dear baby a,

happy 14 months, my sweet girl!

a year ago, you were two months old and being blessed at church. crazy how different you are today!

  

i seriously can't get over you and your cuteness. sometimes, it feels like my whole body is going to go into sensory overload because it can't handle all the pent-up love i have for you.

i know. super cheesy. but, during those moments, i just have to hug you and kiss the crap out of those chubby cheeks of yours.

i'm starting work here soon. just 1-2 days a week. nothing big, but at the same time, it's huge. 

i missed you tonight after an hour at the gym. i don't know what 9 hours is going to do to me. don't worry though, daddy will be home to take care of you. just be sure to tell him how much you miss me and that you love me more. ;)

with it being your 14 month birthday today, here is what you are up to as of now:

-you like to tell us no. but, not in an annoying i'm-a-toddler-and-i-have-dominance-over-you sort of way, but in the kind of way that makes our hearts melt and we want to say yes to all of your demands. your dad usually tells you no by shaking a finger at you, so you picked that up and usually when you don't want something, you give a little finger shake back and forth and through your tears say, "uh-uh" over and over. it's about the cutest thing ever.

-you are obsessed with belly buttons. i can't lie down anymore without my shirt being lifted up. today you discovered that you have a belly button too! life is so fun, huh?

-you love shoes and will match them up and then proceed to have us help you try all of them on.

-you've gotten over the crying phase when we put you down for naps or for bed. usually i will snuggle you right before bed, but nowadays, you like to forego that part and you point to your crib instead. i get the picture.

-you like to get people's attention by waving, but then you're really shy about it and will hide behind me every time.

-you're obsessed with animals. i went to target the other day with the intent of buying you your first baby doll. i was letting you pick out which one you wanted, but you were too interested in the dog stuffed animals in the next aisle. i'm sure you can guess which one won.

-speaking of animals, you can now say, "dog". or rather, "duh". any time a dog barks in the neighborhood, we know about it. you haven't learned a whole lot more words since last month. you definitely know that 'dada' is your dad and 'mama' is me. how about you call me mama for the rest of your life? because it's pretty much adorable.

-you enjoy swimming with your bff, ashtyn czarnocki.

-you think copper's bed was designed especially for you.

-you're afraid of holiday inflatable decorations.

-and you love balloons.

you're the coolest 14 month old there ever was, sweet cheeks.

love,

mama

oh, hello fall.

it's here, it's here! fall time, that is. it's been cloudy and overcast all day today and i don't think it's gotten above 65 degrees. zach is going to hate me for saying this, but i'm so glad summer is over! don't get me wrong, we had a freaking awesome summer and i loved every second of it. but, fun fact about me: i hate the heat. that's not to say that i hate summer, but since summer is hot, it's not exactly my favorite season. yes, you can go outside and go swimming and go hiking and all of that fancy stuff, but you can do all of that during the fall, too. and guess what? you can do it while wearing cardigans and boots and eating pumpkin bread and roasting s'mores and doing all of the fun fall things and not want to strip down to your birthday suit while you're at it. see? fall rocks.

zach and i have been trying really hard lately to get a babysitter each week and go out, just the two of us. but sometimes, we don't really want to have it be just the two of us. most nights we want addi with us, so yesterday we had a date night at the park, where we packed up the babelet, the dog, sandwiches in a picnic basket, and had ourselves a cute little dinner, right there on the grass.

it was lovely. as we were sitting there, it hit me how quickly fall has come and how quickly it will probably go, so we need to make a bucket list, fast. and that's why i've brought you here today. here is our fall bucket list and i'm so excited to do everything on it! let me know if i missed anything important.

averett fall bucket list:

-go to a pumpkin patch
-drink apple cider {advanced option: make it as well}
-carve our pumpkin {the one that we accidentally grew when zach threw last year's pumpkins into the backyard to "fertilize the dirt'.}
-make a fall wreath
-make pumpkin cream cheese bread
-pick apples
-go to a football game
-watch a scary movie {most likely, it will have mickey mouse or scooby doo in it, because i'm a lightweight when it comes to scary movies.}
-dip and eat caramel apples {emphasis on the 'eat'.}
-go to a corn maze
-read a book
-roast s'mores over a fire pit
-decorate for fall
-make a pumpkin pie
-watch hocus pocus
-make caramel popcorn
-go on a picnic
-make and decorate fall cookies
-go for a hike
-make an apple pie {advanced option: make it with a lattice top.}
-go on a hayride
-go for a drive to see the fall leaves
-find our halloween costumes {if anyone can point us in the direction of some epic star wars costumes, we'd appreciate it mucho.}

you can bet your bottom dollar, that every one of these things will be happening. happy falling, my friends!

