Happy 7th Birthday CJ!

jump, originally uploaded by cjconmom.

I am not sure how it all happened. As much as I try to understand it I can't.

7 years ago today I gave birth to the little boy who completed me in more ways then I ever imagined.

Through all of the past crazy week I have been remembering the days before I had him. My due date was May 23rd. I was a mess. It was my first and I had no idea what to expect. On my due date I ripped up an entire garden in our house, before the sun even came up. I went to appointment after appointment where I was convinced CJ's feet were in my mouth he was so big. On May 29th, I decided that I would being "props" to help them understand just how big CJ was going to be and Chris came with me to my last appointment. They decided to induce me as soon as they saw him.

I remember the quiet ride to the hospital when both of us were so nervous neither of us knew what to say. I remember checking in, the 1000 and one questions, the contractions....all like they were yesterday.

I remember the car ride home, driving 30 mph all the way home, as I sat in the back seat just looking at him in his car seat not yet believing he was actually MINE. I remember exactly what he was wearing...the blue stripped sleeper covered in every blanket I think everyone gave me before I had him with the matching "Bring me Home" hat from Old Navy that even as a 0-3 months, he was swimming in it.

I remember those first few nights wondering how I was going to make it through them. I remember thinking as much as everyone told me about being a mother, nothing can compare you to those first few weeks. I remember walking into his room even when he was sleeping 100 times a day just to make sure he was still in there and his chest was still going up and down with every breath. He couldn't be mine....I was convinced he was only on loan..

He was amazing. After all of my fertility issues, I now know just what a miracle CJ really is.

Today, he turns 7. He no longer needs a car seat. He reads. He writes. He tells me he loves me 10 times a day. I am not sure how it happened. 7 years ago I gave birth to a miracle and today is the most loving, caring, passionate and intelligent little boy I know.

Yesterday as I dropped him off at school after his appointment I stayed for an assembly for a few minutes and walked him back to his classroom with all of his classmates. He held my hand the entire way down the hall and I did everything in my power to hold back the tears because even at 7 he loves me so much he is not embarrassed to hold my hand and kiss me goodbye when I leave.

Anyway, it has been the best 7 years of my life and I am so proud to call CJ mine. I don't know where the time went. I always say that I wish I had slowed down to enjoyed it more. It all went by WAY too fast.

Happy 7th Birthday CJ!!

.CJ didn't get in.

Well, we didn't get the letter home yesterday like the other kids got who were picked to play an instrument in the Suzuki string program at school next year.

We didn't get the e-mail either today.

Why am I so devastated?

Because for 2 weeks he got all upset every night worrying about the teacher not getting his "application" form that I turned in the day after it came home. So, after 2 weeks I went in to see the string teacher last week to confirm she got it and she said she did and that she was 99.9% sure he got in.

Everyone thinks I joke when I say I have the worst luck. I don't care what the percentage is, it never applies to me.

I got the .1%.

CJ didn't get in.

There will be more disappointments in life. He will get cut from teams. He won't make all of the travel teams. All of these are good lessons.

I just have a feeling that this one is going to devastate him. I can't tell you how excited he has been since talking with the string teacher last week about playing. Each day this week he has come home sad because she told him the letter would come this week and he had not received it yet.

He won't be getting a letter.

I am sure I will have to tell him tomorrow and maybe his party this weekend will help him forget about it. :)

The psycho mother in me did just e-mail the teacher and let her know that if anyone drops out of the program, CJ would still love to participate. Maybe, just maybe someone will drop out, but I won't count on it.

.meanest mother in the world.

I have come to learn that when your kids say you are the "meanest mom in the world" that that means you are doing a good job.

Last night I was that and I also was making Connor sad.

Connor was being nothing but defiant.

So after he came home from school I put him right in his room. I have never completely believed in the "minute for every year" rule, and yesterday was no different. Connor walked in the door at 3:25 and went to his room. There are no toys in their rooms (remember I am a mean mom?). We took them out a few years ago because my thought on it was that sending them to a room full of toys as a punishment is not a punishment. They have books in there and when they are in their rooms that is what they are allowed to do.

