September stuff

September had a busy start, and I'm sure as the kids get older, it will continue to stay that way. Here we are at open house for Brennan. He started Preschool this month. It is a 3-4 yr old mix class. He goes MWF from 830-11.

Bathtime is always a hit. They can't get their clothes off fast enough to crawl in when they hear the water start. They love when Adam blows bubbles with his hands. They scream with joy.

First day of school. He was so excited, and is still so excited about school. He asks everyday if he is going and gets a little mad on Tues/Thurs when he is not going.

Waiting for the doors to open at school. Adam and I both came for drop off that day. It was a big day for everyone, but no tears by any of the Thomas family. His school is a few blocks from the Y so they let me leave and come back on his school days. I have friends to drop him off on MW and I drop off on Friday, and then I pick up each of the days. I'm very glad the Y is willing to work with me and get him to school.

I ran another half marathon a few weeks ago. I got a PR (personal record) by 7 mins, and got my goal time and then some. I was hoping for a 2:10 (to beat my previous time of 2:14) and got a 2:07. Not too bad, huh! I'm going to take a little time off from running and have some toe surgury (get a few more nails removed- sorry if tmi) and then I'll start training for my full marathon in December, that race is April 29. I'm headed to California to do the Big Sur marathon with my brother, and that will be his first marathon too.

summer pics

Everyone love ice cream!

and free ice cream is better yet. Free coupons from Miss Sue and the summer reading program at the library. We like to visit the library throughout the year on Monday nights for the family storytime.

I competed in a few races over the summer. It has been fun to see my time drop, speed increase since my half marathon in May. I competed in my first triathlon at the end of August. I was the swim leg. I was the 3rd fastest woman out of Lake Michigan. It was a sprint tri, but the lake was cold nonetheless, 56deg. Oh! and we won the womans relay event. Here are my teammates, Mary and Lori. I really enjoyed the relay event. It was my first tri and I just had to get the swim out of the way. I'm a great swimmer, but open water is way different than in the pool. I've pinned it to, that it is the opposite of clostraphobic, but it's that there is too much water around me and I don't know what is under me. BUt the more I do them hopefully I can overcome that. I'm looking forward to next season. And I have another half coming up in 2 weeks. And then I signed up for a full marathon in April in CA. My bro and I are running the Big Sur marathon!

And as you can see from the post just before this, we spent a short time over Labor Day at Mermaid Lake with the Reed family and my brother. We had a great time!

It was a little rainy, but that's OK.

Other events from the summer- Adam and I went to Upper Peninsula MI. It was great. The kiddos had a sitter and we had some time away. We went to Pictured Rocks Nat Lakeshore. Put iit on your bucket list people. It's awesome and we also spent a few days in Marquette. And we'll be back next summer, they have a mountain bike race and Adam is going to jump into the racing events too.

**and not real sure what is the problem with this blog. but hopefully I figured out a way around things so I can post.

Mermaid Lake

We spent a short 24hr time period in Northern WI at Mermaid Lake visiting with my brother Joe and his girlfriend Suz and her family (who have a cabin at this lake) we had a great time.

Happy Birthday Quinn

It was pretty fun to watch Quinn get into her cake. And she was green all over her face. and the green cake is thanks to brennan, it was his selection for her :)

reposting some of the missed ones that i had saved...

I did it!

This one is real old, but this is when the problem began and I wasn't able to post, so it goes back to May....Here I am (not sure where exactly) with a couple thousand other people getting ready for the big race, 7am Sunday May 15, the Cellcom Marathon and Half Marathon. The weather was sunny. From the picture you'd think it was great, but there was a nasty nasty wind. June 2009 I ran my first organized race of any distance, a 10K, about 6 miles, and I had more energy at the end and wondered of I could ever do a half marathon, 13.1 miles. We had a baby last year, so I wasn't doing anything runningwise. And this past fall I had toe surgery, ended up with some bad infections and hadn't exercised for 4 months, and used this race to help get myself back on the exercise wagon. I'm not one to pay for something and not follow though. The training calendar that I followed wasn't too too much of a commitment, running 3x a week and swimming once. The long runs were Saturday, so it was manageable with work and the little ones. So the training began.

