Monument Ave 10K

Two years ago I ran the Monument 10K.  You can read about it here.  But since then I haven't even come close to running that much.  In fact once I got pregnant I was so sick that I didn't even go on walks for several months. Then after having Joel and breaking my tailbone it hurt too much to run to want to do it consistently.  But around Christmas time my tailbone was feeling better and wouldn't hurt after I ran.  So my sisters talked me into signing up for the monument 10K.  I figured it was good motivation to get back into shape and lose the last of the pregnancy weight I had to lose.  Julie was a HUGE encouragement to me the past 3 months (thank you Julie!!!!!!!) And I fell in love with running again. And have been running about 4 times a week the past 3 months.  Sometimes alone but a lot of times pushing 60lbs in the double jogging stroller.  Those days I consider everything I ran counts double, for example a 2 mile run =4 miles pushing the boys :)  I have been running about 3 miles pretty consistently and ran 4 miles a few times so I was in better shape but was a little nervous about doing 6.2 miles today.  This morning I woke up early and drove to Richmond to meet my sisters to run the race.  This year there was 37,300 people running it.  Mary is the fastest of us and Sarah's goal was to beat Mary.  My goal was to finish in under an hour and not walk.  And I haven't gotten the official times yet but I think I finished in 57 minutes.  The last mile was rough but I did it and am pretty proud of myself.  Sarah and Mary took off and we met at the end. And I think Mary beat Sarah.   Its a fun race and had fun spending the morning with my sisters.  I love my sisters.  It was a relaxing morning in a way for me to have so much time in the car by myself listening to my music and not having to worry about the kids.  Although next year I plan on being in better shape and beating BOTH Mary and Sarah!

 While I was at the race, Brent was in meetings all day for work and my mom was watching the boys.  Colin had his first soccer game and Uncle Opie and Aunt Angela came to watch. (they are here for a few weeks before they move to Japan)  When I walked into the door this afternoon, Joel waved at me :)  and Colin met me in the bathroom. At first I thought it was sweet that he missed me so much he had to join me but he immediately whispered this conversation

C: "Ma-ma-maa forgot my soccer ball and water bottle" (the soccer ball was in her car)
Me: oh thats ok. How was the game?
C: "Ma-ma-maa went to the wrong place!There was no game.  My team wasn't there. Me not played soccer today."

He whispered the whole thing and then left.  hahaha So after coming out and getting my mom to clarify, they did make it to the right field and found his team. Only it wasn't where he had practice so he was convinced it was wrong.  And even though his coach came over he refused to believe it was his team and didn't play. He told me later that he'll play when mommy and daddy are there. And they have only had 1 practice so he was very confused.  So we'll see how the rest of the games go.  He is very excited for practice on Monday at the RIGHT field :) My boy who thrives on routines...He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he didn't play and even refused the fruit roll-up and juice box they got at the end.  I think my Mom, James and Angela had a good time watching the kids play. They will have to come to a game later in the season to watch Colin actually play (maybe) Thanks mom and James for hanging out with the boys the entire day.

Soccer Practice

I think he liked it... what do you think?  Brent and I sat there and laughed the whole time. His game tomorrow should be interesting based on practice. Colin was one of the better listeners and at the end even stopped picking up the ball and running with it.  We did have to tell Colin not to tackle in soccer :)  But he did very well. He loves his coach and stuck by him the whole practice.  Some of the other kids had no clue and one kid was halfway in the woods before we all noticed.  haha It'll be fun to compare the first game to the last game of the season.  He is very excited and keeps asking when his next game or practice is. 

Joel had a good time too.  I brought him his soccer ball to play with but we did have to stop him from crawling into the goal a few times.  He's ready to play with the big kids too.  He would laugh and smile real big each time he saw Colin run by.  

first words

Last night when I came home from running, Joel reached for me and clearly said "mama." He has been saying it for a while now but I wasn't sure he knew what he was saying. But last night I knew.  And I loved it. And he's been saying it nonstop all day.  He has been saying da-da for a while now which was especially nice one night at 3am when he woke us up saying "da-da" so Brent went to get him :)  He does love his daddy and cries when he sees Brent leave for work. Joel is such a happy baby and still loves to be held and snuggled all the time.  And finally he has gone back to waking up only once at night!  woo hoo!  lets hope the rest of his teeth take a long time to come in.  But this kid gets into everything. Cords, trashcans, toilet water, he even climbed into my shower the other day.  Colin never did any of that. He definitely keeps us on our toes.  Joel also takes his cars and makes them move while saying "vrrrrr" = vroom.  Its the cutest thing and reinforces our belief that he is in fact a genius.

 

I love this picture of Joel in the midst of his belly laugh. He is one tickleish kid.  I hope we dont tickle it out of him anytime soon.

My precious baby,  you are growing up too fast.  But we love every minute of it. 

Its the little things

This boy LOVES green.  He will tell you its his favorite color (although lately blue and yellow make the list too) he's always loved green.  When he was 6 months old he always went for the green balls in our baby swim class. And only the green balls. Yesterday on St Patty's day we ate all things green.  And he loved it.  (today he wants it to be outer space day and eat all blue foods) But any sports team he watches, he will always cheer for the green team.  When we signed him up for soccer he immediately asked "am I on the green team?"  We said we weren't sure what his uniform would be or what team he would be on and were hoping that once he saw his uniform he would forget about it not being green.  But we were surprised yesterday when we found out that his age group has teams by colors, not names.  So guess what team he is on?  The Kelly Green team (they have a Forest Green team too)  And he is super excited.  And so am I.  And I hope that when he gets older and reads his blog book that he will remember that if God cared enough to put him on the green team when he was 3, then God will also take care of the bigger things in Colin's life as well.  And hopefully I will also remember that God cares about the little things in my life too.  But for now we are off to the store to pick up the list of items we need before practice on monday (soccer ball, cleats, shin guards...) His first game is next saturday, the same day as a 10K I'm running and Brents "weekend of excellence" that his work has once a year.  Of course its all on the same day! So we'll juggle things and thankfully my parents are near to come take Colin to his first game - on the green team! Now  I wonder if we can find green cleats :)

playing together

The boys have been playing a lot together. Its really cute to see and fun to watch. And usually they both have a lot of fun. The other day Colin thought it would be fun to put Joel in 'jail.'