I was so angry yesterday that I let Connor out of his room around 5. Which means he is 95 years old. :) Both boys were watching TV and then one of their friends came to the door. I let CJ go outside and play but told Connor he had to stay inside because of the choices he made at school.

Mean.

So I am working around the house getting ready for the carpet cleaners that are coming today and I assume he is watching TV. He isn't. I go to look for him and he is outside almost in full hockey goalie gear...just MINUTES after telling him he couldn't and MINUTES after he just spent 95 minutes in his room. See what I am saying?

So back to his room.

Chris gets home and I am done. I mean I am at my cracking point. Work is crazy, my photography business is crazy, end of school, baseball, softball, you name it...I couldn't take much more. So I tell Chris to deal with him.

He talks to him and tells him to take off the rest of the gear he still had on and put it back on the shelves in the garage. He goes outside and Chris and I are sitting there talking about the day and we see Connor RUN across the back of the backyard!!!

What the......????

So, I flip. It was right around 6:00. Connor went to his room for the night. No dinner. No nothing. Just bedtime. We ate, I went up to kiss him goodnight (I always do this...even when I am angry...you just never know) at by 6:45 or so he was sound asleep. For real.

That is why he is so hard. He doesn't give a crap. At least he got a good nights rest.

So last night after American Idol was over I was talking to Shannon for a while about all of this and what to do and she suggested having him write a letter to Mrs. Condidorio apologizing for his behavior. Shannon and I shared our stories of how we used to have to write things all of the time as kids and so I thought I would try it.

I wrote down what I wanted him to write, made it nice a long, and had it ready for him this morning.

I told him he had to write a letter saying sorry for not following the classroom rules yesterday.

Guess what? He was SO excited about it.

Puke.

See???

Nothing is a punishment for him. Shannon said you have to figure out what bothers him. I told her I thought food would. I sent him to bed without dinner last night (and I had fresh baked rolls which he loves too!), he didn't care about that either.

The letter cracks me up though. It says -

"Mrs. Condidorio -

I am sorry I did not follow classroom rules yesterday.

I will do my best to follow classroom rules today.

Connor."

The arrow tells Mrs. Condidorio that there is more writing on the other side. The person is Mrs. Condidorio with the pointer next to the calendar. The squares are the shapes that they sit on during circle time. I asked him where he was and he said that all of the kids were already working at their "centers".

I can't win.

Got to love him though. Hopefully one day these traits will pay off. In the mean time he is destined to give his mother lots of gray hairs.

Yeahhhhhh Baby! David Cook Rocks!!

SOOOO excited. American finally got it right...David Cook, the rocker, is the American Idol!

I love him. His voice is amazing and honestly how can't you like him as a person? He has always been respectful. He has been emotional. He has been through hell in back with his brother Adam. His brothers initials "AC" have been on his guitar all season. You can watch more about it here -



Really though after everything what I have experienced in the past year with Christy, watching this story about his brother actually just pushes me that much more to do whatever I can do to find a cure for cancer. Adam Cook, like so many that fight this diesease, is too young to be taken from this world.

I am so glad that Adam made it to a show and last night as David Cook cried when he won, you just KNOW who he was thinking about. He won last night for his brother.

I lost it when they showed his other brother in the audience after he sang his last song and he looked into the camera and said "That is my brother." That is the bond brothers have. My boys have it. One day I am sure they will make each other proud the way David Cook has made his brothers proud.

Anyway...I am so excited he won. I needed something good to happen yesterday!!

.you know your kid is a challenge....

You KNOW your kid is a challenge when the teacher types up and makes copies of a daily "report" that goes home.



Is it wrong that I looked at this again this morning and had to just laugh at it? I guess you have to laugh as a mother. He was so proud when he came home yesterday and the top one was circled yesterday. Mommy was happy too.

I have always said that the real test will be what he does with the sheet of paper when the top one ISN'T circled. Jamie (Christy's husband, Celia's Dad) does pickup everyday so I know that his teacher is using this tool to communicate.

Well, as I am typing this post Connor came home from school and handed me his slip for the day. Not good. He walked to the front door and handed the slip to be and instantly started crying. I am not laughing and more...actually I would like to cry.

"Connor did not follow our classroom rules today."

