5K Day!

The day has arrived.

The Thanksgiving Point 5K.

I began training for it at the beginning of February here.

I questioned whether I could really do it here.

Then today I woke up to THIS:

 We dragged the kids out of bed at 7am

 I tried to decide .. do I wear the coat or not wear the coat?

I went without and was JUST right.

I was worried.

I had ONLY trained on my treadmill.

Like seriously not one single run outside.

And I hadn't run this week at all.

My #1 Goal was not to walk.

I knew I could walk a 5K with no problem.

But I wanted to run the entire thing.

While training I had decided if I ran inside at a 10mm pace

then I would be good once outside (just maybe a little slower).

 Here I am RUNNING to the finish line.

I. DID. IT.

 Evan and Rachel came to cheer me on.

I was SO grateful to have familiar faces throughout the route to see that I was still running.

It really motivated me.  They were so encouraging.  Thanks guys SO much for coming!!

 Haha.  My tired.

Un-make-upped face.

 I love this picture.

I loved that Jeramie and the kids were there cheering for me at the finish line.

I loved that Oliver got to wear this ADORABLE knit outfit.

 Stats:

I finished 258 overall.

I completed in 34:05.5

I finished 28th in my age group!!!

Exactly an 11:00 minute mile.



I am REALLY proud of myself.

I set a goal, I trained, and I did it!

I can't wait for my next one.

Pride Day here we come!!

Jeramie is supposed to be running it too.

Easter 2011 - Part 2

 Still the cutest best buds.

 After hunting for eggs the kids were allowed to open their Easter baskets from Grandma.

 Oliver's Easter outfit.

 Baylee has some serious "Bieber Fever"

This was the much coveted item.

Grandma had to join the "Fan Club" online in order to find her

a t-shirt in her size.  Not to mention pay way too much for it.

Baylee however was over the moon!

 It worked out well that the boys got swimsuits in their baskets

Much to my dad's displeasure they were the first ones outside testing their new water guns.

Using pond water of course!

 Evan and Rachel's dog Torre was really happy to play with them.

 This guy was having some seriously smiley moments.

Easter 2011 - Part 1

We had an awesome Easter.

It also happened to be my dad's birthday.

We headed up to my parents bright and early for brunch.  It ended up quickly being followed by some Easter egg hunting.  The weather had threatened to be bad the whole day so since it was holding out we were in a hurry to get outside to do eggs.  Last years indoor hunt was kind of lame!

 Spring anyone?

 I seriously can't believe how quickly Oliver is growing.

He is just so darn cute.  And for the most part very mellow.

Question is will it last?

 Since he's the only baby at the moment he gets a lot of attention.

 I am in love with this face and the clasping of the hands.

I wish they would stay this innocent for a very long time.

 Balloons in Easter eggs .. huge hit!

 Jeramie seriously adores my dad.

I have to admit though he's a pretty cool guy.

 Wyland "got it" this year for sure!

 Easter Family Picture

 Oh my .. I seriously adore this picture too.

 Jackson loved catching some air from Dad.

 More pictures to come.

We had such a fun day.  The kids loved it.

And it was relaxing after all the home renovations we've been doing!

Horrified.

So last night after work I went out to the garage to sand my cabinets again.  I had the garage door open and Jackson was just outside playing.  At one point I saw him staring across the street into the cull de sac (so kind of far away).  So I looked to see what he was looking at and I barely made out a little boy standing on the lawn urinating.  YES .. URINATING.  Gross.  Jeramie is friendly with these neighbors, they have a little boy named Jackson the same age as our Jackson.  I assumed it was him.  So I continue on with my sanding while thinking about this little event.  How I wouldn't tell them I saw their son urinating on their front lawn.  I mean literally it was like one of those peeing statues, I could see the steady stream.  Sorry .. maybe TMI. 

But here I am thinking how I would die if someone saw my kid doing that.  But they're boys and boys do gross things .. a lot.  And as a mother to three boys I realize that I will not be immune to my boys doing gross and embarrassing things. 

