Library, Movies, Tricycling & Water Fun!

This was the first weekend that I was able to enjoy Flex/Summer hours...yay for three day weekends! But it's now Sunday night and everyone in the house is sleeping except me. As soon as I'm done writing this post, I'm headed up to bed as well. Clean sheets and a good library book await.

We have had a VERY busy few days. Mike was out of town for training Thursday & Friday, so Lori took Izzy Lou to gymnastics while I stayed home with Delaney (she goes to bed around 6pm, so someone has to stay home with her!). Friday was a rainy day, so we started it off with a trip to the pediatrician (Laney's 9 month check-up...will post about that next week) and then a trip to the library. We spent the remainder of Friday indoors playing.

Library Play
Saturday brought HEAT and HUMIDITY, ick. Mike took Izzy to her very first movie: Shrek 4. Mike said she loved the movie and ate popcorn and drank her juice the entire time. Love that they shared this together.
Laney and I went for a long run outside while daddy and Izzy were at the movies. Was good to be outside after Friday's rain; however, heat & humidity do not make for a good run.

Sisters

Saturday after naps we decided to get Izzy practicing on her Schwinn Roadster. She can pedal. She can steer. But putting the two of them together is taking some time. Mike said if we gave her a piece of gum that her head would explode! Lots of coordinating of gross motor skills for this feat. Mike decided to hook her up to a rope and pull her to get her to put all the parts together. We're still working on it.

Concentrating (Mike had to keep reminding her to look up while she was riding instead of focusing on her tassels and bell....ha!)

Izzy wanted to show me her monkey bar skills...she's getting quite good!

And Sunday morning we spent with Meg, Oscar & Jude...I'm sorry to say that we took no pictures. I will say that Izzy played in her first sandbox and she kept coming to me to wipe her hands off (the girl doesn't like to be dirty). At one point I noticed that she had sand on her face. I asked Izzy if she ate it. To which she replied, "No {crunch}." We had to swish water around in her mouth several times to get all the sand out of her teeth. We had a great visit with the Moosbruggers and don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like.

After naps on Sunday, Mike set up a new slip-n-slide and the baby pool to keep us cool on a very hot and humid day. Jaime brought Luke and Jacob over to join in on the water fun. Even Aunt Molly came over to play!

These two are SO ready for the BIG pool that opens next weekend!

GiGi & Jacob

There's a Bug in the pool!

Love this view...Laney watching the two Bigs play

Aunt Molly swimming with Bug

Wonderfully long weekend. Ready for a full week of work and then another long weekend. Pool opens next weekend!!! Mike will be partaking in many 500 events (Carb Day, annual golfing with the guys, and the race). This means POOL time for the girls. So. Excited.

Graduation, Yardwork, Anniversary & a Shower

It's been a very busy week in our lives, to say the least. My summer work hours started (work more Monday-Thursday to get Fridays off), Mike had class, Izzy had gymnastics & pre-school graduation, we celebrated our anniversary, Mike did his Spring yard work and I had a baby shower. Phew! Busy, busy.

Tuesday was Izzy's end of year brunch / graduation from the 2's class at pre-school. These are her two teachers, Ms. Sachs and Ms. Arnold. It's always fun to see her in her element...and it was sad to say goodbye. We'll see them again in the Fall, that's for sure.

Ms. Arnold made silhouettes for the entire class and they had us parents try to guess who was who. I picked Izzy out immediately but there were some moms that chose the wrong silhouette for their kids - funny!

I am just in awe of how spot-on this piece of art reflects Izzy's profile. Needless to say, I have already bought an 8x10 black frame and it's on the mantel. I just love it!

Mike was in the yard the entire weekend spreading mulch, planting flowers and a fruit / veggie garden. Of course, Izzy wanted to be out there with him to help...so the two of them spent a lot of quality time together. The above pic is of Izzy showing me her gymnastics (parallel bars) while daddy plants tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos and grapes.

Here Izzy is discovering worms.

She played with the worms for a long time. I had to walk away. Ick!

