Happy Birthday to Dad...Bob...Mom

Happy Birthday Dad!!! - 1/19
Happy Birthday Bob!!! - 1/22
Happy Birthday Mom!!! - 1/25

So many birthday's in a weeks time. Kate and I drove down to Lexington on Friday night to wish my mom and Bob a very happy birthday at Hattie's. It was a blast and wonderful to see everyone.

Hopefully we will see my Dad sometime next weekend!

Name change...I told you it was subject to change...

Well, we are thinking twice about Jack. I like the name but there are just so many Jack's. Therefore, we are going with Jake. Similar I know but Ryan and I like it better already. We obviously love common names so really it comes down to what we truly like and what we see him being most. At this point it is Jake Levi. Jake Mardis is a strong name, which was our goal, and I can see him being more of a Jake already. And...I like Kate and Jake together. It already sits better with me than the other names we have thrown around so I think this one is it.

No pictures this weekend. We are hanging low. I had 9 employee reviews last week, which I ended up having to ask for an extension. Needless to say, I am spending A LOT of hours in front of my computer this weekend to get them to my boss by Monday. I leave for Chicago on Tuesday morning for the week so not much news on this front. Hopefully next weekend will be filled with some baby preparation stuff (nursery, laundry, etc). Yeah!!!

A sprinkle for Baby Boy Mardis

To top off this eventful week, I was able to spend Friday night/Saturday with 6 of my best friends. Kelly, Jessica, Sarah, April, Michele, and Jennifer all got together in Louisville to help me celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Boy Mardis. Jennifer was gracious enough to host us for dinner on Friday night and then throw me a sprinkle in honor of the little one. It was great to see everyone and laugh at many of the old pictures we pulled out late Saturday night.

I received such wonderful goodies, including several receiving blankets, snuggly blankets (all more appropriate for a boy that what we have), 2 precious outfits, washcloths, hooded towel, nursing cover, diapers/wipes, and so much more. Everything was GREAT! I took several pictures, specifically of Stella (Sarah's newest) and Lucy (Jennifer's youngest) hugging. They were too sweet for words. I will also post a few pictures of the goodies as they are perfect. As cute as the girl things are, there is just something about the blues, browns, and greens of boy clothes/blankets. Jennifer all had us laughing at the little Sock Monkey slippers that she bought for him. Again, I will post a few pictures of my things as soon as I get the chance. I actually left my camera at Jennifer's house so it will be a week or so.

Speaking of the baby boy, we "THINK" we decided on a name...Jack Levi Mardis. This is still subject to change once we see him in person in March so please don't be disappointed if it changes.

I will post the pictures I took as soon as I get my camera back and will grab all the ones April and Jess took with their professional cameras as soon as they post them. I am off to catch up on work things. Being off requires a ton of catch-up!

http://picasaweb.google.com/whitneymardis/JakeSSprinkle#

Downtown Disney

As stated earlier, we went to Downtown Disney for a few hours on Wednesday afternoon. This is a great place to eat and shop. We were all pretty tired so we only stayed long enough for some appetizers, a quick visit to the Lego store, and some shopping at the Disney store.

It is impossible to explain in words the joy we had as a family this week. I had the opportunity to go to Disney a couple of times as a kid, but it was nothing like experiencing it through your own child's eyes. Hopefully we can try this again in 5 years or so...

Here are all the pictures and hopefully a few videos. http://picasaweb.google.com/whitneymardis/DisneyWorld##

Face painting

Here are a few more priceless pictures. Kate got her face painted twice this week, once at the Magic Kingdom (pictures to come) and once at Animal Kingdom. Too cute

The rest of the week and the rest of Disney World

So after venturing out to Epcot on Sunday, we spent the rest of the week visiting the rest of the parks, including Epcot again since it is our favorite.

On Monday, we all headed to the Magic Kingdom. We actually forgot our camera so I will add some pictures from Jon's camera as soon as I get them from him. We also had a disposal so as soon as we finish it, we will add them too. The Magic Kingdom was just that...magical. The castle was amazing, covered in icycle lights in honor of Christmas. I doubt the images on film will do it justice. We rode most everything that we thought Kate would enjoy. Here are a few of her favorites, to name just a few: It's a Small World, Peter Pan, the roller coaster in the kids area (probably her favorite), the Haunted Mansion, and a ton of the small kiddie rides (like Dumbo). She was a trooper without a nap and I would highly encourage anyone to wait until their child is capable of going without a nap before going (also out of diapers) :).

On Tuesday, we spent the 1st half of the day at Universal Studios. Our favorite ride there was Toy Story by far. April, Kate and I waited in line for an hour and it was worth every minute. We rode Toy Story while the boys rode a couple of the bigger rides. Around lunch time, we headed back to Epcot to venture around the world. April, Jon and Ryan enjoyed an adult beverage from most of the countries and I enjoyed a few sips, as well a few treats. We ate in "Mexico" and the food was delicious. It was in Mexico that we discovered an activity they do for all the kids. You start in one country with a blank mask and as you visit each country, you get a charm to hang on the mask and a stamp on the handle. They also have markers at each station to color in more of the mask. I have to admit, this was one of the best experiences of the trip. It kept Kate's interest and ours as well, trying to figure out what the charm represented.

I hope the videos of Kate dancing around in Morocco turned out. It was priceless.

