Weight Watchers

Jonathan had a few checkups today. His height and weight, 80 centimeters and 10 kilos, are still following the third percentile on the growth curve for his age. What's interesting is that he's actually somewhere between the 25th and 50th percentile on the growth curve for height to weight. This means that although he's small for his age, he's perfectly proportional.  In other words, he's turning out to be a normal, just small, kid.

Bolder Boulder

This weekend we left the kids with my parents and headed up to my old stomping grounds for the 2012 Boulder Bolder 10K. A group of girls from our old Sunday School class decided to run it this year. For the past few months the girls had been running together on the weekends to get in shape for the race. All of the other guys, except for me, watched the kids while the girls ran.  I hadn't run a race in 10 years, nor do a I recall running this long, since the 2002 Bloomsday 12K in Spokane. Like Bloomsday, this year there were approximately 47,000 timed finishers that ran the Boulder Bolder.

On Saturday night the girls got together for some spaghetti and to make their matching tie dye shirts. I was feeling a bit under the weather so I stayed home with Jonathan. The next day we dropped off the kids and took the scenic route to Westminster, where we stayed the night. We all went out to dinner and it was nice to watch (and laugh) at all the other families trying to eat and wrangle their kids at the same time while we enjoyed a nice dinner. We tried not to laugh too hard, because although it was entertaining, we certainly felt their pain.

The runners all piled into a car this morning and were taken to the runner drop off by Dwight, Brittany's husband. We all were going to meet in section 115 in the stadium after the race. I was in an earlier wave then the girls and I wanted to give them their own time, so I left them and walked to the start by myself. I ended up getting to the start with the KBCO (local radio station) wave, and at 8:25 a.m. they fired the gun and we were off and running.

The course was pretty flat and at about 1,500 feet less then where we live, so that definitely helped. However, since we all hadn't run a race in quite some time we weren't able to qualify and spent the entire race looking for our next hole in the pack to get around the kids and joggers. There was great support along the way. People had made snacks and had sprinklers out and a few even had a slip and slide set up for those less then serious participants. I ran slightly faster then I had expected, considering I had only really been running half the distance once or twice during the week as part of my regular fitness routine (read: I didn't bother training). In the end I only finished two and a half minutes slower then when I ran the course 12 years ago in college and had been training for it. My pace today was faster then 10 years ago at Bloomsday. Stacey finished almost exactly where she thought she would.

Aaron

Ran the course in 53 minutes and some change. I averaged 7 miles per hour, or, in other words, ran about 8:39 pace per mile. I finished in the top 15% of all runners. More fun though, I finished seventh for 34 year old males from Colorado Springs.

Stacey

Ran the course in 61 minutes and some change.  She averaged slightly over 6 miles per hour, or, in other words, ran about a 9:51 pace per mile. She finished fifth for 35 year old females from Colorado Springs.

Considering we didn't really take this that seriously, we're pretty happy with our results. Neither of us really trained for it nor are we distance runners (yet). Seeing how well we did compared to others makes us want to take it a little more seriously next year. Running is one of those sports where it seems like you can get faster with age, up to a certain point.

After the race we got our goodie bags and free beer, and settled down in the stadium to watch the women's and men's elite race and Memorial Day tribute (including parachuters and a flyby from two F-18s). I went down to the field and got some good footage of Stacey finishing up the race (first video) and to get some footage of others (second video). Stacey's video is a great example how hard it was to dodge the people and kids that sometimes were a little unpredictable. We had a really good time and hope to do it again next year.

Squeezeworthy

Herbs And Buds

Cardiologist

Today we had our appointment with the cardiologist for Jonathan. Although we didn't expect anything to be wrong, we wanted to rule out the possibility that a heart condition has been contributing to his lack of appetite and poor weight gain.

They gave him a quick exam and then hooked him up to an EKG machine. The assistant had us take off Jonathan's shirt so she could place the contacts on his upper body. He seemed to find the ordeal amusing, since he thought we were just placing stickers all over his body.

The cardiologist came in and listened to his heart after the EKG was done. He was probably in the room for less then 5 minutes and told us that everything seemed fine to him. He mentioned that Jonathan did seem to have a Still's Murmur, which combined with the EKG was just the sign of a strong, young heart.

A murmur isn't anything to be concerned about in and of itself. The strict definition of a murmur is an additional sound present when listening to the heart. Sometimes it could just be the sound of blood flowing through a normal heart; other times the sign of something more serious. It's an observation not a diagnosis. So, based on Jonathan's EKG and a physical exam, the doctor quickly ushered out of his waiting room.

On the way out we overheard him talking to someone, saying that everything seems to be normal from his end...AND, that any weight gain issues might have something to do with the size, or lack thereof, his parents. I guess since Jonathan was playing like crazy in the waiting room proved to them that he doesn't suffer from a lack of energy related to a heart condition.

