Patriotic 5K Fun Run!

The whole family (minus the cats...they aren't much for running as you can imagine..) ran in the Patriotic 5K Fun Run in Frankfort. How fun was it? Well, it was pretty fun...for a run. It was nice since a few people from the gym I go to were there and so there was more than just my usual cheering crew of one (Michael). I didn't run a whole lot...the road that most of the race was run on had been torn up for repaving and was rougher than a cob! Even in the very nice Baby Jogger that my friend had loaned me, Joseph was bouncing around a whole lot and was not digging it. Not to say that I could have run that much more anyway. I'm usually pretty draggy for evening 5Ks...I'm a morning person.

Joseph and Shelby are ready to go...Joseph is having a pre-race snack:
"This Baby Jogger is tasty..."

Me and the munchkin post race:
Joseph actually finished ahead of me...imagine that!! I was going to run across the line backwards, but the last stretch was up a hill and I didn't feel like getting that fancy. Everyone else (Michael and Shelby) can beat me so why not Joseph! :)

Family portrait....sweaty, red faced family portrait!
You can see the race results here! I think Michael (& Shelby) finished 82nd and Joseph and I finished 130th. I think there were around 170 runners/walkers. I think my next one is going to be the Secretariat Big Red 5K on October 2nd. It should have a pretty cool t-shirt!! :)

I almost forgot....

I almost forgot to tell you Joseph's new development of the week: he can put his feet in his mouth. Exciting...I know! He's been trying to get his foot in his mouth since he started grabbing his feet last week. Sadly, I don't really have a good picture of it yet. However, this past Sunday was also his first trip to the big church in Frankfort. Here is a pic of Michael and him hustling to the door....we were a bit late. He was awesome at church though. I think he likes the music.
Didn't he look adorable in his church clothes? (This is not a hyperlink by the way, so don't click on it....blogger and I aren't getting along today!)

What I'm Working On - 7/15/10

I know I'm a day late posting my "What I'm Working On" Update. I spent the past few days in TN at my parents' house. It was fabulous and I'm so glad that my mom and dad got to spend so much time with Joseph. Since I don't have nearly as many resposibilities when I'm there, I got quite a bit of cross stitching done: I bet you can kinda tell what it is now!

I finished Ya-Yas in Bloom. LOVED IT! Mom had bought me this book at a yard sale:

I like a lot of Janet Evanovich's work. This was no exception, but, like a lot of her stuff, it had me rolling my eyes from time to time. It was a quick little read.

I started this book yesterday:

I remember buying this book in college, but I can't remember if I really liked it or even read it through all the way. It is seperated into 4 novellas. So far it is very "Sex and the City"-esque, thus I am enjoying it immensely.

The munchkin has started grabbing his feet this week:

Michael has been out of town for work and hasn't seen him do this yet. Joseph has been so good about starting new things on weekends when Michael can witness them, but this time I was in TN when it happened. Michael should get home today, and since it's been almost a week since he's seen Joseph, I bet he won't want to take him eyes off of him. Babies change so quickly!


He has also started putting EVERYTHING in his mouth:

Teething maybe? The way he bites on things makes me think he is. Oh my, I'm not looking forward to teething. Don't ask me why, but it terrifies me.

Anyway, although I really enjoyed being back home for almost a week, it'll be nice to get back into my normal routine and see my husband again!

What I'm Working On - July 7th 2010

Here's an update on my cross stitch that I first showed ya'll last week. Joseph has actually gotten over the cross stitching waking him up for the most part and I've gotten a decent amount done in the past week: Still a long way to go....stay tuned.

I finished Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. I have to say I really enjoyed it. I tore through the last half of the book because I couldn't wait to see what happened. I had to keep stopping myself from skipping ahead....I'm bad about glancing at pages toward the back of the book. I'm taking a break from kidnapping/murder/crime and reading Ya-Yas in Bloom:

I LOVED the other 2 of the Ya-Ya books (Little Altars Everywhere and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) and I'm loving this one so far. I like the writing style. It's almost conversational. I also love how each chapter is a story in itself.

Joseph's new development this week was turning over. He was a bit slow in doing that. I think it's because he's hated being on his belly so much...so why flip? He is also wanting to sit up and stand, so I put together his ExerSaucer yesterday:

He's still a bit small for it. But I doubt that will be the case for long!

Daysie on the other hand:

She finds she is the perfect size for it!

