An Adorable Sam

I really wanted to put a picture from Sam's 18 month photography session on here (big props to Warren Sanders - anyone in Asheville.... if you want a photographer.... look him up. He's great), but I seem to have lost the image. You will just have to come see it on our wall!

Because of lack of time, I have not been able to post about Sam as he has grown as often as I did with Steven Edward. So this post is solely devoted to my second son. He has completely captured my heart in a way that is indescribable. His smile has the power to melt an onlooker's heart and his charm is unmatchable. He loves people and he loves to entertain, and if the opportunity matches what he already desires to do.... he also loves to please.

He has literally hundreds of words. He can say whatever he wants. In fact his newest trick is to walk around saying my name - corn-ey. Finally after attempting to ignore it, we've had to start disciplining him for it, because he uses it as an act of rebellion... but I do have to admit it often makes me smile. One day he just walked up to me, calling me by name.... as if he'd made a new discovery all by himself. And man was he proud.

He is the definition of the child who can't be forced to do anything. He won't eat, apologize, or bathe unless he wants to (well, unless he is kicking and screaming through the process... and man can he scream). Often in the bath his entire body turns beat red from screaming so hard - not wanting to get in, not wanting to get out, or not wanting you to wash his hair. This doesn't mean he dislikes baths - with Sam it truly just depends on the night. He will teach me new creative discipline strategies as he grows that I never knew existed.

He loves to smile, dance, tackle his brother, antagonize his brother, cuddle, laugh, tickle..... and after I've tickled awhile yell... Stop Mom! (something like... Top, Mom!).

He has grown to love reading just like his brother always did. He will bring me book after book and say, "read it." After I finish he will look at me and say, "again!"

He loves to swing and be outside. And while he is incredibly agile and adventurous for his age - he has a keen understanding of what his body can do and very seldom tries anything he is not sure he can tackle. He climbs ladders at parks, goes down the biggest slide by himself, climbs over the arm of our couch and drops to the floor, jumps off of steps with both feet, and pretty much takes life running head on.

But one thing Sam has never been is easy. As high as his highs.... he can turn on a dime. He is the child I have to watch at every turn. For example.... as his brother makes a puddle of urine on the ground outside.... Sam is the one stomping in it (true story sadly). Or as I am helping Steven at the potty.... Sam is sneaking his tooth brush out of the cup and running to dip it in the little potty, which we unfortunately have not emptied yet. I literally could go on with stories like this for several paragraphs. But somehow, with that much personality you can't help but love him and laugh right along with him. His personality and joy for life is contagious.

Mudrun take Two

So after our first mud run, it was a must that we do another. So we found one in Pinnacle NC (where is that you say? who knows really..... between pilot mountain and hanging rock at a camp ground). We created two teams, a boys team (which someone ended up just being Steven and a guy named David) and a girls team (which included Millie, Stephanie, Mary and myself). It was quite an adventure and MUCH different than the first one we did. Not as many man made obstacles, but much harder terrain (God made obstacles! Huge hills, rivers, lots of steep climbs, and over 90 degree heat in the middle of the day). The last obstacle was a mudpit that far outdid our last race..... enjoy the pictures.

Our team name... the Nimble Newts (I defintely had a 50 year old woman ask me what that meant).

Mary made all the t-shirts... aren't they sweet!

We did have a fan club.
This was a group start..... I think the speedo boys won.

The masses headed towards the trail head

The mud pit.... stocked with Marines to yell at you.

About to take the dive
Yep.... there ya go.

There were ropes, so you had to literally crawl. I think my husband actually swam.

You had to cross the finish line linked arm in arm with your team. As you can see the terrain was a bit slippery! I almost lost a shoe going into the pit because the clay was so.... sticky.

This was after the race.... see what a fire hose can do! Doesn't Millie look shiny?!

***And I can't forget to give a shout out to my mom, who watched 3 toddlers and a dog while we ran.... and my Dad, who was our own personal photographer. Thanks guys! *****

Slow to Update

Sorry guys - I seem to be slow to update my blog lately

Last weekend, my husband and I took the trip down to Atlanta for the weekend. One of my closest friends from college was having an engagement party.... and for fear we won't be able to make the wedding, we made it priority to be there now! So my parents came up to watch the boys, and we headed down childless to Georgia! It was great. We were very generously given a place to stay by a friend (thanks Mark!....and for the suggestion Jen!) so we were able to make the weekend of it for a very affordable price!

We started our morning by heading out to a great breakfast at Thumbs Up. It was a great little place (that could have been in Asheville based on its decor and menu) in East Point. Then we headed to Atlanta's biggest art museum. The High Museum of Art.

It was really a mix of all types of art... but i must say after living in Manhattan, it wasn't quite as impressive as a NYC museum. We were pleased to find out that we even got in for free for being Bank of America customers (this is true on the first Saturday of every month).

Their special exhibit was on cars entitled The Allure of the Automobile. It was interesting, but not what i expected in a fancy art museum.



