Jonah turns 5!

It is very sad to say that it has been nearly a year since I have updated my blog. Goodness a lot happens in a year. It has been a great year. We are happy, healthy, and enjoying life. I can't believe that Jonah has turned 5. He will be starting kindergarten in the fall. wowsers. I know all parents seem to say this, but really, where has the time gone? I am excited for him, but at the same time I am kind of sad for him... or maybe I am sad for me. I am not sure which. Jonah will love school, there is no doubt. He loves going to preschool and on the days he does not go, he asks me why he is not there.

Jonah turned 5 on December 18. The day he was born in NYC was a beautiful snowy day. It was so great to have a view of the snowy city out of our hospital room. That is something I will never forget... it made the day(s) of welcoming Jonah into the world seem a bit more magical... if that is possible.

Jonah is a child full of life, full of love. He really is such a loving child. He will stop what he is doing, if he is in the middle of playing, run to find me, tell me "I love you, Mommy!" and then run back to continue what he was doing. so stinkin' sweet. My life is better, much richer, much more complete because he is in it.

In this past year, we were able to take a trip out west to several national parks. We had a great time (maybe I can blog about that trip sometime).... During this trip, it was so great to see Jonah really love exploring the great outdoors. He has since talked so fondly of the hikes and adventures we went on. He was able to play on an organized sports team for the first time. It took him a little bit of time to get fully engaged, but by the end of the season he really seemed to enjoy playing soccer. He is asking to play again. He will be playing t-ball this spring. We are all looking forward to that adventure.

Jonah's latest obsession is spiderman. He also still really likes Toy Story. He is getting into legos. He says he wants to be a fireman when he grows up (that is, if the position for spiderman is not an option). He loves watching movies, loves dancing to music and loves playing with Daddy in the evenings when he gets home from work. He is an awesome, I mean, awesome, big brother. Annabelle adores him and I believe the feeling is mutual. I just pray that this relationship will continue to stay so sweet. He loves his friends, and his family.

I am so proud to be his mother. What a true blessing from the Lord children are!!

So, finally, on to the party for Jonah. He basically wanted a repeat party from his 4 year old party, so that is what we did. The party was at Catch Air and he invited several friends. Friends from school, the neighborhood, and a couple of friends from other places. He had a blast. I will post some pictures below from the party, etc.

                                          Dance Party with Buzz Light Year

                                          Jonah and his friend Kinsley

                                          group shot with Buzz

                                           awesome and yummy cupcakes!

                                          Birthday boy! Can't believe he is 5!!

                                         cupcakes!

                                           Cassadie and Jonah. These 2 are buddies.

                                          Jonah and Ian

                                         Annabelle had fun at her "Bubba's" party too!

                                          Family Birthday celebration at home.

                                         We sent him on a scavenger hunt to find his bike!

                                         He chose a Christmas tree cupcake on the day of his
                                         actual birthday.

                                         The theme for the birthday dinner at home was "all-
                                         American" dinner b/c Jonah requested macaroni and cheese as the meal, so
                                         I added a few other very american foods and had out my 4th of July decorations

Happy Birthday to my loved and adored Jonah Samuel. I am so excited to see what God has in store for you.... more than my mind can possibly imagine or dream I am sure. Your future looks so bright. I am so blessed and so thankful for you.

A few more random pictures:

                                         Jonah on one of our hikes on vacation

                                           My little stud muffin

                                       
                                                Mama's boy

                                           Snuggle buddy

                                                    Jonah in his soccer uniform

                                          caught on camera -- he's an awesome big brother

5 amazing years.

BOB

If you know me, you know that I love my BOB (Revolution) stroller. It is really such a great stroller. It has allowed me to keep up my running habit since having Jonah. I used it SO much in NYC for jogging in Central Park and on the East River path. I also used it for 'Strolla Momma's', the exercise class I attended in Central Park for nearly 2 years. Jonah, BOB, and I went about twice a week and had a great time.

I have now been using it some with Annabelle. I got several runs in with her in NYC before we moved, but she is definitely not as content in the stroller as Jonah was. I am sure it has some to do with the fact that she has not been in a stroller as much as Jonah because she is not a city baby, but it also largely has to do with her personality. She is just not laid back like Jonah and is always wanting to be doing something. Anyways, as she has gotten a little older, she is getting better. Now that the weather is headed towards warmer, I am planning on running with her in the BOB at least once/week. After we drop Jonah at preschool, we will head to a local running path and put in a few miles. I am training for the Lexington 1/2 Marathon, so getting some mid week runs in is essential right now.

As I was out running with her in the BOB about a week ago, I started thinking about all the runs BOB had accompanied me on and thought it might be a good blog post. I do a lot of thinking (and praying) while I run :), hence the idea to blog about my BOB. I started wondering what BOB was an acronymn for... assuming that it was an acronymn.... so I came up with Baby On Board... I was thinking that had to be what it stood for... b/c I mean, what else it could be?  So, I looked it up when I got home and BOB does not stand for 'Baby on Board'.... It stands for 'Beast of Burden'.... well, of course, why didn't I think of that?? Anyways, I have no idea why that is what it stands for, the website didn't really explain, but that's what it stands for. I think I will continue to assume it stands for 'Baby on Board'. :)

Here are some pictures of the past few years with BOB... what a faithful 'friend'  and running partner he has been. He carries my water for me, 'encourages' me to push him up hills and pulls me down the other side of the hill. BOB allows me to go places with my baby that a normal stroller would not take me, at least not nearly as comfortably. BOB, definitely tops my list of favorite baby equipment!

