Memorial Day Weekend

We began the three day weekend with a day trip to the Austin area (about 8 hours round trip) to see Jason's grandmother, Me Mommy.  Olivia was so sweet. She colored a picture for "daddy's grandma" Friday night and made sure we took it with us Saturday.

On Sunday, we went to church, took naps, then went to the zoo for a while.  We were given season passes at Christmas and have loved being able to drop in for just a couple of hours at a time (oh, and free parking is nice too)!

She was pretty interested in the snakes this trip....that was new!

We didn't have anything planned for Memorial Day.  We were suppose to have swim lessons at 6pm, but they cancelled at the last minute, so we ended up going over to Gram E's house to swim and have dinner.



My Little Baker

This weekend was pretty uneventful.  Ours usually are...we don't tend to do much but manage to stay busy at the same time!

Olivia started running fever Thursday night.  So I kept her home Friday and took her to the doctor.  We knew it would be either an ear infection or a virus.  This time we got the virus diagnosis.  So we came back to home to wait it out!  Luckily by Saturday, she seemed better. She was still running a little fever, but nothing extreme.  Saturday evening I was scared she was getting a stomach bug, as she got sick on the couch, but it was a one time deal (thank goodness!!!). 

We planned to go to the zoo Sunday after church/nap but decided against it since she'd been sick.

After nap, Olivia woke up and requested we make cookies. Her daddy had recently been complaining hinting to the fact that there weren't any cookies in the house as well.  So I did what any good wife/mom would do and made cookies (the flourless, sugarless bean cookies...I know you are totally jealous). 

We make these cookies at least every other week, if not every week.

With each week, she becomes a bigger and bigger helper.  I'm convinced she will be making them completely by herself by the end of August....if only she were allowed to use the food processor and oven!

Swim Lessons

Olivia has her first swim lesson yesterday.  She was SO excited about it.  I decided to get her private lessons since she is a little bit nosey.  I didn't think she'd pay as much attention in a group as she needed to (but who knows).   She'll have four private lessons, then we may put her in a group session afterwards.  Since she is only 3, I know we can't expect her to be a little fish, but she definitely WANTS to be one!

We got there early.  I figured it would be good for her to see others in the pool.  She was very patient waiting until it was her turn.  There were some bigger kids in the pool with swim caps on.  She was a little concerned because we didn't have a "hat" for her. 

 

At the beginning, after everything the teacher told her, she would turn and look at me like "is it ok mom?".  Luckily she warmed up and trusted her after just a couple of minutes. 

Here she is getting the "pool rules".

Mommy's Day 2012

Mother's Day weekend was pretty uneventful.  Jason worked Saturday, so Olivia and I spent the morning running errands and doing our usual thing.

Sunday wasn't much different. We went to church, ate lunch, napped, then went to my MIL's for dinner.

 I requested that Jason NOT buy me anything, as I've been setting up my office and already spending a little extra money on a few things I want in there.  Having a nice room to sit and work all day is gift enough for me!  They did each give me a card, and Olivia made some things for me from daycare.

On more than one occassion, Olivia asked if it was Mother's Day.  I would reply with yes, and she would say "But you not a Mother!  You a mom!  You my mommy!". 

I'm sure in due time she will be calling me "Mother" on a regular basis....definitely something I am NOT looking forward to! Until then, I'll take "Happy Mommy's Day"!



Weekend

Nana came to visit this past weekend. We didn't have any plans, as we usually don't when she comes!

We did go visit the "hidden falls".

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Olivia was being SILLY.  She insisted on closing her eyes for most pics.

We kept the nature theme going thru the evening.  We went to dinner on 7th street and stopped by the duck pond to feed the ducks.  All I had with me was my cell, so no great pics here.

On Sunday, mom was trying to get pics of Olivia before our trip to Target.  She wasn't having any part in it.  She is SO into giving these big fake smiles....ones where her eyes are huge and crazy-looking!

We played Santa during bathtime Sunday night.  She was saying "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!".  We're alraedy ready for winter to come again!



