Long Pigman Tri 2008

Yesterday Josh completed the Long Pigman Triathlon (half-Ironman) for the second time. To say he improved from last year would be an understatement - he improved his time by an hour and 10 minutes!!! That's incredibly impressive! He finished a 1.2 mile swim, 60 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run in 5 hours and 22 minutes. For someone who works full-time and has two little kids at home, this time is unbelievable! He placed 110th out of 700 some athletes (keep in mind that some of these people do triathlons for a living!) Most importantly for me though, is that he is safe and didn't crash like he did last year :) I just kept praying that he would return safely and in one piece.

Running out of the beach area from the swim. Great swim time despite swimming off course two times. He looked great coming out of the water and even talked to me as he was running through transition.


Leaving on the bike... I was too busy yelling at him so this was the best picture I could get.


Daddy's #1 fan! Makenna and I had planned for weeks to make signs for Daddy for the triathlon. She spent hours making these signs and was so proud of herself. She kept them a secret until the night before the race and then when Josh came to tuck her in bed she jumped out of bed and had to show him! He was very touched and said that was the highlight of his race! Makenna was not only a great cheerleader for Daddy but she cheered for all the triathletes. She would sit on the side of the road with me yelling "Go runner! Keep it up! Go biker! You're doing great!" At one time she was overwhelmed by all the athletes and said "Mommy there's just too many of them!"


Josh coming in on the bike and smiling at Makenna and her signs! And I also have to add looking GREAT in aero position! Go Budke! AWESOME bike time!


Leaving on the run and feeling pretty good at this point in time. He felt good up through mile 7 and then his back started spasming and his legs started cramping. He somehow made it through though with a run time that was only a few minutes longer than expected.


Coming in on the run and looking exactly like he just completed a half-Ironman. He was incredibly sore (still is!) and his feet seemed to take most of the beating. I should've taken a picture of his feet... blisters everywhere. Not too mention the foot injuries he's been struggling with all summer of course were painful during and after the race. Sidenote: See Joshua - I told you you run with your head down!!!


Once again, my husband continues to amaze me. His dedication and perseverance are like nothing I've ever seen. I am so incredibly proud of him and all that he has set his mind to and accomplished. And all the while still being the best husband and daddy in the entire world :)

29 Years Old & 13 Weeks Preggo

Yesterday was my 29th birthday and I had a great day with Josh and the girls. They took me out to eat last night for mexican food and then we enjoyed the beautiful weather out in the yard for the rest of the evening. Since I'm always the photographer in our family, here are some hard to come by pics of me with the girls :)

Singing "Happy Birthday" to mommy :)


Maryn not wanting to say "cheese"


And the newest member of our family :) 13 weeks and counting... And yes I am well aware of the fact that I look like I'm at least 18 - 20 weeks along. They say the 3rd kid will do that to you!

Proud Of Makenna

There have been three specific moments over the past few months that have made us extremely proud of Makenna. Not just the typical everyday proud of her that we feel all the time, but an out-of-the-ordinary bring tears to your eyes kind of proud. And the cool thing about it is that each moment has to do with a different character trait that Makenna possesses - her compassion and desire to give to others, her intelligence, and her bravery and maturity.

The first situation involved Sunday school. Mr. Dave (Makenna's Sunday school teacher this year) has been doing a wonderful job teaching the kids about giving to the Lord and others. Every week they talk about their specific missionary family, The Steeles. Makenna has learned a lot about the Steeles and loves to talk about them... they have five boys, they live in Italy (the country that's shaped like a boot - at least according to Makenna!), and they teach other people about God. Well every week Mr. Dave collects an offering so the kids can help the Steeles over in Italy. Every week Makenna asks us for some money to give to the Steeles and joyfully gives the money to Mr. Dave. One day a few months ago she was asking about the piggy bank in her room and wondering what was in it. I took the plastic bottom off and we started looking through all the money and counting it. She asked me what all the money was for and I told her that it was her special money that we had saved for her and that she could save it up and spend it on whatever she wanted. Well she must have thought about it for awhile because later that afternoon she comes strolling downstairs with her piggy bank full of money and tells me "Mommy, I decided that I want to give all my money to the Steeles. They need it more than I do. They can use it to buy food and clothes and we already have food and clothes." I gave her a ziploc baggy and told her to put the money in there that she wanted to (it ended up being about 3/4 of the piggy bank). She was SO excited to bring the money to Mr. Dave. You should have seen the look on his face when she handed over the wad of money and I explained to him what happened. Obviously Makenna has developed a heart for giving and is already putting it into action at a very young age. Josh and I couldn't have been prouder of her.

Maryn has a little stuffed owl that was given to her recently that has a website attached to a tag around its neck. Makenna has been interested in this animal since Maryn got it but I was amazed at how far she took her interest. One day she was playing on the computer like she is allowed to do every so often. She typically only plays on PBS kids or Disney so I came out to make sure she was navigating to the right place (don't know why, she always does). Anyway, this time I come out and find her studying this little owl's tag and the Shining Star website (the brand of this owl) is pulled up on the computer screen. I asked "Makenna did you do this? Or did Daddy help you?" Definitely thinking that Josh must have done this for her earlier with my knowing. She said "No mommy, I just typed this in (pointing to the website on the tag) and I got this." I was assuming she just meant that she typed in the web address on the browser but wanted her to clarify. I asked her to show me how she did it again. She went to favorites, drug the mouse down to Google, went to the Google web site, typed in "Shining Stars", clicked on the correct option and then got to the Shining Stars website. I think I was standing there with my mouth hanging open for five minutes. My not even 4 year old (at the time) had the ability to use a search engine to find a website that she wanted. And not from us teaching her, but from just observing Josh and I on the computer. Once again, we were so incredibly proud and in awe.

