Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving? That's Crazy!

...Happy Thanksgiving!  WAIT!?!  Where did August, September, and October go?  Well, I survived my half marathon and did really well (more on that in a bit).

Griffin had his 15 month check up last week, and both kids had to get the flu shot.  Griffin ended up getting 3 shots, and it was probably more painful to me than him, having to hold his arms down while he got stuck over, and over, AND over again.  He was a trooper and as SOON as I could pick him up, shove a sucker in his mouth, and cuddle him, he stopped crying.  Payton actually milked her "boo-boo" for a little longer.  She kept pulling up her pants leg to "check" on it.  Okay, so back to G's appointment.  He weighed 26 pounds, and was 32 inches tall (75th% in both, and 90th% in head circumference...still).  He weighed 24 1/2 pounds at his 1 year check up, and I can't remember his height.  He's healthy and right on track!  He may FINALLY have his first molar coming in, up on his top left.  (He hasn't grown new teeth in 4-5 months!)

Friday evening, we took the kids to Southpark, to the Christmas tree lighting.  What?  Christmas already?  Before Thanksgiving?  It gets crazier and crazier every year...I've seen MANY Christmas trees up and decorated in houses over the past TWO weeks.  Anyway, they had train rides and horse-drawn carriage rides, a bounce house, and some crafts for the kids.  After Santa counted down for the tree-lighting, they had a Christmas movie being shown on the lawn ("Arthur Christmas").  We brought blankets, and got settled in...well, at least some of us did.  It was clearly Griffin's bedtime, and I needed to get prepared for the next morning, so G and I left.  Brian and Payton had a really awesome daddy-daughter night and she got to watch part of the movie.  She LOVED it!

Riding the train...

Payton is learning about "waxing" and "waning" moon phases...now, for her to teach me!

So, Saturday morning was THE day I've been preparing for the last 4 months (and redemption for me missing the April Southpark Racefest Half...as I timed everything wrong and showed up a little too late).  So, here it was: The Thunder Road Half Marathon.  This was the first half marathon I ran, back in 2007 (and my fourth total)!  I finished with a time, back then, of 2 hours, 18 minutes. My personal best record, in a half, was 2 hours, 10 minutes.  So, my goal was to (show up on time, lol), beat my PR, and maybe even break the 2 hour mark...All my hard work paid off, and on that COLD November morning (after actually showing up EARLY, lol), and after climbing some tough hills, I finished with a time of 2 hours and 57 SECONDS.  Ugh.  Couldn't I have walked a little less coming up mile 12 on Morehead, or run a little harder?  Nope.  I couldn't have.  I pushed as hard as I could, and I'm totally proud of my time.  Not bad for an almost-old-lady ;)  Brian had the kids waiting for me at the finish line, and they were so happy to see me.  It was awesome!  We had other friends running the half and full marathons, so we hung out and cheered them on.

Not the best shots...but probably for the better ;)  Maybe Brian had too much coffee that morning, lol.

Here our friend, Walter, is coming to the marathon finish line. Check out those beautiful leaves!

Brian asked Payton to say "Go Panthers" to Sir Purr.  She quickly said, "No!  Go Patriots."  That's my girl :)

 Okay, enough tooting my own horn.  Let's talk baby!  We've been patiently awaiting the arrival of baby Juliet, and we finally got to meet her over the weekend.  What a sweet (tiny) baby she is!  Juliet Caroline, 5lb, 13 oz, 19 inches, and looks just like her big brother, Carter.  Mom "Stonie" and I have known each other since I was in the 5th grade.  We are life-long friends, and we couldn't be happier for Stonie, Christopher, and Carter. They have waited for this little miracle baby for SO long. The kids enjoyed meeting her. Payton has not stopped talking about meeting her.  I was so curious to see what Griffin thought of this tiny "real" doll.  Here's a sneak peek at our day with the Kenningtons (I took pictures of the sweet baby, and since Stonie may use some for her announcement, I don't want to spoil it!)

Look at that gorgeous mommy!

Griffin didn't quite know what to think of Juliet, but he was SO gentle with her, and held her little legs on his own.  I KNOW he would be a great big brother, so there is no use in having to find out ;)  lol

Seeing G hold her also made me finally see what a big boy he is now.  My baby.  Always will be...but I have to admit he's quite the "little boy" now.  Up next:  his first haircut!  Then he'll really look like a boy instead of a baby.  Boo-hoo!

Sweet Juliet, 5 days young!

I just realized how MUCH alike these two are starting to look!

So, each year, we try to get in to see Santa as soon as we can, to avoid long lines, crying kids, and germy Santa suits.  We took the kids on Tuesday, before Thanksgiving.  When I asked Payton if she remembered sitting on Santa's lap last year, she said yes, and that she cried.  Whoa.  Could she really remember that?  I was curious to see how it went this year, with both kids being old enough to be scared...one who was potentially excited, and the other who was clueless.  Well, here's how it went...on the way, Payton wanted me to turn the car around.  She was scared of Santa, and didn't want to go see him.  Silence from Griffin.  When we arrived at the mall, we were waiting on Daddy to get there, so we watched several other kids sit on Santa's lap.  Mommy advice:  if you have little ones who may be scared, PLEASE let them watch and warm up first.  You might just have a better experience!  See for yourself (okay, it may not work on a 15 month old who wants nothing to do with anyone besides mommy!)...

What Payton wants for Christmas (and told Santa):  a snowboard, camera, and new doll, and her old "B-B" that we threw away together.

What Griffin wants for Christmas:  basketball.  basketball.  basketball.


And here is our silly girl, waiting for mommy to get ready (as she does every morning).  She is growing up WAY too fast...can't wait to show this one on her wedding day ;)

And my old friend, Matt, is the one responsible for making me the Patriots fan that I am today...he was in town and I was able to meet up with him.  It's been a long time since we've been able to see him, and he's had some major health issues, so I was thankful to get to spend some time with him, doing what we love...watching our Pats stomp some major booty!

Our beautiful "baby" girl...and her handsome little brother...

Little Indian Princess, ready for Thanksgiving!

As if telling Santa everything she wanted wasn't enough...she wanted to make some wishes (and, as always, rubbed the coins on her head to "keep the secret in her head")

Seriously?  And she's JUST two.

We hope you, and your family, have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!  Payton has her 1 mile Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning, and Griffin is "running" his 26.2 yard Tot Trot.  Can't wait to see how everyone does!  We'll be visiting Nana and Granddude over the weekend, and we will be bundling up...it's going to be COOOOOOLD!  Hoping to see some white stuff :)  Gobble Gobble!