Little Girl

I was just looking at Amelia and thinking how much she looks like a little girl now. She's grown taller and her legs are long and skinny. Her legs are also covered in bumps and bruises and scrapes and mosquito bites, and lately, band-aids. She wears pigtails an ponytails and attempts to brush her hair. She has started picking out her clothes and shoes and she likes to take off her clothes (and diaper) too. She will use her potty whenever I put her there and I think I need to start getting more serious about potty training.

It is just so amazing and sort of sad that she will be 2 in a few weeks. Some days she seems to be at the cusp of the "terribleness", like when she runs away from me at the playground or snatches toys from her friends. Other times she is so loving and affectionate and will hug and kiss me all day long. She loves to kiss my "boo-boos" (or freckles) and say that they are "all better". She sings and "reads" and has opinions and is just fascinating to watch grow up! Not too fast though, little girl. Please, not too fast.

Oh, Happy 4th of July to all! I'll post next week about what we did!

Having an "almost 2 year old" moment

A Week at the Beach

We just got back from our annual week vacation in Isle of Palms, South Carolina (well, we missed a few years while in Spain). Everytime I go there, I envision living and/or retiring there. Even in the busy season, it is so gorgeous and peaceful. I'm still in a bit of a funk since returning.

We weren't sure how Mia would react to the ocean, but she LOVED it! There is a great tidal pool during low tide, and she spent a lot of time splashing and playing in it. Gabriel and Norah were so much fun to be with and Mia had a blast with them. Some days she was so worn out from playing with them that she put her head down on the sand and said "night-night"!

Lots of good photos on the album website and a few highlights below. I never did get one of the whole family, but I'm warning them now: Next year bring khakis and white shirts and be prepared for a photo session on the beach at sunset! :)

Love to the McBrides xoxo Miss you already!

Our awesome deck view.
Norah and Mia riding the waves :)

Chillin in the tidal pool

Our house!


Avoiding bedtime...

Our budding bird watcher

Uncle Ben

The last time Uncle Ben visited, Mia was kind of stand-offish and shy. He was in town again this week, and Mia could not get enough of him! She thinks he is the coolest thing ever. It might be because he lets her play with his cell phone and laptop (something we try not to let her have here). She also liked rubbing his shaved head :) It always makes me sad for her when people she has grown attached to have to leave.

Saturday we head to Charleston for the McB Beach week! I'm so looking forward to that beautiful, wide beach, yummy seafood dinners, and fun times with the cousins! I am kind of dreading the loooonnnggg car ride down there with our very active, almost 2-year old though. Advice anyone ?

Mischevious 2-year old narrowly avoids getting mauled by enormous cat.

Uncle Ben is so much fun :)

Bienvenido A Miami!

I just got back from a long weekend with my best girlfriends in South Beach, Miami. It was a fabulous getaway, complete with (ridiculously expensive) fruity drinks, lots of laying around the pool and beach, delicious meals and just catching up on each other's lives. I am so glad to have these women in my life!

I did miss Amelia and Sean terribly though! I missed my Mia so much that I joked I felt like I was missing a limb. I made Sean keep her up so that I could say goodnight to her when I got in. Sean did fantastic and kept Mia busy and happy while I was gone (not that I was worried).

Here's a look at a few of my favorite photos from Miami.

Alexis took this photo, and I think it is really cool. We had lunch at the restaurant where Top Chef 4th runner up Jeff is the executive chef. See below.

Us with Chef Jeff

All dressed up!




We all turn the big 35 this year, hence the celebratory trip!



Love the flops!

Myself!

The most common word to come out of Amelia's mouth lately is "myself". She is so independent and wants to do EVERYTHING herself. Climb into her highchair, strap herself in, wash her hands, get dressed etc. etc. She's even started showing interest in potty training-woo hoo!

She loves to be with other kids and I think she'll really enjoy her "pre-pre" school 2 mornings a week this September.

We have a lot of fun things coming up this summer. Plenty of local beach visits, a week in Charleston, SC with the McB clan, zoo trips, water parks, pools and more. I have a 4 day trip to South Beach, Miami coming up with some of my oldest and dearest friends and I'm very excited about it! A little anxious to leave my baby for such a long time, but it will be so nice to have a conversation without constant interruption :)

And now for a few new photos of Miss Independent. Happy beginning of Summer everyone!

Strawberry Time!

Like the pumpkin picking, I've been eagerly awaiting our first strawberry picking experience. We managed to make it to the field before the rain came, and we filled our buckets and bellies with delicious berries! My goal has been to make strawberry jam, and there are currently 4 jars resting on the counter, hopefully "setting". We'll see...

Sean found the perfect berry....

And then ate it!

Mia and Ben picking berries.

She liked it for a while.


But when she started getting muddy

There was a minor meltdown...

Thankfully, it all ended well!

A few photos

Just some recent shots from the past few weeks. I'll try to get more organized soon!

A neighbor friend offered to take some photos of Amelia with her awesome camera. She emailed this one to me as a preview. LOVE it!!

Up to no good.

Mother's Day pose :)


Our favorite part of the National Zoo was seeing the Orangatuns walking over our heads.

Mia and Ella, her buddy from Spain!

Hi Mom!

I've been a big-time blog slacker lately. I blame Facebook, the (mostly) nice weather, and a week in DC/SoMd away from computers!

I'll update soon with photos from our National Zoo/Monsoon adventure, visits with friends, and general Amelia silliness.

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Moms! XOXOXO

Smell the Roses

Time has just been rushing by and I realize I haven't blogged in a while. I can't believe it is almost May! We've been in our house for almost 5 months and we are settling in nicely. We're meeting lots of neighbors and are happy to see that there are several little kids nearby for Mia to play with :)

We've done a bit of yard work and hope to fix up the backyard by summer so we can enjoy some bbqs!

Grandparents McB visited last weekend (during a freak heatwave!) and spent some quality time with Mia. She's always so confused after they leave, and asks for them for a few days after she wakes up. She's also got some sort of a virus and has had several accidents this past week (slips and falls galore). Poor thing.

A few miscellaneous photos below. Check out our baby birds! Hope everyone is well.

Grandma and Mia reading. Note the cheek bruise as a result of one of her numerous falls lately.

Mama and baby mourning dove on our front porch.

Some of my roses! They are blooming in full force! I picked up some rose pruning pointers a few months ago at the Norfolk Botanical Garden and looks like they paid off.

Our Easter

Hope everyone had a beautiful Easter weekend! We had a nice visit with "Gah-Maw" (Amelia has moved on from "Mah-Maw") in Md., complete with wax Easter eggs, tulips, Easter mass and egg hunts :) It was fun to dress Mia up since she's been stuck in jeans all winter! A few photos below, and lots more on website later!

Girl's Weekend

I didn't have a girl's weekend per se (that is coming up--MIAMI, end of May, can't wait!!), but my Mia and Alexis's Maddie spent some wonderful quality time together this past weekend. Team Engel (minus Zach who was enjoying Grandparent time) came down for a brief visit and it couldn't have been more lovely! Mia and Maddie got along famously and were just so adorable holding hands and (mostly) sharing their toys.

The Beautiful Ladies:)

Just Ridiculously Cute

Mia likes swings better when Maddie is around

Being Goofy at Lunch....