Friday, February 29, 2008

Free day!

It's like an extra special snow day that only comes every four years! I've always thought Leap Day was too special not to be celebrated, so this year we convinced Rich to take the day off and continue exploring the Inner Banks. We found ourselves in New Bern, birthplace of Pepsi Cola (originally called Brad's Drink for the pharmacist who invented it) and home of the Cow Cafe! Although invented after Coca Cola, did you know that Pepsi was the first to be served in 12-ounce bottles (they used recycled beer bottles)? Fascinating stuff!

It was such a beautiful day that while we were here, we took Mae to this great little riverside playground. It was her first time on playground swings, and she loved it! So did her Daddy.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Take your family to work...

Today, Rich had to head halfway to the shore for a meeting. So, Mae and I tagged along and explored a new part of NC. Since we moved here a year ago, we haven't really been out to explore so it was pretty exciting to see new things. His meeting was in Greenville, home of the East Carolina Pirates! Also home to a cool little scrapbook store that absorbed most of our attention.

When Rich was done, we headed further east to the town of Washington. For those that might be interested, NC's Washington was actually the first town in the US to be named for George Washington, hence it's amusing website http://www.originalwashington.com/. It was a cute town and reminded me very much of my old town, Cambridge. There we visited the NC Estuarium and saw the decorated crabs throughout town. The Estuarium wouldn't let you take any pictures, but it was a really neat museum with a great interactive set-up. We recommend going should you find your way out here. Mae saw her first live fish there and even tried to say "fish" (which sounds more like "Shish").

Monday, February 25, 2008

Study hard!


Today we took the camera to infant school and got a picture of Mae and her teacher before all the other kids arrived (then it took two hands to handle Mae!).

Sunday, February 24, 2008

What's kicking?

We had our first new baby kick today in church! Nothing since then, but it was pretty exciting!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Mom's Day Off!

Today I spent 11 hours at a local scrapbooking retreat! Yippee!!! Even if I got nothing done, it was nice to be surrounded by adults for a change. But, I am happy to report, I did get something done -- 10 pages!!! While this may not seem like much to many of my fellow scrapbookers, I am particularly slow in crafting and haven't been able to do much in quite some time. So, I was pretty pleased. (Last time I scrapped an all-day event, I think I came home with only 5 pages :(

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

"Is something wrong?"


When Mae had a cold last month, she "discovered" tissues. Not a box is safe within her grasp! I guess she's taking revenge for her sore nose.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Picking on someone her own size

Last weekend while Rich was curling in the Meltdown at Potomac, Mae and I went back to Maryland for a short visit with Mae's Nana and Pop-pop (Aunt Lulu and Unkie Will, too)... too short, as always.

We had a great time, and Mae had fun riding on Nana's carousel horse. (For Christmas, Nana and Pop-pop got Mae a beautiful horse just like it!) Mae also had GREAT fun playing with Unkie Will's dog, Sierra. Sierra is just a puppy (maybe 5 months old?), but she was very gentle yet playful with Mae. I can't say Mae was always as gentle!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Special Valentine

For Mae's first Valentine, we found this really cute poem about fingerprints. Right now, Mae isn't into leaving fingerprints unless they are on her Daddy's glasses. We tried to make a heart shape with her two handprints. The heart isn't as apparent as we hoped (it's hard working with little hands and little ones), but we think Rich will like it all the same.
For those interested in the poem, it reads:


Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls

But every day I'm growing --
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away

So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small

February 14, 2008
Love, Mildred Renate

Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loved ones!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Adventures in color...

Today I gave Mae the new Crayola Tadoodles Crayon Buddies. They are like large wobble-critters with just the tip of the crayon exposed. The idea is that they fit the kids' hands making it easier to draw. But the critters are so cute and they do weeble-wobble, so Mae was more interested in playing with them than trying to follow her Momma's example with the coloring.

Nevertheless, she had a great time talking to them, making special noises for them (the yellow gets her high pitched babble, the red gets a deeper mumble, and the blue a kind of growl) and making the wobble.

PS -- Mae's hands are red, but that is not from the crayons. We were working on a special Valentine present for her Daddy and the red was "leftover."

Sunday, February 10, 2008

PANCAKES!

Mae and her momma were feeling a little better, so Rich took them to a local pancake breakfast that was raising money to send a local little league team for a trip to Cooperstown. This was actually Mae's second attempt at pancakes (we gave her a baby-sized pancake at IHOP on Christmas Eve. She bit at it, and basically threw it on the floor).

Mae rejects the pancake offering by pushing it out with her tongue (typical Mae rejection method).

She did not have much interest in it, until we let her try syrup. Definately did the trick, and now she's hooked!

Mae the Pancake Thief!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

On the Mend

For about a week, Mae (and now Kirsten) have been struggling with a flu-like cold (so the doctors called it). Nothing much is getting done so there's not a whole lot to say. The fevers have ended (we hope) so everyone should on the upswing of these things.

We hope everyone else is healthy and feeling well!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Visiting day at kitty prison

Mae has (finally) started crawling this week, so we have been busy baby-proofing different areas of the house. We are all learning to adjust to some of the changes.

Lewis (with red collar) visits with Sabrina through Mae's new babygate.


The cats haven't figured out they can jump over the gates yet, so for now we have to keep opening the gates so they can move about the house.


Sabrina sizes up the gate before meowing to be let in.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Happy Birthday Alex!

We just want to wish Alex and his family a Happy 1st Birthday! We hope you have a great time visiting your grandparents!