We didn't expect to find anything. This could be our last specialist. We are hopeful that we're in the home stretch and the only thing now left to do is to get Jonathan off of the g-tube. If you're interested in reading a good article on heart murmurs, click on the link below.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/murmurs.html

Mother's Day Photos

A good portrayal of things around the house - Julia as sweet as ever and Jonathan constantly causing trouble...

We Fun Park

FC Bayern Hotspur

Eat your heart out Martha Stewart...

A whole new world has been opened up to me. That world, most likely dominated by soccer moms and adolescent girls, has a new member.  Apparently, I'm the only one that didn't know about iron-on printer paper.  In today's high-tech world, all one needs to create a completely individualized t-shirt is Avery Inkjet paper from Wal-Mart and a good imagination.  It goes without saying that most people already have a printer and an iron at home.

Why would I ever buy another t-shirt when I can make one exactly how I want it for a mere $10 (including the shirt from Old Navy)?  I'm just sayin'. Considering I need a couple of new t-shirts anyway, I'm probably going to make a few more to wear around this summer.

You may be asking what this shirt is all about. The Premier League season ended on Sunday in spectacular fashion. Manchester City won the league by scoring not one, but two, goals in the final 5 minutes of their game. Since all of the final day's games are played at the same time, I was flipping back and forth between about four to five games, depending on what was happening and the importance of the match. In case you still think that this sport and league haven't caught on in this country, Fox aired all 10 games at the same time on their various network of channels.

Spurs ended the season in fourth place. All year we held third, but over the final few games we fell in the standings to fourth. Unfortunately, we were fourth by only one point and third was taken by Arsenal, our arch-rivals. Normally, fourth would be a great finish because it's enough to qualify for the Champions League next season.  This year, however, it might not be good enough.

The reason why fourth may not be good enough is simple. Four clubs from England qualify. However, the defending champion earns an automatic spot in next year's tournament. On Saturday, Chelsea, who finished in sixth in the English Premier League play Bayern Munich in this year's Champions League Final.  If Chelsea win, they will automatically qualify for next year's tournament and will knock out the fourth placed team.

So, all Spurs fans are pulling hard for Bayern to win on Saturday. I'm not the only one who came up with the idea to combine the logos of Spurs and Bayern Munich or to put them on a t-shirt. I made this shirt because a group of us, around 15 strong, are getting together on Saturday at a sports bar to watch the game. I reserved a private side room at a restaurant that boasts surround sound and a 100+ inch projection screen.  It should be a good time...as long as Bayern win and Spurs book their place in next year's Champions League.

Mother's Day 2012

I don't normally make posts of this nature for all the world to read, but this past year has been far from normal, so I guess it's fitting.

Last Mother's Day we had been out of the hospital for only a few days and our journey with Jonathan was just beginning. We had a new feeding tube to deal with, vomiting, countless visits to the doctor, job searching, Julia starting preschool and, of course, both of us working in addition to responsibilities around the house coming up over the next year. I went back and looked at our detailed notes and counted 226 times over the past year that Jonathan either spit up or vomited his entire feeding. That's not a typo - it really has been 226 times since we started taking notes around Mother's Day of last year.

Yet, despite going through an entire year of getting up at five a.m. to put in a few hours of work, taking Jules to school, feeding Jonathan three to four times a day, working some more, running errands, doing laundry, entertaining the kids, etc., we're all still together and all relatively happy and healthy. Last week Jonathan visited the pediatrician and was back on the second percentile for height to weight ratio for the first time since he was two months old. Julia, always a handful "upstairs", is still a healthy and happy little girl. I always have clean and ironed clothes and food for work, and the house is still cleaner then most even if we have some help.

It's probably safe to say that if I had married someone with less character, things may be very different. Life can throw you plenty of curve balls. The true character of someone is revealed when life gets tough. I know Stacey has given up a lot over the past year (and longer) for this family. Proverbs 31:10, 27-28 sums it up nicely: "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her".

Every year is different. Some years we can talk about how great things have been. Some years call for romance. This year was one of those in our marriage and family where Stacey proved that she was just as tough mentally and physically as anyone I've ever known. I always knew that she had my back, but this past year she's proven that to the kids and me on a daily basis. Other people, even probably our immediate family, have no idea how hard she's had to work or what it's been like day in, day out - a non-stop grind.

So, from the kids and me, Happy Mother's Day Stacey. You've been the glue that has kept us all together - happy and healthy. Your selflessness and drive to be a good mother and wife is appreciated much more then words can ever say. Because of you, our family will have many happy years together to come. Thank you for everything this year. Happy Mother's Day Stacey.

Love,

Aaron, Julia, and Jonathan

Happily Married

This morning Julia was flipping through some old photos on the iPad, and ran across one from our second anniversary. She studied it for awhile, turned to Stacey and asked, "Momma, why do you guys look so happy?"

All either of us could was laugh.  Let's see, how can I explain this?  Well, we were living in Hawaii, making lots of money...  No?  OK sweetie, um, well, we just look really young and rested in that picture, that's all.

Time for some four-year old little girl induced self-reflection...