Thursday, July 27, 2006

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

I feel so awkward about this

I have a secret. I started running a couple months ago. When I decided to start running, I thought it would be a great idea to sign up for a race to keep me motivated. I am not athletic at all, so just the thought of signing up terrified me. Instead, I came across an ad for Moms in Motion, which has turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. It's a 10-week program that culminates with a 5k race in September. The race is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which is a charity that, unfortunately, I feel strongly about due to personal experience.

I mentioned that my Gumma passed away back in February, but I never really got into it. About three years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was too far gone to simply remove the tumor, so she had to have a mastectomy. By this time, it had already begun to spread to other parts of her body, so over the years she had several surgeries and rounds of both radiation and chemotherapy to try and combat it, but nothing worked.

She was the one family member I was closest to. From the day I was born, I've been "Gumma's girl." My Gumma was the one pacing in the waiting room when my mom was in labor. She even suggested my name. She took my mom in and taught her how to take care of a newborn. When I got older, I would spend a week at a time with my grandparents a couple times a year. She taught me how to cook and clean. She also got me hooked on Days of our Lives. She was the one I always ran to when I needed help. When we told everyone that we weren't going to be having a big wedding, and going to the Caribbean to get married instead, she immediately understood because she got me. Damon and I made our first trip to California a few months after we got married, so he could finally meet my family, and we stayed with my grandparents. We found out I was pregnant on this trip,so she was the first person we told.

It was a devastating blow for me when she told me had cancer. She was the first in her family to ever have it. She was a tough broad, and larger than life to me, so she was supposed to be around forever. I am happy that she is no longer suffering, but it breaks my heart that she won't be around to see Abby grow up. At least my Gumma got to meet her back in September.

So you can see why I was thrilled to find out that my first race was going to be a Race for the Cure. Unfortunately, this means I have to ask for money. I hope no one feels obligated to sponsor me, but I would greatly appreciate any help you can give. I completely understand if you can't or don't feel comfortable with it. Believe me, I'm not very comfortable asking. If you'd like to help, you can donate here.

We'll be back with your regularly scheduled programming shortly.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Pictures

We went to the park this morning, for the first time in a looong time, and took a bunch of pictures. The rest are on flickr.

This was one from a few weeks ago that was still in the camera.















Monday, July 10, 2006

Quick Update

Abby loves to give us kisses on the lips now. It's the most heart-melting thing ever. The other day, I was laying on the floor letting her climb over me, and she got right in my face, cupped my face with her hands, and showered me with kisses. A couple weeks ago, we went to a brunch for the neighborhood in one of the activity rooms here. It took her a little while to warm to everyone, but by the time we left, she was trying to kiss a few of the women.

She's also become fascinated with straps and buckles. We can't get her in the car seat, high chair, or grocery cart without letting her try to buckle herself in first. She can now buckle the right strap on her high chair too! Right now, she doesn't have any interest in UNbuckling herself, which I am so dreading. One thing I've learned recently is that I can't tell her we're going bye-bye without telling her we're going in the car. If I don't tell her we're going in the car, she throws a fit when I try to strap her in the car seat because she thinks we're going for a walk outside. If I tell her we're going in the car, then all is right, and she shrieks "CA! CA!" over and over while running to the garage door.

Remember those cute little sandals I bought her a few months ago? She outgrew them a couple weeks ago. And I'm having a really hard time finding new sandals. I can find every other size known to man, but not the size 6 I need! Target had a whole aisle full of sandals and NOT ONE PAIR was in her size. Summer just started and they're already getting rid of sandals for back-to-school shoes.

It's been raining, or at least threatening to rain, the last few weeks, so I haven't been taking many pictures. This is all I have right now. I took the first one a couple weeks ago when I let Abby play in the rain for a few minutes. My sister, Jessica, took the last three when we were sitting around doing nothing one afternoon at my mom's house. Abby's no longer allowed to run around without some sort of bottoms, or a onesie, on because she's figured out how to take off her diaper. She doesn't bother with it when it's covered...yet.




She's been perfecting the dirty look recently.








New Words:
1. Hot (ah) This one's not new, but I forgot to add it to the list before.
2. Cookie (tootie)
3. All Gone (aga)
4. Dorothy (the Dinosaur) (tototie)
5. Jay Jay (the Jetplane) (taytay)
6. Banana (lala)
7. Go
8. Trash

The ones she says regularly, though, are hi, bye-bye, vacuum, keys, car, light, and feet.