Alex, Kristin, Nicole & Joel

Joel is 11 months!

2011-11-15T20:03:00.007-05:00

Every day that goes by, we grow to love Joel more. He took a step a couple of days ago, but I'm pretty sure it was by accident. He hasn't shown much interest in walking (unless he's holding on to furniture), but he's a pretty fast crawler. When he really wants to go fast, he ducks his head down and charges ahead without looking up. It's pretty funny.

He's still a mama's boy, but he will only say dada. When Joel is saying hi he points to you just like E.T., and then if he really likes you, he'll proceed to do a salute with his hand straight in the air. He's getting more and more curious, opening doors, climbing stairs, trying to see what we're doing. He's starting to like balls and cars and trains more, and he goes after anything electronic - computer, remote, cell phones. What a boy!

My Dancer

2011-11-15T10:24:00.000-05:00

Grandparents Visit

2011-11-15T10:22:00.000-05:00

Alex's parents came out for a visit mid-October. The first day they were here, we went into the city and met Alex for some awesome Vietnamese food for lunch. A big rainstorm came through while we were walking around the city, so we hurried back to Reading Terminal Market and got an Amish pretzel to tide us over. Yum!

When we told Nicole that her grandparents were coming for a visit, she said that she wanted to go to a pumpkin patch with them. So that's what we did! They had a little corn maze that we sent Nicole in with her grandparents, and we got some great pumpkins. We headed out to Kids Castle playground afterwards for a picnic.

Auntie Beth and Kerlyn came down from NY for a couple of days, and it was fun to to have them here. Nicole loved having her relatives to play with, and Joel even let them carry him around!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:50:00.000-04:00

Love, Ladybug Girl and the Lion

Lazy Fall day

2011-10-20T09:55:00.002-04:00

We headed to the park one day after Nicole's school for a picnic. Nikki had been asking for a picnic for awhile, so I decided it was time to do it! We went to a new playground near our house, and although the playground was overgrown, I loved that they had a stretch of lawn for us to hang out on.

Joel is 10 months!

2011-10-15T22:16:00.011-04:00

This little guy is growing up fast. I keep having discussions with people who can't believe he's only 10 months. He's just so tall, and having that full head of hair just makes him look like a little man. His newest trick is scaling our stairs, and he's getting pretty good at standing on his own.

Joel bites anything and everything, which we're not really fans of. He likes to feed himself, and his favorites are rice biscuits (mum-mums), yogurt melts, and goldfish. He likes black beans and rice, which makes me proud. Joel is getting more cuddly, and is constantly yelling "da-da-da-da!" Alex loves it and asks him questions like, "Who's the best? Who's your favorite?"

Nicole is in Preschool!

2011-10-03T15:15:00.000-04:00

Nicole started preschool a couple of weeks ago. She goes to a nursery school at a local church 3 days a week. We were pretty excited for her to start, and she was ready for it. At first she just took it all in and was trying to figure out what exactly preschool was. She loves it, and I'm so happy for her to have these new experiences and interactions with new friends.

Annual Block Party

2011-10-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

We had our annual block party a couple of weeks ago, and I think Nicole thought it was the greatest thing ever. They brought in a firetruck for the kids to climb in, they threw candy from the top of the firetruck, and the street was blocked off so they could ride their bikes up and down the street all day long. They had a live band, and did a pig roast and had tons of food. Nicole was just soaking in what all of the big kids were doing and played and danced and biked. I'd say it was a successful party!

Poconos Vacation

2011-09-25T21:04:00.002-04:00

We decided to head up to the Poconos Mountains for a week during Labor Day. We were lucky enough to use my Grandma's timeshare, so we had a condo for a week. It was an all-inclusive resort so there was a swimming pool, game room, mini golf, and more. We used all of those things, and were very grateful for the indoor pool when we got rained on for the first 4 days of our vacation!

A tropical storm rolled through midweek, but we decided that we had been rained out enough. We ventured up to an orchard in New York and bought some cider donuts, fresh peaches, and apple pie. We stopped at a cute little town and had lunch at the Waterwheel Cafe. On the way up we drove through some major flooding from the Delaware. I wish we had taken a picture while we were driving through, but it was about 2 feet of water. Alex canoe'd down this part of the Delaware with the scouts, and ate lunch in this cabin that is now halfway under water.

The last couple of days we had beautiful weather so we went to Bushkill Falls. Its' slogan is that it is the Niagara of Pennsylvania. They were impressive waterfalls, especially because of all of the flooding in the area. Nicole loved hiking around and getting soaked from the spray, and Joel was a trooper. He was napping when he woke up in the middle of the waterfalls. You could tell he had no idea what to think, but he took it in stride and thought all of the water was pretty fun.

Our last night there, we went to the playground and had a bubble party (a few other kids joined in), and then went into Stroudsburg to get some dinner and ice cream. It was such a nice, relaxing vacation. And now it's back to real life!

Joel is 9 months!

2011-09-15T14:10:00.003-04:00

This kid cracks me up! Joel is such a big boy in so many ways. Crawling around getting into everything, cruising around on furniture, eating everything that he's not supposed to (his current favorite is magazines), saying "da-da," "ba-ba," and most recently "ma-ma," and he just had his 7th tooth pop through yesterday. Whenever we turn on Mickey Mouse, we know we have a good half an hour until we hear from him again. He LOVES Mickey. It's like he's completely mesmerized by him. He crawls up to the tv and stands up and dances during the songs. So cute!

At the same time, he's such a baby! He is completely dependent on me, still wakes up at least twice a night to eat, and cries when I leave him with anyone outside of the family. Our favorite way to tease him is to say, "stop being such a baby." At least we think it's funny!

Joel's model pose

End of Summer

2011-09-03T13:23:00.002-04:00

Here are just a few pictures from the end of our summer.

You'll never guess who took a bite out of this zucchini...

Joel in his awesome motorcycle overalls.

Nicole and her robots. Each one was a person in our family. They were pretty awesome. The Nikki robot is far left. She is always the biggest one when she builds/draws. Is she trying to tell us something?

We got some dirt and compost delivered for our yard, and Nicole loved playing on the dirt.

My big boy Joel

Joel is 8 months!

2011-08-15T15:45:00.007-04:00

Time is flying, and Joel is most definitely a character! He has the funniest laugh - see video below. The good thing about it is that when I hear it, I know it's my baby!

He's pulling himself up onto anything and everything, and he's just starting to cruise around. Joel LOVES to eat puffs, and attacks them as soon as they hit the table. And, he'll eat anything as long as there's a puff sitting on top of it. We always say he just wants to be a big boy - drink out of a regular cup, eat food with texture, do anything that Nicole is doing. He adores her, and she can always get him to laugh. He's also pretty good at picking on her, taking her things, climbing on her, pulling her hair, waking her up too early in the morning, etc!

