Our next little diva...

who is one today! Happy Birthday sweet baby Eleanor Jane! More to come later on the birthday thoughts...

My First Half Marathon

and I will entice you to read something about me by inserting pictures of my adorable fan club!

I ran my first half marathon this past Sunday. This has been on my bucket list for years. There is always an excuse. This year I got connected with some people from my church who were running with Team World Vision to raise money and awareness for kids in Africa who don't have clean water. I decided to join the cause. Then the famine hit East Africa, and it seemed like there were reminders every day in the paper about the realities across the globe. I cried one morning reading about the babies in Kenya and seeing a picture of a baby boy - so starkly different from my healthy baby girl. God once again softened my heart to the reality of the rest of the world.

I signed up to run this race because it was something I've always wanted to do, but I know now that God wanted to make me more aware and give me an aching heart for His kids. It truly was exhilirating to run. I felt great (until that night...oh boy). Hopefully I can do this again. I finished in 2:02:44. Now my goal is to finish under 2 hours if there is a next time.

(Eleanor just can't seem to focus on the camera for anything:))

Guesses?

Notice the mark on her cheek? Any guesses as to what caused this?

New Wheels

The girls have found new wheels this month...

Eleanor's Dedication

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ." Philippians 1:9-10

Our Game

Eleanor has a few games she enjoys to play. This is one of them. The other is handing objects to you expecting that you will say thank you and return them right away. This game does not work so well with other small children.

10 & 11 Months

Taking Eleanor's growth pictures each month has been an adventure.  She does not sit still at all and seems to not smile for the camera at all.  I also learned that involving Adde in the process involves a whole new dimension.  I learned and did the 11 month pictures while Adde was napping.  I'll just let the pictures tell the story.  They are in chronological order.