Birthday Report: Gwen is FOUR!

I tell myself that I will post when I can add pictures, then never get around to it, so I will just add them later (if ever). My baby Gwendolyn is 4 years old! She had a great birthday weekend.



Saturday - birthday party day. We invited Gwen's class, teachers, neighbors, family and friends with kids her age. In the end we had about 14 kids and their parents, which was a nice turn out. We had a Princess theme, but included frogs and knights so that the boys would not be grossed out by all the pink. The kids decorated crowns and shields with stickers and jewels. John got an awesome dragon pinata that was bigger than Gwen and they stuffed it with candy the night before. The kids each got a couple turns trying to break it open, then John finally had to slay it. After that we had pizza and cake, and moved on to opening presents. 4 year old kids LOVE opening presents and watching anyone else open presents. The suspense of what is in the package is almost too much to take. There was a large pile of preschoolers on the floor and a whirlwind of tissue paper. Finally Gwen's teacher Miss. Mia took charge and got all the kids to sit down and handed Gwen the gifts one by one. Thank goodness! This is about the same time Jack and Maddy normally nap, so they were going bananas. Gwen got a lot of very nice gifts and was super excited to play right away, of course we didn't let her open anything (ha!).



After the hordes left, our babysitter helped John clean up and I got to spend some time with my cousin Michelle and her kids. Gwen and Emma played very nicely and Cody had a good time playing with Jack and Maddy's toys while they napped. Gwen spent the rest of the day opening her new toys and playing with each one.



Sunday was Gwen's actual birthday. John presented her with a new 'Snow White' bike, new helmet and safety gear. She was excited, but a little nervous to ride it. We went to lunch at Rudy's to celebrate, one of our favorite places to eat. While Jack and Maddy napped, Gwen got to open the rest of her gifts. I felt a little bad not including them, but this gave Gwen a chance to take her time and really enjoy opening her gifts without worrying about anything being touched or opened.



It was a great birthday weekend! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Gwendolyn's special day.

Race Report - Caleb 5k 7/17/10

I signed up for this race after realizing I was 1 month from the end of my 101 time and decided I should attempt to beat my 5k PR. Then I looked up my PR - 23:36, geez. I quickly realized there was a slim chance of improving my time by more than 30 seconds per mile, but too late. The 1st Caleb 5k in Wellsbranch started at the Shoreline church and wound its way through the neighborhood. I was hot and humid. Over 1000 people ran or walked this race, which is amazing for a first time race.
Mile 1 - awesome
Mile 2 - uh oh, feeling like I may have started out too fast
Mile 3 - up hill, really fighting to stay under 8:30 miles
last .1 - gah!
Finished with a time of 24:35! Not a PR but still awesome. First in my age group and 5th female overall. Only bummer was waiting around for the awards, they had a great band and lots of activities, but 90 minutes is a freaking long time to kill. Then they only gave out awards for the top 3 finishers by age group, not by gender so I didn't even get an award. BULLSH.

I would definitely do this race again. North, cheap and mostly organized.

Re-Post "Bring It On 101"

From 11/17/2007:

"This kicks off 101 in 1001 days - starting today 11/17/07. That gives me until 8/14/2010 to finish. By then I will be 30, nearing 31. Other than that, who knows where I'll be and what I"ll be doing. I certainly hope I get most of the list accomplished and come up with more to add to it."

This sorta makes me want to barf.

50. Store unused baby stuff until needed (clothes & toys)

HAHA! Until needed?!?! I will NOT need any of it again - no no no. My sister-in-law is pregnant with a wee baby boy, so she is getting a load of boy clothes. John has been selling all the big items on Craig's List, but we still have a lot to get rid of. I finally cleaned out Gwen's closet and packed up the clothes that Maddy will be wearing next year. And what Maddy is outgrown goes directly to Brooke Cox while she can still wear it. We keep trying to move the baby toys out, but the kids find them and manage to distribute all the pieces so it takes weeks to put it all in hiding again.

Dodging a Bullet

It is really sad that when I hear someone puking I just think "I'm so glad it isn't one of the kids". Sorry John!

Jack, this is a life lesson

Jack, when other kids bite you and your mom doesn't get mad, she just says "hmmm... he probably had it coming" and the teacher says "uh, yeah, maybe this will be a lesson for him" it means you are being a jerk - a LOT.

I don't know where this kid gets the idea that everything belongs to him and that he can have anything that someone else is playing with. No one puts up with his attitude, especially not Madeline. As soon as he looks her way she gets into fighting stance and starts yelling. She takes stuff from him too, but he is constantly after whatever she happens to be playing with. The best part is that we have 17+ years to this to look forward to.

Kids Update June 2010

Madeline: 21.5 months old, her hair is finally growing in and looking shaggy, still not enough for a pony tail. Madeline is definitely Miss. Independent, preferring to walk on her own, annoyed when we try to carry her in public or hold her hand. Though it is terrible to label your children, we are already pretty sure she is the “smart one”. She knows several shapes and colors and is talking a lot. A few things we have heard her say: “Let’s Go!”, “Ah Man!” (that is what Swiper says), Octopus, Peacock, Where is the baby?, It’s ok, Good Morning and she sings the Dora song and Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star. Sometimes we hear her say something, and it is confusing to hear it come out of her little toddler mouth. She holds her own with Jack, pushing him and yelling at him, but they also play together really well sometimes. We have noticed that on days they are particularly bad, the spend the last 20 minutes before bed playing together and being SUPER cute with each other. Madeline loves to sit and read, loves her baby “Kelly” doll, and her favorite shows are Dora & Blues Clues.

Jack: 21.5 months old, still blonde and already wearing size 2T. Jack is a momma’s boy so far, very nervous about anything new and very quick to show his temper. We had the kids pictures taken a few weeks ago at Mayfield Park. There are peacocks running around and making loud sounds, Jack was terrified. The only way to get him on the ground was to feed him, but as soon as he heard the peacock call, he practically leapt into John’s arms. He does not understand taking turns or sharing, and is kind of a jerk about it. Jack says a few words: “No”, “More”, “DORA!”, “Elmo”, “Up”, “Abre” (Spanish for Open) and this weekend he said “Cry” as he pointed in the other room and told Madeline to cry elsewhere (which is what we tell him all the time). Though he isn’t saying many words, he still gets his point across but gets really frustrated if we don’t react immediately to his whining. He is messy, stinky, and pushy; all boy. When we put anything on TV other than Dora, he yells at us.

Gwendolyn: 3.5 – 4 in July. She has grown a lot this year, but is still a skinny girl. Gwen is very sweet, and tries hard to be nice to her siblings, even though they annoy her a lot. She had her first ballet recital in May. She did NOT want to do it, but though a series of small steps and bribery she did get on stage and made us laugh the whole time. It was my own fault for not pining her tutu on, but she spent more time playing than dancing. That same day she also ran her first kids K, and we were really proud of her. Gwen started taking swim lessons this summer, getting more comfortable in the water. Her new favorite thing to do is sit at Mommy’s craft table, playing with the stamps, ribbon and glue.

We have been spending more time at the local pool, going early on the weekend mornings before it is too crowded. John and I have realized it is essential to our survival to plan activities for the kids over the weekend. Life is MUCH easier than this time last year and the kids are a lot more entertaining and able to do more.