My Little Man!

I'm a mother of fairness! So I couldn't do a post just about Gracie without doing one about the special guy in my life!

Once upon a time, there was a mother who so desperately wanted a baby to call her own. She tried, and she tried, and she tried, but nothing seemed to work. After several years of failed attempts and fertility treatments, she decided it was time for a break. Well during that break, a miracle happened, and she was blessed to find out a baby would be on it's way!

Well that baby wasn't due to come until May 10, 2003. But he was a determined little baby, and he decided to come 4 whole weeks early. Surprise, Surprise for everyone! He had a bit of a hard time during his arrival and had to stay for an extra week in the hospital. But that determined little baby boy, Cooper Glen, got strong very quickly and was able to come home much sooner than they had expected!

He was a tiny little baby boy. Born at just 5lb, 2oz, nothing quite fit him just yet.


He was welcomed by the couple's first baby graciously when the love for pacifiers became a common bond!


Well that baby quickly grew!


He Grew!

And he Grew!!

And he grew!!


And then he grew some more!


Until one day... just 11 months later, he became a very proud Big Brother! And a wonderful big brother he is!



He loves to go on very fast rides, but protect that little sister along the way!



He's turned into quite the jokester! Constantly finding ways to amuse others, but mostly himself!




He has this amazingly contagious laugh!




He's quite the ladies man! Always a gentleman! :)

He Love, Love, Loves the water!

And likes baseball too!

He's the silly one in the bunch!

But a great student too!

And he's one of his mommy's biggest cheerleaders!

He's the best miracle a mother could have ever asked for! I love you Cooper Bear!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! Enjoy your family, food, and life!

Who's REALLY in charge in my house!

Adam and I do our very best to be good parents, and it is honestly very hard! Two kids both with very different personalities. Two parents both with different personalities and backgrounds and ideas on proper parenting. Obviously it helps that we're pretty similar on most things, but I don't think anyone is ever really prepared for how difficult being a parent can be. And then of course, you have the cliche answer that it is all worth it... And it definitely is! :)

Meet Sarah Grace Mills (aka Trouble Maker, aka Gracie, aka Sarah Gracie Mills as she would tell you!)

Born March 12, 2004 so tiny that her ankle bracelet in the hospital wouldn't stay on and the entire hospital went into lock-down, elevators and all, each time!

Such a good baby that Adam's dad worried if she was ok because she never cried!

Then... Gracie came into her personality and life has never been quite the same!

She has always looked up to her big brother!

However, when Cooper was asked at school who was in charge at his house, his answer was his SISTER!

She's very stylish!

She loves sunglasses like her Mommy!

And she likes to wear pretend glasses like her mommy's new ones!

She wants to be a ballerina princess when she grows up!

She will cheer Mommy on at races, but it is NOT her favorite thing to do! She would much rather have her mommy with her right then! Why does she keep running away??? :)

Gracie in her panties at IM Florida! She even got on NBC that way! :)

She loves taking photos of herself!


She LOVES Rocky! He is her favorite "toy/person!" It is a good thing that she can't pick him up!

She loves her room, her clothes, and her things. And loves taking pictures of them!

She has recently begun "punishing" me and Adam for "hurting her feelings." Anytime those feelings get hurt because she doesn't quite get her way, she marches upstairs and confiscates the mommy and/or daddy figurine representing our status in our bedroom. If our small replicate is not properly displayed on the bookcase... well, we know we're in for it! :)

She can play pitiful with the best of them!

And is very sweet as well!

She is definitely a force to be reckoned with! A spirit in which I never intend to break. If she keeps this up, no one will ever cross her and if they do, there will certainly be hell to pay! :) However, she is the best little lady ever, and if you can tolerate her stubbornness, she's the best little girl you could ever have!

I'm Thankful For...

Being the proud parent of what I thought was the most talented Indian boy and Pilgrim girl ever!

Cooper is the first Indian boy next to the Preacher!

The Turkey Pokey!!

Gracie is the little pilgrim girl in the center!

Ok, so obviously, videography is not my forte! Adam is going to think I am a complete idiot when he realizes that I video taped the first part of this crooked! I figured you could take pictures that way, I didn't realize it wouldn't video tape correctly that way. Looked ok on the little screen while I was doing it. Oh well... At least I for some reason decided to turn it around! :)

And because we had a big week of productions... this was the end result in the playroom last night!