I swear...I can't get Connor to be good. I have tried EVERYTHING. He doesn't follow rules. He poops his pants. He fights me every step of the way; every where I go, everything I try to do. I have such mixed feelings about sending him to Kindergarten next year. Part of me is sad my baby is going to school, part of me is thrilled that I will get a break from him (yes, all mothers need breaks, I just admit it), and part of me is scared that this is what is going to happen. I can't take these notes home everyday. I will crack. I will.

I need a drink. Happy Hour anyone??

On to the next topic before I go and try to talk to Connor...

This is why shopping for girls is so much fun. They would never have anything like this for a boy!



A Barbie that wants to be a Baby Photographer??? It even has props and a camera on a tripod! So funny...of course I had to get it for Christy's daughter for her birthday. Every kid needs Photographer Barbie!

Off to pour a stiff one.

.chewy sweet tarts?

Seriously....when is the last time you have had a chewy sweet tart?? I didn't know they still made them! They are MUCH smaller then they used to be....of course. When I was a kid they hardly fit in my mouth...or maybe my mouth got bigger? That I KNOW happened.

Anyway...you know it is a bad day when you get a box of baby formula in the mail. It is so strange how things happen in my life. I have been a bit down the last couple of days because it seems like everywhere I go people are getting pregnant...most of them are not trying. On flickr, the photography community I just love, I swear EVERYONE is pregnant. I am at peace with being done, I am. It is just the fact that people take getting pregnant for granted so much and sometimes you just wish people would be more sensitive about their comments. Believe me, not EVERYONE can get pregnant just by "drinking the water."

Anyway, today I go to get my mail and I have this box of formula in there. I must have registered on some board when we were trying and some how I ended up on some mailing list. Anyone need some formula? I know this stuff isn't cheap!

Oh...and in all of the drama with the other parent in CJ's class last night I forgot to tell you how pissed I was. We get home from the boys game and I work outside for an hour getting this pile of mulch off of the driveway. I deal with the whole "fat" situation (more on this later) and sit down with my much needed bowl of ice cream and am all excited to watch the Dancing with the Stars final on TIVO.

I put my feet up.

Hit list.

It is NOT there. It didn't tape. We have 10 episodes of the Joe Girardi show (Yankee's manager) but not my show. It is my favorite show of the season because they get to do freestyle stuff. Ugggghhh....

Oh well, I am sure I will find it somewhere online.

So....an update to the "fat" situation. I sent a note in to CJ's teacher this morning and got a call from her this afternoon. Here is how it went down.

Brian said it. Brian told Max. Max told CJ what Brian said. CJ told Sam (girl) what Brian said. Sam tells Barbara that CJ called her fat.

The wonderful game of telephone shines its ugly face again.

Anyway, his teacher spoke to everyone involved and they all wrote apology letters regarding the situation and his teacher then used it as a learning tool about being nice for the entire class. Everybody is a winner!!

I told CJ's teacher that he could have told us that part of it last night and she said what he did was a typical thing for 1st graders. He didn't lie. He didn't say it. He answered our questions just how we asked them. She said they don't even have the mental capability to think anymore into it then he did.

Anyway, hopefully that is over. I hope this mother learned a lesson as well. Puke.

.fat.

There is never a dull moment in our house. Ever.

I sort have grown to expect calls like I received tonight in regards to Connor, but when CJ is involved they surprise you a bit.

That is not to say that Connor is all problems or that CJ is a complete angel, but usually when it comes to "problems" at school, they usually involve Connor.

This one tonight REALLY surprised Chris and I because of the nature of the problem.

We were outside finishing up the mulch and when we came in their was a message on the machine from a mother of a little girl in CJ's class.

She said that her "sweet little girl" was "taller" and "heavier" then the other kids in the class. (She must not know who CJ is because he fits two of those traits really well as well and it certainly isn't the "sweet little girl" one. :)

Anyway, this mother advised me that her daughter has been coming home saying CJ is calling her "fat".

Want to know the first thing that came to my mind? What is her body mass index?? Is she extremely obese or just obese? Just kidding...I can't get those numbers out of my head.

Anyway, so she goes on to advise me that she "...doesn't allow her kids to do that to other kids."

Yes, you guessed it. Every night at dinner we go around the table and encourage and practice the best names to call your friends at school.

