Saturday, May 7, 2011

The Hospital Hustle: Race Day

The Fannings got their groove back today!!! We have been looking forward to getting out and running a race again...man, it's been a long time. The prep for this race was just like any other....we go to bed nervous and wake up nervous. We force down food because we are so nervous and we talk about how nervous we are all day.....you see the trend. So when we made it to the race 75 minutes early it left us plenty of time to do what else but....BE NERVOUS. We packed the day with busyness to keep our minds off of running later in the evening. Hallie must have got the memo that we needed some extra rest and the angel slept in until 9:30! Unheard of around here! She spent the morning eating a race day breakfast, playing and then napping while I finally got to watch Black Swan. Good thing she was sleeping during this movie....Hallie Grace, you are not allowed to watch this movie until you are 27. K? K. We decided to have our pre-race lunch at the park so we stopped for my famous race day ritual...a turkey sub. We loved relaxing in the shade on such a beautiful day for some lunch followed by some swinging of course....and for two whole precious peaceful seconds, I actually forgot about the race. ;)


Breakfast of champions

Breakfast of mini-champs

"Why did mom bring prune juice to a picnic? So not cool!"

Ok, so the last time I checked this was called a "fun run." Psshh, I wish. So I chewed my nails for 45 minutes, peed for 30 minutes, and watched as Riley paced around aimlessly until it was finally time to head to the start line. I was looking around for my #1 fan who was going to be coming to cheer us on with Aunt Kylie....when right at the last second I saw her coming toward us. I ran back to get a good luck kiss from my girl and she gave me a big goodbye wave....what a sweetie. That was the exact type of motivation I needed right at that moment.


"Why are we doing this again?"

"Could it be any hotter?"


Our cheering section

Did I mention that it was 92 degrees outside? Because it was. Every bit of 92 degrees. And did I also mention that it felt like the earth was melting it was so hot? Well, because it did. Sheesh, by the time we made it around the first curve I had to talk myself out of running into the trees and hiding. There were a few times during the race where Riley and I got to cross paths and give each other some encouragement. Riley led for half of the race but got a bad case of the dry mouth and had to slow down a bit. But that didn't keep him from finishing great! My man got 3rd overall! I came in a couple minutes later as 2nd place female with cheers from Hallie, Riley and Kylie to help me finish strong since I had someone right on my heels. The heat was just a bit much too handle....let's just say I was about two seconds from reliving my high school track days of throwing up during every race. After the race, we both looked at each other and simultaneously said "why did we do that?"

She is some pretty awesome motivation




Hydrating!

1st place age division, 3rd place male

1st place age division, 2nd place female

What a great feeling to know that we aren't as old as we feel! Although today's conditions weren't ideal and it more of a challenge than we anticipated, we plan on doing another race very soon. There was mention of the Marine Corp Marathon in October....we shall see. ;)

Friday, May 6, 2011

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey......

GOODBYE!

Hallie waved bye bye yesterday! Sitting is one thing....and crawling is another.....but seeing her sweet chubby arm give me a farewell as I left in the morning was probably my proudest moment as her momma so far! We practice every morning when I drop her off and she always needs a helper to marionette her arm...until yesterday that is. It wasn't just a one time wonder either....she is now a seasoned waver at nearly four waves total.

We can also add a few other activities in her victory column this week....they are as follows......
  1. Banging her head against her high chair for fun and laughing about it
  2. Crawling up into her big girl chair and performing crazy daredevil moves
  3. Spitting out food on purpose (the bananacado is the best when spit back in your face while feeding)
She has been ornery this week...there is no other word to describe it. This is a new side to Hallie....a very silly girl is hiding in that little body. She are a duplicate of her father! Her first week on all homemade food has been, well, cleansing. I may as well have poured laxatives into her milk. Wow girl! I'm going to try some new combos for Hal this week and if they go over like the others then she will gobble them up. And speaking of gobbling things up.....




The curious girl has been discovering new ways to play. I stacked up some big blocks the other day expecting her to barrel into them and knock them down but instead she removed them one by one and peered inside to see what she might find.....



I decided it was time to drag out her Vday present. She loves it! Hallie finally made her way upon her throne by herself the other day. She was pretty darn proud!



Supervision is a must while she's in the chair. And yes, we learned the hard way. Hands on is the way it has to be while she climbs and tumbles and turns. The funny part is she will try to flip over the back of the chair and flop all over but she very cautiously gets down from the front of her throne like a little lady....

"Princesses can never be too careful"

"But they can also have fun too"

"What's that you say? Princesses need to wear clothes?"

"Is this better?"

Another one to add to your list of sillyness....you have been climbing the walls! Literally. Your favorite thing to pull up on is a wall. You aren't prejudice...any wall will do.



You have also taken up some carpentry work on the side in between eating and napping. Nanny tells me that you are great help getting Papa motivated to fix this broken piece of wood...it's so nice of you to help them....

"I'm gonna need some glue and a few nails stat"



Another crazy fun week watching our baby grow, learn, and just be plain silly. We love you Hallie Grace.

