When it All Comes Crashing Down

Some days, I can really see that I am doing an ok job with my boys. They are respectful and they (sometimes) listen. Just recently I have taught Josiah to use the potty and Oliver is really advanced in his verbal skills for a 14 month old. For the most part, they are excellent boys and while I can not take all the credit for that, I like to think that by choosing to stay home with them and taking an active part in their everyday life that I am at least contributing to it.

Then, there are days like today when I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. From the moment I opened my eyes this morning things started going downhill. It was after 8am and everyone was still asleep, myself included. I never use an alarm because for two years I have had an alarm in two small children. Sleeping past eight would have been a joy on Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning but today we had to get ready for pre-school and Josiah's morning routine is so intricate that you simply can NOT skip a step. We had to get up, get dressed and use the potty. Eat breakfast and use the potty again. Get our backpack together and head to school in less than thirty minutes. And don't forget, I have to drag poor Oliver around with us step for step. He is such a champ!

So I burst into Josiah's room with extra gusto saying, "We're late, we're late, we're late, for a very important date!" (Alice in Wonderland is a big hit around here). He groans to me, "Don't wake me up Mommy." Um, when did he turn into a teenager? I looked into his crib and wouldn't you know it, he was covered in throw up. "Oh Josiah! What happened? Are you sick?" I asked him. "I throw up in my crib mama." He says.

I took off his dirty pajamas and his diaper. Then stripped his bed and threw everything into the wash. Including poor Woody who took one for the team and got his cowboy outfit completely hosed down in toddler barf. Then I came back to Josiah who was sitting patiently on his changing table. "Are you sick?" I asked again. "No, I feelin so goooood." he says. I take his temperature. 97.7. I put him in the shower and cleaned him up, combed his hair and got him dressed. "I go to school Mama. I learn the letter f. " He says. "Your sure?" I ask. 'Uhhh huhhhh." he tells me.
Ok! Must have been a fluke! We are back on track.

Skipping potty time (gasp!), I flew into Oliver's room. He sat up sleepy eyed and said, "Ma-Ma." Ah. He is such a sweetie. I barely talked to him and got him dressed all the while with Josiah yelling, "Bubby tired Mama! Put him back to bed!" We went to the kitchen and I gave each boy a banana and a cereal bar and said, "We are eating in the car today, we're late!" I felt a twinge of guilt thinking of everything that is wrong with kids nutrition and meals to go and random food like cereal bars but decided that one morning eating breakfast in the car in two years isn't that bad and continued on.

"I wanna wear my cowboy boots Mommy." Josiah tells me. "Not today. They aren't for school." I say. "I wanna WEAR EM!" he screams and starts to cry. "Ok whatever, go get them." I grumble thinking how crazy they are going to look with his polo and corduroys but at this point it isn't worth the battle. He comes running down the hall carrying one boot and the other is on the wrong foot. "I neeeeeeed HELP!" he say's looking desperate. We sit down and get his boots on. I put a jacket on him and put his backpack on his back. I pick up Oliver and we walk to the front porch. I was standing next to Josiah and still holding Oliver. Then, as if I was watching an instant re-play in slow motion Josiah fell from the top step face first, onto the concrete. For a moment everything stopped and I was frozen, Josiah was frozen and there was no sound. I screamed, "JOSIAH!" and he began to cry. I ran down the stairs and lunged poor Ollie into the grass. He began to wail loudly along with Josiah and simultaneous screams were echoing down Estelle Park Drive.

I was honestly scared to move Josiah. My mind was racing thinking back to my first aid class and how you aren't supposed to move hurt people. What if his face was stuck to the sidewalk? In my two years as mother I haven't seen anything like this before. He was still face down on the concrete when I eventually lifted him up. His entire face was covered in blood and I felt my heart drop. I started crying which totally freaked Josiah out even more. I was running around holding him and looking for my phone, meanwhile Oliver was still sitting in the grass crying. If social services had been there they would have taken them away from me. I have never felt less capable of watching children in my life.