Are you kidding me? Thank GOD she doesn't allow her kids to call other kids names...she has to be the FIRST one to do that ever!

I laughed so hard at the message I actually had to forward it to Shannon to have her listen to it.

Anyway, I had Chris listen to it and then we went and put CJ to bed and talked to him about it. You know what...we are the Williams Family. We are all fat. Heck, even the dog is fat. I joke about it here a lot, but you know what, each one of us is sensitive about our weight, so when she called about this Chris and I both couldn't imagine him doing this because we talk about this issue all of the time. I have never heard CJ call anyone fat. Ever.

So we asked him about name calling to anyone. He said no he didn't do it. We asked him about Barbara. He said he doesn't talk to her but she sits in his group. We asked him if he called her names. No. We asked him if he called her fat, he QUICKLY and sternly said No. We asked him if he said anything to her, he told us the only thing he has said to her is that he likes her new glasses.

As my parents used to do to me we and I swore I would never do this with my kids, I used the famous, "if you are lying you will get in more trouble then if you just tell us the truth."

I am not lying Mom. I have not said anything. The completely puzzled look on his face during the whole conversation said a lot too. Lying is one thing, but adding the puzzled look would be an amazing talent this young if he really was lying about the whole thing.

So...I don't THINK he did it. Sure, I could be wrong. I hope I am not. If I am, CJ will learn a very important lesson.

Then the mother goes on to say that if CJ doesn't stop she is going to go to the principal or the teacher.

It was like kids on a playground. "If you don't stop I am going to tell on you."

I don't get it...why NOT go to the teacher? It is her classroom. Why go to the other parent, call your own kid "heavy" and threaten them if their kid doesn't stop that you are going to "tell on them" to the principal?

I tried calling her back right after I got her message, she didn't answer.

I already wrote the letter to CJ's teacher advising her of what happened and asked that she get involved. If CJ is lying, I want to know. We don't encourage name calling here in our house either, and if CJ is calling someone fat I want to know about it. I really think CJ is telling us the truth...maybe he isn't...maybe we will never know...I just can't imagine a parent handling this the way she did.

All I keep thinking about is what I used to say when I was CJ's age and someone called me a name.

"Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me."

My parents were not calling other parents threatening them. They probably were not even responding to me telling them that someone was calling me a name. They were teaching me to be strong, to have confidence that what they were calling me wasn't true, to ignore the names and most importantly to fight my own battles.

This in my opinion is another example of my generation raising a future generation of wimpy kids.

Anyway, I will keep you posted...

Your favorite obese mother, wife, photographer and friend.

PS. If you don't like a fat mother, wife, photographer, and friend...go take a hike. :)

.mismatched.

.mismatched., originally uploaded by {kristin W.}.

Yesterday while I was at my photo shoot Chris got CJ ready for his baseball game. He usually does this, but in my cleaning craziness this weekend I had put all of the cleats in Connor's closet. It is bigger, and for some reason I always just dump all of the shoes in there.

Chris called me on my way home asking where the cleats were (I had left my cell phone in the car), and I told him. So he ran home from the game in a hurry and grabbed 2 cleats.

He must not have looked at the sizes because this is what he ended up with.

The one of the right is CJ's size right now. A 4 1/2 wide. The one on the left is OLD. 2 1/2.

It was raining and just horrible out so Chris must have jammed CJ's foot in there. By the time I noticed CJ was playing in his second game of the double header in tears because he foot hurt so bad. He was running all over and at this point was limping because one of his shoes was 2 sizes too small!! Poor guy.

I would have gone home and gotten the right shoe if I had known.

This is why children have moms.

Seriously.

.new.

This spring I have had the honor of shooting a bunch of newborns and I have a few more coming! Yesterday I had the honor of photographing my smallest newborn so far. Yesterday was her due date, but she made an early appearance about 2 weeks ago. I swear...you forget how tiny they are.

5 lbs is just so tiny. She was beautiful!! These were actually taking in natural light as I was taking down my studio. She liked this better! :)





At the end of the shoot Daddy took his little girl and I was able to capture this moment in the natural light coming in the door.



Congratulations John and June on your beautiful little girl! She is amazing!

