Mom's (Early Morning) Reflections

It's Sunday morning (4:15 to be exact!) and I'm wide awake. I'm not really sure why but thought it a good opportunity to update the blog (bake some muffins for my boys, clean my floors and upload pictures to Shutterfly...geez!). There are lots of pictures on the camera so that will have to wait for another day...

RILEY

Riley seems to be getting the hang of the whole "playing soccer" thing. Jeff got his "payback" last Thursday for me pushing so hard to sign Riley up this year (and thus, him having to coach!)...I had to coach. The 5-0 record is still intact (thank goodness!) and Riley actually kicked the ball twice in a row. He loves his new "soccer friends" and last Thursday on the way to school we were discussing teamwork in preparation for the night's game.

Me: Tonight, we're going to play soccer! It's going to be great! We'll get to do teamwork!

Riley: Awesome! I like teamwork...I'm going to sit on the wall!

I can appreciate a player who knows his role. ha ha

Today is Halloween! Riley is Buzz Lightyear this year (yes, pictures WILL follow!). He wasn't all that excited about getting to wear his costume to go trick-or-treating tonight, which is so odd because I'm pretty sure I've responded to, "Mom! Can I wear my wings?" no less than 100 times in the last two weeks since they arrived. Nonetheless, Jeff managed to get it on him (with the promise of candy!) and they set out for a trip around the block. Pretty sure the Bulldogs (BEATING KENTUCKY!!) and other fun things in the area trumped trick-or-treating in our neighborhood as they were only able to find four houses to visit. He did leave it on for a bit and helped pass out candy to our visitors. One boy came to the door and held his bag out. Riley held the candy back and said, "Say, 'Trick or Treat!'" That's my rule-following boy!

"To infinity and beyond!"

3 1/2 years

ELI

Happy  NINE months to Eli! Wow! I can't believe it! Eli is now on turbo speed crawling and is pulling up to his knees but not really standing yet (and I'm TOTALLY ok with that!). He's transitioning to table food pretty well and seems to be a big fan of all things Chef Boyardee. He's babbling quite a bit and still things his big brother hung the moon. Just this afternoon, Riley took Eli for a wagon ride; I'm not sure who enjoyed it more (Sweet pictures to follow!)! Then Riley wanted me to pull them both in it, and let me tell you, that's a lot of "boy" to pull around the yard! 

Eli will be an octopus this year (I love hand-me-downs!) and next year, we'll let him be something other than Riley's hand-me-down costume! I mean, unless he wants to be Bob the Tomato, of course! ha ha

We take Eli to see his pediatrician Friday. I'm anxious to see how much he's grown since we haven't been in 3 months!

Eli at 9 months

The Waltons

FUMC Louisville Trunk or Treat

Mom's Journey

I am 33 days from the St. Jude's Half-Marathon and very ready to see that finish line. I had built up to the 10-mile run in preparation for a race in Jackson October 9, but then wasn't able to get all the other "pieces" of my life together to get there. So, I took a week "off" with some shorter runs and now I'm building back up again for the December 4 race. Today was 8.5 miles. While I'm nervous about the race, I'm also ready for it to be over. I'm looking forward to "no pressure" running for a while...just running to run and not feeling "guilty" because I didn't have time to get the distance in I needed. I have a friend who's wanting to run the 1/2 in Little Rock March 6, so we'll see how I feel when this is over. From what I've heard, I'll want to give it a few days...after the aches and pains subside. 

Playing Soccer...or Being on the Team

These are words that I feared I would have to say when Jeff and I discussed Riley playing soccer this fall...

Jeff. Was. Right.

I'm pretty sure we should have waited one more year for Riley to play organized soccer. While it's wildly entertaining (at times), he doesn't quite get the point of the game. You know, the whole scoring-of-points thing and then there's the preventing-the-other-team-from-scoring thing. He does, however, seem to enjoy running around with the other boys!

A few pictures to illustrate...

Listening very closely to Daddy...

"OOOH! Shiny object!" And, he's gone!

