Wanna Be Runner

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our little Dragon!

Freshly carved punkies (note the cars in his hands - they rarely leave his side)

The obligatory, forced photo (can you tell by his overly excited expression)

"Scah-crow"

Even scary dragons can stop to smell the flowers!

Visit to the Farm

To round out our "fall weekend", we stopped out to my grandparent's farm to let Gavin run around and explore. Brad and I will be purchasing a portion of the farm land in December and have been giving much thought lately to the home we will build there in the next few years. We spent some time today exploring where we might build. The corn hasn't be cut quite yet, so I think we'll go back in a few weeks when we can get a better view.

Here are some photos of our exploration...

Uncle Bill - Gavin couldn't resist sitting on the tractor, hope that is okay!

The Perfect "Punkies"

Yesterday, we held on to our yearly tradition of picking out pumpkins ("punkies" as Gavin calls them) at the Morse's Farm, Brad's Aunt and Uncle. Given the weather was beautiful after I left work, we thought we'd beat the gloomy weather that was in store for the weekend. We had a fun time!

Apple samples, too.

Here's our little family of three - aren't they cute!

Fall Harvest

We headed to Fruit Ridge Hay Rides farm this afternoon to enjoy a hay ride, cider, donuts, apples and pumpkins. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day. Gavin loved exploring the farm. We wished we would have had more time, but lunch and a delayed nap were calling.

Marathon Finisher (woot woot)

WE DID IT! When all odds were against us - stomach flu, dehydration, oppressive heat, to name a few - Brad and I completed the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. It gives me goose bumps just to type that! This crazy idea that I dreamed up back in February became a reality.

It has been a surreal day. It started at 5:15 this morning as we awoke, got all geared up, and headed to the 7:30am start. The day started off in the low 60s and quickly rose to the mid 80's by the time I finished. For any other activities, it was a beautiful sunny day. MUCH TOO HOT for a marathon, however.

Brad, being the super premier marathoner that he is, was fortunate to have a seeded corral (A) for the race. Low lifes like me were in the open corral. It was fine though, took me about 10 minutes to get to the start line once the "whistle blew". And we were off! I was so incredibly nervous all last night and this morning, and for about the first 8 miles of the race. Then, I think my nervousness turned into nausea and fatigue, coupled with the increasing temps. I wasn't feeling good. In fact, was thinking of dropping out. But, no, I had worked too hard for that. I pressed on, taking one mile at a time, alternating running with walking for about the second half. It was exhausting. But I came around the corner and saw the finish and there was no way that smile was leaving my face. I did it (not in the time I had hoped for), but I did it!

My time ended up at about 5 hours 19 minutes (about an hour slower than what I thought - in better weather). Brad finished in 3 hours 15 minutes (about 15 minutes slower than his goal). BUT WHO CARES about time - we finished!

And now I'm in a world of hurt - sitting with my feet elevated, blogging away. Every muscle from my hips down is aching. I can barely walk. I have massive blisters on five of my toes, I'll likely lose two associated toe nails (thankfully we're exiting sandal season). My right calf, which has been bothering me since my stomach flu/dehydration incident, is KILLING me. From about mile 18 to the finish, it was on the verge of ceasing up on me, hence the walking. Brad is tired as well, but given his experience with marathons, he's not in as rough of shape as I am. My headache is finally subsiding. I'm a bit sunburned (you can't unfortunately reapply sunscreen while you're running, so this morning's application quickly sweated off).

Pain and agony aside, I'm THRILLED to have finished!

So, my list of thank yous (I'm sure I"ll forget some): First and foremost, to my fabulous husband for his support and encouragement - there is no way this dream would have been a reality without you. All of our schedule juggling has finally paid off! Second, to my parents for watching Gavin in Chicago this weekend so that we could fulfill our dream. It was so reassuring knowing that he was in such loving, capable hands - no worries as we ran. And finally to the following list, for allowing this dream to come true: Jelly Belly Sport Beans, my hydration pack, non-blistering socks, my running shoes, the lady who always waved and said hello on my early morning Sunday long runs (she's so cute!), Body Glide, PowerAid (and the guy who sold it to me at Charlie's party store when my supply would run out), the fabulous City of Chicago for your hospitality (it was an impeccably planned marathon, particular for the weather conditions), the woman who gave me my medal at the end, and the woman who gave me an ice cold towel at the end. And also to all of our friends and family who have supported our running endeavors - your support and prayers mean the world.

So, that's it for this little chapter of 2010! Woot, woot!

Marathon Eve

We're in Chicago, ready for bed pre-marathon tomorrow. Just wanted to post a few photos of the expo today. Say some prayers for us tomorrow morning that all goes well. We will be running in unseasonably warm and sunny weather, which may take it's toll physically. But we're optimistic and blessed to be here!

