01 November 2013

More specifically, let's run 26.2 miles through all five boroughs of New York City.

If you think that sounds like fun, you must have the same mental problem that I have.  If you've read this blog, you know I have a love/hate relationship with running.  I enjoy having a training plan and something to keep me active and accountable, but I rarely enjoy the actual running.  I tolerate it, kinda, but I keep doing it.  You regular readers will also remember that I was supposed to run the NYC marathon last year, but some dummy named Sandy screwed that all up.

After the disappointment from the cancellation settled in, we decided to try again this year.  In that time, we also had Stone, and will be leaving the boys for the longest time we've been away from them ever (insert sadface emoticon here).  So with hindsight, was this the smartest decision of all time?  Heck no.  But we committed.  I dragged out of bed well before the sun during the week, and got up and out early for the Saturday long runs so I didn't miss out on half of the day with the fam.  Was it easy?  Heck no.  But we did it, and now it's game time.

This is it!  Less than 24 hours before we head to the big city, looking back on what has undoubtedly been the most challenging, drawn out, and expensive race preparation EVER.  Since I started training for this race, I've started my watch at mile 0 just under 200 times and have logged just over 1,100 miles.  And shoes?  Yeah, I've burned through some of those too.


Those yellow thangs are the 2012 NYC Marathon special edition shoes.  They have all kinds of NYC details on them and I'm excited to put them to good use on the streets where they were meant to run.  What you can't see very well in that pic is the extra, EXTRA special additions to my kicks.  On those Saturday mornings when I got up and out before everyone was awake, Ruth Ann would always tell Avett that Dad went for a run.  Avett's take on that was "Dad ruuuuuuummmmmmm!", but that's morphed into "Run Dada!", which is awesome.  And when I got home from those runs, Ruth Ann would ask why I continued to do this to myself, and what did I do/think about when I was running for hours?  I largely blank out, but sometimes do need a little self-talk to push through the tough spots.  While there is some cursing involved in the little pep talks I give myself, "you got this" seems to be the common thread.

Look what showed up for me this week:

Awesome, right?  If when I start hating life in the later stages of the race, I'll have 2 built-in motivators down there on m'kicks.

And so, here we are.  And I say we intentionally because there's no way I could have done this myself.  I fully understand that while I'm the one hitting the pavement, there's a lion's share of work that falls to Ruth Ann to keep the house afloat.  So thanks, Boo, for tagging along and supporting me on this journey.  And thanks, too, to my training pals Coach and C-Nix.  It's been fun sharing stats and one zillion running-related emails with you fellas.  Looking forward to a disgusting, sweaty, stinky hug on Sunday afternoon.

Finally, if you're interested in being a part of this crazy thing, it'll be on ESPN2 Sunday morning starting at 9:00.  And if you want to pseudo-stalk me, well, there's an app for that (of course there is).  I start with the slow(er) pokes at 10:55, and if things go well, I should finish up around 3:30.  I'd love to run this thing in less than four and a half hours, but it's more important to me to soak up the experience and take some pics along the way.  Stay tuned for the race report...

Posted on Friday, November 01, 2013 by Unknown

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29 October 2013

Well, I've had great intentions on getting this post done for well over a month now.  I'm late, but for good reason - there's been a lot happening with Team Timmons.  More on that later, but most importantly, one of my absolutely favorite people on the planet turned two (yes, over a month ago).  TWO YEARS OLD.  Insert all forms of "time flies" cliches here, but seriously - how did this happen, and how did we go from here last year:

to here, in just a year?!?


In those two years, we also saw another big birthday, as Stone joined up with the Team.  So if you're keeping score, that's 3 Timmons men under our roof (think happy thoughts for Ruth Ann!).  So let me try to catch you up on what's been happening.

Same outfit, very different kiddos.  Who's who?

Stone turned 3 months old

AND 4 months old

We also celebrated another milestone birthday with Ruth Ann's grandma - her 90th!  It was great to see most of the Robinson clan together at one time, and Avett loved spending some time outside on a nice day.

