8 miles, going on 9

Quick training update:
Overall, we are doing well. Ben has struggled with numbness in his feet, and I with my stomach after extended workouts, but after comparing notes with others, we are becoming resigned to the fact that these are normal things we'll have to just work through to overcome in our training. I'll spare you the much worse side effects of long-distance running that some people have warned us about. Let's just say our prayer life is being strengthened by this process...a serendipitous by-product!

This weekend, my parents will be in town, so Marin will get to play with them while Ben and I shoot for 9 miles--a full loop around Whiterock Lake. It's really beautiful out there, and the weather last Saturday gave just a hint of how nice it's going to be this fall.

Then, after a few hours of recovery time, we get to go to the first college football game ever to be played at the new Cowboys Stadium. Oh, did I mention it's OU vs. BYU? Can't WAIT!!! (Ben, the quintessential Texan is being such a good sport. We may even be able to persuade him to wear something red ;)

A girl after my own heart

While I was busy with some chores this morning, Marin decided to pull some new clothes out of her dresser, so she was toddling around with a new pair of socks (still in the package) in her hands. Later, when I was cleaning up the wreckage, I didn't see the socks anywhere, so I was looking in cabinets, trash cans, etc., but I couldn't find them, so I gave up. Later, I was gathering up the laundry to start a load, and there were the little socks...in her laundry hamper! She's learning early!

I've realized there aren't nearly enough pictures of her on here, so here are a couple of my recent faves. I'll do better, I promise!

Meet our Honored Heroes

Through our training, we seek to honor and uplift all of those impacted by leukemia & related blood cancers. There are two types of honored heroes, those we run "in honor of," who are currently battling a disease, and those we run "in memory of." We personally have one of each, so we wanted to share these two very special people with you.

We run in memory of my Grandma, Helen Lewis--my Dad's mother. I have many special memories of Grandma Helen. I remember her picking us girls up from school, bringing us home, and making us snacks. One day, she was making us PB&J sandwiches, and she told us she just loved that certain kind of bread, to which one of us replied, "Well, why don't you marry it?" So, she proceeded to tuck the loaf of bread under her arm and hum the bridal procession as she marched across the kitchen! We thought that was just hilarious! She made the BEST Angel Food cake in the world, and she loved yellow roses.

She passed away the week I turned 7, and because we were young, my sisters and I weren't really privy to much of what was going on. I've enjoyed learning more about Grandma since taking on this challenge. She fought Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, the most prevalent form, which occurs predominantly after the age of 55. Today (24 years later) it is one of the most treatable types of Leukemia, thanks to research funded by the likes of LLS.

We run in honor of 12-year old Wade Pierce. He is a 6th grader at Canton Middle School in Canton, OK, where my mom teaches. Upon returning to school from summer vacation a few weeks ago, Mom learned that Wade would not be back for school this semester. He had been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the most common type of childhood leukemia, and since "ALL" is a rapidly progressive cancer, he was already undergoing treatment.

Since Ben and I had just recently enlisted with Team In Training at the time that Mom learned about Wade's diagnosis, we wanted to honor him as our living inspiration to persevere. Mom told me that Wade visited his friends and teachers at school the other day, and that by the end of his visit, he was exhausted. Please pray for his treatment, that the chemo will reach exactly the right cells and result in an improved prognosis quickly.

If you are able to help with any amount of donation to LLS, Ben has put a hyperlink at the top right of this page - click on the Team in Training Logo to go to our Team page. We feel so fulfilled, knowing we're helping to make even a small difference in the quality of life for these patients and their families. For more info on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, visit www.lls.org

Update

Ok, fun news first. Marin is now walking more than she is crawling! Can't believe she's a toddler. Woah!

We are almost 20% of the way to our $5,000 fundraising goal, and we are in week 4 of 19 total in the training process. Thank you all for your donations to support our cause. You are due much credit for making a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families. We have learned so much about blood cancers since enlisting with Team In Training. I'll soon post some info on our honored heroes, Helen Lewis (my Grandma), and a 6th-grade leukemia patient, Wade Pierce.

Training update: Our dear friends, the Browns kept Marin on Saturday morning, so Ben and I were both able to go run with the team this week. I'm not gonna lie...we were both in bad moods on our drive to the course. Ben was struggling with a sore knee, and I was just discouraged, in general. But we felt much better after completing 6 miles, and neither of us has any residual aches or pains! Yay! 8 miles next week...

6 Miles calls for teamwork...

Last weekend, our training schedule called for 6 miles. Every Saturday morning, our Team In Training group meets early to run the scheduled miles. Well, we knew when we first signed up that we wouldn't be able to both go to every Saturday thing, since that would mean we'd have to have someone to watch Marin really early every Saturday. So, last weekend was my turn to go with the team while Ben stayed with Marin, and then he would run his miles on Sunday.

Now, it seems obvious who would have the more difficult task, right? Running 6 miles for the first time ever, vs. keeping up with Marin? But I know better, because I endeavor to keep up with Marin 5 days a week, and it's not a walk in the park by any means! She's not quite walking yet, but she is everywhere and into everything. Here's a picture of one of their activities from Saturday morning.

Anyway, I completed the 6 miles with great appreciation for Ben letting me go with the team, and then on Sunday morning, he ran his on his own. And to me, that would be a lot more difficult than with the team to help encourage and pace you. Great job, Ben! So far, God has answered our prayers about staying healthy with no injuries!

4 mile run in the Texas Hill Country

August 6-8, we got to go on our first weekend getaway as a couple since Marin was born. We met up with our good friends, Bruce & Katy, and Brian & Nichole. We had been planning it well before we signed up for the marathon, so we weren't going to change our plans because of training. Instead, we got up before sunrise that Saturday and ran our scheduled 4 miles together.

