Randoms

sunday nite...ready to start the new week...had to sample lots of mommy's icing...brush, brush, brush... after bedtime, making cupcakes for MOPS baby shower.

Weekend Fun

Meme and Papa came to visit this weekend. Let's face it, I am really behind on my blogging, so this was actually like 3 weeks ago! Here are some photos from their visit! Uncle Kelly came to see us too! The boys playing XBox Kinect!Connell and Papa playing! Story time before bed

Swim Lessons

Connell started swimming lessons today. I waited too long to enroll him so we didn't get the class time we really wanted, but I think it's going to work out for the best. Tim would have been at work during the other class and now he gets to see our little fish in action, too! Connell was excited and we even went to Target today so he could pick out his goggles.

Emma had the best time watching the swimmers. She kept saying "emma swim lesson." That reminds me....I really need to do a post all about how much that girl talks! Amazing! She even wanted her puppy to watch! Goggle man! Post-swimming frosties! happy, tired, and asleep before his head even touched the pillow.

A day(morning) in the life

8am - Emma finally wakes up. Connell loves to get in her bed. She is not so excited, but goes along with it anyway ;-)
9am - monkey see, monkey do. Connell was first.
10am - a little sibling creative activities time.

That's it. No, the day didn't end there, but my cute photo ops did!

Sunday funday

Lots of smiles after church.
So silly!
Emma and Daddy had a little one-on-one time while Connell and I had a date.

What's a date without icecream?!

Home Improvement: Wall Frames

For the past few years, I have been wanting this done in our dining room. We have had this flat red paint under the chair rail in there, and it was nice BEFORE kids. Flat paint shows EVERYTHING...and I am just kind of over the red.

My husband did a fantastic job on this project. My Dad brought the special saw last weekend when they came and Tim cut all the wood. Then he finished up this weekend. Connell was his helper!

Primer over the red paint. frames are uppainted and finished. It looks very clean and classic. Now I just have to find some new drapes. Not sure if I am keeping this one that shows in the pic. Currently there are 2 different drapes hanging in the room while I try to make a decision!

Misc

Poor baby...Emma tripped and got a fat lip.
We went on a lunch date with Tanner and his sweet Mommy. Emma is the "mommy assistant." Funny, seems like just yesterday she was the baby taking the bottle and snoozing through lunch. Tanner is a handsome little guy and Emma just loves to talk about him!
I have been cleaning out Connell and Emma's closets and dressers and getting ready for the change of season. Emma l.o.v.e.s. to try on clothes. And shoes. She is quite the little model. Honestly, I don't think she can get any cuter??!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

***updated***

Obviously these pics about are my cutest "lucky charms" but I thought I would add a few pics of some St. Pat's decor I gathered this year. Connell is really into holidays but I can't really blame him...I blame Homegoods! ha!

Turtles & a playdate

Today we were invited to a MOPS friend's house for a craft and a playdate. Chrissy was so sweet to plan this for us, and we ended up having a beautiful and warm enough day to send the kiddos outside to play and get some fresh air.

Emma was very eager to be part of the crafting action...she wants to do whatever her big brother does!Painting the turtle Enjoying the pretty weather cupcake!

The finished product! So cute!

Weekend stuff

Grandma and Grandpa came for the weekend. They arrived earlier than usual on Friday and the kids were ecstatic! I told Tim we could've just left and they never would have noticed...hey, maybe we should try that!

Friday night we ordered pizza and stayed home. Tim and my Dad were getting things ready to work on a home improvement project. On Saturday, the girls headed out for our ladies day, and the boys headed for their MANdate. Our day consisted of Chickfila breakfast, shopping for dresses and shoes for an upcoming family wedding, shopping for fabric for more sewing projects, lunch with the guys, and then more shopping for the kids at a boutique nearby that I absolutely L.O.V.E! I get into all kinds of trouble in there!!! oh well...meanwhile, the guys did Chickfila breakfast, Lowes, Porter Paints, home to work on project and watch the Tigers game and then met us for lunch. By the time we got home, it was nearly 4pm. That's a LONG day of running around for Emma, and she was such a trooper. I was the tired one!