My happy-go-lucky baby, Jonah in the BOB on one of our many jogs together

(I know this even more so now that I have a not as happy-go-lucky baby, Annabelle)

chillin' in the BOB -- Jonah often took his morning nap in the BOB

Its hard to tell, but we have the BOB on a subway ride, this was pretty rare b/c of the size of the stroller... I don't remember where we were going, but we must have been planning on doing a fair amount of walking once we got there.

This is on a trail run in Maine on our vacation in Fall 2009

One of my most favorite places ever, Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park, in Bar Harbor, Maine

Walking around Jordan Pond

Snack, please!!

Jonah always wanted a snack while in the stroller for Strolla' Momma's... helped keep him entertained.

Strolla Momma's... Jonah was out of the stroller, but this was the end of class and I often let him run around during this time.

The BOB was great in the big NYC snow storms... really the only way I could get out in our neighborhood in the big snows with Jonah.

look at that snowball!!

What a cutie!!

 

The BOB came with us on our trip out west in Spring 2010, this was at Yosemite National Park

The Golden Gate Bridge!

Nap in Central Park

sharing his snack with Mommy while she was running

view of Manhattan from Randalls Island after a Saturday morning Run

Jonah at the UES/90th St entrance to Central Park

Jonah brought one of his favorite little friends along for this ride in the BOB

Jonah decided he wanted to push instead of ride :)

A nice spring day!

Summer Streets in NYC, looking south on Park Avenue

You can't really tell, but this is Annabelle... in front of the UES/90th St entrance to Central Park. She was about 3 months old here and young enough to sleep through a run for her Mama. This was before I knew we were moving and I am really glad I took this picture.

 

I am hoping to have some more pictures of Annabelle in the BOB soon.

 

title change

So, I decided that it was time to change the name of my blog.... although it was still a bit bitter sweet for me to do so. I started this blog mainly as a way to let family and friends see our day to day life in New York City. Now that we do not live in NYC anymore I felt a name change was in order.

I still plan to blog about our lives, things that go on with us, and my occasional craft, project, or house decorating adventure, and on a rare occasion my thoughts on a random topic. I am going to leave the web address the same, but just change the title, so that my millions of readers will still be able to find me :)

Thanks for reading!
xo,
Melissa

Jonah turns 4!

I am a bit behind on getting Jonah's birthday blogged about. Jonah turned 4 the week before Christmas.... what a busy time of year! We have Jonah's birthday a week after Christmas, then Annabelle's a couple of weeks after... busy busy busy!

Jonah's 4th birthday was celebrated 3 times. He had a birthday party a week or so before his actual birthday, he had cupcakes with his preschool class on his birthday, and we had family over for dinner on his birthday as well.

His first celebration was the 'big' party with all his little friends. We invited several friends, a mixture of people we know from Atlanta, a few friends we know from NYC that now live in ATL, and new friends from Atlanta, mainly being friends from Jonah's preschool class. This party was at a place called 'Catch Air'. It was a big indoor playground, really this place was crazy, but all the kids loved it. It had a couple of inflatable type things to jump on, big slides, ball pits, a dance floor, things to swing on, a kids exercise area... if you need a way to wear your kids out, take them to Catch Air!

Here is most of the crew from the party (+ 1 or 2 random kids that wanted in the picture). Jonah got to choose a character to have a dance party with, he chose Buzz Light Year, thus the theme for his party.

One of the many fun things at Catch Air

Jonah's Buzz Light Year Cookie Cake

 

Banner and Cake

Birthday chair in the party room

 

When it was time to sing to Jonah, he requested that the lights be turned off for the candles

 

Jonah getting ready to eat his cake. I love his cute grin here :)

A few poses with his Buzz Light Year balloon on his actual birthday

 

On his actual birthday, I was able to go to his preschool class and take cupcakes. The teacher also has the Mom bring a book and read to the class and then the birthday child gets to sit beside their Mom. It was cute how big of a deal this was to Jonah. He was so excited about getting to come sit beside me... I'll enjoy that while it lasts. He chose 'Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel'... one of his favorite books.

Jonah's teacher, Ms. Laura lighting the candle on his cupcake.

Aunt Katie came along for the preschool bday party to help out with everything and keep Annabelle from tearing the classroom apart.

Jonah with his teachers, Ms. Laura and Ms. Deborah... they are great!

 

On Jonah's birthday, we had my family over for dinner. The menu included quesadillas and cupcakes... two of Jonah's favorite things. Unfortunately, I was either busy or having the time of my life because the above picture with his Uncle Johnny is the only picture I took all evening. :(

We had a 'make your own' quesadilla bar and sides to go with it. We had cupcakes that I bought from GiGi's cupcakes that were really cute and I guess I didn't get a picture of them b/c I can't find a single one.

 

Celebrating Jonah's 4th birthday was great. He is such a joy and such a fun, smart, curious, life-loving, people-loving boy. Jonah still loves trains, but have taken a recent interest in Toy Story since choosing Buzz Light Year as the dance party character for the birthday party. Jonah loves riding his scooter, reading books, playing games, and doing any kind of 'projects' I can come up with. He is an amazing son and brother. Annabelle adores him and I think the feeling is generally mutal, unless he is trying to build a train track, and then I think she kind of gets on his nerves. :)  I am SO proud to be his Mama! Jonah, you make me so happy each and every day. My love for you keeps growing even when I don't think its possible for me to love you an ounce more!