HaPpY BiRtHDay!

Happy, Happy Birthday Brynnie dear! 

Happy days will come to you all year.

If I had a wish

 that wish would be

 a Happy, Happy Birthday

to you

from

me!

Here's a look back at my precious Baby B

1 minute

1 hour

1 day

1 week

1 month

1 year

I can't believe my baby is 1. Time goes by so fast and when it's gone you yearn for that newborn moment when your hand meets theirs for the first time.  I'm not going to lie and say her first year was blissful and wonderful.  She was a hard newborn and we struggled to understand each other. But that struggle didn't stop me from loving and cherishing every little thing about my "Brute".  My little babe is growing into toddler hood and I love watching her learn new things. Her personality is so different from her big sister's: she's eager, brave, wild, tenderhearted, and physically strong. Brynnie loves her momma and calls her daddy "Bob".  She watches her big sis like a hawk and tries so hard to keep up.  She loves to be surrounded by people and goes looking for her family. She's a "meat and potato" baby and doesn't have a fondness for ice cream. She loves to turn the pages of a book, cruises along the furniture, hates wearing dresses and shoes, climbs the stairs at lightning speed, empties drawers, cupboards, and cabinets with a flourish, splashes in the bath tub, snuggles with her blanket, her hair is always a mess, she wears more food than eats, and her smile is unconditional.

We love you baby girl and every day is blessed because of you.

Where's my steak?

So much effort to drink from a straw

Yummy banana cupcake from Crave

We're Number 1

PRESENTS!

For Brynnie's birthday we decided to go low-key.  Grandma and Grandpa were in town so we went out to a steak house for dinner and Brynnie enjoyed a cupcake for her birthday.  She got lots of books- which big sis Piper happily unwrapped and a fun activity cube.

And for this 4th of July- there will be FIREWORKS!

It's hard to believe that a year ago, I was spending my 4th of July anticipating a different kind of "fireworks":  the oh so near birth of Baby B.  This year, we left the baby at home with grandma and grandpa and enjoyed the fireworks show our little town puts on every 4th of July. We met up with my friend, Ms. L, and her family at The Waterway.  I think every person in our town and then some showed up for the event.  We snatched up our perfect viewing spot and parked our butts there for 2 hours for fear someone else would take it. There were events going on in the park nearby and all along the waterway, but we skipped that this year in favor of fireworks and less cranky kids. 

Happy 4th of July!

Walking along the waterway waiting for the show to begin

"The 2 little old ladies"  Pip has found a new friend to hang out with.  They both have very similar temperaments- they can sit together quietly and be okay with life. 

 

I do NOT claim to have any photography skills and honestly, who can take good fireworks pictures with a point and shoot with no tripod?

Run Wild 4th of July 5K

I met my running partner, Ms. L, at Pip's ballet class and started running with her at the beginning of June. Right out of the gate she had me go almost 5 miles in an hour- I knew that I would have to step up and tap into my inner competitor if I wanted to keep up with her.  We run together at 6am, 4 days a week.  We have a great give and take running relationship, so together we've upped our pace to almost 9 minutes and run 4-4.5 miles.  I signed us up for a 4th of July run in the big city. (we're suburbanites now)  The run was a "this is more than my hobby" runner's run.  Basically, the participants were mostly from runner's clubs looking to set PRs and whet their appetite for the marathon in January.  We definitely delivered on race day.

Looking all cute and ready to run.  I've decided that running in a skirt is the way to go.  Good bye chaffing!

There were about 1300 participants.  We positioned ourselves in the middle that way we could get out of the gate faster and pass all the runners who piddle out halfway through the race

We've been spotted in the crowd

Me in all my racing glory.  I'm in the homestretch.

The moment I realized I'd just set myself a new personal record! 28:02

Still celebrating my running time: 28:02.  On the official time sheet, they had me clocked at 28:34, but I it's because there were 2 thresholds to cross and I slowed down once I crossed the first threshold not realizing there was another one.  But that's okay- my goal was to break 30minutes and I succeeded no matter what the "officials" wrote.

Both my friend and I set PRs and finished average for the race- 500+/- out of 1300+/- participants.  Not too shabby!

We celebrated with only the BEST cupcakes on the planet:  Crave.  We were also the only runners in the cupcake shop.

Next on our running calendar:  a 10K.