Visitors...

This past weekend, my grandpa and brother drove up from Tampa to visit us! What a wonderful two days we had! This was the first time my brother has been to Gainesville since we moved down, and it was a blast showing him around town, trying out a few new restaurants (Peace Valley Cafe and Zaxby's), going to the park with Riley, and just hanging out. This May, he is going to be graduating from UVA, and then he will be relocating to the Big Apple to take an economic consulting job up there. I am so proud of my little brother! We definitely do not get to see each other nearly enough during the year, so it was a real treat to have two more days with him! Plus, he now has a fondness for quality short fiction, and I loved swapping short stories and discussing them with him. Oh, and did I mention we hit Dairy Queen twice in two days?? Riley was a big fan, too - chasing after her "Brun-den" and playing with his phone. It was great getting to see Grandpa, too! Thanks for an awesome weekend!! We miss you already!!

A GOLDen Weekend!

Between yesterday morning at 8am and this morning at 7:30am, I spent twenty hours at my school! We had our annual GOLD overnight for the eighth grade girls at Oak Hall, and it was a huge success again! Even though we had to fill some time because our Zumba instructor wasn't feeling well and the yoga instructor failed to show up, the 11th and 12th grade team of girls helping to run the night did an awesome job with the eighth graders, getting to know them, answering their questions, and preparing them for high school. The night passed so fast - especially since I probably only sat down for an hour total and we had plenty of food to keep us going through the wee hours of the morning. So much fun! It is seriously one of my favorite opportunities as a teacher and one of my favorite nights of the year! Though sleep deprived, the night leaves me feeling so excited and pumped up! Good times!

Oh, and Shawn left for DC with his fifth graders today, which means it has been just me and Riley since 1:00 this afternoon. The only nap I took today was three hours long, and I am still functioning! Wahoo! Let's hope that lasts until Riley goes to bed tonight!!

Toddler Monkey...

So last week, Riley started her first class - gymnastics!! It was so much fun to watch Riley and Shawn play games, complete an obstacle course, interact with other toddlers, roll, tumble, walk a balance beam, spin around a bar, and jump into foam pits. This is the perfect class for Riley because she LOVES climbing and jumping and dancing. Plus, it is great daddy-daughter time! Wow, it seems our baby is growing up...:)

A Marathon Visit...

So this past week, my heart was full again. Alli, my twin sister, was in town. As soon as her flight touched down last week, the cold I had been coping with for three weeks suddenly started getting better. The rain we had had all day let up. My world became brighter, better, more inspiring, more fun.

And then the week passed. We filled our time together playing with Riley, going shopping, snacking on peanut m&m's and kettle chips, watching HGTV and Survivor, playing games with Shawn, going for walks, and chatting.

Our two big activities for the week were marathons, literally and figuratively. First, we reupholstered my dining room chairs. What a fun and fulfilling project! We picked out fabric and, with Shawn's help, assembled our tools. Then, we took apart the chairs, added new stuffing, and stretched and stapled the new fabric on. All in all, we spent eight hours shopping and working on the chairs - and, only 40 dollars. Gotta love internet how-to videos!

Sunday morning was the week's main event: Alli running in the Gainesville marathon! It was awesome to be there cheering for Alli almost every step along the way! We seriously saw her every three miles! This marathon was especially exciting because I ran Gainesville last year, had a blast, knew the course, and wanted to share the same experience with her. Also, this was Alli's sixth marathon, and I've never had the chance to cheer for her yet. Hey, if you're pregnant and not running, the next best thing is to be cheering for your twin sister running!! Watching Alli inspired me in so many ways. She never really seemed nervous beforehand, she smiled every time we saw her, and she ran a really great time: 4:24 (especially since she had a fever the weekend before and hadn't trained as well because of all of the snow in Charlottesville!). Plus, she's in her first year of residency and still running marathons! How cool is that? Alli, I am so proud of you!!

And today, after dropping Alli off at the airport, I realized two key things about our relationship. 1) I am so lucky and blessed to have her in my life as a twin sister and best friend. Sometimes, I do not think I deserve to have someone like her in my life. And spending time with her helped me to remember that whenever things are not going well, I have this amazing person to cheer me on in life. 2) Alli inspires me. Even this vacation, with her here, we accomplished my first major craft project. And, we spent some time researching upcoming races because I cannot wait to run my next marathon in the fall after watching her run! She challenges me to seize every opportunity and be a better person. Thank you, Alli!