Drive just to enjoy the drive

2011-08-15T09:52:00.004-04:00

Another one of my 30 before 30's was to take a drive just to enjoy the drive. I never do that. It seems like I only go somewhere because I have to. Having a baby will do that to me. But one day we just hopped in the car and drove. We didn't go far, but we drove farther on a road than we've ever gone on it before. And we found a really nice park to play and have a picnic. All in all, a success.

Gymnastics Class

2011-08-14T19:26:00.000-04:00

We signed Nicole up for a gymnastics class at the YMCA. It's a pretty neat facility, with all of the competitive equipment and gymnastics teams practicing while she's there. She gets a bit distracted by it all, but I'm glad that she gets to see it all. She loves to swing up on the bars, and giggles in delight every time she does.

Mommy School

2011-08-14T16:36:00.003-04:00

To keep things lively this summer, Nicole and I have been doing "Mommy school" during Joel's morning nap. She'll be starting preschool in the fall, but I wanted to have something fun for us to do together. We've been learning the ABC's, and I got all of my curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler. She has done some awesome things!

I snapped a few pictures when we were doing the letter M. Nicole loved this theme!

Summer visit from Nana & Grandpa

2011-08-14T14:03:00.004-04:00

My parents came to town for a few days after a conference in DC. It happened to be the 3 days that were the hottest of the summer - 110 degree heat index. It was hot. But, we just kept going and did some fun things. We went into the city and visited the Philadelphia Library. My mom, dad, and Nicole got to go on a rare books tour that sounded really cool. We went over to the Museum of Art, and rode the trolley around town.

We also went out to the John Audubon House. It was pretty small but there was a ton of art packed in that little house. Nicole got to draw some birds with Grandpa, while Joel hung out with Nana.

To be crazy, we went out to Cape May, NJ on a Saturday. Most of our day was spent in the car in a traffic jam, but once we got to Cape May we ate at the Mad Batter for lunch, and Nicole and Alex played on the beach while the rest of us shopped. We had lots of fun in this crazy hot weather!

F U N

2011-08-14T14:02:00.000-04:00

Mani-Pedi's

2011-08-14T13:57:00.003-04:00

I started a 30 before 30 list at the beginning of July. Basically I had 30 days to do 30 things before I turned 30. Yeah, right.

Well, one of those things was to get a mani-pedi, and another was to do something special with Nicole. So we combined the two and had a blast!

Joel is 7 months!

2011-07-15T16:48:00.004-04:00

Joel is crawling around like crazy and I just know this one is going to be trouble! He moves so fast and gets into everything he's not supposed to. Joel's 5th tooth broke through today, and he's no longer a vampire baby. The other one should be coming through any day. This also means he's a bit cranky from all of this teething. I always tell people he's my serious child, because it's so hard for people to get a smile out of him. He loves to be outside, especially on the swings!

Happy Birthday, Alex!

2011-07-12T12:27:00.004-04:00

Alex's birthday falls at the end of June, and this coincides with a new Pixar film release every year. We've made it a tradition to hit the movies for his birthday, and this year Nicole got to go see Cars 2 with him. In preparation for the movie, we made Nicole a Lightning McQueen car.

Alex was going to be gone for his birthday on the Scout camp, so we celebrated early with some ribeye steak and rootbeer cake. Yum!

Briar Bush Nature Center

2011-07-12T12:12:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Alex had to go to Scout camp for 5 days. This meant I was all alone with the kids. We kept as busy as we possibly could so that the week would go by quickly. One place we headed was the Briar Bush Nature Center. It's about 5 minutes from our house, and in the 3+ years we've lived here we had never been.

It's a cute little place, with turtles and birds and snakes. And there are some nice trails for a nature walk. It was perfect for the amount of time we had, and Nicole loved seeing the animals and running around.

New bike

2011-07-12T12:05:00.004-04:00

Nicole got a bike for her birthday from her grandparents, but sadly we haven't been as good at taking her out to ride as we thought we would be. She rides the bike around the porch as best she can, but there's only so far you can go on an enclosed porch. So, a couple of weeks ago we took her out to the parking lot behind our house and she did such a great job!

Joel is 6 months!

2011-06-15T22:06:00.000-04:00

This little guy is teething like crazy! He already has 4 teeth - 2 bottom center and 2 top lateral incisors. This basically means we have a vampire baby - and it's so cute! He's army crawling all around, and can get anywhere he wants to go. Joel loves to suck on his hands and feet, but still won't take a bottle. Luckily we are into the solids phase so he has been eating rice cereal and some fruits and veggies. He tried banana for the first time tonight and loved it. He's a tall, skinny thing and we love him. Here are his stats:

17 lbs 14.8 oz (60th %)

27.5" long (86th %)

18" head circumference (93rd %)

Nicole is 3 years old!

2011-06-02T23:03:00.006-04:00

My big girl is 3! I can't even believe how fast it has gone. She is such a sweet, thoughtful, fun, silly, nice, HAPPY little girl. Here's the birthday girl!

One day at breakfast I was asking Nicole what she wanted to do for her birthday. She was very specific when she said she wanted a Minnie Mouse party with balloons, party hats, and her friends. She also said she wanted a cake with fresh strawberries. This made it very easy for me!

I decided to throw her a little party with some friends at the last minute, and I'm so glad I did. She loved every minute of it, and I especially loved when she was singing happy birthday to herself.

Cupcakes with fresh strawberries

Making bracelets

Playing with presents

Pull-string Minnie Mouse pinata

Cora, Nicole, Preslee, Penny

Alex came home a little early from work so that we could have our family party. We ordered pizza, had cake and opened presents. It was such a fun day. Happy Birthday, Nicole!

Joel eating

2011-05-24T10:09:00.000-04:00

"Picnik Show"

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The month of May

2011-05-22T22:57:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day 2011

Alex took Nicole on the Fathers/Sons campout (I like to call it the Daddy Daughter campout)

Camping out in the living room. We made a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

Joel

Nicole

Cinco de Mayo

2011-05-16T17:11:00.003-04:00

It was just an ordinary day. We didn't have anything planned, and were just hanging out in the house all day because our front door was getting stain put on it. But when our painter had to leave to go pick some stuff up, we made a beeline for the party store and bought some decorations for a fiesta!

Tortilla making party

We hung up some streamers, and bought a piñata and some candy. We made some salsa and homemade tortillas for our taco dinner. The funniest part of the evening was when I took a picture of Alex and Nicole and they yelled "¡Olé!", Joel started crying. Apparently he wasn't digging our fiesta.