GI Disaster

I'm itching to get out of the house right now. But no can do. We're living in a GI nightmare. Gavin came down with gastroenteritis (stomach flu) on Wednesday night, vomited 20+ times over the next 36ish hours. We thought we were on the mend yesterday - introducing bland foods back slowly, fluids were staying down, and toddler activities were resuming. Enter 2AM today: I wake up to what I thought was a dream (really a nightmare) - Brad vomiting in the bathroom, repeatedly. He was subsequently quarantined to the basement, were is still residing after 20+ episodes of vomiting in the past 13ish hours. Enter 9:30AM today: Gavin woke up his usual happy self. I went in to get him up from his crib only to find that he filled his diaper with the most absolutely disgusting display of diarrhea known to man. To the tub he went, more fluids and bland foods today. No diarrhea repeat yet. And he's currently napping peacefully.

And here I sit, typing away, a ticking time bomb awaiting my round of gastroenteritis. Of course this kind of crap (pun intended) always happens at the worst time. Gavin's started as we were away from home, staying in a hotel in Traverse City where I needed to be for work on Thursday. We made it through Thursday, then headed home earlier than expected that evening. More poor timing - we have the Chicago Marathon in one week. I can see it now - my GI symptoms will hold off for a day or two longer and then start and will linger through the weekend, ruining my big dreams of completing my first marathon. Four months of dedicated training down the toilet (again, pun intended).

On a positive note, I was able to attend church last evening and received the annointing of the sick, so there is hope that God will spare me from the GI disaster. Oh please, please spare me!

I've experienced my most unglamorous moments as a mom and wife these past few days. And there are likely more of these days in store for me this week. Please pray that God is with us as we work to abolish this illness. And that it doesn't affect our ability to compete next weekend.

ArtPrize

A few of our favorites from this evening's stroll through ArtPrize...

And, of course, Gavin had a load of fun interacting with the art...

Losing Teams

I meant to post this last weekend; I'm a little late. It's been a long week. These photos were taken pre-games on Saturday and Sunday. There was a vibe of great anticipation as the Fighting Irish and Lions took the field...only to end in typical fashion, losses. I do still think these photos are awfully cute and certainly blog-worthy.

Matching teeshirts for Dadda and son.

And as Brad said to Gavin after the Lions game Sunday "this is the beginning of a lifetime of disappointment". Sigh. Poor boys! Regardless of whether our teams win or lose, Gavin sure does enjoying watching!

BaPa

No doubt, some of Gavin's favorite people in the world are his grandparents - "BaPa" and "Mae mee" as he calls them.

We received some bad/sad news about BaPa Clark this past week. Brad's Dad, Mark, was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago at the age of 52. He had surgery to remove his prostate quickly after diagnosis. It was discovered at that time that the cancer had spread locally to surrounding soft tissue, so he underwent several weeks of radiation treatment as well as hormone therapy. Though never cured of cancer, his PSA remained low for several years. And while changed by the diagnosis, Mark continued to live life to the fullest, as he had always done. Last week, Mark had a routine bone scan that revealed his cancer has spread to his bones (spine and femurs). He will start chemotherapy next week after having a port placed later this week.

My heart is aching, among many other hearts in the family. I find my eyes filled with tears quite often lately, questioning all of the "whys". Why someone so young? Why someone with so many people in his life who need him for many more years? Why no cure? I'm having a hard time making sense of God's plan.

Please pray for Mark and all of our family that he remains strong during his coming treatment. And that he continues to live life to the fullest. He is an amazing man, who has become a second dad to me. And a particularly adored "BaPa" to Gavin and his three other grandchildren, Luke, Lexi and Ava.

We love you Mark!

Fort

I ordered a baby shower gift for a co-worker on Amazon.com (love Amazon Prime, as a side note). And when it came, the shipping box was just the perfect size for Gavin to play in. I gave it to Brad and here's what he came up with...Gavin's first fort ("house")! It even has a roof and doors. Needless to say, it's been Gavin's favorite thing all week. He loves hiding (usually with one foot hanging out because he's just too excited to fully enclose himself) and then poping out to surprise us. I love the creativity. I can vividly remember creating similar forts with boxes as a child. I absolutely loved transforming cardboard into a a magical little place.

Here's Gavin "hiding" inside the house (note the toes peeking through)...

And, SURPRISE, here he is!

This photo I've added because I just like it. We spent some time outside on Tuesday night while Brad was with his cycling group. It was so HOT in the sun, even though it was the evening. This picture is cute because it shows off Gavin's rosy cheeks that he commonly acquires while playing in the heat. He's very much like his cousin Luke when it comes to the "flushing" department. I also love the photo because it showcases nicely his beautiful eyes. He has been blessed with BIG, gorgeous blue/green eyes (turning more green over the recent months, like his mom's)!

Who could say "no" to this little face? So precious!

No photos, just text

I haven't blogged a good update in quite a while, mainly pictures of our summer happenings. There are so many new things going on with Gavin that I want to document it somewhere, so bear with this post. No photos, just text.

