New PIctures from this weekend!

New Pictures from this weekend's race and pumpkins!

pictures from October 15th, 2005

Pictures from our weekend!

Whatcom Falls Race and Lots of Trains and Tractors!

Today I ran my first race since before John and I were married and we ran the Midnight Sun Run in Fairbanks, Alaska together. I'm just hoping my time was a bit better this time around, although judging by the many times I wanted to sit on a log and cry, I'm not betting any money. It was a hard one for me, as I had banked on there being a lot more slow runners behind me (which was NOT the case and made me work hard to keep my position, therefore no cry-break!) I was shooting for 11 minute miles and ended up completing it with 10 minute miles, which I felt pretty happy about for the first time out. My bum knee held up, too, which was a real big concern, considering the first two-plus miles were uphill. My running friends, Marty (court commissioner here in B'ham) Dave (my supervisor in Juvenile Probation) and Erin (past intern) ran a great race. I think they all ran 7 and 8 minute miles. No official time yet, but they did a fabulous job!

Following the race end, we played in the pumpkin fields and Thomas spend a great deal of time riding the tractor train. He has become a huge train fan in the last week. As soon as his feet hit the floor in the morning he races for his trains, and at night we pull him off his trains, usually with much resistance. It has been very entertaining to watch this transformation.

Because it was such a beautiful day, Jenny thought it would be better to go to McPhail's pumpkin patch today instead of tomorrow, and right on she was. It was a gorgeous fall afternoon. The kids ran around the animal farms, took rides on the train through the yard, and we all picked pumpkins after a wagon ride to the patch, which we got to after going through one huge mud pit. I think Thomas would have been content without all the other "fluff". He just wanted to sit on the tractor or ride the train. Forget the other activities!

All in all it was a big day full of tractors, trains and pumpkins! I used to dread fall, but with these activities and fun times....bring it on!

Recovery Days

It appears that John and Brad have recovered from their marathon with no residual effects, although Erica and I report some slight calf tightness from our trek around the city looking for coffee. (Hmmmmm......)

Thomas has entered another interesting phase. He is big into trains, but is utterly frustrated whenever the slightest derailment takes place, whether it be a wheel moves off the track, a track isn't in perfect position, or the trains don't move down the track in the exact way Thomas wants it to. John pulled the trains out of his room for about a day, as we quickly tired of hearing Thomas throw a fit and hurl toys around in frustration. Now John is making a train table in an attempt to help Thomas move around easier, and we trust as Thomas figures it all out he will be less frustrated when the little stuff doesn't work as he sees it should. It has been very disconcerting to see our sweet little boy pound his train down, on whatever surface is closest, in a fit of anger. When we try to pull him away and distract him with another toy, explaining he might have more fun if he moved on to something else for awhile, that draws an even bigger fit of sobbing and tears. Oh, the highs and lows of an emotional toddler. I enjoy the quieter moments of reading books, looking through out pictures on the computer, and going through our stacks of flashcards.

Portland Adventures and Marathon 2005

After leaving Thomas with my mom and dad, plus John's mom and dad, (as if he'll even miss us!), then picking up Erica and Brad, who'd left Emma and Grace with Heidi and Todd for the weekend, we made yet another escape! Heading down to Portland was filled with talk of race details, training specifics, food consumption, mile post markers, calories, heart rates, splits, Quiznos, goos ( don't ask) lube (don't go there) and body funtions (don't even want to know!). Meanwhile, Erica and I talked about kids, rings, shopping and running topics besides the ones listed above. Oh, we also talked country music, and Brad swears he didn't skim or delete my specific email regarding going to Keith's Vegas show! I'm thinking he's a skimmer! We're trying to figure out who and when our next concert/travel adventure will be, and before the Portland Marathon is even over they're talking about Sacramento and Vancouver. I'm voting for some marathon in the Caribbean, though. Somewhere where I can drop them off at the start and head to the beach to wait it out!

