personal bests all around & harlan loves la-la-la-la

This past weekend we drove up to Louisville for a visit! Mike and Megan, being the athletes they are, ran the Louisville Derby Half Marathon and Phillip, being the athlete he is as well, ran the full marathon (he did experience a major cramp towards the end but that did not stop him). Here are a few photos from that morning. It was COLD.

Mike and Megan after the race - both had their personal best

Proof it was cold

OK, Mike is in these photos. He is pretty much in the center of both in black shorts and a white shirt.

Speed Racer

Tommy made a sign for Megan (notice a tiny Mike in the background of the poster).

Goooooooooooooo Megan!

Megan is about to cross the finish line

Lottie Sue was well behaved but looked really bored the entire time. I think she would have rather been at home playing with her Elmo.

Ho hum

Things perked up once she saw the mylar blanket.

Oh you shiny beautiful thing, I love you

LS giving me the stink eye

Da Apples

Like I mentioned, Phillip ran the full marathon and this is his wife and kiddies (Allison with Louis and Beatrice). They were there to cheer him on.

Allison hands out the posters

Bea says GO DADDY GO!

This is Weezer with her sign

And I only have one good photo of Harlan, I wish I had more. He would call Lottie Sue "La-La-La-La" and he is all about giving hugs. It's awesome.

Cheeeeeeeeeese!

And now I have a scanned photo for you. This is a photo of Grandma, you might know her as Matt's maternal grandmother. This photo was taken before she was married.

One classy lady

OK, I can hear that LS is awake from her slumber. Over and out.

megan's personal best & more photos of this baby

Megan ran the Knoxville Half-Marathon this weekend, she had her personal best: 2 hours 15 minutes. That is super fast time, when she runs she's a blur! She said the man that came in 1st in the full marathon finished right after her - whoa. Megan did so well, she placed 65th in her age group. That's no joke. She and Mike are running the Louisville Derby Half-Marathon in April. We're all going up, it will be fun to watch from the street. Ha.

Megan's shirt says it all...

That's Megan's friend Kristina on the other side there, I've been under the weather in case you are wondering why I don't look my personal best. Megan hosted a brunch on Sunday after the race (yes - she planned/hosted a brunch after running a half-marathon), here are a few photos of Lottie Sue playing with my scarf.

Who knew a scarf could provide so much fun?

Last week I went over to Mom's (Matt's mom also known as Gramma) for lunch and Grandmother came over as well. Lottie Sue was the main attraction and she loved it.

One baby, two grandmas and 100 toys - Lottie Sue likes these odds

This is a photo of her cowlick, it likes to stand at attention

Here are photos taken of LS in her dragon ball pit.

Delicious

Whyyyy I Outtaaaaaa

How many photos must you take?

And here she is in the chair, it's visually stimulating and she likes to sit in it. She can also look out the window, and of that she is a big fan.

Lottie Sue's hair is as wild as the chair

Here is an old photo of one of our hiking excursions, looks cold (but we look cute).

January 2004, we hiked Frozen Head Park

I do a lot of reading on the internet, in the mornings I print various articles and read them while on the elliptical machine. Here are a few I've found interesting...

Yes, Running Can Make You High

The Simple Push-Up

Expectations Lose To Reality of Sports Scholarships

OK, these are all health/sports related. I am trying to work out consistently, and have the past few weeks (week 4 now thankyouverymuch). So I've been reading more. Alright, over and out. More to come later!

lottie sue is off the charts. literally.

At Lottie Sue's 9-month check up our doctor mentioned that LS was off the charts. I responded - YES, I know - she is sort of chunky I suppose. Dr. Freeman looks at me and says, "Um well, I meant it literally that she is off our charts." So LS comes in the 99% for weight (24 lbs 10 ounces) and 81% in height (28 1/2 inches). Anyone that holds her comments on how heavy she is, at least it's just baby fat...it's helping sculpt my guns at least.

A few things about Lottie Sue...she's playing peek-a-boo now. It's super cute, and she loves to play it. I think today I've said "where's Lottie Sue" and "peek-a-boo" about 600 times. She is saying "ma" but not at me, but SOON! She is all about her piano and the cats (they still detest her). She just plays and laughs all day basically. She is a little fussy in the morning when she wakes up because she is hungry but one the oatmeal starts flowing she is all smiles. She's rolling all over the place but not crawling. I think she's starting to think about it at least. But right now it's OK her not being mobile, she can't get far. Oh yeah, today I bought her two bathing suits and I feel a fashion show is in order. Stay tuned for that...ok, on the with post.

At the doctor's office - waiting for the check-up to begin...

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

Still waiting, we got creative with their blankets - this is LS in desert attire

Let's visit bath time with Lottie Sue. Here is a nude shot of Lottie Sue before her bath - she was a tad bit grubby.

She loves to play in the water

Drying off in her new duck towel (courtesy of Charlotte Sue*)

Playing on the bed with wet hair

LS getting her hair did

And here we are at playtime then book time. *Gramma's (Matt's mom) cousin shares the name Charlotte Sue, she sent Lottie Sue a letter as well as the duck towel (pictured above), the Dr. Seuss "Fox in Socks" book as well as a stuffed Fox in Socks! Lottie Sue loves Fox, and we love that book - although you need to prepare yourself for it. It's quite the tongue twister! Thanks again to Charlotte Sue from Oklahoma - Lottie loves your super neat gift!

Gimme gimme gimme

Lottie Sue pins Fox

Matts reads Lottie Sue her bedtime story

OK, and here are some random photos. This one is of Megan and her friend Rachel - they both ran the Disney Marathon in Florida a month ago. I meant to post this earlier as a "WAY TO GO" but later is better than never. So, WAY TO GO MEGAN and RACHEL!

Marathons are hard, but these ladies make it look like a breeze

OK, here are two photos in the Giant arena - the first one is bona fide but the second one is just plain silly. It made me chuckle when I saw it today.

Matt about to knock Stonehenge over

In Hawaii, LOOK what is at the end of this rainbow - a treasure INDEED

And here are some VERY random photos.

Lottie Sue driving her pink car around the driveway

Megan and moi in Chicago, the Smiths came up to visit with us in 2001 and Megan had her wallet stolen the night before at a pizzeria

Matt drew this sketch of me, he used to draw a lot in the winter time in Chicago - too cold to go out

This photo is Becce and myself in front of the Chicago Theater in 2000

Alrighty, I hope things are going well for everyone. Matt had and up-and-down today in DC so he should be home soon. LOST is on tonight and I'm letting the DVR record it. I hate commercials and rarely do we see them anymore thanks to DVRs - thank you technology.