I’m finally getting around to posting ONE picture from my 5k. Honestly there is nothing attractive about running a 5k in pouring rain! I guess it wouldn’t be Virginia if it didn’t rain. Although you are only getting one picture of the race I will tell you three stories.

1st story- I have been wanting to run regularly for quite some time. I decided to pray and ask for the Lord’s help in A: Finding someone to watch Hallie. B: Finding someone to run with. C: Both!  The Lord answers prayers!!! Soon my friend Cheata expressed a desire to train for a triathlon or something of that nature. I was all over that! Since we both just had babies and are out of shape we decided to start small with a 5k and see what we work up to.  We have been going running regularly while her husband watches our kids. WONDERFUL!!

2nd story-So with this being my first race and all I would volunteer the fact that I am very naive when it comes to both running and races. I knew we were going to get a shirt with our “packet” on the day of the race so I assumed that we were supposed to wear the shirt DURING the race. Therefore I wore a regular ol’ T-shirt thinking I would change. (Running in VA’s heat and humidity REQUIRE me to run in as little clothing as I can. So a running tank top is my normal attire.) Anyway, when I got to the race I found out that we didn’t have to wear our shirts and in fact, according to Cheata’s husband, only LOSERS wear the shirts that they give you during the race. Hello there’s no way I’m running in that shirt if it has loser written all over it. So hence the red t-shirt in the picture. I know, I know long story with really no point but hey next time I run a 5 or 10k and post a picture you better believe I will be wearing a more “running appropriate” shirt.

3rd story- Ben “filmed” me with our video recorder as I finished the race only to find out later that he didn’t push record. Big Bummer. However, he did film Cheata coming in.

With shirts and the lack of presentable pictures aside I had a blast running the 5k. There were a TON of people there and I met my goal of finishing in 30 min. My time was 29:18 and I came in 173 out of almost 500 runners.

After months of waiting for the chance to go swimming OUTSIDE we were finally given the chance. A day without rain-not on a Sunday! Here are some adorable pictures of Hallie that I took at the pool. She is for SURE a water baby.

This is when I start to love summer!

This past weekend was full of some of the happiest days I can remember. We went to the Temple on Friday to celebrate our anniversary by performing sealings. It was a great reminder of what we promised each other and the Lord two years ago. I’m so grateful for the Temple, especially the DC, so many memories! Saturday I ran my 5k (I will post pictures later). Sunday was Ben’s first Father’s day and I hope it was a special day for him. I’m so grateful he is the father of my child (ren). Church was great, dinner was great, and dessert was even off the charts (I will post recipes later). Finally Monday was our actual anniversary and we celebrated by getting a babysitter (thanks Lee and Stacey!) and going to the batting cages. I know romantic huh…. actually I loved it!!!! Ben really went all out and gave me a gift that I will always cherish. Here is a picture of it.

It is a picture of our little family surrounded by some of our text messages from the past two years. Plus, he really went all out and got it printed on a frameless canvas (My favorite!) Did I already mention that I love it!

This is what I printed out and framed for Ben for Father’s day. It’s for his office at work.

Father’s Day family photo

She is becoming more and more of a Daddy’s girl.

It has been two years since I married the sexiest, strongest, smartest,wittiest, ambitious and good looking man on the planet. Man life is GOOD! Marriage really is what God intended when He said for us to be happy. I LOVE being married!! It is fascinating to me how love GROWS. I’m so grateful I am married for eternity, I can’t imagine life without my MAN. YAY for the past two years.

Now ladies don’t be jealous. I know I am a lucky woman!  

Hallie is just two months away from turning one year old. I know I say crazy a lot, but CRAZY!! I love her soooo much. She is my little best friend who I can’t get enough of (except in the middle of the night LOL)

She is at the funnest age! She is always going a million miles a minute. When people see her energy they call her a “busy bee” and ask if she is always like that. We reply with an astounding YES!

She jabbers constantly and has discovered that her voice can go very loud.

She still throws tantrums when we take something away from her, but gets over it quickly.

She loves playing with friends and cruising all over. She hasn’t tried walking at all, except when we hold her fingers. She can cruise pretty fast by crawling so she seems to be content with that.

She loves eating real people food. Anything she can hold in her hand and feed herself is perfect. She is like our little puppy, whenever we eat she is always at our feet begging for food.

She is a little snatch and likes to steal other little kids toys. We will be working on that in the future!

She is getting her two top teeth which has been traumatic for her. Poor little thing!

She loves when we Skype on the computer with her grandparents. She is a little actress and puts on a show for them.

She is constantly laughing and has a fake laugh that is HILARIOUS! We love when she does it.

Lately she has started dragging things with her as she crawls. Silly girl.

She has started playing in her car seat like it is a teeter-totter and when she is in the car she often talks to herself or reads a book out loud.

She puckers her lips and says “OOOO” all the time. 

She prefers pots and pans to her baby toys.

