Contact's Race for Hope

On March 28, we participated in our first race as a family. It was also a first for Hannah and myself. David's actually run in a handful of races before. I found out about this race about a month ago and immediately knew I wanted to do it. David hem hawed around for the next couple of weeks before deciding he would run and push Hannah. I signed us both up for the 5k. The race started promptly at 0830 in front of the Airborne and Special Operations Museum. I was so nervous and anxious, and afraid that I was going to get halfway through the race and something would happen to prevent me from completing it. David was actually laughing at me! Before the race, David asked me what my goal was, and if I wanted him to stay with me to help motivate/pace me. I told him that he could do whatever, that I thought seeing him in front of me would motivate me. Once we started, I felt myself relaxing. At the turnaround point, David told me that he had to be the first stroller across the finish line, so I told him to go for it. So he did. Crossing the finish line, I felt a surge of pride that's hard to describe. Running has been, and continues to being something that is a challenge for me. I think that's why I like it, because I always have to push myself. I was so happy. The person that won our race was in 5th. David was indeed the first stroller across the finish line, at 17th. I was 39th, there were a total of 126 runners in our race. I did accomplish my pace goal. David concluded that he could've finished first if he had not been pushing Hannah but his exact words about that were "I'd rather finish 17th with Hannah than first without." Our next race is a 10k for the Dogwood Festival on April 25th.

Amy and Tom's Visit

We had a great time while Amy and Tom were here. We had lots of great wine and food, and lots of good times with Hannah. The hotel we stayed at had an indoor pool, which I was thrilled about. We took Hannah swimming on Friday morning. Friday evening we had dinner at my mom's. The weather was gorgeous everyday there were bere, sunny and in the 60's. Saturday we packed a picnic lunch and took Hannah to the park. We attempted to play frisbee golf but Hannah didn't want any of that. So Tom and David played frisbess golf while Amy and I followed Hannah around the park. Saturday evenng we had dinner at my dad's. Sunday we took Hannah to the stables at Ft Bragg. Because of David's history there, we were able to put Hannah on a pony while David led her around. Typically, you can not put a child on a horse under the age of 5 at the stables. She wasn't sure about the horse when she was standing next to it, and David had to coax her a little to get her to sit on it. And she wasn't even sure about it when she sat in the sadle. But as soon as the pony took it's first step, she broke out into this huge grin. It was pure joy, one of those moments that as a parent, you treasure. David walked her around for probably 10 minutes and then we took her off the pony and said goodbye. I have a short video of her pony ride, but I haven't looked at it yet. Zoom in on the first photo to see her big smile.

The Decorator

Last Thursday, Amy and Tom pulled in to Fayetteville for a short visit with us, well mostly Hannah. We all packed up and stayed in a suite at a nearby hotel because it was the easiest and most convienent thing to do with our current living situation being what it is. Having said that, the house hunt is starting to get exhausting! On Wednesday, Hannah and I decorated a litttle picture frame for Amy and Tom. The completed frame held one of Hannah's drawings. Hannah was so cute decorating the frame. First of all, she kept sticking stickers in the center of the frame, you know, the part that's covered by the picture. I also discovered that she really doesn't "get" glue yet. And that she loved the little fuzzy balls we had to decorations. I had to wait until I gave Amy and Tom their gift before I posted this, since it was a surprise. So here they are.

By Popular Demand.......

Here's Hannah and Art, building a fire in the backyard at my mom's. They did this last weekend while David and I were out scouring Fayetteville, unsuccessfully, for a home. My favorite one is the last one here, in which both of them are taking a break. I love how Hannah has her arm placed on her forehead, expressing exhaustion!