Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Memorial Day Weekend
A belated Happy Memorial Day to everyone!
The Powell family had a great weekend. Mark and Gayle flew in on Friday from Grand Rapids and sent Mike and I off for the weekend. They got to spend quality time with Henry, and Mike and I were able to spend two days not being regulated by nap time - it was great for everyone (thanks again Gayle and Mark!!!)
Mike and I headed out on Saturday to Newburyport - a little coastal town about 30 miles north of Boston. The weather was picture perfect all weekend. We had some great meals, enjoyed a local art festival the town was having, took a harbor cruise, and spent a lot of time at the Plum Island nature/wildlife refuge.
We were also able to SLEEP. Oh, so nice.
We came back on Monday to a very happy baby who obviously had a wonderful time with the grandparents.
In Henry news - he turned 13 months old last Friday! Time continues to fly... his tooth has finally popped through, which puts him at 7 (the 4 top middle and now 3 bottom middle). He is working on #8 as we speak (the next bottom tooth)
He is a lot of fun these days. He loves playing with his stacking rings and trucks, and adores "putting things away". We find a very interesting assortment of things in different places - jars of baby food in the guest bathroom trashcan, my house keys in the tupperware drawer, etc. We are currently on a search for the TV remote which has not been seen in a few days...
He is now regularly clapping and waving, which is a big deal for him, and "talks" constantly. No words yet, but he loves to hear the sound of his own voice! He has also begun running and has an odd new habit of walking backwards. Our little moonwalker.
Here are some small doses of his cuteness to tide you over until next time:
The Powell family had a great weekend. Mark and Gayle flew in on Friday from Grand Rapids and sent Mike and I off for the weekend. They got to spend quality time with Henry, and Mike and I were able to spend two days not being regulated by nap time - it was great for everyone (thanks again Gayle and Mark!!!)
Mike and I headed out on Saturday to Newburyport - a little coastal town about 30 miles north of Boston. The weather was picture perfect all weekend. We had some great meals, enjoyed a local art festival the town was having, took a harbor cruise, and spent a lot of time at the Plum Island nature/wildlife refuge.
We were also able to SLEEP. Oh, so nice.
We came back on Monday to a very happy baby who obviously had a wonderful time with the grandparents.
In Henry news - he turned 13 months old last Friday! Time continues to fly... his tooth has finally popped through, which puts him at 7 (the 4 top middle and now 3 bottom middle). He is working on #8 as we speak (the next bottom tooth)
He is a lot of fun these days. He loves playing with his stacking rings and trucks, and adores "putting things away". We find a very interesting assortment of things in different places - jars of baby food in the guest bathroom trashcan, my house keys in the tupperware drawer, etc. We are currently on a search for the TV remote which has not been seen in a few days...
He is now regularly clapping and waving, which is a big deal for him, and "talks" constantly. No words yet, but he loves to hear the sound of his own voice! He has also begun running and has an odd new habit of walking backwards. Our little moonwalker.
Here are some small doses of his cuteness to tide you over until next time:
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
I had an amazing time at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer this Weekend! I am very pleased to announce that Team Henry raised over $4,000 and walked 33 miles over 2 days! Overall the Boston walk had 2,900 walkers and raised $6.9 million!!!
It was truly an amazing weekend (with one small glitch). THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that supported me financially or emotionally for this Walk. If you have ever considered doing an event like this, please don't let the distance or fundraising goal intimidate you - I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences I have ever had.
The weekend started bright and early on Saturday morning. I was up at 5 AM, met Tiffany and was on a shuttle bus to Opening Ceremonies (at UMass Boston) at 5:30 AM. It was POURING rain, but we didn't let that deter us!
After dropping off our gear bags to be transported to the Wellness Village (where we were staying Saturday night), we grabbed breakfast and coffee, warmed up, then had Opening Ceremonies (which always makes me cry - you have to see it). At 7 AM all 3,000 walkers were off in the rain.