Ain't no stoppin' her now....

....she's on the move.









There you have it folks. Our live involves trying to keep up with her...oh yeah, and trying to keep up with her.



Tuesday, May 3, 2011

MoM's DaY oFf & PiCnIc At ThE pArK

The females in the Fanning house LOVE Tuesdays! Mom's day off means lots of playtime! Even though we spend most Tuesdays running around like crazy getting stuff done we enjoy every second of it. Today was jam packed with stuff! First off I was in desperate need of a trip to the salon to fix this stuff sitting on top of my head. Mission accomplished! Next up was the final weigh in for the hospital weight loss competition....mission accomplished! A morning of not eating before the weigh in left me very ready for a lunch date with Katie and Riley. Nanny watched Hal all morning until I went and snatched her up for a relaxing afternoon. I made the mistake of going home before we headed out to the walking trails....and the first thing I saw when I opened up the door was Emmi's sad little face staring up at me saying "if you go to the trails without me I will destroy this house and everything you own." Ok, maybe she's not that evil but those eyes just broke my heart so I loaded up the super sheddy (if that's a word) dog and baby. I realized it was a stupid idea about halfway there but there was no turning around once you say the words "do you wanna go for a walk?" She found a lovely place to ride on the way there....it was so nice of her to sit atop my work folder and on top of my purse because she is too much of a princess to ever sit in the floorboard.....

I've created a monster


Oh wait, 2 monsters

But I can't help but love 'em

VERY soon after getting everyone strapped in and leashed up I realized what an absolutely stupid idea this was. We obviously spent our fair share of mornings strolling and dog walking when Hal was teeny tiny. But that was because she was teeny tiny and slept for 22 hours a day. Not so much anymore. Emmi insisted on walking directly in front of the stroller and getting ran over numerous times. She also very much enjoyed wrapping the leash around the stroller wheels. That was great fun! What was even more fun was picking up Hal's bottle from the dirt, cleaning off and then repeating that process ten times. I think the two stinkers planned to gang up on me!
See what I mean??? Bad idea.

After Emmi used up some of her pent up energy she gave my arm a bit of a break and Hallie decided to snooze for awhile....now came the relaxation. So I rolled up my sleeves, plopped down on a bench and enjoyed the peace and quiet in the sun.

Great grandma was itching for some time with her little sweetie so we spent the afternoon doing some shopping and hanging out at Great Meme and Great Papa's house. My grandma has been a rockstar lately and getting out of the house more and more so we loaded up in my car and headed out to the store. She pushed the silly girl in the basket all the while making faces and eliciting silly noises and plenty of smiles from Hal. As grandma's therapist I was so thrilled to see her out shopping again and back doing the things she enjoyed before she got sick. I guess it's no surprise to say that Hallie was spoiled with some goods and probably the cutest little swimsuit I've ever laid eyes upon! Hallie was parched after all of the shopping and decided to help herself to some of my drink....at least the has the concept down.....

"This must not work like my bottle does"

She was her smiley self and spent awhile crawling at top speed from one end of the living room to the other. It was nice to have her contained in a space that she hadn't fully explored before....in our house it's a different story...she has memorized the layout and knows exactly where to go to get into trouble. At grandma's she isn't aware of all the other places to get into trouble. But that doesn't mean she didn't make her own trouble....

"I like to rip my own socks off...I'll help you with your's"


"I could've sworn I put my binky in here..."

 Grandma and grandpa had a great time with their great grandbaby as usual as did she. Hallie was even nice enough to leave her with a slobbery table and a couple torn up magazines as a gift! I can't begin to describe how much I cherish this time that we all get to spend together...Hallie and I are very lucky to be living so close to them now. 

During our drive home I felt so relaxed watching the pretty blue skies and the open fields as we passed by. I took a look at the temperature outside and decided that this was not an evening to be wasted. So we tallked Riley into a picnic in the park and got outdoors to enjoy the 78 degree temp. The Bumbo got some attention tonight for our picnic...I was worried about getting her out of it though...it's safe to say she has  nearly outgrown the Bumbo! When I say picnic I do not mean that I prepared a lovely dinner in a basket with some wine and a big comfy blanket to spread out. Nope. We picked up some Taco Factory to go and Hal munched on some strawberry puffs.....

"My kinda picnic"

The wind proved to be Hallie's enemy as it kept sweeping away her puffs from her tray. Luckily she was in a great mood...normally you don't mess with her food!!!

"Swings, you say?!!! Get me outta this thing!"

My favorite picnickers

Everyone else must have had the same idea because we ran into some family and friends at the park with their kids too. Hallie was a social butterfly and showed off her talking skills. Soon she was getting antsy and still very much ready to SWING...her absolute favorite thing in the world.....

"FINALLY!"

I just can't even explain how much I love this little girl.....


The ducks were calling our name so we went over to check them out....


I could've sworn Hallie mimicked me and said the word 'duck' but I'm pretty sure Riley would tell you I'm crazy. I still think she said it! Smart girl! Hallie spent some nice practicing her walking skills in her tennis shoes...she's gonna be walking on her own in the blink of an eye.....