Eating dinner under our streamers

Nicole taking a swing at the piñata. She kept pulling the bandana up so she could see.

Auntie Beth

2011-05-16T17:06:00.003-04:00

Alex's sister, Beth, came down from NY for a visit a couple of weeks ago. Nicole was sick, unfortunately, but she perked up towards the end of the visit. Beth brought her boyfriend, Kerlyn, and it was a lot of fun to have them down for the weekend.

Bubble blowing and ball throwing

Joel is 5 months!

2011-05-15T19:48:00.001-04:00

Joel is now very mobile, rolling all around the place, and he's trying to figure those legs out and how they work. He loves his daddy and smiles like crazy when he sees him. Joel also thinks Nicole is just about the funniest person ever. He has found his toes and loves to play with them, and always has his hands in his mouth sucking on his fingers. It's hard to believe this cutie is already 5 months!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2011-05-15T10:46:00.004-04:00

It was raining

so we hopped in the car and went to feed some ducks

Joel slept through it

Nicole LOVED it

She said the white duck was her favorite

This one was my favorite

Easter

2011-05-05T21:10:00.004-04:00

Our House - the big reveal

2011-05-03T10:07:00.007-04:00

We've been doing some major work on our almost 100 year-old home, and it is so exciting to see it all coming together. Our outside renovations started last summer when we decided to pull off some vinyl siding to see what was underneath. To our pleasant surprise, it was cedar shingles and they were in pretty good condition. It was exactly the look we were going for, and so began our project.

We hired one of Alex's young men to take off all of the siding, and then we hired a company to come and repair our slate roof, replace our gutters, and put some new cedar shingles up. We decided to replace the shingles on the whole front of the house because it was in the worst condition, and we wanted that to look the best.

We hired a renovation company to make the house look pretty - new trim, new doors, and fresh paint. We went with a sage green, white trim, and a red accent color on our porch. We are really happy with how it looks, and feel like our house is becoming "ours."

Joel is 4 months!

2011-04-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

My baby

Weight - 15 lbs 8 oz (65th %)

Height - 26 inches (86th %)

Big boy!

2011-04-04T20:42:00.009-04:00

Joel got his first haircut today. It had to be done. Here are some before pics:

And the after. Alex says he misses the Bieber bangs. Good thing Joel's hair grows fast.

Love them!

2011-04-02T21:34:00.004-04:00

Swim lessons

2011-03-25T09:50:00.000-04:00

We joined the YMCA a couple of months ago, and signed Nicole up for swim lessons. She loves it! It's so fun to watch her swimming around with her dad. And I love the freedom of Y babysitting where I can drop the kids off and go and exercise. So nice.

Vacation!

2011-03-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

As always, I was getting the itch to travel somewhere. As luck would have it, Alex was asked to go to a work conference in Salt Lake City. Perfect! We decided to make it a long trip, and stretched it out over two weekends.

We spent the first weekend in Orem with Alex's family. They all got to meet Joel for the first time, and Nicole loved playing with all of her Aunts and Uncles and cousins. She got to go to the aquarium with her Grandma, and we went to see Rapunzel at the dollar theater. Oh, dollar theaters. How I have missed you. We even had the whole theater to ourselves!

During Alex's conference, we got to stay at the Grand America. It was good to be back in Salt Lake. We visited with friends at our business school, spent some time at the library, and hit the children's museum. I even got to see my old freshman year roommate, Mel, and it was a beautiful day so we spent it at the park.

The second weekend we spent with my family in Bountiful. We took Nicole and her cousin, Mikka, to Disney on Ice. Nicole and Mikka got along really well and played together the entire time. Alex and I got to leave the kids with my parents and go out with my friend MaryAnn and her boyfriend. It was nice to get out!

Family Photos

2011-03-23T16:48:00.011-04:00

We had my friend, Jackie, take some family photos that were long overdue. Here are some of our favorites!

Joel is 3 months!

2011-03-15T09:56:00.002-04:00

And he has found his voice! He loves to talk to us, and we're starting to get some good laughs and smiles out of this serious baby of ours. Joel drools a ton, and he loves his playmat (best $2.50 I ever spent). He's getting pretty mobile, kicking his legs up and moving his body around. He still won't take a pacifier, but I guess it's a blessing in disguise. To date he has only taken one bottle successfully, so I'm hoping he grows into it. We love our little Joely Poly!

Joel is 2 months!

2011-02-15T00:55:00.000-05:00

I realize I've been slacking on the photos of Joel. Not because I haven't been taking them. I just can't get any pictures that capture "Joel." But here he is, in all of his cute mop-top glory!

Joel's blessing

2011-02-13T09:31:00.004-05:00

We were lucky to have a house full of family last week. My parents and Alex's dad flew in for a few days, and Beth came down from New York for a couple of days. Joel's blessing was on February 6. Alex did a great job, and I hear Joel was an angel during the blessing. He was awake and just looking up at everyone in the circle.

Joel on his big day

Nicole was in heaven having so many grandparents around to play with her. Nicole and Nana made valentine's one day, and Nicole couldn't wait to give them to everyone.

More valentine fun

Hanging with the Grandpas

What we do for fun

2011-02-12T14:45:00.006-05:00

My little artist

2011-01-05T00:00:00.003-05:00

Nicole drew this picture of Jessie from Toy Story. I think it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. It's the first picture she has drawn that actually looks like something. Click on it to zoom in and see the details. It's pretty awesome.

Ring in 2011

2011-01-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

Christmas pictures

2010-12-31T20:51:00.003-05:00

This was the closest we got to "family" pictures for Christmas. Joel was drowning in his outfit, but I think he looks pretty handsome. Nicole was in love with her dress and cried for a good half hour when we made her take it off. Poor girl.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T00:06:00.004-05:00

We had such a great time celebrating the holiday in our own home this year. We were able to start some family traditions, and it was such a relaxing holiday. Nicole was so excited for Santa to come and I think she thought Christmas day was just about the most perfect day ever. And to top it off we had a sweet baby boy here with us.

Christmas Eve. We built a fire, drank hot cocoa, read 'The Night Before Christmas,' and the story of Jesus' birth, sang some Christmas songs, and opened pjs.

Christmas morning.

Nicole played with her new toys all morning long.

Holiday Visitors

2010-12-26T23:50:00.003-05:00

My mom, sister and brother-in-law came out to visit around Joel's due date. My mom stayed for a week and a half, and Megan and Andrew did a long layover on their way from Ireland to Utah. Nicole loved having so many people around to play with! Here are a few pictures from their time here.

