A few things...

So much time had elapsed between my previous post and the last real post that I forgot to mention an important event that I'd like to chronicle for the sake of posterity:

5.8 magnitude earthquake rocks the East Coast - August 23, 2011, 1:51 pm

Liam's (and mom and dad's) FIRST earthquake!

I was downstairs working when it happened and thought a truck was passing by because stuff down here started rattling. I didn't really feel any shaking. I sensed something was wrong because the shaking didn't stop. I ran to the door to the driveway and saw our cars shaking like jello! I realized it was an earthquake and then ran upstairs to check on Liam, mom and grandma saying, "What WAS that?" By that time, it had stopped.

Apparently when it happened, Liam saw the lights/chandeliers upstairs shaking and pointed to them and said "Shake! Shake!" I think grandma freaked out a bit which in turn scared Liam and he started to get scared too.

It was utter chaos that entire day in the DC area, as everyone here had no idea what to do, no protocols, etc. A lot of people were let out of work early - Joel was one of them, thankfully he made it home before any real traffic started. Not too much damage here - a few things fell over, nothing broke.

A very exciting experience, I thought! And then later that week, we were threatened by Hurricane Irene! That caused more damage than the earthquake. Lots of rain and high winds which caused leaves and some tree branches to fall. Nothing too bad either, though.

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I ran in my first 5k race in over a year (Chick-Fil-A 5k) last Saturday, September 10, 2011. More details on that in my fitness blog.

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We went to Caroline's 3rd birthday party last Sunday which was princess-themed. I originally bought Liam a knight costume to wear, but decided to go with a crafty version of a prince instead. Total price of costume was under $5 - all bought from Michaels. It's mostly felt that was trimmed and pinned onto a shirt he already had. The crown was $3. I'm gonna sell the unused knight costume on eBay soon, in time for Halloween.

Here is a photo of Miss Caroline (standing in the blue shorts) opening her present that we got her, a color-your-own cardboard playhouse and markers! I wish I got more photos from the party. Since Joel was not in town, I was single-mom'ing it and was too busy making sure Liam wasn't hitting anyone! Which, of course he did. :( Talk about high-strung mom! Other than that, it was great to see my friends and their kids again!

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Doodling! (with retractable crayons!!! best invention ever! he can't eat them!)

Speaking of more troublesome toddler issues...(thanks, by the way, to the mommies that commented and gave me suggestions on my last post... I will elaborate in a future post on my progress)... NOW, we have a smart guy who says "HIT!" and then covers his ears right after so he pretends not to hear us saying "NO HIT" back to him. OMG... where does he get this from?!

I have been keeping up with the time outs. But it seems like whenever we say "No HIT" to him, he selectively hears the word "hit" which triggers the hitting motion. Same thing with "kick" or "push". He doesn't seem to understand the meaning of "No". Well, I am sure he does and just chooses not to in certain cases.

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A tip for moms with kids who are obsessed with stickers: Go to Old Navy. 

They have these reward sticker books with pages and pages of stickers (over 200) for only $2!! They had Thomas and Friends sticker books, so you know I was all over that! But they also had Hello Kitty and Superhero ones, among others... I can't remember specifically. Found them near the registers where they showcase all that flashy non-clothing stuff that kids can reach and quickly grab right before you check out (Damn you, genius store layout person!)! Not a bad deal!!

Not much else to report here! Have a great week!