Emma was helping to pick fabric for her outfits. I had about 6 picked out, we narrowed it down to 2, and then Emma picked. Ladies, look out! Connell and his cousin Chandler are going to be ringbearers in my cousin Aimee's wedding in a few weeks. Connell's suit arrived the other day, and he is so handsome in it! He even likes to put it on. I was so excited that Mom and I were able to find plain black shoes that weren't too expensive. Sometimes PLAIN kids shoes are very hard to find...really. Connell is also going to be in Uncle Patrick's wedding later this year (along with Emma) so this will get him prepared, right?! Precious Emma after church. Enjoying the beginning of spring with Grandpa. One last story before naptime. In between all of the goings-on, my Mom and I sewed our 2nd project...a summer romper for Emma. I finished the little ties at the bottom all by myself after they left and now all it needs is buttonholes and buttons. It turned out so cute! While we were busy doing all of this, Tim worked really hard all weekend getting work done on a home improvement project that I am really excited about...more on that later this week.

Our kids

There are no words to describe how much we looooooove our precious kiddos...they are such a blessing and gift, even on the craziest of days!
My heart wants to explode when I watch this little video clip (taken 3/9/11).

End of the week randomness

Daddy made blueberry pancakes. Connell made a mess. Really, Connell?
Not so messy!
Playing with cars
This week I did some re-decorating (just a few little things...pictures later) and Connell was quite the helper. He thought that my pretty caddy would be a great little toolbox.

Time to clean up and get ready for the weekend. Grandma & Grandpa are coming to see us and we have home improvements, shopping and fun on the agenda!

(Non) Training Update

Since the end of February would mark two months into my training for the Music City Half marathon (scheduled for 4/30), I was planning to do a training update post. So here I am writing that post, and sufficed to say, it's not going like I really wanted or planned.

Here is a picture of my left leg. I have a tibial stress fracture. Towards the end of January I started to have pain which I thought was a shin splint. I was slowing increasing my miles, and not over-doing it, running 3 times a week. It really didn't bother me at all while I was running, but would hurt afterwards. Early in February I went back to Fleet Feet and spoke to them about my pain. It was decided that I needed some pricey inserts for my pricey running shoes. I rested for a week and started to run again. Still in pain. I iced. I stretched. I was actually beginning to limp a bit after my runs and started to worry if my race would be a reality.

Tim and I and my doctor (the physician Tim works with) decided an xray was in order and it came back normal. But I had already learned online that a stress fracture doesn't always show up on a regular xray. I rested for 10 days and by the 7th day, it finally started to feel better. So I ran 4 miles (2/20). I wasn't hurting during the run, but within the hour of finishing, I knew I was in trouble. I iced and iced. Two days later I was barely able to walk. I headed back to the hospital on 2/25 for a bone scan and got the call a few hours later that I did have a stress fracture. They are common among runners, even more common in women. There are many things that could have caused it...it's likely that even though I started slow with low miles, it is just an "overuse" injury since I wasn't currently doing any working out and just "hit the ground running!"

This weekend, me and my running peeps should be running 6 miles. I am really missing running. There is NO running for me for at least 4 to 6 weeks. I am bummed and majorly disappointed. I know there are other races, but this was special for me since I was going to run my first half on Connell's 4th birthday. I was planning for my thoughts/memories of my little sweet boy's first four years to keep my mind occupied that morning. How about, what's harder? 13.1 miles or 22 hours of labor to meet my precious first-born?! ;-)

I will definitely sign up and hopefully be able to train for another race. A huge part of my disappointment is just that I am not able to run now that the weather is getting nice. I ran thru the two coldest months of the year and really would like to be out there enjoying this early spring weather. Also, for the first time in my adult life, I was ENJOYING exercise. I never made excuses to skip a run like I would always do with other workouts. Even on my 2, 3, or 4 mile runs, I would feel that "high" when I was finished.

In the meantime, I need to be riding a stationary bike or swimming. It's just taking me a little while to fix my attitude. Plus, this week, my leg is actually starting to feel a bit better. I got my aircast this week, and it seems to really be helping. Hopefully, in the future, I will be posting another running update, where I am actually running! So as far as April 30, I will focus on Connell and planning a fun and fab birthday celebration!!!

**sorry for my wordiness and lack of pics of my kids ;-)**