I brought both boys inside, found my phone and called Jaime. He talked to me and calmed me down, then he talked to Josiah and calmed him down. I washed the blood off his face with a warm wash cloth and asked him if he needed to go to the doctor? "NO!! I no go Doctor!! Bubby get hurt at the doctor!! (Shots.)" I took off his cowboy boots and got him his blanket. We turned on Mickey Mouse and suddenly all was right in the world. I made him real breakfast and let him eat at the dining room table. I gave Oliver a bottle and a banana and tried to give him a little love too.

Being a Mommy is the hardest job in the whole world! I seriously can't take my eyes off of either of them for a second. Crazy stuff happens even when my eyes ARE on them! Having two so young is at times, nearly impossible. I can't give either of them adequate attention and am left feeling like a total basket case. What if something happens to one of them? I can't believe pretty much anyone can have a baby and bring it home from the hospital without any prior knowledge or a basic set of instructions. I mean, I like to think I am way ahead of most people in the parenting area and if I can't even do it, what is going on at other people's houses? How do kids make it through the toddler years in one piece?

In the end, Josiah got to skip school and go have a picnic with Daddy. I remembered to teach him that FALL begins with the letter F so he wouldn't get behind. As in, "I fall down the stairs Mama." When I put him down for his nap he was seriously banged up but he was smiling. I guess I can't ask for much else. Please wish me luck the next 16 years and pray hard!

Run.

I am not sure when my fascination with running began. I know when I started running...it was summer of 2005 and Jaime and I had been married two and a half years. I was only 22. Living with him was a journey and a learning process those first couple of years. One of the biggest adjustments was that he was a vegetarian. Growing up, every meal I had included a meat, a veggie and a starch. You know, homemade chicken pie, green beans and mashed potatoes. Triple Yum. I had the option of only water or milk to drink and we never had desserts or sweets unless it was someones birthday. Enter Mr. Conley.

Jaime is tall, dark and handsome. He is also super skinny which is totally unfair because he eats like a maniac. Yes, he avoids all meat products but likes to replace them with pizza, ramen noodles, french fries and cinnamon rolls. It was a BLAST cooking with Jaime in the beginning. I had never actually purchased mozzarella sticks from the frozen food section and now I could. It was awesome! Also, he worked nights at David's Deli and would call me around 9pm to ask if I wanted anything. Um, duh! Oh and did I mention my drink of choice was beer and lots of it? I got away with this for about one year with no visible weight gain. I was tall, skinny and young. It never occurred to me to workout. Then, two and a half years in I saw this picture of myself.

That picture would crack me up if it wasn't so terrifying! Another wake up call? On a trip to the OB/GYN she suggested that I switch birth control because the super low estrogen kind wasn't as effective for someone at my weight. AH! What had happened to me?And I am not gonna tell you how much I weighed, but I will say that is was just 3 pounds less than when I delivered Josiah (Who I gained 35 pounds with). I had to do something. So, I went for a run.

In the beginning, I was running to lose weight. That's it. I didn't really like it but I just wanted to be skinny again. I could run 8 minutes without stopping and I remember the day I ran my first whole mile. I signed up for my first 5K and did it in 31 minutes. I started to talk about running more and feeling like I was such an athlete. I did lose weight but suddenly it was about much more than that. I was doing something that I really cared about. I started exercising more and more and over 2 years I lost all of that weight only to get pregnant with Josiah and gain it all back.
After I had Josiah I jumped back in, full swing ahead. I even signed up for a half marathon when he was just 5 months old. I think this is the point where I went from trying to be skinny to a real runner. I started logging my miles and doing more than I ever thought I could. Now working out had the added benefit of dropping off the baby in childwatch. Woohoo! I went everyday! I did the Wilmington half in 2 hours and 17 minutes.And when it was over I said, "I am never running again." It nearly killed me and when I got to the finish line I had to take off my stinky sports bra and nurse a baby. Whew!

Again, I lost all of the weight only in time to find out, surprise, I was pregnant again! What??? I gained 40 pounds with Oliver and was starting to feel a little like Oprah with all of the fluctuating. Still, I can't look at this picture and not think it possibly the prettiest I have ever looked.

