Birthday Celebration and Bridge Run 2015

The past few days have been busy in the Walker household.  Last Thursday was Andrew's 4th birthday (still can't believe it), Friday we had some outings to celebrate, Saturday I ran in the 38th annual Cooper River Bridge Run 10K and we had a little more fun to celebrate.  Yesterday Jonathan did a 103 mile bike ride - the After the Bridge Run Ride - and we just relaxed at home.

First up - Andrew's birthday.  I ended up having to work from home that day since I had gotten a call at 9:00 the night before letting us know that Andrea was sick (I felt guilty for passing it on).  I got Andrew up for breakfast and gave him his birthday balloons. He was pretty excited:

I dropped him off at school with some oreos to share with his class for his birthday.  I spent the day working and entertaining Elliot.  We played in the back yard a bit:

When Andrew got home we decided to do presents:

Elliot was busy messing with the walkie talkies my sister sent for him and Andrew was making sure no one touched his boxes.  He was pretty excited about his dinosaurs:

Afterward it was time for cake:

It was a lowkey day, but he didn't seem to mind.

Friday we got up and he helped me make pancakes for breakfast:

We had been planning on going to the zoo, but the weather in Columbia was not cooperating. Instead we headed to Monkey Joe's in North Charleston, mainly so I could swing by the Bridge Run Expo to pick up my race packet.  Elliot wasn't a fan of the jump castles, so he spent most of the time playing in the toddler room:

Andrew, on the other hand, loved the jump castles.  We played for a little over an hour and he had a blast on this slide:

After that we headed downtown to the Wonder Fest thing they had going on for kids for the bridge run.  I was shocked when Andrew agreed to ride the pony:

He had a blast in the jump castle:

Played by the fountain:

Climbed up in a tree:

And built some stuff with his daddy:

We had told him that he could take part in the kid's race, but it wasn't until 5:00 and a storm rolled in at 4:00.  He was upset when we had to leave, but cheered up when we reminded him that his grandparents were on the way to visit.  We got home and made a spaghetti dinner so I could carb load for the bridge run in the morning.

Saturday morning I got up and got ready for my 10K:

It was a little cooler than normal for the race so I was wearing long sleeves and running tights.  At 7:30 I left the house to jog down to the start line since it's only a mile from our house.  I took my place in corral C and weaved my way up towards the front to hopefully avoid some of the crowd.  At 8:11 it was time for us to start.  The first mile was probably my best first mile ever in this race since it wasn't super crowded.  At 1.7 miles we hit the hill and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tough.  Once we reached the top of the hill I felt ok and I pushed as hard as I could running down the hill.  Once we got down off the bridge and hit 4.5 miles I hit a bit of a wall and was so tempted to let  up.  When I got to 5 miles I noticed I had a pretty good time going so I pushed as hard as I could to the end. I stopped my watch as I crossed the finish line and looked down to see this:

I was really pleased and thought maybe this was a PR (I thought my previous best was 51:50), but when I looked it up I realized I had a 51:20 in 2010. 11 seconds from a PR. Damn!  I guess I need to try harder next year.

Jonathan was there to meet me at the end and we hung out at the after party for a little bit until I got too cold and we headed home.  I showered and got Elliot down for a nap. While he was sleeping we took Andrew to Blackbeard's Cove for a little more birthday fun.

First up was go-kart rides.  Andrew loved it:

The whole time he was chanting and laughing.

Then we went and played some mini-golf:

Andrew's form needs a little work  ;)
Jonathan beat me by four strokes - I guess we'll have to have a rematch.

On the way out they played a little basketball:

Then it was time to head home so we could go grab some dinner.

Yesterday was a relaxing day at home. We hung out and played outside in the sun and enjoyed the last of the weekend before it was back to the grind today.

It was a busy and fun weekend and I loved doing some celebrating with Andrew.  This coming weekend we'll be heading to Myrtle Beach for an Easter celebration and a little more birthday fun with my family.  Hopefully all of this makes up for the fact that we didn't do a party for him this year.  He seems to enjoy the prolonged celebration  :)

Happy 4th Birthday Andrew!

Holy smokes!  Four years old.  It's absolutely crazy to me that four years ago today I was looking down at this sweet face in the hospital:

Four years ago at 11:05 AM this sweet boy came into our lives and turned our worlds upside down in the best way possible.

He's changed so much over the years, but he is still the sweetest kid I know. Age three had it's ups and downs (tantrums and whining being the biggest downs), but all in all I loved it.  He's grown so much and I can't wait to see what age four brings us.

He's gotten so smart and has grown both physically and emotionally the past year. He loves soccer at school, is obsessed with his dinosaurs and animal figures and has started getting really artistic lately. Ms. Chelsie (his teacher) told me the other day that she loves how he draws and the stories that he makes up to go along with his pictures.  It's so fun to watch him get creative and to listen to his imagination.

This was his picture from the other day. It is two butterflies and a caterpillar and the caterpillar is sad because he is running away from the monster.  He was so proud of this one and couldn't wait to get home and show his daddy and tell him about it.

I love Andrew more than words can say and I can't wait to celebrate with him tomorrow when we take him to the zoo (hopefully it doesn't rain).  He's an awesome kid that just gets more awesome every day.

