Timmy Turns 2!

We have all had an exciting month. On October 10, Timmy turned 2 years old! It is hard to believe that it was two years ago that we finally got to meet our little angel after nine months of anticipation! He has been such a joy in our lives for the past two years. Tim and I are very grateful to have been blessed with such a fun, sweet, cute little boy to share our hearts with.

For Timmy's birthday, we plan to celebrate a little late with a party at the local gymnastics center. IN the meantime, Tim, Timmy and I celebrated on October 10^th by attending a playgroup. At the playgroup, the local firefighters came to display their truck, equipment and uniforms. Timmy enjoyed getting to honk the horn of the fire truck, play with the hose and see how the firefighters put on all of their equipment. After all of this excitement, we went home to open a few presents. He had a great time opening his farm set from his grandparents and playing on his new truck from Mom and Dad.

Tim has been busy with his command this month. He finally received all of the Soldiers that comprise a typical tank company. They also officially changed their mission and started rebuilding into a regular Armor company. This means that they have been busy rebuilding, training, receiving personnel and signing for equipment. Tim has done a great job with taking this in stride, and has found a way to balance family time and work.

My news this month is that I finally ran my big race, the Army Ten Miler. I ran as a part of the Fort Riley Women's Team, which I have been training with since July. I was thrilled to finally get the chance to run, and also take a break from training after the race. I didn't quite hit my target time, but I did finish well enough to be part of the scoring team. I was happy to be able to help out the team effort. I was thrilled to have my parents come out to Washington, DC to visit for the weekend and to watch the race. I was really appreciative of their support, especially when I saw them at the finish line, cheering me on when I literally had nothing left.

Aside from the thrill of finishing a race with over 30,000 runners, participating in the Army Ten Miler took on additional meaning for me. Since April, running has been an outlet for me to channel my grief into something that has been positive towards my physical and emotional healing. I started running about one week after Emma died and I have been running with a purpose ever since. My goal was to make the Fort Riley Team. Spending the weekend in Washington, DC to run with the team was a meaningful experience for me. To maintain my focus throughout the weekend, I wore the necklace that Sherry Franklin gave me to remember Emma. I wore the necklace when I ran the race to commemorate my reason for running. All in all, it was a powerful experience.