The last four months...

Whew,  almost 4 months have passed since I "put pen to paper" on this blog. Err, sorry about that! We've been a busy family. Let's see... Henry is now closing in on 21 months - last we checked he was about 26lbs and 35 inches, but that was almost 3 months ago!

I've been working hard on making sure I make good on my new years lists. Ryan and I ran the 5/3 River Bank Run 25k two weekends ago. For those of you non runner/non metric peeps, that's 15.5 miles. More than a 1/2 marathon, less than a full. The weather was perfect, 50's and overcast. We had fun. I know I know. running 15 miles doesn't sound like fun, but it was. The fun part was crossing the finish line with my husband, who stuck by my side even though he could have wizzed ahead at the end of the race. The fun part was our long runs on the weekends through snow, wind, rain, sickness and making one another accountable to prepare for this race. The fun part was "planning to work and working the plan" (as my Dad often said) and as the weeks went by gaining the feeling that we would be prepared for the race. There is nothing better than going out for a 'quick' 8 mile run and feeling really good. And now that this race is over, and we are back in our running shape, we are looking for our next race!

Before running 15.5 miles....

... And after! Still smiling!

I've also attended book club 2x since the beginning of the year. That's more than the last few years combined, so I'm putting this in the win/completed column already!

List completion is officially underway!

Henry is barreling towards age 2 and not showing any signs of slowing down! I should have known from the moment I started to feel him move when I was pregnant that he was going to be a go go go kid, but no joke, the only time he isn't moving/talking/climbing/doing is when he is sleeeeeeeping. And I love it. I love this stage. I love his words, his non stop chatter, his exploration of everything, his singing from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed. His body is definitely showing signs of being a toddler -- the bruised up knees, 2 year molars starting to make their way in, and his hair is really starting to grow!


Okay, get ready for some (a lot!) of pictures... it's been awhile, so, enjoy!

Finally Spring and at the park!

It's almost summer... time to bust out the shades!

Even at breakfast... shades are a must!

t-shirt time, Henry is a bruin baby!

20 months old!

Watching the birds in our yard

At the zoo with Daddy

Check out Henry's new ride... vroom vroom!

At Mama's elementary school. 

Enjoying Boardwalk -- the playground Grandpa Sobczak helped build!

Hey! 

Enjoying the weather and eating outside

At the playground

Climbs up and goes down all on his own!

"Hey Mom, can I drive?!?"

"I'm caffeinated and ready to go!"

Memorial Day Weekend Project

It all started off with getting the mulch delivered, and then we decided to do a little more... So, a few trips to Home Depot and swipes of the credit card later we had a plan, our supplies, and a forecast for a great outdoor work weekend.... but first, a dump truck came to our house and delivered 3 yards of mulch!

"whoosh!" 

Like most people in our neighborhood, we have a 1.5 car garage and about 20 feet of space behind it that isn't used for much except hiding stuff that wont fit in your garage. Ours was covered with ground cover called vinca. 

It looked like this: *

(* note: this is not the exact space that we ripped out, this is another spot in our yard that is also covered in vinca)

We decided that this great space needed to be used, so we ripped out all the vinca and it all started to take shape. 

Day one

vinca ripped out

all gone!

We get ample sun back there, so we thought we would take a shot at a garden this year, so Ryan built these: 

4" x 8" garden boxes

We put down the weed plastic stuff and covered with mulch

End of Day 1

Day 2 we planted the gardens, watered them, and Daddy started to build Henry's playhouse!

Henry watering his garden

"Mama, more water!

Watering the transplanted chives

"Grammy, I can help with that!"

End of Day 2

At the end of Day 2 (Sunday), we headed to a friend's BBQ. Henry had a blast. He met 3 horses, fed them carrots, and even got to pet them! He has been talking about them non stop and still remembers their names. (Silver, Sweet Pea, and Pepper)

Henry and Pepper

Feeding Silver a carrot

I'm bummed that I didn't snap a pic of Henry going INSIDE the fence and petting the horses with Tracy -- the smile on his face was priceless. We are invited back anytime, and you can be sure we will be out to see these gentle animals again!

Okay, onto the final day of our weekend project....

Henry woke up on Monday morning to see the progress on his house

A few hours later Daddy finishing the house

And... we are about done... for now.

"If you need me, I'll be in my house!"

We also put nice edging in the front of the house -- I didn't snap any pictures before the rain started, but it looks great. We also put our flag up too for Memorial Day! Next weekend we will do the flowers in front and even some in Henry's garden boxes on his house! Hopefully I can take some more pictures and maybe our plants will be starting to come up! Stay tuned...

We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Love, 

The Beach Family 

Fingers Crossed

What a January we had! After Henry got over his double ear infection and RSV, we got through Christmas, New Years, and we all headed back to work/daycare/life. Or so we thought. First it was the flu (and for those of you that use the term flu when connected with throwing up, that's not the flu -- The flu is a respiratory virus that makes you feel like death for days and never wants to go away, and this years flu was especially bad), but we didn't know it was that until it landed on Ryan's and my doorstep. Henry got over it quickly (and therefore didn't think it was the flu)-- most likely because he's the only one in our house that got the flu vaccine this year. He had a high fever for 2 days, it broke, and then a runny nose and cough. The humidifier hummed in his room and he was again happy as a clam. Ryan and I on the other hand felt like death. Death that had to take care of a 16 month old. And just as Ryan and I were starting to feel normal again, the stomach virus hit. It was a sneak attack -- crept up on us in the middle of the night and the bombs kept falling for days. Henry went down first, but like most kids, he didn't act very ill, and really just needed a lot of cuddling, being read to, and an watchful eye of fluid intake to make sure he didn't get dehydrated. Ryan fell next, landing in bed for a day. And me? I thought I escaped it all being that my hands were raw from all the hand washing and the bleach that I had used on every surface imaginable. I wasn't so lucky, I woke up two days later and stayed all day in bed not remembering the last time I had felt so awful (or the last time I was in bed past 6:30am!). Thankfully it wasn't the whole family at once and we didn't have to call in for reinforcements. Charlie was a big help and snuggled with each family member at the appropriate times. Thankfully we are all healthy once again and back on track.

