Notice: I started this thought on Ethan's blog, so it makes more sense if you read that one first :)

I mentioned that I took a little piece of Ethan with me in the bike portion of the triathalon today. I thought that it was only fair to take a bit of Annelise as well. I put one of her bows on my running hat. The running was by far the hardest part of the race - first because it is last and second because it was 10 something when I started running. Can you say HOT? But I had my little Annelise with me to remind me of something.

The thing that I want my kids to see in me is different for each one of them. For Annelise, I hope that she sees a reflection of her spirit. She may be young and tiny, but she is absolutley amazing. She is a fighter with every breath of her being. If she weren't, she wouldn't be here. Thinking of her and what she has overcome and the battles that still lay ahead of her, I want her to have every ounce of that fight. She'll need it to make her life her own. She inspires me - which probably sounds weird when you talk about a 17 month old little girl, but she does. Her spirit and personality ring out. Her laugh makes me laugh and her strong-will reminds me of something in me.

As I was finishing up the run I thought of her and it gave me what I needed to finish well. Just seeing her smiling little face as I approached the finihs line was great. When I was all done all she wanted was to have me hold her. She couldn't care less that I was covered in sweat and (let's face it) smelled :) She is my girl and I love her so deeply it astounds me sometimes.

For the record I finished my race in just under 2 hours - 1:59:13. The biking was for Ethan, the running was for Annelise. The swimming was all me - reminding me of what I loved about being a kid. If you wonder where James fits into all this, he was with me the whole time. I wore his watch :) I couldn't ask for a more loving and supportive husband. I am truly blessed by God. So really, the whole family did the triathalon today (though I must say I think I did the heavy lifting :)