Got detoured off I-5, but curiously, Oregon must not pay for detour signs, and we were on our own trying to take the back road into Portland. Pulled up and valet parked at the hotel, only to realize our room was not much bigger than the closet we stayed in up in Vancouver in the Red Light district for our first marathon experience. Now, let me qualify something for you. Erica referred to our Vancouver Howard Johnson hotel as the "Ho-Jo". Now, I'm going to continue to believe my loving husband did NOT intentionally make Thomas and I sleep in any building with the word "Ho" in it, but the prostitution and drugs happening outside really left a sour taste in my mouth. Our Portland hotel, although not much bigger, was a huge step up in quality. Not sure the Posturpedic beds helped much...Brad reports about 4 1/2 hours of sleep and many potty breaks during the night, with John not doing much better, although we also had troubles with short sheets. Hmmmmmm...

We spent our free evening checking out the race expo, where I ran into an old friend, Scott Schilter, and then off to do a little shopping. Envisioned buying cool jeans for John at Nordstrom, but poor service and a lady telling him to just crawl under the dressing room door had us bolting. John's comment was "You'd think that when you're holding two hundred dollar jeans in your hand you wouldn't have to crawl under a door." John helped me spend my birthday money on a great pair of jeans. Now, this may all sound silly, but I'm passionate about my jeans, and I've looked forward to checking out nice jeans for awhile now. John helping me find just the right ones made my trip even better.

After initial trouble finding a spot to carbo load for dinner, we had a relaxing dinner together. I did throw somewhat of a fit over the brief discussion of just eating at the mall's food court when several restaurants reported two hour waits. I remember my tantrum consisted of "You've got to be kidding! Here we are, in a great city, WITHOUT our children, and we're going to eat at a FOOD COURT!?????!!!" I'll admit, not one of my finer moments, but eating at the mall food court was not in my fantasy getaway adventure! Although Erica and I had big plans of hitting the town and spending our free night having fun, we quickly realized that crawling into bed early sounded so much better. Oh, well. It was a good thought. We spent the end of our night debating coffee for morning (the guys need caffeine before they race in the morning)--- the merits of bad room coffee, lobby coffee, expensive room service coffee, or the corner coffee shop that didn't open early enough for Brad's body time schedule. We even took advantage of the Conciege to help us determine coffee options. In the end, Brad had room coffee and John had his RockStar (toothepaste tasting!) drink.

The race started well, the weather held up nicely, and we managed to see the guys at all three checkpoints. I even ran alongside my friend Tonya for a brief moment, which was the extent of my running this weekend. Our biggest problem was finding a coffee shop open. We killed time in the lobby of a hotel, then made our way to the finish line. We saw lots of silly guys with bleeding nipples, a woman throwing up at the line, and many struggling bodies, but nothing was quite as thrilling as seeing John crossed the line at 3:36, 20 minutes better than his Vancouver time, and Brad came in at 3:59:59, for a sub 4 marathon! Incredibly, despite very little consistent training and non-existent long runs, Brad's body held it together, although his bladder is another story. Ask Brad about the porta-potties in Portland if you ever need some direction! John looked so great at the line. He was in a great mood, and he felt great. I was so happy for him, and excited to see that he didn't look as beat up as he had in Vancouver. It was very impressive, and I'm so thankful his training paid off for him. He worked so hard for this! We congratulated the guys at the finish, sent them on to the hotel to clean up and rest, and we finished up our shopping. The lady in the chocolate shop asked me if I was finishing my marathon race or marathon shopping. I smiled and told her both, as I think supporting a marathon runner through city blocks to checkmarks deserves some credit, and a bit of shopping, too! It's hard being the support, and don't let anyone tell you differently. It's long hours away from them while they train, lots of extra sweaty, stinky laundry to do, anxiety about injury while they're running, the stress of finding coffee while you wait, and then not knowing exactly what to say when they cross the line saying they'll never do that again, only to hear them discussing their training and plans for the next one over dinner that night!

We had a great time, the guys did a fantastic job, and we'll be deciding in the next little while what will be the next challenge they face. Brad mentioned an IronMan a while back. Without much training for this marathon, I'd lay money on him doing it, with a big piece of his training missing, too! He'd just be crazy enough to do it!

