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A whole lot of fun going on here... Sunday, May 31, 2009 Friday night, after stimulating the economy, Andrew and I caught up on some Netflix DVDs and stayed up too late. Of course, the later we stay up means the earlier Benjamin will wake up. He was up at 5:30 yesterday morning. We went for a long, 14+ mile family bike ride on the W&OD trail, before it got too hot. We got home just in time to all take showers and head out to Benjamin's friend Margot's 3rd birthday party. Margot and her parents whooped it in up in style with a giant bounce house, yummy pizza, and fantastic (don't tell, I had one and a half...wasn't going to let B's go to waste) Elmo cupcakes. One might have mistaken their backyard for Sesame Street, and all the kids (there were quite a few of them, including B's faves!) had a blast. Rumor has it that Margot and family took advantage of the bounce house rental and had a blast in there all afternoon long! I wish we had space in our yard for one!  Benjamin, looking like he's about to bust through the wall, Margot, and her little sister Ellie:  Post pinata, checking out the loot. That's his best bud JD off to the right.  We came home and Benjamin took a good nap. I went out and ran some errands that had been hanging over my head, and then went to the gym to swim laps for 30-40 minutes. After nap, we walked up to our town's festival. Although, I was feeling a bit dizzy and out of sorts, and the all the people, and the muddy (from 6 consecutive days of rain) grass wasn't conducive to concert-watching, kept me from getting into the festival-y mood, and instead, we went to Jimmy's House for an early dinner, and then hoofed it back home. Early dinner = early to bed for all. Well, for Benjamin and I. Andrew stayed up late watching movies that he knew I'd have no interest in watching with him. Benjamin walked into our room one minute before the alarm went off at 6 this morning; waking up to him is MUCH more pleasant than even the gentlest alarms on A's iPhone. My friend Erin picked me up at 6:45, and we headed over to the town's community center to wait for the start of the festival's 10K race. I am pretty sure I didn't run a personal record, and am also unsure of my exact time due to the way they had the clocks set up (there was a 5K going on at the same time), but, I did pretty well for not having been running much lately. Andrew and Benjamin surprised me by waiting on a corner toward the end of the race, Benjamin waving the big, bright orange flag from his bike trailer. Despite feeling like poo, it was a nice little charge to push me through to the end, and I ended up passing a couple of men I'd been trailing just behind the entire race. I whine (in my head, of course) the entire time I am running a race that distance, but I always love how great I feel afterward. Plus, it's nice to have your workout done for the day. Unless your friends convince you to go on an evening bike ride. The boys just hiked back up to the festival, and I plan to tidy up around here a little bit, and stretch out before my 7ish bike ride. Edited to add some pictures from Andrew and Benjamin's outing. First Ferris Wheel ride!  And how pooped he was after such a fun weekend!  Tomorrow is already looking to be a busy start to a busy week! I love the summer!! ~Courtney posted at 4:57:41 PM Why is it? Friday, May 29, 2009 Why is it...when you go to the mall to do an even exchange, you end up with fun playroom furniture, a new gym bag, dinner out, some pjs for B, and books? How did that happen? I blame Andrew. I didn't have plans to go to the mall until he needed to go and exchange his bag... ~Courtney posted at 10:06:22 PM Why not give it a tri? Wednesday, May 27, 2009 Not a typo. I am doing my first (sprint) triathlon next Sunday. Seeing that I've given myself a full 12 days to prepare, I would like to go on the record, letting you all know, that my sole goal is to complete it. My friend Erin, who is also doing it, and the instigator of these shenanigans, and I met up for a bike ride this evening. I have to say, I've never been much of a biker, and the thought of doing 12 miles seemed overwhelmingly daunting. But, I did about 11 miles, and shocked myself, because I wasn't even all that tired, and didn't feel like I'd used many muscles that weren't already being used in my regular running/cross training routine. In other physical activity related news, we're switching gyms. Our friends go to one that is slightly farther away, but Benjamin not only tolerated, but enjoyed, the kid's club (well, they call it Kidz Klub...but I won't). He says he's not going back tomorrow...but he's wrong. ~Courtney posted at 7:48:28 PM Logic Sunday, May 24, 2009 Heard in the car this morning: A: Does Daddy love Benjamin? B: Yeah! A: Does daddy love mommy? B: Yeah! (repeat for all combinations of the three of us) B: OH! I see. A lot of people love us. ~Courtney posted at 10:26:59 AM A little bit of hilariousness for a Sunday morning Sunday, May 24, 2009 If you dare, click here. I know this has been all over Facebook, but it still cracks me up. A lot. ~Courtney posted at 7:22:42 AM And the pool opened today! Saturday, May 23, 2009 Yay! Summer! Or, to quote Benjamin: "Yay! Finally! The pool is open!"  ~Courtney posted at 8:07:03 PM My little farmer Saturday, May 23, 2009 We hit up a local park/farm a couple of days ago, and Benjamin had a BLAST. He saw cows, sheep, goats, hens, chickens, peacocks, horses, pigs, and even got to go on a hay ride! The farm thing is not really my thing, nor is it Benjamin's (mommy, carry me out of this stinky pig barn, there are bugs, and the pigs smell like poop!), outside of running around and enjoying the beautiful spring/summer weather we've been having, but it is fun to explore the fun and different things we can go and do within a 10 mile radius of our house!  
