Saturday, October 29, 2011

Edisto Beach, SC weekend

Claire, Lillian, Paulie, Mark & Ade walking to the beach
Alice's first beach trip 10/2011


family sunrise walk on the beach
Alice loves the sand, water and shells 

Claire and Alice

Last weekend we joined Chuck & Claire's family on Edisto Beach, SC. It's an old-school beach with tons of sand, quiet streets, bike paths, and a fish shop nearby to make a great dinner at home. We really enjoyed our time!

Alice's first trip to the beach was a real success. She LOVES the sand, shells, and chased the waves back to the ocean because she loves the water so much. Daytime temps near 80 and cool evenings are just my style at the beach--no sweltering heat or fear of really getting sunburned. It was fun to watch Alice enjoy everything, despite some chilly wind.

One week after our trip and I'm sitting at home in October and it's SNOWING. What strange weather!

We're having a baby BOY!!


Mark and I are excited to be expecting a boy in late February. Our ultrasound earlier this month showed a healthy little guy and we're so thankful. The 4D picture above of his face is so interesting to see because the forehead is familiar yet we don't know what he'll look like.

At this point in raising a daughter and son I believe boys are easier. I have felt good for so much of this pregnancy. What a great change from my pregnancy with Alice! Naming our son has been the biggest challenge to date. It's good we've got 3.5 more months to figure it out :)


Monday, October 17, 2011

Fall at Longwood Gardens, PA

Mama is visiting for an extended weekend and we had such a great excursion today to Longwood Gardens. We met Anna, little Samuel and Anna's mom, Robin, to enjoy the beautiful weather, fall flowers and beautiful grounds, a delicious lunch and all-around great day. Robin took more great photos we'll share later. Mama has wanted to go to Longwood for many years but was never in the Philly/Delaware region with an excuse to spend the day. It's great to have her here, enjoy time together and see such beauty!
the main conservatory 
a few of the orchids
500+ pound pumpkin
Mama and Alice watching the trains

Football Tailgate - Go Orange & Blue!

Mark and I joined our friends Claire and Chuck and their kids Saturday afternoon to tailgate before the Maryland/Clemson game. We skipped that game to come home and watch the Florida/Auburn game on TV. I was stuck between a rock (my husband) and a hard place (my mom) watching the game because they're for opposite teams. I cheered for Orange & Blue to keep everyone happy! Alice just enjoyed playing with the football:
tailgating with Chuck & Claire's family


Emalee, Alice, my mama-Mimi, and Mark

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Our 15 month old


Alice has been 15 months old for nearly two weeks so we're a little late with our update. She had a pediatrician visit and we learned that Alice is 25-50% on weight and 75-90% for height and head circumference. I'm amazed she's officially long and lean because Alice eats like she's never seen food before: fruits, yogurt, meat, scrambled eggs, cheese toast, acorn & butternut squash, and, finally, pasta.

Alice still jabbers all the time, makes more and more animal sounds, loves her books, tries to sing EIEO and Itsy Bitsy Spider, and says about 15 words with more comprehension every week. She loves to be outside, play in the dirt, carries rocks like they're gold, play on the playground and pats Jackson any time he's near.  If Mark or I say "bath" Alice walks to the bathroom, opens the door, stands by the tub and tries to tug off her shirt :). She loves water. We're trying to figure out a napping schedule this month that might mean only one long morning nap--we're not sure how it'll pan out.  

Pumpkin Patch

Happy Fall Y'all!!
We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Butler's Orchard this weekend. 








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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Triathlon


Today I ran my first Triathlon at Fort Smallwood State Park in Maryland. However, the swim portion was cancelled and replaced with a 1.5 mile run. The hurricane and flooding the last few weeks in Pennsylvania and New York made the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay 4x above safe swim levels. And the cool 46 degree morning with a brisk wind would have made the swim even more miserable. So the race was 1.5 mile run/12.5 bike/3.1 mile run. I had a good cheering section and my friend, Brian Carnahan, who motivated me to do it. So it was a good first race. I hope to do another one in the spring and hopefully I can try my hand at the swim portion.