we did it

well folks, we reached our goal. we finished the richmond, virginia marathon in under 4 hours. 3:59:38. just by the skin of our teeth. i'm not gonna lie, the last 6 miles felt like i was literally in hell. at mile 20, i was so sure that i wasn't going to make it... i mean i knew i would finish, but i didn't think i would make it in under 4 hours. i must be one ornery and stubborn cuss because i MADE myself do it. and by the time i finished, i'm not sure i could have pushed myself ANY further. seriously so stoked to be done.

doug, ben's brother, was amazing... his first marathon and he totally rocked it. ben was my rock... he stayed with me to the end and helped me push myself when i was so sure i couldn't do it. thanks babe.

the grandpa pjs

with each new baby, i get excited to pull these rad jammies out of the storage box. kadi and i bought these when joel and carter were babies. joel wore them, kadin wore them and now oliver is sportin' them. and if we ever have a girl someday, she'll wear them, too.

i must not have taken a picture of kadin in the grandpa pjs, which seriously makes me want to cry, but here's a cute picture of him in jammies at about the same age.

carter on the left, joel on the right with kadi. joel and oliver look A LOT alike as babies... if it wasn't for oliver's blue eyes, i would almost have a hard time telling them apart.

our little ballerina

i hope oliver forgives me someday, but he makes the cutest chubby little ballerina.

for those who have lost...

my friend, molly, who lost her daughter, lucy, in 2008, just launched her new website, "a good grief." it's a wonderful place for those who have lost a child to connect. you can also make a donation to help families pay for a headstone for their child who has passed on.

family pictures

meghan has done it once again. and my kids actually hammed it up this time. here's some of my faves:

hautelook

anyone heard of hautelook? you can buy all sorts of different fantastic designer and popular brands at greatly reduced prices. their sales for a specific brand usually only last from 36 to 72 hours and their stuff goes fast, so you have to be quick! just bought this michael stars cardigan... so excited! if you get friends to sign up, you get a $10 credit per person towards purchases, so click here to sign up and then tell all your friends.

7 months

ben put oliver on this little riding car the other day and it struck me how big and grown up he is starting to look. every time i look at this kid, he makes me giddy. he's such a joy to have in our family.

the virtual horse

what will they come up with next? let me introduce you to the "iGallop." apparently, it's supposed to work your abs. oliver will demonstrate for you, assisted by aunt mo mo.

sassafras pants

me: "joel, right before you go to bed you have to sit on the potty."

joel: "but i'm pretending to be a frog and frogs don't have penises."

what?!?!?!?!

i almost let him get away with it because, one, it made me laugh REALLY hard, and two, his uneducated guess was right... yep, i totally googled it.

"this is the greatest thing of my life."

that's what joel said directly after ben taught him how to blow water out of a blue pool noodle.

hehe.

i certainly hope not, joel.