Well, 18 months, crazy! Gavin's development is just blossoming! I'll start with speech: words are being refined, though still not fully understandable in all cases yet. He pretty much will attempt to repeat anything you say, at least one to two word statements. He is gaining great abilities with words that have three or more syllables. His favorite, most commonly said words include some of his historic favorites, but also some new words as well. All things vehicle are still his favorite (car, boat, motorcycle, truck, train). In the past week or so, we've heard repeated attempts at perfecting these words. Last weekend, during lunch, I must have heard the word motorcycle (sounds like "psy-cho") repeated 300 times at rapid rate, all the while avoiding the task at hand...eating. He calls his grandparents "mae mee" and "bapa" (Grandma and Grandpa) and his cousins (Luke, Lexi, and Ava) are all "coco". I'm not sure if he's maybe trying to say cousins? It's funny to watch him point at them and say "coco". Brad instantly thinks of CoCo in reference to Conan O'Brien and thinks it is quite funny.

Gavin knows and can point out many objects, body parts, etc. He can easily follow commands that are told to him (except "Gavin, we don't throw food. It stays on your plate."- hasn't quite gotten this yet).

Motor skills: this kid is everywhere! Spinning is great fun, dancing to music, attempting to jump, though he can't get airborne yet. Many times, he gets ahead of himself while running and does some tumbles. He's also learning to "ride" his bike, scooting along, but mainly enjoys pushing it around the drive way. The swimming pool and lake are great fun, though he is still cautious. Gavin is very into kissing right now. He even puckers his lips and scrunches his nose. Gavin has become more cautious on furniture. He used to run like a wild man, but has come to learn that he needs to sit down on the couches. And he is climbing less frequently (though still does occasionally) on the coffee table.

Gavin loves to read books. His favorite is The Best Mouse Cookie. There is a page where the mouse is baking cookies and listening to a radio that has little music notes coming out of it. For a couple of months when I would read it to him, I would sing a little on that page "lalalalaaaa". Now, he opens the book to read it by himself in his little chair (which is cute enough by itself) and will shake his head back and forth and sing "ahyayayayay". Very cute to see the learning. He picks up on things when you don't even think he is paying attention to the little things that you do. I love it!

Growth: challenging, I must say. This is the thing we most struggle with. While he is between the 50th-75th percentile for height, he fell off the growth chart for weight around 9-12 months. And hasn't gotten back on it. So, he's officially been tagged as "failure to thrive" which sounds like this awful condition that neglected kids with abusive parents have. So, we've had a couple of appointments with a pediatric endocrinologist, first concerned that he may have a hormone-related condition. Lab work and assessment is not pointing to growth hormone deficiency (he's growing height-wise appropriately) and no concern for thyroid conditions. We're continuing some work-up and trying to rule out Celiac disease (gluten intolerance). He has no symptoms of distress when he eats gluten, but many people with gluten intolerance are asymptomatic from what I've been reading. We'll see. I absolute dread that something could be wrong - I wish it on myself before my child. But I know that even if it is Celiac disease, it could certainly be worse. We are just so absolutely blessed to have an otherwise, perfectly normal and thriving child. We just continue to try to pump calorie-rich "super foods" into Gavin - eggs with heavy cream, whole milk yogurt, cheese, butter on virtually everything, peanut butter (just introduced last week), milk fortified with Carnation Instant Breakfast, etc. So, at his 18 month well-child appointment, he finally weighed in at 20 pounds. I'm open to any suggestions any of you moms out there have for packing on some extra pounds!

Well, that's my post. Finally some updates other than photos. We've been enjoying our summer but we're a little sad that it's winding down. I must say, though, I so look forward to fall, particularly after this extraordinarily hot summer! Hope you all have had a great summer as well!

Sunflowers

Photo by Posh Photography

Hair Cut

Gavin had his very first hair cut this week with Stylist/Cousin Jeni! He was starting to get a bit of a mullet, so it was time to take the scissors to it! How bittersweet! Jeni trimmed up the back and around his ears. And now his whole appearance has changed from baby to little boy. He is just so cute with his little hair-do! Thanks Jeni!

For those of you looking for a fantastic salon in the Grand Rapids area, Jeni's salon, Peristyle, is fabulous!

18 months

This post is a few days late, so pardon my tardiness. Gavin is officially half way through his second year of life!



Note the cut on his face - this was incurred during a temper tantrum while driving from Traverse City to Grand Rapids. We had an extra tired, teething toddler with sharp toe nails, apparently. He sliced his cheek with his big toe nail. Just when you think you've seen it all!

We visited Grand Haven on Gavin's 18 month birthday. He had great fun, as usual, running up and down the hill across from the musical fountain. And of course he enjoyed checking out all the boats in the channel "brrrmmm, brrrmmmm". This photo's not the greatest, it was getting dark. But it sure is cute still!