A big thanks needs to go out to our parents. Without them, this weekend wouldn't have been anything like it was! It means so much to us to be able to leave our son behind and know he will have a fabulous time and will be well cared for. There are no worries when we leave him, and we are so grateful for our moms and dad who watch him with such love and devotion. You make this possible for us, and we thank you so very much!!! Heidi and Todd, a big thanks for watching the girls. We had a blast, and hope you know how much we appreciate you watching the girls so Brad and Erica could run away with us!

Post Birthday Party dinner with Steph!

Okay, I've had a three day birthday party, really! Today my co-workers celebrated by bringing in donuts, showered me with balloons, one of which sings to me, and treated me to lunch! It was a really fun day at work with lots of distractions.

Tonight, Steph met me at Guiseppe's, our local high end Italian restaurant, and we enjoyed an evening catching up with our lives, aside from our work lives. I've truly enjoyed each and every treat I've had this week, and feel very blessed to have friends that have been so wonderful and truly made me feel loved.

When I got home, Thomas was still up in his crib and calling for me, so I went in to tuck him in. He is so sweet, and such a good boy. Standing in his crib, he wanted to get out and play, but I simply told him it was night-night time, and he looked at me, smiled sweetly, then crumpled down to his pillow and curled up. I cuddled up to him, my heart nearly bursting with love for my little boy, prayed with him our goodnight prayers, then told him I loved him and night-night. He waved up at me and said "nigh-nigh" then turned over and cuddled up to his pillow. No fighting, no whining, no argument. He just simply shuts it down. I walk away each night shaking my head, amazed. I really don't know how else to put it! I just feel so very blessed!

My 30th Birthday, 2005

Today Thomas and I spent the morning taking a long walk together at Whatcom Falls park, playing on the swings and visiting the fish hatchery there, then heading to Toys R Us to play with the Thomas toys and finish up shopping for Isaac Lawrence, who turns 1 today while I turn 30! Wow! I'll never forget Isaac's birthday, that's for sure!

Amazingly, lightning didn't strike me at midnight, nor did I suddenly find myself old and grey, or even filled with incredible wisdom at turning 30. I thought about it all morning, but because nothing profound was happening (as if it would!) it was just another day with Thomas, playing and sharing our day together. Thomas didn't even seem to care that his mother is now no longer in her twenties! Imagine that! In fact, he still doesn't care if his drool runs out of his mouth while he plays or his mother picks his nose for him. He just doesn't care about things like that, so why should I care about being 30?

The afternoon was a little crazy, as I had to run off to work to start a new program at our facility and Jodi watched Thomas for me, but then it was back to the neighborhood and off to Isaac's 1st birthday party, which was really special for me. One of my "bestest" friend's little ones shares my birthday, and it is incredibly sweet to see him, especially with his birthday cupcake smeared all over his face, behind his ear and into his hair. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend a birthday afternoon.

Thomas was exhausted from all the activity, but we managed to keep him awake long enough for John to surprise me with gifts of CD's, running clothes, and the promise of some serious shopping on his marathon weekend in Portland. It doesn't hurt that our hotel is next to the Nordstrom downtown in Portland, so I'm really looking forward to him running! After putting Thomas down for the night, Lil treated us to my favorite muffins that she makes and then we were off to dinner at my favorite Thai restaurant and a movie. It was a real treat to go out on the town, relax over dinner and then spend time with John enjoying a movie, which used to be one of our favorite things to do until we dismantled our own home theater...which is now Thomas's room. I didn't know if I could make it through the movie without falling asleep, but I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. I had a great time, despite the movie being totally awful! We'll laugh about our choice someday! All in all, it was a great 30th birthday! Friends, a 1st birthday, and time spent with my loved ones. I feel so very blessed!

