sorry :(

sorry i am getting behind on keeping this blog updated!
i have been pretty overwhelmed with stuff lately. i did just put up several new blog posts on my photo blog :)

quick updates...

• i had to cut brooke's hair. i was sooo sick of seeing one side cute and curly and the other short and pulled out. so now they are both short!
• madeline can say a ton of words. she will repeat most things you say, with her own madeline spin :) she is adorable!
• hana got her first report card. she is doing very well. she is well above where she needs to be at this point. we have been very happy so far this year! we like her teacher and most of the kids in her class seem to be nice :)

ok that is all for now! thanksgiving is next week!! where did this year go??!!

battleship half

today was the battleship half! i did it!!! i was so proud that i was finished!
all in all it wasn't too bad. there were some killer hills (well, killer for the beach!! there is no where to train for hills here!). the first 2 weren't too bad, they were within the first 2 miles. they were big, but i still had the adrenaline from the start! the hardest part for me what the middle. mile 7, 8, and 9. i had run along ways... but still had a good bit to go. mentally they were the hardest. physically too. my knee was starting to hurt, it was just getting really tight. i took an advil at the half way point and it just hadn't kicked in yet. the last 4 miles weren't too bad... except for the giant on-ramp hill at mile 12. that was the worst. but after that, you can see the battleship and know you are in the home stretch! the only other bad part was the entrance road to the battleship. it seemed like the longest road ever! it just kept going and going and going! but then i spotted my family and knew i was almost there!! i made it in 2:08 (that is just from my watch... they haven't posted the official results yet). my goal was to make it in under 2 hours... which was a pretty lofty goal for my first half! i came pretty close :)
the official results... 2:08:16. i was 730 out of 1292!! not bad for my first half!

i see my family!! look i am smiling!me and rhiannon post race. we ran it together! :)the stuff i got from the race.
t-shirt (way toooooo big!), medal, and number 785 ;)

all in all it was a good race! i am ready to sign up for next year!

halloween take 2

as promised... our second halloween outing. like i said, 2 of the 3 girls wore the same outfits. they were still cute, even in day old outfits!
so we went to church, which thankfully, this year had trunk or tilt. tilt is the elementary age program they put on throughout the year. so after we went through all of the trunks... some VERY elaborate trunks, we went in to see the show. after we left church, we headed back to our neighborhood to trick or treat. to end our lovely evening, we put some of the exorbitant amount of candy we received out on the front porch for others to take. the girls stood in the open door and pointed to the bowl in the chair for all of the passers by (we didn't want people to ring the doorbell because madeline was sleeping). all in all it was a good halloween! MUCH better than last year! since i am not a fan of halloween, it is best to stick to the church sponsored events :)

all 3 before we headed outone of the trunks... which was a boat with a slide!getting candythere was a clown that made balloon animals. brooke got a SWORD! which is funny for two reasons... she wanted to be a dragon and it doesn't exactly look like a sword! does it??!!!our halloween fam ;)

now on to the GOOD holidays!!

halloween take 1

since halloween is on a sunday, i thought it would be fun to dress up twice :) so we found a local church doing a trunk or treat. we dressed up and went! to my surprise they not only had trunks, they had free hot dogs, face painting, and a hay ride! we were very glad we went!!
you will see most of the same costume tomorrow (for halloween take 2)! 2 of the 3 girls will be in the same outfit! :) i do love dressing up my cutie pies in costumes!!

madeline, the lady bug, pre outinghana, sleeping beauty, and brooke, MINNIE MOUSE, pre outingall 3 :)
walking to the trunksmadeline with her pumpkinbrooke getting her face painted
brooke and daddy on the hay ridemommy, madeline, and hana on the hay ride :)

fun times!!

more to come tomorrow :)

family picnic :)

since brooke is now in preschool, she gets to do all of the fun things that hana once did. today was family picnic day. since the preschool doesn't do anything for halloween, they do family picnics instead. it is quite a cute idea. the kids make the lunches for the parents. then everyone eats outside on blankets. since we had been to this celebration in the past, last night jack and i prepped brooke what to make for us. turkey sandwiches. with mayo or mustard we didn't care, just turkey. brooke got it close to right for daddy, he got ham and mustard. madeline enjoyed her jelly sandwich. what did mommy get you ask??? cheese and mayo. yummm. needless to say i pretended it was wonderful... but did not eat it!
i went back to see what hana had made for us, knowing it could not be near as bad as what brooke made.
thanks brooke ;)

our chefmom's yummy sandwichdaddy and madeline :)

updates :)

• i have run 12 miles so far... only a week and a half until my race! i think i am ready!
• i have a lot of photography sessions coming up in the next month. so i don't know how much this blog will get updated :(
  
• madeline is still walking and talking up a storm!
• hana is doing great in kindergarten! i help once a week with reading groups. i love to be in the classroom. i get to know her friends and see how she is doing in relation to everyone else.
• brooke is doing great in preschool. she loves it and has lots of new friends!
• jack got another car. if you ask him why, you will definitely NOT make fun of him for having yet another new car. (the 3rd one this calendar year!)

that is all for now... i will leave you with a brooke-ism

about a month ago i bought brooke a minnie mouse costume on ebay. i paid more than i wanted to, but knew that she would love it! then a week or so after i bought it, i found one a walmart for about half the price. i tried to resell it, but couldn't. i didn't worry too much about it because i knew brooke would LOVE being minnie mouse so it was all worth it. when brooke saw the costume she just loved it and couldn't wait to be minnie. so last week, to get her excited once again to be minnie, i asked her what she was going to be for halloween. she thought for a minute and said "a dragon" to which i answered "no, you are going to be minnie mouse, remember." she said again... "no, i am a dragon"... i told her she could be a dragon dressing up as minnie mouse... ugh! that is what i get for planning ahead!

madeline... my little mamma

since madeline is baby number 3, she gets swept up in the whirlwind that is our daily life. sometimes she gets overlooked. not forgotten. but put on the back burner while i am juggling, kindergarten reading groups, preschool snacks, photography business, moms small group... that i lead, couples small group, play dates, friend phone calls... just life. but, at least, for now i want to spend some time on my precious baby. my last baby.

she is truly a joy. every time, and i do mean every time, i leave her in the nursery at church or the gym or with babysitters at moms group, they always say how sweet and wonderful she is. she is a joy to be around. everyone loves her.

she is also becoming very verbal. since my last post where i listed what she can say. she has added a good number of words to the list... she can still say "mommy" "poop" "dawg" "wooof" "hi" "daddy" "uh uh". she can now say "dat" (asking what something is) "baby" (baby doll) "boook" (brooke) "door" "bye". she will also repeat a lot of what you ask her too... i just asked her to say bubble... she did "bubbbw" she asked me what was in the cup (by saying "dat?") i told her water. she said "wawr". she is just exploding with communication! and she is only 13 (close to 14) months! i am super proud!!

she loves to give hugs. she will give brooke hug after hug after hug (brooke is closest to her size, i guess that is why she loves to hug her).

she is very easily distracted. if she is throwing a fit, all you have to do is play peak a boo with her and she is smiling in a second!

she is also slowly growing up. she doesn't nurse any more. she is in a front facing car seat, she no longer eats baby food, and she is a full time walker. my last baby is growing up.
i can't wait to see what kind of girl she turns into!