Welcome Home Major Christopher Cronin!

Again, I say this a lot, but it is moments like I witnessed on Tuesday night that keep me going strong as a photographer. I get to share so many awesome moments with families, but on Tuesday night I shoot my first Welcome Home for a solider that lives in my neighborhood and just spent the last 12 months honorably serving our country in Afghanistan.

It was a moment that I will never forget. To see all of their friends and family gathered at the airport at 9:45 at night to welcome him was amazing. His two beautiful children had smiles on their faces from the moment they walked through the doors.

Here his daughter checks out his papers that were in a pocket on the outside of his uniform. I am sure this family picture of his wife and kids got him through many of long days.



This is one of my all time favorite pictures because of the story it tells. I don't think his two kids could be more proud and happy to see their Daddy finally home!



So, Welcome home US Army Major Christopher Cronin!! Courtney he is finally home and in your arms again! Thank you so much for allowing to photograph this moment with all of your family and friends!

.tyroid check.

.the life., originally uploaded by {kristin W.}.

I wonder if George Bush would be happy to know that I spent some of my stimulus checking supporting the local vet?

Gehrig was slatted for his yearly check up and when we went last year they "warned" us this would be an expensive year because he was due for almost every shot.

If you remember correctly from last year, Gehrig was put on a strict diet because just like the rest of the Williams Family he was "overweight". Well...we cut WAY down on his food and I swear the poor dog was starving all of the time.

So I was so excited to go today and show them how much weight he lost. We did so well with him! Well...his results were much like mine...he didn't lose crap. :)

Really....not a pound.

We went from always having food in his bowl all of the time whenever he wanted it to 1 1/2 cups of food a day. When I feed him in the morning his food is gone in like 3 minutes.

So, the vet comes in and recommends a blood test to see what is going on inside his body.

He is my baby....but....he is a dog.

Gas prices are $4.00 a gallon, food prices are nuts, and the vet wanted me to spend $240.00 to have his thyroid checked. LOL!

Right.

Let's just say I passed on those tests for now. The visit and shots were $230.00 as it was. Can you imagine if I had said yes? $470.00!!

No thanks...

So, they told me to give him his veggies. :) Cut him back to 1 cup of dried food a day (given 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the evening) and then 1/2 can of green beans! This just cracks me up, but they said that green beans are full of fiber and water and will help fill him up! He is going to eat more veggies then his Daddy does that is for sure.

So Connor and I went to BJ's after his appointment and I picked up 2 cases of green beans at $6.49 for 12 cans (which should last him almost a month) and I got home and have him 1/2 a can and he scarfed them down! :)

Too funny...lets just hope they don't make him fart. :)

The things we do for our dogs.

Anyway....thanks for all of the comments and pick me up notes on my weight...they mean the world to me! I am going to do this!! 40 more lbs to go! :)

American Idol is Rigged.

Yes, I feel better now.

I am a huge American Idol fan.

I know...CAPITAL L for LOOOOSSEERR.

I have been feeling like it is rigged in some ways for the last few seasons, but is it just me or has then season been a total set up for a David vs. David final?

I really like David Cook...so I am happy at least one of my favorites is still around. But David Archuletta? Are you kidding me? If this 17 year old sings one more ballad that makes him act 60 I am going to scream. Why are the teenagers so enticed with him? He looks 10. He sings like he is 80. He tried on song that actually is somewhat contemporary last night and it sucked! Really! He was out of tune, he messed up on some words, he danced like I do (not that good) and the judges still say "you can sing a phone book."

He sucks.

Sorry.

I had to get that out.

Sure he has a good voice....sure he is 17....sure he has a baby face....but how is this kid every possibly going to produce a record that people actually want to buy?

Syesha, in my opinion was by FAR the best singer last night. She could have been Whitney Houston and they still would have said "it is just a' right for me." The producers wanted a David vs David final and they made Randy, Paula and Simon do everything in their power to get it! Remember a few weeks ago when Paula gave critique on a song that Jason Castro hadn't even sung yet? Exactly. Proves my point.

The show is rigged.

And...if David Archuletta wins this year over David Cook I am done. No more American Idol for me!

I think.

