The Lake Davidson Triathlon

Today, Harry completed his second triathlon. It was a beautiful day in Charlotte so Alaina and I were able to go along and cheer him on. Harry took about an hour and forty minutes to complete the triathlon, but thanks to my photography skills (sorry the pictures are blurry) you can watch him like it took just a few seconds. 

Harry and Alaina on their way to the transition area/starting line. 

Harry, getting everything ready for the transitions. He has his bike shoes laid out (socks in them), helmet and towel ready for when he returns from the swim. He also has his tennis shoes ready for when he comes in from the bike ride. 

Harry completing the swim. 

Here he is coming out of the transition area ready for his bike ride. 

Alaina, do you like triathlons? Yeah! They are awesome!

Harry leaving the transition area while attaching his running number (and saying hi to Alaina). 

Finished! Way to go Harry!! We are so proud of you! 

Alaina enjoyed spending the morning out in the cool air cheering for her daddy (and I did, too).

Turning Two

It has been almost 2 years since Alaina was born. It seems hard to believe! Time sure does fly and our little lady is getting bigger every day. Today we had Alaina's birthday party and we were blessed to have family and friends with us to celebrate.

Balloons! I love balloons!

Alaina and Austin at her water table. Austin is the son of Alaina's nanny, Stephanie. The water table was one of Alaina's birthday gifts from Harry and me. 

Alaina also got a big wheel from grandma and grandpa. 

Minnie Mouse was the theme of the party so Alaina had a chocolate Minnie cake and pink frosted yellow cupcakes. She didn't eat either (Alaina won't try cake) so the cookie bow was for her.

She also got a bike helmet from us that she insisted that she wear to blow out her candles. 

Harry and me (dressed in our Clemson colors)

Our cool (almost) 2 year old.

Her actual birthday is on Monday, September 10. Happy Birthday, sweet Alaina!

Rain, Rain Don't Go Away

Alaina really enjoyed our rainy afternoon today.

It began with a rainbow. This little lady LOVES rainbows. She loves wearing her rainbow shirt and when we see one (usually out the back door) she is in Heaven. We see rainbows a lot more frequently lately. 

At the end of the rainbow video you may have noticed she was trying to play in the water on the table. That meant we headed outside for some puddle stomping. 

One final puddle stomping video. My nickname from my Aunt Annette growing up was Mud Puddle Mery... this just may be Mud Puddle Alaina.

Random Photos

I haven't had much time to post this past week since starting back to school, so I have a few photos to share from the past few weeks.

Alaina and me after a long day. 

Alaina loves "sock hands." She puts socks (hopefully clean ones, not always) on her hands and goes about her daily routine... like eating goldfish. 

Yay! Sock Hands!

Alaina and Harry earlier today. 

Alaina showing off her new shirt. Anybody who knows me knows I LOVE bunnies. Yesterday when shopping at Belk I found this bunny shirt AND the bunny has glasses on! Those two things (for Alaina) equal the best shirt ever! I only wish I could have found it in larger sizes, too.

Alaina's Saturday

The weather was beautiful today in Charlotte so we headed outside to enjoy the cooler temperatures. Alaina and I went for a run and to the park while Harry was on a bike ride and then we all went to the pool together this afternoon. 

While at the park, Alaina went through the tunnels and down the tunnel slide by herself for the first time (in the past, the tunnels have scared her). I can't believe how big she is getting and this video reminds me of that. 

This second video is her in an airplane. Madison, Luke, Alex, and Weston... Alaina has a message for you at the end. :-)

Insulindependence

Many of you may know, a few may not, that Harry is a diabetic. He has always wanted to become involved in the diabetic community but never really found his niche... until now. He is starting up the Charlotte chapter of Insulindependence. The mission of Insulindependence is to inspire people with diabetes to set personal fitness goals, educate them on adaptive management strategies though hands-on experience, and equip them to explore their individual capacities. He wrote a guest post on his friend Kerri's blog "Six Until Me". Check out what he wrote by clicking here! Alaina and I are so proud of him and we hope that the Charlotte chapter of Insulindependence is very successful!

Last Day of Summer Vacation

Today is my last day of summer vacation. I have really loved spending the summer with Alaina and I am going to miss her SO much when I return to work tomorrow. That being said, we decided to have an enjoyable day together doing something special.

