Running with the Gang

People often wonder how on earth I'm able to run with 2 babies and a dog. Well, I'll be honest- it's not easy; 1 person running and in charge of 3 others is no easy task. But we all love it, so we make it happen.

The reactions of people nearly everywhere we go is quite amusing. I've never had just one baby, but I imagine 1 baby goes through life a little more inconspicuous than 2 at a time. With our girls in toe, literally everywhere we go people seem to feel obliged to make comments- everything from the benign and obvious statements like, "Oh, you have 2 babies," to the more agitating and less welcome comments like, "Double trouble," or "Twice the work." At this point honestly, most comments don't even evoke nor warrant a reaction from me, but I'll tell you what; if the comments seem plentiful when it's me and the girls... wow, throw in Lucy the dog, and people just don't know what to do. The sheer volume of under the breath comments, braking cars to gawk at the circus, or simply jaws dropping is literally mind boggling. Anyway, I know it's not common for folks to see, so it's all just fine by me I suppose, but these are a few shots from our run today. Needless to say, the girls love our runs and it's a glorious nap-time for them;

Sunday Dresses

Today Mommy had to work (this happens only every once in a while that she works on a weekend), so the girls and Daddy decided to venture out to church this morning. They put on their Sunday best, and we had a nice outing at church. Here are a few pics of them in their little dresses.

The first reminds me of American Gothic, and the rest are each smiling or laughing, just not simultaneously...

Back in the Saddle

Well, Daddy's back home and back in the saddle with the girls again. Today we ventured out to the zoo again, and I pushed the envelope to try the girls out in the stroller like "big girls" (i.e., strapped directly into the stroller, and not just plopping them straight in without getting out of their car seats). They were perfectly happy, and I think enjoyed being able to see the animals better, but they're still having a little trouble holding their heads up... especially when they fall asleep.I had a great time in Wyoming/Montana, and a really fun time at the Bighorn 100, but it's great to be back home to all my girls. Fortunately my Mom was able to come out for a visit to help take care of the girls while I was gone, so that was a huge help. The girls had a fun time with Grandma, and even got to have a double Grandma day on Friday when Kirsten's Mom came down too and the girls and the Grandmas went to the zoo. Katherine and Annabelle loved all the extra snuggling too.

Gone to the Mountains

Well, daddy’s gone to the mountains. The rest of the family is still in Seattle, and I’m missing all my girls already. Just a quick update to say I’ll be out of town and off the grid for the rest of the week as I’m running the Bighorn 100 miler in Wyoming. Sorry in advance for no more fun pics and videos this week, but there will be more to come early next week I promise. Happy early Father’s Day!

Growing like... babies!

Based on the mind boggling growth rate of the weeds growing in our yard, I can't honestly say the girls are "growing like weeds." However, after our 4 month well baby checkup yesterday, we definitely have assurance that they're doing great and growing like babies. They're both basically right on the 50th percentile weight to length curve, which is fantastic. They've moved up a few curves since their 2 month visit, and both girls have already doubled their weights! Clearly Mommy's milk agrees with them.
Annabelle weighed in at 12 lbs, 14 oz, and is just a 1/4 inch more petite than Katherine, who tipped the scale at 13 lbs, 6 oz, and measured right at 2 feet. The doc said they both looked super healthy and are doing great. It was a long afternoon at the doctor, and we opted to postpone our immunizations and a required 4 month old hip x-ray til next week. The girls were overjoyed to dodge another round of shots.

These are shots of them today relative to the outfits they came home from the hospital in just 4ish months ago... pretty incredible.

Katherine Meets the Exersaucer

Mom and Dad thought Katherine might be ready to try out the Exersaucer for the first time this week. Katherine thought differently... (***videographer's note: I've taken the liberty of interpreting and verbalizing Katherine's thoughts in this video)

Katherine Meets the Exersaucer from Sam Thompson on Vimeo.

Clearly, this introduction to the Exersaucer was a bit premature, but we thought we'd give it a whirl. Katherine thought differently...

Monday at the Zoo

We here at the Thompson home love Mondays. Many people do not. For us, a "case of the Mondays" equates to a lot of fun. Kirsten is working 4 long 10 hour days, which means she always has Monday off. That means that while our weekends usually fill up with typical weekend activities, we get Mondays for fun family time all together. This particular Monday we went to the zoo. It was great as usual. I think Katherine is on the verge of saying "white-naped crane."

Camping Trip... sort of

To join in celebrating National Camping Month this month, the girls saw the weather forecast for this Saturday was most excellent and made it clear that they really wanted to go camping. I reasoned with them that since sleeping through the night is still a bit of a challenge for them that maybe going camping just now wasn't the best idea. We compromised though, and went camping nonetheless... just not overnight.
Kirsten's ultimate frisbee season came to a close this weekend with their championship tournament, and with a long Saturday afternoon double-header, the girls and I set up camp and enjoyed the afternoon in the warm sun. It makes me really happy to see the girls enjoying the outdoors as much as they do already. They loved their cozy tent on the sideline, and we had a great time. I don't think it'll be long now til we're ready to try a real family camping trip, but this was a great practice run.

Visiting Mommy and Children's

To celebrate making it to another Friday, the girls and I went to visit Mommy at work today. Kirsten works at Children's Hospital here in Seattle, which just happened to be named one of the best of the best this week by U.S. News and World Report! I'd never actually been inside, so Kirsten gave the 3 of us the grand tour. It's a great facility and we met many of her friends and coworkers.
Katherine mostly slept during the visit, while Annabelle did a good job of entertaining with lots of smiles and singing and laughing. Literally before we got out of the Children's parking lot, they were both out cold after so much attention.

Chasing Sunshine

I think it's safe to say our little family dodged a bullet this week, and boy are we grateful! After a very long day charging in the mts. on Saturday (an unreasonably cold and wet day), I managed to come down hard on Sunday with the flu. Fortunately it lasted only 24ish hours, and by Monday night I was feeling a good deal better. Kirsten thankfully was able to take care of the girls and I just slept and kept my distance as much as possible. Tuesday morning, Kirsten was back to work and I was back on duty full-time with the girls. I felt almost totally better, but just had zero energy. After laying low for a few days, the girls and I went out this morning to celebrate everyone else staying healthy and the sun coming out! Here are some highlights from the zoo this morning;

A bunch of pink flamingos;
A little fuzzy lamb (oh, and the sheep in the background too!);
Katherine and the White-Naped Crane;

Annabelle and the elephant;

And the girls in a post-zoo euphoria;
After a good feed and a wardrobe change (aka diaper change), we're back on the go this afternoon for a nice run!

Annabelle Singing

Annabelle Singing from Sam Thompson on Vimeo.

Annabelle has discovered her voice and loves to sing now... and she definitely enjoys her fingers too.

Annabelle has discovered her voice and loves to sing now... and she definitely enjoys her fingers too. Not totally sure what she's singing here, but I think it's her original version of "Hold Me Now" by 80's greats the Thompson Twins.