Thanks Mom!

Well this post is able to happen because we are visiting my parents this weekend and I'm using my mom's laptop. Our laptop is still not working and who knows if it will ever work again? Anyway, here are a few fun pictures from over the last couple months.

Amelia and Daddy playing horsey.


Amelia trying to manage all her phone calls.


Amelia's new diggs.


"Hi Mom." Yes that is Erik in the background. He will get in the house, but I refuse.


Daddy and Amelia washing the car.




Amelia loving on some watermelon.


Amelia enjoying mommy's shoes.


And last, but not least, Amelia enjoying one of her favorite dinners - beans and rice.

#%@!%*#!

What do you get when you combine a laptop balanced on the arm of the couch, one bouncy toddler, and gravity? I'll give you a hint - this post is being typed on a desktop computer circa 2000. I will say the blame lies with Erik and me in leaving the laptop in less than safe circumstances. To be fair, this isn't the first time the laptop has fallen, and probably 50% of the time it was my fault. This must have been the straw that broke the camels back. The problem is that when the charger is plugged into the back of the laptop it doesn't catch and so the battery isn't charging. We've taken it to be looked at and we're hoping that this is fixable without being ridiculously expensive. Naive, right? In the mean time we might be somewhat slack on posting because loading pictures to the desktop is not as easy and this dang computer is so slow and aggravating to use.

Holy Hanna

Well hurricane, no wait, tropical storm, umm, not quite, tropical depression Hanna blew threw NC this past weekend. Not generally a big deal to us NCers, but when you are planning a wedding, the last thing you need is the threat of a hurricane. That was the position Erik' sister, Allison, was in last week. The plan had been to take a couple boats out to Cape Lookout and get married in front of the lighthouse. You can see how Hanna upset those plans. Fortunately enough other plans were able to be made and we were able to celebrate in the wedding of Allison and Russell. It was a lovely ceremony and reception. And now a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Amelia before the wedding, her usual charming self.


Dum, dum, da, dum . . .


The Vows


Amelia and Cousin Taylor (or Tay Tay)


Erik and Allison


A Family Photo


Amelia and Grandpa (my Dad) after a long day.

Cinco de Uso

Five Years Ago


On Friday Erik and I celebrated our five year anniversary. Coincidentally we were married on a Friday - although I'm not sure how coincidental that is; maybe it works out that way for everyone. We shipped Amelia off to my parents for the long weekend. After Amelia was born people would ask me, "Do you even remember what you did before you had a baby?" Well, yes I remember that part. I would do whatever I wanted for hours at a time. I don't, however, remember what Erik and I used to do together before we had a child. I guess we used to watch a lot of TV and go grocery shopping together.

We started the day by sleeping in and then heading to The Baker's Square for a delicious breakfast. Their butter syrup is to die for. Here is a picture of us fat and happy after breakfast.



After breakfast we went home and proceeded to have a wonderfully lazy day, not doing much at all, and just enjoying spending time together. It was lovely. For dinner we decided to give the Harvey Mansion a whirl. The Harvey Mansion was converted from a home into a restaurant, so we were actually eating in what used to be the drawing room. Erik had the Chesapeake Chicken and I enjoyed the Fillet Mingon. It was pretty good. For the first hour we were the only people there. It was cool and weird at the same time. Here is us after dinner. The picture isn't that great, but that's what you get when you depend on the kindness of strangers.



The rest of the weekend was great. We definitely missed Amelia, but it is amazing how many things we accomplished on our "To Do" list with out the demands and counter productiveness a toddler provides. It was great to have a nice lazy long weekend especially because we've got about 2 months before baby girl #2 joins us and life gets super crazy again!

Les Miserables

Perhaps you know the song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." That is fun. The illness "Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease" is not fun. Amelia came down with HFAM Disease starting on Monday afternoon beginning with a slight fever. Tuesday morning there were tiny bumps on her legs and torso, and by Tuesday evening the mouth sores had appeared. Amelia was miserable and Erik and I were suffering also. There was little sleep for us the next two nights because we are lucky enough to have a child who sleep LESS when she is sick. What is that about?

The biggest problem were the sores in Amelia's mouth. She was in pain every time she tried to eat anything and this is a child who loves to eat. So she was cranky from being tired, cranky from being in pain, and cranky from being hungry. Did I mention that all four of her eye teeth are coming in too? It has been a rough week for Amelia and a rough week for Erik and I. Things are better now, but not totally better. She is sleeping more, but she has gotten used to being rocked to sleep which I am not thrilled about. Plus the terrible twos seemed to have started at 20 months. I need a vacation.

The Neighborhood Pool

My parents' neighborhood pool is awesome. It has a kiddie area with mushrooms that rain and buckets that fill up and dump water. If that doesn't take the cake there is also a sweet water slide. Needless to say we enjoy enjoying the pool when we visit my family.

As noted before we were up in Raleigh (Morrisville) last weekend and we went to the pool twice. Amelia could not get enough of the water slide so Mommy, Grammy, Aunt Catherine, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Daniel all took turns taking her down. As soon as she was off the slide she would start saying, "Again! Again!" Another reason for Amelia to love the pool is all the planes that kept flying over as they made there way to the RDU airport. And a day at the pool is never complete without snacks. Yummy!

Together Again

This past weekend we took our millionth (seems like) trip to Raleigh (well Morrisville) to welcome home my brother Michael from his mission (the Denver Colorado North Mission). When he left I was 4.5 months pregnant with Amelia. Now Amelia is 19 months old and I'm 6 months pregnant with #2. So much the same, so much different. It was great to see him again and it was really fun to have my big fat family back together again, if only for a short time. My brother Eric's papers went in last Friday and he'll probably be at the MTC before the end of the year. Hmm, wonder if I'll be pregnant when he gets home?

After Church (The picture was taken with my cell phone, so not so great.)


This pictures was taken with a self-timer camera. Yes that is my sister's dog in the photo. Apparently I'm in the minority when it comes to thinking family photographs should only including humans. Love you Catherine!

Back row L-R: Mary, Christian, Eric, Amelia, Catherine, Sydney (the dog), Bryan, Michael, and Daniel.
Front row L-R: Alex, Mark, Mom, Dad, Erik, and me (Elizabeth). I'm not sure how I ended up in the front on both pictures, but I don't like it.

Uncle Michael and Amelia sharing their love of the piano.