My 1st Race Back

The first weekend in June, Richard, Cara, Phillip and I all signed up to do a 10k at North Hills here in Raleigh. I set this goal mainly so that I would have a proof of time race for our half in November, but also to give myself a date to focus on so that I would have the motivation to get back in the running habit. It turned out to be a great race! The course was so hilly, but also so pretty - part of it was on the greenway and it was beautiful. And it was a lot of fun to run with this crew -we're gonna have a great time in November :) And I had my best race time yet!

Annabelle is 10 months old!

Oh my goodness, we're 2 months away from Annabelle turning a year old! The time is just flying by and we are busy enjoying our little girl and our big girl (who just started kindergarten, woah).

Annabelle has not slowed down a bit - she's busy pulling up everywhere wine cruising around. She's not quite ready to take some steps but practices every day. We've been working on getting her to stand without holding on to anything, but honestly she only likes to stand on her own when she does it herself - not with mommy and daddy helping! So independent. 

She's also been busy trying new foods and is getting to be a pro at picking up things to go in her mouth. We're going to try some pasta this month so soon she'll have her first spaghetti night and be introduced to her childhood staple - mac n cheese 😉. 

Annabelle just loves to follow after her big sister and I love to watch them play together. Lily is such a great big sister and always wants to play and take care of her little sis. Annabelle's favorite game right now is chase. She thinks it's hilarious for you to crawl after her while she "runs" away. And hiding behind things before popping out to say hi while you're playing her game pretty much always gives you a belly laugh! 

Here's some pics of our big 10 month old girl!

Lily's Graduation

Lily graduated from preschool in June. Her school had a special program called "Shine Bright" for graduation and the kids did an amazing job. I, of course, bawled like a baby but came prepared with tissues!

It was so good to see Lily celebrate her accomplishment of graduating preschool. This school has been amazing for her and is like an extension of our family. We're going to be so sad for her to leave them but they have done a great job in preparing her for her next adventure in Kindergarten.

End of the Year Picnic

Lily and Annabelle's preschool does an end of the year picnic for parents and kids in the 3 to 4 year old preschool class each year. It's at Pullen Park and the kids always have a great time - they get to play on the playground, ride the train and carousel and have a picnic lunch. This year, AnnaB got to come along too!

Zoo Day

In May we made a trip to the zoo with the girls and Nana and Paca. We haven't been to the zoo in years and it was Annabelle's first visit! We got to see the new polar bear exhibit and the finished elephant/giraffe observation deck. It ended up being not too hot and all the animals, except for the polar bear, were out for us to see. We have such a nice zoo - we really need to get down there more often!

My Rockstar SIL

So, my sister in law graduated from her MBA program in June. Not only has she been going to school, she's been working full time and graduated when she was 8 months pregnant! It was an awesome accomplishment for her and I'm so glad we were there to celebrate it. Margaret - you're amazing! We're so proud of you and we love you!