Dallas White Rock Marathon

On Sunday, my parents, Allie and I braved the cold and rainy weather to watch Jarod cross the finish line of his first 1/2 marathon. I am so proud of him! I am at home every Saturday when he runs his "long run", but it never really hit me how big of an accomplishment this was until this race. Since the weather was so nasty, we weren't there very long but I did get to see him cross the finish line (I didn't see him in the Turkey Trot). I tried to yell out his name, but my voice is hoarse and it didn't come out very well. He usually runs the 1/2 (at home) in a little over 2 hrs and he finished this time in under 2 hrs. Wow! It's amazing to me how many people can run that long. I just wish the weather would have been nicer for the runners

Jarod after he finished the race.

Doesn't he look exhausted? Poor thing!
I was very happy to see him and to find him! It took us a while to find him at the Turkey Trot. This time we had a better game plan.

The day before this picture it was 80 degrees and Allie was in short sleeves and shorts! Gotta love Texas weather.

Christmas Pictures

Well, I don't really have much to post about, so I thought I would share our newest pictures of Miss Allie. We had pictures taken of her last week at the baby sitters. There is a photographer who will come to your house and let you have portrait parties. It was a great deal that I couldn't pass up and I think she did a great job. I feel like we always have the same pose for most of her pictures and this time we don't. The hardest part was that I didn't get to be there b/c I was teaching. I can't believe how big my little girl is getting. Time is flying by!

Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving Day started out very early for the Varner family. For those of you who do not know, Jarod has recently (May) taken up running and is training to run a marathon by next winter. To read more about Jarod's running he has his own blog and it's linked on my page.

Jarod decided to run in Dallas' YMCA 8 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. My mom and Allie and I decided to brave the really cold weather to cheer him on. My mom and I got there about 45 min. before Jarod finished running. I was so surprised by how many people were out there. They said that 30,000 people registered. We waited on the sidelines looking for Jarod and I had the camera ready, but I never saw him. I saw two of his friends run by, but not him. I knew that would happen! We had plans to meet at the finish line, but with the massive crowds, it took us a while to find him. Next year we will have a better plan. If my knees are better (they better be by next Nov.) I plan to walk the 3 mile. I think we've started a new "Varner" tradition.

After the run we headed back to my parents house in Arlington to finish up fixing our food for Thanksgiving at my aunt's. Every Thanksgiving we head to my aunt and uncle's in Arlington. This year was a little different. My brother's and their families were with their in-laws and my dad was sleeping b/c he had worked the night shift at the hospital and he had to work Thanksgiving night too. So, it wasn't a huge crowd, but we had enough food to feed an army. It was great to be with my family, especially my Granny. We had good food, lots of laughs and watched the Cowboys win! We even had big snow flakes!

Jarod and Allie and I spent the rest of our weekend with my parents. Our plans were to go home on Saturday, but I'm such a home body that I had to stay one more night. My mom and I got out pretty early on Friday morning to shop. Crazy! We shop every year on "black Friday", but I had never seen so many crowds before. We were out for 1/2 the day and called it quits. We got out again on Saturday in the yucky rain, and it was a lot more enjoyable.

It's good to be home again (not that we went far away) but neither Jarod or I look forward to going back to work tomorrow. But, only 4 more weeks and I'm off again for Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Fall Festival Pictures

Isn't she adorable?

Allie's favorite cousins: Karlie and Greer

Allie finding some yummy candy for her mommy and daddy!

Daddy and Allie eating a snack

Allie really looking like the Care Bear

Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival

We went to the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound with my parents on Saturday. We had a great time! It was great weather and Allie was in a great mood. She loved being outside and wanted to walk around by herself (without holding our hand). We couldn't get her to smile for pictures because she was in awe of everything around her. We did manage to get a few good pictures. She and I rode the train ride pulled by a tractor. I think she really liked it.

On Sunday we headed to Arlington for my nephew Greer's b-day. It was great to be with all of the family. After Allie's nap we went to the Fall Festival at my parents/brother's church. Allie got to go trick or treating and she wore her Care Bear costume for the first time. Jarod and I were really worried that she wouldn't wear it, but she surprised us and I think she liked it. She enjoyed going around to the different cars with Poppy and grabbing candy out of the bowls. The first couple of times she would only take one piece, then she got the hang of it and would grab at least 3! My kind of girl! We ended the day with some tears on the way home, but had lots of giggles when she looked at her candy.

It was a great weekend filled with fun and a great trick or treating experience.

Allie and mommy on the train ride!

Poppy, Mimi, and Allie

18 Months

First of all, I can't believe I have an 18 month old daughter!

Allie had her 18 month check up today. According to the doctor she is doing really well and of course her parents think she is doing well! She weighed in at 26 pounds and she is 33 1/4 inches tall. She hasn't grown much since her 15 month check up. I guess she is finally starting to slow down. She is 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight.

We talked with her doctor about her biting. There is really nothing else we can do about it. She said that most kids Allie's age are in the phase for a while. Well, Jarod and I are so tired of this phase! She has bit everyday this week and her newest thing is to say, "no bite", bite herself and laugh about it. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.



Her doctor also suggested that we think about potty training. This came as quite a shock to me. For the last few weeks, Allie has not had a wet diaper during the night. I can't believe she is already capable of doing this at such an early age. We are not going to push this concept on her. One, I need to be home to work with her and since I work I cannot do that. We are just going to slowly introduce it to her and hopefully by Thanksgiving and Christmas break and we can work on it. I just never dreamed I would be potty training at such an early age!

I thought I would take this time to tell you some of the new things or fun things she is doing now:

Her newest word is "thank you". I love when she says it. I try to get her to say it all of the time. I am amazed at how quickly she picks up on things. She can count to three, recognizes the letter B (probably random) and loves to entertain with her singing and dancing! She has always loved to sing. This week I caught her singing to her baby dolls, telling them "no, no" and then picking them up and hugging them, telling them "it okay". It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen! I have many more things I could tell you, but I figure this is enough. I really love this phase of her life. I am truly amazed at how much she has changed in one year. She truly is a blessing from God.

Texas State Fair

We went to the state fair with our good friends EA and Ashley on Saturday. It was perfect weather and I think Allie had a good time. I'm not quite sure how she felt about the animals. I'm hoping next year that she will like to feed the goats. I tried to get her to pet them and she clung to me for dear life. Then when I picked her up she kept saying "oat, oat" (for goat). She loves being outside and did really well for not having her afternoon nap. She didn't get to enjoy all of the delicious "fair food" (a lot of it is fried in peanut oil and she is allergic to peanuts), but Jarod and I did. She did enjoy eating the Strawberry Chill that I bought for all of us to share. EA and Ashley tried the fried guacamole bites. We tried one and they weren't that bad but not that great either. All in all I think Allie enjoyed her first state fair experience.