I hope tonight is the big shocker of the season and they vote off David Archuletta. Then what will Randy, Paula and Simon do?

Oh wait....they will probably just rig the voting. :)

.doubleshot.

.doubleshot., originally uploaded by {kristin W.}.

Seriously....last night I took Tylenol PM so I could finally get a good night sleep after being sick for what seemed like forever. Well, I had never taken any PM medicines before and I took 2 at like 10:00 and I couldn't get out of bed this morning! I feel great today, but man...if anything ever happened to the boys in the middle of the night I would have been screwed!

Anyway, I am feeling a bit of a crunch because I am 4 photo shoots behind in my processing and I have 4 more shoots this week, so went for a run at lunch and then went to Starbucks to get my friend Jen a birthday gift (Happy Birthday Jen!) and decided to try one of these new "Doubleshot" iced espresso drinks.

Holy crap. I am WIRED now. I got home and was so jittery that I had to go for another run! Of course the fact I got a venti didn't help I am sure. 5 freakin' shots!!

It was so good though. Yummy! Next time I will go with just the tall. :)

The moral of the story? Need to process lots of pictures in one day? Try the Doubleshot.

Crazy caffeine!!

Good News???

I am now obese!!

I know...I know...you are all asking...why is that good??

Because according to the chart on the Dr's office wall on Friday when I was there I was "extremely obese"!!

How much more weight do I need to lose to be "normal"? I need to lose another 73 lbs to be at the high end of normal and 100 to be at the low end of normal.

Talk about having the wind taken out from under your sails...37 lbs down and you think you are doing well...until you go to the Dr's.

Seriously though...who makes these charts?? I am 6 foot 2!! I know I shouldn't weigh 300 lbs, but 140 lbs??? Come on!

Really...it was a bad experience right from the beginning. I had the stomach bug BAD. On top of the side effects from the walk it wasn't good. I knew I was starting to get dehydrated so I made an appointment to just get checked out.

Dr. Cuyler, seriously...the best Dr ever...was booked for the afternoon. So I took an appointment with Dr. Campbell (see link above for his picture). This was my first mistake.

I don't like male Dr's and he wasn't any different. On top of "thanking me" for coming in because now he was going to get the stomach bug he did nothing other then ask me questions like "have you been out of the country" and push on my stomach a couple of times.

At one point in his questions he asked, "did you have a fever?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"I don't know, I never took my temperature."

"Well, then how do you know you had a fever?"

"I know these things...I am a mom."

"You don't know these things."

Nice.

The worst best side manner ever.

So this guy was a total prick to me and THEN takes my blood pressure. 132 over 92. He complains that it is high...so what does he do...goes and check my weight and starts to get on me for it. I cut him off and say "look what it was the last time I was here."

He looks and responds something about it being "okay."

Honestly, I was crushed. I have lost 37 lbs. Dr. Cuyler would have been jumping for joy (literally) at my accomplishments. She would have been thrilled.

That is why I never go to the Dr. Between pricks like him and those darn charts on the walls it is just depressing. I have busted my butt to lose what I have. It hasn't been easy...I know I have a long way to go...but 73 lbs? I would be a bean pole! I would love to lose another 40. That is my goal.

I know one thing...I won't be going back to that Dr. ever again. :)

Guess who I met????

I am still all excited today!





If I could pick ONE person in the world I would like to meet it would be Jennie Finch. The funny thing is that so many people don't even know who she is. TV Junkies may know who she is from Celebrity Apprentice. Guys might know who she is because...well...she is one of the most beautiful women out there.

Jennie Finch is my idol because she is a pitcher just like I was! She pitched and currently pitches for the USA Olympic Team. She is just amazing....really...the best of the best. She struck out Barry Bonds a couple of years ago!

Anyway, my dream came true yesterday! I got to meet her!!! Her husband, Casey Daigle is in the Twins organization for our AAA team here in Rochester. Jennie, and her 1 year old son "Ace" were in town to see Casey for Mothers Day. She was just hanging around the area where we were sitting and Chris spotted her.

I was seriously like a kid. The funny thing is that Connor forgot his glove, so mine was in the car with my equipment, so he brought mine in...which just happens to be a Jennie Finch glove....so I even got my Jennie Finch glove signed!!

