It's been a while...and good bye, for now.

Hi!...Anyone out there? {echo}

It's safe to say life has been busy. VERY busy!!.

The boys are now running all over the place....I'm loving this stage, they're little people with big personalities already. Can I love them more each day? Yup, it's possible!.

Yesterday was my big race I had been training off and on for. Let me tell you, training for a half marathon with two little ones is not easy!. Just when you start getting into a routine something happens (like a MOLAR!) and you're out of your routine and completely sleep deprived. And we all know how hard it is to get BACK into a routine...

I didn't train as much or as diligently as I wanted to...but I surprised myself BIG time during my race yesterday. I honestly had no plans on running it so fast....but I went with the flow, didn't pay attention to my pace and just let my mind take over.

I completed the 13.1 (13.2 really, but I digress) in 2:02:24!!!!. That's a pace of 9'20''...which if I say so myself, it's freaking awesome!

For the running junkies, here are the splits:

9:04, 9:03, 9:11, 9:11, 9:18, 9:21, 9:29, 9:36, 9:33, 9:17, 9:12, 9:14, 8:53

I hit a "wall" at around mile 8 and thought "what was I thinking going so fast!!!?"...but then thought "well, now I have to keep at it and finish strong". And so I did.

I like to think I was inspired by my sister (a recent marathoner) and my dad (who ran many marathons and triathlons!) and was powered by the thought of maybe seeing my three favorite men at the finish line (wasn't sure if they would make it on time!)...add that inspiration and that power with a couple of energy gels and I just kept going.

So there. I did it!. Hopefully one day join my dad and my sister and become a marathoner too.

If you would have told me a little over two of years ago that I was going to be a runner, I would have laughed. I was never the big "athlete" growing up...I always thought I was pretty slow...and I just didn't think I had it in me. But I do...and I'm a runner.

It's been quite the journey and really the reason why I started blogging. I needed a way to let out all my excitement about running (without driving my close family and friends nuts).

Then I got pregnant and was all about my pregnancy ... wanted a way to share that special moment.

Then the boys were here and I wanetd to document all the love and craziness that comes with having twin boys.

And now..well, now they are MOVING. RUNNING. And the faster the move, the less time I have to sit and do anything. I don't have time to continue blogging....because I simply don't want to miss a moment right now ~ and it's going by too fast. I have a feeling that it's only going to seem like it's going faster!.

I do love to read everyone's blogs that I've "met" in the last couple of years...and maybe one day I'll return with all of my amazingly funny stories (ha!).

Thank you guys for letting me share a little bit of me with you these last two years.

Thank you to my dad, sisters, Isa, mom and friends that ALWAYS kept up with me here and left me the best comments.

So this is good bye. For now.

****

(but you didn't think I would leave without first leaving you with a few pictures did you?)

First, here are a few pictures of my two favorite boys:

And here are some pictures from yesterday!

Self picture of me with the best reasons to not have time to do anything :)

Adios amigos :)

They are ONE!!!!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Lucas!!!!!!!

I can't believe it. They are one year old.

I don't have time to post now since they are about to wake up from their nap!!...

Here is our first family picture :)

We love you guys!

Couldn't have done it without...{4}

My dad and my stepmom.

So as I told you, my mom was here with us that first crazy month. After she left, we got a new wave of rested grandparents to the rescue!.

This was a great month. We started falling into a more predictable routine and I started feeling slightly better about doing things on my own.

My dad & Isa would get here at 6am and take over the morning shift....I would then catch up on my ZZZssss. I learned how to do the nighttime feedings by myself, but it was always nice t know that come 6am I was off duty and could rest up!. I can't even tell you how precious that extra time was!.

Now a little more about why they are so great....and why I couldn't have done it without them!

My dad brings me sense of "peace". He is loving, caring, calm and so intelligent. He knew exactly what to tell me when I appeared a little "frazzled". He would play classical music for the boys everyday...and knew how to get them to nap better than I could sometimes!. He helped me start coming out of the daze and start becoming (slowly) part of society again...you know, doing simple things like getting out of my PJs and remembering to brush my teeth :)

Isa always brings a sense of "positive attitude"....and this time was no different!. She would get here with a huge smile on her face and leave with that same smile (plus a few spit ups in her shirt). She's very analytical, which I think is part of the reason why we get along so great. She really helped me to start thinking about a routine and how to go about it without driving myself nuts!. The routine we started at month 2, stuck until the boys were 6 months!...this was so necessary!.