And without further ado, the pictures...

Alli about to finish!


Super cute Riley!


Alli at mile 23!


Us at the start at 6:45am.


Alli at 17...


Minutes before the start and so calm!


The new chairs!! Fresh and modern!


The old chair pattern...

A Riley Recap...

So now that I am up-to-date with our new lil one, it is time to highlight my beautiful baby girl. I cannot believe her second birthday is right around the corner in April. I cannot believe how fast she can run. I cannot believe the words she can say or how much she talks. I cannot believe how sweet and affectionate she is. The whole process of raising a child still has me completely mystified and in awe. How does a squirming, squalling thing all of a sudden have so much personality, so much love to share, so much to talk about? Okay, so I could go on and on, but let's suffice it to say that I think the world of my little girl, and I only hope she knows how much I love her.

Beyond that, he's a more concrete list of what she's been up to...

1. A little potty training. This past week, she went in the potty twice (#2 and #1). Spring break we are going to make a big push, but she definitely is getting more interested.

2. Reading. The girls loves her books. We probably read a good ten books a night!

3. Words. Let's see...some of my favorites right now are "Wake up!", "Shoot basketball," "pizza," "read books," and her own name!

4. A new room. We moved Riley into our study after some mad furniture rearrangement, a fresh coat of paint, and a fun trip to Target to deck out her room. Still not sure what to do with the walls, but I will hopefully figure it out once Alli comes to visit soon! She seems to really like her new room, and I cannot believe what a big girl she is now!

Baby #2's Timeline...

Okay, so since I haven't been blogging yet about this pregnancy, I thought I would play a little catch up. So here it goes!

October 2, 2009 - Found out I was pregnant. Shawn was away at a meet, so Riley and I piled into the car to get a couple pregnancy tests from Publix. Came home. Took one. Started screaming and crying. Riley just kind of looked at me. Piled back in the car to get Riley a Big Sister shirt. And that's how we shared the news with Shawn and my family via Skpe. Line of the day from my mom: "Cute shirt...is that a hand-me-down?" Such an exciting weekend!

October 19, 2009 - Nausea hit. Great way to start the week! It lasted for about 8 weeks, but nothing too extreme and no throwing up.

October 28, 2009 - First doctor's appointment, which basically meant another pregnancy test and lots of questions. Shawn made me wait until this point to tell my friends, so here is when I started sharing the news a little bit.

November 23, 2009 - First Ultrasound. Shawn and I got to see our little potato for the first time.

December 11, 2009 - Broke the news at school!

December 17, 2009 - We got to hear the heartbeat via doppler for the first time!! Yeah!!

January 17th, 2009 - Felt the baby start to move for the first time. Right around 19.5 weeks.

January 19th, 2009 - Big ultrasound! We found out we're having a boy and got to see our lil man curled up on my bladder. So far, everything is looking good!

Since then, I've been feeling the little rascal move around more frequently. That's got to be my favorite part of being pregnant. Also, I finally "popped" this last week. My belly is definitely getting bigger, which is exciting! At the gym, everyone probably still thinks I need to lay off the twinkies, but what can you do?

Sorry for the lack of pictures with these two posts. I've got some cute ones of Riley I will try to put up some time this week when I do a Riley update.

Speaking of Riley, her bedtime is fast approaching! Good night!

Wow, it's been a while!

Okay, I decided to jump back on the blogging train. So much is happening, and it really is nice to keep everyone updated! Plus, we've got some exciting news!

First and foremost, we are expecting our second little one! We found out last week we are having a lil boy!! So exciting!! Right now I am 21 weeks. Over half way, feeling great, and starting to get big...gotta love the second trimester! Due date: early June.

Second, I just celebrated my 27th birthday! On the big day last Thursday, I went out to Blue Highway with five wonderful women. Thanks for a great night!! Shawn also helped me celebrate with a beautiful Pandora bracelet! I started crying when I opened it!!

Third, we just finished coaching our winter basketball seasons. This year, I had the middle school girls B basketball team. No wins for us, but tons of fun and improvement all season.

Fourth, we just moved Riley out of the nursery to make way for the new lil one. Her room is lime green with a watermelon trim...lots of pink and very neat and organized. She is even sleeping in a big girl bed, too! Now, if only I could figure out what to do with the walls...

That's all for now! For me, I am keeping busy walking, reading, writing, playing some Mario, hanging out with the family, and counting down the days until we get to meet our little man! More soon...:)