Update

Super cute Converse shoes I picked up from a consignment store - Mom to Me - where I also got this table.

D loves his table! Here he is with his chocolate soy milk and monkey reading his favorite book - Five Little Monkeys. See a theme?

Chowing down on some fish sticks - oddly enough he left the french fries alone. Yes, I fed my child french fries. Blame Nana.

Stuffing his face with grapes.

I haven't blogged in so long I almost forgot my password to sign in...

It's been quite a transition going back to work. The work part wasn't hard to adapt to. It was like turning a switch back on. Plus, I like my job and my boss. He's really nice. But it has been hard finding enough hours in the day to get everything done. Community group is on Monday, then I have my mom's club friends, non-mom's club friends, working out, volunteer projects, my garden, house to clean, meals to cook and church. Somewhere in there I have to find time for Dunning, Mikel...and me! So I am still adjusting. (speaking of, I need to iron my clothes shortly!)

Good news...Dunning's ears have improved significantly and once those molars broke through, he's been in such a wonderful mood! He's adapted nicely to day care. They said he was like a new kid after his ears healed! He's talking SO much more now. He will be 17 months on the 26th and I can't believe it! Here are some things he's doing lately:

- Pointing. He points at everything that he wants or that he wants to call out - "hey look! It's mom!" or "A dog! Look guys, a dog!"

- Talking. He was babbling before tubes, but now he carries on a toddler monologue. He can say dog, no, shhhhh (complete with finger to mouth), da da, woofs like a dog, and I swear he told the dog to sit.

- Kid likes Velveeta. Sigh... Kid likes veggie burgers! Hooray!

- He loves his ball. We got him a $1 ball from Walmart and his favorite thing to do is carry it around and throw it or bring it to you for you to throw so he can go get it. Kind of like fetch with a toddler.

- He loves Charlie. Don't know if the feeling is mutual because D likes to hit him on the head.

- And the biggest change (in mom's opinion) - he eats at the table like a big boy. We bought him a little wooden table and chair set and he loves sitting there and eating his meals off a big boy plate (still working on the fork and spoon). He does it at day care. Now he sits there all the time. He likes to read books there, have snacks there, stand up on the chair and turn the lights off and on.... It's too cute (except for the lights part). Mikel sanded it down and stained it to match the cabinets, so it's been in the garage today and he was missing it.

A family of runners

Running, in the rain!

Headed to the finish line.

The 3 Hancock Men, post-race

As you know, Mikel and I are runners. We've now been joined by Floyd and Jim. Jim's run before and Floyd just started recently. Today, he ran his first 5k. Mikel and Jim ran with him and they all finished at the same time - as a Hancock family team - in 32 minutes. Me? I ran my first 10k! Not the best time, paced a ten minute mile, but it was raining and a little cold. Plus I wanted to make sure I didn't get going too fast, like at a 5k pace, and burn out before the end of the race. There were a few hills, but all in all it was a great race.

Marathon!

Ready to go to OKC!

Standing in line.More standing in line.Me being supportive :) My sign didn't stand up against the wind.

Lots of people lining up for the start - a total of 19,000 in the 5k, half marathon, marathon relay and marathon.10 mile marker 20 mile marker - you can barely see Mikel in the blue shirt on the left.Finish line!My winner!

Celebratory lunch with pizza and nachos! Yum!

Last weekend, Mikel ran his very first marathon in Oklahoma City. He trained and trained so very diligently. I drove to the 10 mile, 20 mile and then the finish line marker. We were afraid that it was going to storm because of how windy it was the day before. Fortunately, it didn't rain. Unfortunately, it continued to be windy - really windy. There were wind gusts up to 40 mph. Running in wind like that is like running uphill. So I've been told. The wind was in Mikel's face the entire second half of the race. And he still finished in 4:43! I was so proud of him!

First Day of "School"

Dunning and daddy. Dunning is playing his version of peekaboo, but he ends up covering his mouth instead of his eyes.

"BOO!"

First day of school!

This past week I went back to work. I've been thinking about it for a while and have even interviewed before, but it ended up not being the job God had for me. This time, I went in to the interviews without expectations and lots of prayers. I got the job and everything worked out perfectly with care for Dunning. He's in a great place, and even though it's taken him some adjusting, they tell me he has a great time. It's a Christian facility, with Christian teachers and right across from the building my area will be moving too. I have a great boss, that I enjoy working with so far! :)

Sorry to those I didn't tell. I didn't tell a whole lot of people, so that if I didn't get it, I wouldn't have to tell them I didn't! It's been hard adjusting, but Mikel has been wonderful and helping me out a lot with balancing work and home.