GO GO GO JOSEPH!

About December/January ish Joe came home from work and told me that he had the opportunity to run in a relay. He told me that he wanted to get back into shape -- and he always wanted to do something like this. I'm thinking ... 5K ... cool! Well the race was no small feat. Him and 11 others would run from Logan to Park City (the Wasatch back) on June 19th/20th. Wow!

He spent the next several months training. He would run several times a week .. trying to average 3 times per week. I'm not going to lie ... I wasn't always the most supportive wife. When I was still pregnant ... we had a TON to do to get ready for Jace to come home. After Jace was home ... well ... being a new mom isn't easy and I had a difficult time staying home with him alone so much. Well we worked through his running schedule and finally the big day was here.

I dropped Joe off at a runner's home and Jace and I went to my parent's house. We decided it would be a good idea to make a "WAY TO GO" poster for him. Now ... to explain the poster ... his team name was: "team hot RUNS". Their "mascot" was the toilet paper. {{GET IT?}} Gross I know. So on the poster we put the slogan for a ... "runs" medication. haha.

Jace, Stephanie, and I went up to see him along the way. We were stationed perfectly ... close to the finish line, but out of the way. We waited and waited for the red head with maroon shorts. Found him! Then we were cheering so loud that I forgot to take a picture while he was close! oops. Well because we were so close to the end he was able to come back and see us. We hugged the sweaty boy and took a couple of photos.

All in all he ran about 17 miles split in to three chunks. The first was about 3.5 miles (easy). The next was very hard (9.6) because of the distance. The last was very hard because of the pitch (3.5). He was going straight up on the last one. Luckily his sister, parents, and nephew came to cheer him on.

I am so proud of Joe. This was a huge accomplishment -- one that he plans to continue on next year. He has inspired our family to get more active. We are running together 3 times a week now. I have gone twice .. and boy am I out of shape ... but it will come. We even want to do a marathon relay in September if we can find 3 more people to do it with. It is 5.2 miles per person.

Congrats Joe! You did great.

Who Said Water is Free?

While in the midst of our crazy rain storm a few weeks ago, I noticed that the water meter had water on it ... to the height of our long grass. I just thought to myself: MAN it sure is raining a lot! Well it continued to rain off and on for several days and I completely forgot about the water meter. After it had dried off for a day or two I noticed that the water level hadn't gone down on the meter. I mentioned it to Joe and he took a look at it. Low and behold ... our meter had a leak. I called the lady at the utilities office and she said someone would come and look at it. No one did. I called the next day and talked to, what I can only assume to be, the same lady as the day before. Now I know pretty much nothing about how this meter works. Infact, I didn't even know that WAS the meter until this whole fiasco. Needless to say I felt rather ... retarded ... talking to this woman on the phone. I was frustrated and embarrassed. Finally she let me know someone would return to my house. He did ... and indeed there is a leak, but he didn't have the proper equiptment to handle it and let me know they would send someone in the morning. The next day four men came to rip my front yard apart. It is finally all fixed.

Except for the bill!

I would say that this thing was leaking for over a week, but because of the rain nobody noticed it. I got a call from the office yesterday and they let me know that they could credit my account from a $530 water bill down to $400. Now that is significantly higher than our bill in the summer time ... grrr!! Hopefully we can haggle them down a bit further ... but I don't think that we'll be able to. Being a grown up is tough!

Happy Father's Day!

I feel bad that I didn't post this closer to the actual day. Joe is a great great dad! I love him so much and he does such a fantastic job with Jace. Of course -- I always knew he would! It is so fun watching them interact with each other. When Jace hears his dad's voice he looks around to see where he's at. He is such a good example to us ... and if Jace grows up to be just like his daddy ... he is going to make some little girl very very happy!

I don't come from a very touchy-feely family who gives hugs and says I love you very often. I probably don't tell my dad enough how much I love him and how much I look up to him. He has had some difficult trials in his life ... and I truly know that they have refined him. Made him a great man. I know that I can always go to him if I have a problem or just want to hang out. He is a one of a kind dad and a spectacular grandpa. Through his words and actions ... I know he loves us and I hope that he knows wer love him too! LOVE YA DAD!!

25 cents old

The other day I was hanging out at Andy and Becky's house. Lizzy, their youngest (5), asked me how old he was. I said almost 3 months. "Is he a year?" she asked. I said no, he was only 3 months. She didn't seem to understand that he wasn't a year. So I gave her a world class analogy. I said: "So it's like if you had $1 ... he'd be 25 cents of it." Brittany, (13) looked at me and said, "So he's 25 cents old ... it makes sense!" I thought so.

I can't believe my baby is 3 months already. That's a third of a pregnancy. It has gone by SO SO fast. I can't hardly believe it.

At 3 months I can ...

He is so much fun! He shows off his dimples to anyone who will pay attention to him. He has a conversation with me -- cooing non-stop. When I sing to him ... he likes to sing along. He only cries when he is tired -- and doesn't even cry for very long then. He can roll over -- but has been doing that since he was 6 weeks. He likes standing up, and all we have to do to support him is hold his arms. He wobbles a bit -- but is getting stronger every day. He is the silent watcher! He prefers to face outward ... and just look at things. You can tell that he is just thinking -- taking everything in. He has discovered his hands ... particularly his right hand. When he spits his binky out he will just chew on his hand. He likes to blow raspberries with his spit and smiles when I try to wipe it up. His mama loves him ... very much!

