Daddy Running

While home for Thanksgiving, we went on the Rail-Trail.  Alma, Grandpa and I rode bikes while Joshua ran.  Alma loved watching her father run.  They are such a cute pair.

Ikea

Completely random post to proclaim my love for Ikea.  Gosh, I miss living closer to its godliness.

"Loll-Pop"

Alma's love for lollipops continues.  She is amazed at the idea that they turn her tongue colors.  Although regardless of the color of the lollipop, she is convinced that her tongue is "boooo!" (a.k.a. "blue" for those not fluent in toddlish)

Ice Skating

A few weekends ago Joshua and I were feeling beat from our hectic schedules of work, trying to get the house ready for the new baby and taking care of Alma.  So we plopped down on the couch, snugged up with Alma and turned on the tv to ice skating (actually the National Ice Dancing Championships).  Alma was entranced.  She has been "skating" through the house with her dolls ever since.

The other day I had the chance to take her to the newly re-opened Bethlehem ice skating rink which is just up the street from our house.  She was thrilled ... and then easily bored.  I cannot wait until I can take her out on the ice to give it a try!

Fashionista

The other day during a walk along the Lehigh River, Alma and I stopped to rest and have a snack.  She found my Blackberry in my bag and asked me to take a picture of her.  I asked her what she wanted to do for the picture so she put on her hat like this and then said "cheese".  Could this picture be any more cute and silly?!

Hawk Mountain Hike

Last weekend we hiked up Hawk Mountain, a bird sanctuary about an hour drive from our house.  While we didn't see many birds (one red tail hawk in the distance), it was a more comfortable hike than the last time Alma and I hiked there in (at least) a foot of snow.

Our Little Grunge Kid

Every workday I send Joshua a photo that summarizes our day that I snap with my low-resolution Blackberry camera phone.  Most of those photos make their way onto the blog because they do a good job showing Alma's everyday life.  When I sent Joshua this photo, he called me laughing because she looked so much like a 90's grunge-era kid.

Illick's Mill

The other day we had a little bit of time to kill so we went to Illick's Mill near our house to watch the ducks, a man who was fishing, a train that drove by (the conductor waved and blew the horn for us) and a bat that was catching the early evening bugs.  I love these quiet times with Alma when we can enjoy being outside together.

Baker

We have gotten back into the habit of baking a few times a week.  Alma is so helpful in the kitchen these days.  It is a joy.

Nana's Visit

Joshua was out of town last week (New Orleans for a work conference) so my mother came to visit.  What a fun time we all had at the library's story hour, an OB appointment (everything is going well!), swim class, touring the Lehigh Valley, visiting an ice skating rink and on walks around the neighborhood. 

"Swim Day!"

Alma's favorite day of the week is "swim day" which she almost always says with a cheer of "yeah!" afterwards because it is the day we travel down to Swim In Zone in Center Valley for swim lessons.  She loves jumping in the water and jumping off my standing lap to swim to the wall.  It is so neat to see how comfortable she is going under water.  Our little fish!

Footprints

With the snowstorm we had the other week, Alma's new favorite word is "footprint".  To celebrate the cooler weather (and the freezing tile floor in our kitchen), we all invested in some new slippers. 

Simon decided to get in on the footprint action by walking around the freshly painted bedroom and then walking across our new cream-colored carpet.  Shockingly, I did not kill him immediately.  Wait, I mean I didn't kill him ... yet.

33 Weeks and 23 Months

Visiting Pat, Carrie and Baby Joey

While Joshua endured the lack of heat for an extra day, Alma and I had a great time visiting Pat, Carrie and their five month-old son, who easily holds the crown for the cutest baby!

We spent the week enjoying another trick-or-treat night, strolling through the Air and Space Museum, visiting a great farm/petting zoo, eating good foods and playing in the park.  We are so blessed to have such awesome friends and a great visit.

Space Shuttle Endure

At the farm

First swing ride

The impossibly handsome family

October Storm

After a freak snow storm (~6.5 inches) last Friday night, we spent Saturday celebrating the first snow and the lack of damage to our our house ... until later in the day. The casualties, apart from the power which went out on Saturday and didn't come back on until Tuesday night, were that our tree that was splintered from Hurricane Irene last month took a beating and lost another massive branch, blocking the road and just missing a neighbor’s truck. Scary! Evidentally, since the trees still had most of their leaves and the sap had not yet drained to the roots, there were more tree limbs that fell during this storm.  Even now, a week later, the town looks like a tornado ran through it and some roads are still closed.  In our case, we were lucky that the tree didn't take out the power line like last time,  however one of the cables (phone or TV, who knows?) did fall due to the weight of the snow.  The fire department came out and simply cut it. Lastly, a branch from a backyard tree broke-off -- again, no added casualties just less shade in the summer.  On Monday, Alma and I headed a day early for a planned trip to visit our friends Pat, Carrie and their little baby in Virginia. Joshua had to stick around due to work.

We are hoping that this was not the beginning of a very long winter.

Eating the snow

Fallen Tree

Crafting in a chilly house on Sunday