Houston Marathon

Jesse has been talking about running in the marathon again for the past few years. He ran a few times after high school, mainly as a pacer to his friend Lamar. Two years ago, while we were still in College Station, he tried to convince me to run it with him. We trained together for about 3 weeks, and I said, "no way." This year he was determined. He registered back in October or November, and was training every day. He even convinced Lamar to run with him again!

Yesterday was the Houston marathon. Jesse was nervous and giddy all day Saturday thinking of everything he needed to do to prepare. He ate lots of carbs and pasta, drank tons of water and Gatorade, and stretched out all evening. We went over the map and agreed on meeting points for me to bring him Gatorade, power bars, action goo, etc. We were both ready.

Sunday morning, we had to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn. We left our house by 5:30 am and met Lamar to ride down together. They both seemed extra nervous this time and doubtful as to whether they would physically be able to complete the race. It was going to be a long morning for them, no doubt. This is right before they jumped out of the car to go stretch and begin the race, aka, the before picture.
During Jesse's training, he had worked up to about 15 miles, keeping a 9-minute mile pace. So, based on his pace, we planned where I would meet him at different mile markers. I was supposed to meet him at mile 8, 16, 20, and then the finish line. I made it to mile 8 slightly ahead of schedule. I saw the insanely talented runners, running 5-minute miles go sprinting by, and stayed watching for Jesse and Lamar until the slower 12-minute miles went jogging by. Never saw them. There were over 9,000 crazy people running this race, and we must have just missed them.

David, another friend of Jesse and Lamar's planned on meeting them around mile 16 to run the second half with them and help keep them motivated. He called and told me that he was going to try to meet up with them a little earlier, around mile 12. I headed on to the 16 mile mark where I was supposed to meet them the next time. David called again (while running, mind you) and told me they were at mile 15 and would be at 16 shortly. Sure enough, David and Jesse came around the corner, and I was able to give them drinks and supplies, and of course encouragement. Jesse was still smiling at that point. After they left, I suddenly realized that Lamar was no longer with them...I figured I would ask later.

I headed on to the 20-mile mark. It was very difficult to maneuver to all the different locations, as many roads were closed off, and many streets were already one-way streets! Not to mention I am not all that familiar with the area, and I have a horrible time reading maps. I would pretty much look for the string of runners, park where I could, and then try to walk/run wherever I needed to be. Same as before, I parked as soon as I could, and found a place along the 20-mile stretch. I could not find the marker, so I was not sure where exactly I was. David started calling at mile 20, wondering where I was. I asked someone, and they said mile-22. Oops. Well, it was close enough right? Then David called again, as they passed mile 22. Oops again. Turns out, I was closer to mile-23. By the time they got to me, Jesse looked absolutely beat and frustrated to boot. Sure enough, he was no longer smiling. Only 3.2 miles left, and I knew he would do it, even if it killed him!

I hurried back to the George R. Brown center, parked about 4 blocks away, and RAN towards the finish line. People were lined up on either side, as far as you could see, whistling and cheering on the runners. I somehow squeezed up onto one of the bleachers and had my camera ready, determined to see Jesse cross that finish line. Sure enough, I saw him coming down the lane (now David was gone), and started jumping up and down cheering as loud as I could. He actually SAW me in the crowd, and smiled, then sprinted in to the finish, finishing the race in 4 hours and 21 minutes. Pretty darn good for running 26.2 miles!!!
I met up with both David and Lamar afterwards, and we tried to find Jesse. Turns out David couldn't finish because he did not register or have a number. Lamar was hurting too bad, and dropped out around mile-17. Both were extremely supportive of Jesse, and we were all so proud of him. I did not get a picture of him afterwards with his metal around his neck, but it was pretty neat to see him beaming so big. What an accomplishment!

New bedroom furniture

After saving money for months, we finally bought our new bedroom furniture!! I asked only for money for my birthday in October and then again for Christmas. Sure enough, that is what everyone gave me, so we were finally able to venture out shopping. Jesse took off the Friday after Christmas so we could go shopping, planning on buying nursery furniture. We went to a couple of places, and finally decided which nursery set we liked the best, and I called them back and asked them to hold it for us. Then we made a detour and stopped by a couple furniture stores. Sure enough, we found something we both liked and agreed on (monumental!) and spent the money we were originally going to spend on the nursery...oops.

I took a few pictures of the furniture to share with everyone. I'm planning on re-doing our bedroom, starting with paint, then of course bedding, curtains, etc. (Probably a dark khaki on the walls, all white bedding, white sheer curtains, lots of pillows, etc) I will post pictures once I get it fixed up, but at least you can see the pretty furniture!

Our bedroom is not very big, and has very strange dimensions, making this furniture seem HUGE and overwhelming in this small room. But since we will probably have this furniture the rest of our lives, we couldn't plan according to this room. It sure does look like a LOT in this little room though...

The king size master bed, with headboard and foot board

Looking into the "nook" in our room
The dresser- we did not get the matching mirror, but might go back and get it or something similar to hang over the dresser.
The big, beautiful armour cabinet. For now, we are using this for clothing storage, etc. but eventually, we could put a TV or stereo or something in there.
Hooray! We finally have a bedroom that doesn't look like a teenager/college student's dorm room!