"I think I could climb that thing if he would just let me loose..."

"Wellllllllll, maybe not...."

May I just say that this playground we were exploring had to be the most dangerous children's play area ever designed. I might also add that it was the most fun. So I guess danger = fun. Don't tell Hallie though. I had Riley shield her eyes as I squealed with delight while riding on the super fast spinny toys and while climbing through these objects I can only describe as death traps. I warned Riley that an ER visit might be in our near future as I attempted to make it through this contraption....

I still don't understand how this works....

And don't even get me started on this creepy treacherous "tongue slide." Like I said, super fun but super dangerous. I don't think Hallie will be spending much time at this particular playground until she is 27. ;)

It chews you up and spits you out on the ground.

Although Hallie has the most paranoid parents in the universe she seemed pretty pleased to be spending the evening with us......

"SUPER FUN!"

The feeling was mutual. ;)

Week 6: Operation Happy


SUCCESS!!! Seven letters have never meant so much. It's been six weeks since we first started our mission known at Operation Happy. I'm elated to say that it has worked. Come to find out I indeed do have time to work out everyday although I had fooled myself into thinking it wasn't possible....I also do have time to pack my breakfast and lunch every evening for the next day so that I can grab it and be on my way. We have also started eating very lean meals...lots of chicken, salad, and veggies. Also, NO MORE SPRITE.That's a tough one. Pretending with a lemon water from Sonic will just have to suffice. Eating healthy and running has been a winning combo and has paid off big time. I am now twelve pounds lighter and three inches off my waist. I am so incrediby excited to call myself a runner again and am somewhat ready to run my first race since three years ago. I am nowhere near done with this process...still have 15 pesky pounds to lose and would like to get to the point where running is easy again. Riley has dropped six pounds and is near ready to run his first 5K since three years ago. He got a little later start with the training but as always can kick my behind on his worst day...he's an animal! The last race we ran together was the RedBud Classic in '08...I placed 13th overall female and unfortunately always use that to measure myself against. I am nowhere near ready to run that well but I have to start somewhere. The kickstart that got us going was the hospital's Lose to Win competition...Riley, our friend Steven and I joined together as the self-titled team, LOT TO LOSE. We all dropped some pounds in the process and won't stop now since the competition ended today. Hallie has made it a little bit easier to burn extra calories since her mobility has ramped up in the past month!!



The jogging stroller has been an investment put to good use and we have spent many an afternoon cruising around the trails. It's a toss up whether or not Hallie is going to enjoy the ride or not but we always find a way to occupy her. "They" say that it takes the same amount of time to lose your baby weight as it does to gain it while you are pregnant. Well I know there are those out there that are blessed with the ability to lose the weight in record time and feel great again....as for me, it has been a struggle. But no longer!!! My goal is to be pool ready by the middle of June so that Hallie and I can enjoy days at the aquatic center without having to hide under layers. This pasty skin needs some sun!!!

Operation Happy doesn't end there.....another goal: to stop biting my nails. This one hasn't been so simple. Not that the diet and exercise have been simple but I have a lot more self control with that than I do a habit that I've had since first grade. My mother blames it on my teacher for stressing me out....I wonder what on earth could have stressed me out in first grade?? Maybe I didn't get a pretty sticker on my reading assignment?? ;) Anyhow, considering I stopped just now to bite my nail means I still have a ways to go. Ugh!



Hallie has even jumped on board with Operation Happy and has been loving her homemade baby food! And trying to give up her binky on top of that!

I don't mean by any means that every day is happy but I was spending way too many days down in the dumps and needed to do something about it. I'm happy to say Operation Happy has made a big difference!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

In the Kitchen with Hallie: Part II

SO HAPPY!!! The baby food Hallie and I whipped up the other day was all very much enjoyed by the babe. So I took a quick inventory and realized that I had only made enough to last three days....well after another afternoon of chopping, peeling, steaming and blending we now have enough to last a whole week. I was so excited to go shop for even more fruits and veggies...this time I got a little braver with my variety. But still a little on the conserative side.



Hallie was not so much into helping today as she was into eating everything in sight. She munched on her puffs, downed some juice and teethed on various fruits and veggies to check for ripeness and firmness. She is just the best little taste-tester around these parts.....




We definitely came up with some winning combos today.......


SQUASH - CARROT

CANTALOUPE - PEAR

MANGO - BANANA

BLUEBERRY - BANANA - STRAWBERRY

STRAWBERRY - BLUEBERRY

AVOCADO - BANANA

SWEET POTATO - APPLE

It seems as though Sundays will be the new baby food makin' day around the Fanning house. Out of curiousity I thought I'd compare cost of store bought versus homemade food....a week of Gerber would cost about $10...a week of all fresh and natural food costs about $25. Not too bad. Hallie seemed to have piece of mind about it after we were finished........

"All of this work makes a baby sleepy"

Hallie AND mom's favorite of the day........

Mango banana!!!!!!!