Marathon Madness

Two finishers! Brett finished his very first marathon yesterday, and in fine form! He ran the entire way (with stops only at water/ gatorade stations) and finished in 4hrs 22min. We got to see him around mile 12, right before mile 20, and coming into the finish -- looking strong at each point. Genny also ran a great race, and got her best time in 3hrs 44 min. I saw her at first two spots I saw Brett but missed her finish (my mom saw it). The day turned out to be gorgeous... a little warm for the runners toward the end of the race, but really nice for everyone out to cheer! :) Nora was a champ the whole time she was downtown, and she did some running of her own up and down the sidewalk on Woodward with our friend Beth while we watched the finishers come in. I left my camera in the car (of course) so I'll try to track down some pictures in the next couple of days. Thanks for thinking of the runners and for all the well-wishes.

Bumpy Pumpkins

I hope you're getting pumped for Halloween... we certainly are. Nora learned the word "pumpkin" a few weeks ago, but now that they're everywhere we turn, we hear it a LOT. She loves the pumpkins and, of course, the black cats that have popped up with all the seasonal decor. She's even taken to wearing a Halloween dishtowel as a cape (very Rossing-esque):

To feed the pumpkin frenzy, we went to Livonia's Wilson Barn to get ourselves some jack o'lanterns on Saturday. They also had a small collection of farm animals to check out -- including a Grey Goose named "Vodka." Nora was happy to see the animals and so excited to see all those pumpkins! She spent a long time touching one after another and pronouncing them "bumpy--" another new word.

We finally settled on three, including a nice warty bumpy pumpkin for dad. We plan to go to a pumpkin carving party the weekend before Halloween, so if I have pics of the finished goods, I'll post them after that.

This weekend we popped Nora on our scale to see where she was... a whopping 27.5 pounds! She's definitely getting big. Here's a comparison -- this is a picture of Nora at a different pumpkin patch this time last year:

This week I ask you to say a special prayer for Brett, and particularly his knee. The Detroit Marathon is next Sunday, October 21 (start is at 7:15am). One of his knees has been giving him some trouble, so he cut way back on the training he'd wanted to do to give the knee a chance to recover. He's still in great shape to run, but is concerned about the change in his training schedule and about the knee injury in general. He has new shoes (already being broken in!), a new and better knee brace, and a new-found appreciation for the inflammation-fighting properties of ibuprofen.

As it turns out, we'll also be cheering for my sister Genny running her first Detroit marathon. Wait, you say, didn't she just run a marathon? Yep... but since the Chicago marathon turned out to be so crazy with the hot weather, she didn't run as hard as she'd trained to run. She felt better with her training this year than the last few years and instead of "wasting" it, decided to jump into another race!

Also, I have another prayer request... for several months we have asked for prayers for my aunt and uncle's adoption of their daughter Marissa (bottom of this page). Things are finally clicking into place! Please turn up the juice on your prayers that the next few weeks go smoothly and they are able to bring their little girl home to the family that already loves her so very, very much.

I'm sorry that this post is lacking a lot of energy... I don't have much myself! I think Nora passed off a cold virus to me this weekend and I spent a few hours each day moving little landscaping rocks (more tedious work than I would have guessed). So, I'm off to bed... good night!

PS: I ALMOST FORGOT! A few posts ago I'd joked about how it would be later rather than sooner when Nora attempted to say "Genevieve." I was wrong! Yesterday she was looking at pictures and telling me who everyone was (as long as they were named Granpda/ Grandma [one word for both at this point], Beth, Tucker, Mama or Daddy) when she pointed at the picture of her Aunt Genevieve holding her and said -- to the best of my phoenitical abilities -- "Fayfayvf." It doesn't look like much, I know, but we're getting pretty familiar with her code-talk and recognize new words pretty quickly when she throws one out. I tried not to overreact (she gets self-conscious if you make too big a deal of things), and calmly asked, "Did you say 'Genevieve?'" She nodded, and said "Fayfayvf" again! Aunt Chino, your name is next. :)

Goodbye, Grandma Riggs

Last week, on October 3, Brett's Grandma Riggs passed away. Though she had been in poor health for some time, her passing came as a surprise. We were in Kalamazoo for the visitation Friday night and Three Rivers and Kalamazoo for the funeral services Saturday. Even though we certainly would rather have met under happier conditions, it was nice to see each of Brett's cousins, aunts and uncles -- his sister Alison was even able to get in from Colorado, which was really great.
Grandma and Grandpa Riggs have been members of Oakwood Bible Church for 40 years, and taught the toddlers' class for many of those years. A good number of those toddlers, now grown, came to both the visitation and the funeral. It was nice to see the faces of so many people we'd heard so much about... as was mentioned repeatedly over the last few days, Grandma Riggs was a talker, and she liked to tell you about all the people in her life. Brett and I heard multiple times from people who were strangers to us how they'd heard all about Nora. I don't have a copy of the obituary with me, but if I get one, I'll edit this post to include it here. In the meantime, please keep Brett's Grandpa and the rest of their family in your prayers as they mourn a woman who was such an important part of their lives.

