Caitlin's Bridal Shower

Meghan and I had the privilege of hosting a bridal shower in Ohio for our youngest sister Caitlin a few weekends ago. This enabled us to try out some of those fun Pintrest crafts We had been seeing! Now that Jonathan is (finally) sleeping in his crib in his room - this frees up my night for some crafts!
I was really dreading flying with a 13 month old! This was Jonathan's fourth (round trip) flight. Even though he hasn't had any issues with the changing air pressure he WILL NOT sit still. I was imagining the news story the next day saying -lady gets kicked off flight because 13 month old child would not stay in seat during take off or something like that. When we got to the airport Jonathan was fascinated by all the airplanes taking off and landing. He also enjoyed walking running around the airport waving and giving everyone high fives. I'm glad he was able to keep busy since our flight was delayed for 1.5 hours. I was one tired momma by the time we got to Cleveland!



Sitting in the seat like a big boy.... This lasted about five minutes!






The bridal shower turned out beautiful. We had found these burlap and lace looking invites on etsy so we continued the burlap look throughout the shower.















Meghan, of course, cooked some fabulous dishes for the shower. The cake was delicious from a local bakery near my parents.












I had seen a cute chalkboard saying on Pintrest so I recreated it for Caitlin's shower. I turned out pretty cute!!



I had also seen a "date" jar- where you fill a mason jar with different date ideas on popsicle sticks of all different ranges and types- stay at home dates, dates that are pretty cheap, and then some dates that may require a little more planning and/or a little more money. A great way to encourage the newlyweds to continue "dating" and help solve that "what to do tonight" question. I laid a bunch of blank sticks on the table with instructions on the different date ranges and let Caitlin's guests fill in date ideas. It looked like her friends had fun coming up with some creative ideas!









Since Caitlin and her fiancé Tom are moving to Seattle soon after graduation and wedding they had registered for a bunch of necessities. I saw that there were a lot of bath towels she needed so I thought it would be fun to make a tower cake! The lamp shade behind the cake makes it hard to see that I used a loofa as my "cake topper."



As guests left we had some cute handmade (not by us!!!) little soaps to take home with cute little tags I had made saying "From Caitlin's Shower to Yours!"






The shower turned out great and I can't wait until wedding day in July! Now I just gotta find a bridesmaid dress..... Ack!
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Location:Ohio

Jonathan and His Gymnastics!

A couple months ago, I had gotten an email about a free "gymnastics" trial class at a place called My Gym close by to us. I decided to go check it out- thinking this would be a great way for Jonathan to go burn off energy- since he was NONSTOP moving at home. Jonathan loved his trial class- having so much fun with the ball pit, climbing up and down the slides and forts, and playing with the "giant balls" that they had. I think it is great- and it wears him out so he takes an AWESOME nap afterwards! I think we are definitely going to continue doing it!

Learning the rope swing with one of his instructors!

Playing with the big blocks with some of he other kids in the class...

Enjoying the trampoline.... But not really sure of what to make of it!

Playing in the ball pit...

He LOVES all the big balls! He would play with them the whole time! This is definitely his favorite part!

Some fun videos of Jonathan at gymnastics!

Port to Fort 6k

Since being pregnant and having Jonathan, exercise had definitely been on the bottom of my priority list. As much as I want to exercise or go out for a run, after working, all I really want to do is pick Jonathan up from day care and spend time with him.


About 2 months ago, my friend Jaime said she was doing a 6k in Baltimore. I looked up information about it and it was described as a family fun walk and run- which sounded perfect. The weather had started to get warmer so Jonathan and I could start running outside some more. This was just the push I needed!!


Then we all got the stomach flu, then Jonathan got sick, then Jonathan
was in the hospital, then more and more stuff just kept getting in the way of me training! Jonathan and I would "run" here and there, but nothing serious. Here is Jonathan's version of training... Passing out about mile 2.




Race day came and it was COLD and cloudy! Joe surprised me by coming to cheer me on (he had a lacrosse game that afternoon so he originally wasn't planning on coming). I met up with some old Hopkins friends and Jaime. They had snacks and music to get us pumped up for the race.












Soon we all got lined up. Since I was pushing the running stroller I had to start at the back with all the other walkers and those pushing strollers -there were close to 2000 people participating in the race. When the starting horn went off it felt like it took forever to get in a spot where I could jog at a good pace- since there were so many people!! Finally I found a good groove!








The run took us from the Museum of Industry in Federal Hill around Fort McHenry and then back for a total of 3.8 miles. It was a little bittersweet running down here since this was the area I ran frequently when I lived in downtown Baltimore.












When I started the race, my goal was to just run most of it and walk a small portion. I was feeling pretty good and kept telling myself just run a little bit farther... A little bit farther. Well, that little bit farther pushed me to run the whole race!!! I averaged about a ten minute mile and finished in about 38 minutes. I was very proud of myself and my time and already thinking about the next race!! Unfortunately there aren't many that allow jogging strollers!
































Check out coverage on Fox45
Fox45 Coverage
I don't know how long the link will be active- but if you watch the video we made it on tv!! You can see me running right after the horn at about 9 seconds. Joe is also seen putting Jonathan in his stroller with Jaime helping at about 1 minute during the interview with the teachers!
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Servefest 2013

Joseph and I have been members of Grace Community Church here in Fulton, Maryland for a few years now. We have been very blessed in finding such an amazing church that has brought us to know such a great group of friends and encourages us to get involved in the church as well as the community.
The last two years our small group has participated in a church wide event called Servefest- where the entire church is encouraged to serve together one Saturday in April in several different events throughout the community. The first year we did it we volunteered at Samaritan Women's doing landscaping/ yard work and some gardening. Now that most of our small group members have small children we have been doing some more family friendly activities!
This year we packed baskets with food and snacks and delivered them to our local fire and police stations. This is Jonathan's second Servefest and we thought he Would really enjoy seeing the firetrucks!
We met at the church early in the morning where we met with others for prayer before getting started in our serving activities. As you know Jonathan - he would not stay still and had to be in the center of the circle making sure everyone was watching him.












After prayer, we went inside to pack baskets with food and write thank you notes to our police and firefighters. I got voted to o the writing portion... Which Jonathan insisted on helping me with. There was another young girl there as well (she was almost 2) who LOVED Jonathan. She kept running over and tackling Jonathan with giant hugs- so big they would topple to the floor. I thought it was the cutest thing. Jonathan, however, was NOT amused!












After the baskets were packed and thank you cards written, we packed up and went to two fire stations. The firemen at each were very nice and gave us tours of all the fire trucks and rescue vehicles. They seemed to really appreciate the food and told us to stop back anytime. Jonathan was fascinated with the light and the big trucks- especially when the ladder truck came out and they tested the ladder!
















By the end of the day Jonathan was worn out! We came home and he immediately passed out! As Jonathan gets older we look forward to continuing the tradition of serving as a family. We are looking forward to doing Servefest again next year!




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