Ella's Riding in Style!

Well, once again we have been amazed at how God provides. He is an awesome God who loves us, Amen?

After having our precious little baby girl, I spent the first 6 weeks trying to regain strength by eating wholesome foods. Mom made the most unbelievable fruit salad I'd ever had. Awesome. But soon I found myself craving sweets and justifying it by saying I needed more calories because I was breastfeeding. Needless to say, this didn't help me lose the baby weight.

Before I got pregnant, I was decently consistent about getting exercise. Being an ex-Division 1 athlete and a Health & Exercise Science major at Furman, I kind of have it in my blood I guess. But not long after I heard from the nurse, "Girl, you wit' child..." I started feeling the effects of that statement, namely Morning/Noon/Night Sickness.

And for some reason, when I felt all day long like I was going to puke, my desire to exercise went down the same toilet that I worshipped many times during that first trimester. It's not that I wanted to let myself go or anything, I just couldn't keep myself going! I walked, but after 20 years of playing soccer and running to keep in shape for that, walking just wasn't enough for my body to keep in shape.

So I have a lot to do to get a lean mean mommy machine body back. I'm sure once I start running after a toddler, I may get in more daily exercise, but in the meanwhile I needed to do something.

My friend, Brooke Caudill, told me that her whole family was training for a half marathon, and that she was a little worried about training for it. Lo and behold, she lives right around the corner, and I offered to run with her. We have been a great pair so far....about the same pace and endurance...plenty to talk about and she even helps me push Ella up the hills!

I had been using our regular stroller to tote my little snuggly bug with us as we pounded the pavement, but truthfully it was pretty difficult. Besides an extra 15 pounds to push (plus Ella who is 15 pounds and growing, too), the wheels are small and we both felt ever bump. It simply wasn't made to be a running stroller.

So I began looking for a running stroller that would take a little less effort to push. Brandon and I found my dream stroller at Babies R Us, but it was more than we wanted to spend. I looked on Craigslist, Ebay, and in the newspapers for used ones that would suffice. I prayed and just knew that, like everything else, God would provide.

Some people laugh when they hear story after story of how God has given us a beautiful home piece by piece. It seems that every time we are in need of something, it gets to us one way or another. Granted, a lot of patience is required. I think a lot of people are too used to being instantly gratified and so they don't even give God a chance to show out. He uses people, and sometimes it takes longer, but He won't just drop it out of the sky. We've gone through our ENTIRE house and every piece of furniture, every appliance, every cool aspect has a story of how God got it to us either for free, as a gift, or at an unbelievable discount. Brandon and I have had many discussions about how it is because of this reality that we hold things lightly...they were given to us, and we should be willing to give them up quickly if the need presents itself. We try to be generous and hospitable and sensitive to the Spirit's leading when we can be a blessing to other people like He has used others to be a blessing in our lives.

Brooke called and said that she and Craig (her hubby) were coming over for a little while. A few minutes later, they walked up to our door pushing the COOLEST JOGGING STROLLER EVER! It was the upgraded version of the one Brandon and I pined over in Babies R Us just a couple weeks ago! I know that I had mentioned looking for a stroller and possibly borrowing one from someone who wasn't using theirs, but I don't remember telling her about this one, specifically.

Y'all this thing rocks my face off! It has a hand brake, an odometer to show us how far we're running and at what pace, and even a cool feature that allows me to plug in my CD player/MP3 player and play through speakers!!!! We have been running to some great tunes, and I don't even have to carry it because it has a cool padded storage case for it. Besides that, it's easy to push because it has big tires and is a much smoother ride due to the shocks in the back!

So thank you to God and to the Caudills for this awesome gift! I know it will foster great running experiences with Ella. I'm looking forward to running off these baby pounds even more now!