Anyway....I am still so excited today! After being sick forever....I needed this!

Photo Show of all 550 Pictures

If you would like to look at all of the pictures I took over the weekend you can do so by clicking here -

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, Washington, DC

If you want to look at the pictures out of the slide show, just click on "Continue to Gallery" above the pictures...but listen to the song just once. :)

2 days....39 miles.....

I usually don't have a problem putting my thoughts into words for my blog and as I sit here trying to get all of the memories from this weekend down on "paper" so I never forget them, I am finding it so hard.

Like I said this yesterday, I have NEVER been apart of something like this. I knew that this weekend would change me, but never in my wildest imagination would I have thought it would have been as life changing as it was.

It was changed my perspective on myself and what I can do. I have always said that I wanted to do a marathon before I died. I can check that one off my list now. I walked ALL 39 miles and only got one blister on my foot! A few have asked how my knee held up...it looked horrible, but felt GREAT!! The shot worked like a charm and I had no pain at all in it the entire 39 miles! In fact, I didn't even realize how bad it was swollen until I looked at this picture -



I watched 3500 women and men come together for a cause we all believed in so much!! I watched frail, hurting breast cancer patients fight their way through the miles because they "had" to finish. I watched an entire city unite. Kids were sitting out on their front year handing out lemonade and feeding walkers. Men were dressed like women, college students cheered with bra's on. Believe we, we saw it all!



I got to spend the weekend with 24 of the most amazing group of men and women. I wish I had the whole thing on tape so that I could remember it forever...we laughed so hard. We cried. We cheered. We bitched (bad). We hurt. We did it TOGETHER!!!

Anyway...I will try to share the weekend the best I can with a few of the 550 pictures I took. :)

We left on Friday at around 7:00 am. I will tell you what...renting this bus was the best decision we made the entire weekend! We made it to Washington in just over 7 hours and had a complete blast the entire way down there. I have not laughed that much ever!! Here was the crew before we got on the bus:



We had more comments the entire weekend on our shirts. Christy's Crew does travel in style that is for sure! We wore our black shirts on Friday and it was so cool because when we got there we had so many people say that they knew who we were from the web site! On Friday night we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and on the way there we stopped at the site of the opening ceremonies and meet Molly who is a part of the Avon Staff. She lead my introduction meeting and was a big fan of our web site!! It was great to meet you Molly! Here she is with us -



We did some site seeing on Friday night and I really forgot what an awesome city Washington is.



Friday night we stayed at the hotel and were up early to get ready for our big day! Opening ceremonies were amazing. They have two of this big towers there where you can write who you are walking for on them next to your city. They go from city to city and really are amazing -



Mine said "Christy's Crew for Hazel Williams (Chris' grandmother who lost her battle), Donna Pitts (Chris' high schools friends mother and survivor), Debbie Neenan (my aunt and survivor, Kathy Parisi (friend of our friends the Briggs who is a survivor) and Christy...who kicked cancers Ass!"





The second best decision we made was getting GREEN shirts!! We wished we would have had them for both days because really, it was SO easy to find us!! Everyone is in pink, so everyone would see the green and know exactly who we were!



Again, the ceremony was amazing...full of tears and a great way to start the day.



My Aunt Sharon was on the crew and one of our biggest cheerleaders. She was there for all of the big moments including being on the starting line sending us off -



It is a SEA of pink and walkers at the beginning. Because of all of the people it took us 40 minute to do the first mile and that really put us back with our time. The secret is to get at the front of the line! :)



I tried to take pictures at each mile marker of the whole walk. I missed 2 on Saturday and a bunch on Sunday, but it was fun to watch our faces change as the walk went on. At 5 we were still smiling! This is my high school friend Erin and I.



Not only did we have local cheerleaders, we brought some of our own too! The Ballard family, the husband and kids of walker Karen, came down to DC to cheer all of us on. I can't tell you how awesome it was to go around a corner and have someone there with a "Christy's Crew" sign. Next time we will bring more of our family and friends!! It really is an experience for them too!



