Monday, May 30, 2011

We Did It!

Here's how we all looked before the run:



And after:


Eddie and Ellen finished at 27:42! Karen and I finished at 34:43! We (Karen and I) ran the first 1.76, walked for three minutes and then ran the rest of the way. This is much more running than we had done in our training but we were feeling good and it worked for us.

I placed 43 of 58 females in my age range. I'm pleased with how we ran and proud of our accomplishment. We are already looking at running a 5K at the Teterboro Airport on July 16th. Anyone want to join?

Some highlights of our race:
-Getting to run through water from hoses that kids had pulled from their front yards to spray hot runners.
-The squished, dead squirrel in the middle of the road that we had to pass twice on the race route.
-Right around Mile 2 a man with a bagpiper and a kid with a snare drum were playing patriotic music. For some reason this got me really pumped up...so much so that Karen had to motion for us to slow down because we had moved our pace up a little too much!
-Coming around the last corner "9 to 5" came on my iPod and I saw Meredith (my 9 to 5 friend). This was a big boost for me for the last push.
-My sweaty thumb wasn't working on the iPod controls for the last two minutes so I had to fight with it to change to a final push song and get the volume right. (Apparently the new iPod nano has a wrist-band holder and a program that allows you to change songs simply by giving your hand a shake. I think this may be on my birthday list...)
-Coming across the finish line was a lot of fun...mostly because it was over!

After the race we met up with Ellen and Eddie and enjoyed some free fruit, drinks and Ben and Jerry's ice cream (which we brought home and put in the freezer...the perk of living literally across the street from the finish line).

Eddie had successfully completed the 10K prior to the 5K but wasn't quite done yet. He and Henry took part in the Fun Run, which was a mass of humanity. Lots of little kids running, two dogs and some adults. Eddie had Henry in the stroller but took him out so he could "walk" across the finish line.

Here are some other fun pics from the race.



I'm looking like a crazy person because I was calling out and waving to Henry:





Daddy and Henry after they completed the Fun Run:

5K: Pre-Thoughts

I woke up this morning around 6am after hearing a few claps of thunder. Rain was not on the forecast that we had seen so a thunderstorm and rain was a little bit of a surprise. However, the rain didn't last long so race is on! Eddie took off on his 10K at 8:45. Henry and I headed up to the corner to cheer him on about 20 minutes in. People weren't too good about making way for a stroller so we were a half a block away when we saw him go through the intersection. LAME!

I am eating some cereal and having some water now. We'll be heading out in a little bit for the 5K. Eddie and Ellen will be running it together. Karen and I will be run/walking it together. (Turns out there is a whole method of run/walking called the Fartlek method. Because I'm 12 this name makes me laugh.)

My iPod is charged and a new running playlist has been loaded. Music really motivates me during runs and can make or break how I am feeling. Here is what is on today's playlist:
-Jock Jams Opening (Dickie V to start things off!)
-Show People from the musical Curtains
-Holiday by Green Day
-What Is This Feeling? from Wicked
-The 1997 Cadet's show "Celebration" (music of Philip Sparke)
-Basket Case by Green Day (usually not a fan of doubling up on an artist but I made an exception)
-Slava! (ah, band goodness)
-Here I Am from the musical Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels
-Butterfly (so I can imagine Katie and I doing the dance from Orange County)
-9 to 5 from the musical 9 to 5
-One of the Boys from 9 to 5
-Norwegian Wood, version by Buddy Rich
-Angry Young Man by Billy Joel
-Oh What A Beautiful Morning, version by Ray Charles with Count Basie
-All I Do Is Win with Luda!
-Around Here from 9 to 5 (yeah, I know there are 3 from this musical but I love it!)
-Devils' Dance Floor by Flogging Molly
-Forget You by Cee-Lo Green
-Let's Get It Started by Black Eyed Peas
-Party In The USA by Miley Cyrus (in honor of the Crew Leaders)
-Tik Tok by Ke$hsa


No particular order except for the opening Jock Jams.

Allrighty. Time to get changed and stretched! I'll be back with some post-race thoughts.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Big Boy

Henry's hair was starting to get long around the ears and in the back thanks to the fact that that was the only hair that didn't fall out when he was a few weeks old. (We had a bit of time where he looked like Figure VII on this chart.)

