A little of this and that….

Today is Thursday….you know what that is……the second week of preschool for Noah!  He is up early this morning and ready for his big day.  Actually he’s saying to us this morning "mommy I don’t want to go", but I think that’s due to just waking up.  We’ll see.  He seems to love it once he’s in the room.  This week he attends for two hours each day, and then next week he will attend the regular  9-11:30 on Thursday and Friday’s. 

 

We have been busy this week.  We visited our town’s farmer’s market yesterday and got some delicious corn, peaches, and apples.  Corn season in Ohio is so yummy!  I’ve been eating a ton of corn (it’s only 1 point each for Weight Watchers).  This was my lunch the other day!

 

I went to the doctor last Friday for the first time since losing 55 lbs.  I am excited to say she took me off my blood pressure medicine and said that my bp was "perfect".  WOOHOO!  I know dad would be so happy.  I told her that I thought I could go off my anti-depressent too (I’ve been on it since my post partum depression with Noah).  She wasn’t too sure about that saying that the depression isn’t something I had control over that it’s a change in brain chemistry and sometimes it just doesn’t go "back to normal".  She told me to go ahead and try and that my the third day without it I would know if I needed it or not.  Monday was the fourth day without it and boy oh boy was it a hard morning! I was very lethargic, impatient, blah.  Very blah.  I told Gary I thought I would need to take my medicine and he agreed.  I took it and felt better by the evening.  So, it appears that I will need to stay on the anti-depressent.  That’s just fine with me!  I felt great yesterday and have come to the conclusion that it’s just something I need to have.

 

I have 15 lbs left that I want to lose and have had a stalling out for the past few weeks.  Mainly due to the fact that since I started training for this half marathon I’m really hungry!  So, I ‘ve been cutting corners and eating more.  I decided that I really want to get rid of this weight and I need to focus, so I joined Weight Watchers on Tuesday to help me focus on losing these final lbs.  My goal at this point is to lose 10 lbs before the big half marathon in mid October. 

 

I bought an awesome cookbook the other day called "200 under 200" by Hungry Girl.  It’s 200 recipes under 200 calories and there are some really good recipes in there.  I tried the homemade frappachino the other day and it was pretty good! As I try more recipes I will share them with you.

 

Noah had a playdate this week with our best friends, Natalie, Lucy, and Bridgett.  We met at the park and the kids had lunch together.  We love you girls!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bike ride to OSU

It was a beautiful day today, way too nice of a day to be inside!  We rode our bikes to Ohio State campus and walked around campus.  We went to go see the newly renovated library and the brand new student union.  We also got LUCKY and the Ohio State stadium was open and they were getting ready to shoot some promo’s for this week’s game….so we got to see the cheerleaders, the band play some songs, and Brutus Buckeye!  It was so exciting!

 

Inside the stadium

 

The newly renovated library was INCREDIBLE!

 

Then we went over to the brand new student union and it was so beautiful.  We had lunch there and walked around looking at all the neat things on display.

 

 

 

First Day of Preschool!

Today was the BIG day!  I was definitely more excited and nervous than Noah was!  I don’t think he even thought anything about starting preschool today….it was just another place to "play" and "dress up".  We arrived a little early so we spent some time taking pictures in front of the school.  Noah went right up to his classroom and started playing right away.  I showed him his cubby and said a quick goodbye (I don’t think he even looked my direction!) and headed out.  As I was driving to the gym I just kept feeling so amazed that this is actually happening already…..our baby is in preschool!  WOW. 

 

I spent the entire 1.5 hours that he was at preschool in the gym.  I have started a "training schedule" for the half marathon that is in 7 short weeks!  I ran 60 straight minutes today and felt really good.  I have some tired knees tonight, but overall, feeling good about my ability to run this race and finish strong.  I am SO excited about finally doing it and crossing that finish line.  I went to a real running store today and got fitted for running shoes.  WOW, what a difference it makes to be fitted for running shoes.  They are fantastic.  If any of you are in the Columbus area, I highly recommend Fleet Feet on Polaris for your running apparel, shoes, accessories.  Awesome customer service.

