The family that runs together....

This summer I started running again.  I wish I could say I rediscovered my passion and love for running but the truth is, it was born of necessity.  I mean, does anyone really love running?!  It boiled down to the fact that those pesky last 5 lbs of baby weight weren't going to burn themselves off. And since I now have a child and therefore less time in the day to go to the gym, my only option was hoofin it!  So in what had to have been the hottest summer on record, I started to run.  And as long as Jack had a full can of puffs and a sippy cup of cold water in hand, my loyal running buddy was right there with me. 

Ok, so I have to admit, it actually was a little (and I stress the word little) fun.  It reminded me of my old cross country days in high school...and also reminded me why I quit cross country to be a cheerleader!  Boys really didn't go for the freshman girl who ran cross country!  But I digress.  So, after running for a few months I decided to challenge myself to a 10K - The Big Peach Sizzler.  I figured if I could push 30 lbs of solid baby up a hill, I could tackle 6 miles all by myself.  I talked a few of my boot camp girls into joining me and the race was on.

So I got a new par of kicks, trained my butt off for a few weeks, scored some comfy running clothes and had Christian download a bunch of hard core tunes on my ipod - nothing like a little Guns N Roses to get you pumped! I finished the 6.2 miles in just over 54 minutes - not too shabby for my first 10K! I was pretty proud of myself for finishing so well AND for losing one jean size! A few weeks later Christian and I ran a 5K with Jack in tow. Unfortunately, we had some major stroller issues so we didn't really have a great finish, but we had a lot of fun doing it as a family! And even though I'm not training for anything in particular, I'm still running. Me and the boys will be out there hoofin it until winter comes and this Cali girl goes into hibernation!

Jack was waiting for me after my 10K!

Me and my Operation Boot Camp girls. We're a bunch of tough chicks!

We were joined by one of our boot campers Rich, who wore the smallest shorts on earth. So gross!

My boys are always there to support mommy!

Here we are at our 5K with our fellow boot camp instructors and a few of our campers.

It was an early morning so Jack was beat.  He slept through the entire run, including our out-of-control stroller issues.

Awake and ready to go!  How cute does Jack look in his new fall gear!

More end of summer fun!

I've been a terrible blogger since my hiatus - I just can't seem to work it back into my rotation.  It's like a never ending item on my to-do list.  Plus, work has been crazy busy so I can never sneak in blog time at the office anymore.  But enough excuses, it's time to catch up!  So here are the last of our photos from summer... the very end of summer in fact - Labor Day! 

We spent Labor Day with the Pearch's - Matt, Kate and Grant.  They came to our neck of the woods and we took them to our favorite pool.  Jack and Grant have become quite the little buddies so of course we had a blast!  I love that they are of an age where they can play together.  The pool was empty so we had run of the place.  And despite being rather chilly in the water, it was a perfect pool day.  Then we came back to our place for a southern feast - BBQ, mac n' cheese and homemade Key Lime Pie.  Thank goodness we wore our bathing suits before we ate.  What an awesome way to say adios to summer!

 Grant says...."Brrr...this water is cold!"

 Jack has gotten so brave since the beginning of summer - he's jumping off the edge now!

 My adorable boys!

 Happy Jack!

 Jack and Kate having fun with the water toys - I love this picture!

Matt and Grant getting in on the water action!

 Such a great picture!

 The big boys racing each other down the slide.  It really is so much fun!





One last summer pic of me and Jack.

After 300 attempts - I FINALLY got a cute shot of Jack and Grant together - both looking and smiling!

Five things I learned this weekend...

1. Jack's feet have grown 2 sizes in 3 months.  I just bought my 14 month old an 8-wide shoe!
2. My muffin top will never go away if I continue to eat fish n' chips, junior mints and, of course, muffins!
3. Jack LOVES sour patch kids.  He's definitely his father's son.
4. An action-packed caper movie should never end with the main character looking out over a tropical beach somewhere far, far away.  It only worked well in Shawshank Redemption so let's retire it already.
5. The "I only want my daddy" phase is officially over!  I'm a happy mommy.

Doe Ba!

Jack has gotten really good at hitting the ball off the Tee.  He's quite the little athlete!

Jack's has just put together his first word combo!  For the past week he's been saying "Doe Ba" which translates to "throw ball."  It's fitting these would be the first words he puts together since the kid can literally throw a ball across the room.  We've been worried that he wasn't talking much but everyone kept telling us it would start around 15 months...they were right!  He's 14 1/2 months and is a talking machine.....well mostly babble and about 12 actual words. All the words that went into the vault are now back and he's added some new ones...juice, bubbles, bye-bye, jump, truck and choo (which is what he calls his train).

He's also starting to learn what animals are.  He moo's when we point out cows and will bring us his favorite piggy book when we ask for it.  A lot of this I attribute to his school because they teach him so much in circle time.  When he first started the toddler room the teachers said he wouldn't even sit for circle time and now they say he loves it and is learning a lot.  We're just amazed how is little brain works and of course we think he's a genius.  We'll just skip elementary school and go straight to college....we're thinking baseball powerhouse LSU or mommy's Alma mater CSUF!!

Jack takes a bite out of the Big Apple!

My one night in NYC with the boys.  Jack LOVED Times Square!

I’m trying to go back and post pictures of Jack that I took while I was on my blog hiatus. So I hope you enjoy my little trip down summer memory lane. In August I had a nine-day Nike event in New York City. There was no way I could go that long without seeing my boys, so Christian brought Jack in for the weekend. As an added bonus, Christian’s sister Mandi, her boyfriend Mike and our friend Allison live in Manhattan so they got to spend some QT with Jack.