So, the second night of practice, Jeff worked in more scrimmage time for the boys to get the feel of things. He instructed Riley to "guard the goal" and Riley took off to the other end of the field to the goal...to guard it, of course.

"Guarding the goal" like he was told. In his defense (no pun intended!),
 it does look a little like a tent.

Soccer seems to exhaust Eli, too!

I'm sure over the next few weeks, there will be lots of soccer stories, pictures and hopefully, some video. Riley's first game is Monday night. We have six weeks to survive...er, play. It's going to be fun. Right?

If you're on Twitter, follow me @LauraRWalton or Jeff @JPWalton if you'd like more frequent updates. 

Eli's Baptism

September 26, we celebrated Eli's baptism at our church, First United Methodist Church in Lousiville. Both sets of grandparents were able to be there and my very special "aunt and uncle," Frank and Chris Davis, were there as well. Bro. Mike Childs made the day very special for us and Eli. Here are a few pictures from the blessed event:

A few pictures before we left for church

Of course he had a "shiner" the day of his baptism!

Our family with Bro. Mike Childs

All the grands and the Davises. What a special day!

Love this one! Totally unprompted and you can see how much they love each other!

Love this one, too...ok. I love them all if either of them is in the picture!

It was truly a blessed day for our family, and I'm so thankful for those who were able to share it with us. 

We're Still Alive!

As I have admitted several times - I am a terrible blogger, especially when classes are in session. My apologies (again!). Here's the latest with the boys...

My sweet boys playing in the yard

RILEY

Riley is doing well in school and is officially potty-trained! He is playing soccer this fall;  tomorrow will be his second practice. His daddy is coaching and there are seven boys (aged 3-6) on his team. He is very excited and now has his own goal in the front yard to practice. He is definitely left-footed and is actually pretty good at controlling the ball as he runs. He  LOVES going to Cherubs at church. Wednesday is his favorite day of the week - he gets to go to school AND church. He thinks riding the church bus from daycare to the church (about 2 blocks) is the berries! He is certainly all boy and full-steam ahead all day long everyday.

Riley enjoying the Birmingham Zoo splash pad.
Labor Day 2010

Tyler and Matt took Riley out in a canoe at the annual church picnic. 
He still talks about the "red boat" weeks later.

ELI

Wow! Eli turned 8 months old last week. He started crawling last month (yet another reason the blog hasn't been updated!) and just yesterday had a tooth come through on the bottom. I'm pretty sure the one next to it is also coming in but you can't feel or see it yet. Tonight, he "met" macaroni and cheese and green beans - his first real table food and he seems to be a fan. He is clapping, shaking his head "no, no" and just in the last few days has started saying "Dada" and "Mama." He LOVES his "Ri Ri" and thinks chasing him around the house is the funniest thing ever. He is the most easy-going little guy! 

Learning to navigate the sippy cup

Enjoying the annual church picnic

While life is certainly busy (and at times, even hectic!), the moments when I am able to just sit and watch Riley and Eli play together make every tired bone in my body feel better. You can SEE how much they love each other - it's in their eyes and you can hear it in their laughter. I love everything about being the mom of two boys!

Mom's Weight-loss Journey

I'm still running. Most days, it's before the sun comes up, but running nonetheless. I had hoped to run my first 1/2 marathon this Saturday in Jackson but all my "moving parts" didn't fall into place to make it happen. I've decided to do a 10K October 16 and then just focus on preparing for the St. Jude's 1/2 marathon scheduled for December 4. I am now down 65 pounds and running about 20 miles in a week. My "short runs" are typically 4-6 miles with longer runs of about 7-9 miles. I feel amazing! I haven't been this fit/healthy (or this size!) in a LONG time. It's much harder to find time now that I'm back at work full-time, but Jeff is very encouraging and supportive on the days I just can't get out of bed at 5 a.m. and have to run later.

I have more pictures to upload from my camera. I will post a few from Riley's soccer practices and Eli's baptism last weekend in the next few days (I hope!).