Go Mount!

I had a great, quick visit with dear old friends from Mt. St. Mary's last weekend. Some things never change, and I'm happy to say that we still like to drink beer and pick good music from the jukebox :) Love you guys!

Pet Pals

Just a few cute photos from yesterday... This doesn't happen often.

18 months!

Stinkerbell is a whole year and a half old!! She recently had her checkup at the doctor's office and screamed at the top of her lungs the entire time. The doc said it was perfectly normal. Anyway, she weighed in at 24 1/2 lbs and she's 32 1/2 inches (50th and 75th percentiles, respectively). She's so independent and wants no help with anything anymore, which leads to extremely messy meal times.

She actually got my shoes on her feet the right way and was walking around the house:)

Rooting for her favorite Steeler!

The Great McBride Stomach Bug of 09

We all survived the above and are really hoping it will be the only one of the year! I'll spare you the details, but needless to say we had a yucky weekend.

Mia is taking the longest to get over the bug, but she's in good spirits and has entered into the "No" phase. It is actually cute right now (remind me of this in a few months please). She answers all of our questions with her own question; "No?", like she's not quite sure.

Us: Amelia, would you like some milk?
Her: No?
Us: Juice?
Her: No?
Us: Water?
Her: No?
Us: How about some Cheerios? Crackers? Yogurt? (She hasn't been eating or drinking as much with the sickness)
Her: No? No? No? Down?
Us: Ok, Ok...
Her: MoMo! MoMo! (Elmo)
Us: Ok, lets go play with Elmo!
Her: No?

Ha!

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 :)