Morning Run

Here we are, bright and early on Friday morning, getting ready to head out for our run. Juice and breakfast in hand, the kids are ready. It was actually chilly this morning, we had to break out the sweats and jackets. We made it about 2 miles running and finished up walking, which is about half as far as Daddy does with this load, but I was happy with it. The kids enjoy the exercise and are happy to go as far as we feel up to for the most part. Patrick is a huge motivator, making a lasso motion with his arm and a quick exhalation with his mouth -- which is your indicator to start running, warm up is over once we hit the first neighbor's driveway. He also points out every landmark along the way, including the spot where Mommy has to start walking :)

Cousins

Today Benjamin came over to play for a couple of hours while his Mom, Aunt Laura, got her haircut in peace. As you can see, Patrick is a little disgruntled about sharing his toys, Ben loves the 4-wheeler, and Lucy....well...she just ate a leaf that I dug out of her mouth a few seconds after this was shot. What a fun morning!

Waiting for Daddy

I couldn't resist snapping this photo, both kids patiently waiting at the front door for Daddy's black truck to pull in the drive at the end of the work day...

9 months old!

Lucy had her 9 month check up today -- and this was the expression throughout the examination as well as the labwork. In fact, Patrick was anxious as well to have a stranger poking and prodding at his sister, let alone making her cry -- he said he wanted to "go home". She is 20 lbs 11 oz, 30 inches tall. Again, 95th + percentile. A little late in crawling and pulling up to stand by herself, but nothing to be concerned about. She will do it in her own time -- she simply isn't motivated enough yet! Who would be? She has a brother who fetches anything not immediately within her reach. Just tonight though, she got down to her belly several times from sitting, some times more graceful than others, so it won't be long before we are chasing her around as well. In other areas, she is beyond average -- specifically her jabbering! Go figure. Gotta be loud in order to be heard in this household. Now that her 2nd tooth is poking through, it should make enjoying her meals a bit easier! Down to just 4 servings of milk daily around 3 actual meals of table food, the infant days seem to be slipping away from us faster than we imagined. We can hardly believe we will be celebrating her first birthday in a few months.

Playdate!

We finally were able to find a weekend that worked for all of us to get all the kids together for a little while in the morning at the Rudolph household. In today's picture, left to right, Lucas Rudolph is first and will be 8 months old next week. Second is Audrey Fisher, the oldest and getting ready to celebrate her 1st birthday at the end of the month. Lucy is next at 9 months exactly today. And Patrick is the big boy, of course. The kids had a good time, but the parents probably had the most fun watching the interaction -- and trying desperately to get this picture! I posted a picture taken at our last get together with cameras out -- sadly it was in January! My how they have grown!

Shea Elaine McNulty

Cory and Carissa welcomed their 3rd child this afternoon, Shea Elaine McNulty. She weighs 9 lbs 2 oz and is 22 inches long. Everyone is doing great! Big sister Morgan and big brother Nolan are very anxious to meet the newest member of the family! Welcome Baby Shea! Can't wait to meet you!

Little Campers

"This tent-thing is for the birds...but the swing sure is fun!" My thoughts exactly, Lucy.

Little Campers

Ok, truth be told, we just set up the tent in the backyard. But we did have a fire and smores, so we are getting closer to a true camping experience. Cleaning up the tent after setting it up, we laughed that we were sweeping out Colorado dust, since the last time we set up this tent was in the Rockies.