Family Update

I am running in a 10k next Saturday.  It will be the longest run/race I have ever done.  Today I felt fantastic running 4 miles.  It helps that Mark stayed home with the kids.  Running while pushing a full double jogging stroller is a lot harder!  Muse, Walk Off the Earth, and Caravan Palace (music) kept me smiling and singing the whole way.  I became instant friends with all the other joggers outside.  It was a beautiful run.  I'm also trying to pack our house and get organized for our big move to Indiana (and my month-long vacation to Portland the day after we move).  That, on top of taking care of 3 kids sucks up most of my time.  Hence, I just don't blog much anymore.

Mark is finishing up his first year of residency.  He's been able to do some quality improvement projects with the hospital that incorporate his love for computer programming.  Last week he won first place and $200 for his oral presentation of the project, competing against other residents.  He has been networking with other doctors-turned computer programmers and is really excited for the possibilities out there for him.  He finishes up (after working 21 days straight in a row) at the end of June and will join us in Seattle to visit his brother.

Noah is getting ready for his spring kindergarten performance.  When I'm not paying attention, he will starting singing and dancing and even trying to teach Maren the performance.  As soon as I pay attention, he throws a fit and stops performing, so I just have to be sneaky.  (I know I did the same thing to my parents when I was a kid!)  This kid has so much going on in his head, it's really hard to keep up.  He's smart, curious, talented, and is really good at making friends, but he's also volatile and I often feel like I'm constantly tiptoeing around him so he doesn't get set off.  Do any of you other moms out there feel like this with your kindergartener?

Maren, though sometimes a little sassy, is sweet and fiercely independent.  The best way to get her to do something is to threaten to do it for her.  A couple weeks ago at the library, we went to story time.  I told her we were going home after story time to eat lunch.  We usually stay and play afterwards so she was a little bummed.  After story time, she ran out to the play area (I thought) while I talked to the librarian for a minute.  Then I checked out my stack of books and buckled Elise into the carseat.  I went to the children's area to get Maren and couldn't find her.  I decided to ask the librarian and then someone came running up to me to ask what my car looked like.  Apparently, Maren remembered we were going home after story time and ran out of the library, crossed the parking lot, and got into the car and was waiting for me for 5+ minutes.  I about had a heart attack.  Fortunately she was fine and Mark and I had a good (shaky) laugh about it later that night.  She's so cuddly which is fun--Noah is never and has never been cuddly unless he is really sick.  Maren will come and rub my back and then ask me if it feels better now.  She loves to say "I'm supa hungry." or "I'm supa tired."  She calls lobsters/crabs "Crabsters." She runs around singing a mixture of a spoon full of sugar, I love to see the temple, and other nursery songs with random "Noah words" mixed in (ie: Boba fett, Pikachu, Skylander Giants characters, etc). Often she says things like "I don't like this house anymore.  Did you buy a new house momma?  Thank you momma.  oh, I love that house."

Elise still has no teeth.  she turns 1 in a month.  She has had 2 hair cuts and her hair is still ridiculously long.  She's standing and starting to take little side steps.  She could eat all day long.  She loves to blow raspberries and stick her tongue out of her mouth.  I've never had such a bubbly kid.  She will also say mamamama and sometimes dada.  But I swear her first word was "iPad."

Sorry for the Christmas card-type post!  We got some photos done the other day.  They turned out great.  Check them out here is you're interested: http://www.schwallierphoto.com/People/Broadbent-Family/29222724_nwnVZh#!i=2490373820&k=hJmFm9F

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