Cynthia's 30th Birthday pre-party 2005 October 4th

Although I chatted with Jodi in the early morning while at work, my crazy day at work had me forgetting I was going out with the girls to celebrate, and it took Jodi calling me on my drive back home to remind me that I had fun times awaiting. Good thing she caught me or Thomas and I would have been at Toys R Us killing time, while the girls wondered where I was. I was much more excited about going out than hangin at Toys R Us, too.
Jodi and Jenny picked me up and surprised me with a wonderful dinner at Nimbus, which has incredible views of the bay and downtown Bellingham from 14 stories high. Although I had been dreading my birthday, and I usually have a hard time celebrating myself and get all worked up about any attention, it was a great time just to hang out with the girls, have time just to chat and relax together, and spend quality time without the little ones dividing out attentions. It was really special for me to be able to be with Jenny and Jodi, and it was a night I won't soon forget. I'm so thankful for their incredible friendship, and feel like I come away with such joy and happiness whenever I'm with them. I had such a wonderful feeling in my heart after getting home, and had a hard time wiping the smile off my face well into the next day and night! Girls, you made my 30th incredibly special. I love you both!

Tommy on the Train!

Thomas goes to the Pumpkin Patch!

Today Jodi called and asked us to meet up with them at a pumpkin patch, so we decided to head to out Stoney Ridge Farms and see the pumpkins. Thomas and Lauren enjoyed looking at all the farm animals, playing on the toys, running down the rows of growing Christmas trees, and testing their wheelbarrow riding skills through the corn maze, which Jodi bravely led us through. Thomas even enjoyed his first pumpkin patch train ride, and both Tommy and Lauren enjoyed the hay wagon ride down to the apple trees, corn maze and pumpkin patches. It was a beautiful, chilly autumn day with friends!

Tonight, after taking a long, late afternoon nap, we went down to Fairhaven to enjoy gelato and look around at the shops. We had fun browsing, window shopping and reading fun books at the bookstore, before heading home. Back at home we headed to see Grandpa working late up in the shop, went outside with Grandma to say good night to the stars and the moon, looked through pictures on the computer with Grandma, then headed downstairs for a bottle and bed. Yet another fun filled day.

I went running with Commissioner Martha "Marty" Gross, Dave Reynolds and Greg Fosty today on our five miler.

The Fab Four Escape Again!

If my cousins-in-laws or husband hasn't joke about my obsession yet, let me be the first to tell you....I'm a huge country music fan! I didn't realize I had an issue until I came to the conclusion that I harbored deep regret about not getting tickets to Keith Urban when he came to Seattle in March. John arranged a surprise trip to Seattle, with Thomas staying home with Grandpa and Grandma, in what he told me was a trip down to do some shopping. Now, that was exciting enough, but picking up Brad and Erica was an added bonus to the trip. No baby worries, no time constraints, no schedule to keep. As we wandered the shops and talked about dinner, I thought about Thomas, and then had to remind myself that it wouldn't be the great escape if I spent my time worrying about him missing me and obsessing on my not being there with him. Brad mentioned at dinner that we should take the time to walk over to his new work building, and although I glanced at my watch and noticed it was nearing 8pm, and we still had the drive back home, I didn't say anything, preferring to let John call the shots of this surprise date. He didn't seem too concerned about the time, so I pushed back any worry and went along for the walk downtown. As we neared the Paramount, I could see the marqee flashing, and with a sickening feeling in my stomach, realized that tonight, of all nights, was Keith's performance. I felt so sad that instead of walking into that theater we were walking passed it into Brad's building. To add salt to the open wound, there were hordes of well dressed women milling around, laughing and all very eager as they made their way to the theater. We mixed in with the crowd, and I then was forced to point out to the group that tonight was the night. Brad said, "Who is Keith Urban?" I don't know if Erica said anything. John made some comment, like, "oh, yeah, that's right" although I'm probably just making that up. As we walked towards the Paramount, Brad led us towards the front doors, and I said something to John, joking that we could still buy the scalper tickets on the corner. At that point, John turned to me and said that he couldn't keep it a secret any longer, and as Brad walked us through the side entrance, John finally came clean and told me that Brad had arranged to use his work tickets for this show and that we were actually going to this concert. Okayyy!!! I'll admit right here that I started to cry. I wish I could blame it on pregnancy hormones, but although I was still carrying a little extra weight, I can't blame this one on Thomas too. It was pure and complete shock, joy and happiness, let me tell you. I was absolutely floored that John would do this for me...the perfect surprise on a perfectly orchestrated surprise day. I will always remember that day and night as my "Cinderella Day".

