9 months!

WHA..WHAAAAT?  It seems like yesterday that I was carrying you in my belly, Baby Girl.  In fact, this time last year, I had just been put on bedrest, and I was praying hourly that you would stay inside.  I can't believe we are only 3 months from your 1st birthday!  I remember trying to picture what it would be like to be a mom, then YOUR mom, and wow, is it better than I ever imagined.  You really are my sunshine.  Daddy and I love you so much.  Happy 9 months!

You can crawl, stand up, walk if your holding onto something, climb, say mama (though I think it's only meaningful in the middle of the night), you say a version of "Jada" your fur sister, and say dadadadadada all the time - but we're still waiting for you to make the association with your daddy.  When you wake up from your naps or in the morning, you hang onto your crib and jump up and down and wait for someone to come get you.  You still provide me with at least 10 genuine laughs a day.  You.Are.Perfect.

NYC

 It's hard not having a lot of family living close by.  My dad is always working or visiting my mom in Bermuda and although she gets to see them a lot more often than most grandparents, sometimes I feel like she is missing out on the love and attention that family members provide.  That's why it was such a treat to have Andrew's mom and sisters take the time and spend the money to fly up here from Texas last weekend.  Andrew took the day off from work on Friday and we headed off into the city for Adalyn's first NYC experience.  It was his sister Kati's first time in the northeast so we did typical NYC tourist things.  I was pretty impressed with everyone's stamina - especially Adalyn's.  We look a 10am train in and went back on the 9:07!  I know Adalyn will love looking back at these pictures one day.  Here you go Baby Girl, your first time in NYC:

Your first train ride with your aunties.

 We were lucky to catch one of the new trains. 

 We spent about 5 minutes totol in Times Square.

 Your 1st Subway ride

 One day you will learn about one of the saddest days mommy ever knew.

 Germs, germs, germs.  O well!

 On top of the Empire State Building. This face was more of a reflection of the wind rather than the height, I think.

By the end of the trip, you were a mess.  haha

Boston

I love that city.  So much cleaner and less crowded than NYC, but still has that city feel, you know?  Our stay was no more than 24 hours, but it was soooo worth the trip to cheer on my dear friend Lauren for the Boston Marathon. 

Lauren and I met freshman year at Eckerd College, and no lie, we used to run 3 miles to the Dairy Queen on St. Pete Beach, eat our own yummy-filled Blizzards (custom made by a woman named Pam who counted on our bi-weekly visits) and then head back.  We bonded over our love of icecream and our love for sea animals.  We both wanted to become marine mammal trainers.  I worked at a Dolphin and Whale Hospital in Sarasota and Lauren started at Sea World.  Well, I obviously ended up on a different path, but Lauren stuck with it.  She became a trainer at Sea World and Andrew and I even went to one of her shows on the day of our engagement.

See, there she is.

Lauren lost her close colleage and friend Dawn in that terrible accident at Sea World in 2010.  Perhaps not coincidently, the Boston Marathon was being held on Dawn's birthday this year and Lauren set out to raise money for Dawn's foundation and run the race.  So, A^3 headed up to Boston to cheer her on.

Adalyn loved the view of the city our hotel in Cambridge provided.

How is this my 8 month old?!

We had a pre race pasta dinner with all the runners Sunday night.  Ladies, the best thing you can do is teach your hubby how to use your camera.  I will treasure this photo forever.

And this one.  Her sweet pout face.  Andrew and I went for our own run with the stroller before we headed out to watch the race.  It was about 80 degress by 10am and she was already not too pleased to be heading back outside.

But she was thoroughly amused by all the runners going by!

I'm jealous of this lady's body.  Some may say she is too skinny, but I think she looks super fit and has power woman written all over her.

And there goes Lauren, right past us at mile 25!

 She finished at 3:33:18.  And guess what, Dawn's favorite number was 3.  Love it.

Boston Cheerleaders! - minus Andrew who was taking the picture.

This was at about 4pm.  Madness, considering the race started 6 hours prior.  But man, we had such a great time!