First, we visited a friend and her new little baby. Alaina loved seeing such a tiny little guy. Then, we headed up to Jetton Park for a picnic and some play time. We used to live only a few miles from Jetton Park and this is where we spent the last day of summer vacation last year.

Alaina and I at the picnic.

Alaina swinging; I told her to say, "cheese" and this is what I got. I think it is very much an Alaina face.

Fun Around the House

Alaina and I hung out around the house today and had a TON of fun. 

We had a tea party and danced to the song the teapot plays. Alaina also learned to shadow dance.

We played outside in the sprinkler, too! Alaina had a blast!

A Night With the Panthers

On Friday, Harry came home from work and announced that he won Panthers tickets for the first preseason game of the 2012 season against the Houston Texans. The seats were great and we were excited to get out for some adult time. Harry's parents came to watch little A and we were off for a night on the town. 

The game wasn't that great (Panthers lost) but we had a really nice time. We got to sit near people Harry knew from work and we were on the 6th row!

We left after the 3rd quarter and headed to the car. We got in and as we started to pull away we heard a deafening explosion in the rear of the car. We turned around to see most of our back window missing. I went to talk to the traffic police who told me to call 911 to get an officer to write a police report (I felt weird calling 911 for a broken window but I was following directions). We waited for over an hour for the police to show up which gave us plenty of time to inspect what happened. As it turns out, somebody wrapped a parking cable around our rear window wiper (which is attached to the window) and when we pulled away it pulled the window out. Harry finally chased down a wonderful police officer and he told us that we could file a police report over the phone. After he very kindly knocked out the rest of our window so it wouldn't explode on the highway, we were off for home.  

 Harry's dad had been kind enough to clean out 1/2 of our garage so we could park inside (it had been raining last night, too). We already have 1 quote to get it fixed and have another call in for a quote tomorrow. Hopefully with help from our insurance it won't be too much. 

Thanks to Harry's parents for staying late with Alaina and for their help tidying up our garage!

Story Time: Monkey Edition

Today's story time was probably Alaina's favorite because it was all about monkeys! She also got a surprise visit from Daddy at the library. Talk about a great day.

Alaina listening to a story about monkeys in a tree getting snapped up by a crocodile.

Oops... Wrong Video

Yesterday I posted an "Alaina running" video to show how she bolts in public places when not strapped in, but it was the wrong video. Here is the correct video. Whoopsie!

A Week of Alaina Videos

Don't worry, I'm not posting a whole week of Alaina videoed (is that word?); however, here are a few videos I've taken of Alaina that I've meant to share. 

The first video was taken outside of church. Alaina has become a runner. If she isn't in a stroller when she is in a public space, she bolts. This is a good example of that. 

The next video is Alaina playing peek-a-boo with Harry. Her laugh is awesome and always makes me smile.

This last video is one that my family will appreciate, especially my sister Martha. Here Alaina is organizing her crayons in her crayon box. It reminds me so much of my niece, Madison, who would line up her little people in a similar organization... perfect. It's a little crazy that a 23 month old is doing this!

And finally, no... this isn't Alaina, this was our dinner tonight (my parents are visiting so we were trying something new). We cooked beer can chicken and grilled some veggies; it was delicious! I love this picture because it looks like the chicken (if it still had a head) is checking how the veggies are cooking.

Alaina's Famous Dance

Alaina seriously loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She also really likes the Minnie "Bow-Toons" that are short little cartoons between the 25 minute shows. 

Here is an example.

She really likes me to sing the opening song of the show and dance to it. Today, Harry got a video of her doing just this. Please excuse my terrible singing (but Alaina likes it, so that's good). 

Beach Weekend

This past weekend Harry, Alaina, and I headed to my parents near Wilmington, NC for a little beach get-away. We had a fantastic time and got a couple of great beach days in!

My sister, Martha, and her family stopped by for dinner and some play-time after their trip to the beach.

Luke, Alaina, Alex, and Madison playing on the slide.

The kids found a dragonfly and were mesmerized! 

Alaina and Madison

 Alaina and her babies all set up (Alaina did this and when I came around the corner she yelled, "cheese!")

 Happy Beach Baby

My little girl and me on my birthday. :-)

Alaina running for the waves... she LOVES the beach. 