She just learned to flush the toilet and does it repeatedly until we pull her away.

She still loves to pull my hair. Ouch!

She is getting more snugly which we love. 

She sleeps in her own bed but still gets up several times a night.

She actually has hair it’s just so light you can’t see it.

She waves bye bye.

Our crazy little girl

Ten months old! 

She is a climber! 

Playing in her car seat. 

What happens when Daddy babysits. The Diaper Mullet!!

One of my favorite blogs to check is The Meanest Mom.  Jana is hilarious!! She is a stay at home mom with four kids, three of which were born in the same calender year. HELLO! I think that automatically gives her Saintly status. Ben often asks me to read her blog posts to him because he too finds them hilarious. 

She is currently having a Father’s Day giveaway from Western Union. $100 bucks no strings attached. Go leave a comment on her blog to enter.

Yep, she’s a beauty and we love her already. 

2008 Toyota Yaris

This is the newest car either one of us have ever had. Don’t worry we didn’t get rid of the multi colored Camry. Due to our upcoming move we will need a second car. Currently Ben rides his bike, walks, or I take him to a commuter lot which is about a mile away, from there he slugs to work. Our new house will be quite a bit further away so we decided it was time to break the one car rule in our home. Hallelujah!!!!

P.S. After we got home Hallie snuggled with Ben for like 15 minutes. (She NEVER does that!) Ben sang songs to her and said that it made his month. In fact he said that buying a new car doesn’t even compare to snuggling with his baby girl. So cute!!  I love having a family.

This past weekend we went to a little friend’s birthday party. Max turned 4 and had a sweet hawaiian party complete with a surf board cake, lots of games, kids, and fruit. Kudos Debbie on a great party! Thanks for inviting us. 

Free cool sunglasses and family photo session.  

Aside from partying I’ve also been trying to run lately. I signed up for my first 5k today. I know it’s not much but hey I’ve got to start somewhere right? It is June 20th and I’m stoked!

WF run_poster r01.jpg

Hallie learned a new trick this week. I will let the pictures do the talking. 

We have all the cupboards baby-proofed except this one. She’s in heaven!

I started playing in a softball league about a month ago. I’m in heaven!  

Bonus Picture:

Ben and Hallie were being a little too quiet the other day. When I went to see what they were doing this is what I saw-Hallie in my running shirt. Goofy dad!

I forgot to post Hallie’s 9 month stats.

Weight: 18 lbs 13 oz. (43 percentile) Even though she looks super chubby she’s just under average. 

Height: 27 3/4 inches (48 percentile)

Head: 74 percentile (I know she’s a smart one!)

This past week has been full of rain and left over dinners. Poor Ben! 

I have managed to take lots of pictures of Hallie to show you what she’s been up to. 

She decided she now likes binkies. We have tried since she was born to get her to take one, hoping that she would cry less or stop using me as a pacifier. She has refused until last week. She found one of her binkies in her toy bucket and sucked on it for like 10 min. She did this multiple times until we decided that we weren’t going to let her start this habit now. It’s TOO late! 

I think this picture is hilarious! Another new thing Hallie has picked up is throwing Tantrums. Whenever we take something away from her that she’s not supposed to have or tell her no she starts crying and waves her arms in the air. It lasts about 30 sec and then she’s over it. It’s annoying but funny and I’m sure it’s just the beginning.

  Our good friends the Hooper’s gave Hallie this high chair. Thanks Stacey! I tore up some green beans for her and she went to town! It’s amazing how good she is at making messes. I hope she got as much in her mouth as she did on the floor. She’s getting so BIG!!

I just HAD to post this picture. While she was eating her green beans I kept calling her name trying to get her to look at the camera and this is what I got. She’s such a cheeser! I love it. 

Last night some of the ladies in my ward and I had a Girl’s Night Out. It was so fun! 

Thanks girls for making me feel young again!

This past weekend we made a quick trip to Philadelphia. Ben’s brother Brogan was there on a business trip and we thought we’d go see him and all the history sites. We didn’t decide to go until Thursday so we packed light and made the most of our two day trip. (I had to talk in Church on Sunday.) 

We stayed in a sweet hotel with a great view of the city and brought Hallie’s bed so she wouldn’t get used to sleeping with me again. There is so much to see in Philly! Ben and I both have a passion for the history of our country. I tutored American Heritage in college for 3 years and Ben’s career goal is to teach the principles of Liberty in a college setting.  We loved seeing where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were drafted and signed. There was a special feeling in the room. It was SO GREAT! 

Here are lots and lots of pictures!!!

The room where the Constitution Convention was held and Signers Hall

         Independence Hall                            First Woman President. 

          Hallie checking out the view from our room

                                           The Famous Rocky statue and stairs 

       Me and Hal                                   Town Hall                           Center of the city

       Philly Cheesesteaks!!!!               Hal checking herself out in the Hotel room

                                          Famous LOVE statue.