Grands, and great-grands



And if we get a little closer to present day, it's full-blown Halloween season, folks!  Courtesy of Ouida's annual Pumpkin Party, take a look at our take on this year.

Ewok, meet Wookiee

Hello Yoda and Leia

And the Wooten Clan!

And finally, a Wookiee Call

Costumes are great, but let's not forget the importance of a good jack-o-lantern.  And before you can carve, you have to pick out that perfect pumpkin.  We discovered a new (and pretty cool) pumpkin patch this year.

On the hunt



Stone was happy...

...then he wasn't.

This is what a "good" picture looks like with a 2 year old and 4 month old.  No more than one person smiling and/or looking at the camera (but Ruth Ann looks great).

Since we scored a great pumpkin, we had to do it justice.  Avett used the Force to help carve it up...



Cheeeeeeeese!

Hello, Lord Vader...

 So there you have it - a seasonal update.  Except there's just one more thing.  One teensie little thing.  I got a new job.  Whawhawhaaaaaaaaat?!?!  Sure enough, in a couple weeks I'll be embarking on the next phase of my professional life.  I'm pretty excited, so here's to being the "new guy" again.  Send your positive vibes my way!

Posted on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 by Unknown

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04 September 2013

It's barely September, but everywhere I've looked in the last week or so, I've found something awesome.  Something that has made me as giddy as a schoolgirl.

Or as a happy as meth cook in a super lab

What brings this joy to my life?  Is it the love shown by big brother holding hands with little bro?

No (but tell me that isn't one of the most awesome things you've seen?).  It's cooler temperatures, crisp morning run weather, and...

It's this:

And this:

And oh yes, it's this:


Pumpkin here, pumpkin there, pumpkin EVERYWHERE.  Fall is coming, and...

Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2013 by Unknown

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31 July 2013




(Yes, we might like this commercial a little too much in our house and PS, why aren't you on Vine yet?)

Posted on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 by Unknown

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28 July 2013

You read that right, our house is run by a tiny terrorist and a toddling dictator.  And oddly enough, I kind of love it.  Avett (22 months) is a great kid and a wonderful big brother.  Stone (6 weeks) is quickly adjusting to a somewhat structured life on the outside, but I keep it real around here and there aren't unicorn pellets in their diapers, and things aren't roses and rainbows ALL of the time.  Case in point...

The Terrorist

So, there's a funny thing about having a second kid.  A couple weeks before Stone was born, we ran into some friends/parents of two and after catching up for a couple minutes, they dropped a little nugget of wisdom on us that I'll paraphrase here:  having a second child is a case where 1 + 1 does not equal 2.  More like 200.

Exsqueeze me?  A-baking powder?  Why didn't I ever think of that?  Give me just a minute to pick up the pieces of my mind that you've just blown.  Here I was thinking that we were kind of jamming on this parenting thing.  Fast forward to present day, and I'm finding that they were right.  Having two kids, especially just 21 months apart (and yes, that was on purpose), is no joke.

Sure some things are inherently easier.  Diapers?  Piece of cake.  Confidence that you're not going to pull off an arm getting him into that onesie?  Sky high.  Feeding, burping, etc.  No problem.  But then come the curve balls.  Stone likes to exercise his lungs far more than Avett ever did.  What's that about?  My normal baby whispering tricks aren't working and the volume is turned to 11, and the other kiddo is asleep a mere 20 feet away.  HELP!

Editor's Note: We have mastered the middle of the night combination shush-walk/door close/diaper change/prep for feeding technique, and to this point have avoided waking up Avett (knock on wood).  And since I've been back at work, my better half has taken on night duty, bless her heart.

We were lucky with Avett's ultra easy-going manner, and I know that.  And we're lucky with Stone too.  He's healthy, growing like crazy, and is starting to settle into a schedule and a routine.  As an added bonus (not to my wife), I've created a plethora of freestyle raps with horrible lyrics about things I can physically see at the moment and really honed my beatbox skillz, as those tend to calm him down when a normal shush just won't do (watch out Eminem, I'm coming for you!).  We're all figuring it out, slowly but surely, but don't worry about us.  We're equipped for anything - we have help from big brother.  AKA....

