A Winter's Day

Hi. It is a cold, lazy winter day and I'm watching snow flurries that have no chance of becoming anything substantial. Too bad. It is our first real winter in a few years and a little snow would be nice. This area doesn't typically get snow, so it's no big surprise, but still it would be fun.

We've been busy organizing the house, hanging pictures, and getting into our previously described routines. We got a new camera for Christmas and I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but keep checking because I hope to figure it out soon. It has some neat settings that will be fun to experiment with.

Amelia has been expanding her vocabulary and is saying a few funny things. She will pat us on the back and say "Good Girl" (I think she gets this from watching us with Cali). She likes to try on our shoes and stumble around and she is going to be a mountain climber when she grows up. All day long, up and down the stairs (No help allowed-I'm going to have a heart attack!) and all over the furniture. Time to install a toddler friendly rock-climbing wall!

I hate to leave you with no photos, so of course I'll post one of my recent favorites of our little dare devil. Happy MLK Day, Inauguration Week and return to LOST!!

Look at that mischievous grin! She's up to no good :)

Routine Resolution

I don't really have any New Year's Resolutions. I just want to get back into a routine and feel settled into life here. I started by signing Amelia up for music class, and storytime at the local library, and by joining the gym (for myself). I know joining a gym seems kind of like a resolution, but I've been looking forward to it since October! I can't wait to take regular yoga classes again. You hear all these people (well, mostly Oprah) talk about making time for yourself and putting yourself first (which I find extremely difficult with a small child around...I don't think Oprah understands) but I absolutely plan to spend some time at the gym by myself every week.

Oh, I also want to: read more books, write more letters, cook more, get and stay organized, take piano lessons, teach Amelia Spanish, learn how to take better photos, volunteer, take Cali on more walks, have more date nights, plant a garden, and lose 5 lbs :) Ahhh, New Year's Resolutions!

Holidays Part Two

The trip to PA was short but sweet, although sadly there was NO SNOW! Mia had fun seeing "Baba" (Great Grandma) and her second cousins, great aunt and uncle. We played tons of video games (Wii's Samba de Amigo-how fun!) and went out for our new tradition of a post Christmas Italian meal.

New Year's Day we had the Conley's over for the lucky "white meal". It turned out quite yummy if I do say so myself :)

Happy 2009 everyone!! Best wishes for a peaceful, rewarding and relaxing New Year.

The Annual "Four Generations of Awesome Ladies" Photo (and cousin Katie :) )

Enjoying the New Year's White Meal (and the company)

Happy New Year Baby!!

Holidays Part One

So far, the 2008 Christmas season has been fantastic! We've visited with friends and family and hosted our first holiday gathering at the new house. Amelia and Gabriel hit it off extremely well and Norah was such a sweet big cousin. Next up is a quick visit to Great Grandma and the relatives in Pennsylvania. Not looking forward to the car ride but we're excited for the snow!

Some Highlights of the Holiday Season so far:

1) The annual SoMd Xmas gathering. This year it was at Sue and Mondo's "new" and improved home! It was a blast to see all the kiddos playing. Last year there were lots of crying infants and this year lots of toddlers climbing up and down the stairs. Extremely cute. See photo of the gang below.

2) Grandma W teaching Amelia how to say "Ho Ho Ho". When we ask her what Santa says, she answers us with a big grin. I'm sure she also wonders how stupid we all must be for not figuring out what Santa says by now. We must have asked her 100 times :)

3) The cousins playing and goofing off and being silly. Gabriel and Norah taking turns sitting by Amelia at meals.

4) Norah screaming "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" at the top of her lungs during our Christmas Day walk through the neighborhood. A few of the neighborhood dogs joined in. It was great!

Really, all the time spent with friends and family meant so much to us this year. We hope to see everyone much more often in 2009.

Photo time:

The whole crew at Sue's Christmas party

The Stripe Cousins

Christmas Morning

The McFamily:)


Just a cute one

8 bazillion more holiday fun photos at www.sarahmcbride.myphotoalbum.com !!

Season's Greetings

The house is coming along, and we have even managed to make it feel a little bit Christmassy (sp?). I love this time of year, even with the endless to do lists and extra stresses. We have a busy but exciting few weeks ahead of us! This weekend we visit SoMd again for the annual Christmas party. There are now 11 kids in the bunch! Next week, the McGrandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins will be spending Christmas at our new house! We are so excited for them to see Amelia--she's changed so much since they last saw her. After that visit, we head to Pennsylvania to visit Great-Grandma and hopefully play in the snow! There is almost always a White Christmas in Pa:) We hope you are enjoying this festive time of year. More pictures to come soon! For now, here's our little cheeseball posing in front of the tree.

