Almost out from "under the weather"

What is this a picture of . . .

Jack learning how to plug his ears with his fingers to change how a Baby Einstein DVD sounds?

OR

A 17 month old toddler who is tuning out his mother because he doesn't like what she is saying.

You decide.

(Ok . . . the correct answer is the first one, but it won't be long before the second answer is more likely!)

We have almost recovered from the virus that found us earlier this week. Thankfully, John has managed to stay well and has been a huge help in the mornings and at night. He very patiently made Jack three meals last night before he found something acceptable to Jack's ever changing palate. Only the toughest survive!

Walking on the New Floor

We came home from church yesterday and Jack decided he was done with crawling. Finally! He walked around on our newly refinished den floor for at least 45 minutes. As you can tell from the video, it is still a bit slippery, but Jack handled it like a pro. A few side notes before you watch the video . . . when Jack was learning to walk, John and I would get on opposite ends of our hallway and Jack would walk to John, John would give him a hug, turn him around, and he'd walk to me, I'd give him a hug, turn him around, etc. I think that it turned into a game because he is still walking to us, giving a hug, turning around, and on and on and on. You can see him doing this in the video. One other side note . . . although it looks like John bumped into Jack causing him to fall, he did not. Enjoy!

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Today while Mom was taking a nap I went over to K&D's house to play for a while. I had lots of fun playing with my toys and taking a walking tour of the house. At one point, my Dad caught a piece of a rainbow! He was nice enough to share it with me although I wasn't sure how to hold it at first. Dad said that if I could find the end of a full size rainbow, we would find leprechaun. After we played with the rainbow for a while, I decided to do a little bit of reading. I thought borrowing K's reading glasses would help but after I got them on, I realized I still couldn't read. Hope to see all my readers soon.

- Jack

Jack's Little Lamb

The pictures below are of Jack and his new stuffed lamb that I made him for Valentine's day (I found the pattern on the Martha Stewart website and it was very easy to put together!). It is made out of soft flannel and if you know Jack, you know of his love for soft, furry things (stuffed animals, blankets, the dog, etc.). I think he really likes it as evidenced by the kisses in the last picture. The embroidery on the body is from Jack's favorite book and although it is far from perfect, it was made with love and just for him.















The book is Sandra Boynton's The Going to Bed Book. John and I know it by heart.

The sun has set not long ago.
Now everybody goes below
to take a bath in one big tub
with soap all over--SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB!

They hang their towels on the wall
and find pajamas, big and small.
With some on top and some beneath,
they brush and brush and brush their teeth.

And when the moon is on the rise,
they all go up (big pause) to exercise!
And down once more, but not so fast,
they're on their way to bed at last.

The day is done. They say goodnight,
and somebody turns off the light.
The moon is high. The sea is deep.
They rock and rock and rock to sleep.

Nine down . . . how many more to go?

Can you believe that these pearly whites were the cause of so much misery last week?! You can't see his newest teeth in this picture, but believe me, they are there!

The Birmingham Zoo (part 1)

Although going to the zoo was my idea, I have to admit that I was not quite sure if Jack was old enough to enjoy the outing. However, I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday to see Jack extremely interested in the animals, staring and pointing at each one. I could almost see his brain trying to process what he was seeing, wondering where he has seen these animals before. (We worked on our zoo animals all week!) We were there for two hours and I think he could have stayed longer. Mother, Daddy, Laine, Sheri and Baby Nathan came too, which made it even more fun. If you have never been to the Birmingham zoo, you should definately go! It is small enough to be manageable for an afternoon outing, yet big enough to see some great animals.

The Birmingham Zoo (Part 2)

These are my favorite pictures from the trip to the zoo. It is so nice to have a professional photographer in the family! Laine came with us and captured the whole day on film (566 photos to be exact!) These are just the raw images . . . they will look even better when she works her magic.

It's Official - Mercedes Half Marathon Results

This past weekend we headed to Birmingham so that I could run the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon with my father-in-law Don. The weather in Birmingham was absolutely beautiful all weekend. We started the weekend with a relaxing trip to the zoo with Jack and family. Paige will post more pictures on that later.

The race started at 7:03 AM on a chilly Sunday morning and wound through downtown Birmingham and then out to the edge of Homewood and Mountain Brook before turning back downtown. I set a goal of somewhere between 2:35:00 and 2:45:00. I wasn't sure if I would even make it through the whole race running since my training was interrupted in January but I wanted to finish even if I had to walk it. The weather was perfect for a long run. It was an ideal 45 degrees for the rest of the day. The first 6 miles were really not that bad. I was able to almost match my last 10k time of 1:00:54 (helped by the fact that Paige and Jack were waiting on us at mile 8). I really enjoyed seeing Birmingham and running through parts I haven't ever been to before. The spectators were out in full force: kids were holding signs and dogs were longing to be running with us. Don stayed with me most of the way but with his ok I ran ahead just after mile 9 and was able to put about 10 minutes between us by hustling to the finish line.

