Just for fun

A Halloween baby

Note: Zack carved the pumpkin.  I take no credit.  Also, sorry about the quality of some of these photos.  They are cell phone pics.

We got these "Baby's 1st Boo" jammies on clearance for really cheap.  They're cute, but we call these pics our boy baby pictures because we think C looks kinda like a boy in them.

Her costume was a riot.  She hated it, but it was too cute to pass up.

Camille le petit crocodile

Uncle Sam read Clara the book she got in France.  He read it in French.  Such a cute moment.

St. George

One weekend in September, we took a trip down to St. George to introduce Clara to my grandparents.  Somehow, we didn't take a single picture of her (or us) with them. :(  We had a great time mostly just hanging out and chatting.  I was sad that I had to miss an Eric Foner lecture up at the U while we were gone, but thus is life.

Clara and her grandpa

One evening, we decided to drive down to Vegas to catch the NASCAR race going on down there.  My parents are into that.  We're not so much, but it's fun to do different things sometimes, so we went for it.

Boo boo at the track

The cars only had to go by a couple of times for us to realize that it was way too loud for Clara.

 So we spent most of the time there chillin' on this bench where it was quieter.

 My parents watched the race for a little while longer, then we headed back to St. George.

Even though it didn't go perfectly, and we now know that it is not a baby friendly activity at all, we had a good time and are glad we gave it a whirl.

a birthday

Somehow or other, I turned 27 years old.  I truly can't understand how I got so old, but here I am.  It wasn't my best birthday ever, I have to say.  We were staying in my parents' basement at the time.  It was so kind of them to let us stay there, but we are really into having our own space.  So that was stressful.  Then I decided to just be a total raunchy brat when my husband didn't have an exciting plan for every single second of the entire day.  *sigh*  I get grumpy when life is stressful, which is pretty much always.  I wish I weren't that way.

Despite my shortcomings, I was showered with love for my special day, and I really can't complain.

Z took me to lunch at PF Changs on my birthday.  I love that place

yum

Hey, it's my birthday.  I can indulge

so good

momma and baby on my birthday

Love her face in this one

I really wanted to get my whole family to go to the Melting Pot with me in honor of my birthday, but it is kinda expensive, and that was a deal breaker for some (all?) of them.  I did talk them into going just for dessert, which was delicious.

 Zack's family made me a special birthday dinner at our every other weekly Sunday night dinner with them.  I also got this cake, which was seriously one of the best cakes I have ever eaten in my life.  For realsies.

 As a birthday gift, Michelle, mom, and I went to get a pedicure.  I decided to get Halloween toes.  Sure, it was a month and a half early, but it actually lasted pretty well until Halloween.

Thanks to family and friends who showed my so much love.  

Zoo day

On Labor Day, we hit up the zoo with my parents, and with my sister and her husband and their darling little Marseille.  It was hot and crowded, but we had a good time.

The babies are ready to see the animals

elephants

on the train

awwwww

this guy was just sitting there with his mouth open like that for quite some time

tiger

We saw the animals, stopped for some sandwiches for lunch, and saw the bird show.

wore our little boo boo out

The move

It was a crazy couple weeks between our return from France and our move.  Somehow we managed to get everything packed up, even with our little boo boo around.  It was crazy and stressful, and we had baby napping on her changing pad in the closet by the end, but we did it.   We decided to pack most of our stuff on a couple ABF cubes and have it shipped.  Since the cubes were to be picked up in the morning, we had to have them all packed up the night before, so we stayed in a hotel that night.  Zack's dad flew out that night and stayed with us.  In the morning, baby and I went to the airport and flew to Utah.  Z and his dad went to the apartment to finish cleaning and packing a very few stragglers, then they hopped in the car and started the drive across the country.

Garden Court Plaza, where we lived our last 2 years in Philly

the cubes

working hard

I was very scared to fly alone with the baby.  She did so well on the France flights, but we could take turns holding her, and I had another set of hands to dig stuff out of the diaper bag and to carry stuff.  This time around, I had to carry on a suitcase, a stroller, and a baby all on my own.  But it worked out fine.  People were so kind and helpful, opening my peanuts for me and everything.  hee hee.  One lady even made her teenage sons wheel my luggage off the plane for me when we arrived in Utah.  The craziest part was the layover.  My connecting gate was forever away, in some tucked away back corner of the airport.  But I made it just fine, baby was pretty good, and we sure had it better than Zack.  Z and his dad left on Friday and made it to Salt Lake on Monday.  Long drive.  No cruise control.  So glad they made it safe and sound and still sane.