On our way out, our newly converted Urban fans decided that we'd have to do it again, which led beautifully into our plans to see Keith when he returned in September to the Gorge.

But, I'm rushing ahead....

Now, in total rebellion, Erica and I decided to go downtown to see Dierks Bentley perform at the Showbox . Oh, to have a partner in crime experiencing the same wishes that I am at exactly the right time. Erica and I decided that although this is the last thing we should have been planning to do, we really wanted to do it, so we were going to make it work. The trip downtown was not without it's moments, as childcare issues with the girls lost us some valuable girl/shopping time, but we finally made it down, spent some quick time at Pacific Place, grabbed a not so goumet bite to eat, then scrambled to get to the right street without getting robbed, kidnapped or raped on the way. Stood in line for 30 minutes to get my special meet and greet tickets, then shoved our way up to the front of the stage. It was a LONG night. We lasted through an exhausting hour of waiting, then 45 sweltering, heatstroke minutes for Hanna McEuen, then another 40 minutes of stage setup before Dierks finally made it on stage. By then it was so stifling hot that we felt we were going to pass out and Erica had to move towards the back to get some room and some air. I was soaking wet with sweat and thought at one point that if I didn't get water, I too would be one of those you hear about at these clubs that pass out and have to be hauled out by medics.

The show was way better than I thought it would be, so it was well worth my effort, although I have yet to talk to Erica about whether she'd do it again, too. I won a contest, so afterwards, I had to wait to get in line to meet Dierks, and that was one of the more interesting moments in my life. I really just wanted to see the whole process, and don't like signatures, and think they're quite silly, but knowing that I wanted to meet him and say hi, I also knew he was expecting to sign something, so I took a picture of Thomas watching his video, and he signed that. Very cool, indeed.

The Great Escape II- Keith Urban at The Gorge!

Throughout the summer, it was almost all we talked about when we were all together, except for maybe the upcoming Portland marathon. We arranged childcare, with my parents coming into Bellingham to keep Thomas, and Erica's sister watching the girls in Leavenworth. John and I met up with our concert buds in Leavenworth, toured the Culberson ranch on the river, prayed through the rain showers that followed us through Cashmere, and enjoyed Erica's first McDonald's experience in bustling Quincy before taking our $20 dollar Express parking ticket to the show. We met up with Josh Berg and his sister Summer, amazingly in our same row of parking, and although I spent 45 dollars on a sign for the boys, I forgot it in the car and spent about 5 minutes wanting to fling myself into the river in despair. Oh well, he didn't read the sign anyway, so I'm glad my pout didn't last long. So not worth it to pout!

Going into the concert we had mixed feelings about comparing this concert with a perfect Paramount show, but it was so worth our efforts. We had a blast, and would recommend ANYONE going to see his show. Fabulous! The rain stayed away, the night was warm and beautiful and to complete our night, we got out of the parking lot within 15 minutes, when we've heard it can take upwards of 2 hours to get out in the main parking lot. We spent the night courtesy of Brad and Erica at Erica's mother's cabins on the river in Leavenworth, which was so great of them to do. Slept in.....until 7:30am!!! And the best part of the morning was sitting at Starbuck and the bookstore without a toddler to keep track of. Almost like paradise!!!

Three great concerts! Only more to come! So begins my concert obsession!!!

Thursday with Tommy!

On Thursdays, Tommy spends most of his day with his grandma and grandpa. He gets an hour more with them when I teach my late afternoon classes, like today. It's hard to leave home, but a lot easier knowing that Thomas is having such a good time. The more he stays with them, the more at peace I am, and although my heart aches to be with him and do all our fun daily routine stuff together, I know that he is enjoying his day to the fullest. Today, Grandma reports that, as usual, he had a great day, and although the wind was howling and the rain was pouring, I came home to find Grandpa and Thomas playing outside and having a good time. There was floor wrestling, lots of stories, and I'm sure their fair share of songs, chats and trains. When I got home, Thomas had dinner then quickly indicated he wanted more time outside, so we headed up to the school playground to enjoy a blustery swing time! When I push Thomas higher, Thomas calls out high, and when I call out ready, Thomas calls out weh-wree! John had a short run tonight, so he got home a little before 7. More time upstairs playing and wrestling, and then bedtime. Another great day, even with the start of the rainy season!