On Wednesday, we spent most of the day at The Animal Kingdom, the "zoo" of the parks. Kate enjoyed the safari and several of the smaller rides. We also enjoyed a delicous breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe. Later in the afternoon, we headed to Downtown Disney to buy Kate and her little brother a little gift. We told her from the beginning that she could get 2 gifts by the end of the week. She picked out a Little Mermaid nightgown that she calls her princess gown and a small Snow White doll with exchangable outfits. The only other purchases were a vintage Mickey Mouse shirt for each of them. They were too cute that I couldn't resist.

Thank you to The Nodine Family

The Nodine Family has been so generous from the 1st time we met them. We have had the opportunity to visit their lake house in Northern Indiana a few times and then enjoyed their company during this trip. Kate LOVES every member of their family, especially Bailey, Jon's 15 year old sister. Bailey is so good with kids and the two of them just gravitated toward each other. Bailey, Sarah, Fritzi, April, and Casey were all a tremendous help with Kate on Sunday when we ventured back to Epcot while the guys rested. Being 30 weeks pregnant, I feel I did pretty well but was tired by the end of the night as expected.

The marathon

Here are some pictures from the big race. They all did great! Ryan and Jon finished together in 5 hours and 19 minutes, which is great for Ryan's 1st marathon and for Jon, considering he had run 13.1 miles just 24 hours before. Ryan felt great until mile 21, where he cramped up in his quad. He compensated for his quad cramping and ended up hurting his hamstring a little. Other than the soreness, he felt great during the rest of the trip. Casey has his personal best, finishing in 4 hours and 45 minutes, which is an hour off his time from last year.

After the race, Ryan and Jon enjoyed a little R&R at the condo, while we all ventured out to Epcot. From then on though, Ryan did everything Kate and I did, even carrying Kate on his shoulders for most of the trip.

A huge congratulations goes out to all 3 of the guys. It was so inspiring to be there and watch thousands of people push their bodies beyond what they ever felt possible. It definitely reenergized me to run again, after the pregnancy of course!

Sunday at Epcot

The first picture is actually of Kate at the Swan and Dolphin resort, which is where we ate sushi on Friday and Saturday night. She was a little tired after the long, cold day on Saturday so I treated her to her first gift...Minnie ears. She looked so cute and had them on most of the trip.

Ryan, Jon and Casey all ran the marathon on Sunday morning. The race started at 5:30 a.m. and since it was still well below freezing, Kate and I decided not to go until around 8:30. We figured they would be done around 11 so we headed to Epcot right when they opened. Luckily, we found one of the character watches while we were waiting, which is where you can meet and take pictures with some of the characters. We toured through this and took several pictures. From this point on, she actually didn't care much to meet the characters, which was great because this was usually the longest lines.

Kate was pretty mesmorized with Epcot and the "big ball". After the race, we ventured back to Epcot with April, Jon's mom (Fritzi), his two sisters (Bailey and Sarah) and Casey. More pictures of that to come.

Jon's 1/2 marathon and Kate's 1st race

Saturday was our first day of races, Jon's 1/2 marathon and Kate's 100 meter dash. As stated in the previous blog, the weather was colder than we expected, even after reading the weather reports. Jon's race started at 5:30 a.m. and the temperature was 20 degrees and it was sleeting. He still did great, running it in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Ryan was a trooper and went down with him to the race and was able to see him off at the start and then see him again at the finish. April, Kate and I went down about 7 to try and see him at the end, but couldn't get through to the end. We ended up providing them a warm car to jump in to once we found them.

Kate's race started at 11, and unfortunately, the weather wasn't much better. It was raining and cold, as you can see in her face. I think by 11, it was around 25 degrees...a wet 25 degrees. She toughed it out and really wanted to do it. We still felt pretty guilty for having her out in the weather for as long as we did. She was great until 1/2 way through the race, when she wanted Ryan to pick her up and finish it. Oh well...she still got a really cute t-shirt, bib number, and a medal (all that match Daddy's).

We are really proud of her for wanting to run and for sticking it out. One of the things I want most for my kids is for them to "want" to be healthy and always lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Part of that comes with setting a good example, which I hope Ryan and I do well. I see many more races in her future. I guess that means there are many more in our future too :)

Kate's 1st time on an airplane

So we left this behind...


only to end up arriving to record cold temperatures in Orlando. Oh well, things can't be perfect. Despite the cold temperatures, the trip was incredible.

Here are some pictures from Kate's 1st airplane trip. She was great. She sat by the window and LOVED the view as we took off. Our trip was smooth and we quickly arrived in Orlando. After arriving, we met April, Jon, Sarah, and Stephen (yes, Sarah and Stephen Clements were randomly in Orlando at the same time for a Stephen's work...what are the odds?) at a sushi restaurant that is part of the Swan and Dolphin resort on the grounds of Disney World. It is a tradition to eat sushi before a long race (good protein, salt, carbohydrates...all while being light on the stomach). Jon ran the 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning and we all just enjoyed the sushi meal.

Twas the night before Disney...

If I could only bottle the excitement inside Kate as she fell asleep tonight anxiously awaiting the moment she gets to meet Mickey Mouse tomorrow. I don't know if she will ever remember this moment, or anything from Disney at 3 1/2, but at least we will get to experience Disney for the 1st time through our child's eyes! I have never been a huge Disney fan but I am now so excited about the trip that I can hardly stand it. Kate made a countdown for the trip and only has one more square to color in tomorrow morning before school.

And I thought Christmas Eve was good...

More details and pictures to come next week! Florida is having record colds right now but at least we will get to escape the 4 inches of snow we got today and the frigid temperatures! I will take 50 degrees any day over this.

Much love!