Joseph's First Race

Saturday morning was Joseph's first running race, and he had a great time! The 12th annual Georgia's Chicken Run, held at Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, is definitely geared toward the 10 and under crowd, and there were tons of preschool aged kids ready to run.

We arrived at 7:30 to check in, and collect Joseph's race t-shirt, goody bag and race number. Joe has a strict policy against wearing the race t-shirt until you've completed the race, so we left Joseph in his bright orange shirt for the morning. Which also worked well since so many kids were wearing their yellow race shirts (that also would have been rather big on him!) so it made it a lot easier to keep track of him.

He was excited to see Georgia the chicken, but not really sure what to make of her up close.

A few vendors set up booths, and one let the kids pick little plastic animals. Joseph had a lot of fun deciding whether he wanted a goldfish or a snake. Luckily, with no prompting from me, he chose the fish.

While waiting for the races to begin, we spent some time wandering around the farm. In the days leading up to the race, Joseph had been talking about getting to see all of the animals, but he wanted to start out riding the pedal carts. He's big enough now that his feet can reach the pedals, but he still isn't strong enough to push them himself. Luckily, Nana helped him out!

After quickly checking out the horses, we wandered over to the baby goats.They must have been fed just before we got there, because they were generally quite gentle and not trying to eat everything in sight.

After visiting the cows and playing for a bit on a playground, it was time for the national anthem and the chicken dance. I tried to teach Joseph how to do the dance on Friday, so it was still fresh in his head. Nana and Daddy danced alongside him, and he was finally waking up enough that he was having fun. He had been a little grumpy for the first hour of the morning, probably because we had to wake him up earlier than usual.

We opted to line Joseph up with the 3 year old boys, thinking that there wouldn't be "runners" in the 2 and under baby walk group. We probably should have left him in the baby group, though, as their course was half as long as the regular course, and definitely had a few other kids running who were about his size and age.

Regardless, Joe and Joseph lined up and were off once the race started. It was a 1/8 mile loop around the apple orchard, and Joe said that within the first hundred feet or so, a bunch of kids either started crying or gave up when they realized they didn't know where they were going and were without their parents. The race organizers didn't do a great job of outlining where the course was, but it was handy that they let the parents run with the kids. I don't think Joseph would have stood a chance of doing the whole course by himself without Joe!

Here's the video from the race - Joe's wearing a bright blue shirt, and you can seem glimpses of Joseph through the crowd. It gets easier to see him in the second half of the video!

Joseph was definitely one of the last kids to complete the race, but he did awesome - he never stopped running, and always had a big grin on his face. It made filming him a bit easier as the crowd thinned out, and I think being able to chance the bigger boys kept him going.

Running up the last few feet, he really concentrated hard on making it to the finish line... check out that tongue! :)

So proud of our little guy after he finished! No tears, and he proudly wore his finisher's medal for the rest of the morning. I had grabbed a juice box from the fridge right before we left home, and it was a good thing because he was seriously tired and thirsty after his run and only wanted juice to drink.

He didn't quite get the concept of looking at Joe through the Chicken Run sign, but I'm sure we'll be back next year and can use this as a comparison of how much bigger he's gotten.

I'm so glad we decided to sign Joseph up for the race, and that he seemed to have a good time. We were so proud of the little guy and can't wait to help him "compete" in more running events in the future!

Coming Together

Tonight we finished installing the window treatments, so I thought I'd add another couple of pictures of how the nursery is coming together.

Joe has the changing table in the garage, adding a few coats of varnish, so that side of the room isn't shown. We still need to find/hang some artwork, and I suppose we'll pull the swing out of the giant box in the basemen and get that set up and ready, but it's definitely coming together!

We'll probably find some tie-backs for the curtains, but for now, I'm happy with how they turned out. We ended up switching the rod we used to hang them with, which brought them up a little higher off the floor. I'm tempted to add another row of ruffles, but in all reality, this will make vacuuming so much easier, so I doubt it'll happen. :)

I'm really happy with how the crib skirt turned out. Unfortunately, there is a complimentary fabric in the pleats, which you can't really see. At least I didn't spend too much time figuring that part out!

