Mia the Army Crawler!

Fun times with pretty hats

Today we stopped over at the Carpenter's to bring Elyn ice cream as she recovered from her tube surgery.  We are looking forward to E having no more ear infections!  This way Mia and Elyn can play ALL the time and E feels better.  Poor thing has been suffering from an ear infection since the beginning of May!  She's going to feel like a million bucks for her FIRST birthday next weekend!
When E went down for a nap Aunt Colleen took pictures of Mia modeling Elyn's new hat.  The hat is from Aunt Kelly for Elyn.  Elyn likes to take it off as soon as Col puts it on.  Mia isn't quite aware she has something on her head yet.  Enjoy the modeling session!
Also a special shout out.... HAPPY 4th ANNIVERSARY to Aunt Colleen and Uncle John!

Baking Baking Baking!

Mia was our little helper today.  While Dad and Uncle Justin are away at Germano's bachelor party we spent time baking cookies for Jenna's shower next weekend.  Mia had lots of fun playing with the sprinkles container.

Uncle Ryan is engaged!!

and we caught it on video for everyone to see!  We are so excited for Ryan and Hannah.  Congratulations!  We love you guys!

More pictures from the weekend coming soon.

Is somebody watching me?

Looks like we need to secure the baby monitor on Mia's crib.  Someone has discovered she is being "watched"!

Fun times at the Nowicki's Pool

Jack, Cole, and Christine invited all of us over to their pool today. We had lots of fun in the sun and shade. Their pool has amazingly large umbrellas all over the place. This way you can swim in the sun or the shade. 

Carrie (due in Aug), Bella, Christine, Jack, and Cole

Paul and Laura

Grandma Sharpe, Gracie, Jamie, and TJ

Mia and Paul

Baby Jack

Brotherly love

Paul was tired after all the fun

Mia had so much fun, when we got home she wanted to play with Rooney.  Rooney wasn't as interested.

North Topsail Beach Pictures

Here are a few shots from our beach visit with RyaLynn and Andrew.  I wasn't joking about how large their dogs are!  They are the most well behaved dogs ever.  Wish we took a shot of Mia on the floor with them, they were so good with her =)

Sorry I cant figure out how to rotate this pic!

We look just like we did 14 years ago, right?!? 

ROAD TRIP!

We packed up the Edge and headed on the road this weekend for a trip to see some good friends.  First stop Charlotte, NC to visit Courtney (roomie from college).  Charlotte is around 2.5 hours from our house.  When we arrived on Friday Noli and Mia played "getting to know you" on the floor. It was sooooo funny.  Noli was afraid once she realized Mia moved.  

Friday night we went to dinner at this great restaurant and had tapas.  Mia did great.  She enjoyed some play time with Dad and then fell asleep. 

On Saturday morning we went on a 4 mile walk near Court's new apartment.  Noli did great keeping up with us considering she's a 10lb dog!  At the end of the trip she started to show she was tired.  Mia offered to give her a ride in the front of her stroller.

Since Noli hitched a ride with Mia, she must have gotten over her fear of Mia moving.  After the walk Mia and Noli were bffs.

We had lunch at this AMAZING Thai place and had tofu rice wraps.  Not something we would normally order, but it was one of the most amazing meals we've ever had. 

After lunch we jumped back in the Edge and headed for the beach!  Yes I said the BEACH... 4.5 hours across NC to the beach.  Ryalynn and Andrew Carter (friends from high school) invited us to join them at the place the rented on North Topsail Island.  We had a blast!  Mia was such a trooper!  The place they rented was on the beach, not even 100 yards from the ocean.  We enjoyed dinner and catching up on Saturday night.  Sunday morning we got out to the beach early.  Rya & Andy have 2 (yes TWO) German Shepards.  Between the two of them you are looking at 250lbs of dog!  Quite a difference from little 10lb Noli!  They are so well behaved.  They ran on the beach without leashes and had a ball chasing the waves.  Mia LOVED the ocean water this time.  Which was refreshing! 

More pictures to come from Rya's camera... these are from camera phones.

Before we headed back to Raleigh we had a late lunch at a fresh fish market.  OMG the food was so yummy.  It tasted like we ordered the food, they pulled the food out of the nets in the water, boiled it, and severed it up.  Here is a picture of the boys with their "bucket".

As of Thursday, June 10th, Andy will complete his military obligation to the USMC and the reason for the week in Topsail.  Topsail Island is the closest beach to Marine Corp base Camp Lejeune.  Andy is a Naval Academy grad, who enlisted in the Marines as an officer after undergrad.  He served 6 years with the USMC and completed 3 tours overseas (2 to Iraq, and 1 to Afghanistan).  We will never really understand all that Andy and his family sacrificed in the continual fight for our freedom.  He and Rya have been married for 6 years next month and are for the first time living under one roof!  Andy, you are a stand up individual, which is hard to come by these days.  THANK YOU for all that you have done for our country and our world.  We are honored to have you as a friend.  CONGRATS on closing one chapter, and best wishes on the next!

Will Mia ever eat table food?

Today we had Mia's 6 month doctor appointment.  She is 15lbs, 26inches, and still has her Mom/Nana/Gigi's peanut head :)  During the appointment Dr. Sarah said that Mia could try table foods and to start her on rice cereal.  For the first 6 months of her life Mia has been exclusively breastfed so this was an exciting step for Dad to try.  Well unfortunately it was a flop!  Mia isn't a fan of anything on a spoon.  She opens her mouth, pulls her tongue back, and keeps the food in the front of her mouth.  No swallowing, no pushing it back out, just lets it stay there.  Eventually it falls back out.  We tried this a couple more times over the next week.  She wont even take breast milk with a spoon.  So to answer the question.... Will Mia ever eat table food?  Sure she will, but not yet!  This little girl is telling us she's not ready. We are going to give it a week and try again.  Maybe next week?