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Unfortunately, I received additional sad news on Sunday. The little girl in our prayer requests who has been battling a brain tumor lost the fight this weekend. Sophie Quayle passed away in her mother's arms at 11:55 pm on Saturday. Our family has never met Sophie's family, but I have read her parents' blog for several months. Their faith and love is exemplary and an amazing example for all. Please keep this family in your prayers as they prepare to bury their little girl on Friday, October 12.

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Lastly, just wanted to include a quick note about my sister Genevieve's marathon run since a few people have asked if she's ok. As you may have heard, Chicago experienced record highs this weekend and the race was shut down after 3 1/2 hours. Genny was past the shut down point, finished the race, and is doing fine. I haven't spoken to her yet, but I understand it was a very, very rough day. Thanks to all of you who kept her in your thoughts and prayers on Sunday.

Small Talk

Nora is adding new words to her vocabulary left and right... I can't keep the word watch list updated anymore! I'll leave it there for a little while if you're wondering what her first batch of words contained, but I can't keep up with adding new words. Some of what she says is so funny... maybe only to us because, of course, every parent is so in love with their own child! Here are some examples, though, of what/ when she's said (she's working one word at a time at this point):

• Two weeks ago I was pulled over and got a speeding ticket on Southfield Fwy (still 55 mph, folks... a friendly reminder). The officer took all my information, then came back and presented me with a ticket for 5 mph over. As he walked away, Nora said "Uh oh..." You can say that again, sister.
• Nora says her name, but just whispers it. She seems to do that with words that are important to her when she first starts saying them. Back in the day when "Daddy" was a new word, she'd whisper it. I'd encourage her to say it again, "but this time you can say it loud." She'd promptly say "LOUD!"
• Her first joke? Almost every weekday, Nora will ask me where her dad is ("Daddy?") I tell her he went to work, and for a few days she would respond to this by saying "Potty!" and laughing. I don't even know what that joke means, but I had to laugh too because she thought it was soo funny.

Our friend Beth came over yesterday and Nora was excited... first because she loves Beth and second because "Beth" is one of the names she can say. I heard her say it several times, especially when Beth walked out of the room and Nora 'needed' to know where she'd gone. "Beth! Beth!" and she'd run in the direction Beth had last been headed. I talked to Genny yesterday and told her that Nora's name list includes Beth, Bob, Anna, Lola, and Elmo... and that "Genevieve" is probably right around the corner!

We also took Nora to the apple orchard on Saturday. They had a tiny petting farm (not interested) and a little cat wandering around (greatest thing ever). We checked out the pumpkins (not interested) and got some donuts and cider (second greatest thing ever). So next weekend, we're just going to get a box of donuts, invite a stray cat into the yard and skip the trip to the orchard.

Here is another batch of recent pictures. Enjoy, and thanks for checking in!
Love,
Sarah, Brett and Nora

Naptime... I found her sleeping sideways a couple of weeks ago:

Sleepy girl:

"Reading" Dad's book in Mom and Dad's bed:

With Little Fil in the snuggly couch nest she made:

In the Pumpkin Patch at the Apple Orchard:

Eating donuts with Daddy:

With Mom at the Apple Orchard:

This is what she does if you ask her to make a silly or a crazy face:

Just about on her way to bed:

Still More Running

Maybe we should change this to a blog about running. The big news: Brett is officially registered for the Detroit Marathon! The race is October 21. I'll be working to figure out how to get down to cheer and also keep Nora happy, fed, and napped, but if you're interested in coming along, let me know. Check out the website for race information and a map of the course.

More Running!

On October 7th my sister, Genevieve, will be running the Chicago Marathon for the SIXTH time. You may know that last year she ran to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This year, she is running to raise money for Autism Research. Please consider supporting this excellent cause. You can visit Genny's Organization for Autism Research (OAR) page for more information and to donate. This past week, Oprah did a show on Autism that was very good -- Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete talked about how austism has impacted their families and particularly their sons. One point both mothers made that I was very glad to hear -- please don't refer to their kids as "Autistic." Instead, they are children with Autism. The child comes first, the disorder second. Definitely something I'll be more sensitive to in the future! In the meantime, here's the link if you wanted more on that Oprah show. It's great to see Oprah using her influence to raise awareness... this is the second time I've seen her focus a show on Autism and the need for research.

