I came, I ran (13.1 miles), I didn't exactly conquer...but I did finish!

My friend Julie and I (along with some other of our friends) ran the Kentucky Derby 1/2 marathon this morning.

We opted not to take the shuttle which means we would have had to been out the door by 5:30 am so Todd drove us to the starting location at 6:30 instead.

It was a rainy morning, perfect representation for Louisville spring weather.

Here are Julie and I at the start line about 30 minutes before the race. Unfortunately Todd dropped us off before we saw the line of 15,000 runners lined up behind it so that we could get a picture.

It took a good 15-20 minutes after the gun to get everyone through the start line. We were some of the very last to start since we were in line for the potty. Figured it was better to start late and not have our time affected than have to stop mid-race. The line was completely gone. It was somewhere around 2-25 minutes after the gun.

With that many runners it was only expected to see some fun running attire. This group was running for some cause. One of the Elvis characters was pushing a stroller up and down the lines with a boom box.

I had the best cheering section ever. Todd's parents came down which was even more special since today was their anniversary and they did not have to spend it watching me run. I love you guys! They surprised me somewhere around 8-9 miles coming out of Churchill Downs with posters and lots of encouragement. I was starting to get really tired at that point and hearing Todd's voice over the crowd did my heart good. For those of you who have been to events where loud cheering is acceptable (or not on occasion) you know how his voice stands out. It was great. They met me again right before the finish line. I was so grateful for their support.

Julie and I ran together until 10 miles, after that I still had her in my sights for pacing (Can I just say she ROCKED it today??) until about 11.5. After that I hit my wall and thought if I took another step I would die. It was so frustrating wanting to move faster and not having my body listen. That last mile and 1/2 ruined every chance of me keeping my pace, which up to that point we were sticking to fairly well. It didn't just ruin it, it shattered it into a thousand pieces. I felt a little discouraged when I was trying so hard to keep running and a man walking passed me :) I was worried that if I started walking I wouldn't be able to start back up, so I kept to my snail pace.
When the finish line was FINALLY in view my body miraculously started working again. Funny how that works.

The first thing Fisher asked me when he saw my medal was "Did you win?!?" Although my time wasn't what I was hoping for I am so proud of myself for following through with this race and finishing it. Maybe, when my legs aren't so sore, and my body is not so tired, I might just think about doing this again.

I wanted to put this picture up to remind me how chubby my cheeks are. Maybe by the next race they will have shrunk a little :)
And Julie- I was so proud of you today! You rocked it. You also kicked my butt. Thanks for pushing me and convincing me to do this race. It was definitely worth it.
I also have decided that marathon runners are insane.

10 Months...That is only 2 months away from ONE YEAR!

If pictures are worth a thousand words then there are a good 45,000 words on this one. That is what happens when I miss a monthly update.

I would apologize in advance but you are the one choosing to look at this blog :)

Since I never gave Cooper's stats from his 9 month check up, here they are:...

Oops. Never mind. Went digging for them wherever it was I had kept them written down for forever and now I've lost them.

I remember that he was 17 lbs. 15 oz. (which they rounded to 18lbs.) That was somewhere around the 10% in weight and whatever his height happened to be (which I wouldn't know since I LOST the piece of scrap paper like the fabulous mom that I am) was also around the 10%. The doctor looked at me and then asked me how tall my husband is. I told him I am 5'2 (which I round up from the constant 5'1.5 that I always seemed to be measured at the doc's office) and Todd is around 5'11....He then informed me that although the boys have their daddy's eye color I am winning in the size category.

Let's hope that isn't the case.

Anyhow, I will make the rest of these short and tell you a little of what the Coopster has been up to lately.

He is an active little beast but a cute and happy one at that.

And here are a few picture of his feet because I can't get enough of his little hands and toes.

I will mention that his fingernails grow so fast and are as sharp as talons constantly even though I swear I will have just cut them and they will be sharp again.

He is idolizes Fisher. No one can make Cooper laugh the way Fisher does.

When we go to grocery store he now rides around in the cart and loves looking around at everyone and flirting with the women.

Bath time is still one of his favorites.

He still has beautiful blue eyes, courtesy of Todd.