-the mrs.

colorado run half marathon. an #ophotwife segment.

today started off like any other. except i willingly woke up at 6 am and i was so nervous that i could hardly eat my cereal without wanting to ralph. ain't nothing that gets in the way of my cereal and me, most days. the question 'why?' might be going through your head right about now. well, it just so happens, that i was crazy enough to run my very first half marathon this morning!

i'm glad i was able to rope my friend meghan into running this with me. hopefully she doesn't hate me for it!

i've been training for this thing for twelve weeks now. twelve. that's a long time when you think about it. that's, like, a third of an entire pregnancy! it wasn't always easy. especially since i had the bright idea to run this race at the end of summer. meaning i'd be training for it all summer long. in the heat. i hate the heat.

lucky for me, the actual race was better than some of my training runs even were! with zach working, i had no choice but to train with addi in tow. i had an internal struggle as to whether or not i should push her in the race and when it came down to it, i couldn't let myself get this far with training with her and then just drop her like it's hot. so, this little beauty of mine tagged along for the entire 13.1 miles with me.

she even slept for a good 45 minutes of it! i don't blame her. running is exhausting.

i got to about mile 5, when i saw a bunch of people holding signs and cheering for passing runners. i looked for zach, hopeful that he might be mixed up in the crowd. no dice. as i went a little further though, past the majority of the crowd, i saw copper sitting there being a good dog, with zach next to him holding a sign to cheer me on. it might sound cheesy, but that gave me just the boost i needed to keep going! zach met me at three or four different spots along the route, with a different sign each time. have i ever told you how much i love that man? he was so unbelievably thoughtful and supportive through the entire race!

i had three goals for this thing. 1 - finish in under 2 hours and 30 minutes. i ended up coming in around 2 hours and 18 minutes, so i was stoked about that. 2 - run the entire time and don't stop once. this wasn't a problem for me until about mile 8, when i could feel the blisters popping up all over my feet. talk about killer. even then though, i didn't have as big of a desire to stop as i have on other runs i've done. that was a blessing. 3 - to push addi the whole way. i'm happy to say that all three of those goals were successfully accomplished! i can't even begin to tell you how incredibly awesome it feels to not only have finished the half marathon, but to have completed these things that i set out for myself on top of it. it made me feel like a million bucks!

never in my life would i ever have thought that i would become a runner like this. my soccer coach can attest that i was always one of the ones in practice that would complain about having to run a mile. people aren't lying though when they say that during an actual race, you get an indescribable runner's high and that's what makes you want to do it all over again.

at least, in the beginning, that is. this picture was taken seconds after i crossed the finish line. zach thought i was ticked at him for no reason at all, when really, i was celebrating inside, while telling myself to keep breathing. proof that you can't judge a person by their face. ;) if you were to ask me today if i would ever do this again, i'd give you a h3!! no. but maybe when my knees aren't killing me anymore and this gargantuan blister goes away, that answer might change.

if anybody has good running shoes recommendations, send them my way. because heaven knows i need it!

zach was so stinking sweet and had a cute sign and flowers for me at the end of the race. that alone, made it all worth it. i'm so lucky to have such a supportive husband! 

and a supportive daughter. i just know if she could talk, she would have been cheering me on while i ran. ;) 

p.s. if you haven't tried this stuff, you need to immediately. it's the bomb and tastes amazing.

thanks to everyone that sent me words of encouragement! it means the world to me. i'm happy that this is done and over with and that i can move onto bigger and better things. i'm officially one step closer to completing #ophotwife. now, bring on the season of toning!

-the mrs.