5 Weeks to Go!

Since it's been awhile since I've posted a baby bump picture, here you go, although this was taken last week, when I was at 34 weeks:

So far I'm still feeling pretty good. My energy levels have been pretty good, and while I don't get great sleep at night, I don't usually have to get up multiple times which is nice.  Luckily the sciatic nerve pain I had with Joseph hasn't been nearly as bad during this pregnancy, and only flares up occasionally. Instead, I frequently have dull back pain and numbness in my right leg, usually when I start to walk around after sitting for a bit. I've also had lots of contractions already, but nothing regular or consistent. While I still have 5 weeks to go, as of my doctor's appointment this week I had gained about 30 lbs so far, which is more than I'd like, but still way less than where I was with Joseph at this same point, so I'm not complaining (too much). Of course, having a birthday this week has thrown a wrench in my slow and steady weight gain! Oh well.

I quit jogging during week 33, as it was just not comfortable and I was alternating between walking and jogging anyway. I've taken to going for 30-60 minute morning walks 4-5 days a week instead, always with Molly and sometimes with Joseph if I wait late enough in the morning.

The nursery is coming along nicely; all major items should be finished this weekend, with just a few finishing touches left to complete. While I'm ready to be done being pregnant, I'm not mentally ready for a second kid and keep telling myself I have plenty of time to take care of the final details, like washing baby clothes, cleaning and installing the infant car seat and generally remembering what life will be like with a newborn again!

Baby Sister's Name

We're down to a shorter list of first names for baby sister, and since everyone keeps asking, we figured we'd throw them out there for you to see (and vote on, if you'd like). Keep in mind, too, that we probably will have nicknames from the formal name, ie Alex for Alexandra, as Joe (and Joseph) think most of them are too long with too many syllables. We each have our favorites, and Joseph's top choice, Bobaloo, didn't make the survey list. Sorry kiddo! We probably won't make the final choice until she's here, but thought you'd enjoy seeing where we are with the names and providing input that may or may not be considered! :)

My two silly kids

I was upstairs, changing loads of laundry, when I heard lots of giggles coming from the living room. I came down the stairs to see Molly on her back, wiggling around. Joseph must have thought she'd created a fun game, so he decided to do the same thing. And was having a blast copying his favorite playmate. Hopefully Molly's up for having two rugrats to play with before she knows it!

Test

Test

Off to Nana's

Sneak Peek

So I got a new to me phone (Joe's old phone) and have been trying to establish blogger but have failed at 3 posts so far, so I'm resorting to the computer. I decided to make all of the bedding and fabric stuff for the nursery, and the big box of fabric arrived last week. After pre-washing and doing lots of ironing, I spent most of last week sewing. One crib sheet and a set of bumpers later, and the bed is starting to come together. I'm going to start the crib skirt tomorrow, and then move on to fabric storage bins for the changing table, window treatments, a baby quilt and a few other miscellaneous projects, assuming I have time and energy to complete them before baby sister arrives. I'm excited about how it's coming together...and how much pink is being added to the house!

Hanging Out with the Cousins, Part 2

Earlier this year I bought a Groupon to Wonderscope, the local children's museum. Being raised in St. Louis, I'm totally spoiled as to what a children's museum could be like, and Kansas City is definitely lacking anything comparable to the Magic House. I had heard positive things about Wonderscope, so I figured a Groupon would be a good way to check it out without spending too much money. I didn't realize, however, that the 4 pack of admisions needed to be used all at the same time, and expired at the end of June. So when Linda mentioned they were going to be in town and looking for things to do during the work week while Jill was at work, I figured that a morning at the museum would be fun for everyone.

Friday we met up at Wonderscope after Benton's morning nap and breakfast for the boys. The museum is located in an old elementary school, and the first floor classrooms have been converted into individual play spaces focusing on different things.  We spent the most time in the first room, where the boys could take golf balls and race them down ramps of various sizes and heights. They even had a few built in sections so we could put Benton down and not worry about him getting trampled by the bigger kids.

It took a little convincing, but the boys eventually figured out that playing in the water table in the water room was a lot of fun.

 Another room had a play veterinary space in the back, with a baby doctor's office in the front for role play. Ethan really had a lot of fun in this room, and Joseph just followed along, for the most part. Joseph really enjoyed the art room, where he was able to paint with water colors, and draw on the chalkboard walls.

There was one room specifically for the under 2 crowd, so we made sure to spend some time there as well so Benton could explore. After a couple hours, it was definitely time for lunch, so we headed our separate ways for the rest of the day.

