Run Daddy Run

Today was the Monument Avenue 10K, and John signed up to run for the 9th time. He's run this great race every year that he's lived in Richmond. Amazing! John Grayson and I offered to tag along and cheer. This was JGray's first running race and we were hoping he'd get the bug like Mommy and Daddy!

John had a fantastic race, finishing in a speedy 49:32!!! John Grayson and I waited at the half-way point (3.1 miles) and had fun watching all of the runners go by. JGray was so excited to see his Daddy and also loved seeing the runners in silly costumes (you're allowed to dress up for this race). Our favorite was the man dressed as Indiana Jones, complete with a giant boulder dragging behind him! JGray also enjoyed his Krispy Kreme dougnut (chocolate iced with sprinkles!), and I'm not sure what he liked more--cheering for the runners or his tasty treat. Okay, who am I kidding? Of course, he liked the doughnut more!

You may be wondering why I decided not to run this year. Well, having a not-quite 10 week old at home made it a little hard to find time to train :-) Seeing everyone running today has motivated me, and John and I have already signed up for the Richmond Half Marathon in November!

Here are some pictures from our fun morning:

Yummy doughnut!

JGray and Mommy waiting for Daddy

Having fun at the 10K!

Our Growing Girl

Delia had her 2 month appointment with the pediatrician this morning, and it's no surprise to us that she's growing like a weed!

Weight 11lb 6oz (75th percentile) - up from 7lb 9oz at 2 weeks
Height 22.75 inches (65th percentile) - up from 19.5 inches at 2 weeks

Two Months Old

Delia was two months old on Thursday. Where did the time go?? How is it possible that she's already that old?? At this rate, she'll be in kindergarten before I know it....

She may be young, but Delia is already showing off her personality and is proving to be quite the charmer. She smiles all the time, especially right after she's eaten. It makes those late-night feedings much easier when you look into her eyes and see that adorable grin. Delia is eager to interact with everybody, and she adores her big brother. She loves to watch him play and he loves to entertain her. Hopefully this mutual adoration continues as they get older!!

Delia goes to the doctor on Tuesday for her two month check-up, and we promise to post her stats (height/weight).

Here are some pictures of our little lady:

Happy Birthday

Monday was my 31st birthday and it was a great day! John and John Grayson made a cake for me on Sunday but we waited until after dinner on Monday night to eat it. Boy, was it yummy! JGray decided that the cake needed to be decorated with marshmallows and had lots of fun with the icing.

This future baker loves icing!

Yummy!

The best cake I've ever eaten!

Mommy and JGray are ready for some cake!

Oh, a cute JGray story......When John and JGray were at the grocery store buying ingredients for the cake, there were a couple of college students in the aisle too. JGray turns to the girls and says, "I buy birthday cake for my Mommy." Of course the girls ooh and ahh and one of them told him that he was cute. Apparently he looked away, thought for a minute and then turned back and said, "You cute too." Yes, at 2.5 years old, my son is already a flirt! Heaven help us when he's in high school.....

I think that everybody should celebrate their birthday with 2 year olds because they have endless enthusiasm and love to sing and eat cake. We had birthday celebrations at both playgroups, and let me tell you, nothing is better than 5 "singing" preschoolers. We were also able to capture some video of JGray singing Happy Birthday to Mommy. Enjoy!

Bibs and Bows

Delia is becoming more of a little girl every day. Today we went shopping while John Grayson was at preschool. She slept the entire time, but I think she enjoyed herself :-)

I capture a photo of Delia wearing a hair bow for the first time. She got them in several colors and were a gift from a friend. They are ridiculously cute and it's crazy that Delia has enough hair to wear them! She also wore her personalized bib for the first time, which was a gift from Aunt Andrea. Isn't she precious???

Spring is in the Air

This time last week we were watching the snow melt, but we spent Wednesday morning outside at Maymont. It was our first visit of the year, and John Grayson was very excited to see the animals and walk around outside. I was a little nervous about having Delia in the stroller and JGray running around, but everybody was remarkably well behaved. Actually, Delia slept the entire time; it must be something about the fresh air and breeze :-)

Here are some pictures from our morning at Maymont:

Day at MaMa and Pop's House

John was at school this weekend, so the kids and I decided to spend Saturday at MaMa and Pop's house. The weather was incredibly beautiful (in the 70s)--quite the change from the 9 inches of snow we had on Monday! John Grayson loves playing outside and took advantage of the undivided attention of his MaMa. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and Delia fell asleep in the baby carrier. This was her first extended period of time outside since she was born, and she seemed slightly confused by the sunshine but loved her outdoor nap. We're all very excited for spring and for John to be done with school! Only one more weekend!!!