Here I am in the purple, waving at the family, I'm behind the woman in red. This was about mile 4. I'm super glad that my dad and deb, as well as Adam and the kids could come and watch me accomplish this goal of mine. I decided to run with a pacer, to help me catch my goal time of 2:15. I am glad that I did. I stopped to use the restroom at mile 2, then spent the next mile trying to catch them. Then at mile 5 I had to stop and take off a layer, and spent the next mile trying to catch them and at mile 6 I got head of them, but never saw them pass, so I figured I would be right on track.

Coming up on Mile 10. Feeling good, I made a new friend on the course, the guy next to me, we had been pacing off each other since mile 5 and around mile 9 we started talking, Daniel Schumacher, (small world) happens to be from Kohler, has cousins that I went to high school with back in Sheboygan, his mom lives there currently and he actually lived there after college too, and he went to college with my good friend Heather Dunn, knows her husband from work. So we passed the time of the last 3 miles chit chatting. That last mile 1.5 miles was a killer! I'm not sure if it was the chat or the crazy wind that we dealt with around mile 8.5 and then again during the last mile.

Here I am crossing the finish line, looks like 2 people behind the guy in yellow. I did it! When I caught up to my dad afterwards, he said you looked disappointed at the finish. I had two goals from the start of my training, I wanted to run the race and I wanted to finish under 2:16.27 (that was the average finishing time last year and I thought - I can be average). When I came around the bend, it said 2:18, I was so close! But come to find out, that was the gun time. My chip time was 2:15.46! I did it! I was so happy! And what an accomplishment. I trained for 18 weeks, committed to my runs on my treadmill in the basement watching my tv shows; Friends season 8 and 9 and I got hooked on Glee. Not many people like the treadmill, it was my friend. While the kids napped, there I was jogging away....But I worked hard and I am proud of myself.

Next.....I think I'll sign up for the Fox Cities Half Marathon in Appleton on September 18, our 7th anniversary actually and see if I can't better my time, under 2:10. and then the big one....I talked my brother into doing a full marathon next May, the Big Surr Marathon. Might as well get it crossed off the list....

Hold the phone...I couldn't post this on Monday, something was wrong with the site, but they marked the course incorrectly- I know hard to believe a race at that level would do that- but just after mile 3 we all ran an extra ..800ft about .15 of a mile. So they had some fancy number of .9886 that they multiplied our times by and everyone did better. So my official time is 2:14:14.

moms day

moms day was nice. I went swimming with Brennan and then had some time to myself, I rode the half marathon course on my bicycle to get a feel for the course. When I got home the kids were still napping, but dinner was ready, so we had a nice meal without the kids. So we could talk and my meal was hot....and then the day made a turn.

Brennan has been doing great staying dry. He hasn't had a #2 accident for a long time, he had stopped doing that in a diaper way before he stopped going #1 in the diaper. But I spoke too soon. We were at the park last night, and sure enough there it was. But hopefully the walk home, seeing his cloths go in the garbage and the cleanup in the shower, helped him see that it doesn't belong in his underwear.

And as for the picture.....I love sweets. For moms day Quinn picked out a huge cupcake with the really sugary frosting. Today Brennan felt that a nap wasn't important and while I was downstairs running, he was upstairs playing in the living room and eating my other half to the cupcake (without my knowledge- I run with headphones on). When I came upstairs, I saw him and the mess, and shooed him off to bed. Probably 2 hours later, I was finally curious about the tupperware container on the table...what did Adam give him for breakfast in a tupperware container.....and that's when I realized what he had done. I was at a loss for words. I am still at a loss for words. I can't believe he did that.

oh well.

running.

The big race is only 5 days, 10 hours and 37 mins away (but whos keeping track.....) I am very excited, and have worked hard over the last 18 weeks. I hope I have a great run and we have some nice weather, I'll be happy with not downpouring rain, and no highwinds...

and photos too

playing in Kids Korner

playing at home

some of Quinn too

she is at a fun stage. She laughs all the time, when you tickle her, or give her kisses, and she loves to laugh at Brennan and that just eggs him on....she likes to clap her hands and she likes toys. She crawls all over the house and can go from laying on her tummy to sitting up. She's not pulling herself up to a stand, and really doesn't like to put any weight on her legs, but we are working on that.

finally

This is DJ. He has played an important role in our potty success.....as many of you know (or now you do know) Bren has some issues with going #2. It has gotten better, but a few months ago- maybe January, we started forcing him to go #2 on the potty. He wouldn't go in his diaper, so one night I put him on the pot and said you will not leave the bathroom until you go. So needless to say there have been many many hours logged in the bathroom by all.