They are using their sleeping bags that their Grandma Ellen made for them. Aren't they cool?! Gracie's is a princess sleeping bag that has little cutout holes for the arms so it is as if you are really wearing the dress on top, and Cooper's is obviously an alligator. I think they are so neat! If my children turn out to be super creative, I will know they got it from their daddy's side of the family! :) Adam's mother and father are the most creative people I know. She even agreed to make me fleece arm warmers for the winter in any color or pattern I want! Don't think I'm not going to take you to the fabric store and get you loaded up on different styles over Christmas while you are here Ellen!!

The Voices of a Sugar Addiction

Most people have something... Something that for whatever reason they have a hard time controlling. Maybe some of it is hereditary. Maybe it's part of your personality. Or just how you grew up. Who knows?? But whatever it may be... I know a lot of people who's situation plays out something like this... And for me, I'm addicted to Sugar/Junk Food!

Random Monday:

Confident Self: "I feel great today! Life is good, and I'm in control!"

Sugar Addiction: "Nice and quiet..."

X Amount of time goes by with life in check!

Insert small temptations of a cookie, cupcake, chocolate, french fries, etc...

Confident Self: "Ah... I'm not really feeling the need today. I will stay strong!"

Sugar Addiction: "We've been really good. Are you sure?"

Confident Self: "Yep. And I feel great for staying on top!"

More time goes by:

Insert more small temptations

Confident Self: "I have been good. I deserve this!"

Sugar Addiction: "FEED ME!"

*With Fudge!!

More time goes by:

Insert a bad day. Hormones, Fight with your husband, Kids driving you crazy, etc...

Insert small temptation

Confident Self: "I'm not feeling well today."

Addiction: "And you know what... we deserve a treat. I mean, come on... You've had a crappy day, so let's make it a little better!"

*Yum... McDonalds!!

Insert Guilt: Because generally the treat never makes up for your crappy day!

Addiction: Well... you've blown it! Might as well make it worth your while. Let's just go hog-wild while we have the chance!

More guilt...

More crap...

*Hot Wings are a must during those weak moments! :)

Before you know it... you're sucked back in!!

Finally you reach that point where you've had enough!

Confident Self: "What are you doing?? Get it together!

Sugar Addiction: "No... MORE, MORE!! :)"

A day or two goes by and you're doing good!

Oops... another crappy day. Gotta get it together

A good morning, crap... screwed up at lunch, so dinner is down the tube too!

Finally... something MUST change to end it! COLD TURKEY!!

Back on track... Life is good!

And the cycle continues....

I think other addictions possibly play out in similar manners. And though cigarettes and alcohol type of addictions have some obvious major life threatening side effects, food can be as dangerous. Obesity is a major problem as well is eating disorders. Both carry life threatening issues and cause people very much physical and emotional pain. And for whatever reason, I know that as a woman and as an athlete, I do struggle with food.

Unfortunately, I wasn't born with this innate craving for fruit and veggies. I love my sweets and junk and if it gets too much into my system, I lose all control over it! How many of you have eaten the entire box of cookies just to get the box out of the house?? Ok... I'll eat it now, and start fresh tomorrow! It's always tomorrow! :)

Though I don't have an eating disorder now and haven't for years, I think there's always that part of me hiding back there willing to come out at those inconvenient times. I speak openly about it because I feel that a lot of people out there struggle with eating control. See that's the one thing about self-medicating with junk food vs. alcohol and drugs. You can walk away from cigarettes and alcohol and never have the need to partake again. Food is a little different. Yeah, you can swear off all sugar and junk food for the rest of your life, but it can be kind of weird. I've been there and done that before and it doesn't go over well in the rest of our world.

So for me the key is trying to work through the problem. Find out what works to put you back on track and go with the plan. For me... it's 10 days cold turkey!! Yep. See, after repeating this cycle lord knows how many times, I've realized for me I can not go from on a Sugar-High back to moderation. Nope... the pendulum must swing from Sugar absorption over to a Zero-tolerance policy! Once the sugar has left the system, the cravings lessen, and I can go back to my here and there moments. But if I give myself even the smallest little opening before 10 days of my sugar high... I'll get sucked right back in! Hence... the fudge... yep. If you checked my blood now, I'd probably show levels that could not be normal for a healthy individual! :)

*See... We finished the fudge! The other batch goes to Gracie's school tomorrow thank goodness!