By mile 3 the rain stopped and by mid-day we had beautiful blue skies. We had a great time walking, talking, meeting new people, and eating a disgusting amount of food (many, many snacks are provided along the way). At the lunch stop we felt like we were in heaven when we had a chance to take our shoes off for 5 minutes and do a sock change.
The full route the 1st day is a marathon - 26.2 miles. Our goal was to do the half-marathon distance of 13.1 miles and then take the bus to the Wellness Village. At 13 miles we still felt great and decided to keep going. We made it to mile 20 before we decided to hop a bus...Tiffany was getting a blister and we didn't want to push ourselves so much that we would have trouble on Sunday. So at mile 20 we hopped a bus and made it to the Wellness Village at around 5 PM.
Here comes "the glitch". I dropped my gear bag (with sleeping bag, change of clothes, etc) off at Opening Ceremonies where it was then transported to the Wellness Village. Even though all the gear bags are very clearly marked with the participant's name, number, tent number, etc. apparently another Walker grabbed my bag instead of hers at the Wellness Village and then TOOK IT HOME (I guess because she decided not to camp out) and didn't realize her mistake until the next day. What this means is that I spent about an hour (helped by many of the wonderful Crew and Staff) looking for my bag before realizing that someone must have taken it accidentally. Unfortunately, having no sleeping bag, change of clothes, warm things to sleep in, etc. meant I couldn't camp out, and I had to catch the shuttle back into town and then cab it back to our house and a very surprised Mike.
Now, I know some of you are saying "yeah Devon, I know you are sooooo upset that you couldn't sleep in a tent, shower in a portable shower unit, and use porta-potties all night', but I actually was fairly upset. Camping out overnight at the Wellness Village is a huge part of the experience and I was really looking forward to it. I did it every year while working for the event, so I knew what to expect. Poor Tiffany was left all alone in our tent :( Also, it is kind of a bummer to walk 20 miles and then be unable to change your shoes upon arriving at your destination. It wasn't until I made it home at around 9 PM that I was able to release my poor feet.
Mike was a huge sport - he and Henry got up before 6 AM on Sunday so they could drive me all the way back to the Wellness Village and walk a full day again (thanks, Mike!). There I was reunited with Tiffany (and my gear bag, which was finally returned) and we headed off for the 2nd day's route of 13.1 miles. It was definitely harder the 2nd day - we were tired and sore - but it was still such a great day. We had stunningly beautiful weather and walked through some beautiful neighborhoods.
At 2 PM, we crossed the finish line back at UMass Boston having walked a total of 33.1 miles over the 2 days. I am SO proud of Tiffany and myself. We had a great time and did a great job. We also made a wonderful contribution to the fight against breast cancer. A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 3 minutes, and you have a 1 in 7 change of developing breast cancer in your life. The $6.9 million raised this weekend will be managed by the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade to support advancing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically under served.
Watch out, I already signed up to do it again next year! I would LOVE for Team Henry to expand. If anyone wants to share in an amazing experience next year with me just let me know - next year I am doing the entire 39 miles (and hopefully won't have my gear bag lost)!
I couldn't have done it without all of your support. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to those who donated:
Emma and Conor Bagnell
Kristen, Tom, and Cyanne Blabey
Kiera, Jim, and Kate Carlisle
Cheryl Fecteau
Dad and Nene Grandi
Karen, Zach, and Anna Sophia Gustafson
Meri and Ed Houseworth
Michelle, Matt, and Jake Mund
Audra, Ben, and Griffin Plewak
Mike :)
Norman Powell
Mark and Gayle Rohde
Lauren Schingh
Judy and Astrid Scott-Clayton
Beth Sharistanian
Tara Stepanian
Thank you so much. I cannot wait to do it again next year!!!
It was truly an amazing weekend (with one small glitch). THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that supported me financially or emotionally for this Walk. If you have ever considered doing an event like this, please don't let the distance or fundraising goal intimidate you - I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences I have ever had.