Henry finally feeling like himself again :) 

Henry is 17 months -- he has 12 teeth, he's growing like a weed, and has become so obsessed with whales. It's usually one of the first things out of his mouth in the morning. "Mama, milk? Whales?" I'm not sure where the whale obsession came from, but it's pretty darn cute. And just if anyone wants to know -- there aren't a ton of books dedicated to only whales for young children. You need a shark book? Sure, you can find boat loads of those, but whales? Not so much. I thought I would try to support some local business and find some books close to home. No such luck. Good thing this Mama is an amazon.com regular (okay, daily) user and clicked away and in no time had some whale books that made Mr. Henry's face light up like the Christmas tree we took down last month. And please don't get me started on the fact that my husband, bless his heart, thought it would be a great idea to show his obsessive son some kid-friendly whale videos on the computer. (Henry doesn't watch TV - the few times he's seen a TV on, he's been so still I thought he had fallen asleep standing up... nope, just the magic box at work making your brain slow down...). So on top of Henry talking about whales, he now runs into the office, points to the computer says, "Dada, whale", followed by a pleading scream as if to say "TURN IT ON, NOW!!!" Awesome.

So, we have a  healthy* 17 month old with 12 teeth who loves whales/monkeys/(insert any animal here)/snowmen/snow in general/bubble baths/his frog pillow pet/ his dog Charlie/yogurt and yam loving baby toddler who is on the go-go-go.

Henry - 17 months!!

Another thing Henry loves? Snow!! He loves loves loves it - loves putting his boots on and heading out into the snow with Charlie. We recently got Henry a sled and loves being pulled around the neighborhood, fast! 

Snow, snow, snow!

*At time of posting, Henry is sleeping and we never know what the morning will bring, but crossing our fingers that the past month of illness buys us some sort of reprieve from the rest of this flu/cold season? Okay, I'll take a common cold/runny nose thing... just no more throwing up!

We hope everyone else is dodging the flu/stomach virus and that cold/flu season is over very very soon!

Love,

The Beach Family 

Lists

I miss reading. Scratch that. I read a lot, but I miss reading literature suited for adults. And I miss being able to read for long periods of time... in the middle of the day... on a beach. Okay okay, I'm getting greedy now, but it's hard fit in any reading these days with a job and a toddler running full steam ahead. At the end of the day when I crawl into bed, I eagerly open my kindle, but I usually give into the heavy eyelids and drift off to sleep hoping that tomorrow might be different and I might have enough energy to get to the next chapter. I belong to a book club. I use the word "belong" very loosely in the last sentence, because in the past 18 months I attended book club twice. I think I should say this: there is a book club with amazing women who are smart, beautiful, and funny and they talk about books, drink wine, and laugh for a few hours on a Thursday night once a month. I used to go and I need to go back to that book club. This need is on my 2013 list.

Yes, yes, I'm one of those that has a list, but don't we all? We may not actually take pen to paper with these lists, but we all have them. Running marathons, writing books, reading books, losing the last 10 pounds, save for retirement, be a better person, go to culinary school, have a better relationship with your parents... all those "what I want to accomplish before it's too late things". And so, sandwiched between my Trader Joe's and Costco lists on my iphone is my 2013 list. I can't share it in its entirety with you, but it's a good list. A list that I can accomplish or I am hoping I can. In no particular order is:

- Run another half marathon and/or The 5/3 River Bank Run
- Go to Book Club More (see! on my list)
- Write more. Blog, write letters to Henry, to my future self, a book, anything other than legal writing.
- Learn how to use my DSLR camera Ryan got me for my birthday. (In non-auto settings!)
- Take a vacation with my husband (we haven't been on vacation alone since our honeymoon. We're due)
- And to follow up with the vacation is to go on a date night 1x/month (Mom, Mother-in-law, Aunt Lindsey, are you reading this? We need babysitters!!)
- More patience. It seems simple, but not so simple for a Type-A personality who likes things just so. If you notice I put "more patience", I added the more because I think I have patience, I just need a little more. But who doesn't.
- And then there are a few more items that I will leave off, because, well, you don't need to know everything.

The great thing about lists -- you can add to them and crossing things off is fun and motivating.  And so, today, I'm knocking off a few things on my list. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill, I'm writing a blog, and I'm about to download the next book for book club that I will try really hard to attend later this month. Oh, and tomorrow? Henry is going to Grandma and Grandpa's so Ryan and I can have a day for us. Another list item. 2013 is off to a great start!

And because I'm a proud Mama-here are a few photos from yesterday

I asked Henry what was on his shirt and he started making airplane sounds :) 

Oh, and Mr. Rosy Cheeks here? Getting his 12th tooth right now. 6 teeth in the past 8 weeks!

And we headed out in the snow yesterday for some fresh air... I also used the outdoor non-auto setting for this photo. Yep, another list item :) 

Lots of love and list-making,

Mama Beach