Nice long weekend

Ahhh, it was so nice to have a 3 day weekend. We had a busy one...as Memorial Day weekend tends to be for us every year.

In a nutshell...

Saturday Max and I went to the Seadogs with my sister and Garrett. The boys had a nice time. It's neat to see them together because they are pretty much the same age difference that Max and Mason are. Garrett just turned 7 and is at the age where hanging out with a 3 1/2 year old isn't all that fun (but he's good and tolerates him!) This pictures captures them perfectly!!

After the game Ray & Mason picked up Max and I at the game and we headed to the Belgrade Lakes area where the annual Arbour camping weekend takes place. Max was in his glory hanging out with Jackson for the entire weekend (Ray's cousin's little boy who's 4) . The two boys had an absolute blast together!!

You think they had fun?!?! :-)

And a few other pictures from the weekend - Mason had a blast as well and was SUPER happy all weekend - lots and lots of smiles, giggles and talking!

Mason also started on RICE CEREAL this weekend and did awesome!

Tomorrow is Mason's first day at daycare. I'm okay with it. Of course a little sad but he'll be in good hands...and big brother will be there to watch over him as well. :-)

I DID IT!

Well I did it - 39.3 miles (a marathon on Saturday - 26.2 and a half marathon yesterday -13.1) It was an experience that's hard to put into words. I'm in rough shape physically (lots of blisters and soreness) but it was all worth it. The way I looked at it - the people in which we were walking for are in far more pain than I was feeling. Every time I wanted to stop and wave down the chase vehicle (or as it was referred to as the "Boob-mobile") I thought about a variety of things:

* I pictured the woman standing on the side of the road Day 2 at about mile 4 or 5 who was obviously going through chemo cheering us all on as we walked with a smile on her face and tears coming down her face.

* Seeing all the T-shirts people wore with their stories written on the back. One that struck me was a young girl, probably close to my age with a shirt that said "For my Mom - I will always love you"

* The quote we kept hearing throughout the weekend - "Blisters don't need chemo"

* Listening to the Youth Group (kids ages 10-16 who were "Jr. Staff") who told their stories about why they wanted to be a part of this event.

* Seeing ladies with "Survivor" T-shirts or hats on or messages that said "I am walking for...ME" 200 of the 2,900 walkers were currently battling the disease and were not yet in remission.

The list can go on and on but it was an emotional weekend, one that I certainly will never forget.

Over 2,900 walkers participated raised a record breaking $6.9 million which will go towards finding a cure. While the walk began Saturday morning with torrential downpours, by 9am the rain stopped, we began drying out & the rest of the weekend was absolutely beautiful. We (my sister, cousin & I) completed the full 39.3 miles which took us a total of 15.25 hours over 2 days and 80,000+ steps.

Ray, Max, Mason, my Mom and Dad were at the finish line to greet us which was a nice way to end an emotional, exhausting weekend.

Lastly, A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who donated!! I couldn't have had this great experience without your support!!

Here are a few links to photos taken so you will be able to get a better idea of the weekend:
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=46191211244696351/l=367404603/g=25399525/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=268181211164598269/l=375093374/g=8062366/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=191181211152035133/l=377584191/g=28410537/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Work, Garrett's B-day, room and Avon Walk....

Well I went back to work on Monday. Ho hum. It stinks but the 2nd time around it's not as hard. Trying to find time to get everything done that I need to is what's hard. Having Mason at my Mom's for the next two weeks and Max at daycare it's tough to get them both (they are at opposite sides of town) home at a reasonable hour, get dinner, have baths, do the laundry, get a walk in, clean up dinner, make bottles for the night...you get my gist!

Who wants to hear me moan and groan...on to better things!!!! ;-)


This past weekend we went to Garrett's 7th birthday party which Max had a lot of fun at:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARRETT!!

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This weekend is the BIG WALK in Boston!! Both Lori and I met our $1,800 goal on Monday! YEAH! Thanks SO MUCH to all those that donated to us!! So we're both 100% walking - along with our cousin Donna who decided a short time ago to join us which we're excited about! The weather isn't looking too promising so everyone do a rain dance for us!! The way we look at it - walking 26.2 miles day one and 13.1 day two in the rain is NOTHING compared to battling cancer, going through chemo or losing a loved one so we need to remember the reasons why were doing this - RAIN OR SHINE! I'm actually REALLY excited for the whole experience!

Max and Mason's room (well Mason still isn't in it, not until he sleeps through the night...which may be a while. He's not the sleeper Max was, that's for sure!) is almost done. I'm still waiting on a few things to come in the mail but here's a before and after:

Before:

After:

Here are a few pictures of the boys taken over the last week or so!

The newest Arbour...

A BIG congrats to Ray's brother, Greg and his wife Allison on their new baby boy born last night!

Colin Bray Arbour

7lbs. 14oz.

20 inches long

Two months old

Well time certainly flies - Mason was 2 months on Saturday!

He went for his 2 month check up this morning and like his brother he's a big boy:

14lbs. 2oz (95th percentile)

24 1/2 inches long (95th percentile)

Looking back at Max's baby book he weight a whoppin' 15lbs 2 oz at his 2 month check in!

Here are a few pics of the growing boy:

Max is off to Rays parents tomorrow night and Wednesday so while he is away I am re-doing his bedroom (which soon will be Max AND Mason's room once Mason is sleeping through the night). I've been getting really into eBay since being on maternity leave and found some pretty awesome things!! So Max will have a CURIOUS GEORGE themed room and he has NO IDEA! He LOVES Curious George so he will be so excited! I took a few before pictures of his room and will post the before and after in a few days.

Here is a typical picture of Mister Max...

Well I'm back to work a week from today. :( I'm sad but it is what it is and there's nothing that I can do about it. A SMALL part of me is excited to get back into a routine and have daily adult interaction. Ray's been traveling for the past 3 weeks and it's taking a toll on me and making me a bit insane but his traveling will be slowing down (THANK GOD!) when I go back to work!

That's it for now - the boys are both asleep and I'm pooped as well - time to get some ZZZZ's

I'll be posting photos of "the boys" new room later in the week!