The Great Buffalo Chase 2010

Michael, Joseph, and I competed in the Great Buffalo Chase 5K this weekend at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort. This was our fourth time to be in the Chase. The only year we've missed since 2006 was when my ankle was broken in 2008. I just walked this year since I had Joseph with me and he is a bit young for a jogging stroller and I'm not in shape enough to attempt a 3 mile run yet. I have to say it was kind of nice to walk. I got to see a lot more of the scenery that way. Joseph was a good boy. He went to sleep after a couple of miles. I was moving on and still clocked a shade over 46 WALKING! Michael ran it in a little over 32, which is great considering he hasn't run a lick since February. He has now gotten the running bug again and wants to run a 5K in 25 minutes by the Black Cat Chase in October. We'll see how that goes. I would just like to run one completely by then. Check out the results from this race here.

Here are some snapshots from the day:


It was a cool 58 when we left the house! So, Joseph had on long sleeves.

I tried to take some pictures while walking, but I felt kinda dorky doing that and thus a lot of the pics are blurry from just throwing up the camera and taking the picture.

This is always one of my favorite races. It has really grown too! This year there were over 400 participants. In 2006, there were only about 150. Considering the Bluegrass 10,000 is the same day in Lexington and had 3500 runners, there was a whole lot of running going on this past Saturday in the Bluegrass!

I don't know when the next race will be for us. Probably after I get more able to run and we get a jogging stroller. Michael got his training run in this evening, but I was dealing with a fussy child and did not. At least he went to bed kinda early and I was able to get a workout in on the Wii. :)

What I'm Working On - June 30

I LOVE to cross stitch. No, it's not nearly as trendy and popular as knitting and the outcome tends to not very useful...just decorative, but I love it. I love all the floss colors and how all those little x's make a big picture in the end. I'm working on a fairly large project right now. It's the first big project I've done in a while. It will probably take me a while too.....Joseph doesn't like for me to cross stitch..even though I only do it when he is asleep. It seems like I can do all kinds of things while he is asleep, but there is something about the sound of that needle that make him wake up. Weird. Anyway, here is my new project after 2 days: I'm not telling what it is...you will have to figure it out. I will try to post an update weekly.

I've also been doing lots of reading lately. That is something that never bothers Joseph (well, as long as he's asleep). Here's what I'm reading this week:

I've had this book forever, but could just never seem to get very far into it. I think my bookmark was on page 34 and I have no idea when that was from...I had actually forgotten about that bookmark. I love bookmarks. I quite a few. Anyway, I started this book Saturday I think and I'm a little over halfway through. I'm liking it pretty well. I might have to give James Patterson another chance. I've seen this movie, but the book is WAY different then what I remember in the movie.

On another note, Joseph started laughing this weekend. It was the cutest thing ever. He's only done it a few times since, but hopefully it will be like his smiling. He didn't smile much when he first learned to smile, but now he smiles almost all the time. I'm so thankful that he is such a happy baby!

My New Favorite Picture

The little man just loves bath time. I think he's going to be a water baby like me. I snapped a few pictures of him after I got him dried off. In doing so, I now have my new favorite picture. No, that one isn't it, but I do love it. It's classic "smiling until I can't get my mouth open any wider" Joseph.

THIS is my new favorite:

I can't help but laugh every time I see it. He was trying desperately to get his hands in his mouth! This is why I just pick up the camera and snap away...in hopes of getting a shot as hilarious as this!

Shelby

I've decided that I am going to do a series of blogs about notable animals in my life. Since I talked a bit about Shelby in my last blog, I will lead off with him.

Meet Shelby: He is actually the newest addition to our household (Joseph aside). We adopted Shelby from the Kentucky Humane Society in Louisville in February 2009. He was 7 months old. He is a Border Collie/Beagle Mix but I am sure there is some bird dog in there as well. We began the search looking for a beagle. It had taken us forever to settle on a type of dog. Michael is more interested in Rotts, Pit Bulls, Labs, Boxers, etc. I told him that I wasn't having a dog that weighed more than 40 lbs in the house. He said that anything less than 40 lb wasn't a dog (Shelby comes in just under at 37 lb). We had given up on finding a dog that we could both agree on. Finally one day after working with the beagles at UK, we decided we could both live with a beagle (because beagles are super cool). So I began searching Petfinder.com. We looked at 3 dogs, a full beagle female whose name I can't recall (she was already in adotion process), a Beagle/Bassett mix named Larry, and a Border Collie/Beagle Mix named Chester (we had to change the name to Shelby...I kept calling him Chester Molester). He is named after Carroll Shelby the car designer (as in the Shelby Mustang...Eleanor in Gone in 60 Seconds). He gets mistaken for a female so often because of his name. Poor thing.


