Fun in the Sun - MDO 2014

For John Thomas' last day of MDO, his school has a "Fun in the Sun" day where each class gets to go outside and do special activities!  

We started off the day at the dentist, and our little man was a superstar!  He laid in my lap the entire time and let the hygienist clean and polish.  He then, let the dentist check all his teeth and followed every direction! I was one proud mama! 

We were a little late to school, but thankfully, his class had not taken their turn outside.  I was so excited to spend time with him and all of his little MDO buddies and their mamas!  Several of them have been together since they were just babies at Tiny Town!

 We are blessed by each teacher, leader and family at his school! He loves "school" and already misses his "friends!"

The Patriot Half Marathon

Right after I gave birth to Ruby, I signed up for a local half marathon.  Knowing that I wanted to start training again, signing up forced me to stick with it regardless of how little sleep I was getting the night before our early morning training runs.  Thankfully, Ruby was a great sleeper most nights and let me rest so I would have the energy to train.  I started out not really having a goal in mind, just wanting to get back out there with my great running buddies and to finish.  A few weeks before the race I decided I needed to set a goal time to finish.  After looking at some of our training runs and trying to calculate in the heat and humidity I decided on 2:10, an attainable goal, not a PR, but something to strive for five months postpartum.  

I started out slow, knowing that if I pushed too hard in the beginning the heat and hills would get me mid way through.  My friends, Lisa and Ashley were running the relay and started the race with me.  I was so grateful for their company for the first part of the race.  The remainder of the race I ran alone, thinking that I had a good pace and would likely reach my goal.  At the turnaround point, I passed Ashley and she encouraged me to run to catch the 2:00 pace group.  I thought at the time that would be impossible, but pushed a little harder.  Shortly after, I passed Kris and Brock with all the kids and that gave me another push.  At around mile nine I caught up to the 2:00 pacer and finally felt like I could relax a little.  The rest of the race I tried to maintain, but around mile 11, I felt like I had nothing left.  At that point, I saw Ashley waiting on me around mile 12 and she ran with me until another friend pushed me to the end.  I was so thankful for them at that moment, I can't describe how much their encouragement helped me in those last few yards!  I finished the race with a PR, and time of 1:57, something I did not think was possible!  Running a local race was such a treat because all along the route there were familiar faces with encouraging words and cheers!  

 Pre-Race Photo with some of my training partners!

 Post Race with my biggest fans!  John Thomas kept saying, "Mommy, you run faster!?"

SO grateful for this lady and her friendship, after all, it was her who got me into this crazy thing called running!

Ruby Caroline 5 Months

I am so late posting this, but I wanted to document everything Ruby was doing at 5 months!
  

   Some new milestones this month:

• Rolling everywhere!  All across the floor, you will not stay in one place, sometimes rolling until you roll against something that will not move and find yourself stuck!
• We started putting you in the jumper and you love it!  You laugh and play with all the toys that you can barely reach!
• We introduced Sophie the giraffe and you think she is pretty special!  You can hold her and chew all over her!
• You can sit up for very small amounts of time by yourself, usually falling over to the side shortly after!
• John Thomas is probably your favorite person, and I think he feels the same about you!
• Your schedule is mostly the same, eating every 3 hours and taking 2-3 naps a day.  Your longest and best nap is in the afternoon at the same time John Thomas goes down.

We are in size 2 diapers now and still on the smallest rise setting in cloth.  I think your little tushie looks so sweet in your fun colored cloth diapers.  I never thought diaper laundry would be fun, but with the two of you in them it is like rainbow laundry!  You wear mostly 3-6 month clothing, even though most is a little big. Your hair is turning lighter everyday, and sometimes looks red, your eyes are still bright and blue!

Ruby - We enjoy you every single day.  You are the best baby, and bring such pure joy to our lives!  

When I was taking Ruby's pictures, I had a little helper who decided he needed in a few :) I was glad to oblige!  These two LOVE each other so much!

Zoo Day with KRae

John Thomas and Kennedy are the best of friends, so when we got a chance to take her to the zoo he was ready!  Aunt Dionne went with me to help, and I was grateful for an extra set of hands, especially with those two, they could not be held down when it was time to see the animals!

They were pretty good about staying in the wagon as long as we offered snacks and water! 

Climbing, they climbed on everything, ALL day!

 We ended our zoo day at the children's play area and petting zoo where we had to have another snack!

 After lunch, we ended our day with ice cream!  Notice how clean Kennedy is and how messy John Thomas is.  She was so gentle with her cone and he devoured his!  They get along so well, but are SO different!

When we got home Kennedy got some practice in for her new baby brother, Ace, due in September!  She loved holding Ruby!

New Glove

John Thomas' love of baseball continues, so we decided to take him to Dick's and let him pick out his very own glove and ball! He was ecstatic! We are pretty sure he is going to be right handed, but for some reason bats left handed.  Time will tell!

Wallace Family Reunion

Kris' grandmother's family had a big family reunion Mother's Day weekend, and we were able to go and eat a great lunch and see lots of family we don't always get to see!  John Thomas had so much fun running around with all the other kids and Ruby was able to meet a lot of family she hadn't got to meet yet!

These two were taking a break and enjoying a cold beverage!

 John Thomas and Kennedy were loving Meamaw's special punch!

 All the cousins!

 Love this curly headed kiddo!

Dallas Children's Theatre - Charlotte's Web

Monika took John Thomas to the Dallas Children's Theatre for the production of Charlotte's Web.  Neither of us knew if he would be interested or be able to sit through the two hour performance.  He surprised us both and loved every minute and since has been asking to go back to the "pig show!"  He also now "announces" all of our family members with a fake microphone, just like they did for the cast at the play.  He is so funny and really picks up and remembers things that I would likely forget or overlook!

Stuart Little is the production next month and we are already making plans to go back!