Christmas is Coming!

I put the decorations up early this year looking forward to Abby Kate's reaction. I brought her downstairs the morning after - she pointed to the tree and said, "ball!" Thankfully, little miss AK doesn't put her little fingers all over the "balls." She got really close a couple of times, but never touches any of it. I was surprised. I think maybe she's a little scared of it!

Thanksgiving

We traveled to Tyler, Texas this year to visit Mike's family for the Thanksgiving holiday. We stayed with CJ and Amber (thanks again!) so Abby Kate had a lot of playtime with her 8-month-old cousin, Luke. They shared toys and laughs and had some good baby fun together. We enjoyed a delicious meal and plenty of pie and cookies! All of Mike's family was there, including his younger brother, Bill, who just returned from his third deployment in Iraq as a helo pilot. It was only the second time he saw Abby Kate (the first time, she was only 2 months old), and it was the first time he'd met Luke.

Thanks again to the Wallaces for having us! We enjoyed spending time with each of you!

The Run for Hope

Yep, that's me, runner #29, preparing myself for 6.2 miles of torture. I decided to run a 10K race (my first one). I'm only smiling here because I just saw the ambulance pull up. Reassurance for quick medical attention should I not make it past mile four! Ha, ha. Mike ran, too, but in the 5K road race because he was pushing 50+ lbs with Abby Kate in the stroller.

This race was a charity event with proceeds going to Hope Village for Children here in MS. It's a place for children who come from abusive homes or those who have been neglected, or abandoned.

So off I went with the unexpected gunshot at 8:30 a.m. I was doing great about a 1/8 mile in until I pushed play on my iPod and nothing happened. Aaaagghhh! You've got to be kidding me. No way was I going to make it up all those huge gravel hills with no musical motivation! I could already hear myself and all those around me breathing heavy. And that, for me, is the exact opposite of motivating. And if the only thing I had to concentrate on was my pitiful heaving and the pounding of my feet, you can pretty much be certain I'd have turned right around.

-I turned the stupid thing on and off a couple times and then - to my surprise and total relief - my tunes flowed, the sound of my breathing ceased and my eyes... well, my eyes now focused on the first ginormous hill. @#$%!

I pressed on passing a couple of people, then getting passed by six more... and so on and so forth. There were a couple of guys that were running a bit faster than me, but they walked up every hill, so I kept passing them on the inclines. One of them had the physique of an Olympic runner. I'm thinking,

Seriously, look at you... and you're running way back here with me?! No, I don't mind... you're totally making me look good. Oh, what, you're stopping to drink the water? heh, heh... Watch this, I run and hydrate at the same time, Mr. Olym- uh-gha! cough, gah, cough, aachk! Choking here! where's that ambulance?

Then I'm wondering why I care since I've never known myself to have any sort of competitive streak. However, I knew Mike was going to get a picture of me as I came up on the fifth mile, so I managed to get myself in front of the guy for the photo! :) Check me out, all beating those two guys. Yeah, after that, I gladly let them pass me again and slowed to a comfortable pace for the last mile.

My goal was to complete the race in an hour and 15 minutes. Approaching the finish line, I glanced up and the clock, and disbelieving, I saw it blazing a red 58:30! I can't believe I finished it in under an hour! I love you, iPod!

Mike did great, too. He finished the 5K in 24 minutes! That's impressive with the stroller, not to mention picking up sippie cups and pacifiers (and who knows what else) in stride along the way. Good job, honey!

It was a gorgeous morning. We both agreed it was a great event and really enjoyed it. We saw several familiar faces there and met some new people as well. And you wouldn't believe it, but we both ended up taking home awards! Mike finished first in his age group, and I finished second in my age group. Nevermind that Mike was only 5K runner in his age group. :)

Thanks to Little Miss AK for running with Daddy and for cheering Mommy on!!! You were such a good girl!


OK, so you can't really tell how athletic the guy (second one behind me in blue) is, but trust me, he looks like he should've been the first one across the finish line.

Babies on the Way!

Swings, Slides and Stats

The weather's been mild here lately, so we took advantage of it and headed to a local park last Friday. There was an elementary school field trip there, but we managed to get on a few slides and swings. I think Abby Kate enjoyed watching the other kids just as much as she liked the playground.

Abby Kate is growing and learning so fast! I feel like she gets bigger and smarter by the hour. Here are her stats:

30 inches tall (75th percentile)
24 lbs (75th percentile)

She's walking all over the place. She walks laps around the house with no purpose or intent of going anywhere. But she always has to have something in each hand. Usually, it's my cell phone in one, and a toy in the other. Her favorite things are her books. She brings them to me all day long, wanting me to read them to her. When the story's over and I shut the book, she picks it right back up, hands it to me and says, "mee, mee?" - which means "read me?" It's so dang cute that I've been known to read her the same book a dozen times in a row!

Besides "mee, mee," she can say nine other words:
"bah" - ball
"doe" - dog
"UH-oh!" - UH-oh!
"Ma-ma" - mommy
"dah-dee" - daddy
"baby" - baby
"shoes" - shoes
"booooo" - moo (while pointing to a cow)
"ah-boo" - peek-a-boo

Halloween Fun

Abby Kate was less than a week old last Halloween, so she didn't get to dress up and trick-or-treat until this year. And well, she still didn't really grasp the whole trick-or-treat thing, but she did enjoy the only piece of candy we let her eat: a snack-size Three Musketeers! We took her to Mike's squadron (the building where all the air operations are based). The wives' club had organized a trick-or-treat party for the kids.

Without further a due, here's our little bunny!

Her costume came with a carrot "rattle." So cute!

In time she'll learn not to be so timid and take candy where she can get it! (Like Mommy.)

Fellow trick-or-treaters: Griffin (spider), Eden (Dorothy) and AK (pink bunny).

After Abby Kate went to bed, Mike and I stood out in our driveway and handed out candy until 9:30 p.m. Our neighbors had warned us that people from all over drop their kids off in our neighborhood. We ended up treating close to 400 kids (and teenagers, I think). Our friends across the street had a big haunted house going and the kids would come to our house next, shaking and crying because they scared them so bad! It was mean, but a little funny, too.