October Happenings

October has been a fun month. Owen hit the big 9 month mark and continues to change every day. He looks so much older. He really doesn't like being on his stomach so he hasn't started crawling yet. He has started pulling himself up to a standing position and can walk while we hold his hands. We think he will go straight to walking and skip crawling.
The three of us took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my family. Owen got to hang out with many of his second cousins and was spoiled by his Grammy and Pap-Pap.




Owen got a fun visit from his cousin K a few weeks ago. The boys were so cute together! When O saw K he smiled and started squealing loudly. He loves being around other kids. We tried to get them to sit still for a photo shoot but it didn't last long. :)




O has been trying all kinds of new foods. This past week we had him try spaghetti, chili and oatmeal and he loved all of it. His hair keeps getting long and when he wakes up in the morning he often has a pretty sweet "bed head". The picture below shows him after his breakfast.

Philadelphia Distance Run

September 2oth was the Philadelphia Distance Run that Brynne and I had been training for with Team in Training. Many of you know that a few weeks before the race Brynne was battling stomach issues and ended up having ischemic colitis. The doctors advised her not to continue training and not to run the race. This was difficult news for us to swallow, but I decided to continue training and Brynne decided to cheer me on all the more. Thanks to the generosity of a lot of you, I was able to exceed my fundraising goal of $2000, and collectively, the Team in Training participants from Central and Eastern PA and Southern NJ raised over $250,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Being a part of Team In Training completely enhanced this whole experience for me. I enjoyed every mile of training, from Lancaster to Pittsburgh, from Kure Beach to Basking Ridge, knowing that in the end I'd get to run 13.1 miles through downtown Philadelphia with the purpose of saving lives and finding a cure.

Race day was picture perfect. The perfect weather, the perfect temperature, and the contagious energy of around 15,000 runners. My brother Chris ran with me, and we started out with a conservative pace, fell into a groove between miles 3 and 10, and then picked up the pace for the last 3 miles. My finishing time was just over 1:49, which was right around my goal, but leaves me wondering how much faster could I go? Or how much further? My next goal: the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 2. Stay tuned for more details!


American running hero Ryan Hall (middle) won the race in 1:01. Brynne didn't get any action shots of Chris and I running because she was cheering us on as we ran by, but I made a special request to get a picture of Ryan!


My cheering section. Brynne surprised me the morning of the race with her homemade t-shirt and Owen's homemade onesie. As you might guess Owen got more attention at the race than we did.


Chris and I proudly displaying our finisher's medals.