I think I can, I think I can

My running is going pretty well these days. I'm getting ready for the 3M half marathon in January (less than 2 months away!) and my longest recent long run was about 12 miles, and I felt pretty comfortable during that run and my legs weren't too trashed after. So the distance is there, but I really need to work on speed. I really doubt that I'll have a fast time at the race, but I'd like to surprise myself and run it faster than I've been running lately. Since the big kids are in preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I had high hopes of taking Theodore to the track one of those days every week and doing speedwork with him in the running stroller . . . yeah, that hasn't happened yet (and is probably not going to). I also thought I could just do speedwork on the treadmill instead, but anyone who has tried speedwork on a treadmill knows that it's . . . kind of horrible. The miles go by a lot faster, but it's not fun at all.

So. In lieu of speedwork, I'm trying to talk myself into running a 5k this Sunday evening. I usually run faster later in the day, so I might not be too embarrassed by my time. And the weather looks like it will be cool and not windy, which will also only end up helping me. Problem is, we have other commitments that afternoon, so running a race might not fit in too well, plus Hubby is on call and might not be able to take care of the kids during that time. Sigh. (Side note: all I want for Christmas is 30 hours in a day and the ability to clone myself. That would be awesome.)

Hopefully I'll be successful at talking myself into running the 5k on Sunday. But if not, then I hope to have a nice long run instead and aim for another short race sometime in the future.

Dressed for church

Buttercup is very opinionated when it comes to dressing herself, which means she sometimes ends up with pretty interesting clothing choices. She went through a long phase earlier this year when she would only wear her pink running shorts with a blue polka dotted shirt, or her blue running shorts with a pink Hello Kitty shirt. Lately she's been branching out more, but she usually chooses her brown Thomas the train shirt with green shorts, or a pink and blue striped shirt with plaid shorts.

We've come to an agreement over the past year -- I let her pick her outfits Monday through Saturday (with Mommy Veto Power on school days) and on Sundays I pick out two dresses and let her choose between them.

She usually rarely chooses to wear dresses or skirts. Not being a girly girl myself, I understand that, and also understand why she has a fit when Sunday morning rolls around every week, and has to put on a dress again.

But for some reason, she decided she wanted to wear a dress to a friend's birthday party a couple of weekends ago, so she picked out her striped dress and actually picked out matching (!!!) leggings to go with it. And then this past Sunday, I was still eating breakfast when she hollered from her room that she needed help getting her blue dress down for church. She wasn't complaining or fighting me! And she actually wanted to wear a dress!

And this is what she picked out to wear:


Fabulous. :-)

6 month checkup

Theodore had his 6 month checkup this morning. He passed all of his milestones and wowed the pediatrician and student doctor with his gross motor skills -- sitting up, rolling, dragging himself across the table to get to an object -- and other skills. He's still growing very well and is staying within the 95th percentile for weight and length (head circumference is 75th-80th). And . . . he's still not as heavy as Oliver was. Ha ha ha! They were both the same length at 6 months old (28 inches) but Oliver was 21lb 4oz and Theodore is "only" 20lb 11oz. :-)

Because there was a student doctor also involved, the appointment took a good bit longer than usual and poor Theodore was ready for a nap well before his pediatrician began examining him. After the room cleared and the kids and I were waiting for the nurse to come back with his vaccinations, Theodore finally fell asleep in my arms. And then we had to wake him up to get his shots! Poor kiddo, what a way to wake up. :-( He got 4 shots, but he took them well and he's been acting fine ever since. I even got some giggles out of him after we got home. :-)



Look at his cute little teeth!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very nice, lowkey Thanksgiving celebration last week. We hung around at home in the morning and did some crafts, then we went for a short hike, then we let the big kids watch as much tv as they wanted and skip naps. :-)

Six months

The little fat boy is 6 months old today!! He is such a fun, happy little dude and everyone just lights up when they are around him. :-)

Theodore has been busy since the last update! He's cutting his first tooth, working on sitting up by himself, getting into crawling position (although he gets around pretty well by dragging himself across the floor, ha ha), and log rolling. He is also continuing to follow in his big brother's footsteps by being a very, very hungry little guy, so these days he's already eating a couple of meals of baby food at our mealtimes.