He is doing very good with potty training. We are not 100% accident free, but he does good, usually dry during the day, will tell you when he needs to go, but still working on it. So we have been using a lot of bribes. For the most part he is liking the bribes. I now have a 'surprize prize' box. If he stays dry for the day, he gets something. Each time it's different from the box, maybe a car or book or movie etc. Oh, and don't forget about the Skittles. Each time he goes at home he gets 3.

But there are two special cars. And we put them out in the open, on top of the fridge and would push and push and remind him about them. One is a car that he will get when he is trained. And the other is a car for when he goes #2 at the Y. We spend a lot of time at the Y, he is there maybe 25+ hrs a week. That needs to be a comfortable place for him to go #2. And today he finally did it! I'm so proud of him.

dentist

Brennan did a great job at the dentist this past week. I was so proud of him, especially since our last visit was a bust (he wanted nothing to do with that place and I'll spare you the details.) Since he did such a great job, next time we are going to try an actual cleaning and some xrays. Which will be great, since he has an extra tooth and a half in the lower jaw. A tooth and a half you might be asking yourself.....They should have 20 baby teeth and he has 21 and teeth come in pairs- so you'd think it would be 22, but one tooth fused to another. So the dr said they can't count it as an extra tooth, but I needed to be able to explain this to Adam, so we call it a half. At this point nothing to worry about, there is lots of room in his mouth, but we need xrays to see what will be coming in after the baby teeth. He had his first dentist appt at 2yrs old account of the 'mutant' tooth (that's what I like to call it). But no cavities!

Quinn 9 mo

Here are a few photos of Quinn. At the pool, she has as much fun as the rest of us do. And she doesn't mind going down the waterslide or being dunked under water either.

I don't know if you can tell by this photo, but this nice white jumper....the front is very dirty; on the belly and knees and forearms....she is on the move and you can only keep your floor so clean.

Having a little lunch at the YMCA

I love your happy side....

and your sad side.....

We had her 9 mo well check yesterday, and we win another great parent award.....ear infections in BOTH ears! but happy as a clam. She had a fever (for like 4 days) but she had no other symptoms and since the well check was scheduled already I just thought we'd wait it out. Oh well, now we know. but she is a trooper and her are her stats.

Weight: 18.1 lb ~ 29% (dr is ok with this, it usually drops when they start moving)

Length: 28.5in ~ 75%

Head: 45cm ~ 80%

just a little peanut with two bottom teeth, and I have to add that she has beautiful hair.

getting more and more comfortable

Each time we go to the pool he gets more and more confident. Jumping this way was his idea.

spring can not arrive soon enough

things are always a little crazy

brennan

This is where we're at in potty training. I'm sure we're not going about things the right way, but it's getting a little frustrating to say the least. One day he does great, the next day he is going 1 and 2 in the pull-up. It seems like we've tried the praise, treat, and prize route and now we're on the take away route. These are some his favorite things. He hasn't asked for them all day, so I don't think he really cares....
Brennan got a bicycle for his birthday. Adam finally had a few spare minutes and could put it together. the box said 15minutes and in Adam time that means at least an hour :)

It was a beautiful day here in Saturday, and of course the first day of spring on Sunday it was rainy yucky, so we gave the bike a whirl in the basement.

We had returned home Sunday morning from running errands, we were in the house and brennan was taking his time in the garage, Adam when outside to find Brennan sitting on his bike pretending to ride. He was looking forward to playing. When we finally got to the basement, it'll take some practice, but I'm sure he'll enjoy riding when he understands the concept.

He was already in bed for about an hour on Tuesday when I went to check on him, and this is what I found. It looks like he reacted to a bite of some sort. So at 9:00pm I was running to the store for benedryl, to find that you shouldn't give little kids benedryl, so then we ended up trying to contact the dr to find out what to give him. In the end the dr said to give him some. But he's back to normal.....