So I've realized this, and I'm back to my go-to plan of the 10 days! And trust me, I've fought this battle for awhile, so I'm sure I must revisit this plan again in the future. Most likely many times. But the key is that as long as I stick to my REAL love and goals... I can keep sugar from taking me down!

I hope that for the others of you that struggle with the junk food roller coaster, you may find some sense in this and find your own go-to plan! The off season is here, swept in with the holiday season, and the junk food is out there just calling our names!! BEWARE! Remember... a little is fine, but know your limits! :)

It's Official... I'm OLD!!

Yep... yesterday I went and had my eyes checked and am now wearing glasses to help me read and be on the computer! Adam thinks I needed them BECAUSE I am constantly staring at a glaring computer screen all day. :) Might be a little truth in that!

A couple of tips in purchasing glasses:

1. Do NOT bring a 5 year old and 4 year old along. Chances are they will meander through the mecca of glasses trying them on and leaving them all over in random places. They might possibly even pick up random pencils off of the floor and try to color on the expensive looking Tommy Bahama ivory display. I will say that Cooper was as he put it, on blue during the glasses occasion. However, Gracie... well... officially was on yellow but red was threatened quite a bit!

2. Allow yourself LOTS of time. Glasses are really hard to pick out! You've got square, round, oval, squarish-round, roundish-square. Throw on top of that that I have a head the size of my 5 year old, so nothing fit!

3. Be prepared to spend money! Yep, even with insurance... those suckers are expensive, and I'll tell you why. Because now glasses have gone Designer. Fendi, Gucci, Prada, Coach, Juicy, you name it, they had it! Apparently Fendi is the creme de la creme and cost a whopping $500 for the frames! Didn't even look at those because as my eyes glanced past them, I noticed a few pairs that looked rather perfect. I am drawn to the expensive stuff. It's like my mind literally gravitates towards it! But come on!! However, I mean this is my new look we're talking about. This is not something to bargain shop for. And with my little face, it wasn't my fault the Coach glasses were the perfect fit! :)

4. Don't be afraid to ask for help. When the girl first offered to assist me, my first thought was... no thanks. Not a fan of the personal shopper experience. However, quickly realized that there's a lot more to what you see. Pairs come in different colors and different sizes and so what appears to be around 1000 choices is really more like 10,000! Unless you want to spend a week picking them out, ask for help!

After this somewhat painful experience, I had another, wow... I'm really getting old moment! Adam and I were talking about random stuff last night when I told him that my mother had called me earlier that day to get me to look up on the Internet if there was a Piccadilly in the Douglasville mall! :) We thought it was funny. But then, we started to reminisce about our Piccadilly/Morrison's experiences. We literally set there drooling over the idea of their yeast rolls, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and the baked macaroni and cheese with the sort of crust on top! Don't know if you northerners have these southern style cooking restaurants up there, but Piccadilly is about as Southern as it gets! It's cafeteria style, buttered up, grease filled goodness! The jello squares in the little round bowls actually count as a salad! Yes... salad. Would you like a salad with your meal mam?? Oh, no thank you... I have my green jello!

The thing about Piccadilly is that 90% of it's patrons are probably receiving their S.S. benefits! The others are the grandchildren that get drug along. That was me! And after having my conversation with Adam last night about all of that southern goodness... I wonder if I can sneak in one final Piccadilly meal before returning to the "healthy side"???

Back On the Wagon... "Well kind of!"

*Me on my birthday. Ummm... Icing!!

As of 8:45am on Saturday morning, I've been trying to once again wean myself off of my greatest addiction... Sugar.

See... after Clearwater, my final race of the 2008 season, I began my Off Season. Starting with a much needed break!

A break from workouts. Yes... I'm finishing day number 9 of doing virtually nothing! And by virtually nothing I mean I've taken Rocky for a 20 min walk and did some stretching. That's it!

A break from worrying about food. I gave myself "permission" to eat whatever I wanted during my break. Well... turns out, that is kind of problematic! Because apparently what I want is to eat donuts for breakfast, brownie sundae's for lunch and cake for dinner with cookies and candy tossed in there for snacks!

The first two days, wasn't a big deal right? I'd just done a half ironman. A few extra treats that I'd recently denied myself were well within reason.

