Half-Marathon #5: Check!

Yep, the Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon is complete. Not the weather I expected, but actually probably perfect for running. It was great with some fun bands and great people watching, and I had some great (old and new!) friends to run with. I wanted to saw off my left leg at about mile 10 or so, as it was hurting me all over. But, not enough to slow down or quit. Our time was pretty decent for showing up super late and starting with a much slower corral # - we finished in 2:03. I'm not one who worries about her time, until it comes down to it, then I become all competitive and want to speed it up some and beat my past times. And, when people ask me, I want to give them a number that I can be proud of. Dumb, I know. Here's an after photo of us girls - hopefully I'll get one of the before when we looked more hydrated and perky. :)

Sweet Baby Hank

We got a little visit with Hank on Friday. Oh man, what a cutie! He really is so sweet and seems like a good little baby (unlike someone we know very well). :) Kevin and Kjell (daddy and mama) are doing great and settling into this parenting thing very well. Lilah was CRAZY about little Hank - wanted to grab his fingers, hat, toes, everything. She doesn't really know yet what "gentle" means though and so we had to hold her off, which made her very angry. I'm already excited to see this little man again. Congrats to Kevin and Kjell - what a blessing you have! xoxo

Mariners x2

For Lana's birthday this year she decided to have us all (minus kiddos) go to an evening Mariners game. We all rode together, which was a nice time to chat (without all the distractions of the kids...which is great, but special to not have conversations uninterrupted). :)
It was a great family time and we had the very expensive baseball food and chatted and celebrated Lana's 60th. We even got a picture of Glenn thoroughly enjoying his mondo ballpark dog!
The very next afternoon Lilah and I went to see the Mariners with the St. Clair ladies. Although something like this is so fun, there is always some anxiety in it with a small child (if you are a mom, unless you're weird, you will understand). It takes a lot of planning (what time to leave to make the carseat transfer, where to park with the least amount of walking, snacks, sunscreen, what do we do in case of a meltdown, strollers, toys to bring for distractions, drinks, etc). I told myself to relax a little and enjoy it, and we really did have a great time. We successfully distracted the girls for hours with food (crackers, cheese, mango, water, a pretzel at the game) and other wonderful "toys" (a hat, sunglasses, my sister's old cell phone, books). I actually don't think Lilah knew at all why we were there (to watch a game) because she spent the entire time entertaining and being entertained by our neighbors. She waved to them, smiled at them, patted their backs, touched their jewelry, "oohed", and rubbed one girls' beautifully painted blue finger nails for quite awhile. Miraculously, the girls made it to the 9th inning (which was not the end - the game went 13 innings!). At the end of the 9th inning I told Jen we were really pushing our luck and that we'd better go to escape an all-out screamfest in the backseat. I was so proud of both gals (although Leah is just the easiest little one ever - so I wasn't really worried about her at any point). The day turned out perfect for all (and Jen's FAVORITE team, the Cubs, beat the Mariners...and I didn't care one bit who won or lost, as long as we made it home in one piece and without a scream/crying fit in the car or at the stadium). Phew!
Today we head over to Seattle to meet sweet little Hank Rowe...picture for sure to come soon!!

Happy Father's Day to MY daddy....

Here are some pictures of my dad that make me smile. I missed him a lot this Father's day and look forward to the day that I can see his face and give him a big hug. He was a good dad and I thought a lot about him a lot yesterday and his love of music. Lance and I got on Pandora and made a playlist with tons of his favorite songs. We had it playing on the computer on and off all day and it would remind me so much of our drives with him and the music trivia we always played. I am positive he was looking down and loving to hear some of his old favorite tunes playing in the house, and I hope he saw Lilah bobbing up and down in her high chair to some of them.
I love you daddy and miss you so, so much!