Today we spent a lot of time wandering around the neighborhood pushing Thomas's new (old, rustic and very authentic) wheelbarrow, or as Thomas affectionately calls his "wee-wee". His plastic one just wasn't good enough, so grandpa found one that looks almost identical to the big one on the property. It seems to me that Thomas thinks our whole neighborhood is his "yard" and I'm having to teach him the rules of the road earlier than I thought, as we're wandering the streets, up and down, all over the place. He knows which streets he wants to go on, where he wants to go and how to get there, too. There is no fooling him, either, as I tried to coax him back down our main street to get him home before dark, and he was having none of it. Cried and carried on to the point that a neighbor actually came out to see if I needed help. Ofcourse I stood my ground with him...it was dark and we needed to get home....and Thomas alternately cried in my arms while I tried to also carry this wheelbarrow home by my teeth, (no, but almost) and tried to somehow get his wheelbarrow pointed in the direction he wanted that was not home.

His little personality is blooming, and although he knows the word no (he says it nu-nu) he rarely uses it when it's not appropriate. It's nice to be able to have him tell us what he wants, and most of the time it's easy to figure out. He loves to try new words, play with flashcards, go outside at night to look for stars and the moon, and would spend hours on the computer with his grandpa and daddy or on the lawn mower or in the wheelbarrow. On our way to the Seahawks game the other day, Jock Jams came on the radio and we looked back to find Thomas waving his fist to the beat and flashing us the biggest smile ever! He loves his grandpa, (bahba) which is also the sound he uses for apple) and sometimes I think he'd choose him over me, unless he was really, really sick. Thomas goes around and says his name all day long, and it's so adorable to see Thomas run circles around the house when Grandpa shows up. He point to Lo-lu's house, which is his name for Lauren, and recently figured out he liked the sound of "Matt" said with much emphasis. We go on long walks together and I'm in trouble if I forget to stop to look at and pick the "debbies" or berries as we call them. He knows exactly where they are, too. It will be a sad day when there are no more blackberries to pick through our neighborhood. Today he walked us up to the Firs property and over to Jenny's house to play and swing. Afterwards, while it began to rain, we went down to Fairhaven to play at one of my favorite stores, Wild Blueberries, and then down to the fish bus to buy Thomas fish and chips for dinner. Thomas wasn't too much into my quick jaunt into the flower shack or Fairhaven Runners, but I thought I deserved the time after chasing him around the toy store. It's hard to see the evenings turn dark so quickly, and with darkness comes more thoughts on how to keep his little mind and body entertained. John came home late from work, and found us in the shop playing with the tools and then out for another walk in the dark and rain. I'm sure this is one of many nightly rain walks to come. What an amazing little boy to enjoy the rain with, though. I never thought walking in the dark, in the rain, could be so much fun!

Serious Thomas posing on his lawn!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Thomas! It was late in the evening and Thomas was contemplating having to go in for dinner. I look at this shot and wonder how I was ever so blessed to have such a wonderful little boy. I can't stop looking at him sometimes, and can just stare at him for what seems like hours. This is a rare shot, though, and is probably why I love to look at it. It is rare that Thomas is not grinning, laughing, or smiling that full teeth grin of his!

Welcome To Thomas's Adventures and Our Life Together

Hi there,

This will be a new adventure for me as I'm not much good trying new computer skills. My goal is to have a written story of our days with Thomas, as we find that each day brings on new and exciting adventures and fun times. I also hope to remember each and every day as Thomas continues to grow and change like I'd never have imagined. If you are reading this, we hope you enjoy our moments, however mundane and simple they may be. Our journey as parents has been filled with wonder, fear, and amazing joy and happiness. We pray that your days are filled with the Lord's many blessing, as we too are so blessed!