Marathon Post

First things first-- Happy Belated Birthday to my mother and to my brother in law, Sean. They celebrated their birthdays last week.

While Sean lives a little too far away to bother him on his birthday, I was able to drive down to Maryland to see my mom. For her birthday, I gave her the best present ever--- a weekend with Caleb! (My mom with Caleb this past Spring)

My best friend Amy got married this past week and I was able to fly out to Utah for the wedding (THANK YOU Southwest frequent flyer tickets!). My mother was self sacrificing enough to offer to watch our little monster for the weekend so that Pete and I could have sometime together. I dropped Caleb off with my mom and spent her birthday with her and then flew out of Baltimore the next morning. Pete flew out of Philly and met me in Salt Lake. **Side Note** I managed to survive four days away from Caleb! It was bitter-sweet-- great not having to pack a diaper bag everywhere we went, but super sad that Caleb wasn't there with us. Note to self-- Provo is not the place to be when missing a child.

Upon arriving in Salt Lake, my sister in law Hanna graciously offered to help me spice up my hair. She is a life saver!

(My hair this summer)
(My hair when Hanna was done with it)

Quite the difference, ehh? It's been interesting trying to figure out how to style it (it kinda poofs with all the humidity here on the East Coast). But it's super fun to have something short and I love it. It's the first time I've ever had highlights or anything of the sort, (I know-- I'm so daring) but Hanna did a great job and broke me in gently.


Me, Amy and Lauren-- These girls are largely responsible for who I am (I know, I shouldn't blame them for this, but really-- it's true!) today and I was so excited to be able to see them both again.

Kevin (Butch) and Ryan-- Amy's brothers. This picture pretty much describes them.

Amy and Hans... They are just too dang cute together!

After the wedding, I was able to see Abby and her husband! Abby and I were friends freshman year at the Y-- she lived right down the hall... cute huh? She's super fabulous and it was great to see her again! Lauren gets to hang out with our friends from the Y all the time, so I was excited to be able to see some of them myself!



Tracy and Hanna graciously let us stay with them for the weekend. Their little girl Sophie is about three months younger than Caleb and is pretty much the cutiest little girl around. It was so nice to see them and it reminded me of how wonderful family is. I am so excited for them to come back East next summer for Tracy's internship. Until then, we'll just have to look forward to their visit at Christmas time.

I while I had a fabulous time in Utah, I couldn't wait to get back to the little monster! He seems to have forgiven me for leaving him. In fact, he was nice enough to cut a tooth while I was gone! Not having to deal with a teething child? Priceless. In my father's words though, "If that was how he acts while cutting a tooth, life just isn't fair." Caleb was so good for them, they didn't even know a tooth had come in! I practically had to pry my child out of my mother's loving hands when it came time to go.

I mean, how could you not love this face?


(I found Caleb like this the other day. He had dragged his high chair across the dining room to stand on it so he could get into the towels. It was too cute!)


Phew... I know! Anyone still reading gets two bonus points!