I went a little "posting" crazy...

The new posts go onto page 2... Enjoy.

JJH turns one!

We got to see the Harrington's! YEAH! JJH turned one and there was a party in MN for him. Jordan is a little stud. Here are some photos below. Nora thought it was her party too.

Smack that pinata!

We went to Zach Markwell's first birthday party 2 weekends ago. It was so cute. J'Nikki didn't leave a detail out! She had pumpkins for the kids to paint, a pumpkin patch where the kids picked out their pumpkins, monkey theme and let me tell you, there were lots of monkeys. One of the monkey things was the pinata. They were so nice that they gave Nora the first whack at it! She thought she was so cool!

Nora painting her first pumpkin at Zach's 1st birthday!

The gals playing in the leaves.

Nora and Ellie got together last weekend (well 2 weekends ago). Both girls unprompted walked directly to the leaves the minute Ellie and crew showed up. It was so dang cute! I just love how they are just being themselves! Love those little girls!

Pumpkins.

Nora's first real experience with pumpkins. She didn't love them or hate them. Here are a few photos...

Professional Pumpkin Carvers!

Yes, she is a mess

Nora looks like a rag a muffin... Who cares though! The poor kid has the cold I have been battling. I sure hope it doesn't last long. She needs to feel good for Halloween. Speaking of Halloween... Nora has a dog costume but won't wear it.... Here is a little video clip from our night of pumpkin carving tonight. She wasn't sure about the whole pumpkin thing but she was into the animal noises so enjoy!

Nora vaccumming

Future so bright, gotta wear shades!

Nora at her doctor's office a couple of weeks back... She thought she was so cool in her shades. I never did blog about Nora being sick with a cold, teething, double ear infection then the onset of pneumonia... This visit was to verify she was ok and to get her immunizations that she couldn't get because she was sick at her 18 month check. Clearly the girl was feeling great this day!
This house is rad.
Do you think I can hide from the doctor over here?
Reading a good book
Discussing the book

Memorex?

Sunday evening, Nora and I had some mommy and daughter time together as Pete was watching football at a friends house. I noticed Nora playing with purse. She was able to unzip the purse (which is hard for me to do some days), open my wallet and dump everything out. No big deal.. So, I asked her if she wanted her own purse and she did. I found her a purse, wallet, some fake money, keys etc and loaded up her purse. She was so excited. A little while later I said "Nora let's go for a walk." She said Ok. I said "meet me by the door, I am going to go put on my shoes." When I came back from putting on my shoes this is what I see. I about died of laughter. Often times when we leave, I have my purse, her diaper bag and a bottle of water in my hands... Can you say MEMOREX?!
I am ready to go.

Nora "showing her teeth."

I have a lot more blog updates to make as we had a fun weekend but this update was needed today!

Nora's 18 month photos

Jodi did a fantastic job on Nora's 18 month pictures! I love all of them! Thank you, Jodi! www.jodiannphotography.com. Below is a sampling of Nora's pictures!

American Cancer Society Runners-TC Marathon

Way to go ACS runners! You did great!

Happy 60th Birthday, Mama Moose!

Four hours forty four minutes and forty nine seconds!

I am one proud big sister! Alissa completed her very first marathon today. She has never run a 5K or anything. She has made training for this marathon her passion the past several months. I knew she could do it but to see her do it was incredible. She completed the marathon in 4 hours, 44 minutes and 49 seconds. It was cold and rainy too. She was one of 19 people who ran for the American Cancer Society. She raised over $4k. She ran in honor of our aunt Janice, our family friend, Debbie Culhane, and in honor of Ashley Hanson and Dana Melberg. She ran in memory of Melissa Ungerman Levy's father and our family friend, John Andre Ungerman. Witnessing the Twin Cities Marathon today was very emotional. Watching all of these people running and running and pushing their bodies to the limit is indescribable. We made it to the 13 mile mark, 15 mile mark, 22 mile mark and the finish line (Pete did one heck of a job finding parking spots and weaving through traffic to make it possible). The first time I saw Alissa running at the 13 mile mark my eyes filled up with tears. I was and am so proud of her! I wish I had the drive and ability to run a marathon! She looked great at each point. At mile 22 you could tell she was getting tired. She said "I am in hell right now" and kept running. My parents were able to see her at other mile markers and some of her friends saw her too. When we got to the Capital to see her at the finish line we couldn't find her. She had already finished and she was no where to be found. We were looking for the American Cancer Society tent and while we were looking for it she called me from a random phone number. She was within feet of us. She felt sick after the marathon and laid in the grass and blacked out. She lost her medal and everything. We got her together, brought her to the ACS tent where she received a massage. While she was being massaged, my lovely husband was able to get her another medal! Afterwards we stopped to get her tons of food. We put her in an ice bath then she took a shower and climbed in bed. It was such a great day-Congrats Lissie! To top off the day, my mom turned 60! Happy 60th Mama Moose.
Alissa's shirt (front side)
Back side

Mile marker 13 by Lake Nokomis
She even stopped and kissed us! Nora was so excited to see Auntie Lis. We practiced our cheer on the way down Go Go Lissie Go Go!
See you soon. Have a good run!
Nice butt!

Got cheeks

Where'd Auntie go?

Leaving mile marker 13....

Nora looking up at the airplanes.

Now where guys?
Mile marker 15. Pete did a good one on this! We got there and we saw Lissie in 10 seconds.
She's off again!

Summit Ave and Fairview (mile 22.5)

Waiting....
Still waiting. Nora was a trooper today!
Lissie..Go Go Lissie Go Go
Kristen and Sue Vannelli with Nora and me at mile 22

Here she comes at mile marker 22.5

The Capital



She's done and we found her!

She was in horrible pain and out of it.
Every step hurt.
Helping her get her pants on

Glad to be done!

Pain.
Pain

Our family!
Nora was lovin on Lissie today. She wanted her every time she saw her... Wait, was it different than every other time they are together? Lissie was too sore to hold her for long.
Kisses

Going to our car. YEAH LISSIE!