Wow! Has it really been 2 months since we last updated the blog? Time is just flying by and Addie is just getting bigger and bigger, faster and faster, louder and louder. We don't even have much time anymore to take many pictures, but here are a bunch from the last month (or so.)

She thinks she is so cool when she has her shades on!


Riding in a truck at Chuck E Cheese. We took her this weekend for her first time! It was really fun and not that crowded.
Here's what Daddy has been spending most of his extra time doing. RUNNING and then RUNNING some more. GO DADDY GO!
Bad hair day, but at least she's starting to get more hair.
She loves baby dolls. We recently got a stroller for her to push her baby around.
Playing on the playground at the zoo.
Checking out the panda at the zoo.
Feeding the birds (or trying to grab them) at the zoo.
Addie loves birds. It one of the few words that she says.
I'm not seeing the resemblance.




RUNNING AGAIN!
Addie loves to play in water. Any water will do even Amos' water bowl.
Getting ready for school on a rainy day.
Addie says bye, bye. See you soon!

Firecracker 5k

It's almost been an entire year since I started running...again. It started out as a pact with Nathan and Joe to run a couple half marathons. In the midst of running I came across a group of runners who I stared running with. We decided to work on our 5k times after the long-distance season was over. Since April we have been at the track on Thursday nights working on our speed. At this point in time, my best 5k time was hovering around 21 minutes. I made it my goal to run under 20 minutes by the Firecracker 5k. In the weeks leading up to the Firecracker we ran a few 5k's. I was unsuccessful each of those times in breaking the 20 minute barrier.

People from all over the midsouth come out to run this race. It was estimated to draw a few thousand people to this race. I was told that several high school and college runners would be running. This would obviously make it a faster race than many of the others.




My game plan had to be different from my other races if I was going to finish under 20 minutes. My problem in the previous races revolved going out a little too fast and then dying at the end. I would have to resist the urge to take off with the leaders and hang back just a little. This would hopefully allow me to have something in the tank for the second and third miles.

Oddly enough, I find the 5k much harder to run than the longer races. Because of the short distance it is a very fast race. Your body does not have time to find a rhythm. It suffers from oxygen deprivation very early in the race making it very difficult to finish strong.

After many weeks and hard runs at the track, the gun finally goes off and we're moving. Just like I had gone over in my head over and over, I kept to a more reasonable pace at the beginning. At mile 1 I was several seconds slower than I am usually. Perfect. I had slowed a bit after mile 2 and I was just a little concerned. But I decided to reach down and pick it up a notch in the third and final mile. This is usually where my race falls apart. Not this time. I put down the gas and my body responded. My last mile was my fastest. As I made the last turn for the finish line, I just let it all hang out. I picked it up several more notches and ran across the line very strong. I made my goal. I ran a 19:32. I had beaten my goal by almost 30 seconds. I could not have been more satisfied. Come to find out, I finished 4th in my age group and 50th overall. I was very satisfied. Next year I might be trying to break 19 minutes. Who knows.

4th of July

It has been almost two months since we've posted anything on the blog. It was about time to do a little updating. These are a few pics of what has happened since then.



Since Addie was very little she has always had a thing for the vacuum. Now that she is older, she likes to help mommy push it around the house. I hope she doesn't grow out of this.








Here is Addie playing with one of her best friends.

And here she is drinking out of a cup she just dipped into Amos' water.






Grandpa pulling Addie and Palmer around.





Addie and Palmer had a really good time at the sprinkler park last weekend. Neither one liked getting sprayed directly.





Swinging on her new swing. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.




































Playing in the sprinkler at home.














Waiting for the parade to start. High Point Parade, July 4th.

It seems like yesterday that we were in the hospital delivering our first child. It's hard to believe a whole year has past. Here are some pictures of Addie's first birthday.
Here is Addie hanging out with Daddy and Grandpa.
Grandma helps Addie negotiate the uneven ground in the back yard. Thanks Amos for making our back yard the way it is!

A nice pic with Addie in her birthday dress.

Palmer was in Paducah with Granna and Grandpa. She came down with them to celebrate Addie's first birthday. Her mom and dad were not able to make it because little Anderson is less than two weeks old.

The cousins are enjoying the swing. Thanks for leaving the swing at our house grandma.

Palmer and Mendy hanging out on the swing enjoying the shade.
Thank you Brandon and Lori for stopping by and celebrating with us. It was very nice to see you guys.

All the cousins on the Hook side received an adirondack chair. Addie got hers on her birthday and daddy put it together so she would have somewhere to sit outside. Here she is with Grandma and Grandpa.
Cohen made some new friends this weekend in Memphis. This is Steve and Ashley McDermott's son, Roman playing in the mud with Cohen. They had a blast making a mess. Steve wasn't too thrilled but Cohen couldn't quit talking about his new friends for the rest of the weekend.
Addie had a lot of choices as to which gifts to open first. The kids are having a fun time seeing all the new toys and helping Addie play with them all.
Ellis (Steve and Ashley's other child) was especially helpful when it came to opening the presents. Thanks Ellis.
Grandma got Addie a rope swing like the one in her own back yard. There was a little controversy over who would get to sit in it first.
And this is Addie's first birthday cake. Thank you Michelle. Everyone enjoyed the cake.
Addie was a little overwhelmed by all the people in the room there to see her blow out her candle.
She had a little trouble blowing out the candle since she had never blown out a candle before. Luckily she had some help from Cohen and Ellis.

It took Addie a while to really break into the cake. She just played around with the icing for a while at first. But once the playing was over she decided to dig in the only way she knew how.
And it made quite a mess.

Amos spent most of the time in exile but he managed to steal a kiss or two from the kids from time to time.
After all that birthday action it was time to clean up. Here are the three cousins enjoying a group bath before heading off to bed for the night.