He sleeps around 11 hours a night and will take one or two naps throughout the day depending on our agenda for the day. There have been days where he will have slept 20 minutes from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed. Those days sometime feel a little lllooooonnnnnggg.

He says "mama" and "dada" although he has no clue what he is saying.

Most people who have been around Cooper on a regular basis will agree that he is not a crier. I know that he has hurt himself if he starts really crying. Here's what he looks like.

So around 3-4 wks ago (I think) he cut his first tooth. This kid is the slowest teether in the world and we thought Fisher was slow.

The two teeth he has cut are barely visible still. He does tend to get a little grumpy when they break through and I guess I can't blame him. Fisher got his first two (bottom front) when he was 8 months and then 9 months. The next two teeth to come in were his top canines. He looked like a little vampire.

Now Cooper has cut his two bottom canines as his first two teeth...There are some strange things going on in the Church house.

Cooper drools a lot.

It probably has something to do with those little teeth...

Or it might just be due to his love of blowing raspberries.

To help with the pain he loves to chew. Apples are one of his favorites. It is nice since he doesn't have any teeth I don't have to worry about him actually biting anything off and choking although I will find little scrape marks from the two little microscopic nubs that he has.

He will also chew on drum sticks (and anything else he can find that is not supposed to go in his mouth.)

But occasionally he prefers to play with them instead.

Same goes for the blocks. Sometimes he chews...

And sometimes he plays.

He has been eating solid foods for at least 2-3 weeks now. Despite not having teeth, he is great at chewing. For lunch I will normally infant size dice him up some chicken, bananas or peaches, carrots, and cheese. I still give him cereal and baby food at breakfast and dinner and sometimes in the afternoon if he wants it. He's still nursing although he has cut down on some of those feedings.

He loves shoving all of it in his mouth. About 75% of it makes it in. He loves eating food this way. For snacks or to keep him occupied I will give him Rice Krispies and puffs and he will happily eat them while I try to get stuff done.

We're still working on the sippy cup. For now it seems to be more of a toy. Or ball. You know, something that gets lobbed across the room harder and further than should be possible for a ten month old.

It also works well as a chew toy.

The guy has been standing for over a month and now is taking steps when he feels like it. The other night I was walking with him holding on to his hands. When I let go, instead of him crawling, he took SIX steps!! Todd and I were so excited. We got down on the ground and tried to get him to walk back and forth between us but he, instead, looked at us like we were a bunch of buffoons. Like I said, he walks when he feels like it.

He likes getting into EVERYTHING. Magnets are something he enjoys tremendously at the moment.

And Fisher's table. There are always all kinds of "no-no's" on there.

He loves looking out the window and playing with the blinds.

Occasionally he will play a little peek-a-boo with the grass.

Can I mention how much I love this sweet little boy? He is still a happy place for me, even if it is a lot more active than it was six months ago!

Cooper loves pulling books off the shelf. Some days I will find books pulled off all three bookshelves through out our house along with the DVDs. He also has started ripping pages out them which four of my library books can attest to.

He loves playing with Fisher's toys, especially the cars the Easter Bunny brought. (Still working on that Easter post. (Maybe by the 4th of July.)

Since we only have carpet in the bedrooms, the little push car Fisher used to learn how to walk, slips out from under Cooper when trying to walk in the main area.

Cooper has found a good alternative to the problem. He will push Fisher's little chairs around the house probably about 1-2 hours a day.

But when cruising, pushing chairs and jumping fails him, Cooper always has his speedy gonzales crawl to fall back on. The kid is FAST. Especially when he knows he is not supposed to be going somewhere.

When he gets too out of control he spends some confined time in his pack n' play with a bunch of toys.

One of his favorite toys is still Daddy's receiver, along with all other electronics. He likes making the lights turn on and off.

He loves to dig through the Wii stuff.

And then he likes to eat it.

When I find myself going into panic mode because the house is such a disaster (which it has been for quite a while now. I can't seem to get my act together. thank goodness I have such a low key husband when it comes to things like cooking and cleaning- I am lucky.) we head to the park where Cooper hangs out eating food in his stroller.

He is old enough now though, where all he wants to do is get out and crawl around with the big boys. It does make park time a little more difficult compared to the fall where he would sleep the whole time.

I love this little boy but I have to admit I love when it is time to put him down for the night. He is a busy little boy these days.