The route was really the best. We went by EVERYTHING including the Capital, National Mall, Washington Monument, Arlington National Cemetery, Iwo Jima, Embassy Row (this hill was the WORST!!), National Cathedral, the White House... Iwo Jima always is so amazing to see -



Team California put these signs all over the place throughout the walk. They were awesome. I loved this one especially -



Janelle, my neighbor and friend is amazing. She walked the entire 39 miles 15 weeks pregnant! Amazing!



We had the honor of meeting Monica's husband. Monica lost her battle to breast cancer in 1997 and her husband did the walk with her when we was alive and he still does it. It was very emotional to meet him. He leaves pennies with pink ribbons on them all over the route in honor of his wife. Our crew found a few of them! You can read about his wife here. Get some tissues first.



Teams had the best shirts (of course ours was the best!). I loved this one -



I did it!! I tell you want, it was the most amazing thing I have ever done! I walked a Marathon!!! I look like crap...but...I did it!



ON Saturday night we stayed in the Wellness Village. It was really awesome and all of us wished we had more time there to enjoy it. We started walking at 7:00 am on Saturday and didn't get to the Wellness Village until around 6:30 I think?



We were SO lucky to have the best Crew there because when we got there Jamie (Christy's husband) and their friend Bill had set up all of our tents and put our bags in them already!!! This was a life saver. Really. I don't know how we would have done it.

Anyway, the Wellness Village is filled with all sorts of cool stuff like a Spa Zone with foot and back massager's, medical staff, massage therapists, food, showers, porta potties...you name it. It also has over 1000 tents!



There were two fields this size filled with tents. Really it was quite a site!



And for those who wondered if I fit in the tent...I didn't! :) It wasn't too bad though.



Anyway...I slept GREAT and the whole experience there was short, but awesome!

The next day we got up for our 1/2 marathon and really I felt great! I had one blister forming on the ball of my right foot, but that was it. I was thrilled. Others on my team were not so lucky...man, Christy's blisters were horrible!

Anyway, the route was filled with both bikers like this and a bunch of motorcyclists as well who worked getting us across roads safely. They were amazing. This woman had this annoying horn on her bike that as the day went by became more and more annoying. But...they were amazing -



How about this motorcycle guy? He was awesome, a ton of fun, and always had great music playing to keep you going!



I said before...it was such an amazing experience but to do it with a group of your closest friends is priceless. You friends keep you going for sure!!



Right.


The finish line was just amazing. There were literally 100's of people there cheering you on. You cry. Hard. You feel such a sense of accomplishment for a cause that you have worked so hard for. I don't know I can put into words just how awesome it was, but to hold hands with Christy's Crew and to have her walk US over the finish line was amazing.





Here we are all after we finished and after we dried all of our tears!



So...they give all of the walkers the pink shirts. They give all of the survivors the light pink shirts in preparation for closing ceremonies. The walkers walk in together and the survivors walk in after together. Christy was in the wrong place so in order to get her where she needed to be I yelled for people to let the survivor through. I am sure Christy was embarrassed a bit, but it was awesome. Everyone was cheering for her and it was hard not to get all teared up.



The survivors marching in -



This lady was amazing -



Here were our survivors Anne and Christy marching past (Christy is hiding behind Anne).



You have also probably seen these ribbons. They represent the fact that every 3 minutes someone is diagnosed with breast cancer. Over the weekend they hand out one every 3 minutes and my Aunt Sharon was given one to hand out. At closing ceremonies she gave it to me. It was quite an emotional moment in so many ways.



Did I tell you Reese Witherspoon was there? Christy actually had her picture taken with her! She is Avon's ambassador for the walks and really seems into the whole cause.



She announced all of the grants that Avon distributed from the 8.1 MILLION dollars we raised at the DC walk. The best part was the first one was given to Friends of Cancer Research in the amount of $45,000.00 and that was EXACTLY what we raised. So, Christy's Crew funded that whole entire grant!



On the way home we celebrated. We had so much to celebrate. We celebrated two survivors. We celebrated walking 39 miles. We celebrated all that we raised. We celebrated the friendships we have made.



And...we started planning the 2009 walk.

I can't WAIT to do this again. I can't. It was the most amazing weekend ever and I am forever changed because of everything I experienced over those 48 hours.

We need to find a cure. We need to raise awareness. 1 in 7 of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. We don't have time to wait.