We probably could have trimmed it ourselves but decided that it would be fun to have a "special" first haircut. Since Eddie had today off of work we too him to Rita's Snips for Pips in downtown Ridgewood. We wanted to go to a place that had a fun chair for him and that was used to cutting little kid hair.

We debated whether or not to take him this afternoon because he didn't have his normal nap in the morning. He seemed happy enough so we took him over for a trim. He sat in the taxi chair (other options were a red sports car which was occupied or a plane). They popped in an Elmo DVD about music for him and got to work. He was an extremely good little boy until the nice lady used the electric trimmer around his ears. He was NOT a fan of it. He didn't cry at all, just squirmed around. They called another worker over to blow bubbles to distract him and they got it done. (Its occurs to me now that this was about the time in the DVD that Keith Lockhart appeared to talk about instruments.....coicidence? I think not!)

After the cut was over, they put some of his hair in a little bag and attached it to a certificate for his first haircut. Very cute.

His hair looks very good and it was a fun experience. We certainly will not do this for every hair cut...we can do them ourselves....but it was a neat way to commemorate another "first" for Henry.

Here are some photographs from the adventure:

Getting ready for the snip snips!


First cut!

Being a really good boy during the haircut:



Done with the scissor portion...waiting for the electric trimmer to clean things up:



All done!


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Back To Jersey

It's been a great week since the last update. Henry and I greatly enjoyed our time in North Carolina/Virginia (and Eddie too when he joined us on Thursday). In addition to hanging out with my parents I got to see a lot of my friends/coworkers, which was really nice. While I completely love staying home with Henry, there are certain things I miss about working at CNU....mostly the people.

Some highlights from our trip (before some photos):

-Running...I did two runs while down there and survived. My feet did just fine and didn't have any pain after so I'm hoping that's a good sign. I ran again this afternoon and did a lot more than I had previously. It felt really good during and after. We'll see how I feel tomorrow! We are running the 5K on Monday so I plan on two more runs between now and then. I'm hoping to run with Karen one of those times to see if we'll be suitable running partners for the race. She's in better shape that I'm in so we'll see!

-Air Show....my parents play in a community band that was invited to play at an airshow in Pungo, VA. (I am not making up that name.) It is held at an air field owned by a man who owns many, many old military planes. I really enjoyed seeing all of the planes on the ground and in the air. There were some 'throw back' acts like Abbott and Costello impersonators, jazz singer and an Andrews Sisters-esque act. I loved seeing them and the other folks in period clothes at the event. I really think I was born in the wrong time period...I love all that stuff!

-Babies...During our visit I got to hang out with three little boys ranging from Desmond at 6.5 months to Davis at 6 weeks to Andrew at 24 hours! We had fun with all of them. Henry looks like such a big boy in some of the photos compared to the other babies...it's crazy. I'm not ready for him not to be a baby anymore!

-Williamsburg...Eddie ran the Williamsburg Half Marathon on Sunday morning. He did it in a little over 2 hours, which was his goal. He gathered enough energy for us to hit up Busch Gardens for a little bit of the day. Henry enjoyed riding a new ride (for him) there and playing in the kiddie water area in the Sesame Street part of the park. It was fun to see him enjoying things. The last time he was there he just slept in our arms on the carousel! We will probably go back in June since we have season passes still....and this time pack his actual swimming suit!

Here are some assorted photos from our week away:

Eating rice from chopsticks...he loved it!



Rainbow, Grandad and Henry (after Parker's softball game):



Happy little boy "practicing" the piano:



Takin' a dip in the cool fishy pool from Target with Desmond:




Pungo Airshow:




Playing in the water at Busch Gardens:



Meeting Baby Andrew for the first time:



It was a great trip and now that we're back it's time to settle into a routine again for a few weeks before Henry and I head back down for an extended trip. (I am working with freshman orientation for two weeks.) After that we'll be back to hopefully start settling into a new house! We have been approved for our mortgage (pending a few small things like a copy of a SS card and painting over some drywall that had been fixed) and hope to close mid-June!