So here we are 14 months after this picture was taken and I have had an amazing year. Running has become like my best girlfriend. I have my two ( well, 3) precious boys who consume 90% of my time and then I have running. It is always there and always makes me feel better. I am currently in the best shape of my whole life and had a record year for races. I started out the season with the Shamrock 10K in March, followed by the Cooper River Bridge run, Sunset Stampede 10 miler, The Asheville Citizen Time's Half Marathon and most recently The Bethal Half Marathon.

After the Asheville Half I again stated that, "I am never running again." but that never lasts long. For 3 weeks I relaxed, hit the pool, went to cycling class and only logged 1 run over 5 miles. I was in fall mode. Then I saw an ad in the Citizen Times for the Bethal Half Marathon saying that it was, "a relatively (its all relaitive right?) flat, beautiful 13.1 mile course with homemade soup at the finish line. I decided to sign up on Th ursday night and the race was on Saturday which left me no time to train since I had to rest on Friday. I didn't know what was going to happen on race day but had to trust in myself that I could do it.

So last Saturday morning I drove to Waynesville though numerous cow pastures and rolling hills. I bumped into Jim, my pacer from the ACT Half and we decided to run together. He told me that I was a great runner and if I did the Asheville course in 2:10 then I could this "flat one (ha.)" in 1:55. "Um, are you sure?" I asked him. 'Oh yeah." he says. I didn't mention that I hadn't been running for 3 weeks and took off with him at the gun. We had a nice 7 miles together where we talked about running and how he can't wait to turn 65 so that can qualify for Boston. (Note: Qualifying times go up to 4:30 when you are 65). Jim is very small. Like, 5 feet and 130 pounds. He is grandfatherly and truly awesome. He is wise and say's all the right things. He is also a major pain the ass. This is Jim.
When I get excited and a good song comes on the ipod I have a tendency to take off. Jim will bring me back saying something like, "You're going too fast, for every minute you race in the beginning you'll lose a minute in the end." And I'm all like, 'but Timebomb is on the Ipod!" and he's like, "Slow down."

So around mile 7 he says, " How ya feelin." and I say, "Ugh, ok." and he says, "You should be feeling like you could do this all day. You should be extremely comfortable." I wanted to tell Jim that I wasn't extremely comfortable b/c we were running 8:50 miles on a course that was NOT flat and I like to run a little slower than that. Instead I just said, "I'll slow down if I need to." We kept on until mile 10 which we reached in 1:29 (holy crap!). I told Jim to race it out for the both of us and I put on the breaks. Around 1:41, I got to mile 11 and decided it would be a good time to walk. The very second I began to walk , with no warning what so ever, I puked. Like out of my nose and all over myself. It was an out of body, humiliating experience. Having never puked from running before I guess you could say it was a milestone. As I was puking an overweight woman in a knee brace passed me. I wanted to strangle Jim.

By my watch I could do just under 15 minute miles for the last 2 miles and still beat my Asheville time, which is all I wanted to do anyway. I made it to the finish in 2:08 and once again said, "I am never running again."


Pre once said, "You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." And in the spirit of this quote, something tell's me this break from running won't last either.

Conversations With My Two Year Old

Josiah has been making noise since he the day he was born. Before he could speak he would babble and before he could babble he would scream. If for some reason he is quite stop what you are doing immediately and go find him, because he is up to something.

Lately he has begun speaking so clearly and in sentences. This can be very entertaining and you have to take what he says with a grain of salt. Like most toddlers he is a little confused at times.

I thought I would share some of his sweeter moments of late with you all. Forgive me if you don't find them as cute as a mother does. I just love him so much.

Yesterday at lunch he says to me, "Lets talk about school mama " and I said, "Okay, what did you do at school today?" to which he replied, " I had bapple (Apple) sauce at school today mama." Me: "Oh you did? Cool, which of your friends were at school today?" Josiah:"Baminamn (Benjamin), Henry, Hayden- Oooooh Hayden can pee pee in the potty." Me: "Wow! Did you pee pee in the potty?" Josiah:"Uh huh." Me: "Did Henry pee pee in the potty?" Josiah: "NO! He got changed into an Elmo di di (diaper.)" After this I get up and go back into the kitchen where I finish making my sandwich. I can hear him mumbling in the dining room saying, "Shhhhh! Nemo tired. Shhhhh! I share my cozy blanket with Nemo. Ohhh he is soooo tired. Night Night Nemo." When I realized what he was doing I grabbed my camera because it was just to adorable to miss. Here he is;



He was covering his goldfish with his turkey and putting them to bed! How cute is that?

