Alaina's New Chair

Alaina recently picked out a new chair for our living room that is just her size. She loves her chair but rarely uses it for its intended purpose. 

She loves running straight at the chair and then burying her face in it. In this picture she also managed to get her foot up on the chair. Every now and then she sits in the chair, but not for very long. Maybe one day I'll catch a picture of that.

The Whitewater Center

Today, we took a break from unpacking to visit the US National Whitewater Center in South Charlotte. The USNWC began as a training facility for Olympic athletes and is now open to the public for a variety of activities. We didn't go rafting or even take a trip on the zip line today because Alaina didn't meet the weight/age requirements and Harry and I keep getting sick; since the temperature in Charlotte was only in the low 60s (YAY!) we decided to stay dry and just hang out with some of Harry's family. 

This was Alaina's favorite part of the whitewater center... walking up and down the stairs of a bridge over the rapids.

Alaina loved playing with her second cousin, Leah.

Here come the rafters! In the boat are Harry's cousins Russ and Matt and Rachel's mom, Marcia, (Rachel is Russ' girlfriend). You can see Charlie and Leah (Matt's children) on the bridge that Alaina loved so much. We had a great time and we really enjoyed being outside in the crisp fall weather.

Our New House

As promised, here are a few pictures of our new house.

This is not our house but part of our backyard. One of the things I love about our new house is that it is in the country. We have a hay field behind our house and a rooster visits daily. We also get a large variety of visiting wildlife. This hawk was on the fence at the edge of our backyard today.

This is Alaina's playroom (our bonus room over the garage). Right now it is missing large furniture, but our current living room furniture will be moved up here in the near future. 

This is Alaina's room. It doesn't have decorations on the wall yet, but everything is unpacked!

This is Alaina's bathroom (also the guest bath). She and Harry were getting ready for bath time. 

Our living room. You can see the backyard and hay field through the windows. We will be getting new furniture for this room, soon. 

Our kitchen. I LOVE our kitchen. I've gotten used to cooking with our gas stove (it scared me a little bit at first) and the convection oven is awesome! I can't wait to have a little more time to cook in this beautiful kitchen.

As you can see, we still have a long way to go; but for only being here less than 2 weeks, I think we are doing pretty well. I'm hoping to get more unpacking done this weekend so I can share more pictures, soon.

We've Moved!

You may have noticed that I haven't posted lately... that's because we've moved!

We packed up the house we lived in for 7 years and moved into a larger house. We are currently settling in, so please forgive me if I take a little more time off. Lots of pictures of the new house and us living in it to follow. 

Enjoying Birthday Presents

Alaina spent most of her day today playing with her birthday presents. Here are a few pictures of some of her new toys. 

Happy First Birthday, Alaina!

Today, our little baby turned one. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by this quickly. We celebrated with a party in the park. 

 Alaina and her cousin, Madison, dressed alike for the party. I can already tell these girls are going to be lifelong friends.

More girl-time... Alaina's other BFF, Emma, was at the party, too, but I didn't get a photo of them together. Hopefully I'll get a copy of one, soon. 

 

An attempt to get a photo of Alaina, her cousins Madison, Luke, and Alex with grandma and grandpa.

 Alaina got her own mini cake.

 

Happy First Birthday, sweet baby girl!

Busy Little Baby

Now that Alaina is up and walking she is constantly busy. She LOVES playing outside and has fun helping out around the house when she is inside. Here are a few pictures and a video of Alaina's play and work time.

All Business

Today, Alaina and I got to spend Labor Day together and she was all business despite the relaxing nature of the holiday.

She started out taking her "brief case" to a very important meeting. Harry noted that it must be business casual if she can go in a PJs, but it's Labor Day so I think it's ok. 

Then she sat down for a good read. She did sit in her basket of toys (something she started doing yesterday and seems to love) but she didn't play... no, no. She was very into her studies.

Happy Labor Day!

On a side note, this was Alaina's due date 1 year ago. She was 5 days late so her first birthday is coming up on Saturday!!

Walking!

Alaina took her first steps weeks ago but this past weekend she really started walking to get where she is going. She does this adorable impression of a T-Rex while she walks by holding her little hands up to her chest. She's getting really good at walking and I know it won't be long before she is running!

Our Last Day of Summer Break

Today was my first day back it school and Alaina's first day back with her wonderful nanny. To prepare for our separation, we spent yesterday snuggling, playing, and having fun at the park. 

 

We visited the swings, Alaina's favorite, and went for a walk down by the water.

 

 

 

 Checking out her new kicks... baby New Balance. 

She's a brave little lady. 

Lady Liberty

The past few days, Alaina has been helping me do some spring cleaning (in August?). She has found a lot of interesting things: keys to my high school car and keys to the boat I worked on in high school, negatives from my sister's wedding, and various other trinkets. Her favorite has to be the New York City glasses.

I think they just might be my favorite, too. 

Oh, and just in case you are wondering... we are keeping these (probably with Alaina's things).

11 Months Old!

 Today is Alaina's 11 month birthday. In just one short month our little lady will be a year old; it's so hard to believe that almost a year has gone by already.

  

Current Likes:

Goldfish Crackers; Ritz Crackers; Toast; Chasing mommy, daddy, or the cats; Pulling things out of drawers; Getting into cabinets (and trash cans); Swimming at the pool; Playing with a variety of toys; Playing Peek-a-boo

Current Dislikes:

Her carseats; Getting out of the bathtub; Being told "no"

New Tricks:

Clapping; Standing unassisted; Taking a couple of unassisted steps

Random Pictures

I've gotten some pretty cute pictures this past week of our little Alaina... here are a few. 

 Cups! I love cups!

Sharing is caring! Story time at Davidson Public Library.

I'm not going to sit here much longer!

Let's go this way, Mom.

 I really like this walking thing.

Standing and Walking!

Today, Alaina took her first unassisted steps! She was sitting on the floor and I rolled the ball away for her to chase. She stood up on her own, steadied herself, and then took 3 steps toward the ball! Yesterday, I helped her take a step (or maybe 2) towards her walker/stroller but she had help getting started so we are counting today as her first official steps. Best of all, Harry and I were both here to witness the momentous event. Our baby girl is getting so big! 

I took the following video earlier this evening to show Alaina standing unassisted. I'll work on capturing the walking on video, too. Yay Alaina!!

10 Month Stats

Alaina went to the doctor for her (ahem) 9 month check-up today... yes, she is 10 months and 11 days old, but I had trouble getting an appointment. Anyway, here is how our little lady measured up today. 

Weight - 22 pounds and 10 ounces - 90th percentile 

Height - 29 inches - 75th percentile 

Head Circumference - 18.5 inches - over 100th percentile

This picture was on my phone from our recent trip to Hilton Head Island and I couldn't resist posting it. Alaina found her way into the bathroom of our hotel and then proceeded to shred the toilet paper. Harry and I feel foolish that we invested in a paper shredder; clearly we should just give Alaina all documents we don't want to fall into the wrong hands and she will keep our personal information safe while having the time of her life.

Hilton Head Island Vacation

Harry, Alaina, and I spent a long weekend at Hilton Head Island. It was just what we needed to relax and recharge and even escape the heat in Charlotte. Here are some pictures from our trip. 

 The walkway and entrance to Coligny Beach. It was a beautiful beach with a great park.

Alaina saw her first alligator in the swamp behind our hotel. She got a stuffed alligator to remember the occasion.

Snack time on the beach.

Playing with daddy.