This Space For Rent

Jul 30, 2013

I'm Alive!

Oh, my poor and neglected blog. Life has been so busy having an active 11 month old. The months are going by in a BLUR!

It's been HOT and HUMID in Alabama and we've been trying to hit the pool in between the storms.

Hazel is crawling and cruising everywhere and getting into EVERYTHING. I call her Hurricane Hazel.

She LOVES to splash in the dog water. Ugh.

She and Figaro are still best buds...

She turned 10 months old in June

I'm ten months old!
I'm speed crawling and cruising everywhere.
I can stand for a few seconds on my own.
I love to drink out of mommy and daddy's water bottles.
... I say "mmmm" when I eat something I like.
I love to push things (remotes, paper, toys) across the floor when I crawl.
I say what sounds like "Hi!" and "Whoa!"
I LOVE to empty laundry baskets, shelves and drawers.
I love Sesame Street and my Dinosaur and Peek a Boo Books.
Peek a Boo is the best.
My favorite toys are mommy's measuring spoons and a water bottle filled with beans--they're so noisy!

She got Mike a Dr. Who shirt for his first Father's Day...

She started cutting teeth in late June/ early July

We had a very rainy weekend at the beach over the 4th of July weekend...

She turned 11 months old on the 10th...

I'm 11 months old!
I have three teeth and more are cutting through.
I love to get tipped over when mommy sings "10 Little Indians." I start to lean over way before she even gets to that verse and just giggle and giggle when she tips me over.
I love to stand at the shower and open the curtain.
Squealing fits. Enough said.
... I love to dance, especially to the song at the end of Gilmore Girls and the Elmo's World song.
I do "cheers" with my sippy cup.
Splashing in the dog water is awesome.
I love to hold down the flap of my snap cup and shake it to get my snacks out. I get so many out at once--it's way more efficient.
I LOVE to read. I hold up a book and screech at mommy and daddy until they read it to me. My favorites are "Peek a Boo" and "Good Night Little Bunny."
I took my first steps on June 30th!
I can stand and balance and I'm trying so hard to walk.
I love my little push car but mommy says I'm a crazy driver.
I have learned how to fake cough and laugh.
I love to way and say "Hiyee" to everyone, especially my animals.
I say "mama" "dada" "wow" "whoa" and "hi!"

Mike graduated from the Senior NCO Academy on the 19th...

I got some serious blisters on my heels after a 9 mile run a few weeks ago so I've been taking it easy the past couple weeks. I'm almost healed finally so hopefully I'll be racking up the miles again soon-- the Army 10 miler is fast approaching AND I've signed up to run the Princess Half Marathon at Disney World next February. It's the weekend before my 30th birthday, which will work out great. A half is my ultimate running goal and for me to accomplish it at one of my favorite places AND the weekend before I turn 30 will be super special.
I have been BUSY! Did I tell you guys that I'm working on my Accreditation to become a La Leche League Leader? I should be done with that process in the next couple months. There are no lactation consultants or LLL Leaders in the immediate area, they're all about 30-40 minutes away, so it will be good to be able to help the local mamas with their breastfeeding questions. I'm also trying to get a chapter of Stroller_Warriors up and running here at Fort Rucker. I've gone through the application process and now I just have to have a Skype interview with the founder of the organization. We found out that we will be here another two years so I'm trying to make the most of it!

May 29, 2013

Another Team RWB Post

I've posted about Team RWB before so I won't bore you with another plug. Just wanted to share a few pictures from our recent activities! We even made the post paper!

Ready for Run as One, an event to commemorate the partnership between Team RWB and Team Rubicon and to honor Marine veteran Clay Hunt, an original Team Rubicon member, who lost his battle with PTSD and depression.
This event took place in over 40 locations nationwide

Fort Rucker Team_RWB

Oh and Mike and I are registered for the Army Ten Miler in October! Anyone else doing it?!

N'awlins.

Mike and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary yesterday--CRAZY! Nine years! One of the great things about getting married over a holiday weekend is that he's always guaranteed at least a three day weekend. One of our New Year's resolutions was to try to stop complaining about how much we dislike Alabama and try to take advantage of what the south has to offer us. Sooo...we hopped in our car and drove about five ours south west to New Orleans!

Several family members met us there as well, which made the weekend extra fun! I was shocked at how much disrepair there still was after almost 8 years. Very sad. I don't remember watching the news much in 2005 so I read up a lot about Katrina while we were there and my heart was just breaking. I'm so glad so much of the city has been able to recover.

Sidenote: This is NOT a stroller or handicap friendly city. My sister-in-law's mother was in a wheelchair and could not use the side walks the majority of the time due to broken concrete or tree roots. We had the same issue with the stroller but luckily we had taken our BOB with us so it handled the obstacles a lot better than a regular stroller would have. Just keep this in mind while traveling with a stroller or wheelchair.

We stayed downtown and spent the majority of the time in the French Quarter and area. I have never been in a city so alive with music--I LOVED it. We did not get beignets from Café Du Monde (or anywhere else for that matter) and we didn't get to see Marie Laveau's grave--we walked all the way to the cemetery only for it to be closed.

It was HOT (and smelly!) but we had a good time. I used all of my carriers and Hazel did great in the jogging stroller. We ate a TON of really good food and really enjoyed ourselves. I don't think we'd go back, except maybe to see the city decorated for Christmas. The pictures pretty much tell the story....