I can't believe my first born, little 7 lb baby is so grown up. I love him so much more every single day. I am so grateful to my husband for making it possible for me to stay home every day with them and share these special moments. I am a lucky lady to have such great boys in my life.

Finally, Fall

With the first harvest moon high in the sky and the calender reading September 23rd, I think it is safe to say that summer is officially dunzo. As much as I dread the end of summer there are a few exciting things about fall in the mountains.

The first being that I am no longer training for the Asheville Half Marathon. That's right folks, I conquered the grueling course in 2 hours and 10 minutes. A huge victory for me considering when I first moved to Asheville, 6 years ago, I was stuck in traffic for the race one morning after going out for breakfast and thinking, "How do they do that?" and "How far is a half marathon again?" I watched the runners out the window in amazement and never, ever thought I could do something like that. And I didn't just do it. I rocked it. It divided into a 10:03 split per mile with 2,225 feet gained in elevation spread out over 13.1 miles. I ran the enitre way and had so much fun. I chatted with fellow runners, made a few friends, jammed out to my music and took my headphones off for the last mile to listen to people cheering. I may as well of won the Boston Marathon. It was a perfect day pounding the pavement. A big shout out to Jaime for finishing in just over 2 hours. Nice work babe! And lets not forget that none of this would have been possible without the help of Yaya and Grandpa making sure the kiddos were happy and fully entertained ELSEWHERE! Thanks guys, you're the best :) The next nice thing about fall is the cooler temperatures. Which means we can get back to the park, Arboretum, Biltmore House and Nature Center. I love the beauty of WNC this time of year!
Josiah is back in KMO two mornings a week playing with all of his good buddy's and learning the ABC"S. This means that Oliver and I get to spend some quality time together! Now that my workouts aren't as strict, I plan on taking those days off to enjoy my now 1 year old little boy.

Hopefully with the changing of the seasons I will find more time to update this blog. We have lots of fun things planned with many photo opportunities, so stay tuned!

This blog won't make the temperature drop, but it's still pretty cool.

This winter was one for the books. Seriously, Josiah cried his eyes out every time he looked outside and I saw more than a foot of snow on the ground for only the second time in my life. That little tidbit may be the only thing keeping me from losing my mind this summer. Well, that and thanking every God in heaven that I am not pregnant. Hallelujah!

The heat index has reached unfathomable, southern proportions lately and I am beginning to sound like a broken record. "Man, it's hot." "It's hotter than crap." "Whew, I am HOT!" So, that has got me thinking... I need to get creative. Just because I am, wait for it, HOT, doesn't mean that my vocabulary has to suffer. So after a little internet research I have found 10 new sayings to keep things fresh. Enjoy!


• It's hotter than two bears fighting in a forest fire.

• It's hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch.

• It's hotter than two cats fighting in a wool sock.

• It's so hot I just saw the devil dancing buck-naked in the middle of the driveway.

• It's so hot the Popsicle time frame is down to 20 seconds.

• It's hotter than a steel playground at noon.

• It's so hot I could spit fire.

• It's hotter than a pair of sweat pants full of barbecue.

• It's so hot that it makes me want to take off my skin and sit in my bones.

• I hope you brought the champagne glasses because it is TOASTY out.

Stay cool Asheville :)

Only 35 More Days of Baby

With this summer rapidly flying by it appears that somewhere in the midst of it all my little Oliver is growing up. It is hard to believe that in just a little over a month he will be a one year old. Where did the time go? I remember so vividly the looks of horror I received when I was pregnant and strangers would ask, "How far apart will they be?" and I replied, "15 months". Just make it through that first year, just make it through the first year, just make it...It became my mantra. Well, not only have we made it, but we did it with style. Oliver made it easy on us. Demanding as little as a newborn could possibly demand. He remained calm when Josiah and I were losing our minds. I think he may have even talked us through a couple of moments that were touch and go. He is a little angel and because of this I feel like sometimes he has been looked over and sat aside. So Ollie, this blog is for you and only you.