Quinn

It's hard to believe that just a week ago we were saying to ourselves.....hmmm why won't she crawl?!? and now we're saying 'oh crap!'

and would you check out that hair! I wish I could just roll out of bed and have that kind of volume and what not. when I roll out of bed there is just a smushed spot in the back, even when I had long hair I still had the flat spot, but not her. I'm jealous, and so is Adam. but when it comes to Adam and hair, I think he's always jealous....

and now she's really on the move

We returned from a vacation to find that nothing is safe.....(the kids stayed at home with Grandma while Adam and I went to Chicago. We did a lot of walking and visiting with my brother and his girlfriend who were visiting from CA and Adam's brother and wife who were visting from UT)

and she's off

and she's on the move- well sort of..... and ask me why we want her crawling?......lol

Swimming

It may not look like much, and he didn't go far, but we were very excited when he went underwater and swam without flotation. Way to go Brennan!

fun times

hanging out in the kitchen

check out that mop of hair! We have hair cuts for the both of them scheduled for mid February. Remember folks, we have tried the hair cutting ourselves, and have decided to leave that to the professionals....

Brennan's bathroom time ends up turning into a family affair due to the lenght of time we end up spending in there. So we try to make the most of it... Atleast dad and Quinn are having fun.

He looks in good spirits here. But this is only 5 mins into it. You should see him 60+ and when it's after his bedtime. I'll try to remember the camera for next time...

Here are his 'poop cars' for lack of a better name. The next day after going #2 the first time in mid January, we headed to walmart to get some cars, and he picked out a 3 pack of Disney 'Cars.' He worked very hard for those cars, and we've since added to the collection, as well as take some away to rest on the shelf. With the slip and fill of the diaper, or when we sit there for 2+ hrs with nothing to show.

preschool

I signed Brennan up for preschool today (program starts in fall). It was very surreal....to think that this little guy is gonna be 3.

Number 2 for #2

Today was the second day that Brennan has done #2 on the potty! We are super proud of him. He has some bowel issues, he tends to hold it too long and then it hurts and then he continues to hold it. So at this point, I'm over the potty training. When it happens it happens. But I'm glad that he is going number 2....and it only took 40 mins in the bathroom. (the first time it took 2 hours in the bathroom....)

Needless to say there were Skittles eaten today, and we made a trip to Shopko for a few cars.

13.1

There's no turning back. I called Adam from the Y yesterday and had him sign me up. Sunday, May 15, I'm running in the Cellcom half marathon http://cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com. I'm not a runner. Adam and I ran the Bellin 10K the summer of '09, that was my first organized running thing, and as I crossed the finish line I thought....I have more to give, I could run some more...the next year we had Quinn, so running a half marathon has been on my mind. I need something to get over the winter blues, and I need something to help me get back into exercising. I had been watching the registion creep and creep and started running. I ran 4 on Saturday, and it's a mental thing. It was hard (I haven't done any exercising since Sept due to toe surgery) but I did it, and just need something to look forward to. So here I go!

keeping busy

As is the life of every parent out there, we are staying busy. We had a nice holiday time, I had 10 days off from work! Even though my kids don't like to sleep, and are both up before 5 each day, it was nice to not have to rush off to work. We split the time between Green Bay and Sheboygan. It was nice to spend some time at Papa and Deb's house, time for the kids to hang out with the grandparents and my brother and his girlfriend were in town from CA and it was very nice for the kids to play with them and get to know them better. But there were lots of presents and lots of food. And we all also got to go to a wedding, on New Years Eve, my brothers best friend, his baby sister got married. So it was great to to spend the start of the new year with my family.
Fun photo of Quinn after a bath. Her hair is getting so long. Pretty soon I feel her first hair cut coming on.

For as long as I can remember the Nawikas family has bowled on Christmas Eve. Joe and Suz were on an airplane during family bowling, so we went one afternoon before lunch. We got some bumpers, which were helpful, but we still didn't do the greatest....

But the photos turned out good!

Here we are at the wedding. I don't remember the last time I was up for the actual midnight new year. Man I'm old! But it was a very nice wedding.