Princess Chicken

Not only am I running the Disney Princess Half Marathon on Sunday, our little princess has the chicken pox.  I can't believe she got them after getting the shot months ago.  She has a very mild case but they are definitely the pox.  It was a good learning experience for the resident that was working with Dr. E since Em's spots are in all 4 stages of pox-ness and Dr E said he rarely sees chicken pox anymore.  But all I can do it feel itchy.....

I have so much left to do for this weekend.  I have to finalize my playlist for the iPod, pack, pick the best Princess running outfit, figure out what I'm going to wear all weekend long, prep the kids for the weekend (and being shuttled between 2 houses), get Noah's school stuff in order for Monday, and I'm sure a million other things.  Should  be a long night tonight.

Here's a glimpse of last year's Princess Half Marathon:

Ready to run at 3am

Yes I ran in a tutu

We finished!!!

The 7S Princesses

Here's to a great race, a better time, and coming home to a princess who is pox-less

~JRC~

I can't hold it in!!!

Jen is PREGNANT!!!! 

I am so excited you'd think I was the one who was pregnant.  This news has made my day, week, month, you get the picture. 

Growing up, Jen and I were BFFs.  Our childhood consisted of constant sleep overs, bad hairstyles, creating home videos that might be the most embarrassing things on the planet, pretty much being sisters.  We always imagined being pregnant at the same time, raising babies together.  She had to move away (tear) and we've reconnected as we've gotten older.  We're both nurses, although she's a lot cooler than me now that she's a Nurse Anesthetist, we're both married, and now we're both Mommies!!!  She was a bridesmaid in my wedding.  She's Noah's Godmother.  She's a forever friend.  My life has been blessed by our friendship and I am so excited for her new bundle of joy!  I am already in love with her baby, even before I saw her sonogram picture.  I can't wait for our kids to meet each other!!!

Anxiously awaiting Noah's arrival



Noah and his Godmother



Noah's Baptism

With Emmy....I love that I have a picture of her holding both kids the same way!!!

Noah just loves his Aunt Jen

Of course all of the embarassing childhood pictures have yet to be scanned into the computer.  John has a stack that will one day grace Facebook and embarrass both of us and when that day comes, they'll be posted here too.

Jen...I love you and I'm so excited for you and Jeff!  Can't wait to meet the little peanut!!!  Labor Day (ironic, huh?!?) can't come fast enough!!!

~JRC~

Jealous

I just want to put it out there to everyone who enjoyed the AMAZING weather we've had this weekend here in Florida.......

YOU SUCK!!!!!!

While you were basking in the sun's warmth, spending time at the beach, and wearing tank tops and shorts, I was trapped at work, inside the hospital, from 6:30am-8:00pm all weekend long, wearing scrubs, with a beautifully nauseating view of the ocean, wishing that I was anywhere but inside.


~JRC~

Fabulous Friday

Today is such a great day.  Not only is it Friday (although I can't celebrate Friday the way everyone else does...I have to work all weekend), but its so beautiful outside.  As much as I love the look of cold weather clothing, I'm excited that I was able to go outside in a short sleeve shirt.  The kids and I took advantage of this great weather and had a picnic outside and spent the afternoon playing in the backyard.  It's a shame that we've been cooped up in the house for so long due to frigid temps (I live in Florida for a reason...not to have below normal temperatures).  I'm hoping this weather hangs on for a while. 

And on the topic of weather....I'm really excited that its not going to be 30 degrees next weekend.  I have my half marathon again and I'm looking forward to running without sleeves and not freezing my butt off like last year.  Here's to a week of last minute training.....

~JRC~

A quick look inside....

We had quite the weekend/week.  John had a lot of family in town for his aunt's surprise birthday party so we spent Saturday/Sunday morning with them.  Some of the people we haven't seen since our wedding so it was nice to catch up.  We also had the opportunity to bring them to our Church to celebrate Mass with us.  Here are just some pictures from the day, most include us with our nephew AJ or the kids entertaining all of the family members. 