Megan and Andrew were scheduled to fly out the day Joel was born, and weren't going to get to see him. Conveniently the flight was full and they couldn't fly out until the next morning so they got to come back and visit us in the hospital.

Baby Joel

2010-12-20T21:52:00.006-05:00

He's here! After sitting around waiting for this little guy to come, he decided to make his entrance 4 days after his due date. He gave us a little bit of a scare when he was born, and we are so blessed that he is here with us. He's absolutely adorable and we're all in love with him!

Joel Ando Robertson
December 15, 2010 at 2:37 pm
8 lbs 6 oz
21 inches long

Pumpkin carving

2010-11-04T15:17:00.006-04:00

We spent halloween night carving pumpkins, eating spooky dessert, and handing out candy. Nicole loved running to the door whenever we had trick-or-treaters. I think we got a total of 12 kids - the most we've ever had. We were pretty excited!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T15:12:00.000-04:00

From our cheesy Japanese Princess

The ward trunk-or-treat

Ride 'em cowgirl!

2010-10-19T08:40:00.001-04:00

Success!

2010-10-09T15:08:00.003-04:00

Pumpkin Festival

2010-10-08T14:23:00.000-04:00

We decided to go to a pumpkin festival on a beautiful Saturday morning. The weather was perfect and Nicole loved combing through the patch looking for pumpkins.

She got to ride the tot train ride, and was a bit terrified at first. But she got over it.

She also got to go into the petting zoo, and petted some pretty sad looking animals. She loved it.

Boston

2010-09-15T14:05:00.005-04:00

I was getting that travel itch again, so I convinced Alex to go to Boston with me over Labor Day weekend. Neither of us had ever been to the Northeast, so we were pretty excited. We picked Beth up in New York, and made our way up the coast driving through a total of 6 states in 6 hours. Awesome. You can only do that here.

We happened to be arriving in Boston around the time that Hurricane Earl was supposed to hit, so we spent our first night indoors. This worked out fine because there was a swimming pool in the hotel and Nicole LOVES swimming. And she loves her "Bethy."

The next day we did the city and made our way along the Freedom Trail. This has to be the coolest idea ever. They have a red line going through the city that you follow to see all of the historical and must-see sites. When you actually visit the sites, it makes history become so much more real. Now I know where the famous "one if by land, two if by sea" lights were hung, and I have seen the path that Paul Revere rode to thwart the attack by the Brits. Boston was absolutely beautiful.

Walking through one of the many burial grounds

Paul Revere with the Old North Church behind him

We found this little park with some water fountains and let Nicole run around for a little bit. She was soaking wet by the time we left!

In case you can't tell, Nicole was in love with this little duck, from the "Make Way for Ducklings" statues in the Public Garden. We also took a ride on the swan boats for the fun of it.

On Sunday we drove out to Lexington and Concord and toured through those areas. We picnicked on the Battle Green in Lexington, and ended on a high note at the North Bridge, site of “the shot heard ‘round the world'.”

Beth and Nicole having fun on the Battle Green

Cheers! Enjoying "tea" at the Hartwell Tavern

The North Bridge

Our view of the Concord River from the bridge

We made the trek home on Monday, but not without swimming one last time, and stopping at an orchard on the way home to grab some apple cider and cider donuts. Yum!

Our Last Hurrah at the Please Touch (Me) Museum

2010-09-09T08:38:00.003-04:00

Our membership to the children's museum was running out at the end of August, so Nicole and I made one last trip out to have some fun. It's really tempting to get another pass, but I might hold off until after the new baby and he is a little older.

Philadelphia Zoo

2010-08-08T21:07:00.008-04:00

Alex's work paid for us to go to the zoo yesterday, and we had a blast! It was our first time there, and we were a bit spoiled - they fed us lunch, paid for us to ride a hot air balloon, gave us free amusement rides, and Nicole got to have her face painted and ride a pony! It was great weather, and Nicole loved seeing the animals that we always talk about, especially the giraffes.

Nicole loved this goat. It was the first one she petted, and then other goats would come along and she'd look at them for a little bit and then run after this one. She followed it around for a good 5 minutes.

She wasn't quite sure what to think of the face painting. She really wanted to do it, but when the guy started painting, she didn't like it. I think it just felt a little too weird for her. It looked pretty cute, though!

We were all pretty excited about the hot air balloon ride. Alex and I have never been on one, so we got to enjoy something new.

Nicole's first pony ride. She was scared to get on, but once she did she loved it!

Nicole

2010-08-08T20:47:00.005-04:00

Here are just a few random pics from the past couple of weeks I wanted to get up here.

Splashing in the rain puddles!

She's gonna be a soccer player!

Big girl bed that she absolutely loves!

4th of July

2010-07-27T23:10:00.005-04:00

What better way to spend the 4th of July weekend, than picking blueberries at a pick-your-own farm in NJ?! Beth was going to come down from New York for the weekend so we drove out to Princeton to pick her up, and on the way we stopped at a blueberry farm. Nicole had a blast picking berries, and we found a few "presents" in our pockets later that day. She thought it was so funny to pick the not so ripe green berries and put them in our pockets.

Nicole loved playing with her "Bethy."

We hit the Glenside parade and Nicole still talks about it every time we drive through Easton Rd. We decided to let her stay up for the fireworks that go off behind our house. She was pretty excited, but I think the fireworks scared her a bit. She just cuddled up with her daddy, and she wanted to go back in before they were over.

We're gonna have a baby!

2010-07-23T12:10:00.004-04:00

We found out yesterday that we're going to have a baby boy, and we couldn't be happier! I'm due December 11, so it should make the holidays pretty exciting!

Ireland Trip 2010

2010-07-19T10:39:00.006-04:00

I don't know why I've been avoiding this post, but I have. I feel like there is so much to catch up on! But I decided to bite the bullet today. We went to Ireland for a week in mid-June for a family vacation. My parents were there, my brother Dan and sister-in-law Ashley and their kids, and then of course Megan and Andrew. Here's a picture of the gang, minus Megan and Andrew. Quite a group!

Nicole was such a trooper the entire trip, considering that she was SERIOUSLY lacking sleep. She'd fall asleep anytime we were in the car, probably because she figured that was the only time she'd get a chance to nap so she'd better take advantage! The sun stays up until after 10, and then rises before 6 so we just kept playing the entire time the sun was up.

My favorite memory of Nicole falling asleep was our first day there, and we stopped at Bunratty Village and Castle. We went across the street for some pub grub, and Nicole was sitting on my lap eating chips (Ireland's french fries) and while bringing a chip to her mouth, she zonked out. I was laughing so hard! Poor girl just crashed.