Our Journey this Last Month

Chillin' With Dad
Photo-opHaving "Fun" at the Dino ParkGetting Ready to go to the Zoo with Ethan
Hanging out with Daphne
(the dog was having more fun!)Playing with Grannie and Grandad3 month ALREADY

3 Blogs ... Are you SERIOUS?

Joe looked at me the other day and said ... You know Jen ... it may not be a bad idea to start a STAMPING blog! I'm addicted to blogging so -- what the heck! PLUS it will give me a chance to advertise what Stampin' Up has to offer.

The most recent post is an invitation to my stamp blog. If you received an invitation from me -- the details have changed a bit (there you go Jen C.). Stop by and say hello! :)

~JEN~

The Animal Kingdom

Last Tuesday Jace and I visited the zoo with our friends Lynsey and Ethan. Between this and our dinosaur adventure ... it was the perfect way to start our summer vacation. It had been awhile since I had been to the zoo. It has changed a lot! They enlarged many of the habitats for the animals. In doing so -- there are by far fewer animals than there used to be. It was fun to see the new, revamped zoo -- but I can't help but miss the hippo and lion (I don't remember seeing the lion!). To end our trip -- Jace and I spent some time on a polar bear ... on the carousel of course :) Apparently Jace's big brown eyes were WIDE open.
A few things I learned ... 1) the zoo is much more fun when you go with small people. I plan on bring Jace back again when he is old enough to recognize the different animals -- and to enjoy it more. AND 2) it takes SO much more time to do things when you have a baby. We had to stop once so Jace could eat ... then within 30 minutes we had to stop for Ethan to eat. I am not complaining though -- it was super fun!

Their elephant, Christie is pregnant! The "little" (350 lb) bundle of joy will grace the hogle zoo in August. We happened to be in the right place at the right time and were able to see the elephant show. It is amazing how an animal that is SO big can be trained. A new addition to the zoo is their snow leopard. Last time Joe and I were there we looked and looked for one -- there wasn't even any snow leopard plush toys in the gift shop. I was VERY excited to see one at the zoo. Since the snow leopard is my school's mascot -- I couldn't help but buying a few souvenirs to display in my classroom!

Magnet Board

All of the projects that we had in mind for Jace's room have been put on hold. Not because we don't want to do them, but because ... a baby takes a lot of time! ... and I waste a lot of time ... :) Today, while Jace was asleep, I pulled out a magnet board that I got ages ago and started painting. I tried my best to match the colors with his wall hanging -- I thought I did a pretty good job. The colors are a bit darker than the original painting, but we are placing it far enough away that hopefully no one will really notice.
I also got the letters that we bought before Jace was born -- (YES ... We DID have his name picked out before he was born ... barely!) I painted those to match. I was going to put his name on one side of the window and the magnet board on the other ... but Joe placed the letters on the board and it looked so good that I HAVE to have these over sized letters as the magnets.

It felt VERY good to get a project out of the way. Hopefully this will be a summer full of projects :)

CrAzY EIGHT

Our magical anniversary. Eight years on the eighth. It is so crazy that it has come this fast -- before we know it we will be in the double digits. I can't remember a time that Joe hasn't been there in my life. He is such a great husband, father, and friend. He is my equal in everything ... and I adore him. He knows me sometimes better than I know myself. He surprises me everyday. He works so hard for our family.

The wedding day was memorable ... a fantastic day! BUT the marriage is irreplaceable.
LOVE YA JOEY B.

Plod-a-long-a-sauras

To celebrate our 8th anniversary (SAY WHAT ... EIGHT ... ALREADY??) Joe and I took Jace to the dinosaur park in Ogden. To prepare for it, Jace has been wearing his dinosaur outfits all weekend -- today wearing the Plod-a-long-a-sauras outfit given to us by my dear friend, Lynsey. There is a hat to match ... but because he is in the 93rd percentile ... it didn't fit very well. We were all decked out and ready to go -- only needing to return to our house once to get the stroller -- you're going to need that! Luckily we were only to 62nd south when we realized we left it home.

We got up there and Jace fell asleep. We loaded him up with sunscreen (missing a couple of spots on his feet ... poor guy!) and walked around the park. Of course ... I couldn't just let him sleep ... so at the first sign of waking I picked him up so we could take family pictures. We were able to see all of our favorite "Land Before Time" characters -- Little Foot, Sara, Peetry, Spike, Ducky ... we had a great time. After lunch, Jace started to wake up. We took care of the essentials ... diaper change and bottle. After that he was ready to go. We walked around the park some more, carrying him so he could look around. When we would hold him laying down or with our bellys together, he would cry. He wanted to see the world, eyes WIDE open. He has my eyes so he can have them wide open.