Our Weekend

We had a pretty low key weekend.  Saturday consisted of grocery store, playing, naps & FINALLY finishing our membership classes at our church.  There are 4 classes you have to take.  We took the first three either last July or August I think....it's been so long we can't remember, but we finally made it to the 4th class this month.  We're official now! lol

On Sunday, we went back to church for the regular service.

And this little stinker refused to take a picture....

I'll be trying again when she wears this dress!  I'm in love with this Noah's Ark dress.  She had a Noah's Ark dress when she was a baby too and it was a favorite then as well!

After lunch and nap, we decided to go down to a local park.  It's 1/2 mile from our house.  First, let me just say...running with a stroller and 30 pound child is SO much harder than running alone.  That 1/2 mile (which is mainly one big hill) felt like 2 miles!  At least it was fast on the way home since we got to go downhill!

Unfortunately, the playground at the park is for older kids.  I believe the sign said 5-12 year olds.  There weren't any slides or swings.  It was like a big place for kids to exercise, which is great!  It was just unfortunate that they didn't also make an area for the little ones.

In addition to the playground, basketball court & sand volleyball court, there were several stations set up for exercising.  This was a station for dips.  There was also one for step ups, sit ups, etc.



Hopefully we'll get a lot of use out of our new neighborhood park!  And so far....it doesn't seem to be packed, which is nice!

Growing up...

Conversation I we had at bedtime...

Olivia: well, I'm growing up!
Me: I don't want you to grow up!
Olivia: well, I have to grow up...to be like you!

Are you kidding me?!?! Melted my heart! Man, I love this girl! She then proceeded to tell me how she was going to cook and drive...and how I was going to ride in the car seat.

I'll be sure to remind her when she is 13 that at one time...she wanted to be like me!

Why am I even doing this?!?!

I'm going to try to avoid putting too much fitness/weight loss/recipe info on this blog, as I really like to dedicate this one to our precious Olivia :)

I've started a new one....to keep myself busy...cause you know, I don't have a 3 year old, a job, a husband or anything like that to take care of! LOL

http://tessasfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/

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Fort Worth Zoo Run 5K

On Saturday, I ran the FW Zoo Run 5K with Deborah and Tari (friends/ co-workers from Citi).   I was really excited about this race....mainly cause I wanted to beat my time from the Cowtown 5K.  I know for a fact I've improved in the past couple of months.  I run faster on a daily basis.  At the time of the Cowtown, I averaged about a 10:30 min/mile.  I now average about a 9:30 min/mile.  So I just KNEW that I was going to be able to improve my 5k time by at least a couple of minutes.

The Zoo run consisted of a 10K timed race, a 5K timed race, a 5K fun run and a 1 mile fun run.

The 10K was coming to an end about the time we got there and the 1 mile fun run had started.  I just ASSUMED that the 5K timed and the 5K fun run would be 2 different races.  Well...you know what happens when you assume.  Turns out, both 5K races were running together.  I'm still VERY confused as to why you had to specify which you were running if you were in fact going to be running the exact same race!

So, needless to say there were tons of walkers.  Tons of strollers.  Tons of children.  Tons of people in my way! LOL (not really lauging...but trying to not be annoyed!)

I literally spent the first half of the race dodging people (proof below).  It was ridiculous.

Needless to say, I didn't beat my time.  In fact, I finished 4 seconds slower.

Would I do it again?  Sure....but I would do it for fun...and not to beat a personal record!  Lesson learned!

BEFORE THE RACE
(Deborah, Me, Tari)

AFTER THE RACE

I realize nobody else reading this could care less, but I want to keep record of my races/progress.  I'm considering starting a weight loss/fitness blog to document my efforts, although I would probably only have like 1 reader!