Some highlights of the trip included driving the Dingle peninsula - beautiful, scenic, and something we had never done before; picnicking and playing soccer on the beach; the Cork city festival that was going on while we were there; the walkie-talkies (we had 2 vans to transport all of us around and my dad brought walkie-talkies so we could communicate); gelato, the chocolate candy bars, and of course, shopping!

Alex, Nicole and I stayed a couple of days longer than everyone else, so we hit the Shandon Bell tower and Nicole got to ring the bells, and we also went to the Cork City Gaol (Jail). We all had a great time and the weather was sunny the whole time! Here is a slideshow of our adventures.

Nicole is 2!

2010-06-02T21:27:00.010-04:00

I can't even believe my little girl is 2! She seems so grown up, learning new things every day and talking my ear off. Nicole loves to sing and dance. She's a big fan of Mickey Mouse and Curious George. She's so smart, understanding emotions like "sad" and "happy", and she knows that Daddy has to go to work. She loves to be outside playing on her slide and running around. Her favorite food right now is mac and cheese and she asks for it about every meal. She is by far the most righteous in the house, always saying impromptu prayers and reading the scriptures any chance she gets. She's my little buddy and I'm so lucky that she's mine.

Her birthday was a lot of fun this year because we've been reading books about birthdays, and she understands that it's a special day. We started it off bright and early by taking some balloons into her when she woke up. She was so excited! She kept saying, "My balloons" and "It's Nikki's birthday!"

I took Nicole to the Please Touch Museum in the morning to celebrate. We had so much fun painting and playing. Nicole loved going down the slide and playing with the dolls in the hospital. And of course, she always loves shopping in the grocery store. Here's my favorite shot of the day.

Alex came home a little early so we could do cake and open presents. Nicole thought ripping off that wrapping paper was pretty fun. She couldn't even eat any of her birthday cake because she was too excited to play with her new toys.

Family shot with the birthday girl. Happy Birthday, Nicole! We love you!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T09:09:00.000-04:00

Alex's sister Beth came down from New York to visit on Memorial Day and Nicole played and played with her all day long. I think she was a bit exhausted by the end of it all! Nicole got to try so many new things out this weekend:

Riding a bike

Playing t-ball

Playing in her new swimming pool

Sparklers!

Hanging with Auntie Beth

And my favorite picture of the weekend

Slowly but surely

2010-05-17T11:16:00.010-04:00

A year ago we started our main floor bathroom remodel. I am now happy to say that we are finished! Hooray! A lot of rebuilding walls and scraping paint went into this room, but we did it. Here are the before and after pictures.

Alex built this awesome closet frame so that instead of a curtain hanging in our bathroom, we now have a door!

We also decided to knock out the den/guest room. We needed a change from the cream and tan all over the house. We wanted a calming atmosphere, and we love the blue with the white trim. So, guest room's open! Come visit!

The reason that being a mother is so great...

2010-05-09T22:40:00.011-04:00

Sister Heyman!

2010-04-24T14:28:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Nets/Bulls game for a girls night out. I know, it's the first place you think a bunch of girls would want to go! Our friend, Ann Heyman, served a mission with her husband in my old ward, and was dancing at the game, so naturally we drove out to NJ to see her! She is part of a dance group in Orem for women 50 and over, and let me tell you, for a 68 year-old she can definitely bust a move!

Summer Preview

2010-04-09T15:21:00.004-04:00

We had some crazy hot weather this week, with temps reaching 80+ degrees for 3 days in a row! So, as part of our cooling off fun, I bought a sprinkler head for Nicole to run around in. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Hopefully she'll warm up to it as we keep playing with it!

Nothing like a popsicle on a hot day!

Cherry Blossom Festival

2010-04-06T10:16:00.000-04:00

Two years ago when I was pregnant with Nicole, Alex and I ventured down to Washington DC to check out the cherry blossoms. Boy were we disappointed when we found that we had missed the blooming! So, I told myself that I would go back during peak blooming season, and we made it happen this year.

It was absolutely beautiful, and we couldn't have picked a better morning to go. The crowds were minimal (ok, normal for DC, but minimal for the blossoms) and we enjoyed every last minute in the city.

Easter Fun

2010-04-05T09:39:00.009-04:00

The weather has been so beautiful this past week, and we kicked Easter weekend off with grilling up some burgers and coloring some eggs. Nicole loved this, and in the end, every last egg we colored was cracked because she played with them so much!

The next morning we had an Easter breakfast and egg hunt at the Church. It was so fun to watch Nicole going around picking up those eggs. It was like Christmas every time she picked one up and opened it! I think she was amazed that there was something new in every single egg.

We spent Easter morning in a hotel, but the Easter Bunny still left us baskets with goodies in them, and Nicole got to do another egg hunt in the room.

Play, play, play!

2010-03-29T09:49:00.000-04:00

We have had so much fun these past couple of days! It started with Alex's work party at Dave and Buster's. You'd think Nicole had died and gone to heaven when she walked in and saw all of those games! Alex's company was very generous with the tokens on the cards, so we got to play and play! Nicole walked home with way too many prizes, and she loved every last one of them.

The next morning we headed to the Aquarium in Camden. It was an awesome aquarium, and very kid friendly. Nicole was in awe of all of the fish, and kept trying to get their attention when we were looking through the glass. It was the hippo's birthday celebration, so Tyrone from the Backyardigans came to meet everyone. Nicole LOVED this! She just kept following him around and cried like crazy when we had to leave him.

Notice a pattern?

2010-03-26T14:29:00.007-04:00

I was scrolling through the pictures we've taken lately of Nicole and started to notice a pattern...

Sitting in our beach bag

Yes, that is Nicole in the basket of her stroller

Chillin' in the box with her train tracks and blocks

Sitting in the storage box I was cleaning out

Snowed in!

2010-02-26T15:49:00.009-05:00

Snow. We've had lots of it. This past storm was a bit disappointing, but Alex got to stay home from work all the same. I think we've had more "snow days" in the past month than I've had in my whole life! Nicole was sick with croup when the big storm rolled through early February, but we couldn't resist letting her play in the snow for a little while. She loved it! Even after she faceplanted, she was as happy as a clam. And yes, she could be the pink stay-puff marshmallow girl.

I thought I'd post a few, ok, a lot of pictures of what we've been busy doing in our house since there's not a whole lot we can do outside with all of the snow!

Nicole found an old pair of glasses and wanted to wear them around...upside down.

Auntie Beth came to visit for a night, and she instantly became Nicole's new best friend.

Nicole has mastered the art of making a Denver omelette.

She found a new "toy" when I was vacuuming the couch. A slide!

Nicole and Daddy jamming to some tunes.

