making it through Mono

Natalie all dressed up (crazy!) to cheer me on at the half marathon last month. I just adore this girl! :)

 

Test results came back and unfortunately Natalie's got Mono. I'm glad that we at least know what it is, but still, that word kind of scares me. My brother got Mono his freshman year of college and he was so sick for so long (and it took such a toll on his body) that he couldn't even try out to be the kicker for his college's football team because he was just so weak. However, since Natalie is quite a bit younger than Jeremy was when he got it, it seems like she's getting through it much more quickly.

We went to the lake yesterday so that the boys could get some energy out (Natalie hung out with me on the lawn) and it was so nice to just get out of the house and in the fresh air for a bit. Feels like we've been stuck "resting" for so long. Then last night when Jeff got home he decided to get his work out in and it inspired me to go for a quick run while he was lifting weights. I put Fischer in the stroller and off we went. We did four miles (well Fischer didn't really do anything except point out all the animals we saw along the way and make their noises but still...), which is not a "long" run at all anymore, so I decided to push it and try to go a little faster than normal. My first mile was a 7:55 pace (!!!) and the next mile my average was 8:15 pace (which is still pretty quick for me!) and all four ended up being at about an 8:50 pace (I definitely slowed down as I went along, but still!). I was happy with that! :)

Today is, you guessed it, resting some more for Natalie. Luckily it's cloudy out and not too hot (not the 101 degree weather we had on Monday! Yuck!) so it doesn't feel miserable just hanging out. In fact, this weather gets me excited for the fall!

Getting through this week hasn't been too bad because Jeff and I are going away this weekend for our anniversary and I'm unbelievably excited! I have no idea what we're doing (he won't tell me!) which makes it even better! I'm so thankful that my parents offered to have the kids for the weekend so we could get away. They love our kids more than they love me so much and we soooooo appreciate how involved they are!

Oh, and just because, here's a picture of Carter and Jack yesterday morning (at 6:40!) heading outside to play. I seriously love raising kids in the country (and not just because we can shoo them outside in the early morning hours and not worry that they're waking the whole neighborhood). ;)