Anyway....here's the path.  You can see the star and finish were at the same spot.  The red/orange are where I ran the slowest.  The green/yellow were faster.  Towards the end (in the green), I was running at a 7:21 pace!  But at the start...and halfway thru, it was as high as 11:16....SO frustrating!  Half the race was literally thru the zoo....and those paths just are not large enough for that many people to run at once!  And by the time you were done dodging everyone, you had exhausted so much energy, you didn't have a lot left to power thru to the end!

MY RACE STATS
(so I can track my progress....cause I'm super competitive with myself like that!)

Time:  28:32

116th girl to finish (1691 total) - top 6.8%

378th to finish overall (2661 total) - top 14%

16th in my age group to finish (248) - top 6.4%

Would LOVE to finish in top 10% overall.....and top 5% of gender/age.....maybe next time!



Hidden Falls

Jason mentioned the other day about a hidden waterfall in Fort Worth. Apparently it's something few people know about, and something that even the city didn't really know about until 2-3 years ago.  Who knows how much of that is true, but it is for sure on property that used to be part of the air force base, so I guess there is reason to believe that few people knew about it.

I'm just throwing this pic in....cause I'm in love with this color on Olivia.  I saw this dress a couple of years ago in Castles & Crowns, but I sure hated the $70 price tag.  It has crosses in the smocking, and I just think it is so sweet. Well, I found it last year at a consignment sale for $20.  Score! It's in perfect condition.  I bet it had been worn and washed once...twice at the most!   I'm always buying ahead and sticking things back in the closet.  I love love love a deal on children's clothing!

Back to the waterfall....so after church yesterday, we rushed home and changed clothes and headed out to find this hidden treasure.

Olivia was so excited.  She couldn't wait to get to that waterfall.

After about a 5-10 minute walk, we came upon it.

Jason prepared me to not expect the Hawaiian waterfalls we saw last summer. LOL. And he was right....but it's still a pretty neat area of natural water in the middle of a busy city.   I bet it's really neat after a rainfall.

When we were putting Olivia to bed last night, I asked her if she had fun seeing the waterfall.

Her response:  Yeah, but I was just SO hot. 

I cracked up.  Then she started laughing, but I don't think she had a clue why I was laughing!  It was about 70-72 degrees when we were there yesterday.  Not exactly HOT by Texas standards.  My poor baby just doesn't know what the months ahead have in store for us!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Me: Olivia, what are you doing?

Olivia: Just making a rocketship.

Me: Oh. Huh. Well, ok!

I'm amazed daily at the things she knows that I'm not aware she knows!

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but she lined up 2 chairs and a stool. She also had a blanket that she kept trying to do something with...not sure what. Her baby was apparently a;sp going with her on her adventure!

More Bluebonnets

A couple/three weeks ago on my way home from work, I received a text from the girl that took Olivia's birthday pictures. She said she'd be in the bluebonnet field by our church at 6:30 and wanted to take Olivia's pics....for free.  Couldn't really pass that up...so I grabbed a healthy fast food dinner for her, made her eat really fast, then gave her a quick "bath" in the sink, threw a dress and bow on her and off we went!

This girl just kills me.  The instant she saw Stephanie, she was like "CHEESE!".  She didn't once question if there were snakes or bugs or bees in those flowers.  She just performed when asked.  Most smiles were a little on the fake side, but it is still amazing what they'll do for others!

This smile is super fake but still pretty cute.  Love her.

Happy Birthday to Jason!

Today is Jason's 33rd birthday!

We don't really have much planned....other than church this morning and dinner tonight, but Olivia doesn't think it's a birthday without balloons and streamers, so we decorated a little for him!   Now she keeps asking where his cake is (except she calls birthday cake..."birthday"....she leaves out the cake part, so it makes it somewhat difficult to decipher what she's talking about.  LOL).  Anyway, she wants to make him a cake, so maybe we'll tackle that this afternoon!  I attempted a recipe I found on Pinterest for oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies, and well, they were a major fail.  It's the thought that counts, right?!

Happy Birthday Jason!  We love you!

Sleepy Birthday Girl

Happy 5th Birthday to our first baby Gracie!

(she was not in the mood to be photographed today...obviously!)