Joel did not think it was fun

But dont worry.  He got Colin back a little later :) Those 8 teeth sure come in handy! 

Moments i dont want to forget

Today Brent had to go into work to pick up a check but he took Colin with him for some daddy/Colin time. As Brent was getting the car seat into his truck, I heard Colin yell to Brent "daddy I'll be right back, I forgot something."  And he ran inside, came over to me and gave me a hug and kiss and said "i love you mommy."  Then ran back outside excited to get to go to work with daddy.

God's plan

Yesterday we were driving in the car and listening to a new cd I got for the boys.  Its Phil Joel's deliberateKids. And great.  We all enjoy listening to it over and over.  But one song has a part that goes like this:

"God made the heavens and God made the earth
God made you before your birthday
He's got a plan
He's got a plan for you" 


So I asked Colin what he thought God's plan for him was and he thought for a moment and he said "to be a big brother and protect baby Joel from dangerous things." I'd say that was a great plan :)

 He might protect Joel from dangerous things but it doesn't stop him from leaning over and saying "I'm going to beat you baby Joel" right as I took this picture.  Like an 8 month old whose feet can't even touch the ground could beat him in a car race... haha its so funny to me that he even thought Joel had a chance.  soon enough. And if you notice Joel's face, I'm pretty sure he's thinking he'll be able to beat Colin once his feet can touch the ground.

snuggles

Last night I was sound asleep when I was woken 4 times.  2 by a baby wanting to be held and snuggled and fed, 2 times by a little boy who wanted his mommy to snuggle. Good thing I went to bed at 8:00.  And Colin doesn't always wake up like this. He's been pretty good lately about sleeping all night.  There are nights when I desperately want them to go back to sleep and pray that they would fall asleep but last night was different.  Each time Colin yelled "mommy...mommy..." louder and louder I went in and climbed into bed with him and he snuggled so close and held my hand. He even covered me with his blanket so I would be nice and comfy.  It was so sweet that I was reminded how short these moments last. That soon he'll be way to big to call for mommy to snuggle. And I just love snuggling with my boys.  Joel is a huge snuggler and lately he just wants to be held at night. Those teeth and a stuffy nose make for a hard time for this little baby to sleep. So I bring him into bed with us and hold and snuggle with him.  And he nuzzles in so close and I just love it.  I am constantly reminded of all those naps I took with Colin when he was this age.  Because Joel isn't the first he is usually put to sleep and then left in his crib during nap time. And I've missed a lot of snuggle time with him.  And since my little baby is wanting to be a big boy so badly like his big brother, I am going to not resent the lack of sleep I am getting (although mommy would be a much more fun mommy in the morning if she could get sleep!) and instead snuggle with my boys because this too will pass all to quickly.  And instead of learning to cry themselves to sleep they are learning that mommy and daddy will always be there to snuggle, chase monsters away, comfort pain and just love on them when they need it the most. Besides, if we let them cry it out they will wake the other one up and then we'd have two kids to put back to sleep.  Its much easier with one :)


(Brent took this picture Saturday night when he came home from a basketball game.  Both boys were snuggled in bed with me.  I love the big wet drool spots on both sholders. From Joel - not me! And yes Colin still has his ba-ba, thats the last one and his very very late ba-ba  he uses when its super late :) My baby refuses a pacifier but my almost 4 year old still loves his.  Oh well... )

soccer

We've been spending a lot of time outside lately.  Yesterday I think Colin only came in to use the bathroom the whole day.  Colin has gotten into play soccer and will take the balls and kick them all over the backyard to the goal.  (We signed him up Sunday night to play soccer and are just waiting to hear what team he'll be on. We're all very excited!)

But Joel is now wanting to play soccer too.  Here Colin is giving Joel a ball he can play with.  And the funny thing is that Joel will crawl and push the ball towards the "goal" too.  He works so hard and uses so much energy.  I have some videos of him doing it but somehow it wont let me upload them here.  So cute to watch. 

Showing Joel how to kick the ball but then I explained that Joel can't walk yet so he needs to still crawl :)  Although he wants to walk, I'd rather him crawl longer. Babies grow up so fast I'd rather him still be baby for a little longer.  And he's really crawling now. He has abandoned the wounded soldier crawl for something faster :) 

Catching Joel when he fell over. Colin is such a good big brother. 

The goal.  Between two bushes.  They both love this game.  Colin will play soccer in the backyard for hours. And so will Joel.  I hope this warm weather is here to stay.

On monday we went to the zoo with Kelly, Heidi and all the kids.  Heidi has a cute little boy Joel's age.  Here are some of us on the train.  Thanks Heidi for taking it. I'll have to put up more pictures later but they boys are awake and ready to go. HOpefully for another full fun day outside.

Family pictures

 

  

  

  

  

I just love Colin's facial expressions in these pictures. He was actually very excited to look at each one after the timer went off.  (we had the camera on a tripod) Haha just wait until Joel starts taking after big brother.  We'll have some great family pictures then :) 

Potholes

Good thing Colin is here to fix them or it would be really hard to walk around our house :)

little cutie