Later Friday night, Joe's cousin Robert, his wife Sara and their son, Bobby, drove up from Oklahoma City to KC for the weekend. They are living temporarily in OKC for the summer while Robert completes a summer internship, and it was great that we were able to plan a weekend so we could all get together and meet the newest cousins.

Saturday morning we hung out while trying to accomodate the variety of nap schedules, but managed to plan a trip to Fritz's, the famous train restaurant. I'm sure Ethan didn't remember being there when he was about Benton's age, but Joseph loves the restaurant, and we knew it would be a hit with Ethan as well. The littlest boys seemed to enjoy all of the distractions while we ate.

They hand out train conductor hats for the kids as we were seated, and Benton got one as well. His was just a little too big, though...

 There he is! Such a happy camper, and a super eater. I'm pretty sure he ate more than Ethan or Joseph all weekend long.

We opted to just hang out Sunday morning and take it easy. While Bobby was napping and Joe was out for his long training run, Robert borrowed Joe's guitar and started playing for fun. Ethan and Joseph were pretty intrigued, so Robert tried to teach them the words to "This Little Light of Mine." Ethan caught on fairly quickly, and as usual, Joseph was just copying Ethan as much as possible.

Robert let the boys strum the guitar and play with the strings. Joseph really enjoyed hearing the music he was making!

After a long week of playdates and late naps, Linda and I opted to let the boys relax for a couple days and try to get back to a normal schedule. Mid week we got the news that Ashley was going to be headed to the hospital late Wednesday night to be induced, so we re-arranged our schedule so we could head to St. Louis after Joe's last Thursday morning appointment. Baby Mason finally arrived early Friday morning; more pictures and details of that new cousin visit coming next!

We stayed in St. Louis through Saturday morning, then headed down to Clinton to meet back up with Jill, Gary, Linda, Ethan and Benton, who all had been in Clinton since Wednesday evening for Old Glory Days, a 4th of July celebration. Not knowing when Mason was going to arrive, we had tentatively planned to spend the weekend with them, and figured we could at least spend most of Saturday together. We arrived just in time to eat lunch and watch the little dog races, which Ethan and Joseph seemed to enjoy. Joseph was definitely overdue for his nap, so we headed back to the house so he could sleep for a bit before the big event of the night - the carnival on the square.

After waking up and playing in the baby pool outside for an hour or so, we decided it was cool enough to head to the square for the carnival. Joseph saw all of the rides and quickly got very excited about all of the activities. Check out this face!

He's only recently started showing any emotion at all while going on rides, so it's really fun for us that he shows how happy he is now. At least we know he's having fun!

After a few rides on the cars, the boys headed over to the train. They don't look too excited in this picture, but if you blow up the next, you can see that Joseph once again has a big smile on his face.

Jill purchased "all you can ride" wristbands for Ethan and Joseph, which worked out great and probably saved us some money. They were quite content to ride the same rides over and over, and luckily some of the bigger rides that required an adult didn't seem to mind that we didn't have tickets for us.

After a scary ride on the big swings (Joseph thought they looked fun, but got freaked out when they flew higher and faster than he was expecting... and too be fair, they were definitely geared toward the older kids!), Nana figured an easy ride on the ponies would be fun. Joseph looked like he was getting into it, but after a half trip around the circle, he decided a pony was not fun to ride, and started crying and signing/saying all done. The gentleman working the ride gave Jill her money back and let Joseph back off his pony.

Toward the end of our evening, Joe bought a funnel cake and Jill bought a shaved ice, which they shared with the boys. Linda and I were hanging out, waiting for them both to come back, when we realized that Ethan had stopped, squatted down, and Joseph promptly copied him, down to the placement of his hands. These two were such good buds by the end of the visit!

Joe had scheduled a very early morning run with Scotty for Sunday morning, so we packed up and headed back home around 8:30pm. Joseph had lots of fun playing with both Ethan and Benton, and has been asking to play with them since they left, over a week ago! I know he's going to be so excited when we see them again at Thanksgiving, and maybe sooner if Linda is able to bring the boys back out in September for her high school reunion. It's too bad they don't live closer, but I'm really glad we were able to spend so much time together.