And the last moment happened just yesterday. As I've mentioned on this blog before, we had a very traumatic experience trying to get blood drawn for Makenna's allergy tests a few months ago. Well I gave her a break for a few months but decided that before school started that we needed to finally get it taken care of. I talked her through it and she finally seemed able to cope with it a little better (and not start screaming at the mention of it). I wasn't prepared for how well she was dealing with it. I got a baby-sitter for MarBear (considering the past two times have included many tears and kicking and screaming, and for good reason on her part, I decided it would best if we did this by ourselves) and Makenna and I went on our way. She told me numerous times in the car that she was going to be brave. She even brought up how she helped me be brave when I had to have blood drawn numerous times early in this pregnancy. Well we got there and she bravely walked in and walked to the counter with me. Didn't hide behind me or anything. I explained to these nice new ladies the situation (we went to a new place this time, no way was I going back to that first incompetent lab again). We took Makenna back, she sat on my lap and they started to explain to her what they were going to do. I took her mind off of it by asking her what kind of ice cream she was going to get afterwards and within like 20 seconds (seriously!) it was done!! Makenna didn't whimper, cry, nothing! She didn't say a word or move through the whole thing. When they were all done she said "That didn't ouchie at all!" I had tears in my eyes I was so relieved. I can't tell you how much I have been dreading that moment. We prayed about it a lot and it turned out just fine! Thank God! So to treat Makenna for her extreme bravery and maturity, I took her out to Dairy Queen and I told her she could get whatever she wanted. You should have seen how big her eyes got as we stood outside the Dairy Queen and she tried to decide what she wanted! She picked a chocolate ice cream cone with sprinkles on it! Proud, proud, proud... I am so amazed at this little girl. She couldn't make her mommy and daddy any prouder of her than we already are.

Our Exciting News!

Approximately February 19th, 2009 a 3rd little Budke will be joining our family :) We are absolutely thrilled and can't wait to meet our newest little peanut! I will be 12 weeks tomorrow and we heard the heartbeat for the first time last week - absolutely amazing! It still sounds as wonderful the third time as it did the first :) We are all very thankful that God has blessed with another child!

I had my long anticipated moment last week when we finally told the girls about the baby! It was driving me crazy that the two little people I spend all my time with didn't know about this major aspect of my life (but we obviously wanted to wait until after we had the appointment). We got the video camera out to tape their reaction because I expected Makenna to be over the top (as she's been asking God to put a baby in mommy's tummy for months now!). At first they both just kind of looked at me and then Maryn continued about her business completely oblivious. Makenna sat there for awhile and then it was like a light bulb went off in her head and the smile didn't leave her face for the rest of the night! She couldn't stop hugging, kissing and gently patting my belly. She talked about the baby and what a good big sister she is going to be the rest of the night :) She pats my belly and kisses the baby good night every night and of course has to check on the baby every morning when we wake up! She is so excited to meet the baby and talks about it constantly! She understands that God decides if we have a brother or a sister and she is cool with that... which is good since her preference changes every day! The one strong opinion she does have though is that if the baby is a girl that we have to name her Mackenzie. She is adamant about this because it sounds just like her name! Hopefully we won't crush her because we are not naming the baby Mackenzie if it's a girl! Maryn is slowly catching on to the excitement and will now point to my belly and say "baby". I'm sure she doesn't get it quite yet though. Should be an interesting few months!

Where'd Summer Go?

How in the world is it already August?! I think I'm in denial that school starts in just a few weeks! Makenna is very excited to start her second year of preschool! The girls and I have been keeping very busy and I have lots of pictures to share!

This is where Maryn spends at least part of every day... sitting in her rocking chair reading books. I try to read them to her but she's at the age where she'd prefer to read them to herself (except of course at bedtime!)


Our little almost 2 year old has become quite the princess! She is following big sis's footsteps and loves to dress-up and wear princess shoes around the house.


Makenna in her typical bride princess dress. Worn more than any other article of clothing in our house!!


She doesn't quite understand that the outfit needs to match. I just loved this shot from behind :)


The girls enjoying a Sunday breakfast with Daddy out in the playhouse! Leave it up to Daddy to buy donuts for breakfast and take them out to the playhouse with the girls! This is definitely one of the reasons daddies are so important! They're so fun!


I've been digging through all of Makenna's old shoes and clothing to see what will fit Maryn this fall/winter. I found these boots and Maryn just loved them! Keep in mind that last year her feet were still too small to fit into regular boots so she had to wear faux boots so this is a first for her (even though she was big enough to play outside and walk in the snow!). Don't you think the purple snow boots look great with her church dress?!


More with the boots, but also with the baby doll. Maryn is HUGE into baby dolls right now and and pushes them around the house in a stroller. Usually puppy comes along for the ride too!


Ahhh stickers! Maryn is loving stickers at the moment and seriously spent over an hour the other day just putting stickers in a coloring book. Here Makenna was getting a little creative with her stickers!


And of course little sister had to follow suit!