Watch Out, She’s Mobile!
You know it’s fall when football season arrives! September kicked off the 2011 season of some major tailgating. For those of you who don’t know, we show up decked out in our NC State apparel with pop-up tents, pack n’ plays, and coolers in hand about five hours before every game (that’s the earliest they’ll let you in!). It pretty much occupies an entire day, but we love it. There is always delicious food, great music, and lots of laughter. While our team may not always win, we still have a great time. This year, since we have our wolfpup, Hanleigh, it has become quite busy during the games. But, the girls are being really great. Brayden is enthralled with watching the cheerleaders and Hanleigh likes to look around the entire time. I can’t say that Trent or I get to watch that many plays, but we are in our seats instead of walking around the concourse, so that’s gotta count for something.
I had a dinner out with some of my girlfriends and Trent and I went to a housewarming party of one of his friends. They live in a beautiful home and before I knew it, all the girls had surrounded their kitchen island, cranked up the booty jams and were shakin’ it like we were in a dance club. I think all the husbands thought we were nuts, so they retreated to the bonus room to play pool. It was a wonderful night and we had such a great time!
I attended my company’s annual users’ conference, which was amazing. It was in Scottsdale, AZ and we worked hard and played hard, as usual. Trent, of course, stayed home with the girls that entire time and he is always so wonderful for doing that. Thanks, sweetie! We went to another friend’s wedding while my mom watched the girls and the next day Leslie, Carolina, my mom, and I ran a 5k benefiting breast cancer research. My time was OK considering I hadn’t trained (31 minutes), but I know that time will improve as I train for the half marathon. Hanleigh and I went to a birthday party of one of her school friends and had a great time there, too. I swear, once that child learned to walk, we can’t keep up with her (which by the way, SHE WALKS NOW!). We wrapped up the month with a fun, outdoor parking lot party and shag band near our home. It was a great way to wrap up the summer and warm weather.
Hanleigh has added two more signs in her sign language repertoire: diaper change and please. She can now fully blow a kiss by placing her hand on her open mouth and then moving it away from her face. I guess she still needs to get the smacking noise down, but she’s getting there. It is so cute! Before I left on my business trip, Hanleigh was taking about three to four steps by herself, but would then topple over or sit down. In typical fashion, once I arrived in Scottsdale (10/17), I received an email from Trent with a video of Hanleigh taking eight steps in the kitchen. That little stinker! It made me sad to see that happen while I was gone, but I’m so glad we captured it on video. You could tell she was so proud of herself! So, our little booger bean officially can walk now. We are constantly having to keep an eye on her and she goes after the dogs’ water bowl and tries to mess with the silverware in the dishwasher. I guess she’s just trying to help! When asked, “Do you know?” Hanleigh will shrug her shoulders and extend her arms with palms up as if she isn’t sure. It is these little things that make you look at your children in awe and how they are little, tiny people growing up too darn fast. She has also begun to snuggle with baby dolls when we say “snuggle” or “can you give them a hug?”. I love it!
Brayden-ism:
- One day in the car with Trent, Brayden says, “Change this song, Dad. It’s giving me a headache” to which Trent responded, “Brayden, you know this song, so is your headache going away now?” Brayden then said, “Yeah, Dad.”