Time to Train

We just registered Joseph for his first running race, the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead "Georgia's Chicken Run, on July 28th." It looks to be a great first race, and since it is grouped by age, Joseph will be one of the oldest in the baby run (2 and under), so he has a great chance of winning (except he generally runs fastest when he's chasing after someone else!) I love that every kid gets a race shirt, goodie bag and a finisher medal, since he's always interested in the medals from our races. Apparently they have the kids participate in the chicken dance before everything begins, and have carnival style games set up around the farm to play while each race is going on. Hopefully it will be a fun experience for him... Time to start training for his sub 1/8th mile course! :)

Best Cereal Box Prize Ever

The alternate title for this post is "why recycling really pays off!" Today I opened a new box of cereal for breakfast, and after church, decided to clean out the bottom shelf of the pantry to make some space for it. We had a couple boxes of half-eaten cereal that hadn't been touched in a long time (like months) so I figured it was time to throw them out. Instead of just throwing the whole box of Count Chocula away, though, like usual I separated the bag from the box so I could recycle the box. Imagine my surprise when I felt something bouncing around at the bottom of the empty box. I assumed maybe it was a prize of some sort.... but I never expected to find our missing RAV 4 key! I can only imagine that Joseph had been eating from the box when he was playing with the key, which has been missing for months, and it fell inside. I'm so glad that I didn't just throw the whole thing away, as we had pretty much figured we'd never see the key again after tearing the house apart and not ever finding it. Hooray!

Hanging Out with the Cousins Part 1

For two weeks between Father's Day and July 4th, Linda, Ethan and Benton came out to KC for a long visit. We missed their first weekend in town/down at Clinton as we were at the Lake for Father's Day, but we did manage to meet up at one of our favorite pizza places, Pizza West, for dinner. They have a good, relatively cheap pizza buffet 3 nights a week, and the buffet is actually set up in their back room, which is totally geared toward kids - chalkboard walls, arcade games, a train table, and they even have a large scale train running about 8 feet above the floor, around the perimeter of the room.

Needless to say, the boys were well entertained, ate a decent meal and had a good re-introduction to each other, since they hadn't been together since Thanksgiving.

Tuesday night Jill and Gary took everyone to T-Rex, a great themed restaurant out at the Legends, complete with anamatronic dinosaurs, big and small, that move and roar. Joseph got a little freaked out, but managed to have fun playing with the new dino toys Nana bought while we were waiting for our food.

After dinner, she took Ethan and Joseph to their version of Build-A-Bear/Dino, where she let each of the boys pick a dino to make. They each had a lot of fun helping to pick a heart, stuff and fluff the dinos, and then name them.

Wednesday Linda brought the boys to our house to play for the day. Joe and I managed to get away for a bit to have the ultrasound we posted about a while ago, while Linda stayed at the house and watched the boys. Joseph and Ethan had a blast playing inside and out, especially with Joseph's train table. By this time, Joseph and Ethan were really getting comfortable with each other, and settled into their respective roles for the rest of the trip - Ethan in charge, and Joseph copying just about everything Ethan would do/say.

We decided that since the plans were to go to the Tonganoxie pool on Thursday, that Joseph and I would head out there after breakfast in the morning and spend the day in Tonganoxie. Linda found the VFW park and a neighboring playground, where we spent a good portion of the morning playing.

Ethan wanted to check out the tank; Joseph wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be doing...

 So he just wandered behind Ethan, taking it all in.

In the next field over, there was an old helicopter perched high in the air. Joseph is much more into helicopters, and wanted to get close to check it out. There wasn't too much to see or do around it, though, so the boys decided to run back to us so we could head to the playground.

For whatever reason (probably because Joseph knows he has to hold someone's hand while he's near a road) Joseph grabbed Ethan's hand and told him to hang on. They were so cute walking side by side, holding hands.

They managed to stay this way until one of them had the idea to run, and they didn't let go of each other's hands. Lots of giggles ensued, until Joseph tripped and wiped out.

If you enlarge this picture, you can see how much fun these two were having running together!

Once we made it over to the playground, the boys had lots of fun chasing each other around and around. For the most part, Joseph just wanted to run after Ethan, who was happy to be chased. It took a bit of convincing to get them to stop for a lunch break.

After lunch they continued to play together until it was time to head back to Nana and Papa's for naps.

After naptime, we headed over to the swimming pool, where they have a great zero-entry toddler pool. While Ethan practiced his swimming, Joseph wasn't sure what to do with himself as we wanted to go to the deeper pool, but didn't actually want to be in the pool. So we hung out at the toddler pool where he made friends with a few little girls.

And then was perplexed when they decided to stop playing with him. Joe and Jill both came up to the pool after work, where we hung out for a bit longer before heading back to the house for a quick dinner.