Happy Saturday!

Things are great here in OKC! What I love most about summertime is that we always have something to do ad somewhere to be on the weekends. This weekend Bill's cousin (and the best man in our wedding) came up for a visit. So we have been doing nothing but running the roads and eating today. Then we decided to put on our fancy shoes

And go bowling! Bill is irritatingly good at bowling, so TJ and I demanded a handicap. Mine is 60 pins and Bill still beat me the first game. I may look into bumpers.

Swimming

Because two festivals, a parade, and fireworks were not enough for one vacation, the girls also demanded a swimming party last weekend.  I have always heard that if a child is crabby, put her in water.  Guess what, it works like a charm!

(Cassidy, the most spoiled baby doll on the planet.  I think she ate a blueberry, but am not sure).

Evan, solving the world's problems one wooden bead roller coaster at a time.

You will love running!

I love it when I can push my hobbies onto others. My latest victim is Lisa, who works at Hertz and is subjected to Bill's torture fest on a daily basis.

Lisa ran her first 5K a few months back when Hertz sponsored a family and friends 5k. You may remember it since it was the debut of Evan's running career. Lisa did amazing in that event and wanted to compete in larger races. Which brings us to Operation Jodi convince the entire world that racing is the perfect way to start or end any weekend.

We ran at stars and stripes park on Lake Hefner. Actually it was the same exact course that I ran just a few days prior on July 4th, so I was able to talk her through the hard parts and encourage her to finish strong. Who am I kidding, I mainly just talked her ear off and it probably took everything in her power not to trip me and step over my deranged body.

Luckily she amused my attempts at coaching her through her first 5k and I think we had a good time.

What the Heck is Happening!

Someone took my baby and replaced him with a grownup!


Evan's cousin graciously shares all his toys and clothes with Evan as he goes out of them.  The most recent addition is a small learning table.  I thought it would be fun to see if Evan could stand by himself.  To my surprise, he stood up for a couple minutes.  When he would sit back down in my lap, he would rock back and forth trying to get up.  

I was OK with this because I was right there and, as independent as he would like to be, still needed my help.  Then this happened:

Bill helped him stand up, but he maintained this position for quite a while (3+ minutes).  I wanted to push him down.  I wish I were joking.

Five Ks, Festivals and Fireworks

Please know that I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the first chance I have had since Wednesday to write this blog post.  Well, you know I am not exaggerating because I would never do that.

Last year for the fourth of July, I'm pretty sure Bill and I slept in and did nothing more than watch TV all day.  Fast forward one year and one kid later, and we were up at 5:00 a.m. and going nonstop until well past our normal bed time.  I have said it many times, but life is just so much better when viewed through a child's eyes and holidays are no exception.

This year, I kicked off July 4th with a 5K at Lake Hefner with my friends Carlie and Bailey.  Sorry, I didn't take pictures but Carlie did (Hi Carlie, please email me the pictures. :) ).  I could put my official race photos on here for you to view, but I'm sure I would lose the 5 followers I do have.  So I will just spare you those horrible photos. 

update - here are photos. I know you have all been eagerly waiting.   

After the race, I decided it would be a good idea for my mom and I to take my two nieces (ages 3 and 4) and my 6 1/2 month old son to a two hour long parade in 100 degree weather.  Most of my parental decisions are this brilliant.  

We started out very excited.  But after this: 

This: 

With a side view of this: 

And about thirty minutes of this: 

 

We started to get really thirsty: 

And decided to get the heck out of dodge

We had about an hour until the festival started, so we did what reasonable people in our predicament would do and drove straight to Panera for coffee and fattening pastries (no bagels were consumed).  Then it was straight to the festival.  

The fearless Nyah

 Kylie, the little bull in a china shop

Hey mom, its hot as heck out here.  Give me some watermelon. 

Sure buddy, I think that is a great idea. 

No, I did not take the seeds out.  Yes, I realize he could have choked.  Don't call child protective services on me for this, I have much better material for you coming up soon. 

Hey, do you know how I can get this in my mouth?

Stupid thing needs to be smaller

There, that's better.

After man-handling a watermelon and wearing out our free festival welcome on the slip and slide, snow cones were in order.  

Parenting lesson number 152: Never promise a child something unless you are sure you can make it happen.  

Parenting lesson number 153:  Check all details for events multiple times because chances are you do not know what the heck you are talking about. 

I told the girls there would be face painting at the festival.  Why is it that kids obsess over the one thing you mess up on?  How many times did the girls ask about the inflatables at the festival? Zero.  How many times did they ask about free hot dogs?  Zero (I know, shocker!).  But mention face painting and it is ALL they talk about.  Seriously.  Every single time we mentioned anything, the response was "and we are going to get face paintings?"  Well, it turns out that face painting was at the UCO festival the evening of July 4th, not the church festival that morning.  What were the grandma and aunt who promised face painting to do?  Hightail our butts to another festival, that's what.  

We left the church festival about 1:30, went straight home and crashed for a couple of hours, got our festival-going-rears back in gear, and were at UCO by 6:30.  We stayed just long enough for the girls to get face paintings and play a little while.  

Then I discovered my mom's secret.  She must be made of batteries, the energizer kind.  Seriously, she stayed up with the girls for fireworks that did not start until 10:00p.m. .  She cannot be human.  

Please don't wake me

We are having such a great time with my mom and nieces this week. I will post later about our July 4th adventures, but for now I wanted to make you all jealous with a few pictures of our lazy Saturday afternoon at the park. Now back to eating the entire pack of girl scout cookies I received in my race pack this morning.

6 months

Half a year.  Where has the time gone?  Evan has grown so much this past month.  Gone are the days when he would stick his tongue out.  Playing with your tongue is so for babies! We're doing big kid things now like washing our hands, sitting up unassisted, scooting all across the floor, and (attempting to) drink from a sippy cup.  But one thing hasn't changed -- EVERYTHING GOES STRAIGHT TO THE MOUTH.

Babies truly use all five sense, including taste.  Want to know what your car keys taste like?  Ask Evan.  Want to know what a rag filled with soapy bath water taste like?  Ask Evan.  Want to know what my hands taste like? Definitely ask Evan.  Kid puts everything in his mouth.

Also, he is a social butterfly.  On weekends, he does not like to be home more than an hour or so without getting bored.  The exercauser, jumperoo, and any other plastic baby sitter currently residing in our living room only last about 30 minutes.  However, put him in a stroller and take him to the park or on a walk around the neighborhood and he is content for hours.  He loves attention and will smile at anyone who wants to look at him.  

C is for Cousin

It is also for crabby-pants, but we are not talking about Bill today (just kidding babe, love ya).

Today was the Cole family reunion and luckily Bill, Evan and I were in town. It is so fun to see Evan, Payton and Bailey grow and play together. And, Bianca is the best big cousin ever. I can just see her taking care of (and bossing) the little ones for years to come. I'm going to quit talking now and show you guys the pictures because they are so much better than anything I could say.