Unfortunately, he's not following in Oliver's footsteps in the sleep department. Sigh. He is still waking up two times a night -- which is great for a newborn, but not so great for a 6 month old. But he's so cute and squishy that we don't care all that much. Although a full night's sleep would be nice. But it's okay. Really. :-)

Theodore's favorites still include his mama, his daddy, his big brother and sister, being outside, and swinging. He loooooves to swing!





He also loves the water. Bath time is a new favorite time of day, and he also loves it when I take him and the older ones swimming at the YMCA pool.


Happy first half birthday, sweet baby boy!

Impromptu hike

This afternoon we didn't have any plans, and the natives were very, very restless, so we hopped in the car to head to a then-unknown destination. For some reason I threw Buttercup's bike in the back of the car, just in case we ended up at a park with lots of sidewalks.

Well, after about 3 minutes of driving, we decided to head to the end of the trail to explore. It's not far at all (only about a 15 minute drive from our house) but we just hadn't been in a while.

I wasn't sure how long everyone would last on the trail since Oliver was on foot, Buttercup was on her bike but there were a few steep grades on the way out, and Theodore was teething and didn't get a good post-lunch nap, but everyone did great. We ended up a little over a mile down the trail before we stopped to turn around, and then we stopped to rest and explore on the way back.







We arrived at a part of the creek that was actually high enough to float sticks and leaves. So we stopped to do that, and that turned into Oliver and Buttercup trying to get rocks out of the creek from the bank, which turned into muddy arms and legs, which turned into "let me just rinse off in the creek," which turned into 2 little people having a grand old time getting soaking wet. :-)


















I always keep a bag of dry clothes in the back of the car, for such occasions. Sadly, the bag was only used once over the summer (the previous summer, it was more like once or twice a week!). I'm glad that it got some use today. :-)

Counting my blessings

Here are just a few things that I'm thankful for this year. :-)

1. My hubby (who is always at the top of the list (except for that one time that I forgot him completely . . . ha ha ha . . . sorry about that!). He works hard every day, and sometimes part of the night, and on weekends, to provide for us. Part of that provision is so I can stay at home with our three little ones, for which I am truly thankful. Not only is he a hard worker, but he also plays hard with the kids, teaching them all sorts of essential skills like Shooting a Nerf Gun Behind Your Back While Diving to the Ground, How to (Not) Stay Away from Big, Scary Spiders, and Driving Around Corners Really Fast Sometimes Makes Mommy Carsick. Something else that I am SO thankful for is that he never, ever, ever complains about what I fix for dinner, and he has eaten every meal that I've prepared (except for this one disgusting tuna casserole I made 7 years ago). Which is really nice, since I'm far from being a 5 star chef and some days get caught up in hiding from playing with the kids and don't get dinner ready on time.

2. My awesome kids, for filling my life with joy and making me a better person. For making me slow down to notice the little things, always being up for a new adventure, and for not caring that I dance like Elaine on Seinfeld.

3. My sister, for moving here 3 years ago and being a constant source of support and laughter. Oh, and for babysitting the kids (for free!) and putting them all to bed for us (for free!) and even telling us that we need a date night because she wants to babysit them and put them to bed for us (for free!). Seriously. Everyone needs a sister like her.

4. My dad, for being exactly who he is.

5. My mom, for moving here to help out with the kiddos.

6. A (somewhat) rainy fall that followed the longest, hottest, droughtiest summer that I never hope to experience again.

7. Coffee.

8. An injury-free return to running.

9. Early bedtimes.

10. Freedom.

11. Yankee Candle coupons. Those things are expensive!

What are you thankful for?