Wearing her wellies around is definitely a fashion statement. Even when it's only us that see her.

Watch out American Idol!

2010-01-28T22:03:00.003-05:00

Nicole's latest thing is to pull out the step stool, stand up on it and give us a performance. We told her that she doesn't have to stand on the stool to sing to us, we would still listen, but she insists on using it as her stage. She gets her singing talent from her dad (the forgetting the words part, too).

Christmas Lights at Longwood

2010-01-27T14:25:00.004-05:00

We were able to stop by the gardens the last night they had their Christmas lights up. It was beautiful, as always. Nicole's favorite part had to be the Thomas train. It was pretty cool.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-11T09:19:00.004-05:00

OK, I'm a little late. But I guess now is as good a time as any to say that and to get some pictures posted from our past month or so. We were able to spend Christmas in Utah with our families, so we kept busy and had a lot of fun.

We celebrated 4 birthdays while we were there, spent time with great-grandparents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and old friends.

And Nicole? Poor girl. We found out that she had an ear infection and pneumonia while we were there. But she handled it all really well, and did great on both flights. We were lucky enough to have an open seat for her on both flights (I don't know what we would have done otherwise!).

We had tons of fun and are so glad that Nicole got to see all of her family. She learned so many new words while we were there, and there was never a dull moment (except for the time when she fell asleep on Alex's lap while he was playing the xbox - she must have been really sick because she NEVER does that)!

Christmas (a little early)

2009-12-14T11:40:00.008-05:00

We are going to be in Utah for Christmas, so we decided to have our own Christmas morning a little early. Saturday morning we woke up to find all sorts of presents under the tree. Nicole had so much fun opening her presents and playing with them. I'm so glad we did this, because for me, Christmas is all about waking up early, going down in your pjs, opening presents, and then having a big breakfast. We made Mickey Mouse waffles and sausage, and then spent the rest of the day playing with our new things.

After Nicole's nap, we went into Center City and saw the Wanamaker lights at Macy's, and headed over to the Comcast Center for their Christmas Spectacular 3D light show. We had dinner in the city, and then headed home. It was about the most perfect Christmas day you could ever have.

Photo Shoot

2009-12-05T12:01:00.007-05:00

I took Alex and Nicole out this morning to get a picture for our Christmas card. The rain held for us and we were able to get a few shots.

If anyone wants me to take some pictures for them, I'm more than happy to. I'm still learning, and having subjects to shoot helps!

18 Months!

2009-12-03T11:47:00.007-05:00

27 lbs 13.9 oz

32.75"

Favorite things:

Baby Doll

Balloons

Trains

Balls

Handy Manny

Martha, again!

2009-11-28T14:21:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went with a big group of friends to New York, and we saw Martha, again! They invited us to come back out, and it was a blast. We got tons of giveaways, and all of us were on camera multiple times. The episode aired on Black Friday, which is why we got so many awesome giveaways. We got a J.Crew gift card, a Greek cookbook (it is the biggest cookbook I have ever seen), a Demy digital recipe reader, an eye-fi card (for wireless transfer of photo from camera to computer), and a wire-free charging station for electronic devices. We also went up to Times Square, the Rockefeller Center, and Chinatown.

The ferry ride

This is the waiting room before you go out on the set

We got front row seats, which is why we were on camera so much. They chose our group specifically for these seats. It was awesome!

Times Square

The past month

2009-11-17T14:28:00.009-05:00

I am absolutely loving this stage of Nicole. She has grown up so much and amazes me every day. I don't think I could have asked for a happier, more fun-loving little girl. Here are some random photos from the past month or so of Nicole enjoying life.

Nicole supporting her Phillies during the World Series!

OK, she may not look like she's having fun right here (she started crying when I told her that drawing on the wall is a bad thing), but I know she had fun while she was doing it!

Running around in the backyard.

Who knows?

Dancing with her daddy. Look at that belly!

Playing the guitar with daddy.

Captain Vegetable and Strawberry Shortcake

2009-11-02T15:06:00.000-05:00

Do you know who Captain Vegetable is? If not, here's a video.

Alex's lifelong dream was to dress up as Captain Vegetable on Halloween. And I helped him fulfill that dream. I feel pretty special.

We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat (this was my first one ever - how have I never been to one of these before?) and Nicole loved it. She went bobbing for apples and ate a donut off a string. OK, she really just reached into the bucket of water with her hand and she pulled the donut off the string and then wanted to put it back on. But she practically did the games right.

She just plopped down in the middle of the floor after it was over so she could enjoy her dum dum. Smart girl.

And here she is her first time trick-or-treating. She caught on really well and didn't want to let that bucket of candy out of her sight.

2009-10-31T08:35:00.001-04:00

Trip to Maryland

2009-10-30T13:20:00.000-04:00

Alex had a conference in DC last week, so Nicole and I joined him on his last day and then we stayed a couple of extra days in Maryland. It was the first time we stayed in a hotel with Nicole, and she actually did really well. Most of our trip was spent doing things that she would enjoy, but when you have kids, isn't that just the way it is?

Our big outing was to the National Zoo. It's part of the Smithsonian Institute, and so it's well taken care of, and free (and who can pass up free?!). Nicole loved running around and looking at the animals. In fact, Alex and I loved it, too. Neither of us have been to a zoo since we were kids.

We got to enjoy a couple of different parks, one in Alexandria, VA and one in Rockville, MD. Nicole had fun picking up acorns and leaves and handing them to her dad. And she LOVED this swing. She didn't want to leave it. She would just slump down into it and get comfy.

As always, we were all about eating well. We hit Penang, a Malaysian Restaurant. La Madeleine, a French Bakery. Urban BBQ, well, a BBQ place. And on the way home, we stopped in Baltimore and went to Lexington Market. This market has been operating since 1782, and has world-famous crab cakes at Faidley's. They were yummy!

Iron Chef II: Halloween

2009-10-29T09:35:00.000-04:00

We had another Iron Chef night with our friends. This time the secret ingredient was Halloween. Everything was delicious, as always! I think MaryAnn wrote up a nice description so I won't go into details, but here are some pictures!

Leah made bean salad.

Jon and Anna made appetizers - witch's fingers and cats.

MaryAnn and Trisha made a tamale pie.

Alex and I made a Haunted devil's food cake.

Marc and Natalie provided drinks - homemade root beer (from a real root!), ginger beer (using real ginger!), and some apple cider.

Here are the Iron Chefs!

Pumpkin pickin'

2009-10-28T12:22:00.006-04:00

I had been hoping to go to a pumpkin patch with Nicole so she could pick her very own pumpkin. But, we got a Nor'easter and it rained on the day we planned to go. So, we went to a local market instead, and she still got to pick her very own pumpkin. She loved it.