My baby Oliver with eyes so bright, so blue
I never knew I could love TWO boys so much
until I met you

You have gone from nursing ten times a day
to an unhealthy obsession with ChicFilA
Your older brother plays with you mean and way too rough
For 11 months you are extremely tough.

You love to dance and always have a twinkle in your eye
You wait until something is really wrong before you start to cry
I love the way you smell, I love your fuzzy hair
A surprise at first, but an answer to a prayer.

Thank you so much for being my boy
you have brought me so much happiness and so much joy
You're handsome, you're bright, you're clever
Everyday I wish I could keep you a baby forever.

Love you!

Summa-time and the liv-in's easy

So, it has been almost 3 weeks since my last post and before you go thinking that I have given up my new found blogging hobby just as quickly as I found it...let me just say that we have been all over the great state of North Carolina and I have gone through 2 camera's since my last entry. We truly have been living it up Conley style this summer and haven't stopped to take a breath. Here is a little update on some of our recent adventures.

Mid-June the whole family took a trip to the raging metropolis of Greensboro, NC for 3 days of non-stop fun. Jaime was in a CPA conference (Note: Pocket protectors WERE required at this Accountant Lalapoloza) and the boys and I decided to see what the Emerald City had to offer. As it turns out there is way more to do in Greensboro then one may have expected. We hit up a water park our first day there and Josiah surprised us at how brave he was sliding down the water slides all by himself! It was so much fun and I am glad Jaime was able to share this with us.

While Jaime worked the next two days Josiah, Oliver and I hit up the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro with my cousin Maggie. In spite of the raging temperatures we still had an awesome time. The boys rode a carousal, saw Dora in 4-d and even caught a glimpse of an animal or two. I am pretty sure the polar bear had passed away from heat exhaustion but Josiah was still thrilled to see him never the less.

It is important to note that while in Greensboro we stayed at a Ho- TELL. That's right a hotel. Ask Josiah and he can tell you all about it. I think if it were up to him he would pack his bags and move asap. They had free breakfast, a pool, a big TV in his room, a little dispenser that shot out Goldfish in the lobby and an all glass elevator. Why wouldn't we live at the hotel?

Upon returning to Asheville and convincing Josiah that our house really wasn't so bad we continued our summer fun by visiting Camp Mishemokwa with the JCC. What a blast! With all of our awesome adventures this summer I can honestly say this has been our best day yet. Josiah learned to jump off the diving board solo and even went down a super fast water slide. Ollie and I had quality time in the hot tub and we all feasted on a delicious catered lunch. The Jews sure know how to party. Mozeltoff!After a great weekend at the camp, the good times continued bright and early Monday morning when my friend Brooke and I loaded up her daughter Taylor and the boys and headed to Wrightsville Beach for 4 days of sand, surf and sun. The kiddos had too much fun and even little Oliver enjoyed learning a thing or two from the big kids.

We hit up the big beach, the little beach-where I threw my little boy of the dock and made some unforgettable memories-, braved the bouncy houses at Monkey Joes and were even able to visit Mimi and Grandad for a swim in their pool. Brooke and I partied like rockstars (Well... as much as two exhausted moms, who have to wake up at 6am, can party) every night after the kids went to bed and laughed until it hurt. A great time was had by all and we were sad to see it end.

Thankfully our spirits were lifted when we returned home to an action packed Fourth of July weekend. Complete with; red white and blue waffles, a trip to the Biltmore, a parade, fireworks, a pool party, a birthday party and Shindig on the Green.

With almost two more months left of summer I don't expect the Conley Crew to slow down any, at least I hope we don't, I am having the time of my life! And while the blog posts may suffer in quantity, given all of our material, you can rest assure that they will not lack in quailty. Until next time... try and grab some sunshine!