 

First day of preschool breakfast!  I let him pick what he wanted…..he had waffles, apple, and a chocolate chip muffin!

 

So excited!

 

Mommy and Noah…..my sweet boy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preschool Orientation

Today was Noah’s preschool orientation and both Gary and I were so excited for him….and a little nervous to see how he would handle it.  We met daddy at the preschool and the only thing Noah was saying as we pulled in was "are there puppets?"  He has a serious fear….I would call it a full blown phobia….of puppets.  We don’t know for sure how or when it started but it’s serious.  I assured him that we would tell his teachers about his fear of puppets.

 

Ready to go in and find Noah’s classroom

 

Noah’s new classroom!  He had so much fun playing with all the toys, playdoh, and dress up clothes.  He got a new book bag and found his cubby with daddy’s help!

 

 

All the parents left the room and we came back to find this!  Noah made himself comfortable and got all dressed up!

 

After our orientation he grabbed his new bag and was ready to go!   He seemed to enjoy the day…..tomorrow is the FIRST day of preschool for our baby!

 

 

Message at Sea

This is a story from my sister.  Enjoy!

 

This was a day while on our trip that I wanted to remember all the while a day I tried to cancel because I knew I just couldn’t go through with it.  But, thanks to someone special and very dear to me who talked me into going, I finally decided to follow through with it….a private sail for 3 hours with my girls to spread a small amount of dads ashes and to reflect on how much of a wonderful person he was.
I had planned a week prior to booking our trip to San Diego this memorable sail trip and to actually follow through with this special day.  A day to spread a small amount of Dad out into the Pacific Ocean since he was not there physically with us..healthy, happy and alive as we all knew him.  This was a day I knew Dad would have been with there with me and his granddaughters.  Dad always enjoyed being with them and would have been on this trip with us if life had not taken a different turn for him.
 He would have loved the extreme peace at sea that enveloped us all as well as the memorable time with his grand children experiencing this for their first time all the while, sharing stories  with them on how their mom was as a young child on these yearly family vacations to San Diego.  He would have sat beside me on deck, placed his arm around my shoulders and said he was proud of me and how much he loved me and my girls.  He would have fought with me over the box of salt water taffy while shaking his head and laughing as I was handed my glass of wine but telling me how much I deserved it.
Although he was not there physically, he was there very much at heart and a very peaceful memory was created….I just didn’t know he was going to be as vivid as he was, that day out at sea….

 

 

 

Three hours of sailing was the duration of this time and I knew only 5 minutes would be spent spreading dad.  I put it off but knew it had to be done soon as the captain was headed back to shore.  We had an hour to go and I finally asked the captain if he would kindly take pictures as we were doing this.  For a man to take on a 60 foot sailboat alone to leave the wheel and all 3 sails to take pictures was at his call. It had to be done at the perfect time when winds were calmer so the ship would not tip.  I understood and said we would be up front and ready when he was.  The front sail flew up and the ship seemed steady.  A few moments later the captain appeared, took my camera and said, “Whenever you are ready ma’am, I am”.
So I took a deep breath and lined my girls up with the wind at our backs at the edge of the front of the boat.  We were all silent and very much in disbelief that we were about to cradle a small handful of ‘Grandpa’….only to let him go seconds later…

 

At the completion of spreading dad, I immediately looked out to the shoreline for a landmark to remember where he would be at.  Yes, I was given the coordinates, but I needed a visual.
 It wasn’t but a second later the girls and I all looked up to see this amazing happening….a smoke trail plane had just finished the ‘U’ in I [heart] U up in the sky.  We had not heard the plane prior to this, usually you can hear the propellers as they fly over but there was nothing….only silence.  This was directly above the boat where the girls and I were standing to place dad out at sea.
 I have chills writing this as much as I did when seeing it.  I quickly grabbed my camera for this picture.  A few moments after, the words disappeared into the wind.  I am not a believer in ‘signs’ but this could not have happened in any other way, at any other time than exactly when I know Dad wanted to tell us this….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This and That

I have a bunch of odds and ends pictures to share with you.

 

New outfit from grammie and Jaime.  Thank you!

 

Our sleeping angel!  He loves to sleep all wrapped up and covered in the blankets….just like my dad used to!

