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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Catelin at 10 Months

As usual I am about two weeks late…but here is what my baby girl is up to these days…

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Eating:

The girl loves to eat.  Like her brothers, she loves the Waffle House – particularly the waffles and raisin toast.  I am sure she will love the eggs once she is allowed to have them (she can only have the yoke for now).  Her favorite snack by far is Nilla Wafers; she would eat the whole box if I let her!  She likes green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, and pretty much all fruit except strawberries.  She is down to 3-4 bottles per day and I can’t wait to switch her from formula to milk!

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Sleeping:

Catelin loves to get her beauty sleep.  She still sleeps 12 hours at night and takes two 1.5-2 hour naps during the day (the first one is usually in the car seat due to the boys’ activities, but I try to get her in the crib if possible).  Her new favorite sleep position is on her right side (she used to only like being on her back). 


Favorite toys:

She lost interest in the jumperoo a couple of months ago but she has a renewed interest in it now (and the girl can jump!).  She loves her play table and is getting used to her walker. 

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And like most babies this age, she likes things that are NOT toys – car keys, necklaces, cell phones, books, remotes.  In fact, I recently bought a bunch of cheap necklaces because she is obsessed with grabbing them! …definitely a future fashionista.  CL also loves being outside and playing on the swingset with her brothers. 

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Babbles and Skills:

She has been saying “mama” for a few weeks now.  Sometimes it seems like a babble but I swear she says it when she wants me to hold her as well.  Other babbles include “baba” and “dada.”  Her favorite games are peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, and “SO BIG!”  Whenever we say “good job” or “yay” she breaks into a huge smile and claps for herself.  It is too cute. 

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She is pulling up on tables and standing very well (while holding onto something).  She is still doing her scoot/crawl backwards but hasn’t gotten the forward motion down yet (and she is still not a big fan of being on her belly).  I think it is in part because her belly and huge legs get in the way! 


Personality:

She is such a sweet baby.  She absolutely loves her brothers (probably because they spoil her and tend to her every need).

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If she is teething, hungry, or tired- trust me, you will know.  She is starting to get over some of her stranger anxiety but still prefers to be held by familiar people (especially her mommy). 

And the hair, well, it’s still crazy:

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I swear this was a one time thing! 
 
 
I will leave you with a short video I took of a typical Monday morning conversation with my three kids (I tried to repeat what they were saying so you could hear it):


Happy 10 months, my precious baby girl.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon logo 460

It is THE marathon – the sine qua non, if you will, of long distance races.  You cannot just sign up to participate in it; you have to qualify.  And to qualify?  Well, that is tough – I mean, real tough…we are talking about months and months of long runs, tempo runs, hill training, interval training, pace runs and more.  Then you have to run one of the Boston qualifying marathons within a specific time frame to make the cut.  I have been fortunate enough to run it twice, in 2006 and 2007.  And to be honest- aside from my wedding day and the births of my three children – those two days are in the top highlights of my life. 

The race is run on Patriot’s Day every year and the entire city of Boston has the day off from work.  They bus the runners out to Hopkinton, a small city that is 26.2 miles from Copley Square.  On April 17, 2006 I stood at the start line, crying, not really believing that I was a part of it…that this piece of history would soon be a part of my history.  I ran the race smiling the entire time – running through Ashland, immersing myself in the cheers at Welleslley college, trudging up Heartbreak Hill, setting my sights on the famous Citgo sign, and finally crossing the finish line.  The spectators lined every inch of that race course, cheering each and every runner on.  It was incredible, and I ran my PR that day.
 
boston 2006

My husband, my mom, and my sister met me at the finish line.  It was everything I dreamed of and more. 

In 2007, I went back to run it again.  They almost canceled the race due to a Nor’easter, but ~25,000 of us ran it anyway.  They weren't the best racing conditions, but it was just as incredible as the year before.  They actually used a picture of me running that race for an Adidas Ad used in the 2008 Boston marathon (I was pregnant with my precious MJ that year so I had to sit it out). 
 
Adidas ad

Why am I telling you all of this?  Well, I guess because this race is very special to me – it’s hard to explain in words.  When I heard that someone set two bombs off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday, I was devastated.  Devastated for the victims, the runners, the spectators, the city of Boston, and our entire country.  What is such a beautiful, incredible, special event turned into a horrific act of violence.  To the runners who were trying to make this a part of their history, to the spectators who were cheering on loved ones and even complete strangers, to the entire city who supports this incredible race every year – my thoughts and prayers go out to you.  I hope to make it back their soon.


