The countdown is on!

17 hours until the big run!

That's right ladies and gentlemen I have made it to the 5k I spoke about here! I know I have been a blog slacker but life has been CRAZY and I promise to fill y'all in soon.

On to the important part... tomorrow at 7am sharp I will be participating in my very first 5k. Now I know a 5k isn't something to go out and celebrate about or anything but for me it is HUGE. I don't run, I just don't but I think I may start to. At first I just wanted to be able to say that I ran a 5k, you know a bucket list type thing but now I actually think I am starting to like it.

I explained to Brett last night that when I run it is about ME. It's not about being a mommy, a wife, an Operations Coordinator, I am just ME. No phone calls, emails, crying baby, I just have ME time to clear my head. I feel refreshed and new after I run, I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride, I FEEL GOOD! We all know a happy Mom makes a happy home so I think this running is a good thing all around.

My personal goal is to run the whole 5k under 30 minutes. I have done a few practice runs and it looks like that should be obtainable. Brett is confident that I will make the top 10 but we shall see, I hate to set myself up for failure. If I do make the top 10 though I think I deserve something special. :)

Wish me luck blog readers!

I apologize!

Boooo for computer viruses! My home laptop got hit with a NASTY virus and has been out of order for almost a month but no worries we are now back in business!

There have been a lot of new adventures in the Barker household since I last posted so I promise to get the blog caught up ASAP!

Birthday Party pictures

The KING for the day!

The decor made by yours truly

My little kings throne

The food (my awesome sister in law made the cake!)

Some of the loot

The company

Opening gifts

Little guys first quad! :) Can't wait to take it up to the property this summer!

Cake time

(Chaz wouldn't wear his crown so I figured I would. It compliments my eyes, right?)

Cleaning up with Granny!

An attempt at a family photo! Awwwww

All in all it was a GREAT day! The company was great and I loved seeing Chaz interact with everyone. He was such a HAPPY and BLESSED boy that day.

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it!

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!

The day I went into labor 5w2ds early

Born February 7th 2009 at 10:01 am 4lbs 9oz and 17in long

February 7th 2010 1 YEAR OLD!

Today was much easier than I had anticipated but I still can't believe that my baby is a year old!

He is truly a dream come true and means more to me than he will ever understand!

Happy Birthday Chaz!

Momma and Papa love you!

(ps more pictures including party pictures coming soon)

From the HEART of a Mother!

Chaz has become quite the sleep champ recently. Not only does he sleep 9+ hours but he also puts himself to sleep at night. I will usually rock him a bit while I sing or tell him a story and then I lay him in his crib awake and he falls asleep without a peep BUT not tonight. No, tonight I rocked and rocked and rocked him until he was fast asleep... in fact I rocked him long after that. I sat there in the pure quietness listening to him breath, feeling his heart beating on my chest and staring into those beautiful, drowsy, brown eyes.

He stared right back at me, deep into my soul! As we sat there with nothing but each other I wondered what he thinks when he looks at me like that. I wonder if he looks at me and feels the overwhelming feeling of love like I do when I look at him. If he knows who I am and that I will always be at his side.

I sat there looking at this amazing gift from God and thanked him a million times over for sending him to me. I cried tears of happiness and tears of sadness, hell I even laughed a little bit. I whispered to my son that he would always be my baby no matter how old he gets or where life takes him.

This past year has gone by too fast. Oh, what I would give to hit rewind and replay it all over again!

My 'baby' boy will be 1 in a little less than 12 hours and I am honestly not sure how to take it. I want to go back to the first time I held his tiny body in my arms or the first time he smiled at me. I want to go back to the excitement of watching him crawl for the first time and the nervousness of his first wobbly steps. At the same time I want to freeze him right where he is because he is at such a fun point but then I can't wait for the future... teaching him how to ride a bike, drive a car and meeting the woman he will one day call his wife.

I have big dreams for this little boy! He has given me a gift that has not monetary value.... THE GIFT OF AMAZINGLY UNCONDITIONAL, EVER LASTING LOVE!

Chaz Christopher you are my heart, my soul, MY EVERYTHING!

Let the training begin!

I have decided to run in the 1oth Annual Ogden Marathon 5K on May 15th!

I have roughly 100 days, if I calculated correct, so training begins Monday! I plan on easing into it since I am not much of a runner. Sure, I ran a lot when I was a gymnast but heck that was what seems like centuries ago!

I am in the process of convincing Brett to run the 5k with me so we will see how that goes. If any of my local readers are interested in joining me, let me know! I would love to have a training buddy and some one to run with the day of the event!

I feel like by putting it out into 'blogger world' it makes it a real deal, it's like I really can't flake out now or I never will be able to show my face on my blog again, ha!

So wish me luck! I will be sure to update with my training progress! :)

P.S. I blame my good friend Karen for this crazy idea. She is also getting ready to train for one in her area and I gave into diving into the experience with her. Karen if I die a painful death due to this I blame you ::smooches::

One Day at a Time blog

I recently became a contributor to this blog, One Day at a Time. You can go HERE to read how the blog works.

A wonderful friend of mine came up with the idea and with lots of suggestions from our 'circle of friends' the blog was born.

I love seeing every ones perspective of the topic of the week and learning more and more about photography while being part of this blog.

I thought I would pass this along so that my readers can enjoy our photos as well. So check it out and vote for your favorite picture every week (voting takes place on Thursdays after everyone has shared their pic).

Enjoy!