It was a very grueling and busy event so I wasn’t able to spend much time with them. But from what I heard Jack had a blast, especially in Central Park. The kid had free reign to run amok so he must have been thrilled. Unfortunately, the same rules didn’t apply in Mike and Mandi’s apartment and I heard Jack was quite the terror. I’m sure he left his large hand prints on just about everything (sorry guys!). But they were great sports about it and just let him explore. I’m so glad Jack got the hang with his Aunt Mandi and future uncle Mike because we don’t get to see them very often!

Here are a few NYC pictures - daddy was in charge of the camera so there isn't very much variety.  But I can't be too annoyed seeing as how he was basically a single dad for 9 days.....and he did an amazing job! 

"Uncle" Mike got a crash course in Babies 101!  I hear he did a fabulous job and that Jack really took to him. He looks like a natural here.

Jack and his Aunt Mandi.  From what I understand he only wanted to play with Mike so he didn't cooperate in  pics with her, despite her best efforts to bribe him with her $300 cell phone.

The new buddies!

Running wild in Central Park! 

What  a gorgeous day to enjoy the park!  I was so sad to miss Jack's first visit there.

 

Hanging with our good friend Allison.

Doesn't Jack look thrilled to be going on the subway.

Jack's first subway ride!

Hangin in the Village!

Wacky Hair Day!

Jack's school had Wacky Hair Day last week.  You know Christian and I love anything themed or dress up so we fashioned Jack's hair into a nice Mohawk.  But it fell before we even got out of the car.  It was fun while it lasted.  Well, during the day his teachers took it upon themselves to treat all the little boys to pigtails.  So this is how Jack looked when we picked him up from school.  Hilarious!!  I actually think Jack would make a very pretty little girl.  The last picture is a special treat because you get to see Jack in pigtails AND also see how amazingly dirty he gets at school despite their best efforts to keep him clean. 

Welcome Back Jack!

Hey, it's me Jack!  Look at how much I've grown and what a handsome boy I am now.  Welcome to my second year of life.  I miss you....come visit me soon.  I love you!!!

Hi....remember us?  It's the David's.  Long time no blog.  We've missed you!  My apologies for the long silence...I was only supposed to take a few weeks off and before I knew it, it was 6 weeks!  I specifically need to make amends with our #1 Blog Stalker Amanda David...Jack's aunt in New York.  I know she's having major Jack withdrawals!  Don't worry Aunt Mandi....I've loaded a few photos below of Jack from the past month and a half.  This should give you a good fix!

In full disclosure, I have to admit it was kind of nice to step away from the computer for a bit and enjoy the last month of summer with my boys.  But, we're back, new and improved!  What do you think of our new look?  Now, you've probably noticed the new title....don't worry, the blog will still be mainly about Jack because we all know that it's Jack's world and we're just livin' in it!  But from time to time, I'll add a few blogs about random thoughts I have or interesting happenings with Christian and me....yes parents can be interesting too!  In fact I'm having a GNO in a week....you know I'm a light weight and after 2 martini's the photos could get very interesting!

But for now, it's all about our little man Jack!  Just to bring you up to speed on Jack's new skills...on the cute side he's giving big, wet, open-mouthed kisses, waving bye-bye, blowing kisses, pointing out his nose and belly-button and loving the new playground by our house.  On the flip side, he's throwing everything he can get his hands on across the room and has started what we call his mini-melt-downs.  We feel the terrible 2's creeping up on us-eek!!.  So on to the pictures....I'll post our New York trip and Labor Day photos later.  For now I just thought I'd share some of the every day shenanigans that Jack got himself into this summer. 

Like most kids Jack had a few play dates this summer.  Here he is with his buddy Aaron, who is teaching Jack the fine art of eating ice.  It's worth noting that Jack is 8 months younger than Aaron, but slightly bigger.  Check out those claws picking up the bottle of water....

Jack decides leave the ice eating to Aaron and just guzzle the water while mommy and daddy drink wine with their friends....

Jack and his pal Grant cheering on their (er, their daddy's) favorite teams - Notre Dame and Michigan! Go Irish!  Unfortunately daddy's team lost but we had a really fun day with the Pearch's and the boys looked really adorable in their team colors...


Play date #3....not so fun!  Jack clearly prefers hanging out with 2 year old boys and NOT 29 year old girls who manhandle him!  Love ya Betsy!!...




Our little explorer has discovered that our black mulch is really fun to play in.  Yes....we let him go outside in only a diaper.  It was really hot that day...

We simply call this one Mulch Butt.!!!  Don't ya just love those beefy thighs...


Now, we'll file this picture in the We're So Proud category.  We're not really sure what he's doing.  I mean, he can't be hungry...look at the size of those legs!  He clearly hasn't missed a meal...

And just so you don't think that all we did this summer was let Jack play, eat ice, sit in mulch and munch his toes...we wanted to assure you that Jack is also a very smart boy. He LOVES to read!  He even goes to his room on his own and reads alone.  We caught him doing that the other day and it was precious...



After such  busy summer, a kid's bound to get tired.  Jack apparently catches up on his beauty rest at school.  Can you say "Sacked Out!"  Jack loves school and adores his teachers....

That's all for now.  It's good to be back!  I promise not to be such a stranger...