The weekend started bright and early on Saturday morning. I was up at 5 AM, met Tiffany and was on a shuttle bus to Opening Ceremonies (at UMass Boston) at 5:30 AM. It was POURING rain, but we didn't let that deter us!
After dropping off our gear bags to be transported to the Wellness Village (where we were staying Saturday night), we grabbed breakfast and coffee, warmed up, then had Opening Ceremonies (which always makes me cry - you have to see it). At 7 AM all 3,000 walkers were off in the rain.
By mile 3 the rain stopped and by mid-day we had beautiful blue skies. We had a great time walking, talking, meeting new people, and eating a disgusting amount of food (many, many snacks are provided along the way). At the lunch stop we felt like we were in heaven when we had a chance to take our shoes off for 5 minutes and do a sock change.
The full route the 1st day is a marathon - 26.2 miles. Our goal was to do the half-marathon distance of 13.1 miles and then take the bus to the Wellness Village. At 13 miles we still felt great and decided to keep going. We made it to mile 20 before we decided to hop a bus...Tiffany was getting a blister and we didn't want to push ourselves so much that we would have trouble on Sunday. So at mile 20 we hopped a bus and made it to the Wellness Village at around 5 PM.
Here comes "the glitch". I dropped my gear bag (with sleeping bag, change of clothes, etc) off at Opening Ceremonies where it was then transported to the Wellness Village. Even though all the gear bags are very clearly marked with the participant's name, number, tent number, etc. apparently another Walker grabbed my bag instead of hers at the Wellness Village and then TOOK IT HOME (I guess because she decided not to camp out) and didn't realize her mistake until the next day. What this means is that I spent about an hour (helped by many of the wonderful Crew and Staff) looking for my bag before realizing that someone must have taken it accidentally. Unfortunately, having no sleeping bag, change of clothes, warm things to sleep in, etc. meant I couldn't camp out, and I had to catch the shuttle back into town and then cab it back to our house and a very surprised Mike.
Now, I know some of you are saying "yeah Devon, I know you are sooooo upset that you couldn't sleep in a tent, shower in a portable shower unit, and use porta-potties all night', but I actually was fairly upset. Camping out overnight at the Wellness Village is a huge part of the experience and I was really looking forward to it. I did it every year while working for the event, so I knew what to expect. Poor Tiffany was left all alone in our tent :( Also, it is kind of a bummer to walk 20 miles and then be unable to change your shoes upon arriving at your destination. It wasn't until I made it home at around 9 PM that I was able to release my poor feet.
Mike was a huge sport - he and Henry got up before 6 AM on Sunday so they could drive me all the way back to the Wellness Village and walk a full day again (thanks, Mike!). There I was reunited with Tiffany (and my gear bag, which was finally returned) and we headed off for the 2nd day's route of 13.1 miles. It was definitely harder the 2nd day - we were tired and sore - but it was still such a great day. We had stunningly beautiful weather and walked through some beautiful neighborhoods.
At 2 PM, we crossed the finish line back at UMass Boston having walked a total of 33.1 miles over the 2 days. I am SO proud of Tiffany and myself. We had a great time and did a great job. We also made a wonderful contribution to the fight against breast cancer. A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 3 minutes, and you have a 1 in 7 change of developing breast cancer in your life. The $6.9 million raised this weekend will be managed by the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade to support advancing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically under served.
Watch out, I already signed up to do it again next year! I would LOVE for Team Henry to expand. If anyone wants to share in an amazing experience next year with me just let me know - next year I am doing the entire 39 miles (and hopefully won't have my gear bag lost)!