She still carries this pumpkin around with her. It now has a few dings and no longer has a stem, but I feel like we got our money's worth.

And they had yummy cider donuts and apple cider!

Our little mini

2009-10-28T12:11:00.007-04:00

Mini Alex

Mini Kristin

Please Touch Museum

2009-10-10T07:30:00.010-04:00

My sister and brother-in-law, Megan and Andrew, gave us an awesome gift this summer - a membership to the Please Touch Museum. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's an interactive museum just for kids. How cool is that? We were there for about an hour, and only saw a little bit of the museum. We all had a ton of fun and are excited we get to go back as often as we want.

Nicole's favorite part was the grocery store - she would have spent all day in there if we had let her

We stopped in at McDonald's for some burgers - Nicole kept trying to eat the plastic bun and seemed a bit confused.

Our future doctor

And here is Nicole riding the carousel. Despite how she looks, she loved it. And Alex and Nicole both got to sit on horses that went up and down. :)

Nicole-isms

2009-10-06T22:39:00.001-04:00

I realized yesterday that I didn't even notice that we had passed Nicole's 16 month mark. Must be a sign that she's getting old (well, at least one of us is). So now that she's a big girl, here are some of the fun things she does.

Anytime Nicole sees a dog, she says, "arf!" Most of the time I haven't noticed the dog until I hear her say "arf!"

Nicole loves to dance. She was even dancing to the Mo-Tab during Conference.

When Nicole hasn't seen me in awhile, she'll start walking around the house yelling, "Mama!" Sometimes she yells the same thing when she hasn't seen Alex, but it's still "Mama!"

Nicole likes to come up behind people and tickle them while saying "tickle, tickle, tickle."

If it's getting near lunch or dinner time, I'll ask Nicole if she wants to go eat, and she walks straight to the kitchen.

Nicole loves her bathtime. Last night we were doing family home evening and she started to take off her shirt and pants, and was getting pretty close to getting that diaper off. Alex finally told her she could go and take a bath and she nearly jumped into his arms.

When we ask her where her belly is, she pulls up her shirt and touches her belly.

Every time Nicole sees a train, hears a train, or even sees train tracks, she says "choo!"

Martha Stewart

2009-10-02T08:36:00.009-04:00

I went to Martha Stewart in New York last week and had so much fun! Alex had to fly to Utah for work, so I ended up leaving Nicole with a babysitter all day - her first time getting babysat by someone outside of the family. I appreciate Carrie and MaryAnn so much for babysitting for Nicole!

We drove up to Staten Island and jumped on the ferry. This is Jen, me, Beth, Mindy, and Jenessa.

Here we are posing with Martha. The show was all about finance, and Michael Moore was the big guest. Mindy got to ask him a question on camera - pretty awesome! And we all got on camera, if even for a split second.

This is Martha's amazing set. Beth and I got to sit on the 2nd row on the floor.

This is Joey. He was the warm up guy and was really funny.

After the show we hit Magnolia Bakery and Ferrara. And then made a stop at Rice to Riches on our way out. There are tons of flavors of rice puddings in this shop, and it's all modern and funky and awesome.

Thanks girls, I had a blast!

Nicole's latest dance moves

2009-09-18T21:49:00.002-04:00

This little girl dances anytime she hears music...

New Hope and Washington's Crossing

2009-09-06T16:40:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday Alex and I decided to go somewhere we had never been. We chose New Hope because we've heard that it's a cute little town with a bunch of fun shops. As we were driving, I thought it was strange because things kept looking familiar to me. As soon as we came into New Hope, I exclaimed, "I've been here before!" I went with Alex's mom last year when we happened upon the town. It was never a planned destination with his mom, so I didn't remember the name of it. So much for going somewhere we had never been!

We got out and walked around on their main street. We admired the cute boutique shops, and we bought some sunglasses for Nicole (which she was so happy about).

After New Hope, we drove down to Washington's Crossing. There's a visitor's center, and a little village right next to the Delaware River that you can walk around. It was beautiful, as most of Pennsylania's small towns are.

Morris Family Adventure

2009-08-28T09:08:00.020-04:00

My family came to visit the 2nd week in August, and it was an action packed vacation for them. It was Megan and Andrew's last week with us, so my parents and my brother, Nathan, sis-in-law, Julie, and niece, Mikka, came out to Philly. We kept busy and saw lots of fun things (some were new things for me which was nice). Nathan served his mission in Philly years ago so I think he really enjoyed being back here.

Here's a run down of the fun things we did:

Valley Forge - while we were driving around there was a really big thunderstorm moving in. We got into our cars just in time - the rain came pouring down and the lightning and was so close I honestly thought we might get hit.

Philly - we went to the U.S. Mint, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Alex took us up the Comcast Center to get an awesome view of the city

Barnes Foundation - My mom and I went to this private art institution where there is a collection of impressionist paintings - there were a ton of Renoir, Picasso, Renault, etc.

Mikka's Birthday Party - Mikka turned 3 years old while they were here, so we celebrated with Chinese food and a cake! My brother Dan happened to be in town for work so he came out for the party.

Lancaster - for some reason I didn't take any pictures of Lancaster, but couldn't help adding in this photo of the sleepy-heads in the back seat! We went to our favorite, the farmer's market in Bird-in-Hand, and then went to eat at the Good 'N Plenty restaurant (the picture is of Nicole playing peek-a-boo at the table). We stopped at a quilt shop and admired all of the amazing quilts the Amish make, and then we wandered over to the outlets.

Martin Guitar Factory - this was awesome. My dad has wanted to go to this factory for a long time, and this time we made it! You get to do a tour of the factory and they show you the whole process of making the guitars. We packed a lunch and made a day of it up in Lehigh Valley.

Crayola Factory - after the Martin Guitar Factory, my dad wanted to get some ice cream. So we found the Purple Cow Creamery which makes their own ice cream, and happens to be next door to the Crayola Factory. Alex and I took Nikki in, and Nathan and Julie took Mikka in. We only had an hour before closing, so we got in for half price. It was a lot of fun - an interactive factory for kids. There was a ton to do, and Nicole was loving it!

Longwood Gardens - my mom finally made it to Longwood Gardens. It was their last stop before flying home, and it was beautiful (as always). Nikki couldn't get enough of the children's garden and was soaking wet by the time we left! It was a really nice way to end my family's visit.