Here are some pictures from our wonderful Saturday:





In other news, my college friend Courtney had a little boy this morning! William Everett Griffin was born at 11:20am, and both mom and baby are doing great. We're very excited to meet Baby William in April when Courtney is in town for a baby shower :-)

The Snowy Day

Virginia gets one good snowfall about once every 5 years or so and that big snow happened in 2009! The snow started on Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning we had a little over 9 inches!! Needless to say, Richmond shut down for a few days. John actually had Monday off too (you know it's bad when the companies close), and we were able to enjoy a nice day at home.

Since we never get much snow, I was totally unprepared for it. Silly me decided to do our grocery shopping on Sunday and spent about 20 minutes waiting in line. We Richmonders know that you must have bread and milk to survive a blizzard :-) John Grayson did have snow boots, but no waterproof mittens or snow pants. Oops! John and I tried valiantly to convince JGray to wear his snow boots, but to no avail. He prefered to wear his tennis shoes instead. It's no big surprise that he only lasted about 10 minutes before screaming that his fingers and toes had needles in them and demanding hot chocolate. John Grayson doesn't like things too hot, so he had warm chocolate instead. After 10 minutes, he was ready for round 2. Luckily I'd put his things in the dryer during his hiatus! This habit of coming and going lasted for a few hours before he realized that it was time for a break. Delia and I had fun watching the boys (including Dusty) from the warmth of our living room. Maybe she can play in the snow next year, although she'll be in elementary school before we snow like this again!

Here are some pictures from our snowy day:

Snow in Richmond

Building a snow fort

Helping Daddy clean off the cars

Weekends at the Coliseum

John Grayson and I have had the pleasure of visiting the Richmond Coliseum, not once, but twice, in the past two weeks. Last weekend John Grayson's Grandma and Grandpa Schmitt were in town to visit he and his sister. I would say there were here to see Allison and I as well, but that would be a lie. On a spur of the moment decision we decided to get tickets to see the Greatest Show on Earth on Saturday afternoon.

This verison of Ringling Bros. show was called Zing, Zang, Zoom! It was a bit more musical than I remembered the circus to be, but it entertained the boy quite a bit. Of course they started out with the clowns...

And of course the lion cage was a highlight as well. JGray did great tiger 'ROAR's for us.


One relatively new experience for John Grayson was popcorn. He spent the majority of the time there like this, picking popcorn pieces out of his mouth. If you ask him though, popcorn was one of the highlights of the show.
I was informed by his mother afterwards that popcorn is a choking hazard, so maybe it wasn't such a great idea. Anyhow, the circus was an absolute success. It was great to have such a fun memory with his grandparents in town!

The following week it was SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! THUNDER NATIONALS at the Richmond Coliseum. John Grayson has been a big fan of Monster Trucks for quite a few months now, so when I saw they were coming I picked up the tickets the first day they were out. Where that landed us (John Grayson, Pop, and I) was first row, right in front of of the cars that they crush. The monster trucks were very loud, so we had to ensure that we all had the right ear protection.
For those of you who have not been, the star of the show is Gravedigger, who also happens to be John Grayson's favorite monster truck. There is an actual competition between the monster trucks, and Gravedigger won. I think it is a Harlem Globetrotters type of thing, because I don't think the other trucks ever had a chance.

Of course there is only so much that you can do with Monster Trucks in the space of an ice rink, so the filled the intermissions with things like these motorcycle riders doing some sweet jumps off of ramps.

Don't tell mom, but once again we cound't pass up the popcorn.
During the last 'Freestyle' portion of the competition, we did get to witness one of the trucks flip itself over. It took about 20 minutes for them to get the thing back flipped over. Based on the fact that they had a crane ready and waiting, it must not be an odd occurance.

All in all, they were two quite successful trips to some spectacular entertainment. The next big event coming to the Coliseum is the reunited 'New Kids on the Block' tour. I think we might have to break our streak there.