~Courtney posted at 7:39:28 PM You get what you pay for... Friday, May 22, 2009 So, yeah. Apparently we're back online. Which is awesome. But, it's the 2nd time it's happened within the past year, so I am thinking it's time to reconsider our hosting options. When we first started, we bought server space from a friend of mine, who was starting a business. I guess he's since sold the business, but the service is spotty, at best. I mean, the masses have been crying to hear what I have to say, right? Kidding. We've had a long, stressful week back at the homestead. We're going through some health things with Benjamin, and are desperately trying to get to the bottom of it. Until I know more, I don't plan to go into too much detail, but he's doing something truly bizarre with his eyes, and while his pediatrician('s PA) brushed it off as being behavioral, I am not so sure. We had play group with a friend who is a pediatric nurse, and has worked with lots of behavioral patients, and she doesn't think it's that, at all. So, alas, I am waiting on a referral to see a pediatric opthamologist, and hopefully we can get some testing done pronto. I am terrified it's something neurological. Plus, it's just scary to think that there could be something wrong with your child! Unrelated, Benjamin has been doing quite well with the potty this week. Of course, the criteria includes being naked. He just does NOT care if he is in a stinky/wet diaper. As awesome as life would be walking around naked, I don't think it's an option, so I have a feeling it's going to be a long road. We've had a lot of fun things going on here to balance the stress out, and are heading out to our summer concerts in our town...Yay for Friday night fun again! Happy Memorial Day (Weekend)...remember what we're celebrating! ~Courtney posted at 12:44:48 PM California dreamin' Monday, May 18, 2009 I just booked flights for Benjamin and I to head out to LA to spend a few days with our great friends Mike, Holly and Elise in a couple of weeks! They moved (from Baltimore, so we were super close) at about the same time we did last year, and it's been far too long since we've seen them. ~Courtney posted at 4:43:29 PM Dreaded day... Monday, May 18, 2009 Benjamin is done with his crib. I knew it was coming. He'll stay in there, if he's sleepy, but he'd MUCH rather sleep in a bed. That stresses me out a bit. Even if he IS almost three. He slept in the guest room bed last night, and got up once right around the time we were going to bed. Other than that, he stayed put, and actually slept in a little bit (by sleeping in, he came into our bedroom at 7 am, not the child-less definition of sleeping in). I guess there is a silver lining, though. I've been pulling to get a king sized bed, and Andrew even promised one after Christmas, but we've been too busy to pick one out. Anyhow, looks like I finally get that, since we'll be bed-buying in the next week! I remain in shock that B is such a big kid.  ~Courtney posted at 8:30:36 AM A full week of too much fun! Sunday, May 17, 2009 Too much fun = most of our pictures are of us, taken by us, sitting at a restaurant/cafe/bar, or else me in my new favorite black bikini. Since I am going to go out on a limb and assume that the general bulk of readers don't really want to see me lounging in a two-piece, I am just going to share a couple of the nice pictures from the trip. The first night. Out. Had been out for awhile...  The last night; the ocean might be my favorite place in the world... Also worth noting, I feel SO small and short next to Andrew. It's hilarious how dwarfed I look next to him, right? For those that don't know, I am 5'8, and the shortest person in both my family, and his...  And now back to the laundry... ~Courtney posted at 8:41:33 PM And the vacation is over... Sunday, May 17, 2009 ...and we're buried by somewhere between 12 and 50 loads of laundry. The trip was great, but we've quickly been snapped back into the daily grind. I'm hoping to get some downtime later tonight, so I can go through pictures and update about our fantastic company, Em's graduation, Miami, Benjamin's time in NY, and then celebrating my friend's birthday in Baltimore last night. ~Courtney posted at 4:05:42 PM Friday, May 08, 2009 I am SO excited for the next few days. We have SO much to look forward to, kicking off today, with a visit some very dear friends today/tomorrow. My sister graduates from her doctorate program in Physical Therapy on Sunday, and we couldn't be more proud of her. After that, Andrew and I have our first real vacation together without Benjamin since our Jamaica trip in 2005. If you remember correctly, I was knocked the heck up (although, didn't know it at the time) and felt miserable the entire time. I am looking forward to relaxing, not being pregnant, minimal responsibility, and, of course, the beach! If you're a crazy and think you can break into our house; you can't. We have an alarm, and the police know we're out of town and will be doing drive-bys...just sayin'. Next weekend, I am celebrating a friends' birthday in Baltimore. Things are sickeningly busy right now, but they are all fun things to look forward to, so we don't even mind the warp speed we're running at. Oh, and I am blonde. Not Emily-blonde, but my hair is very, very light. I love it, although, am still getting used to it. I got it done last night, and my stylist told me to expect it to get quite a bit lighter in Miami, too. It looks like today is shaping up to be an awesome day, which is fantastic, since it's been raining like crazy all week. My irises are blooming, although, I think we'll miss them in full bloom, which is a bummer, and all of the (I normally hate them) shrubs in front of my house are 100% flowered, and look gorgeous. That's about it. Andrew did something to his back. He NEVER complains, or takes pain killers, but asked me how often he was allowed to take naproxen and hydrocodone...eeek. Happy Weekend! ~Courtney posted at 8:16:46 AM Running time! Tuesday, May 05, 2009 Benjamin just came into the room (dressed in footie, fleece pjs, and my iPod ear phones) and told me he needs help getting his running shoes on because it's time to exercise. Wish I could muster up the same energy... ~Courtney posted at 9:16:03 AM And finally, some pictures... Friday, May 01, 2009 Last Friday, we were lucky enough to meet up with our friends Rebecca and Charlotte. We did some window shopping (seriously, I didn't buy a thing!), and then had a nice, outside lunch at Panera. The kids, since they don't eat, played in the mulch next to our table. They were hilarious, and their giggles were intoxicating. It is so sweet to see how much they enjoy spending time with each other. Beck is awesome at documenting everything, and takes amazing pictures, which she so kindly let me swipe!    On Saturday, we had Andrew's Run Amuck Race. I still haven't edited many picks from that, but here is Benjamin on his first school bus (was the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the park) ride!  ~Courtney posted at 8:42:17 AM |
