Riley attempts to eat a sprinkler

Riley is now 4 months old and loves to chew. Thankfully, he hasn't chewed on any furniture or too many of the things we'd prefer him not to. He has his toys and a pair of my grass-stained mowing tennis shoes that he's allowed to chew at will. He occassionally steals Kyra's stuffed animals if she leaves them within his reach, but she's learning to keep valued items up high. I went to bed and then a few minutes later Riley came in. I heard him chewing on something unfamiliar. I turned on the light and was surprised to see that he had brought in a sprinkler from the back yard and was chomping on it. Tasha just says "rub my belly, please!"

Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving

I should have known better than to sign up for a half marathon with so little running completed during the past month. But I did it more out of resurrecting happy memories of running the race in years past. It's been quite a long time since I've participated in this event. I arrived at the starting line early and felt good. I chatted with a few women standing near me, sharing stories of running and Thanksgiving meal preparation.

The second lesson re-learned was: don't try anything new on race day. Around 7 miles I ate one of the two packs of jelly sports beans they were handing out. I loved the orange flavor and I thought it was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, I started feeling nauseous a mile later. At 10 miles I ate the other pack in the hopes that it would make me feel better. But I started feeling even worse. At mile 11 I vomited and slowed to a combination of walking/jogging. I vomited again a mile later and barely made it to the finish line, in 2 hours and 43 minutes. What a major disappointment.

I grabbed some cheese/peanut butter crackers at the finish chute and hoped they would settle my stomach. I still felt quesy walking to the subway station and prayed I wouldn't vomit on the train. I debated about calling my sister and cancelling our afternoon plans. But thankfully I kept things down for the rest of the day and began feeling better an hour or two later. After showering and realizing that I didn't have a virus, I drove to my sister's house. We then went to her mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoyed visiting with them and am so glad I recovered quickly enough to not have to cancel these plans.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dog Park

We took Riley and Tasha to a dog park for the first time today. They had fun playing with the other dogs and we had fun watching the interactions. We played for a few hours until Riley and another dog discovered a mud puddle to dig into. We got out shortly afterwards, but not before he was a totally muddy dog. Thank goodness I had napkins in the car to wipe the bulk of the wetness off before driving home.

Dress Up

We invited Sophia to spend the night at our house tonight. Kyra's in a growth spurt and has outgrown most of her clothes. I had been meaning to take the too small items out of her closet to pack for her cousins or to give to friends. When Sophia came over, they decided to play store. Kyra pulled the items out of her closet that were too small and they arranged them in the dining room, which served as the store. After a fun shopping spree, Sophia left the next day with several bags of clothes. At some point, they played dress up and got into my make-up. I noticed it had been too quiet for a while and when I went to check on them, they were coming out to greet me. We're having Christmas photos taken tomorrow and Sophia's in a ballet performance tomorrow, so I almost panicked thinking they had used markers. I was quite relieved to find out it was only make-up.

Parent-Teacher Conference

The parent-teacher conference went well today. Kyra's teacher is quite pleased with her good behavior and above-the-chart intelligence. She's reading on a 7th grade level and is excelling in all areas. I feel so blessed!

Sleepy time

Riley can't climb up on the bed on his own yet, but wants to be there. So I pick him up and place him on the bed each night. Kyra and Riley have grown close over the past few weeks. Here they are looking too cute sleeping together...

Field Day and Halloween

On Wednesday, 10/29, we took Riley Jack to our vet for a check-up. He had worms and fleas but the vet said that was common with new puppies. She gave him a pill to kill the fleas within 24 hours, updated his vaccines, and started him on heart-worm and flea preventative medications. She thinks he'll be 50 pounds by 6 months and wouldn't be surprised if he approaches 100 pounds at full maturity. Yikes! But he is the most adorable puppy! In this photo, Riley and Tasha are having fun wrestling on Halloween. Yes, they've finally become friends.

I took today off from work as a vacation day because I was the lucky parent to be selected as Room Mom for Kyra's class this year. And today was Field Day for 4th Grade, which required my presence. I could have gone into work afterwards, but didn't want to fight the traffic to get back home in time for trick-or-treating. Kyra's class last year won lots of first places, but this year, I guess the kids in her class just aren't as athletic. They did win one 1st place ribbon, the girls 4x200 relay. And of course Kyra was on this team since she's one of the fastest girl sprinters in her grade. Go team!

On a whim, I decided to have an open-house before trick-or-treating. I invited a few friends over and most of them came. We shared drinks and snacks at our house before participating in the neighborhood parade. Then we went trick-or-treating with friends until Kyra's feet were killing her. Her shoes were cute, but not comfortable for long walks through neighborhoods trick-or-treating. She was a geisha girl, I was a hippy chik.

Riley Jack comes home

I went to work early, since Kyra was with her dad last night, so I could leave early to pick her up after school let out. As soon as I picked her up in the car-rider line, we drove straight to the breeder. We picked up Riley Jack, let him say goodbye to the breeder, and then carried him to the car. He whimpered and had stinky farts most of the drive. I guess it was scarry for him being taken away from his brother and the only home he had ever known. Kyra sat with him, petting him, and gave him toys, but he was sad. He perked up a bit when we took him to our backyard. We played with him for a while until he seemed happy and relaxed. Then I let Tasha out into the yard to meet him. She wasn't too keen on this new pup. He wanted to play with her, but she only growled at him when he got too close. But thankfully, later in the evening, everyone cuddled on the bed together. Welcome home Riley Jack, and happy birthday Kyra!

Kyra is 10!

I don't have any photos because she's still with her dad, but I did take doughnuts to lunch today to help her celebrate her 10th birthday with her class. I took today off of work so I could have lunch with her, and also because I thought I might need an extra day of recovery from the marathon. My legs and joints are improving daily and I'm still surprised by how little pain I'm in. Guess I trained properly. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYRA!

Spinx Run Fest Marathon!

OMG, I can't believe I actually did it! All those months of training paid off and I completed my first marathon today. It was slow, but interesting how 27 seems to be our lucky number. I finished the 26.2 miles of the Spinx Run Fest marathon in Greenville, SC, in 5 hours, 27 minutes and 2 seconds. (And I wasn't last.) I am euphoric! This has been a dream of mine for over a decade, but pregnancy and injuries got in the way. After my ACL/meniscus surgery almost 3 years ago, I had a difficult recovery period and I wondered if I would ever be able to run again. But just like the great doc and PT said, I could accomplish this goal. Look at my running blog if you want more info on this amazing race. I'm just sad that Laura couldn't run it with me. Maybe next year...