Breakfast at The Arcade

Before we headed out to music class one Saturday morning Mary Anna and I meet our good friend Brooke (or brookie as Mary Anna likes to call her) at The Arcade restaurant downtown (http://www.arcaderestaurant.com/). With the fall weather the pumpkin pancakes sounded yummy to us all. Brooke also bought a real pumpkin at the Farmers Market for MA.

Bye bye bottles!

We said bye bye bottles this week. Mary Anna was only taking one at night while we where reading and we still are having some milk in a sippy cup. Thank goodness it went well - so that kind of goes to show that it was more mommy trying to hold on to her baby.

First piece of jewelry...

This is my first edible piece of jewelry made by Mary Anna. It is a stunning piece of pure Cheerios accented with wooden stars at the end. If I was not afraid of birds snatching it off my neck I would wear it every day!

Labor Day weekend at Pickwick

Labor day weekend Mary Anna and I headed up to Granna and Grandpa Jim's cabin at Pickwick lake. We had a great time playing out on the back deck and taking our first ride in a boat. Mary Anna found the horn on the boat and was letting every one know to get out of her way.

August - month of change

With August came change for both mom and Mary Anna. After trying out traveling for 3 weeks mom decided it really was not for her any more. The first night was like a mini-vacation but after that I missed my baby way to much. A great job opportunity presented itself here in Memphis and I took it. I am now a commuter traveling to an office every day - it is a trade off - I am missing play dates and afternoon outings! Getting myself and Mary Anna ready in the morning is an adjustment - planning every thing out in the evening is a must.
Mary Anna was also promoted to Toddler II class where she will stay until she is 24+ months old. Our favorite teacher Mrs. Dinah did not move up and we both miss her :(. Several of her class mates where all ready in Toddler II so there was some familiar faces. Mary Anna is growing and changing every day. She will repeat most words in her little baby voice and is still using her sign language which is a big help. At this time for some reason we are on a Thomas the Tank Engine kick - other wise known as "choo choo". Thank goodness that books are still a hit as well and some times she seems to be trying to read to who ever is in the room - in her own language. It still amazes me how much she has changed just since December! Fall will bring a lot of adventures so stayed tuned...

Destin Florida 2008

The end of July found us back in beautiful Destin Florida for the yearly family beach trip. This was not Mary Anna’s first trip to the beach but last year she was only 4 months old so she spent most of the time in the condo instead of on the beach. Instead of making her sit in her car seat for 7 hours Mary Anna got to have her first plane ride where she did great both ways – it did help on the way back that we had the row to ourselves leaving room to spread out. After hearing stories from other moms about how their child did not like the sand I was not sure what to expect but as you can see in the pictures below Mary Anna loved the sand and even the ocean. Of course it would have been better if the jelly fish where not around and the waves so big but we did get some time in the ocean.

What a life sitting on the beach being feed blue berries!

Dinner at one of our favorite spots - The Back Porch.

Having some breakfast before hitting the beach.

The following are several beach pictures and a video.

It was a great trip but we are both glad to be back home and look forward to next year!

July 4th in Searcy

This fourth Mary Anna and I went to visit the great-grandmothers in Searcy AR. Uncle David, Aunt Karen and cousin Kelly came from Knoxville for the weekend - it was the first time that they had seen Mary Anna. We had fun playing on the swing set in the back yard and just hanging out with family.