Seahorses, Saturday, and Snuggles

The Oklahoma Aquarium hosts a 5k, 10k, and half-marathon to raise money for their exhibits and educational programs.  Since moving here I have wanted to run one of the races.  When I saw this year’s shirt with a seahorse crossing the finish line, I knew I had to do it!  Shortly after Carter’s birth, I told Ty I wanted to do it.  

Then the corporation Ty’s company is a part of started a charity competition for the month of April.  Each company earns points by volunteering in the community.  They also receive points for running races for charity.  Ty decided he wanted to run a race every weekend and this was one he wanted to run.

We had a dilemma, no strollers allowed on the course and both of us wanted to run.  Ty told me I could do it because I’d wanted to for so long.  But then we found out the 5k was at 7:15 and the 10k was at 8:15.  If we ran different races we could both run so I decided I would do the 10k.  I’ve only been back to running for about 2 and a half months and really baby stepped into longer distances, so I have only run more than 4 miles twice.  I knew it might not be pretty, but my co-teacher said it best, “So you’re taking one for the team”.  Yes, I guess so!

Then my next concern arose.  Carter normally wakes up and eats at 7am and then eats again around 8:30 or 9.  I would have to wake him up to feed him before we left for Ty’s ridiculously early 7:15 start time and then I guessed try to feed him again before my race.  

 

Ready to go!  The left shows his face the first time I took a picture and the right is his face from the 2nd picture.

Instead we ended up with another instance where it seemed as though Carter planned his day around what was most convenient for us.  I’m telling you, this baby of ours is an angel!  He slept all night, no 2 am feeding, no 3 am feeding, no 5 am feeding, nada, nothing.  The boy slept from 8:30pm to 6:00am straight through.  The closest he has gotten in the past was sleeping until 5 am.  Of course I woke up at 5 am in pain and couldn’t go back to sleep.  So I ended up getting up to pump at 5:30 which worked out perfectly because I was dressed and ready to go when Carter woke up at 6.  

Ready to spectate some races!

Carter was awake the entire time during Ty’s race and fell asleep right after Ty finished.  As my race start approached I was wavering, should I wake Carter up to feed him?  I leaned into the stroller and kissed him, but he didn’t wake up.  We decided we would let him sleep.  Ty said he woke up shortly after the race started and happily bounced around in the stroller as Ty walked him on the grass.  After I finished he was asleep again and slept through the awards ceremony.

When we got home he woke up as a hungry, hungry hippo!  I fed him and Ty fed us.  He made eggs and sausage with toast.  I dressed Carter in some adorable overalls, we played for a while, and I told Ty when Carter took his afternoon nap I was going to lay down in bed with him because I was worn out.  I feel like I ran a half-marathon, not a 10k!  I guess that’s what happens when you run a race distance you didn’t train for!  Ty said he would nap with us too because he had a headache.  

Carter’s eyes got heavy and we rushed off to bed.  I put Carter in the middle of the bed on top of the covers and sank down next to him.  I laid on my side with my lips grazing the top of his head.  How I’ve missed that since I went back to work.  Ty came in and got in bed with us for a wonderful family nap/snuggle time!  I napped for about 45 glorious minutes and they are still asleep, so I decided to type up a post while they continue to nap.  Carter woke up to eat and then went back to sleep across my tummy.  There is absolutely nothing better than some Saturday snuggles with my two loves!

Look for a race recap on Monday for Move It Monday!  Interested in this race?  Check out the race website here.