show me how a piggy eats!

We had pizza tonight for dinner.  Hannah loves parmesan cheese on her pizza.  After she finished she picked up her plate and began licking the remaining cheese. I have no idea where she learned that...I usually don't do that, unless something is exceptionally yummy :)  By the way, if you haven't tried Kroger's take-and-bake pizza you MUST try it!  It's way better than any frozen or delivery pizza!

After dinner while Mark and I were cleaning up the kitchen, Hannah was playing with her Fridge Farm.  Here is what I found:

No big deal...until I looked more closely.  Before she started playing, each of the animals were correctly "matched" and lined up vertically.  She put the pig in the middle and then took the duck head and placed it in front of the pig and the duck bottom behind the pig bottom...and so forth and so on with the horse and cow.  I don't know what it means or if it means anything at all, but I think it is pretty cool that she lined up everything like that without any guidance!  Perhaps she is starting to understand the concept of "order".

This week...

So, now I know the truth!  I was wondering how Mark took such incredible close-up photos of our plants and flowers (see post below) with my new camera.  I know he knows his "stuff" when it comes to using a camera, but I didn't think my camera was capable of taking pictures like that.  Little did I know, those pictures were taken with the new zoom lens Mark got me for my birthday!  He had to try it out before he gave it to me!  I'm so excited!  But now I REALLY have to learn how to use my camera.  Here are a few shots I took while experimenting.  I love that I can sit on the other side of the room and still get an up close, action shot of Hannah!  Once all this rain stops, I can't wait to take it outside and put it to the test!

My mom and dad came to stay for a few days and to celebrate my birthday.  My mom brought a homemade Devil's Food cake...my favorite!  It didn't travel too well from South Carolina to Jefferson.  We tease her that it looks like a cake out of a Dr. Seuss book!  Hannah enjoyed putting the candles on top.

But she wasn't so sure about the candles once they were lit.  Hopefully she'll be ready to blow out the candles on her birthday cake next weekend!

In true toddler fashion, Hannah has become quite interested in taking her clothes off! After the third time she took everything off today, we decided to just let her stay that way for the rest of the night.

Hannah played dress-up tonight with some of her new smocked dresses.  They are waaaay too long, so my mom is going to hem them for me.  Hannah loved dressing up and posing for the camera!

Serious Hannah:

Silly Hannah:

Two races down...

This weekend I ran in my second 5k race.  It was a great experience!  The temperature was perfect for running (around 40 degrees) and the course was relatively flat in comparison to my first race!  And to top it off, I finished first in my age group!  I could NOT believe it!  Granted, there were only 4 runners in my age group, but there were 233 people that ran the race.  I finished 81 out of 233.  I dropped almost 3 minutes off my time since my first race two weeks ago.  I ran a 9:16 pace this time.  I've got 2 more weeks to train until my next race and I hope I'll continue to improve and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I continue to stay healthy.  Running has really helped me feel better about myself!

My cheering squad!

Hannah enjoyed saying "Go mama, go go go go go!"

All done!

I'm struggling with the competition-versus-health aspect of running.  I'm a competitive person by nature.  Perhaps it's my past as a competitive swimmer that made me that way.  I can't help but look at running the same way.  I wish I could just look at this as a lifestyle change, something to keep me healthy and challenged.  It should not be about winning, since I'm sure I'll never win overall female.  I'm going to work on making health my number ONE goal!

It's finally spring!

Here are a few pictures from around our yard.  We are so glad that it is officially spring!

Sadly, I cannot take credit for these pictures.  Mark always takes beautiful pictures. Maybe because he actually knows what he is doing with a camera!  One day I hope to understand all the features our camera has to offer.

Hannah is loving the nice weather.  We spend nearly every evening outside now that it's daylight savings.  We usually go to the neighborhood playground or just hang out in the cul-de-sac playing with chalk.

We are also very excited that we have booked our annual vacation to Cape San Blas, Florida.  Most people have never heard of it...it's the most beautiful, most relaxing beach we've ever been to.  There are no restaurants, no grocery stores, no amusement parks...nothing to do but enjoy the beach and our family. I'm really hoping that Hannah will enjoy it this year. She was not a fan last summer. I'm already pumping her up for "The Big Sandbox" in hopes that that will convince her that the beach isn't so bad!