We were staying at a beautiful little cottage on the outskirts of a little German town, Fredericksburg, TX. Our run was quite scenic, including the Pedernales River, several beautiful ranch homes, and a herd of alpacas who couldn't stop staring at us--so funny!

Here's the web address for info on the place we stayed. We highly recommend it!
www.absolutecharm.com/FrancscnMain.html

Help us save lives!

We are training to run the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 13. At the same time, we're working to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Our efforts are in memory of Janet's Grandma Helen, who lost the fight with leukemia 24 years ago at the age of 68. Her diagnosis--Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia--is now one of the most treatable types of blood cancer.

LLS is in its 60th year of raising funds for research to find a cure to leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other types of blood cancers.

If you are able and willing to help us meet our goal of raising $5,000 for the cause, please CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS POST, "Help us save lives" which will link you to our fundraising site. Our goal is to have $1,700 raised by September 14!

We'll try to update regularly with pics and commentary about our training progress.

And, we're back!

So--I'm not the most faithful of bloggers. Among the details of life in general, the ol' blog has become rusty.

Some of you may have found it humorous that in April we enabled feedburner so that you could be notified when we updated the blog, and then proceeded to not update! Good ol' Ben, keeping us on the cutting edge of technology. Too bad my follow-through is lacking. I guess the good part of that is we're not guilty of becoming another bit of junk-email for you!

So, what's new? Marin continues to grow and thrive and bless us every day with something new. We have undertaken a challenge to train for the Dallas Whiterock Marathon with Team In Training and raise funds for its sponsor organization, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. More on that to come.

I aspire to do a better job on updates, especially as we progress through our training, and I'll leave it at that!

You can now subscribe to our blog!

We finally added a feedburner to our blog. You can subscribe and receive updates as we post them. This prevents us from having to send a mass email which could cause us to get flagged by spam cops.

.......and yes, we know we haven't been good about updating the blog :( sorry! Maybe someday some tech whiz will find a way to combine Linkedin, myspace, facebook and blogspot :)

New Pics

Marin is 12 weeks old this week, and she has come into her prime as far as bath time is concerned! She loves it, just kicking and splashing so vigorously that she almost shimmies right out of her little bath caddy!

She's Daddy's little water bug!

"She's Perfect"

Sick of baby pics yet? Get used to it, 'cause she's way more cute than we are! Just to update on our 2 month Dr. visit, I had underestimated her weight by about a pound...she's now 10 lbs., 10 oz. Healthy girl! She's moved up in the percentiles in all measures, and upon checking her out, Dr. Blair said, "She's perfect!" We like perfect!

We're just working on the ol' sleep patterns now...

Marin's First Toy

At about 7 weeks, Marin clenched her first toy. Here's a video of the momentous occasion...Well, I tried to post the video myself, and it took an UNREASONABLY long time. Have to wait for Ben's tech support on this one, sorry! Here's a picture, anyway.

Marin Turns 2 Months Old

Today is Marin's two-month-old birthday! As you can tell from the lack of blog posts, we've been a little busy figuring out this new and different world. We are so thankful for Marin, her health, and that she seems to be "clicking right along," as her 'Uncle' Clint says.

We go to the doctor for her 2 month visit tomorrow (boo shots!). By the looks of her, she is a good eater, and we suspect she'll weigh in around 9.5 lbs. or so, up a couple pounds from her birth weight. She has also grown in length by a couple inches.

She has rolled over, she's cooing and smiling more now, and just the other day, she held her first toy. I'll see if we can get some videos up soon.

Also, hopefully, we'll soon post baby pics of both of us and a survey to see who you all think she looks more like.

Here are just a few pictures of our early weeks:

7 weeks old and hammin' it up




At church in Cuero, TX the weekend of Great Granddaddy's 80th Birthday


Daddy - workin' his magic


Mom & Marin week two - a little groggy!

Marin's first Fourth of July

Marin had a great time during her "first fourth." As you can see from this picture, she is very protective of her cousin Reese. Marin finally put a stop to flash photography.Reese also decided to welcome her cousin Marin into the world with her own rendition of "Jesus Loves Me."
Here's the link to the video of Reese singing to Marin:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bjamin.wheeler/2008MarinsFirstJuly4th/photo?authkey=jQoYroQ9aDY#5219955225768245570

MARIN REED WHEELER IS HERE!!!!!!!!

Marin Reed Wheeler was born on 6/12/08 at 8:35 pm. She's a healthy 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and she's 20.5 inches long. Janet and Marin are both doing well.



Here is a video of Janet seeing Marin for the first time.





Here are a couple of pictures of Janet meeting Marin for the first time.

We're at the hospital!

We just arrived at the hospital to begin the process of bringing Marin into this world. Janet is doing well and our room is very comfortable. Janet's parents took this picture a few minutes ago as we left for the hospital.

39 Weeks and Counting

Now I'm realizing how pitiful the early pics I posted of my pregnant self were! I'm definitely feeling all 39 weeks by now. We are so ready and so excited for her arrival! The updated due date is Wed, 6/11. We'll let you know when she's here!

Baby Showers

We were very blessed with two wonderful baby showers, thrown by our dear friends! Here are a couple of pics...

Marin at 37 weeks

Here are a couple of the 3-D pics of Marin that we got at 37 weeks.

Better Late Than Never...

Ok, so it's been awhile since I last posted, and so many things have happened. Our remodel was completed in April. Since we had to basically move out for awhile, that's what I blame for the blog derailment. But it was SO worth the inconvenience...we are really enjoying our practically new home. Here, I'll post some before/after pics of the house:
Living Room Before:

Living Room After:

Master Bath Before:

Master Bath After:

Den Before:

Den/Office After:

Master Bedroom Before:

Master Bedroom After: