Savannah River Bridge Run

On Sat. Dec.3 Charles and I ran the Savannah River Bridge Run. This was the morning after our talent show and right before we headed to New Orleans for Midyear. It was a busy weekend.

I won't wax too poetic about this run as I did last year's. But, I will say again that I absolutely love running 5Ks. I have no desire whatsoever to run a marathon but, I'd surely run 12 5Ks a year.

Our backyard and "garage"

I trained with the kids in the jogging stroller about 2x/wk starting at the end of Oct I think. The Saturday before the race Charles and I took turns running the bridge without the stroller. That was the first time I ran without them and I realized that I had done a good thing conditioning with extra weight- race day would be a breeze not pushing them.

Remembering how Zumba helped me last time, I did a 1 hr class at the YMCA the Thursday before the race. That definitely helped!

I ate 2 oatmeal pancakes that morning for breakfast but, should have only eaten one. It was a fun morning date for us since we had Michelle babysit. We left before Azure and Vince even woke up. All the sudden I had to use the bathroom 10 mins before the race started. The line was super long for the porta-potties so I had to practically sprint back with less than a minute before starting. I actually think that was a good warm-up for me though.

It was a beautiful, clear day. Pretty cold for Savannah though, mid 40's when we started. I felt great almost the entire run. Again, thanks to motivation from my song list. I didn't look at the course beforehand which was a bad move on my part. Because I couldn't mentally imagine where the finish line was, I didn't push myself when I should have. Then when I finally realized how close I was I tried to give it my all- that was when I started feeling the effects of that 2nd pancake.

My goal was to get under 30 mins so when I saw the clock read 29:41 I panicked and sprinted as fast as I could. I felt like I was going to throw up and was looking for a trash can. Luckily, I didn't. The time when I crossed was 30:01. I was kinda upset that I was so close, but not close enough. Imagine my surprise when I related this to Charles and he reminded me that my start time didn't start until I physically had crossed the start line, not when the race actually started. My time was 29:01! A whole minute faster than I had thought! My fastest 5K time ever. It makes a huge difference not having pushed the jogging stroller.

Charles ran the double pump. The 5K and then a 10K! He is intense. He ran the bridge 3 times. One time was definitely enough for me.

I only have this one pic of us. Here's the website of more pics of the bridge. It is really pretty.

Talent Show

For our ward talent show/Christmas party we performed with our friends the Clarks and Jen.
L to R: Ben Clark on the guitar, Lindsey Clark on the mandolin, Charlie on the guitar, Jen & me, vocals.

I love this picture of our children dancing around while their parents perform :)

We sang "I'll Fly Away" and "Away in a Manger." Blue grass is so fun! "I'll Fly Away" was a little too low for my voice so I was straining a bit. I dream of being able to perform with Charlie. Add amazing, talented friends to the equation and it's nothing short of awesome, regardless if it was my best performance or not. Such a fun night!

It's a pain to upload videos to the blog anymore but, here's the song straight from the soundtrack.

Catch Up: Fall Festivities

Now, that Winter is here (and Christmas is past) I better recap our Fall.

What I am most proud of is my acorn wreath. I first saw this tutorial Fall 2009 and really wanted to make it. I even collected some acorns back then but, didn't get any further than that. This year I kept seeing it all over Pinterest and knew it was now or never as this is our last Fall in Savannah where acorns are APLENTY!

I wouldn't have been able to do it without my friend Lindsey, who supplied me with the wreath, the hot glue gun, and half the acorns. Thanks Linds!

I've also always wanted to make apple butter and Azure had been asking to make homemade applesauce. I persuaded her to apple butter instead. It turned out really tasty. Here's the recipe.

This is our house. I love the layout. It's the perfect size for the 4 of us. It's 2 story and somewhat similar to the condo we lived in in Provo right before we moved here. The living room is open and spacious. I love our home.

And I love brightly colored leaves.

Thanksgiving was kind of a flop (the food at least). Our turkey "had a hard life". It actually tasted much better made into turkey noodle soup the next day. Becky's rolls, toffee, and stuffing were delicious!

I was also pretty pleased with my Fall "mantle" display.

I am looking forward to Spring :)

Yes! Yes, I will!