While Mike and Izzy were outside, I crafted a few projects. The "a" and the "P" were for the babysitters that watched the girls while Mike and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary (THANK YOU Sarah, Mark & Lauren...and Jack, too!). And the "t" was a shower gift for Molly, who is due with Tess in a few weeks.

Me, Molly and other Molly at the baby shower

Just a cute pic of Delaney

Sunday Mike was in the yard again and Izzy was doing some more "helping." She would follow her daddy around the yard digging, watering, spreading...it was really so neat to continue to look out the window and watch these two together. They have such a close bond and it simply melts my heart.

Watering the flowers (or the mulch).

For our anniversary, Mike got me a necklace from here: http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/. Mike had already gotten me a necklace from here with the girls' and his first initial on each tiny charm. However, this necklace has the girls' nicknames (what I call them) on it: Lou & Bug. I melted. Such an endearing gift and one with such meaning to me. And we got a piece of wall decor that I'd been eyeing for a long time with our name and wedding year on it. It's a combo birthday/anniversary gift. It's not hung yet, but it will go in our living room above our wedding guest photo:

I'm sorry to say we didn't get a picture of us together on our anniversary. But we dropped the girls at Brenna's house (her and Scott's anniversary is the same day and year as ours...so we were able to "share" their sitters/sisters) and enjoyed a delicious dinner together. Was so relaxing and enjoyable and we relived some stories from when we met. Great memories. Happy Anniversary, Mikey!

Mother's Day 2010

Since the girls were gone the entire weekend, I basked in their presence all day today...soaking up every ounce of their attention. Don't get me wrong, it was nice having an "adults only" weekend; however, my girls are my favorite part of my weekends! I was overjoyed to see them this morning and sit in the backseat with them laughing and playing the entire ride home. As soon as we arrived home both girls went down for naps (Bobo & Grandma Laura wore them out!). The moment they woke up we were out the door headed for the park.

Was a perfect Mother's Day and I'm so happy my girls are back sleeping under my roof. Mike and I kept on tip-toeing around the house while they were gone, thinking they were sleeping in their rooms. Was hard to adjust to them NOT being here. Very eery to be in our house without the pitter patter of their feet (in Delaney's case, her hands and knees).

Swinging

Climbing. Izzy is a huge fan of the rock climbing wall; her gymnastics class does this as well and she looooves it.

Teeter-tottering

And Delaney has been finding herself in several "pickles" as of late. She will climb into the bottom of her saucer and not know how to get out.

And she is also learning to climb the stairs!

Strategizing

Pulling up to success!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mini Marathon 2010

The weekend started out with Mike's cousins, Steve & Amanda, arriving into town on Thursday night. Friday afternoon Mike met his dad halfway to drop the girls for the weekend (this was the very first time we'd left the girls overnight for the entire weekend). We had a relaxing night at home watching movies and going to bed early in preparation for the morning's race.

The day's weather was VERY windy; winds were 35 mph and the temps were chilly in the 40's. This was by far the coldest Mini I've run in. Mike and I ran the first 2 miles together until he shifted into a higher gear and took off. I finished with an all-time PR (personal record) of 1:54:51. This was 13 minutes faster than my previous PR at the Mini (I ran the Monument Marathon in 2008 in 2:03:42)! My goal was 1:50 to be seeded for the Chicago Marathon...so I may try to run in another half marathon in two weeks to reach that time. I also placed 343rd out of 2,770 women in my age group (30-34), which is the top 12%. Pretty happy with that!

Mike finished with a time of 1:45:12...pretty darn close to his PR back in 2002 of 1:42:05.

Steve and Amanda finished - they ran/walked the entire way and I must say that Amanda got "participation points" with our family. Ha!

We returned home to HOT showers, naps, and then Amanda and I ventured out to the salon (Mike and the girls got me a gift card). Amanda got a pedi and I got a highlight and cut. Then all of us met the Falciones out for dinner at Mama Carolla's in Broadripple and drinks at the Library in Carmel. One word about dinner: YUM! It's my absolute fave and we just had a blast being with such good friends.

Amanda & Steve

Sandi & Katie

Almost Famous...