Run Run Run

Whoa, nelly... it's been a really long time since we posted anything new. It feels like we've been busy since early August, but I think it's just summertime stuff.

Everything has been going well for all three of us. Brett did run his race over Labor Day weekend, along with our friends Tom and Beth. All three did great, and Brett felt so good that he decided to join Tom's Dances With Dirt team for their race the next weekend. DWD is a 100K relay race (not a typo... that's 62 miles). Each person on the five member team runs 3 separate legs, usually for a total of 12 to 17 miles. The kicker is that the terrain is like the worst cross country race you ever saw! At one point, Brett was in mud up to his armpits (literally), using a rope to pull himself through the muck. He said it was hard, but fun, and the only soreness he had the next day were his calves (he hasn't been running on any hills, so the hilly course was tough on those muscles). He is still considering either the half or the whole marathon in Detroit, but wants to get the really long (20 mile) training run behind him before he registers.

We had a chance to visit with some out-of-town cousins this past month too. Sadly, my cousin Maria was in town for her grandfather's funeral, but it was still so nice to see her and her little guy Jake (or should I say, not so little. Jake is ~6 months younger than Nora and outweighs her by about 5 lbs!). My Aunt Marguerite and Uncle Rick were also in town from Seattle, and we even got a chance to hang out with Michelle and "baby" Lucas (he's no shrimp either!) We have a picture of the cousins and the babies together, but it's on my mom's camera... when we'll manage to download that onto a computer and share it has yet to be determined!

Speaking of my mom, she and my dad are in Egypt right now! They left for their trip to the Holy Lands and Egypt a week and a half ago. We've been able to follow along on a blog that their guide posts online each evening, and it's been great to see where they've gone and what they've seen (and eaten... a lot of footage of the lunches and dinners makes it into the video clips!) Nora and I expect to pick them up on Thursday afternoon and can't wait to hear about everything.

Nora has been working on her spoon skillz and they're coming along really well. She can eat applesauce and yogurt on her own with a spoon and thinks it's the greatest. A lot lands on her bib, but not to worry... she thinks throwing dirty clothes into her laundry hamper is the second greatest thing ever. Soon, she'll be running this house on her own (awesome). Or else just running all over this house... running is her current choice of locomotion. So funny to watch since she doesn't yet pump her arms at all!

Last weekend we were in Portage and Mendon to visit with Brett's family. Beth and Chris are getting ready for a fun trip of their own with their friend Judy, and Lon and Diane were just getting back from a weekend of camping. The weather was a little cool so we didn't get into the lake for a swim, too bad. We did, though, get over to see Brett's Grandparents (Nora's Great-Grandparents) and Nora behaved herself pretty well!

Not too much else to say. Thanks for checking the blog... here are a bunch of random pictures (of you-know-who). Enjoy, and keep in touch!
Love,
Sarah, Brett and Nora G
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Should anyone look like this much trouble first thing in the morning??? Seriously, it's a little scary


This is much better:

This is Nora's response when you ask her to smile. Her Grandpa H thinks she looks like Popeye... I can't say that I disagree!


More smiling...


... and this is what she does when you ask to see a frown (check out the fish tattoo on her thigh!):


We've had a LOT of self-accessorizing this summer. Anything she finds can generally become a bracelet, a hat, or a purse. Here she is wearing some packaging as a hat:


... and a teething ring as a bracelet (along with this little scarf that came with her dress... she loved it):


... and totally overdoing the whole look, but loving it anyhow! Anytime she added something new to her ensemble, she'd say "pretty!"


But sometimes just one accessory was enough to make a girl feel glamorous:


We read all the time... and when we're not reading to her, she likes to look at books by herself. Right now, we've had a hot streak with "Are You My Mother," "Green Eggs and Ham," and "Hug" (by Jez Alborough... she calls it "Bobo" after the little Gorilla in the book). She has also borrowed her dad's paperback copy of "Everything is Illuminated" several times and "read" it for up to ten minutes at a time.


Hurricane force winds:


Okay, I know this is a fluke, but check it out anyhow! Nora chose the letters of her own name and spelled it out (100% backwards) in the tub the other night. I'll admit, she did not have the whole alphabet in the tub with her [though more than just her name], but she was so deliberate in sticking up the letters and turning them around until they were upright, it made it look like she really knew what she was doing! (note the ankle bracelet/ activity gym link, even in the tub)