Movie Madness

One of my teammates at work told me about a new video store (by my school in Carrollton) that had great prices for rentals and a free kids section. I was a little skeptical but I decided to check it out last Friday before I went home. The video store is called Family Video. I had never heard of it before, but I think it's great. They have amazing prices for rentals. For a new release it is $2.55 and most of them are 5 day rentals, they also have $1.00 rentals, 2 for $1.00 and a free kids section. Allie had lots of fun looking for movies to watch. She chose Wall-E and a free Wiggles movie and we got 4 other movies. For the first month they are all 1/2 off. I have a feeling that I will be visiting them a lot. You just can't beat those prices!

Yogurtland

Last week, Allie started pooping in the potty! We were all very excited at our house b/c we have been waiting a long time for this to happen. I have no idea why all of sudden she decided to do it, but we are thrilled that she did. I made sure that she had a special treat when I picked her up and Jarod had one for her when he got home. We made such a big deal about it. On Friday, I told her that if she pooped again that day then we would go get ice cream. I took her to a place in Carrollton called Yogurtland. A teammate of mine had told me about it and had given me a gift card. This place is awesome. You pay 30 cents an ounce and you have 16 flavors to choose from. There is also unlimited toppings! So, Allie decided on strawberry yogurt, sprinkles (chocolate and rainbow), gummy bears and M&M's. Not the combination (the toppings) I would have chosen but it actually was pretty good and inexpensive. So, if you live in the area, check it out!

2 Weeks of Christmas

The past two weeks have been wonderful. I've really enjoyed my time off with Allie and with Jarod. I have been a bit lazy with blogging and I apologize. The Varner family had a wonderful Christmas and I hope all that read this post did too! I always feel like Christmas is strung out over two weeks. Maybe I feel that way b/c that is how much time I have off from work.

The Sunday before Christmas was spent at my Granny's house with all of my aunts and cousins. It was great seeing everyone and enjoying good food, good company and having a lot of laughs. On that Tuesday, I took Allie to the mall to see Santa. I had no idea how she would respond to him. I took her when she was 8 months old and she loved them. I did not take her last year, because I thought she would scream. I was the child who never had her picture taken with Santa because I screamed the entire time and refused to sit on his lap. She really liked him. She was a little shy at first, but then warmed right up to him.

On Christmas Eve, Allie and I made a gingerbread house and cookies for Santa. Our house did not look like the one on the box. I really didn't care how it looked as long as Allie was having fun. She enjoyed sneaking candy too while she decorated. My parents came over to spend Christmas with us. We opened presents from each other. Allie had a great time. Christmas was so much fun with her this year. She loved everything about it. She also thought every gift was from Santa. She and my mom put reindeer food outside and then we left the cookies that she decorated out for Santa.

On Christmas morning Allie woke up and was very excited that Santa had come to her house. She wasn't quite sure what to do when she saw all of the presents he had left her. I didn't get a lot of good pictures of Christmas morning, but Jarod did capture it all on video. For Christmas lunch/dinner we went to my aunt's in Arlington. My Granny and some of my cousins joined us this year. It was a great time and Allie enjoyed playing with her new toys. My parents stayed with us until Sunday. We just hung out and had some great food and watched a few movies. They also let Jarod and I escape to a movie.

We've spent the last couple of days hanging out and enjoying the nice warm weather. I have enjoyed reading over my break. It doesn't take much for me to get wrapped up in a good book. I read 3 books by Karen Kingsbury (I just love her books). I read the first book of the Twilight series and I'm waiting for the rest of them to come in the mail and I'm currently reading The Shack. It is a very powerful book!

Tonight we will conclude our 2 weeks of Christmas at my parents house with my brother's and their families. Allie is very excited that she will be able to open more presents. Hopefully I will get more pictures tonight. After downloading all of the pictures from my camera, I don't feel like I did a very good job this year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2009! Best wishes to you all in the new year.


Waiting her turn in line.

This was taken with my camera. The one they got was a lot better and she had a great smile.

Telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas.

Decorating the gingerbread house.

Excited to open up presents on Christmas Eve.

This house is from my parents and she loves it.

Christmas morning: Checking out what Santa brought her.

Allie loves anything musical. Santa brought her a blue recorder. She calls it a kazoo.

Me, my Granny and my mom on Christmas Day.

I love my Granny and I'm so grateful I was able to spend Christmas with her twice!

26.2

Today was the big day! After almost 6 months of training Jarod ran in his first marathon.
I originally planned to see Jarod start the race because I've never seen him start one. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see him start. It took us so long to get down to the AA Center, that he had to get out of the car and walk there. By the time I got parked, I couldn't find him. My parents and Allie came to pick me up so we could drive to our first spot to see him. My brother Scott and his family were set up to see him go by at the 7 mile marker. Some how, they did not see him (we think they were set up where the 1/2 marathon and the full marathon split). I had signed up to get text messages throughout the race of where he was so I didn't think it was a big deal that they didn't see him b/c I would get a message soon and then we would know where he was.