Christmas highlights

I know I'm late in posting, but better late than never, right? Here are a few pictures from the Christmas season. Obviously, I am only posting a few of the many I took, but at least you can see something!

Jesse and I at his STGCSAA Christmas party. These "balloon-bottom" maternity shirts add 10 pounds to every picture!

Julie, Susan, and Sarah at Christmas Eve dinner at Pappadeaux
Susan, Sarah, Julie, me, and Jesse at my parent's house Christmas Eve
Dad and Tiger in their matching antlers, hehe- Dad's always such a good sport!
Elijah Christmas morning
Jansen got a UT football uniform for Christmas, and Uncle Jesse was not thrilled. Jansen was a good sport and gave the camera the Gig'Em thumbs up.
Major showed me every single toy he opened and wanted me to take pictures
All Caleb asked for was Ben 10 stuff...and that is pretty much all he got! Every kind of Ben 10 toy you could possibly imagine!!
Jansen's new drum set- I'm glad he plays it at his house and not mine!! Haha
The air hockey/pool table for the boys

Jeremy and Eli snuggling on Christmas morning

Lots of fun was had over the Christmas holiday, and of course these pictures only capture so much. I hope you all had a wonderful 2006 holiday season!

Extra Estrogen

It's a girl!

Jesse and I had our doctor appointment and ultrasound yesterday morning, and I still do not think the news has sunk in. We had our ultrasound first, and it took the technician almost half an hour to decide what gender she thought the baby was!! Apparently we either have a very shy little girl, or a very stubborn little girl- she would not open her legs. The technician kept pushing around and bouncing the applicator on my stomach, then I would change positions, while attempting to shake my stomach and get her to move, and NOTHING! She finally gave us a 2-second peek, and the technician said, "well, I think it is a girl." Jesse and I both looked at each other, first in shock, and then questioning..."you think?? Can we be sure?" The technician told us she was about 90% sure it had to be a girl, since 'she would have seen testicles by now.' Um, okay. I think I watched the video 5 times last night, determined to find those testicles!!

I was literally in shock for a few hours. I really had my mind wrapped around the fact, not the thought, the FACT that I was going to have a boy. I had mentally prepared for a boy, had the nursery designed in my mind, and had even started using cute little pet names for my baby boy. See, Jesse's dad had all boys, and all his boys have only had boys...based on the statistics, I was destined to be a mother of boys! But God had other plans.

I do not want to say I am disappointed, because all I have been praying for is a healthy baby, boy or girl. (Which, BTW, all my testing came back negative and I am not only healthy, but also carry an extremely low percentage for down syndrome, spina bifada, etc.) However, I think the selfish part of me is disappointed. All of my friends and cousins who have had babies in the past 6 months have ALL had girls. I thought it would be fun to have the first boy, and let him be the stud of the group. I am so used to being the "first" to experience things in life, and I guess I felt I needed yet another "first" amongst my peers. But the truth is, it does not matter what my peers have experienced. Reality is: this is my first baby. It is my parents first grandchild, and my sisters first niece. It is the first girl born on Jesse's side of the family. That is a lot of firsts!! So does it matter that it is not a boy? Of course not.

I have always been worried about Jesse's reaction to having a baby girl, much more so than myself. He was literally beaming yesterday and started popping off girl's names right away. He honestly seemed more concerned about my apparent lack of excitement rather than his own. Half the reason I thought it would be fun to have a girl is so I can watch as she wraps him around her little finger. Talk about an instant softening of a relatively tough male! It is going to be awesome watching him love his precious daughter, and watch her truly become a Daddy's girl.

My thoughts are still sporadic, and I don't think I have completely adjusted to the idea of raising a daughter of my own. I always knew I wanted a daughter, I just had my family time line set slightly different. Perhaps that is why God gave her to us now. I have always been too much of a control freak and definitely too much of a planner. Things typically go according to my plan, or I change my plan accordingly to make it work for me. This is one of the first things in my life I had absolutely no control over, and even though I made my assumptions, God had other plans. And though I don't know what His plan entails, I trust He knows what He is doing! Perhaps he needed to teach me to trust Him. Perhaps he needed to teach me to not assume, or always have to be "first." Perhaps he needed to show Jesse true, unconditional love of a baby girl so wrapped around his finger that he does not know who he would be without her. I don't presume to know. All I know is that God has always taken care of us, and I know He always will.

I am going to continue to pray that God melts my heart and helps me begin to fall in love with the idea of being a mommy to a daughter. I know I will fall in love with her once she arrives- right now I need to love the IDEA of her. It is going to be a wonderful, miraculous blessing, and I am ready to be genuinely excited about all the fun that is coming our way.

It's a...???

We find out bright and early tomorrow morning! I feel so nervous, and excited all at the same time. Please pray that no matter the result, Jesse and I react appropriately with all the excitement in the world.

I'll let you know when I know!!

P.S.
I know I said I was going to avoid only posting about the baby, and lately every post has something to do with the baby. I can't help it! This is the only way I seem to be able to catch up with everyone at the same time. I apologize if it's annoying...