My dad and Isa are a great example of friendship and love. I am so grateful they were here with us that 2nd month and couldn't definitely not have done it without them!!!!!!.

Gracias!!!! Los adoro!!!!!!!!

Couldn't have done it without...{3}

My mom.

Where do I start?....

I can't even start with the pregnancy, I have to start way before!. I couldn't be the mom that I am today if it wasn't for my mom. For the example she has given us...of strength, love, courage, compassion and friendship. All while never forget to laugh. My mom loves to laugh...even during some tough times...I always remember her pulling pranks, telling jokes and laughing.

When she surprised me by coming to my baby shower, it was honestly one of the happiest moments in my life!.

Then, she put her life on hold and came to stay with us for the whole first month. If you're a mom, you know that first month is a "weird" one (great, but weird!)...you're emotional, tired, excited, happy, sad...etc...all at the same time. She was there through all of it...and while we did disagree on a few things, I have no idea how I would have made it through that first month without her!. The husband had to get back to work after the first week, so my mom was the one doing all night time (and day time!) feedings with me. That first month is a blur, but I know it wouldn't have been as special if she wasn't here.

Who else would still laugh (and by laugh I mean cry from laughing!) after a night of feeding babies every 2 hours (that's right, every TWO hours!). This was the sight of the nursery each morning:

Mom, thank you so much for everything you did.....for being there for us and for never letting me forget to enjoy each and every single moment. Te adoro mama!!!!!!!!!!

ps: I'm probably going to have to translate this for her ;)

Couldn't have doen it without....{2}

Like I said, no particular order of importance for my countdown to the big {ONE} list.

But I couldn't have done it without...the Snoggle!

The snoggle AND a guest room. I already told you how awesome the husband was...well, sleeping with him in those last few weeks was not awesome for anyone.

I temporarily moved to the guest room...a happy place were I could be surrounded by pillows and a place were I didn't have to try to be quiet as I struggled and eventually managed to get myself out of bed to make it to the bathroom every hour or so....and then came back with my giant like steps and carefully tried to position my big body into a comfortable position (which would be "comfortable" for only the next 15 minutes).

Snoggle, thank you.

I couldn't have done it without...

I am in SHOCK. In three weeks the boys will be ONE. Did you read that? O-N-E!!!!!

Do I cry? Do I laugh? Do I do a happy dance? Do I open a good bottle of wine from our wine country stash? Do I try to put them in a swaddle blanket and pretend they are little again?

Probably all of the above, with a few random things in between...but for now I'm going to be posting a series of posts on "I couldn't have done it without". In no particular order of importance because seriously these are the things I could just not have done it without.

Let's start with the obvious one, shall we?

"THE HUSBAND"

And when I say "The Husband", I mean it...that's actually what I call him, "husband". I know "sweetie or honey" are probably more common, but he's my husband and thus that's what I call him!. I think i was so excited when we got married to say "my husband"...that it just stuck, so now I just call him that on a daily basis.

Ok, back to my point.

Seriously couldn't have done it without the husband!. First there is the obvious reason. Yep, really couldn't have fertilized an egg (that would eventually split!) all by myself. So kudos to those little swimmers, or rather that strong swimmer that came by and broke my egg in two!

Then there was pregnancy. The husband was so awesome during pregnancy...what did he do that was so special?. Well, he let a lot of things go. When I had my moments and would lose it for random stupid things, he would always diffuse the topic and very rarely took it personal. Knowing that you have two babies on the way, not knowing if you would make it to week XX, etc can make any mom to be very nervous and emotional...he was always calm and that really helped me through those 9 (8?) months.

There's just one thing he didn't do......he didn't gain any sympathy weight! As a matter of fact he decided my pregnancy was the perfect time to get even hotter. Thanks husband.

Then there is this whole last year. Whoa, this year. I don't even think I can put it in writing but I can tell you that whatever dreams I had of him as a dad have been COMPLETELY blown away. He is the BEST dad I could have asked for my boys. Our lives have been turned upside down and finding that right balance hasn't been easy...but I can say that now we're stronger than we ever were. We are a family.

Alejandro, I definitely could not have done it without you. I love you husband.

Me and my partner in crime, right before we became "mom and dad"