It was our 5 month anniversary from our first date. I remember going to sleep that night on my knees in prayer sobbing tears of joy and gratitude at the bottom bunk of my bed in the Peach Palace. Charles had just proposed. We were going to get married! He would be my husband! I would be his wife!

I kept touching my ring over and over again. I would hold out my hand to see it, grinning ear to ear, shaking my head in awe and then would again have to wipe away a new wave of tears.

I wish I could still wear my ring, but it's too big. I was about 15-20 lbs heavier when we got engaged. And he still loved me :) I thought about re-sizing it but, it fits when I'm pregnant and I am waiting to see what size my fingers are after we're done having children. I'd hate to make it smaller now only to have to make it bigger again later. Who knows, maybe my body will do something crazy again and I won't lose my baby weight with the last pregnancy.

We may not be perfect, but we are perfect for each other.

Azure at 4.5

To celebrate she got to open one Christmas present (a new tradition). We also went to her new favorite park (Daffin). It's her favorite because they have a really steep slide that propels you quite quickly. I even went on it and was surprised how fast I went. She got to eat a fluffernutter with nutella for lunch. I made her brownies after dinner (sugar overload!) and we sang her "Happy Half-Birthday". We don't have any candles so she blew out the flame from a lighter.

Yesterday morning the first thing Azure said to me when she saw Vince was, "Vince is SO cute! I just want to marry him!" I think it's so sweet that she has so much love and adoration for her little brother. Though she did just throw a ball at his head this afternoon on purpose she admitted. Grrrr....

She hardly seems like a 4.5 yr old. More like a 6 yr old. She asks such thought provoking questions and is very observant. Last night she turned to me and said, "Could you imagine what it would be like to not have any bones in your body?" Then while we were watching The Nativity Story she said, "Could you imagine what it would be like not to have cars? Because they (referring to Mary and Joseph) didn't have cars."

Her reading continues to improve. She read a verse of scripture during Sharing Time in Primary with minimal help (I think just 2 words). She is so ready for kindergarten.

I asked her what she would want to do more than anything and she said, "Play tea party with you every day." Melt my heart. I try to play with her as often as I can. Though she does ask at inopportune times- like when I'm getting in the shower.

The girls soccer team at SCAD did a soccer clinic for one day that I signed Azure up for. It was with older kids so she enjoyed it more.

such concentration

Goooaaaalllll!

Her hair is turning brown at the crown, just like mine did at this age. It makes me happy mostly because having brown hair will accentuate the blueness of her eyes and her name is Azure after all.

 She is so tall. Yesterday she measured 43 inches at Target. This is a 4ft. tree.

She still likes to make silly faces; still sucks her thumb, but says she's going to stop when she goes to kindergarten. I hope she won't have too much anxiety about that.

She is ravenous with treats. The other day I gave Vince a fluffernutter. Of course he got fluff all over his face, esp on his upper lip. I heard him saying, "No!" and turned around to see Azure rubbing her finger on his upper lip to try to get some of the fluff off and eat it off her fingers. She had just finished her own!

Her new favorite movie is Monsters Inc.

She has a hard time when I tell her to get dressed in the morning. She whines that she doesn't know what to wear even after I give her suggestions. She insists on me doing it for her. Somehow I think this is my fault. Maybe I've been too critical of her choices when it doesn't match?

She has two toys that she still plays with almost daily and she received them when she was two! They are her blocks and a magna-doodle (writing thing). It amazes me that she hasn't lost any interest in those 2 things. Definitely worth every penny!

She has gotten really imaginative with her blocks and makes some cool creations.

Some days we still have a battle of wills but, mostly I thoroughly enjoy her company daily. I would be so bored and lonely without her. She truly is one of my best friends. Love you sweet Azure Marie.

Vincey

*UPDATE* Just today (Dec. 19) Vince put two words together for the first time! "My book." Yay for verbal development.

I'm gonna have to interrupt this catch-up with an update on the children.

Vince is now 22.5 months old which is kinda crazy to think. He'll be 2 in 7 wks!

Trying starfruit for the 1st time after church

• Starting saying ta-caw (the t has a very distinct sound like he's rolling his tongue which makes me think he might take to Spanish more than Azure has) a couple months ago and I had no idea where he came up with it. Then about a month later he said it when he saw a picture of a rooster. 