The Crimella family with the Birthday Girl, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Johnny and AJ, and my kids entertaining the family members

On Sunday we were invited to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium with our good friends Jess and Kevin.  It was Jess's birthday on the 15th so her husband decided to take her to see Winter the dolphin for her birthday.  He was kind enough to invite our family along.  We had a blast!  Noah loves going to aquariums and seeing the fish so this was right up our alley.  We also got to see Winter up close and personal.  Winter is going to be a very famous dolphin come September when she can be seen on the big screen along side Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr, and Ashley Judd.  Back story on Winter.....a fisherman found her in the water, tail trapped in a crab trap.  Her tail was so trapped and damaged that they had to amputate it.  So she was left with no tailfin.  The aquarium has been rehabing her back to health.  They even had a special prosthetic tail created for her (and the technology used for Winter has crossed over into the entire world of prosthetics).  She can't be released back into the wild so she is a permanent resident of the aquarium and her story has been turned into a major motion picture.  We also got to see turtles, sharks, sting rays (where Em and Noah got splashed big time during the sting ray feeding), otters, and more dolphins.  We had a great time at the aquarium and an even better time hanging out with Jess and Kev.  Thanks Kev for thinking about us and asking us to hang out with you guys!!!

Dolphin tricks during the show, the kids checking out the fish, Winter the dolphin, her prosthetic tail, otters, and more!!!

And on to the not fun part....I have really bad reflux I guess.  I've been having random chest pain after I swallow for a week or so.  Being the stubborn person that I am, I put off going to the doctor because I had the weekend off and then I had to work, etc.  So when I finally got around to going, he instantly signed me up for an EGD, aka we're going to put you to sleep and shove a camera down your throat to see what damage is going on in your stomach.  So I had the joy of that procedure yesterday.  We discovered 3 things...first and foremost, I am not pregnant!  Not that we thought we were but my routine pregnancy test provided the Endo staff and the doctors plenty of entertainment.  Second, I have a hiatal hernia.  Third, I have wicked inflammation everywhere.  He said no part of my stomach was free from inflammation and it was inflammed all the way up to the back of my throat.  I don't know how this could be since I've never in my life had heartburn but he said it does sometimes.  So I'm now on meds, can't take any ibuprofen or aspirin, and I have to stay away from caffeine...aka my life is over.  But I guess at least we know where my chest pain came from. 

So here's to an uneventful rest of the week!

~JRC~

With a Twist

Sorry its been so long.  I've been working or just busy.  But tonight, I had the opportunity to hang out with my girlfriends and create a masterpiece at the same time.  We hit up Painting with a Twist, an art studio that teaches you how to create a painting, step by step.  We chose the Cherry Blossom painting and the more we looked at it, the more difficult it looked. But, in all actuality, it wasn't too hard at all.  It was a carefree environment that enabled us to relax and have fun.  The champagne Mindy brought helped too!  All in all, I'm glad that I was able to hang out with my girls and have fun.  And now, I have a one of a kind painting to fill the empty space on my dining room wall!!!

Here's how it all went down.......

My canvas on the left.  You can tell how unique each one is already

Yay champagne!!!






I forget why Mindy was unhappy



Tori sweet talked the instructor into helping her paint

Drying the art halfway through

Nicole, Mindy, Tori, and Me

With our masterpieces

Already hanging on our wall

It was an absolute blast!  I can't wait to go again.  It is a perfect place to have a girls night!  Check it out!!!  Now its off to bed, with visions of cherry blossoms.

~JRC~

Run Girl Run

I've never claimed to be a runner.  Actually I don't really enjoy running at all.  However, a group of us decided it would be a good time to run a half marathon last year so we did.  We picked the Disney Princess Half Marathon and it was a blast.  I did not run the entire 13.1 miles but had a great time.  So I decided to do it again this year, but maybe run a little bit more.  I did a 5K in November and did ok but have not run an inch since then.  Today I decided to go out and run.  Walsingham Park has a 6 mile trail that I love to do (I usually just do 3 miles though).  Today I decided to see what I could do and I surprised myself.  I shaved 3 minutes off my 5K time and did 5 miles in 1:01:31.  I am beyond stoked!  I think I might be in good shape to have a drastically better finish time this year compared to last year!  So now its time to work a few runs into my schedule before the Half (which is in 3 weeks....scary).

~JRC~