Run for Justin race report (and pics)

The day after the babies were born, my mom came to the hospital wearing a green "Run for Justin 5k" t-shirt from a race she'd done that morning. I decided right in that NICU room that the babies and I were running that race together the follow year.  365 days later, and we did it!

Did you need a better look at those adorable kids and attention-whoring signs?

If you love the cheers you get from having your name on your shirt, let me tell you, you should race with birthday signs on a stroller.  Even if it's not the kid's birthday, make birthday signs.  Everyone cheers! 

I know the organizing family through a friend of a friend (below), and they are just amazing, inspiring people who put on a fantastic race.

The boys and I run almost every day, but this was our first race together. Weaving around 800 people on a bike trail is dramatically different than our open neighborhood roads. Thankfully, we managed to avoid plowing anyone over.  Certainly not for lack of trying though.  I had to jump into the grass and up a few curbs to get around people.  I hated being That Girl, but I really should have lined up closer to the front.  That first mile took forever.

Things finally thinned out while the boys gave the race photographer a double stink-eye. (Yes, I bought this race picture.  Two of them, actually. One for each baby book!)

Can we talk about those Hulk arms coming to eat you for a moment?  Some people lift weights forever to get those results.  I'll let you in on my secret.  Here's all you need to do:

1. Have twins.
2. Make sure at least one is needy and insists on being held constantly.

The end.  I saved you $70/month on a gym membership.  You're welcome.    

We finished in 27:35 to win the (unofficial) stroller division! 

We spent the rest of the morning with my parents waiting for people to finish, milling around, and soaking in the beautiful day and post-race activities.

Sharing?  Yeah right.

This race was a HUGE deal to me.  I had no idea how my life would be a year ago when I decided to race with the boys.  I desperately want our children to be healthy and happy, and I'm willing to show them every single day the joy that comes from being active.  Running was a huge part of my pre-baby, pregnancy, and post-baby life, and to do this together with them this just feels like a dream come true.

Happy first birthday!

Happy first birthday, Luke!
Happy first birthday, Sam!

Well, we did it.  We survived the first year, and more impressively, the first birthday party. 

It worked our perfect that there was a 5k yesterday morning.  Run for Justin is a fantastic race organized by a fantastic family.  Race report coming soon, but I pushed the BOB stroller with the boys (and our attention-whoring signs).  It was the very best way to start the weekend. 

The party was the next day, and I went a little nutty with the monkey theme.  It started innocently with a couple of cute shirts and exploded into a theme of monkeys and dots and blue/green/yellow.  Why not, right?

I made cheesy rhyming invites. A first birthday requirement.

Then I made dots of their faces from the last year to decorate the back door.  Luke lit up when he saw them in the morning, but it drove Sam crazy that he couldn't quite reach to rip them down.  Just like the Christmas tree, kid.  Mwahaha.

Of course there were a million blue, green, and yellow balloons.

The Husband was totally in charge of food, although I appear to be taking all the credit.  No one went home hungry, clearly.

We sang twice because that's what you do. They had no clue why everyone was staring at them with cameras.

Before:

After:

They both ate a giant piece.  I couldn't believe it. Although The Husband pointed out that cake is probably infinitely tastier than the natural/organic food I normally feed them.  Touche, sweetheart. 

Sam was a little overwhelmed with all the people up in his space, but Luke was a complete ham.  They walk and talk now, which is nuts, and they showed off all their skills for the guests.  Our families gave them tons of wonderful gifts, and of course, the paper was the most entertaining gift of them all.

As a parting gift, I ordered custom M&Ms with their little faces.  I didn't care how expensive they were, I loved them.

About 15 minutes after everyone left, all four of us were exhausted and napping.  Aside from it being a million degrees this weekend, everything was perfect.

And tonight, The Husband and I flipped through the 1357 pictures we've taken this last year and reflected on how far we've come.  Our boys are smart, funny, strong, opinionated, so totally different, and yet BFF buddies who chase each other around and laugh like crazy.  Having twins can be a lot sometimes, but it's the most amazing thing in life, if you ask me.  Our family has come a long way in a year, and I love every ounce of it.

Happy birthday, boys!