Here is Shelby not long after he was adopted:
Such a sweet face. His leg was not hurt...he has a bit of a nervous licking problem and we were trying to keep him from licking his leg raw. This is a continuous battle.

I said before that Shelby is crazy fast....it's true and very hard to catch via camera. This is maddening for my parent's border collie, Shyann, who, until I saw Shelby, was one of the fastest dogs I knew. She just can't catch him, can't herd him, just generally can't make him do. Here he is doing what I like to call his "crop circles." Seriously, the dog runs in a circle...but at least he can go clockwise and counter-clockwise...and he does lots of figure 8's.
Shelby loves to fetch and play with his Bad Cuz:

He can fetch forever. Joseph is going to have a ball playing with him when he gets older.


He gets along well with other dogs, cats, and horses...although only a few of the aforementioned care for him. He does tend to get extremely jealous though....but not as jealous as Shyann:

This is Shelby trying out to be on a PETA/Humane Society ad:

Look how pitiful..."Please help me...my parents abuse me...never mind the shiny look of my coat...look at the sadness in my eyes!" But Shelby, if you ever are on a PETA ad, you will need them to come get you because I'm throwing your butt out. Love you. :)

Generally he is a pretty happy dog:

Who likes to give Joseph kisses even though he doesn't quite know what to make of him yet.

Future best buds:

Shelby's favorite things:

Walks/Runs: don't even put walking or running shoes on without expecting to take the dog....he goes berzerk when you even touch those shoes...and he knows which ones they are!

People food: He doesn't get much (unless he is at my mom's) but he is the prime example of "you give a mouse a cookie...and he'll ask you for some milk."

Horses: If they are on TV, he's watching it...with intensity. Doesn't matter what he was doing before....that's history...now he's watching horses.

Going to the barn: It's like with the walking/running...there have actually been times I've had to take my boots with me and change them at the barn to keep him from getting too excited if I'm not planning on taking him. He almost always goes though.

Riding in the car: Doesn't matter where...if the car door opens up, he's getting in.

His Banana: That would be my mom...(it started as calling her "nana" but she didn't like that, so Banana it is). She likes to give him food....enough said...and her house is the funnest.

Hope you enjoyed a little look at our Shelby (aka Roni...all of our pets have nicknames...random nicknames)

Next up: Daysie

Fighting Sleep

Joseph is a child of many expressions. He goes through a lot of them when he's trying to take a nap. Sometimes he fights sleep so hard. "You want me to do what? Sleep! HAH! I laugh at your weak attempts!"

"Seriously...I laugh!"

"Still trying, huh?"

"YAWN!"

"That wasn't a yawn..."

"Ok, maybe it was a yawn..."

"But I'm still not going to let sleep take me..."

"What you talkin bout?"

Star Wars

Joseph likes to "watch" TV. I think he gets it from his daddy or it could just be a guy thing. The other day Star Wars was on and he seemed particularly interested. Made his daddy proud! I think he really liked R2D2. I couldn't help but shoot some pics on my iphone.
"Star Wars is on! This rocks!"

"Oh no....they captured Hans Solo!"

"Is he going to be ok?"

"They are going to go rescue him? That's a relief. Now show me more R2."

"YAY! R2 D2!"

"This is the best movie I've ever watched."

Baby Shower # 2

Michael's Stepmom and Dad threw us a wonderful baby shower this past Sunday. Michael and I were both surprised at how many people came out. I don't have many pictures from the shower. Michael was too busy socializing this time to be my photographer. I stole this first picture off of Anne Marie's facebook (that would be Michael's stepmom for those of you who don't know). Poor Anne Marie had a time getting this picture made...the camera just didn't want to take this picture for some reason. Finally, she got it...

This cake was AWESOME:

It was just so fancy!!!

The food was great!

Cute little boxes for the door prize...

These brownies were sinful..and thank goodness for the little footballs. I think from the time Michael got there to the time we left, he was throwing these footballs at people. Yeah, that's how he rolls.

The dip in the center is key lime pie cheeseball served with graham cracker sticks. It is soooo good!

The gift table (before everyone got there)

And the true star of the show....the only cat that got to stay inside while the shower was going on. She layed in the middle of the floor the whole time.

Thanks to Anne Marie for throwing such a wonderful shower for us. We really appreciated it and had a great time!