Philadelphia

Well, we made it home from Philadelphia! We had an absolutely fabulous time with our families and friends in the City of Brotherly Love.

We arrived on Tuesday after an uneventful day of traveling. On the second leg of our trip we got an entire row to ourselves and Maggie was quite the big girl on the airplane. After meeting Erin at the airport and a delicious dinner, Maggie slept PERFECTLY all night long and we thought we had it made for the rest of the trip. On Wednesday we met up with my friend Jenn from City Year who I had not seen since 2003. It was so great to catch up and to catch lunch at the always exciting Reading Terminal Market, one of our favorites.

The LOVE statue always looks smaller than I remember it but we couldn't walk by without a family photo. We walked around the city and drove out to Fishtown to pick up the turkey from Erin's co-op farm. We also picked Bridget up at 30th Street Station when she arrived on the bus from New York. We ate Thanksgiving with the Crowes and then headed over to Aunt Kate's to see Mom, Claire and the Judge side of the family. On Friday spent the day with the Judge side again and saw my Dad and Caeli as well.

Grandma looked especially well and really enjoyed seeing Maggie again. It was also great to see Aunt Kate and her family after 2 years! Maddy was especially smitten with Maggie and they were super cute together. Saturday I went to IKEA with Nancy, Reg and Erin while Rob and the baby stayed back at the apartment and had a nap (Maggie did not sleep well after the first night and we were all tired!!). I forgot how much I love IKEA and got the cutest bedding ever for Maggie. After our shopping trip we walked to Erins office and had the most delicious hot chocolate at Capogiro before having dinner with Robs family.
Rob and Maggie were so sweet while waiting for gelato. She did so well with all of the moving around during the day that I couldn't be too frustrated with her lack of sleep at night. While in Philly we were lucky enough to stay at the great apartment of Erin's friends Marissa and Andre. It was so nice to have the extra room for the baby to play and she loved all of their furniture. She would make daily laps around the coffee table and learned how to pull up on her car seat and our legs. Here she is enjoying her new found mobility

Up, Up, Up and Away!

5k Turkey Trot

She fell asleep during snack time!

Helping with the dishes

Thanksgiving is practically upon us. Can you believe it? We have alot to be thankful for this year most notably the arrival of our beautiful baby girl. We have been so blessed during our time in Missouri and are thankful for all of the wonderful friends we have made during the past two and a half years. We leave for our trip this week and are so excited to visit everyone in Philly and introduce Maggie to the City of Brotherly Love (one of our favorites!!). In the past week she has gotten even quicker at getting up and down and is just starting to creep along the furniture. She gives us "kisses" and reaches up to be hugged...so cute! Rob and I ran our first 5k together with some friends on Saturday and we had a great time. Even though it was way cold when we started we really enjoyed the sunshine and Maggie had a blast in the stroller as Rob pushed her. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

"She's Advanced"

Brrrr! Fall has finally departed Missouri for the year. At least it seemed like it yesterday!! Maggie is nto quite sure about this cold weather but looks really cute in her little pink snowsuit. What's new with her this week? She has learned how to smile for the camera which is awesome for me (way more cute shots and less frustration!!). She is pulling up to standing like crazy and LOVES her little activity table we picked up at the second hand store this weekend. She can stand and play forever. She still is not really interested in baby food anymore and prefers whatever Rob and I are eating. On Friday she even enjoyed some of the yummy chicken curry Rob made for dinner. Her other favorites are homemade mac and cheese, chili, and grilled cheese sandwiches. She surprises us all the time with her culinary tastes. Like Aunt Erin would say "she's advanced".

Playing with my new toy

Laughing with Mommy

Piggy Tails!!

Trouble

Having fun with Daddy and Lucy

One Week

Is all it took to go from just scooting around to pulling up on everything! Last night she decided it was a good idea to stand up in her crib and when she got stuck she would just start screaming. The bedtime routine that usually takes about 15 minutes took over an hour last night. Just when we have something figured out things change again. Whew!! It is so amazing to see her change so quickly but I must admit that I miss my tiny girl. She looks more like a kid and less like a baby everyday. We are ever closer to our big move and I am anxious to see how it will go with baby in tow! First though we have to make it through our impending trip to Philadelphia. I have no idea how I will pack everything we need in 2 small suitcases! More on that later...

8 Months Old

Is it really possible that Maggie is already 8 months old? It seems like just yesterday she was our tiny girl with a mop of dark hair. Now she is 3/4 of her way to a year, turning into a blondie and learning something new everyday! Just this week she started kneeling/pushing up on her toys and loves to play peek-a-boo with me and Rob.

Tag! Are you next?

Beth tagged me! Rob had to help me think of these 7 things...

1. I don't like my food to touch on the plate.

2. Sometimes I like to coordinate my outfits with my daughter's.

3. My name (Erin Alma) means Peaceful Soul.

4. I did not like Paris but loved pretty much everywhere else we traveled in Europe.

5. I hate putting away clean laundry.

6. I took dance lessons for 15 years.

7. I have a freckle in my eye!!

I tag KD, Ricky, Megan, Danielle, Kelly, Jess, and Stefanie!

Happy Halloween!

We survived Maggie's first ever Halloween! We had a really fun day watching Caroline and I have a new appreciation for all of the Mommy's with two kids under the age of 2! Sally met us after work for dinner and we took the girls trick-or-treating up and down the street. Maggie didn't go for the candy but Caroline thought it was the coolest thing ever! It was so great to have our Army "family" with us, especially since the Pantanos are in Pennsylvania now. Watching the MSU game now and hoping we can pull out another W!