But then it was as if the sugar entered into my bloodstream and my body immediately recognized it's old friend! I was suddenly grabbing candy out of the Halloween candy jar without even realizing I was doing it. When it finally dawned on me, after feeling like total crap for a couple of days, that I'd spent the past several days eating my weight in sugary goodness, it left me with a dilemma...

Do I pull it together now before this sugar crisis gets any worse???

But wait...I only gave myself 2 weeks of no food worries. That means I only have 2 weeks to eat with no guilt!

So... ate some more!

Finally, the haze, the bloat, the CRASH came! And I knew Friday night... this had to be the end of my sugar high! Well... after I ate a few more chocolate frosted donuts for breakfast on Saturday morning!

So that is what I did.... 4... yes 4 glorious chocolate frosted donuts later, and at 8:45am I declared defeat!

I did find myself reaching for another piece of candy throughout the day, and then realizing... ah, ah, ah...NO more for me thanks! :)

Saturday and Sunday went by surprisingly well though. I honestly didn't even really feel the need for junk until tonight. After a LONG night last night of no sleep. Seriously no sleep... and a long day of working, I got hungry, tired, and irritated. So I broke down and ordered pizza from Dominos. Then... I even ate a little chocolate ice cream! The good news though... it WAS sugar free! :)

But no worries. I really did find it refreshing that I found myself actually craving good-for-me food! I feel that I made the right decision in cutting my sugar-spree short by one week. Besides... I think I gained all 5-6lbs I lost in preparation for the race back in that week! So it'll give me an extra week to work on making it go away again! :)

However, do be thinking about me. No exercise and no sugar for another 6 days! If you find yourself reading one of my blogs and it's almost incomprehensible... bare with me. I'll be back to myself on Monday when I get to sweat it out a bit. Happy off season to you all!

Whoa... Computers are HARD! :)

Ok... so Welcome to my new website/blogpage!

For sometime I've been wanting to create something a little more involved. Something that would encompass my regular blog, photos, general stuff about me, and information in regards to my coaching services!

So... I put a new look on my blog page and created 4 additional pages as links to my "extra" stuff! Check out the new header my super computer husband made for my new links permanent location!! And here's a preview as well!

http://kellyem1.blogspot.com/ (Biography)
http://kellyem2.blogspot.com/ (Races)
http://kellyem3.blogspot.com/ (Gallery)
http://kellyem4.blogspot.com/ (Coaching)

Yes... I obviously did most of this myself. No... it's not too fancy/schmancy, and I may have a website put together soon one of these days. I'm actually looking into it. But in the meantime... I hope you enjoy moving around my new links!!

And don't forget to let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome (especially when it comes to me and computers! :)

Thanks for reading guys!

Under Construction!

If you check my blog over the next several days, it may look different each time! I'm playing around with it to see what I can possibly do all by myself! We'll see how this goes! :)

Dear Santa...

Adam and his mom have been on me for a Christmas list. As I get older, I swear this gets harder! Everything I want is either ungodly expensive, extremely specific, or not much fun! :) I'm a big believer in ask for what you WANT and not what you NEED! ha.. ha!!

So yesterday, I finally set down and came up with a list... Here's what I came up with!

*Oakley white women's sunglasses: I saw them at the Sunglass Hut in Lenox Mall. Also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.... these: I actually may rather have these! (Can you tell I have a thing for sunglasses :)

*I want some fleeced lined arm warmers. I like these in like red or blue maybe!*Any clothing item just about from Nike or Anthropologie. Just don't do wool. It's kind of itchy. :)

*I really want some of the classic Uggs too. They've been out for years, and I think I'm finally ready to jump on the bandwagon!

*Splish swim suits. I think I want to order this one....

*I also like the TYR camo suit with the hot pink straps!

*Pink aquasphere jr swim goggles.

*"Magical Running" and "Running Sports Essentials" by Bobby McGee.

*The spinervals IM WI dvd

**And finally (For Now :)... I saw a lot of different jewelery yesterday that I liked from Anthropologie. You just about couldn't go wrong there! It's tradition that Adam gets me a piece of jewelery every year. How'd I manage to score that deal??? :)

Of course once I got going... It got a lot easier! I figure if Santa is kind enough to bring me even one of the items from the list... I've been a good girl!