Elliot is 19 Months

I can't believe I forgot to do Elliot's 19 month post yesterday.  Maybe it's because I can't believe that my little firecracker is already getting that much closer to being two years old.

We've been going through a rough patch lately with all of us being sick with a stomach bug, but even through that he has been my little love.

Size: He's still a little guy.  At his allergy appointment a few weeks ago he was just over 22 lbs.  With the stomach bug over the last couple weeks and him barely eating I'm afraid he probably lost some weight.  He's still too short to climb into the bathtub by himself, although he tries every night.  Luckily this also means he's too short to climb out of his crib. We still have one level that we can move the mattress down and we probably need to do that sooner rather than later.

Wearing: He's still in size three diapers and I don't see that changing anytime soon.  His pants are 12-18 months, although some of them fall right off of him.  He literally walked right out of a pair of pants recently.  I found some of the 18 month shirts and got out all of the 18 month onesies. He absolutely swims in some of them, but at least he'll get a lot of wear out of them.  He's in size 5 shoes, but that might be changing soon.  Luckily we have some size 6's from Andrew that didn't get a lot of wear.

Milestones:  He is learning his body parts and can point out his nose, mouth, ears, belly and hair. The way he points to his nose never fails to make me smile.  He's learning so much every day.  When he sees me making something to eat he runs to the base of his high chair and yells "Seat!" since I always say "Let's get you in your seat." when  I go to feed him.

Eating: He's still normally nurses first thing in the morning and right before bed. He refused a couple times over the past week and I wasn't sure if it was because he was sick or because he is starting to wean.  I have to admit that it made me really sad to think that he might be done nursing. I know he's 19 months and we've made it a long time, but he is my last baby so when he is done I am done for good.  I did a little silent cheer the other night when he nursed before bed.  He's still not eating a lot food wise and that worries me, but I'm hoping that once he's feeling better his appetite will return full force.

Sleep: I think for the most part we are officially down to one nap a day. He's been taking an early afternoon nap that's been averaging around 3 hours, which is kind of nice.  I like that we can do things in the morning without worrying about working around a morning nap.

Personality: He's a little spitfire.  When he can't do something or get to something he pitches a fit.  He's also a persistent little bugger.  If I stop him from doing something and carry him somewhere else he will go running right back to what he was trying to do previously.  Usually while laughing.

Loves: His big brother's toys and books:

drawing on the easel:

climbing on absolutely everything:

and his lovey and blanket. He pitched an epic fit yesterday when I took them from him to wash them since he'd gotten sick in his crib. He was practically inconsolable.

Hates:  Getting his diaper changed.  It's a wrestling match every damn time.  Also, cooperating at dinner time when we go out to eat.  I foresee there not being many dinners out for a while.

Every day I love this little guy more and more. Nineteen months has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Visiting the Grandparents

This past weekend, after recovering from a fun round of norovirus, we headed up to Myrtle Beach to spend some time with my parents. Jonathan had a conference for work from Sunday to Tuesday so we figured we would take the opportunity to get the boys up there to see their grandparents.

My parents hadn't been down here to visit since New Years Day, so it had been a while.  Due to that Elliot was a little shy when we got there and clung to my leg until he got comfortable.  Pretty soon, though, he was running around and making me chase him all over the yard.  He was particularly interested in the ducks in the pond behind the house:

My sister and nieces showed up to hang out and have dinner for my dad's birthday.  Kayleigh was great about keeping an eye on Elliot and making sure he didn't fall in the pond:

Getting a picture of all four kids looking at the camera and seeming happy proved to be a challenge:

It was a nice day, though, and the kids enjoyed playing together since they don't see each other on a regular basis.

On Monday morning Jonathan went to his conference and I dropped my mom off at her little part time gig at the chiropractor's office.  We had some time to kill and the first thing Andrew wanted to do was feed the ducks:

He also wanted to practice riding the Dora the Explorer little trike and I was excited that he finally is getting the hang of pedaling:

That night we took my parents out to dinner to thank them for putting up with our crazy family for a few days.  Afterward they went to their Monday trivia night and we walked over to the outlets.  Andrew was excited to ride the little train ride:

Elliot wasn't impressed:

Tuesday Jonathan went to his conference and the boys and I spent some time with my mom:

We wanted to go out and do something since we hadn't done anything besides hang out at the house. So we grabbed some duck/fish food and headed for Broadway at the Beach.  We quickly found some ducks and fish to feed:

We also found a fountain and of course Andrew wanted a penny to throw into it:

We tried to get a picture of the three of us, but Andrew couldn't stop looking at the fountain and my mom is technologically challenged, so this would have to do:

On the lap back towards the car they entertained themselves chasing some ducks:

After that we rode the merry-go-round (Elliot was not happy) and then Jonathan met us since he was done with his conference.  My mom took her car and headed home and we hung out for a little longer as a family before heading back to my parents house to pack up and head back to Charleston.

It was a very nice little trip and it was nice to spend some time with my parents.  My dad thinks Elliot is a trip and he couldn't help smiling at all of the random things that Andrew says.  I'm happy that they got some time with their grandparents and it was nice to get a little break from grind at home.

Next up, a trip to the mountains in a few weeks.  Can't wait!