After I was sure that I could finish without slowing to a walk, my goal became finishing before the winner of the full marathon finished. As the sirens of the pace cars began to wail in the background the 1/2 marathoners that were around me began to stampede toward the finish line as they too wanted to beat the winner of the full. The full marathon winner, David Cheruiyot, posted a gun time of 2:23:25 at a 5:29 pace. A man named Bobby Holley represented Corinth well with a Male Masters 2nd place full marathon finish with a gun time of 3:01:41 at a 6:57 pace. Another local runner John "Big Foot" Aikin from Florence, AL (Male 55 59 Group) posted a gun time of 3:30:35 with a 8:03 pace. Upon taking the podium to accept a prize, Big Foot told the crowd that he wanted to dedicate this victory to his parole officer!

I can't say that I am ready to run a full marathon or if I will ever want to but I really enjoyed the half. I have come a long way since I started running in September. At first I struggled to make it to the end of the block. It feels really good to know that I have completed the 13.1 milestone. It is estimated that about 650,000 out of 301 Million people in this country will complete one this year. A group I am happy to join.

Name: John Frame
Age: 29
Town: Corinth, MS
Division Place: 144 of 167
Overall Place: 1997 out of about 3000
Sex Place: 1155
6.2mi Rank: 149
6.2mi Time: 1:05:12
6.2mi Pace: 10:31
13.1mi Time: 2:21:33
13.1mi Pace: 10:49

Name: Don Williams
Age: 57
Town: Mobile, AL
Division Place: 63 of 80
Overall Place: 2281 out of about 3000
Sex Place: 1248
6.2 Rank: 54
6.2 Time: 1:05:14
6.2 Pace: 10:32
13.1 Time: 2:31:28
13.1 Pace: 11:34

All the hippos go beserk

Coming soon... Jack visits the Birmingham zoo.

TGIF!

We have a big weekend planned in B'ham that starts in about 8 hours! I am packing this morning for a weekend filled with activities. First up, Jack's first trip to the zoo with his soon to be new buddy, Nathan. Then it is on to ice cream and a walk around the village. Factor in lots of playtime with the aunts, gigi, and osh . . . maybe a nap or two in there and that completes our Saturday. Sunday morning begins with the Mercedes 1/2 marathon for John and Osh (Yea! We are so proud of them!) and ends with some shopping time for me. I will post lots of pictures when we get back. Until then . . .

MMM Breakfast

MMM Breakfast. Well not really. Jack has been teething these last
few days. At our best guess, he as at least 3 if not 4 teeth coming
out right now. To give you some idea of the mood around here, it is
like he caught a bad case of colic at 16 months. He goes from happy
and playing to crying in pain holding his jaw. If you pick him up, he
wants down. If you put him down, he wants up. He doesn't want to
eat, he doesn't want to take a bath, he just isn't himself. We have
resorted to just letting Jack do what ever he wants to do as long as
he is happy. Tonight that meant, pouring cheerios into a bowl on the
floor and then putting them back in the container. He was very happy
making this mess!

- John

Just like Spring, in February

This weekend was a warm spring like day in Mississippi. Jack finally
got to spend some time outside. He really liked being on the front
porch. He would crawl around on the porch and then climb up and sit
next to me on the steps and try to carry on a conversation with me.
It's a shame I don't speak baby. We can't wait for him to start
talking, I think that he will have a lot to say. He looks a little
tired in these pictures because he is pushing through about 4 teeth at
once. I feel so sorry for him, I know it hurts.

- John

Change is in the air . . . so is the smell of fresh paint!

You know you have a problem when you start redecorating rooms you have already redecorated! For those of you that know us well, this will come as no surprise. We are in the process of a den/kitchen facelift which includes (but is not limited to) refinishing the hardwood floors in the den, new paint in the den and kitchen, and new countertops in the kitchen. As with any project that we have started in this house, the list seems to double in a matter of days, but I am hoping to be moved back into the den by next weekend. Here is a sneak peak of the den paint color.















The current living quarters are starting to drive me crazy!
In other news, my two new raised beds are ready for planting. Garden 2009 is well on its way!

Saturday Morning in Pictures

Have you ever been too tired to eat?

Last night, I left John in charge of feeding a very fussy Jack his dinner while I went to get my haircut. The orignial meal I had planned for him went all over his highchair, his clothes, and the floor. Determined to not fail in his task, John pulled out the peanut butter (always a hit!) and Jack started to eat a PB&J sandwich. . . a few minutes later,

He looked over at Jack and found him asleep in the highchair, exhausted from the day's activities. When I came home, they were snuggled on the couch under a quilt watching TV. I was so jealous!