I couldn't have done it without all of your support. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to those who donated:
Emma and Conor Bagnell
Kristen, Tom, and Cyanne Blabey
Kiera, Jim, and Kate Carlisle
Cheryl Fecteau
Dad and Nene Grandi
Karen, Zach, and Anna Sophia Gustafson
Meri and Ed Houseworth
Michelle, Matt, and Jake Mund
Audra, Ben, and Griffin Plewak
Mike :)
Norman Powell
Mark and Gayle Rohde
Lauren Schingh
Judy and Astrid Scott-Clayton
Beth Sharistanian
Tara Stepanian
Thank you so much. I cannot wait to do it again next year!!!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, step-moms, mothers-in-law, and moms-to-be!!!
We had a great day here in the Powell house. I was able to sleep until (drumroll please.....) 9 AM!!! That is pure heaven, let me tell you. Mike was a sport and was up with Henry by 6 AM and was still able to make me a great breakfast.
We then took Henry on his first trip to the zoo!
I have to say I was apparently somewhat spoiled by growing up with the Santa Barbara Zoo. You don't realize how nice that zoo is until you see other ones. Mike and I had previously gone to the Franklin Park Zoo (which is actually in the city) and were unimpressed, so today we decided to try the Stone Zoo which is about 20 minutes away. It was OK, nothing spectacular, but it was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.
In all honesty, Henry didn't notice the animals (other than the goats at the barnyard and the meerkats), but he had a SPECTACULAR time walking around! He has reached the stage where he makes it well known that he would rather walk than ride in the stroller. So, we made slow but amusing progress through the zoo with Henry "helping" us push the stroller.
Later in the day Henry had his 1st taste of ice cream from the famous JP Licks. It took a great deal of convincing for him to try it (since he abhors trying new foods), but once I finally manged to have him take a taste - he finally realized how tasty it was. I tried to turn this into a life lesson for him, hoping that he would take this and try some more foods, but alas so far it has not worked. He rejected mac n' cheese for dinner - what kid doesn't eat mac n' cheese??? Our kid.
He is still working on a few teeth - the kid likes to take the teething thing SLOOOOOW. Everyone cross your fingers that those suckers pop soon!
WE hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!
We had a great day here in the Powell house. I was able to sleep until (drumroll please.....) 9 AM!!! That is pure heaven, let me tell you. Mike was a sport and was up with Henry by 6 AM and was still able to make me a great breakfast.
We then took Henry on his first trip to the zoo!
I have to say I was apparently somewhat spoiled by growing up with the Santa Barbara Zoo. You don't realize how nice that zoo is until you see other ones. Mike and I had previously gone to the Franklin Park Zoo (which is actually in the city) and were unimpressed, so today we decided to try the Stone Zoo which is about 20 minutes away. It was OK, nothing spectacular, but it was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.
In all honesty, Henry didn't notice the animals (other than the goats at the barnyard and the meerkats), but he had a SPECTACULAR time walking around! He has reached the stage where he makes it well known that he would rather walk than ride in the stroller. So, we made slow but amusing progress through the zoo with Henry "helping" us push the stroller.
Later in the day Henry had his 1st taste of ice cream from the famous JP Licks. It took a great deal of convincing for him to try it (since he abhors trying new foods), but once I finally manged to have him take a taste - he finally realized how tasty it was. I tried to turn this into a life lesson for him, hoping that he would take this and try some more foods, but alas so far it has not worked. He rejected mac n' cheese for dinner - what kid doesn't eat mac n' cheese??? Our kid.
He is still working on a few teeth - the kid likes to take the teething thing SLOOOOOW. Everyone cross your fingers that those suckers pop soon!
WE hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!
The Bee's Knees
Those of you who have a subscription to "Martha Stewart Living" may have noticed when your magazine arrived yesterday that Martha TOTALLY RIPPED OFF the Powell Beehive Cake. The cover photo could have been stolen right from the Powell kitchen. Incidentally, the first Powell Beehive Cake was made last year for Mother's Day...and this cover arrives Mother's Day weekend this year. Coincidence???? I think not.
Here is a retrospective of some of our various beehive cakes:
We are considering legal action. Watch out, Martha!
