Visit to New Jersey

Amelia and I have been traveling with Daddy for the last couple of weeks so I need to catch up on posts on all the fun (and not so fun!) we've been having.

We went to New Jersey with Patrick while he worked over a Wednesday-Friday and then spent the weekend with friends. Amelia and I tried to see everyone that we could and had a great time doing so!

Colin was very interested in Amelia but loved the camera even more! 

These kids have gotten too big too fast!

We grabbed supper with Emily and her parents. The folks at Applebees couldn't get over two side-by-side high chairs. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun watching Emily show off her big kid skills next to Amelia.

I am still amazed at these kiddos, especially when I look at the photos I have of the first few times they were at our home for home group. Holly had made Briana and myself a birthday cake and they sang happy birthday to us.

They put on a mini-concert for us, sporting guitars, pianos, flutes and microphones.

This is the only shot of our failed attempt at getting a photo of a 4yr old, two 3 yr olds, two 1 year olds, a 6 month old and a 5 month old. We should have tried earlier in the afternoon....

Amelia and I visited some more friends and Kyle, Camryn & Jordan were great with Amelia. She LOVED their attention!

Our New Jersey home group (including husbands!) had lunch together on Saturday before we left and we were able to get a better photo.



Amelia and I also had a sweet visit with an old neighbor, Amy and Nathan, and with the "knitting club" from church. We spent far less time in the hotel room than I had expected.

We stayed with Holly and Mike over the weekend and enjoyed spending time with them and their sons, Michael and Christian. Christian is just a month younger than Amelia and they were fun to watch.

They had some "friendly time" together.

And then Amelia tried to take him out. I guess all of her Daddy's lectures on not letting boys get too close are starting to sink in.

Thanks New Jersey friends for making room for us in your schedules at the last minute and letting us park ourselves on your living room floors for hours. We love you all!

Winter Comes to New Jersey

We've been in New Jersey during this past week, accompanying Patrick while he traveled for work. We got about 4 inches of snow last night and our lovely hostess Holly took some photos of our family in the snow.

She was not very sure about touching the snow.

We thought we'd try a snow angel, knowing full well that this would be the end of our time outside. She was not a fan. There were crying photos after this one.

But we have her first snow angel!



Patrick and I both admit that we have really enjoyed the snow. It seems that we have become accustomed to snow during winter.

This Past Weekend - Visitors and "Operation Daddy Daycare"

This past weekend, on Saturday, our dear friends Stephen & Sarah came to visit!

We ate delicious Peruvian food and we enjoyed the extra sets of hands during a meal.

Amelia enjoyed Mr. Stephen's hat (and spit up on it later in the afternoon....)

Since Amelia is not super familiar with facial hair, she thought the goatee was so much fun to feel!



Then on Sunday, Patrick joined a bunch of guys from his work in watching their kiddos (all under 15months) while the wives had a spa afternoon. I very much enjoyed my first facial and relaxing massage. And none of the kids had meltdowns. The funny thing is, these guys had been planning this for weeks, had official meetings concerning "operation daddy daycare", and handed out assignments and deliverables. A simple group gift had to conform to the Exxon work plan.

I left Patrick with the assignment to take photos...I got a few (no cheesy group ones). The afternoon/evening mostly consisted of football and pizza while attempting to teach the kiddos how to share toys.

Enjoying her books.

Enjoying a break from the car on our drive to NJ!



Baths, Getting Stuck, and Sitting

Bath time is still a favorite for Amelia. It's an opportunity now to eat duckies and spinning butterflies. And chewing on washcloths while we try to bathe her is a new game.

Here is a video of a squirmy kid trying to avoid getting dressed by Daddy before bed.

Really Mom, I'm not tired.

Amelia is getting stuck everywhere these days. She has so much fun scooting backwards/rolling under furniture. But then quickly gets frustrated when she can't get out.

I promise she started on the blanket.

Sitting is still not Amelia's favorite thing because she'd really prefer to be moving around. However, she's beginning to see the fun she can have with sitting - pulling out toys and books from her baskets and playing with new Christmas toys.

Shopping Carts, High Chairs and Cup Obsessions

Since we've gotten back from Christmas, Amelia has taken off on the rolling front and has been stable enough to try new things, like riding in a shopping cart, eating in a high chair at a restaurant and lots of exploring around the house. More serious babyproofing is in our very near future.

There's a lot of photos because Amelia has recently become a ham for the camera.

Our master bedroom has these sliding mirror doors on the closet that are pretty tacky. But now Amelia rolls/scoots herself to them no matter where I put her down.  her reflection is so entertaining!

Joann's is such a fun place to get into trouble!

Amelia made all the workers at Lowes smile.

She's a crazy sleeper now that she's unswaddled.



Telling Daddy what she wants to eat from the menu.

Scooting herself under the bookshelf

Our big girl dressed up for chuech.  It was her first stay in the nursery and she did great; no one came to get us. 

Finally, Amelia is currently obsessed with cups.  She wants any cups/bottle you might have and if there is no liquid in it, she knows and is not satisfied. We've taken to sneaking water in the kitchen so as to not upset her.  How silly is that? These tea cups were part of a christmas gift and they are thus huge fun to play with.

Food!

For various reasons, we waited to start Amelia on food until we returned home from Alabama and she passed her half-year birthday. But once we started, Amelia couldn't get enough! She has shown no signs of dislike and picked it up like a pro. We skyped with both sets of grandparents for the first meal - but it was a bit anticlimatic. She made no major mess and loved it all.

I put oatmeal on the tray, thinking she'd play with it and put it in her mouth for a first taste. Instead, she smeared it around and then looked at me like "mom, now what?"

We've also been practicing with different sippy cups of water, but she hasn't quite got the hang of them yet.

Daddy does supper time!



We're rather quiet on this video, but normally we're all pretty excited when Amelia is eating. She loves food so much!

Holiday Friends!

Every year when Patrick and I travel to Alabama for the holidays, we meet up with all of our friends who are still in the area and everyone is always so gracious to us and work around our schedule. This year, meeting Amelia was on the agenda for everyone.

Lydia is a homeschool friend who is in the process of becoming a full time missionary in SE Europe.

Renee & Steve drove down from Auburn. Amelia went right into Renee's arms with no hesitation!

Amelia graced Erin with a huge spit-up in her lap but Erin was so gracious about it! We didn't get any photos of Amelia and Catlin; but he's there too.

Shanda was on Patrick's senior design team and she sweetly keeps up with us!

Amelia met two of her uncles over the holidays. Here is Uncle Steve.

And here is Uncle Jimmy. Both of the uncles came in for my dad's 50th party.

Amelia LOVED Ben and he kept her happy by bouncing for a lot of our time together.

Yay time with Donna too! 

Thanks friends for making time to see us and being patient with our squirmy kid! You are one of the highlights of coming home to Alabama for the holidays!