Thankful, Blessed, Loved, Adored

We celebrated Lance's 2nd Father's day this weekend. Lilah and I are truly so blessed and thankful for him. He is really the very best husband and daddy, and much better than I ever would have asked for.
On this gloomy Saturday we went to Country Village to have a little picnic since I thought a park and the grass seemed inappropriate in 60 (or less!) degree weather. We sat at a little table around the ducks and roosters and ate some grilled sandwiches, chips, fruit and drinks I brought for us. Lance opened his presents and then we walked around...eventually finding what he really wanted, 'Susan's Sweets', for a giant chocolate chip cookie to finish off our lunch.
Sunday was a perfect day for us to dedicate Lilah at church on Father's day! We had a lot of the family there and Lance shared our scripture we had chosen (which we had read in our bible reading evenings weeks before, so it was perfect) - Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."
We had a bbq (in the rain....ugh) and had the Wileys and my mom over for some family time and celebrating together. So fun and such a nice, relaxing Father's day.

A Summer Visitor!!!

Here's the last picture I had with Emily....so long ago! I was about 7 months pregnant and she was about 5 months pregnant when she visited for my shower. She is one of my very, very dearest friends. We talk nearly every day and are constantly asking advice of one another or calling to vent or share the latest US gossip news. I sure do miss seeing her face. :)
She'll come in just a few weeks in July to visit with her two sweet girls. Belle is the cutest and is so fun and spunky. Luci is only about a month and a half younger than Lilah so they will have the best time. We can't wait!! She has always been very close with my family and is really like a sister to me.
I was hoping for some good ole Vegas photos, but those must be on cds hidden away somewhere, so maybe I'll dig some up soon to put on here (back when we were younger, carefree and baby-less). :)

1/2 Marathon take 2

The Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon is just a week and a day away. I'm a little nervous with a few little weird "tweeks" on and around my knee, but looking forward to this fun run and hoping to run it with all my friends. I've been doing my long runs with Dana which have been so great...well, great to run with her. Today we do our LAST long run (10 miles) and then take next week easy on the running front. I have to say I won't miss those 5 mile runs on the treadmill for sure. :) I'm considering doing the Bellingham Bay 1/2er that we did last September, but I'm waiting to see how I feel after this one. I am hoping I'm not seriously injured, but we'll see how it goes. Updates and pictures to follow!!

Father's Day Prep

Some of our PEPS friends and the two of us (and granny came...thank goodness for her help) went to a little place called Glazed and Amazed in Edmonds to make the daddies some fine, painted pottery. Some girls helped more than others, but we each chose a piece to make for our hubbies from our girls (we chose an ice cream bowl since daddy LOVES his ice cream). I actually painted most of it, except for made Lilah (she did not enjoy sitting down, but loved walking around in her little apron) sit down and help me write her name on it. It's as cute as can be expected, and really the most fun of it was seeing Lilah and Clara and Leah play around in this little shop. Lilah loved walking around (and was such a good girl not grabbing any of the breakable pottery in this place) and holding the paint brushes and pretending to help me make daddy's present. It was a fun little outing and something I hope to do every year (sorry Lance). Prepare yourself for many more mugs, bowls and picture frames. Ha!

Finally....UGH

So, here's my story. I vow to stay up on updating this thing, and do very well for a few months. So all this time leading up to Lilah's big birthday party I made sure to update my blog weekly and add pictures all the time.
Then....her birthday passes and I don't have to keep up on scrapbooks, her baby book, the blog. It's sort of a letdown after all the preparation and work that goes into a big event. Then I take a huge hiatus from all of my projects.
Now, I wonder if everyone gave up on me and the blog, and am I wasting my time by updating? It's like anything - you keep up on it and don't let it all pile up, and you enjoy it. You put it off and then you have much work ahead of you. And isn't this supposed to be fun? I'm so annoyed with myself.
Since I can't do captions for some reason I'm going to put my captions to all the photos here:
* We have had NO days that have reached much past 70 degrees here in the Seattle area, but have had some sunny days. So, I had to get some shots of Lilah in her sunglasses (she loves them), in my sunglasses and in her cute sunhat. She really loves to be outside and finds her top half of her body going faster than the bottom half, which equals many spills and falls (luckily she's quite the tough girl)
* Lance and I took her one day to see Caspar Babypants (former lead singer of the Presidents of the United States of America....think 90s: Lump, Kitty, Peaches). We sat front and center and she liked the music and liked also that she got to entertain many of the kids and parents there. Seriously, what a ham! She loves to wave, giggle and touch other kids. She is definitely NOT shy like once projected by our pediatrician. ;)
* Ravioli with LOTS of sauce...need I say more