Atlanta, Here We Come!

It's official, Wes and I are running the ING Georgia Half Marathon on March 30th. I conned him into doing the 13.1 miles with me by registering way ahead of time. You see, now that we have payed for it he has to participate! Just kidding (kind of). He keeps saying that he really does want to do it but he has been grimacing when he looks at some of the runs we have ahead of us.

We started our official training this week. Tuesday was our first speed workout and I have to say that even I was not looking forward to it. I have bad associations with the track (leftover from several half hearted attempts on my high school's track team) and I was kind of dreading my workout on Tuesday afternoon - but I showed up anyway - I'm committed!

Wes had done his workout that morning so when Noah and I showed up at the track on base, he went off to play with Dad and I was left to my own negative thoughts. But, pretty soon a funny thing happened. I finished my warm up and felt good. I did my first 400 interval (faster than I was supposed to by the way!) and felt even better. I even got really mad when the national anthem started playing throughout the base and we all had to stop and face the nearest flag. By the end of the workout I had that great feeling you get when you know that you worked really hard but you don't feel like throwing up! It could all be beginner's luck of course, but I really think I will enjoy this training thing. Maybe it was my ipod free run, or the fact that I was really engaged in what I was doing because it was speed work - I don't know, but I hope the next two months are equally satisfying and fun.

After I finished I found Wes and Noah and asked Wes if had enjoyed his workout. He shrugged and said "It was okay, I'm tired". I told him that track workouts were my new favorite thing to do. Poor Wes, he looked at me with disgust, shook his head, and said "I want a divorce."

So anyway...whether you want to hear about it or not, we will be keeping everyone updated on our training if for no other reason than to keep us accountable. If everyone knows about it there's no backing out now!

Noah spent the whole time running back and forth across the field trying to catch me on every turn. He was obviously very tired - and thirsty - from his workout!

Anna Maria Island Day Trip

Since Monday was a federal holiday, and all government employees had the day off, Wes and I made plans with some friends to take a day trip down to Anna Maria Island. We met up with Madison and Claire (former Charlestonians!) and their 3 month old daughter Sydney on Monday morning to make the hour drive to Anna Maria. We headed out with no real plan (very un-Shealy like, I know) and ended up having a great time!

We found a great little beach cafe on Anna Maria with seating right on the beach and great food. (I tried to share my coconut shrimp with Noah, but he turned up his nose!) The weather was perfect - warm but not hot - and the water in the gulf was beautiful. It's amazing what a difference an hour drive down the coast makes! After lunch we drove around the Island and admired the million dollar waterfront mansions and gorgeous views. After that we made an ice cream stop and finally headed home. It was really great to get out and take advantage of living in Florida in January.

It was Sydney's first trip to the beach and she was very cooperative about posing for pictures. Noah was not (as you can tell from the look on his face!). He didn't want anything to interrupt his running up and down the beach!

Noah loved running up and down the beach. He also loved for us to spin him in circles and put him down where he would proceed to fall down, laughing, in a dizzy heap on the sand!

My Precious Angel

Last Friday night Wes, Noah and I went to some friends' house for dinner. We brought along Noah's favorite movie, Finding Nemo and we got 90 minutes of uninterrupted adult conversation. This picture is of him sitting quietly watching his movie like such a good boy. Doesn't he look like such a precious angel in this picture? He really does... well, looks can be deceiving.

Yesterday I put Noah down for his nap with little hope that he would actually sleep. He had slept until nine that morning and on the days when he sleeps that late he rarely takes a nap. But, desperate for some child free time, I put him in his crib with some books and went to eat my lunch in peace. He was surprisingly quiet for about a half an hour, but pretty soon after that he got bored "reading" and started to whine. When the whine turned into a full fledged scream I decided I would go get him and give up on nap time altogether.

Upon entering the room I noticed that his stuffed animals, blankets, and books were scattered in a crazy heap in his crib. I also saw something white stuffed in the corner of the crib. I leaned over to see what it was and was horrified to see that it was a diaper - the one he had been wearing when I put him down. One glance at Noah revealed him to be completely naked from the waist down. And then the most ridiculous part of all...the animals, the blankets, the books, the sheets, the wall, and the carpet around the crib were all soaked in urine. Yes, when he got bored, my son decided that it would be fun to take off his diaper and see how many things in his room he could soak. My only hope is that our next child might be a girl - I doubt a girl could be quite so adept at this particular little trick!

House Update

Here are a few recent pictures of the progress on our house. As you can see, Centex is serious about building right now! The entire house was framed in less than a week and I have been told that within two weeks they will have completed the shingles, wiring, and plumbing. Once they get those things done, Kelly and I will have to make a trip up to Charleston for a pre-drywall inspection. We'll keep you posted!

"Echoes From My Past"

One of the many fun things we got to do over Christmas vacation was to spend time with our good friends, the Lovealls. Matt and Emily flew in from St. Louis to see their family in Naples, FL. Since Naples is pretty close to Tampa - and since we hadn't seen them in over a year - Wes, Noah and I drove down to hang out for the day. It was so good to see them and hang out and catch up. It felt like it had only been a week, not a year! Matt and Emily are really excited to be having a baby boy in June so we decided we would give them a taste of parenthood by exposing them to Noah. Boy did they ever get a taste! Let's just say that they handled a full fledged restaurant meltdown with ease and so I believe they are going to make fabulous parents!


Noah hangs out with the guys!

It was really fun catching up with old friends and reminiscing about old times. (otherwise known to Matt as echoes from his past. Hence the title to this post!) We can't wait to see you again Lovealls - and meet baby Loveall!

Emily, with Baby Loveall, and Matt with...his cheeseburger and fries?