Natalie's Swing

Aunt Amy has two big maple trees in her back-yard and one of them already has hooks for a swing. Since the weather was so nice today, I decided to hang Natalie's swing. It's still a little bit big for her, but we gave it a try anyway. At first she wasn't quite sure about it, but when we tried again later she really liked it.

Who is this dog?

Ally is very protective of Natalie, so as we were getting ready to move to Maryland, we were a little concerned about how Ally would react to Amy's dog Molly. Luckily, we haven't had any problems. Molly seems to like Natalie just as much as Ally and really seems to enjoy napping on the blankets we put down for Natalie to play on the floor. The only thing we have to watch for is that Molly likes to steal Natalie's toys. If you are wondering where Ally is off to while Molly is playing with Natalie, she's probably asleep on the sofa.

Sophie

On our way to Maryland, we stopped to visit our friends Amanda and Keith who were vacationing in North Carolina. Their daughter, Sophie, will turn one on July 28th. It was fun for us to see the girls together. They played a little bit although Sophie is much more mobile! You can also see Natalie's Fourth of July outfit in these pictures. She wore it one day early since we spent the 4th in the car.

Heading North

Natalie's Notebook has officially moved North. With my new job at Johns Hopkins starting this week, we left our house in Birmingham and to move to Maryland. The moving company arrived bright and early on Thursday and packed all of our stuff on the truck in under four hours. The first picture shows the truck making its way down our street after everything was packed. Its due to arrive in Maryland on Tuesday. The second picture, taken just before we left, is of our family; it sure has changed a lot since Michelle and I first moved south two years ago. I had hoped to find the first picture we took in front of the house for comparison, but sadly it hasn't arrived in Maryland yet. We are both happy to be closer to our families and excited about our new jobs, but are already missing Birmingham, especially all our great friends. Hopefully, we will be able to make lots of trips back to visit and our friends will make trips up to Maryland to visit us. And since we still own a house in Birmingham maybe we will move back someday.

Swimming!

Natalie and I attended a play group at the pool on Friday. Thanks to the warmer temperatures, she actually enjoyed being in the water this time. I forgot my camera but thanks to a friend (Thanks, Michelle C.!!) we got some pictures anyway. Natalie definitely preferred being held in the big pool, but she did splash around in the kiddie pool some too. She really enjoyed watching all the "big" kids swimming. Now that we know she likes the water, we might have to invest in a wading pool once we are settled in Maryland!

By Special Request

Hope you feel better soon Grandmom!

Girl meets water and sand.

This weekend, we went to Destin, FL with our friends Scott and Samantha and Tim and Dusti. It marked Natalie's second significant car trip and what I hope will be the first of many trips to the beach. Except for a small run-in with a police officer at the Alabama-Florida border (I'm sure Michelle will give all the details in POTW), the four-hour drive to the beach was pretty uneventful as Natalie slept almost the whole way. Despite the fact that she loves her baths, we could only get Natalie in the water (at the beach or pool) on Friday night. She just didn't like it and whenever we put her feet in the water, she cried. We think maybe it was just a bit too cold for her. She did like playing in the sand and the fact that she had six adults tending to her every need all weekend. The drive back wasn't nearly as peaceful, as she tried her best not to fall asleep and cried unless Michelle sat in the back seat with her.

Here's our girl wading in the water on Friday night, Wiggling her toes in the sand, Having a good time in the tent (Thanks to Jennifer and Olivia for letting us borrow it),Playing a little mini-golf,Completely wipe-out after a long day at the beach and then doing some outlet shopping,And playing cards way past her bedtime after a second-wind.