We hope to be able to return in a couple of years when Jace will enjoy it a little bit more. I look forward to seeing him dive into the "excavation site" and dig up the bones. To climb the slide and enjoy going down. I am excited to see him experience the world --

Grandpa Gives the Toys

My dad gave Jace a jumper for my baby shower -- "Grandpas give toys!" he says. Jace has been too little to be able to use it ... but he is now 12 weeks (today!) and I thought I should see if he was big enough to play in it. The packaging said that Jace need to be able to hold his head up and that the max weight was 25 lbs. He now fulfills the head requirement -- and being 14 pounds ... well he isn't getting any lighter! Times - a - tickin'! We assembled the monkey jumper last night and tried it out. It is on the lowest setting ... and Jace isn't tall enough to be able to use it. SO ... we put our (INFAMOUS) calculus book under his jumper (he is getting good use of it already!) so he can bounce himself.

He played in it for awhile last night. Every time he bounces, music plays. Today when I put him in it he just stared at the toucan (Sam). He sat in it rocking it with his toes. He will be bouncing before we know it. The chair is on wheels, so you can rotate 360 degrees and play with all of the toys. I was rotating him in circles tonight (he was getting tired, I hoped the bouncing would put him to sleep ... like it did last night ... it didn't work!) and when his little chair wasn't facing me he began to cry. I tried it a second time ... and he screamed. Uncontrollably. It took me a bit to calm him down -- finally he did and fell immediately asleep.

We are looking forward to many hours of bouncing play! Thank you Grandpa :)

You Are Your Momma's Child

I have an obsession that could possibly get me on TLC's 'What Not to Wear'. I currently have 11 hoodies in my closet. Who needs 11 hoodies? I never run out. When I don't want to wear one of MY hoodies -- I borrow one of Joe's. He has 2 to choose from. I know it's not figure flattering ... but they are SO comfortable! I have gotten a new SOJO hoodie every school year so far. I'm obsessed.

At my baby shower in February, Jace got a little hoodie for himself. It has been my favorite piece of clothing ... and I can't wait until he fits into it. This morning Jace and I were going to walk Joe to the church. He and some others went up to the girl's camp site to work on ... something, I'm not sure. It was quite cold outside, and Jace needed to wear something warm. Joe mentioned his hoodie. Well, we didn't get to walk him down, we waited too long to get ready. I couldn't help trying on his "favorite hoodie!" Within minutes of putting it on him -- he fell asleep! I realize that this is not the perfect weather for a hoodie -- so he will need to change out of it as soon as he wakes up -- but I couldn't help but snapping a few photos before he drifted off.

We are planning a camping trip so that he will be able to wear it again when the weather is colder. The hood makes his little cheeks look SO chunky! He's a doll!

A 2nd Summer

This week has been an interesting one. I came back to school after an 11 week maternity leave. Long enough to be a summer vacation. Monday was interesting; I felt like the substitute. {{I had a student with a large energy drink on his desk. I told him to put it away ... and he looked at me and said: "Ms. Lambert let me have it!". (true or not ... who knows!) I just thought -- UM I'M THE TEACHER! haha}} I didn't know quite what was going on, but enough to make it by. I had so much to do, I didn't know where to start ... and worst of all ... I was ready to be at work and learn -- and everyone else was ready to have a summer vacation. To top it all ... I am coming back a sleep deprived new mommy. I am SO SO lucky that I had such a great substitute to hold down the forts while I was gone. She did such a great job -- putting up with more "crap" than she should have to ... and dealing with the worst time of the school year -- the end! She taught the toughest material in the curriculum -- and enjoyed it enough to want to be part of our team next year :) We are SO happy!

After wrapping up the week -- I get to have another nice long summer vacation. I get to enjoy being a stay at home mom for a bit longer before my reality sets in again. I did a pretty good job this week at keeping my school obligations at school so I could focus on my family while at home.

Next year will really help me determine whether or not this "working mom" gig will be permanent. I know whatever we decide -- will be the right decision. Joe and I have decided to take it one year at a time and make decisions based on what is best for our family. Until then -- I am going to enjoy my little turkey while I can. I am glad it's summer!

My Future HOPE'rs

Next year I have the privilege of being the (co)adviser for the HOPE squad. The HOPE squad is a new leadership team at our school. Their focus is on kindness and compassion. This year I have already had the responsibility of selecting our new team, planning service projects, designing our new baseball t-shirts, and calender planning for next year.

The HOPE squad has already been a group at our school for two years. They have been working with the fantastic counselor -- and are already a tight group. Many of next years members are current members. I was afraid that I would feel like the "third wheel" of the group. Today in the middle of one of my morning classes I was surprised with a yummy treat and card. They wanted to welcome me on board! The best part was ... it was 100% their idea -- pulled off with the help of Mandee.

I am so excited to be part of the kindness group next year. I hope that I can help make a difference at our school -- and in these kid's lives. School is so much more than academics -- it is learning how to treat others ... and I am honored to be part of the team.

He Doesn't Need the Bed

Is this normal ... ? He's only 2.5 months old!!

We thought that the roll over would only happen while we were on the bed ... like the cushion was giving him what he needed to make the turn. I guess not.