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-08-22T09:15:00.008-04:00

My birthday was at the beginning of August, and it was such a nice day. Alex made me dinner and my very own ice cream cake! The tradition in my family is that my parents always buy an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for birthdays. So Alex made me one out of mint oreo ice cream (my favorite) and used his cake decorating talents. I was so excited to get a HUGE container of Jelly Belly's and some tart pans. You can check out my baking blog if you want to see what I've made with them.

Megan and Andrew went with their friends to New York that weekend, and when they got back they brought me my gift - a cheesecake from Carnegie Deli. Yum! For those of you who don't know, my favorite dessert is cheesecake and Carnegie is famous for their cheesecakes. What makes them different? They have a sugar cookie type crust (though not as sweet as a cookie). Very creamy and delicious!

Chocolate World

2009-08-01T22:38:00.008-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we ventured to Hershey country and got our fill of chocolate world. We started with the factory tour, where Nicole was pretty excited about the singing cows. She also loved the chocolate sample we got as we were leaving the tour.

Our next stop was Hershey Park. Let me state the obvious by saying that going to an amusement park with a kid is very different than going without. Especially when you're dealing with naps. That said, we had a lot of fun! We went to the water park first, and Nicole got to play in the water with Alex.

From the water park you can see the ferris wheel and Nicole kept pointing at it the whole time we were in the water park, so that was the first ride we went on. I think she had just as much fun waiting in line as she did on the ride, but it was fun.

We went with Megan and Andrew, so we waited in line for a roller coaster with them, and timed it so that they went first and then took Nicole while we went on the ride. Nikki crashed on Alex's shoulder about a minute before we handed her off to Megan. It was pretty cute.

And before leaving the park, we had to let Nicole ride the Merry-go-round. Alex took her on the ride and said that they both felt pretty gypped about a minute into the ride when they realized that the horse Nicole was on didn't go up and down.

For all you Trekkie fans out there...

2009-07-20T10:41:00.002-04:00

My brother, Dan, was in town last Wednesday for work, so Megan, Nicole, and I met him at the Franklin Institute for an hour before he flew out. Andrew was working so we were able to get in free and saw the Star Trek exhibit. Andrew even took a picture of us on the sky deck and had it printed out. I know you're all jealous. :)

Day Trippin' to DC

2009-07-17T09:44:00.005-04:00

I love living on the East coast. So much to do! Alex was in Palmyra for Youth Conference last weekend, so Megan, Andrew, Nicole, and I headed down to DC for the day. We stopped in Alexandria, VA (I have fond memories of this place...blizzard, walking up and down King Street, alone on Valentine's Day...) and got some lunch at Five Guys. This was the first Five Guys I ever ate at, and it was yummy!

After lunch we headed into the Mall. Andrew's only request was to see the White House. So, we trekked to the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, White House (after seeing it, Andrew said, "I thought it would be whiter"), and the Museum of Natural History. Whew! It was a lot of walking, but it was nice to be back in DC. I love this place!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T23:41:00.008-04:00

We started the day with absolutely nothing planned. And in the end, the day turned out to be lots of fun! Alex decided it was time for us to buy a volleyball net (we have a sand volleyball court in the park behind our house), so we put up the net and played 2 vs 2 with my sister and her husband. Man are my arms sore!

We worked up an appetite playing volleyball, so we headed inside. Alex heated up the grill and put some burgers on, and Megan and I made dessert. You can read more about our flag cake here. Nicole was ready to dive right into the cake!

Somewhere in between we decided to make s'mores, because what's more American than s'mores?! We just used the hot coals from the grill, and it worked out nicely. Nikki was a big fan!

And in the end, we got to enjoy some fireworks from our backyard. Happy 4th of July!

The BIG 3-0!

2009-06-30T14:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Alex's birthday, and sadly he had to go to work. But, we celebrated as much as we could when we saw him! We started the day with buttermilk waffles, strawberries, and whipped cream. Alex worked really hard and got all of his reports out so that he could come home a little early. We opened presents with Nicole, and then my sister, Megan, babysat so that Alex and I could go out.

We went to dinner at a local pub that everyone raves about. Our review? Eh, it's ok. But it was fun, and now we can say that we've been there! Then we headed to the movies. Every year around Alex's birthday there is a new Disney Pixar film out, and it has been our tradition to go and see it for his birthday. So, we went and saw "Up." Cute film. Very enjoyable.

When we got home, we ate some birthday cake with Megan and Andrew. Alex's request this year? German chocolate cake! Yum! Happy Birthday, Alex!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-23T10:29:00.008-04:00

We had a great Father's Day, starting with Alex not having to go to meetings before church! We had blueberry sour cream pancakes, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. Nicole gave daddy her present in a picture frame:

Alex grilled up some hamburgers for dinner, and then we had hamburgers and fries for dessert (thanks to Bakerella for the idea!). It was almost too cute to eat.

Nicole's Birthday!

2009-06-05T10:47:00.008-04:00

I have a 1-year-old. Ahhh! Nikki had a great birthday and was lucky enough to have her Grandma there for the party. We went into the city to have lunch with Alex, and then Alex came home a little early from work to start the party.

Nicole got to eat her dinner all by herself - spaghetti noodles with ham and peas and cheese (all things she loves). And then we did the birthday cake! She was so cute - totally surprised that we were letting her play with her food. It took a little while, but she demolished the cake and ate quite a bit, too! Here's a before and after shot.

After cake, we opened presents. She got some very cool things, like a quiet book that her Grandma made, and a foam play mat. Happy Birthday to my big girl!

Visit from Grandma!

2009-06-05T10:24:00.005-04:00

Alex's mom came to visit for a week and we had a ton of fun and kept very busy! We drove down to Virginia to see Alex's uncle and aunt and stayed with them for a night. I forgot my camera so we don't have any pictures, but we went to the Manassas Battlefield and walked around there. Then we went up to the Washington DC Temple and Alex's mom babysat Nicole while Alex and I did a session. On our journey back to Philadelphia, we stopped in Baltimore at the Broadway Diner (it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives). It was everything a diner should be - a cool metallic boxcar building, the diner crowd, a huge menu with everything you could ever want, and a glass case full of their desserts!

We went to Fort Washington State Park and enjoyed a little picnic and walk there, and we went to Longwood Gardens. Nicole's favorite part was definitely the children's garden in the conservatory where they had water features for the kids to play in. She was soaking wet by the time we left!

We went into the city and had lunch with Alex at Rittenhouse Square. We got some falafel sandwiches (my first time having falafel) and they were delicious! We also stopped at a gelato shop and tried just about every flavor they had. Yum!

On the last day with Grandma, we went to Chestnut Hill and walked around all of the shops there. The highlights are always Robertson's Flowers, the Philadelphia Print Shop, and Penzey's Spices. We had lots of fun and Nicole already misses her Grandma!