Almost. But not quite. Actually, not even close. But a girl can dream. I believe this is as close as I'll ever get.

The company I work for is an athletic retailer. Maybe you've heard of it - The Finish Line. We sponsor many athletic events around the country (Nike Outdoor Nationals, various Nike races, etc.) including Indy's very own Mini Marathon. Part of our sponsorship includes a t.v. ad that runs during the race (and will air only locally, so most of you won't have the opportunity to see the commercial). I very much enjoy working for a company that supports both athletics and athletes, as I have a passion for both.

I was asked to participate in the filming and I had so much fun being a part of this project. The portion that I filmed (with a co-worker) was on the Monon Trail in Broadripple and then in a neighborhood near Meridian Hills. We filmed on a Friday (my typical day off from running) and I'm pretty sure we ran several miles with all the footage they took of us. It was so much fun running for pleasure...yet it was a bit difficult to not smile or look at the camera. Regardless, I think the final product turned out fun and I hope you enjoy it. Don't blink; it's 30 seconds long. Or 30 seconds short. Enjoy!

Silly Laney, Vera Bradley Sale & Family Time...

All in the last week or so I feel like Delaney has become an ENTIRELY different baby. She is mobile. Her life has changed and so has ours. She can now get to anything she wants to play with (read: we don't have to bring her toys and pick them up when she drops or throws them) and can pretty much entertain herself by movin' and shakin'. She's experimenting with crawling on different surfaces such as carpet, wood floor and tile (and how to maneuver each of these). She's also starting to pull up and attempt the (two) stairs from our family room into our kitchen. Delaney is VERY brave and quite resilient; she doesn't cry when she falls. It's just so much fun to watch her discover new things...we're all getting such a kick out of Laney these days! So. Much. Fun. This age is.

Not so sure about the cold wood floors
Trying to get her knees and legs off of the cold floor. Or as we call this pose: Downward Dog.
Crawling
Some mornings Delaney gets up when I get up and she plays while I get ready. This particular morning she discovered herself in the mirror (and mommy's shoes!).

We packed everyone up and headed to Ft. Wayne on Friday night to meet my dad and step-mom for a weekend visit. Here is Anna with Delaney.

And dad with Izzy

Saturday morning Mike and I went on a 12 mile run and then Anna and I ventured off to the annual Vera Bradley outlet sale. I have been wanting to go for years and the timing has never worked out (the Mini Marathon is ALWAYS the first weekend in May; however, this year the 500 Festival has shortened the entire month of festivities by a week...allowing me to hit up the sale!). I had been warned of the mayhem that would ensue at this sale: long lines to get in, running shoppers looking for their pattern, fighting over items, long lines to check out, etc. Both Anna and myself had to remain calm and keep our anxieties in check; we would survive the sale and make it out with some good deals. And, boy, did we conquer! We walked right into the sale - no line. We shopped the entire sale - twice - in one hour. We got into line (which wrapped around the Coliseum almost twice) and the line was moving. Quickly. As we got to what we thought was the end, we were sadly mistaken and shocked; we were walking into the basement to where the real line started. And there were hundreds and hundreds of shoppers in front of us. We waited in line for a total of 1.5 hours. Insane in the membrane. Anyway, we both got FUN stuff and will definitely be going back again! It's quite the experience! (I just read online that there were 65,000 shoppers in attendance - a record for their sale. Phew!)

This was when we were waiting in the line upstairs and quickly moving. We were thrilled!

And this was the line just entering the basement. Anna kept on saying we were being herded like cattle. Indeed we were...right to the checkout lane!

Izzy getting kisses from Jazzy

Grandpa Bob & Grandma Laura returned from 10 days in Florida on Saturday

Izzy always loves playing the piano at Bobo's house. This time we learned that Laney also loves playing it - with her feet! We just hold her over it and her legs start kickin' away!

Grandma Laura always has fun crafts...these were new Crayola crayon/markers for windows. We couldn't drag Izzy away!

Delaney walking with Grandpa. I swear she is going to be walking on her own very soon! Quite the opposite of her big sis!

And just one more of Bug playing the piano...it just never got old how funny it was!