent Daddy to pick up some flowers he came back with these, so funny but at least she can keep them for a long time)

On her last day of class they did a little dress rehearsal and took some class photos. Their song was called I'm Tickled Pink. From Left to right, top to bottom: Kailie, ?, Molly, Molly and Camy.

These girlies were all so cute!!

Showing a little sass!!

Then that night was the actual recital! 
The day went by so slow atleast for Kai. She was so excited and kept asking if it was time for her recital. Brinley came with us to watch Kai.

Best Friends!

I was trying to tell Kai to put her foot on her leg a move she does in her song but I guess I should have realized that she can't hold it long enough for a photo!

Doing her pizza toes. She was also really excited to get to wear make-up!

I wish that they would have done real cute recital outfits but she was happy just wearing this!

Brinley had to have her photo taken as well!!

Love that girl!

Miss Nancy had made this cute sign for the girls to take photos in front of!  This was before the performance so Kai was a little wild with excitement!

Beautiful girl!

Again Brinley had to have her photo taken as well with the flowers. She is so funny!! I hope next year they get to take dance together again!

Finally, it was Kai's turn!! She actually did better in the performance than she did in the rehearsal so that was good.

She is still a bit clueless. I recorded her one week in class and then her and I would practice at home. It was fun to practice with her!

She is such a ham!

She did get a few moves right at the right time!

All the girls did great!

I love her eyelashes. She is going to kill all the boys when she gets older with those things!!

She was really excited about the cookies afterwards.

We had to run out after the show to meet some friends that were in town but I made Jared snap a quick photo of us. Of course as soon as I put my leg out to be a lap McKean finds and has to sit down!! Speaking of McKean, all the kid did the whole performance was eat. He ate every thing I had in my bag and then a couple of cookies. That kid is a bottomless pit! Now if he could just keep some weight on!

I love this photo of Kai and I though. She is so cute and is growing up way too fast!!

 

Love my little dancing girl!

Kean loved playing with this train table while Kai was in dance class. He eventually decided he was tired of not being able to reach  it all so he just climbed up.