Bellingham Bay Half Marathon

Back in January, I signed up for the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon and race day finally arrived! (I don't usually sign up for races that early...but they had a registration deal I couldn't pass up!!) Ben and Kelsey both ran it as well, so we turned the whole weekend into fun family time.

The race started at 9:00 and was a bit chilly...the thermometer in my car read 41* as I pulled out of the driveway! Thankfully the sun came out and the temperature was almost perfect by race time. Kels and I were hoping to finish in 1 hour, 45 minutes and we were both quite happy when we finished in less than that! 

Before I had actually started training for this run, I had decided that one of my running goals was to get back to the place where I could comfortably run 5 miles at an 8 min/mile pace. It's always a bit of a struggle to figure that out because sometimes I run by myself and other times I push both girls in the double stroller and we end up stopping multiple times to get snacks, to take off sweatshirts, to put on sweatshirts and to pick up items that have been thrown out of the stroller.  As the training progressed, I was happy with how it was going and was pretty confident that we could run all 13 miles at an 8 min/mile pace. A big thanks goes out to Kyle for pushing me out the door to go run somedays and for keeping me motivated along the way!!

Ready to Run! Hanging out pre-race.

 The race route...it's a beautiful course that winds its way through downtown and then heads out along the water! 

 Uncle Ben is in the middle with the blue shirt and the neon yellow socks/shoes

 Aaron (another good friend of Ben and Kelsey's) 

 We had to stop and give a high-five to our cheering crew! 

 And I think maybe Kelsey snuck in a little kiss from Mallory:)

Auntie Kim, Uncle Thane, Elias and Malachi were farther along the course so we had more fans along the way! It was a fun surprise when we came across them because we didn't know where they were going to be! 

 We followed the pacer for the first few miles...

and then by mile 5 we upped our pace and ran the last 8 miles a bit faster!

Uncle Ben, Auntie Kelsey, and Mallory after the race...

perhaps a future runner in the family?

Ben finished in 1:29 (ahead of his goal of 1:30) and Kelsey and I finished in 1:41! I think we were all happy with how the race went!

Afterwards, we headed back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for brunch and an afternoon of relaxing/cousin hangout time. 

 Grandpa with Haleigh and Malachi

 Haleigh got a hold of someone's phone!

 Grandma taught Elias and Annaliese how to play Hi-Ho, Cherry-O!

Apparently it's hard work playing all day...this little peanut didn't take a nap at all on Sunday and played hard all day long! She crashed the minute we got in the car to head home!

School has started!

Annaliese started preschool this past week at Evergreen Christian School. She is super excited about it and loves that she gets to see Grandpa all the time! (Grandpa is the school principal.) She is in a 3-year-old Spanish Immersion class; the teacher is from Colombia and the teacher aide is from Mexico. They only speak Spanish in the classroom and supposedly will be fluent by the time they are in 3rd grade! Her class meets 2x/week from 8:30-11:30 and Annaliese is exhausted afterwards!

 She picked out her own backpack!

Annaliese's thoughts on her first day of school

On the first day, there was a parent meeting for new parents to learn about the school a bit, and Grandma met me at school to hang out with Haleigh during that time. Once the meeting was over, which ended at the same time as Annaliese was finished, we all went out for lunch to celebrate a successful first day! 

It's a bit crazy to think that we have now entered the world of school and will be operating on a school schedule for the next 18 or so years! I will admit, I have enjoyed the peaceful mornings while she is at school, but I'm glad it starts out at just 2 days a week!

18 Months!

Haleigh is 18 months old already! She is definitely still my baby, although the weekly updates I receive from babycenter.com have started calling her a toddler already! I think we have a hard thinking of her as a toddler since she is still not walking or talking...but she is full of personality and can certainly make her needs known!

Sleeping: Haleigh's sleep pattern has stayed pretty consistent. She and Annaliese still share a room; they both go to bed around 7:30 pm and sleep until close to 7:00 am. We try to keep them in their room until 7:30 but with Annaliese starting preschool, I think the reality is that they will both be up and out of bed around 7! Haleigh usually naps twice during the day as well. Her first nap usually starts around 9 and lasts about 2 hours and the afternoon nap happens about 1:00ish and also lasts about 2 hours. This girl loves to sleep! She sleeps with her purple bunny and the sound machine on!

She doesn't fall asleep in the car often, but it won't happen 

at all if she doesn't have the purple bunny!

Eating: Haleigh loves to eat and will eat all day long! Overall, she eats just about anything but some days seems to prefer certain things more than others. Lately she has decided she doesn't like grapes (but several weeks ago she couldn't get enough of them!) Every once in awhile we will give her milk in a bottle but for the most part she is using a sippy cup for all beverages and she is trying to use silverware on her own. Sometimes she is successful; other times we end up with a big mess!

Several weeks ago we moved Haleigh from her highchair to a booster seat at the table. She likes it and we think it's fun to have her sitting at the table with us. We have had one incident so far...she used to push herself away from the table when she was finished eating or mad about something. One time she pushed herself back and instead of the chair moving, it tipped over and she fell backwards and hit her head on the floor...it led to a big bump on her head and a visit to the ER to make sure things were ok. (This was also the first time Haleigh has ever been sick...as in throwing up all over the place sick. So the combination of being sick, not eating all day, and then falling backwards and hitting her head made the ER seem like a good choice!)

Clothes: Haleigh is wearing mostly 18 month clothes but there are a few 18-24 month things tucked in her drawer. Some of the 24 mon/2T hand-me-downs that have shrunk a little bit fit pretty well right now too. She is wearing size 4 shoes now. 

Teeth: We have 12 teeth with 4 more coming in. They all poked through at the same time and are ever so slowly coming in. There were a few rough days with lots of drooling and a runny nose but we seem to have made it past that stage now.  Haleigh is a huge fan of her toothbrush and would chew on it all day long if we let her! She is getting better about the actual toothbrushing process!

Activities: Haleigh loves to be part of the action! She and Annaliese are starting to play more together, but Haleigh is pretty content to play by herself. She loves to be outside, likes throwing a ball back and forth, coloring, reading books, and taking a bath. The girls spend a lot of time pulling the couch cushions off the couch and then climbing on/around/over them!

 Trying to stand up!

She has been using her walking toys a lot lately and will cruise around the house with them; she has taken about 5 steps on her own with a lot of encouragement but prefers to crawl or scoot on her butt if she needs to get anywhere quickly. 

Haleigh is able to identify several body parts, including nose, hair, belly button, and toes. She likes to help get dressed and will go find her socks and shoes if we ask her too. 

As far as her communication skills go, she will shake her head no if we ask her if she wants/needs something and will say "mum, mum, mum" for Mom but that's about it. She grunts, points, and helps herself to whatever else it is that she wants or needs! However, she seems to have a good understanding of what we say to her and can follow directions...she just doesn't verbalize a response! 

We have her 18 month check-up in 2 weeks so we will see what the doctor has to say...maybe in 2 weeks Haleigh will be walking:) 

Practicing!

 Trying to see how tall she is!