The Center of Our World

I hope that when Alma is grown up she knows how much her happiness is at the center of all of our decisions. For example, giving her a yard (pictured here!), a clean environment to live and access to good schools are the driving forces behind this move from Philadelphia to Bethlehem. We are thrilled and blessed to be able to make this move for her (and ourselves).

I cannot wait to fill this house with good memories with Joshua, Alma, Simon, Shanti, friends, family, a foreign exchange student (!!), a boat (!!!), and all the other good things and people who come into our lives. The potential is endless and it has been keeping me up at night with fun ideas and hopes for the future!

Stairs

I've always wished that I had a growth chart from my youth.  You know, some pencil markings on the wall behind the door to the basement, or something like that.  So for Alma, I decided that as soon as she could sit up, I would start snapping her photo on the stairs in our house.  Sadly, this month will be the last of these photos on these stairs so I wanted to share the series.  Sure, we will try to keep this tradition at the new house, which has a beautiful staircase, but this is the end of this chapter. 

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

But wait, at 9 months, we also got a little more personality in the photos.  Look at this awesome progression as she crawled towards the camera....

How could one not giggle all the time around this little gem of love and light?!

North Carolina

Our week-long vacation on the Outter Banks of North Carolina with my family was great.  We are so busy with packing for our move, I'll just give you a little taste of our trip via photos.  Enjoy!

August = Transition

Joshua and I were chatting about how August is a big transition month for both of us.  I started thinking back to my own Augusts of years past.

1997 -- Go off to college as a Physics major

1998 -- Back to college excited to continue on the sailing team

1999 -- Studying abroad in Bangkok,Thailand

2000 -- Back to college excited to be a senior Economics major

2001 -- Transition from teaching sailing full time to starting at JPMorgan Chase

2002 -- Sail from Baltimore to Canada on a private sailing yacht (I was employed as the full-time cook and mate) as the first leg of a journey that would eventually take us all over the Caribbean

2003 -- Having driven cross country by myself, I spent August in Eugene, Oregon running a Catholic Worker home for teenage mothers before heading up to Seattle to begin as an AmeriCorps VISTA

2004 -- Finish up my volunteer year at the Refugee Resettlement Office in Seattle and get hired on full-time to run an asset development program; also I paid off the loan on my boat, which was my primary residence

2005 -- Continue working at the Refugee Resettlement Office but cut back on my hours so that I could also work part time at The Center for Wooden Boats as a sailing instructor; spend every other waking moment with Joshua who I had been dating for five months

2006 -- Drive cross country with Joshua, get married in Carlisle, move into an apartment in Philadelphia

2007 -- Moved into the house that we bought and rehabbed; after a year of looking (unsuccessfully) for a decent job, started school full-time for my Masters in Urban Studies; cut off most of my hair

2008 -- Got Simon the dog to keep me company while I was home doing school work; spent the summer working at a transporation planning agency

2009 -- Pregnant and preparing for the arrival of our SweetPea; spent the summer working at a housing non-profit

2010 -- Stay-at-home-mom to Alma while in the midst of having our house on the market and planning a move to the Lehigh Valley;  have a husband who makes funny faces while repeating "I'm a dad" over and over again 

While we aren't quite done with all of our current transitions, it is feeling closer.  We have both of our closings scheduled, all the financial stuff is figured out (not an ideal deal for our home sale, but a great agreement for our home purchase) and we are feeling excited for the next steps into our new home.  Nervous-excited, but mostly excited these days.

Cousins, of sorts

We met up with a bunch of my cousins at a pub near our house the other weekend.  My cousin Peter's kiddos were really into petting Alma's soft head.  She returned the favor. 

Sartain Neighbors

Simply put, we are going to miss the great folks on our South Philly block.  They love Alma (or Allie as she is known around here) so very much.  We are hopeful that we can all stay in touch so they can watch our little darling grow up.

Loyola Reunion

The same day as CCOP's 25th anniversary picnic bbq celebration (also Joshua's going away party), my Loyola girlfriends had a baby gathering.  Nine Loyola gals, some husbands and six babies == how fun!  (Unfortunately, Alma and I had to leave early so we missed most of the fun.  This picture is from Amanda, because I was so rushed that I forgot to snap any photos.  I know, shocker!)

Happy 3/4 Birthday, Alma!

When Alma was younger and I would talk to moms of older babies, they would always tell me that their babies were at the perfect age.  I would always think, "Pshaw, Alma is the best age ever!"  Well, I'm now admitting publicly, that they were right: Alma keeps being my favorite age.  The age she is now is no exception.  I cannot describe how much love I have in my heart for this little being.  I want to simultaneously squish her with hugs and kisses while also taking a step back to watch her figure out the world on her own.  She is my favorite channel and I'm so blessed that I get to spend my days with her. 

Here's our Alma updates for the month:

• Alma's favorite toy choice: books! She will easily bypass any toys with lights or music or soft stuffed fur for a book.  Especially books with photos of babies, cats or dogs.  For a long time, she would help us flip the page as we read to her, but now she is getting the hang of doing it herself.  It is awesome to see her sitting by herself on the living room floor flipping through a book, looking at the pictures and screeching (singing?) with joy.  Favorites include Baby Colors, Perfect Pets and Baby Talk. 
• She has finally gotten the hang of waving and clapping.  Mid-month, as I carried her along the upstairs hallway, she waved at a picture of Simon that was hanging in the hallway. Then, the next morning when we brought her into bed with us for "mush pot" time, she looked in the mirror and clapped!   Both instances were so unexpected that they just made us laugh and laugh.  She has been a waving and clapping fiend ever since.  

• She has become a fast crawler and has mastered climbing the stairs as well.  We find it interesting that instead of pulling up to standing, which she can do easily, Alma often just pulls up to her knees and rests that way for awhile.  She still has difficulty figuring out how to crawl around objects on the floor but she is getting the hang of going over things (i.e. her father when he is laying on the floor playing with her and accidentally falls asleep -- ha!). 
• Alma thinks chasing the animals is hilarious. They don't agree.  We are working on letting them have some space.
• Alma is really getting the hang of eating, although she still won't do anything that is mushy like regular baby food.  So she enjoys eating strawberries, baby carrots, whole milk yogurt, avocados, watermelon, grapes, cheese (sharp cheddar, cottage, mozzarella), apples, plums, hard boiled egg yolks, kiwi, asparagus and broccoli.  We also sneak rice cereal into her yogurt. 

While I'm sure that Alma is the best age now, I'm sure she will prove me wrong in the future and be even more of a joy.  But for now, I'm content with my ignorance at relishing this most perfect age of my beautiful and smart daughter. 

Patrick and Carrie

Quick visit with Patrick's family -- including his adorable neice Aggie!

Off for a walk

Occasionally, Joshua and I take both the baby and the dog for a walk without the other adult to help with the load.  The neighbors might think we are a little crazy.  We are just training for the strong-man competition!

Babysitting Bernadette

(at the park during our housing inspection while also babysitting a friend's babe)

Anniversary Photos

Swings!