:)
Here is a retrospective of some of our various beehive cakes:
We are considering legal action. Watch out, Martha!
:)
Friday, May 2, 2008
1 Year Appointment
Henry had his 1 year appointment at the pediatrician today. This was actually our first "real" visit with his NEW pediatrician (we had...personality differences with the old one). I was very happy with how it went, and I think our new doctor will be a much better fit for us.
Henry was a model patient - he sat nicely on the baby scale and gave a huge grin to the nurse the whole time. He was extremely cooperative with all of the poking/prodding/ear checking/stethoscope using that went on, and showed off his walking skills nicely. He did have 3 vaccines at the end - the MMR (measles/mumps/rubella), hepatitis A, and chicken pox. He did NOT enjoy that, but only cried for about 2 minutes - as soon as a goldfish cracker was offered he was happy again. The MMR can cause a reaction (fever/rash) up to 10 days after it is given, so keep your fingers crossed that all remains well with him!
Tomorrow we will be beginning the transition to cow's milk, as well as trying yet again to switch from bottles to sippy cups (it did not go that well at last attempt...). We also got permission to give him basically anything to eat except nuts - the addition of eggs opens a whole new world of food possibilities!
As for his "stats":
Height - 30 3/4 inches (75%)
Weight - 23.5 pounds (70%)
So, he did drop in both percentiles (he had previously been strong at 97% for height and 75% for weight), but our pedi was very unconcerned. Him staying at a 97% for height his entire life is unlikely, after all :) I was not surprised that he didn't gain much weight in the past few months. He walks laps around the house all day and since he is teething he has basically stopped eating all food (we think he is getting his next two bottom middle teeth, plus I can feel both 1st year lower molars coming in. Once these 4 teeth pop that will put him at 10 teeth!)
In his 1st year of life Henry gained 15.4 pounds, grew 10 3.4 inches, grew 6 teeth, and had approximately 1830 diaper changes (averaging 5 a day and counting leap year). Not a bad job!
Here is a picture of our boy showing off some of his teeth:
And for those who pine for the views of Boston, here is the view from our sitting room yesterday when the rainy weather FINALLY broke:
Henry was a model patient - he sat nicely on the baby scale and gave a huge grin to the nurse the whole time. He was extremely cooperative with all of the poking/prodding/ear checking/stethoscope using that went on, and showed off his walking skills nicely. He did have 3 vaccines at the end - the MMR (measles/mumps/rubella), hepatitis A, and chicken pox. He did NOT enjoy that, but only cried for about 2 minutes - as soon as a goldfish cracker was offered he was happy again. The MMR can cause a reaction (fever/rash) up to 10 days after it is given, so keep your fingers crossed that all remains well with him!
Tomorrow we will be beginning the transition to cow's milk, as well as trying yet again to switch from bottles to sippy cups (it did not go that well at last attempt...). We also got permission to give him basically anything to eat except nuts - the addition of eggs opens a whole new world of food possibilities!
As for his "stats":
Height - 30 3/4 inches (75%)
Weight - 23.5 pounds (70%)
So, he did drop in both percentiles (he had previously been strong at 97% for height and 75% for weight), but our pedi was very unconcerned. Him staying at a 97% for height his entire life is unlikely, after all :) I was not surprised that he didn't gain much weight in the past few months. He walks laps around the house all day and since he is teething he has basically stopped eating all food (we think he is getting his next two bottom middle teeth, plus I can feel both 1st year lower molars coming in. Once these 4 teeth pop that will put him at 10 teeth!)
In his 1st year of life Henry gained 15.4 pounds, grew 10 3.4 inches, grew 6 teeth, and had approximately 1830 diaper changes (averaging 5 a day and counting leap year). Not a bad job!
Here is a picture of our boy showing off some of his teeth:
And for those who pine for the views of Boston, here is the view from our sitting room yesterday when the rainy weather FINALLY broke:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)