 

Thank you to Melissa for the beautiful family pictures she took!  Here the 16×20 of us in our living room!  We love it!

I found this Buckeye helmet at the resale store and Noah was so excited.  He said "now I’m a real buckeye".

I was up in the upstairs bedroom getting it ready for Gary’s parents this weekend.  I have dad’s special jacket up there in the closet, and when I opened the closet to get out pillows I started crying when I saw his jacket.  I know how much he loved it.  For some reason, I decided to the check the pockets on more time (I had checked them a few months ago).  I found this in the front pocket and it make me smile.  It was just like dad saying "don’t cry, I’m right here".  It was so special to find!  I put it in my wallet to carry with me all the time.

 

 

 

“Dash for Dad” and Baseball

Today I did a 5K race called "Dash for Dad" to benefit prostate cancer.  I ran this race for my dad, and for our neighbor Dick Lively, who is a recent prostate cancer survivor.  I was very emotional about this race and was crying at the beginning.  I talked to my dad during the race and told him how much I miss him and what a huge hole I have in my heart since he’s been gone.  As I ran along the last mile totally by myself, I could feel my dad with me and could almost hear him say "kid, I’m proud of you".  I miss you so much dad.

 

I ran my race today in 29:23.  Not too bad. 

 

I ran for dad and for our neighbor, Dick Lively.

 

It was a great turn out for the race!  This was their first annual Dash for Dad and it was great to see so many come out to support this cause.

 

I got a great tattoo before I ran!  Of course, I had to take the "YAY I finished" picture!

 

Tonight was the last baseball game of the season for our hometown Columbus Clippers.  We took Noah and he did a great job of making it through the entire game. Then came the much anticipated "run around the bases!"  They let all who wanted to come out on the field and run around the bases.  Noah was so excited!  We had some good ballpark food…..hot dogs, nachos, and I even found a veggie sub!

 

I’m not sure what his favorite part of the game was….nachos or running the bases.

 

 

 

 

Zip Line!

We had a fabulous time zip lining today!  It was me, Gary, Alan, Emily, Marge and Ron.  Aunt Dawn and Uncle John stayed home with Noah.  None of us really knew what to expect, and I think it exceeded all of our pre-conceived notions.  It really wasn’t scary at all, it was more relaxing and exciting than anything else.  The suspension bridges were very wobbly, that made me a bit nervous, but we were harnessed in at all times. The actual "zipping" was so exciting!  It felt as if you were going a million miles an hour but in reality it was about 30-35 mph.  It was a great time….well worth the money.  If any of you live in the Columbus area, we highly recommend Hocking Hills Canopy Tours!

 

Arrival at the location….

 

Killing time until our tour started.

 

Getting harnessed up!

 

WOOHOO!!  Time to Zip!   The first picture is of the bridges we crossed, the next one is Alan getting clipped in to zip, and third Marge zipping away!

 

Pic one is Alan coming in, then Gary going out, and finally Alan

 

Emily looking especially cute in our safety helmets!  Marge and Emily crossing the bridge.

 

Good pics our guide took for us!

 

Repelling down at the end….me and Marge

 

At the end of our trip our guides gave us certificates and we "graduated"

 

 

 

3 Year Checkup!

I can’t believe how fast time is flying!  Noah had his 3-year check up today and we had to have his immunization paper work filled out for preschool that starts next week!  Where has the time gone?  He also had his first blood pressure check and seemed to think that was pretty cool.  He really loves going to the doctor’s office, it’s funny.  Must be because we have a FANTASTIC pediatrician (shout out to Dr. Niland). 

 

Everything was great.  He is in the 60th percentile for weight and height.  He weighed in at 33 lbs.  His blood pressure was "perfect". He had to get a shot and wasn’t happy about it, but when it actually happened he did very well and didn’t even make a peep!  So brave.  He also was able to get the flu mist while we were there.  YAY for no flu (hopefully!).

 

Look what we found at the resale store today!  He said "now I’m a buckeye"

 

 

 

Big leagues….here comes Noah!

Watch our child POUND the ball!  We think we might have a future big league player on our hands!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UroV4hSDPPQ