The Dictator

What you see here is a very regular occurrence at our house.  This kid loves the vacuum or "vaaaaaaaaac" or "vac-room".  "Vac.  Keeeeeen.  On.  Hahahaha".  Seriously, his enthusiasm for a purple cleaning machine is borderline unhealthy.  Funny thing is, when you do bow to his demands wishes (and with the dog hair in our house, he usually has a valid point), he scrambles up onto the couch to happily supervise me.  From a safe and respectable distance.

We are immensely lucky to have grandparents in town that are able to keep Avett during the day.  Fortunate.  VERY fortunate.  But with that comes some trade-offs.  I think it's physically impossible for a grandparent to say no to a grandchild and while that's quite a lovely situation for an aspiring tyrant, it makes things a little tougher on parents of said tyrant to lay down the occasional "not right now, we just vacuumed this morning, buddy".  And like most other new-ish parenting things, we're figuring those things out along the way.

Are there dull moments with this new family of four?  Not many right now.  But you know what?  I don't know if I'd change a thing about our little crew.  And watch out world, because we're taking Team Timmons v4.0 on the road.  I think we're sometimes guilty of staying in because it might be easier than going out for some kind of random adventure.  But it might not always be more fun, so we're making extra effort to "just do" things with this newly updated family of ours, and also to enjoy more than just those freshly vacuumed floors...


Posted on Sunday, July 28, 2013 by Unknown

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03 July 2013

A few weeks ago, we were all like...

This.

 and this.

and this.

But as if by some kind of crazy magical miracle, and unlike a short 2 weeks ago, we are a family of four now.  Or six, if you count the four-legged kids.  Me and RA, two boys under two, and two geriatric, yet still wild and crazy weimaraners.  And a partridge in a pear tree*.

*No partridges or pear trees were harmed in the writing of this post

Gulp.

I won't go into too much detail on the birth itself other than to say a few things.
1.  When Ruth Ann says it's baby time, it's baby time.
2.  Laboring through the night is an oddly different experience than laboring during the day.  I'm not sure why this is, but it was, I don't know, quieter?
3.  Ruth Ann is a professional baby deliverer.  We checked into the hospital at midnight and welcomed Stone at 5:12 AM.  15 minutes of pushing.  Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.
4.  I survived the delivery (again), stayed completely conscious and was able to cut the cord.  Those that know my track record with all things needle-y and blood-like know what a great personal accomplishment this is.

When it was all said and done, we were left with a 6 pound, 12 ounce bundle of joy.

Hello world, I'm one minute old.

And man, it's just been a whirlwind ever since.  This humble little blog post has been in the works for more than a week, but it's just tough to squeeze out the time to put together more than a couple coherent sentences.


...sorry, I dozed off there for a quick minute.  I'm back now, and I'm really going to finish this thing.


First of all, I know you're not supposed to compare your kids, but I think this is an acceptable exception.  That's Avett on the left and Stone on the right, sporting the same duds.  Brand spanking new.

 

And I think everybody wondered how Mr. Cool, almost always laid back Avett would react to being a big brother.  Short answer: very well.


Very well, indeed.

Avett has started off his journey as a big brother like a pro.  He loves "'tone, 'tone", and can't seem to get enough kisses and pat-pats of his new bestest pal.

And what about Mommy?  Yeah, she's doing pretty well too.  And looking great, if you ask me.

Didn't quite make it to 40...

And those dogs?  If they could talk, I think they'd be saying something like "Seriously you guys?!?  Again?"

Me?  I'm doing what little bit I can to pitch in and help keep the family machine well-oiled and operating as efficiently as possible.  I'm re-honing my baby whisperer skills and do steal a snuggle when I can.  Don't judge me.

Finally, here are the obligatory "yard stick" pictures of our fellas, just a shade under 21 months apart.


And there you have it, our new and improved family unit.  It's louder, busier, and powered by less sleep (at least for now), but it's pretty great.  Here's to the journey (in a minivan, no less)...

Posted on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 by Unknown

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