As always though, my favorite was French Impressionism. I loved the Monet and my husband like the Pissaro.





Then we headed to Little Five Points to hang out and eat lunch. I will refrain from stating my opinion publicly about that adventure - but I will say we had wonderful Turkish food.... but if you want it, maybe you should carry it out.


Then we headed out that night to the party for Niki and Seth! We had a great time and it was so good to catch up with old friends. Congratulations guys!

Cousins

We are blessed that Steven's cousin (Irby) has in-laws in town. So every now and then they stop by for a visit and we are blessed to benefit from this too! This time they were in town for 10 days, so Katie and I got our boys together twice - and they were able to come over for dinner as well.








It has been SO nice to spend time with family in the midst of our crazy lives. Katie and Irby have 3 boys.... Irby is the oldest, and then there are identical twin 7 month olds... Griffin and Charlie. I always wanted twins.... but watching Katie I'm not quite so convinced. While they were fussing I asked her, "how often do they cry at the same time" (thinking of the times mine do this and wanting to punch walls) and she responds... "well this isn't crying, but... everyday." I'll be honest... the dinner wasn't exactly what I'd call relaxing... but it was enjoyable none-the-less.

left - Charlie right-Griffin

It was cute to see their own little personalities!

A makeover... for two

Let me just start by saying my husband is RIDICULOUS! He "relaxes" by doing things around the house.... yard work, handy-man activities, etc.

Last weekend in an afternoon he pulled up the majority of the MASSIVE hedges that lined our deck and replaced them with small azaleas and gardenias.... AFTER we ran the mud run and went to a gala the previous day. Then this weekend he cemented a wall, dug and moved plants, pressure washed our deck and side walk, sanded the deck, painted the front door, and then stained the entire deck (a "honey white) - all virtually single handed! I luckily get to benefit from my husband's workaholic tendencies! I think it makes our house look SO much better!

make over one:

make over two:


Luckily this happened the day AFTER his 18 month pictures! He was walking (either on the sidewalk or the driveway... bad mom? she doesn't even know! I was helping Steven Edward in the garage) and fell. I heard the crying from a distance and didn't rush because, as great as Sam is, he is known as a bit of a drama king. But when he rounded the corner bleeding I quickly picked up the pace! Then I pulled back his hair to reveal a slightly smaller than golf ball sized blue bump (still slightly covered by hair in this picture too). Nice. We watched for concussion signs, but after a few tantrums and refusals to eat veggies, we deemed him normal.

All in a Day's Work

Today was a rather funny mix of our lives - we started with a Mudrun. It is a USMC sponsored boot camp type run. It was a 4 mile trail run with 32 obstacles ranging from 4 foot deep mud pits, to an 8 foot wall, to a 15 foot cargo net, or a piggy back ride across the finish line. You had to start and finish in teams of 4 (and I would never have made it over the 8 foot wall without my team!). It was more fun than I anticipated and a LOT muddier than i expected - there were 4 mud events (to see list of events click here). It was an absolute blast and I have already started searching the internet for another one! I do understand now why they recommended long sleeves and pants - and therefore why the army/military doesn't wear shorts of tank tops!










After seeing these pictures, Steven Edward looked at his Daddy and said, "Daddy, next time you run through a mud puddle, please don't hug me." It was cute.... and a little telling.


Then we rushed home (after multiple showers) and got ready to go to a Gala to support Veritas. It was fun of a different kind. They had both a silent and live auction - and if you didn't look too closely at my ankles (which I failed to scrub quite well enough) or noticed the scrapes on my elbows you would have had no idea that we were swimming in mud that morning!


All in all it was a great day! My boys were great for my parents and my husband and I had a great day full of fun and events! Would totally do the whole thing again!

Veritas Spring Fever 5k

Steven and I signed up for and ran our second race together this morning. It was a 5k to benefit his school's athletic department and for this one, we both ran at "our own pace" - which meant Steven left me right at the start line and we paced by ourselves. I will say, running by yourself is not as much fun as running with someone, and next time I will have to bring my Ipod. But nonetheless, we both ran well. The race was a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. The last mile was all a slow, uphill climb, which proved challenging for everyone. In fact, I did not add one picture of me at the finish line that looks as if I had just been tortured (potentially today I may have described it that way!). The boys waited at the finish line with our ever faithful babysitter Alexandra. Steven finished 11th overall at 22:14 (which is a 7:10 mile pace) and I finished 35th overall at 25:04 (an 8:05 pace).

waiting for mom and dad
Just after the finish line
Steven has just passed (the grey shirt and shoe on the right) and as you see the clock says 22:16! Unfortunately for Steven he finished 3rd in his age cagtegory (the 30s are actually the most competitive category for runners) so he failed to get a sugar cookie.
I however (because I am a spring chicken just shy of that 30s group) finished 1st in my age group and was able to come away with a fondant iced sugar cookie with a one on it. Nice.

Two people failed to stay to claim their prestigious sugar cookie prize.... and our boys benefited greatly. Thank you Anthony!