• Has started saying, "Mine!" Sounds more like "my". Let the terrible twos begin :(

• Plays best when I am close to him. Doesn't play well on his own. They say he does just great in nursery. As soon as I go in to do Singing Time the last 15 mins he won't let me go though :)

• He has stopped calling us "Mama" and "Dada" and now call us "Mommy" and "Daddy". He especially likes to say "mommy" over and over again until I get him wants he wants. *sigh* Sometimes, that is not so cute!

• He calls milk "meem". When he wants his cup of milk he says, "Ah- meem, ah- meem, ah-meem." He says it gradually louder and louder, crescendo-ing to a screaming, desperate plea.

• He can stack the nesting boxes very well. I like to watch his brain work as he meticulously lays down the largest box until he puts the smallest at the top. Sometimes, he'll make a mistake but, he always catches himself when he realizes the next box is bigger than the last instead of smaller, and re-stacks.

• Loves La-La (Elmo) and Signing Time and asks to watch one or the other at least once a day. He will dance in circles and try to sing and/or pant like a dog when he hears the song, "La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, Elmo's world." So cute!

• Calls movies, "moo-mees" and blueberries "boo-bees". We try to enunciate the l  :)

•  Stills sleeps about 12.5 hrs a night. 7-8pm to 7:30-8:30am. 

•  Still the world's best snuggler! He loves to "check in" with me periodically and kiss my legs and give me a tight hug. He has such a strong grasp, it surprises me.

• He's finally wearing size 4 diapers now. He could have been wearing them for the past couple months, but we just made the change. He is not even close to potty training. Maybe 3?

• Depending on his mood diaper changes can still be a wrestling match. That's probably the most frustrating thing he does! How does one stay calm and composed when their child is rolling around getting poop on their feet and all over the place? I've tried distracting him with toys and singing songs. The only things that works is raising my voice.

• He can do lots of new signs including: cookie, flower, elephant, and more that I'm forgetting.

• He's a pretty picky eater and rarely eats depending on his mood. Except treats of course. He'll never refuse those. 

• He calls the moon, "moom" and likes to find it in the sky saying, "ah-moom!"  

• Sometimes he still whines and cries when I go up the stairs without him.

• After I scold him for hitting or taking things out of the trash he comes up and kisses me and says "thank you". He's a natural charmer! Sure love this boy. 

• He's had all of his teeth (except 1 set of molars- still to come) for the past 2 months.

Halloween

We saw these jammies at Sam's and just couldn't pass them up. (Like true Deanna fashion I price checked them first and then bought them the 2nd or 3rd time I saw them.)

Our little monster

Since the Primary Presidency was mostly in charge of our ward's Trunk or Treat/Carnival I decided to do a pumpkin balloon popping game I found on Pinterest from Martha Stewart. It was the hit of the carnival. Thanks Martha! And thanks Charlie for blowing up practically all the balloons. It makes me too light headed.

Of course they didn't have any orange only balloon packs left. And the only way you can tell it's supposed to be a pumpkin is by the green steam at the top. This is my feeble attempt at being crafty.

Azure had already been a mouse for the past 2 yrs so I thought I should get her another costume. She told me she wanted to be Clifford The Big Red Dog. I kinda like that she is isn't super girly and didn't want to be a Disney princess. I'm not really down with Disney princesses. The cheapest Clifford costume I found was $20, $10 too much. So, I casually mentioned it wouldn't be so bad to be a mouse again and she agreed!

Vince's bear costume was just a little too tight and the day of the Trunk or Treat was warm. Then I remembered that my parents had bought him a Charlie Brown romper. Totally worked as a costume.

I wanted to dress up, but I was a little too stressed about the pumpkin game to figure anything else out. Chelsea was a super cute Minnie Mouse!

On the actual night of Halloween it did end up being cold, the first year it wasn't over 75 since we've lived here! So, Vince adorned the bear costume for the actual trick-or-treating.

It was the 2nd year we went trick-or-treating in a real neighborhood. As we were going from house to house I said to Charles, "We are officially parents. This is the real deal." It was a milestone. We also had our first ever trick-or-treaters in our married life. A real Halloween to remember.

The let down was that the Beep-Boops didn't answer their door. Not sure we're ever going to find out what their real last name is. Oh well.

The loot