Just before we left we found a lizard outside my parents front door. Alaina was obsessed with him and wanted us to take a picture... it turned out pretty well.

Daddy's Fashions

Today, Alaina sported her Daddy's fashions and it was really cute. She asks about him all the time during the day and I always tell her, "Daddy's at work." Today she told me, "Daddy work, toe broken, Daddy home!" She has recently started speaking in short phrases and I love what all she tells me. I can tell that she misses him a lot during the day so she made up for it by wearing some of his things.

First she found Daddy's belt. It had to be doubled up but she could wear it!

Next, wearing Daddy's shoes. Notice they are both right shoes and not a matching set. We don't seem to have any left shoes hanging around anywhere (other than collecting dust in the closet). I wonder why that is... (see "Surfer's Toe" for more information). 

Also, FYI, we won't have any left shoes floating around here for at least 3 more weeks but the surgeon doesn't think Harry will need to have a pin put in his toe. Yay?!?)

Alaina or Cookie Monster?

This video is a lot like my days with Alaina... requests for cookies and milk, sentences with poor grammar, and lots of dancing. 

A Walk in the Park

In the mornings, Alaina and I like to go for a jog (or sometimes a walk) in our community park. We also enjoy stopping to feed the ducks. This is a little video of our duck encounter today.

Alaina loves feeding the ducks. This morning, even after 3 pieces of bread, she wasn't done so she offered up her own snack... Teddy Grahams. I was skeptical, but the ducks and the goose ate it! We always end our visit by saying, "see you tomorrow!"

Story Time

Most Fridays, the public library in Davidson hosts a story time for toddlers from 11-11:25 (which is plenty of time). Today, Jessica, Beth, and I took the little ones there for a story, some dancing, lots of running, and a picnic.

Liam, Zack, and Alaina

They had a great time and I hope we can do it again next Friday!

Happy Independence Day

Yesterday, we celebrated our country's birthday. Alaina and I started the day with Harry's extended family (Harry had to work half of a day yesterday). We also got to visit some of the farm animals; Alaina's favorite were the baby birds.

After the family reunion, Harry, Alaina and I went to celebrate with friends. Alaina's two best buddies were there so we all had a great time.

Alaina, Liam, and Zack

All three of them are 3 months apart. Liam is the oldest, born May 2010, Alaina is the middle, born September 2010, and Zack is the youngest, born December 2010. 

Having fun in Liam's room. Of course Alaina is the daredevil jumping on the bed while the boys sit and play. This picture really shows her personality. 

Happy Birthday America! 

Thank you to all the men and women that serve that allow us to have this great country!

Surfer's Toe

Many of you may have heard of Turf Toe or Tennis Elbow, injuries associated with particular sports. This past weekend Harry was afflicted with Surfer's Toe. You may have never heard of Surfer's Toe but it is real and it is kinda gross. You see, Surfer's Toe happens when you are in San Diego and you try to learn to surf. You start by practicing on dry land by balancing on a teeter-totter type board (between the size of a skateboard and a surfboard). While trying to balance on this board, you may fall off and get Surfer's Toe (meaning you fracture a chip of bone off your toe right at the joint). If afflicted with Surfer's Toe, you will need to be in a walking boot for  awhile and hopefully you won't need surgery, too. Poor Harry.

 Harry's newest fashion accessory... his Surfer's Toe boot. Luckily the boot blocks your view of his Surfer's Toe.

Alaina has heard us talking about his boot, so she pulled these out of her closet yesterday to wear around the house. Her cowboy boots are much cuter than Harry's Surfer's Toe boot.

Bed Head

Every now and then Alaina wakes up with the cutest hair! Today was not one of those days. 

Alaina's Weekend With Grandma and Grandpa

This past weekend, Harry was in San Diego to attend training with Insulindependence, so Alaina and I headed to Wilmington to spend the weekend with my parents (and go to the beach). Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

On the way, Alaina started laughing hysterically in the back seat of the car. I turned around to see her balancing her cup on her head. She then announced, "cup hat". It was so cute!

Alaina is a true beach baby! She loved playing in the water (she wasn't the least bit scared even if she did get knocked down by a wave), she loved playing in the sand, and she loved people watching on the beach.

Alaina also loved playing at my parents' house. She was a chef and a pony groomer. 

We had a great weekend... thanks to my parents for having us!!