Vranicar Family: Party of 5

This morning I posted a quick sentence about my morning run. I'll admit that I partially post about running because I went from dreading running, to running a mile and feeling like I climbed Mt Everest to now training for a half marathon and thinking nothing of starting my day by running 6 miles. The other reason I post is because I see alot of new moms who are frustrated with the new body that came along with their baby/babies and want to encourage them to have the confidence to become healthier. I decided to blog about this Facebook post after a friend commented on my status saying, "I so admire you." Not only did that make my day, it reminded me that sometimes what we do can also impact or help others. I know that being a mom of small children (two boys one almost 3 years and the other 9 months) means our "extra" or "mommy time" is limited. I also know that no one other than myself can change how I look or feel. Everyday we are given 24 hours...

For some time, the past 6 years to be exact, I've been thinking about buying a piece of land near my childhood home. It's so near in fact that when you stand in the backyard at my dad's house, you can see it. It's location is both a curse and blessing. It's nice to be able to just look in that direction and see it over there as the sun sets- it can really be a  beautiful thing, but at the same time, it's always there and you can't get away from it. Let me back up...when my mom died and we needed to choose a place for burial my dad made a point to let me know that the plots next to her were also available. I've thought about it since then and wonder if that's the "right" place. There's something about knowing where I'll be that is comforting. Even typing that is strange...this is where I become a trippie dippie hippie....BUT even though I don't think I will "know" that I'm there, the idea that our family will be to...

Happy Birthday! And what a surprise it was! Last Thursday started out like any other weekday. Got the kids off to Jill's house, headed to work and picked the boys up at the end of the day. Kevin and I have been talking about getting Cooper a bike now for some time, so when he suggested that we go look at our options that night I didn't think anything of it. We headed out to grab something to eat, Kevin suggested somewhere with onion rings and I played right along- who turns down onion rings?! So off to Funddrucker's we went! I should mention that the question of "what's for dinner?" is one that we hear daily in our house. I don't mind cooking and in fact I really enjoy it, but it is the deciding WHAT to eat that gets me frustrated, so when someone suggests a meal or a place to eat, I usually just go with it. On our way there, Kevin said he wanted to stop quickly at Old Navy to pick up a pair of jeans since it was so close. Again, nothing out of the o...

Kind of. Parker is now "crawling" and by crawling I mean, he gets his hind end up in the air while on his hands and tippy toes and rocks around before finally either lanching himself forward or getting one knee down on the ground and pushing himself forward. Cooper on the other hand really is riding a bike (with training wheels). At my dad's house this past weekend Kevin got him on the bike and away he went- not to be stopped by anyone. Making turns is still somthing to work on, but he really gets going when it's a straight shot!

 A few days old and now 6 months!  We recently took Parker to his 6 month well check. We were quite curious where his growth (particularly his weight) fell on the chart in comparison to other babies. Parker is 25.5lbs and ___" tall. I need to go back and check his height- I'll fill in later. To give you an idea of how big Parker is compared to big brother Cooper - Cooper was 21lbs at his 6 month well check! On a small body, those four and a half pounds don't have many places to go! Parker loves to eat - As if you couldn't tell from his weight. He will eat two containers of stage 2 baby food and not long after want to also have a bottle. I guess he needs something to wash it all down? Parker is L-O-U-D! When he is happy, hungry, sad, excited, scared....he yells/screams. Note I didn't include the word cries, he rarely cries. Much like his cousin Alexander, he is just a loud kid who either likes the sound or the feeling of his voice! Parker i...

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You’re tearing up the grass." "We’re not raising grass," my dad would reply, "we’re raising boys." –Harmon Killebrew Last week Kevin and I (mostly Kevin) spent time raking the yard to clear out the dead grass and try to get some grass to grow. On all three sides of our house our neighbors have thick green grass that is almost always cut cleanly and weed free. Our yard also has thick, green grass.... where there is any grass at all. The large patch of dead grass in the front yard is partially due to the crab grass we've been trying to kill for years but mostly caused by the hours of Cooper and I running in the sprinkler. Back and forth we go, over the water, under the curtain of coldness that makes him shrieke with delight. To one side of our house you can see a foot path leading to the backyard. The many, many trips Cooper and I make (now often with a stro...