Monday, May 16, 2011

9 Months Old

Holy cow....little Henry is 9 months old today. Time sure does fly!

We are currently in North Carolina visiting with Ding Dong and Grandad. They came up for a visit last week and Henry and I hitched a ride south with them on Saturday. Eddie will be joining us at the end of the week.

Because we were down here I got to go to CNU's graduation yesterday. It was very neat to see so many students that I've had the pleasure of working with during my time at CNU. I've known some of them for all four of their years here...and two that I've known four years longer since they were in the marching band at Denbigh HS where I used to help! I'm so glad that I was able to go. I really do love some of the students!

Last night Henry and I got to watch Grandad and Ding Dong in their community band concert. Henry was a very good audience member He was quiet for the most part and though he was a little bit of a wiggle worm I didn't have to take him out at all.

Today I did a run for the first time in almost two weeks. I had been having some foot pain so I rested my feet and tried it out again this morning. The run went very well....hopefully my feet stay feeling good. If not, I will probably check out different shoes to see if that helps.

Nothing much else to report at the moment so I'll leave you with a video of Henry playing the piano this morning:

Monday, May 9, 2011

Updates....this time not Henry!

I realized that our blog revolves mostly around Henry. This is fine because I have a feeling most of you readers out there are "tuning in" to see what the little boy is up to. However, when I started this blog it was to keep everyone up to date on what WE were doing as a family after we moved up to New Jersey.

So...as the spaghetti sauce (or "gravy") defrosts in the microwave, here is an update on the adult members of our little family:

I am still enjoying being at home with Henry. I am still doing work long distance for CNU and I am enjoying staying connected with everyone there. My contract is up in July with them so I will be in need of a new activity for when Henry is napping! There are a few things I'll be up to:

1) House?

We are in the (hopefully) final stages of getting a house...FINALLY. It's been quite a saga and I've left a lot of it off the blog. I have been hesitant to mention our current "try" at a house because I've been afraid to jinx it. We are one repair by the owners away from having a house to call our own....we hope! The owners have been super about doing what we've asked to make sure the house is up to snuff . I've had a good feeling about this house from the start...moreso than the other FIVE we attempted offers on so I'm hoping that it's a good sign.

2) Running

I can't remember if I wrote in an earlier post that the Seavers Sisters are going to be running in the Disney Half-Marathon and the Seavers Brothers (and Kathleen!) will be running the Disney Full Marathon in January. I have had some catching up to do with the rest of the jocks in this family and I was just hitting my strides (haha) with getting into a routine and actually enjoying running when I started having some foot/ankle pain. I've taken some days off of running and am starting to feel better. From what I can tell from Dr. Internet it might have been caused by my shoes being too tight around the top of my foot. So once I feel up to running again I'll try a looser fit for my shoes or maybe explore a different pair of shoes.

It's been frustrating to not be able to go out for the runs. We are going to be doing a 5K in Ridgewood on Memorial Day so I'm losing precious training time to get to the point where that run won't be struggle.

3) Brainstorming/Executing Ideas

I have volunteered to help out the boardmember for the Ridgewood Concert Band that works with tickets (subscriptions,individual concerts, etc.) and fundraising. Over the last month or so I've been brainstorming some ideas to help bring in more people and more money to the band. I sent my ideas to a few of the band members and had some conversations that led to me volunteering to help. I am nerdily excited about it and hope that I can help to make a difference. If you or someone you know own a business that wants to sponsor a concert....let me know! :-)

That's enough about me...


Eddie continues to enjoy his job. He's up to his ears this week as it is Senior Week and Commencement. Once this week is over he'll have a little more flexibility and "easy" work load. We are working on plans for summer adventures....Cape Cod Baseball League opening weekend in Chatham, a trip to VA/NC, our traditional longer vacation on Cape Cod in July, etc.

The house is pretty quiet at the moment as I write this. Eddie's parents are off on a cruise (JEALOUS!), Ellen is at softball (GO Ridgewood!), Eddie is coming back from work and Henry is napping. We are trading Eddie's parents for mine tomorrow. They will be up for a few days for a visit. I am pretty excited to see them and to be able to have them come along to Henry's fun adventures like library time and swim class! They'll also be able to make it to the last Ridgewood Concert Band concert of the season. Henry and I will be heading back south with them on Saturday for a week visit there. I am beyond excited to see all of my lovely friends down there, meet Tim and Amanda's new baby boy and hopefully meet Sarah and Matt's! (Come on little baby!)