Well next thing I know this boy is talking to Jackson in front of our house.  Turns out he isn't Jackson from across the street, he's this little boy that is visiting his grandparents.  He's six years old and when he's in the neighborhood he's just loose all over the place. He even wanted to come in our house once to play.  Which I didn't let him because his family didn't even know he was over and I wouldn't want to upset them.  I was somewhat relieved that he wasn't the little boy from across the street that will be going to school with Jackson.  They also just had another little boy who is a couple months younger than Oliver. If these neighbors don't move anytime soon I would imagine that our five boys will progress to playing together much more frequently.  So here I am feeling relieved.

But then I am watching this older kid playing with Jackson, kind of telling him what to do.  He walks into my garage and tells me he wants to play with the yellow trucks on the shelf.  These trucks belong to Wyland and they're are still in the box. My answer was no.  So he helps himself to a bike (also Wyland's).  So the rest of the time we're out there I'm just thinking.

I don't really want Jackson playing with this kid who pee's on lawns!

I feel terrible for thinking that.

He's just a kid.

But how do we influence who our kids play with?

How do we as parents make sure they get in a "good crowd" at school?

How do we make sure that they have friends period?

I guess we can't.

I did feel good that Jackson so easily interacted with him.  He's going off to Kindergarten this year and I'm nervous for him.  I want him to have lots of friends.  I want him to make friends easily.  To feel like he fits in.  It's most important for him I feel like.  He'll be doing everything first.  When Wyland starts school he'll have his big brother there to look out for him.  When Oliver starts school he'll have Wyland to look out for him.

But Jackson ..

he's blazing out on his own.

And I don't want him to learn that peeing on a neighbors lawn is okay!

Oliver - 4 months

Stats:

14 lb 6 oz (39%)

25.24 inches long (62%)

Head is 16.8 inches (59%)

Received 3 shots.

Well proportioned Dr. P says!

Other great news is that his head shape looks GOOD!

I've been so worried about that after having spent $2,000 on a helmet for Wyland.

What can he do?

he giggles

he smiles .. a LOT

shoves his fist in his mouth a lot

will hold toys and put in mouth

eats like a champ

growing like a weed

hates the binky .. boo .. I tried

doesn't mind tummy time

sleeps cuddled with mom (through the night)

holds his head up really well

loves watching his brothers and smiles at them with the most adoring eyes

This weekend I packed up all his 3 month clothes.

It's very sad this time around.  I save what I may have a quilt made out of later.

But the rest I'm just donating it all.  No more saving clothes for *the next baby*.

I'm trying to enjoy the little moments with him but already the time is flying by much too quickly.

Brown eyes.

And lovely dark brown hair.

He is such a good baby.

Oh I forgot to mention he also apparently has double ear infections and I had no clue.

I guess because he's such a good baby!

Not a complainer this one.

We're at it again!

Decorating.

Last weekend we had a VERY busy weekend.

My mum came over and helped us redecorate our kitchen.

Before.

 During.

 After (minus window treatment).

 I love it.

To me it looks so much more modern and we've been wanting to do it for a long time.

Painted the cabinets and walls. And the ceiling.

Replaced the knobs on all the cabinets and drawers.

This weekend we moved right along.

No breaks in our house.

The dining room.

 See I have no pantry.

The above shelves serve as my makeshift pantry.

They quickly look cluttered and messy.

Not to mention it's hard to maintain food security for Baylee.

So another trip to Home Depot.

And look what's coming ...

 Mum came over for some more fun.

This is her in her "lovelies" (that's what we fondly call our painting clothes).

 Jeramie loves it too.

 And right now my living room looks like this ... boo.

 And the dining room looks like this.

Can you hardly wait to see the finished product?

Yeah me too.

It's gonna be a longgggg week.

But I'm so excited for the finished product I can hardly contain myself.

What will we be doing Monday night?  Painting.

What will we be doing Tuesday night?  Painting.

Wednesday? .. umm .. painting?

But it's gonna be so worth it.