Not for the squeamish

I'm sure everyone can understand and relate to the hectic, craziness of moving and how it is amplified 100% with an energetic toddler running around. This past week our parenting skills have been challenged in many new and exciting ways. On the day we moved from the apartment to the house, I looked at Amelia who was (supposedly) playing happily on the floor, and I noticed 2 plastic pieces in her mouth. I immediately pulled them out and discovered that they were pieces of a broken hair clip. FOUR pieces were missing and I only pulled TWO from her mouth. Oh no. I called the doctor and confirmed that Amelia was breathing, swallowing, and acting normally and that I didn't need to panic. But, she nicely informed me that I was on poopy duty for a week, or however long it took for the pieces to pass. This means that instead of cleaning yucky, smelly diapers as quickly as possible, we have to INSPECT them carefully! Lucky, lucky us!

So far there has been no evidence of the offensive, foreign objects. I really don't think that she actually swallowed them, and they just went unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of the move. But for now, we'll hold our noses and search away. For some reason, I felt I needed to share this delightful news. I'm sure Amelia will thank me when she's older.

House Sweet House

We are in the new house! We actually closed on Friday and are officially homeowners again! We got our stuff this week too, so we are now surrounded by tons of boxes, but we are so glad to be in the house! Now it's time to turn it into a home. We hope you can visit soon!

A few exterior photos... When we get the inside fixed up, I'll post a few of the new paint job:)

Front/Side view. Not much of a front yard, but an awesome front porch!

Front view. Lots of trees block the view, but I kind of like that...

Holiday Decorating

I love decorating for the holidays, and I'm extremely excited to decorate the new house (hopefully sooner than later!) For now, I'll have to settle for decorating the McBlog.

I hope everyone is enjoying their own holiday decorations :)

Thanksgiving at "Mah Maws"

We spent the weekend at Grandma W's house (whom Amelia christened "Mah-Maw"), and had a great time. I got to see lots of friends and kiddos and eat way too much fabulous food. It was our first Thanksgiving dinner in 3 years and boy was it delicious! My favorite foods in the entire world have to be my mom's stuffing, mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole. Sean made his delicious homemade gravy this year too! I attempted to make a blueberry breakfast bread, and pumpkin pie, although I think I'm best at just helping out with small tasks! Amelia ate everything with much gusto, except for the asparagus... oh well. I think my favorite part of the holiday was just watching Amelia and Grandma, and her Uncles interact and play. This is such a fun age (16 mths today!) and she is such a joy to be around.

Still no word on when we'll close on the house, but we're hoping by the end of this week. We were able to get the keys and have started painting a few rooms. They look great so far!

Grandma W's tree faces:)

She loves taking dogs for their walks! Here she is walking Grandma's "sausage" dog, Harley.

The Waiting Game

Well, we had hoped to be settling into a new house by now, but instead we are waiting, somewhat patiently, to get official approval from the seller's bank on our offer. We looked at a beautiful house the first weekend we moved back, and put an offer on it a few days later. It is an old (1918) Arts and Crafts, Foursquare home, and may be from one of the Sears kits (which I think is super cool). It is in our favorite Norfolk neighborhood with great parks, schools and playgrounds within walking distance. It is actually one street down from our old house! It has a new (intimidating) kitchen and lots of space for visitors! I keep daydreaming about paint colors and family gatherings and I'm getting tired of waiting!

It turns out the owners are in financial trouble and had to do a "short sale" which is basically a way to avoid foreclosure. All indications are that the bank will accept the offer and everything will go through, but it takes so much longer dealing with banks. We've been told we'll get a formal decision by next week and can close as soon as possible afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed!

Hopefully I'll have some pictures of the new house up soon, but I don't want to jinx anything (too much!) In the meantime, here is my latest favorite photo of Mia and her crazy hair :)

Playing Around

After seeing lots of pretty blog backgrounds on friend's websites, I've decided to play around a little. I'll probably be changing the background a lot over the next few days, just for fun. Boy, this blogging can be addictive. Good thing Mia is a long napper lately:)

Oh What A Night!

I'm so proud of our country right now. Huge voter turnout, enormous participation from the younger generation, gracious, moving speeches from all sides, and an amazing, inspiring new president!!