No photos to post this entry. I'll have one about an adventure we had last week but I can't post them just yet... :-)

Monday, May 2, 2011

Two Videos

First of all:

Happy birthday to loyal blog reader and brother-in-law extraordinaire Kevin!

I've been trying to get back on with Morning Music, which was a daily thing we did when he was very little. YouTube is a great resource for me to find fun videos and music to share. A few days ago I played a bunch of music from The Music Man. He was really getting into Shipoopi so I got the video camera out. Of course he didn't "dance" like he did before I got the camera but it's still cute so here you go:



Lately, Henry has becoming quite the Chatty Cathy lately. Of course he always freezes up whenever I get the camera out. This video isn't all that great of him babbling but you can see the progress of his teeth so I'll post it:

Such a Deal!

When we moved to New Jersey from Virginia Eddie was very sad that we would no longer have the joys of Harris Teeter grocery stores and their super-double and triple coupon weeks. However, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that PathMark was having a three day triple coupon event where they would triple coupons up to, and including, a dollar! You could use up to 10 per order each day. Unfortunately we found out on Saturday so we missed Friday...but we made the most of of it.

Shopping Trip #1 (Saturday, Beth's Customer Card for Pathmark):



-6 2-packs of Gerber 2nd Foods
-1 bag of cat treats
-1 4-pack of YoBaby Yogurt
-2 Ken's Dressing Marinades
-2 24-packs of Hefty paper plates
-1 package Robin Eggs Candy (yum!)

Total Before Coupons and Store Sales: $26.87

What I Paid: 69 CENTS!


Shopping Trip #2 (Saturday, Eddie's Customer Card)



-20 Light and Fit yogurts
-1 4-pack YoBaby Yogurt
-1 bag of cat treats
-2 Ken's Dressing Marinades
-6 2-packs of Gerber 2nd Foods
-4 boxes of cereal

Total Before Coupons and Store Sales: $52.61

What I Paid: $9.61



Shopping Trip #3 (Sunday, Beth used Eddie's card)



-12 2-packs of Gerber 2nd Foods
-2 4-packs of YoBaby Yogurt
-1 2-liter of seltzer
-1 Totinos Pizza

Total Before Coupons and Store Sales: $20.04

What I Paid: $2.13



Shopping Trip #4 (Sunday, Beth's Customer card)



-12 2-pack Gerber 2nd Foods
-1 Colgate Toothpaste
-2 cans pineapple chunks
-1 box of pasta
-1 jar of pasta sauce
-1 box of cake mix
-1 tub of frosting
-2 packs of feminine hygeniene products

Total Before Coupons and Store Sales: $33.82

What I Paid: $4.18


If we had paid full price for everything it would have been $133.34. Instead, we invested some time and plannning for couponing and sale prices and only paid $16.61!

The reason the totals got to be so low was that we had a bunch of $1.00 coupons that turned into $3.00 coupons...much of the time that was more than the product cost.

The best part of these trips was the baby food for Henry. I am a "fan" of Gerber on facebook and they had a week where they had a coupon a day for a dollar off of certain products. One that I got was $1 off of 3 Gerber 2nd Foods, which is what Henry is eating now. I was wise enough to make multiple copies (they didn't say not to duplicate) so that each trip we could use a few of the coupons. The cost per container was 99 cents so one the coupon was tripled, the food was free. Between our four trips and Eddie's mom helping out we ended up with 45 2-packs of food for free!

I did not have my game face on for the first trip so we probably missed out on some other good deals. However, overall I think we did really well!

Sidenote: We were all set to leave for a bonus trip using PopPop's card last night around 10:15 when I received a text message from Katie telling me that Obama was going to be making an announcement. Since it was supposed to come on at 10:30 we put our trip on hold. The announcement was delayed so we missed getting a bonus trip in but I think it was worth being able to watch some great American history on TV.

Watch for another post soon with updated videos of the little boy being cute....as usual.