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Cousins Everywhere!!

New family
Camden Parker Brucker born April 3, 2013.
 
A month ago, I scheduled a trip down to Florida to go to Leah’s baby shower in Tampa (she is brother Andrew’s wife) and then fly over to Boca Raton to see Ann and (hopefully!) her new baby.  Ann was due on April 10th and I was going to be there from the 7th-9th.  It turns out that the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!  Ann actually went into labor early, had Camden on the 3rd, and was home from the hospital the day before I arrived. 
 
On Saturday, I had a wonderful time at Leah’s shower (she is due in early June with their first baby- a boy, of course!).  She looks beautiful and so happy.  Colleen, Kerry, and Lee also made it down to celebrate her special day.
 
Leah belly pic
 
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The next day, I flew over to Boca to meet my nephew (and Godson!) Camden…My parents were already there (they drove down earlier in the week and made it in time for the birth).  He is such a precious little peanut who has loving, proud parents.  It was wonderful to see Ann and Jeff so happy.  

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Julie and Camden chillin


And while I was in Boca without any kids, I took advantage and went to the beach!

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A big thank you to hubs for taking care of the kids while I was gone!

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My little cuties
 

Friday, April 5, 2013

Happy Easter!

It was a wonderful Easter.  The kids actually (sort of) behaved at mass … except for the 2 minutes that MJ and Ty decided to wrestle on the floor.  Well, at least MJ didn’t run up on the alter! 

We had our Easter egg hunt at OLA last week:

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Catelin OLA hunt 2 (1)Catelin OLA hunt 2 (2)

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Ty’s preschool class had their Easter egg hunt on Tuesday (of course it was one of the coldest days of the entire year so it was a quick one!)

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Ty class Easter party


We have the best neighbors in the world – Pablo and Barbara and their two adorable children, Santiago (8) and Isabella (5).  They are from Mexico and invited us to their Mexican Easter egg hunt.  I have never heard of this before, but it was so much fun!  They save eggshells for 3 months leading up to the event, stuff them with confetti and put tissue paper over the hole.  After hiding them all over the yard, the kids grab them and smash them over each other’s heads.   MJ was right in the thick of it with the big kids.  Ty was more interested in eating his lollipop and Catelin wasn’t too sure about all of the chaos.

MJ and SantiagoMJ getting daddy

Ty at PabloCL at Pablo's


We dyed the Easter eggs Saturday evening – MJ decided he wanted to avoid getting it on his clothes so he went reverse commando for the event…

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On Sunday, the kids were thrilled to find the Easter bunny came! 

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Ty Easter basketCL Easter basket


After a beautiful mass celebrating our risen Lord, Eddie and my parents came over for an early dinner.  Steve grilled a delicious steak on the Green Egg (which was enormous and could have fed both of our extended families)!  

Easter family
Happy Easter!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Daddies and Dear Ones

Someone complained to our preschool that too many of our activities revolved around food.  As a result, our annual Donuts for Dads turned into “Daddies and Dear Ones” – the kids took their favorite stuffed animal and the dads helped them build a house for it to live in. 

Steve took the boys for a special breakfast at J. Christopher’s before Daddies for Dear Ones.  Of note, this event occurred a couple of weeks ago during Ty’s potty training boot camp.  After a delicious pancake breakfast, Steve was handing the waitress his credit card when he turned around to find Ty with his underwear and pants down to his ankles, bare tush and all getting ready to pee on the floor (yes, in the middle of the restaurant)!  Thankfully Steve was able to grab him in time and get him to the bathroom.  We subsequently explained (at length) to Ty Ty that he can’t just drop his pants and pee when he doesn’t know where the bathroom is!  (I can now say that this sunk in and he hasn’t mooned anyone since then).  :)


MJ brought his favorite stuffed shark and Ty brought Elmo.  Steve had a great time helping them build homes for their toys. 

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When the building was complete, MJ presented daddy with a plaque he made during class the week before.  The teacher asked each student to finish the sentence “My daddy is special because…”  Here is MJ’s response:

Boxing russians

It says “My daddy is special because he boxes Russians.”  Apparently he got Steve confused with Rocky Balboa!  hahaha.  Gotta. love. that. kid.