Piggy Platter

I'm not one to fall for the gimmicky things that are supposed to make a parents life easier or teach your child this or that, etc.   I tend to believe that the best toys for kids are those that have been around for 50 years or that encourage a child to be creative. But when I stumbled upon THIS website, I paused for a second.   I've been looking for a fun placemat for the kitchen table.  Something that would help keep Hannah occupied when I'm making dinner.  I also want something that will protect the table.  I LOVE my kitchen table and I cringe every time Hannah bangs her cup or stabs her fork on it. I told you I was anal about these things!  The Piggy Platter seems like it will be a great solution to both of my problems.  They also make THESE neat mats to go underneath the platter. I also thought about making my own flash cards to go underneath!

So, the Piggy Platter is on it's way to our house and should arrive just in time for Hannah's second birthday.  I'll report back on whether or not it is worth the money!

Cooking with Mom

I've been trying to find different ways to keep Hannah occupied in the evenings, other than just playing with the same old toys every night.  She's not to the point where she'll play by herself in another room while I try to get done the things I need to do.  She's got to be attached to me at all times.  So tonight after dinner, I put a blanket down on the kitchen floor and let her help me mix up a batch of Chex Party Mix.  She loves to "stir" things!  I gave her her own bowl, spoons, and measuring cups.  I think she was eating the Chex Mix more than she helped make it.  But it was neat to see her stay occupied for a good 30 minutes on one task!  That's proof that her attention span is growing...FINALLY!

I did it!

This past Sunday, I successfully completed my very first 5k! I did not break any records or win any prizes, but I accomplished what I set out to do. My goal was to run an 11 min mile pace and finish in just over 34 minutes. I guess the adrenaline kicked in because I was able to cross the finish line in 31:39 (10:11 pace). The course was much harder than I was anticipating. It was a two-loop course, about half of which was uphill. Due to my foot injuries, I have not done much uphill running. About 90% of my training was done at the local high school track. It was also a very warm day. I'm used to training in 40-50 degree weather, so a high of 77 was a bit of a shock. Considering the circumstances, I feel pretty good about the results.

On top of it all, I was able to spend the day with some great friends!

Giving hugs and kisses to my fan club!

I'm planning to do a couple more races over the next month. I hope training continues to go well and that my foot injuries continue to heal. It feels so good to finally accomplish something I have wanted to do for nearly 10 years! A big thanks to my girls for the inspiration and motivation!

A walk in the park

No, I'm not talking about my 5k race this weekend!  That post will come later!

This weekend we took Hannah to a local park to check out the wildlife and just let her run around and play.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure.  She had a blast!

I particularly like this picture because Hannah is puffing out her tummy the same way the turkey was puffing up his feathers!

And this is my favorite from the whole day.  Hannah randomly sat down, folded her hands, and bowed her head.  I think she was saying her prayers!

Snow!

I'm finally getting around to putting up some pictures of the snow we got last weekend. Yes, it DOES snow in Georgia!  We got about 6 inches!  I have not seen that much snow since the Blizzard of 1993, when I was 12 years old.

To say that Hannah didn't like the snow would be an understatement.  She HATED it! The snowflakes were the biggest I've ever seen and they were really wet.  I think she didn't like them touching her skin.  I shouldn't have been surprised...that's quite typical of her personality.

She did much better the next day after it had stopped snowing.  She still refused to touch it, though.  I think it broke Mark's heart just a little that she wasn't interested in the snow.  I'm confident that she'll like it next time.  It'll probably be at least 10 more years before it snows like that again in Georgia!

Our house.

Peanuts!

Every now and then Hannah will do something so crazy that it really throws me for a loop.  I cannot figure her out!  

We were eating at one of those restaurants that gives you peanuts before the food comes out.  Mark put the empty peanut shells on his plate. Hannah reached over and grabbed a shell.  She examined it closely for a couple seconds and then popped it in her mouth!!   Why on earth would my picky eater decide that a peanut shell is something to eat?!?  We let her chew on it for a couple seconds and then Mark had to dig it out of her mouth.  She really seemed to enjoy it...weird! Fortunately, she then decided that it would be okay to try the actual peanut...and she LOVED it.  I'm also happy to report that she is not allergic to peanuts!

This child sure keeps me on my toes!  Just when I think I "know" her, she pulls out all the stops and does something crazy like this!