While we were waiting at mile 13 (1/2 way point) and I was starting to get very nervous. I had not received one text message so we had no idea where he was. Finally, we saw him and Allie was so excited. He came over and gave us both a kiss. After he saw us he saw Scott and his family (after missing him they drove where we were but saw him at the 14th mile). Then we headed back to the car and drove to mile 16. My brother Chad and his wife Jami were waiting there. That spot was perfect and again he was able to come say hi.
Then we drove back to the AAC so we could get a spot by the finish line. Scott and our friends EA and Ashley were set up at mile 22. By the time they saw him he had fallen behind in the pack that he was running in. I was starting to worry because his goal time was 3hrs. 30min. I just knew something had happened to him.

Finally, just after 4 hrs. we saw him come by us to finish the race. Words can't describe the emotions I was feeling at the time. I was just so proud of him and I wanted to run out there with him. He came over and told us hi and then finished the race. All 26.2 miles of it!

After I found him and gave him lots of hugs I found out a few things: one, he forgot to wear his timing chip which is why I never received text messages and two, at around mile 18 he started having leg and groin cramps. This explains why he fell a little behind the pack he was running with when I saw him. So for the last 8 miles he had to run off and on with cramps. He had never experienced running cramps until today. My heart broke for him b/c you could tell he was so frustrated with himself. I had to keep reminding him that he couldn't control what happened and all that mattered to any of us was that he just accomplished such a huge goal. After the race we all headed to Papasito's for some much deserved Mexican food!

Jarod,
Allie and I are so proud of you. You are such a good example to us both. Thank you for being such a loving husband and father. I'm truly amazed at the goal you set for yourself. I know that you didn't do as well as you wanted but you need to be proud of yourself. You will always be #1 in our book! We love you!

Waiting for daddy

Of course Allie wouldn't look in the picture or hold her sign.

Mile 13

Waving goodbye to his girls

Cheering section for mile 16

Mile 16

Almost there!

He can see the finish line!

To our family and friends:

Thank you for all of the support and love you have showed Jarod. It means so much to both of us. You were great cheerleaders for him today!

Stomach Bug

Allie came down (or should I say up?) with a stomach bug early this morning. It hit her and two others Carmen's pretty fast! I was eating breakfast this morning and I could hear her coughing. Needless to say, it caused some early drama this morning. For some reason I was in such a panic! Usually I am able to make plans at home and send them to my team mates, but they weren't going to be at school either. Allie was so patient with her overwhelmed mommy! I had to give her a bath b/c it was everywhere, then I had to finish getting ready and get to work so I could type lesson plans. Usually they don't take me very long but I had a hard time working on them with a 2 1/2 year old needing my undivided attention the entire time. Finally, my school nurse watched her while I finished my plans and as a parting gift Allie got sick on her. I of course felt awful.

Allie has such great timing with all of this as usual. The last time she was sick, I did not get to go to Memphis for a wedding. Right now, everything is so crazy b/c I am trying to get everything ready for Jarod's race on Sunday. He doesn't come in from town until tomorrow night and we are having dinner with my parents and his dad at my house. Originally I planned to make a lasagna, now I will be buying a frozen one! Plus, my good friend Miranda's baby shower is tomorrow and now it looks like I won't be able to be there (Miranda, if you are reading this, I'm so sorry!). Hopefully this will all pass within 24 hrs. Oh, did I mention I've also caught some form of this stomach bug? My heart just breaks for her when she is sick. She just lays around and she has slept so much today. Poor thing!

I hope with rest we will all be better soon. Thank goodness Jarod isn't here because the last thing he needed was to get sick before his big race on Sunday! I'm glad I could take one for the team.

I Was Tagged

I was tagged by my good friend Becky to post my 4th picture in my 4th album. Allie is one in this picture. I can't believe how much she has changed and grown. She has so much hair now!

I tag:

Miranda

Kristen

Meredith

Sarah

Thanksgiving Pics...Finally!

Sorry, I'm just now posting about Thanksgiving. We have been very busy around our house. Thanksgiving this year was great. We started it off at the Turkey Trot in Dallas. My mom and I walked the 3 mile and Jarod ran the 8 mile. My dad watched Allie and she saw animals at the petting zoo and jumped in a bounce house. There were so many people at the Trot. It was very hard to walk the 3 mile because there were so many people and their dogs were everywhere. Jarod finished the 8 mile before we could finish the 3! There was just so many people.

This year we stayed at my brother Scott's house. They just had a house built (it's very nice) and there is plenty of room for us all to stay. So we stayed a few nights there and then all went back to our own house on Saturday night. We had so many things to be thankful for and really enjoyed hanging out and eating lots of yummy food. The guys went golfing on Friday and the girls went to Canton on Saturday. I think I'm the only one who really bought anything. I was on a search for things for Allie's room.

During our week off, we decided to have potty boot camp at our house. No more pull-ups! After Allie regressed this summer I never put her back in panties and we decided that our next opportunity would be Thanksgiving break. She is doing really well and is finally starting to tell us when she needs to go. One problem we have encountered is she holds in her poop. This has caused some tummy issues, but today she finally went in the potty. Hopefully that will continue and we won't have to try anything else to get her to poop. We are really trying to push more fruit so she doesn't have to hold it. I'm so excited that potty training is going so well (even though I feel like we've been doing this forever).

This week is crazy for us as well. Jarod left for D.C. today and comes back Saturday night (the night before his marathon). I have lots of jobs myself this week and hopefully I will get everything done in time for the marathon. All of my family is going to cheer him on and I've made a sign for him. Afterwards we are going to eat to celebrate. Please keep him in your prayers that he does not get injured during the run. I will post about it next week!