NYE 2010/2011

My brother and his wife, Hanna were able to come down and celebrate New Year's Eve with Peter and I this year. Tracy and Hanna just moved to Connecticut this summer and it's been great having them close by. My parents graciously watched Caleb and Tracy and Hanna's daughter Sophie (Charlotte had a nurse) so that we could go out like real adults. We're pretty crazy, huh?

We went to Morimotos for dinner, a really fun restaurant in downtown Philly. They handed out party hats and offered us some champagne for a midnight toast. The champagne we declined but we partied hard with those hats!

We were only a few blocks away from the fireworks, so at midnight we stepped out to watch them over the river. They weren't very long (darn city budget cut backs) but we had a fun evening and really enjoyed being able to go "out on the town."

Siblings?

Fingers in the mouth must be genetic.

Snow Tubing 12/30/2010

Last Wednesday, Peter and I both saw a commercial for snow tubing and being the easily influenced people that we are, we decided to go for it. So Thursday we woke up, spent a ton of money getting passports (Peter's mother is Canadian and Caleb and I both needed passports), and headed to Blue Mountain for the day.

By the end of the day, Caleb's little legs were tired of taking three times as many steps.

New goal: Take a picture of the two of us each place we go.
So far: 1 for 1

It was really, really, really crowed so Caleb was an absolute champ for waiting in line as much as he did.

I'm a crazy mom and I made Caleb wear a helmet. He called it his "pirate hat."

It was really crowded, but we had a blast! We'd like to go back again sometime this season when it's not a holiday, to give us a little more time snow tubing and a little less time waiting in line. Definitely a fun day. We missed Charlotte, but we're hoping that by Christmas of 2013, she'll be able to join the crazy crowds (she has to stay away from germs for another winter, and then we're hoping she'll be able to have a grand entrance into society!)

I Don't Get It

I really don't get it. What's the big deal with wishing someone Happy Holidays? I see people being up in arms that no one wishes people Merry Christmas any more, and I wonder, is Christmas not included in "holidays"? Why can't I wish for someone who might celebrate any other winter holiday a happy season? Are Christians the only ones who get to celebrate?

Seriously. I don't get it. Am I missing something?

NYC Girls Trip

In August, I also was able to escape and take a very necessary girls trip to NYC. I had a blast.

NYC's finest.

Maureen from our Guided History Tour. She's amazing.

9/11 Person to Person Guided History Tour. An absolute must.

Birthday celebrating.

Shopping.

FYI, there isn't a Holocaust Museum in NYC.

We really liked this Whole Foods.

Naked cowboy. With clothes on.

Girls, seriously, this was the best trip. Can't wait to do it again. Seriously. How's next week sound?

August

In August, we attended the annual Pope Crab Fest. It's a great family get together on Peter's side of the family, held each summer. Since it's not centered around a holiday, people don't have to juggle which family they will see and how they will split their time, so everyone can attend. It's great! Of course, I totally failed in the picture taking aspect, and only snapped one picture of Caleb playing with a caterpillar.


Following the Crab Fest, we starting giving Charlotte oral feeds. This was a huge deal, as it represented one of the last big hurdles for getting her home. In the end, this hurdle pretty much beat the heck outta us, but at the time, we were blissfully unaware.


Finally, after six full months in the hospital, we prepared to bring Charlotte home! It was amazing. Scary, and hectic and amazing.

Charlotte's prescriptions to be filled for her to come home!

The big day. Caleb was very involved.

Siblings. Charlotte minus facial accessories.

The tank. And yes, we bribed Caleb to be good with a cookie.

August ended with Peter leaving for San Diego for a month long pediatric rotation at the Naval Hospital. We missed him a lot. A lot. A lot. A lot.

My Naval Officer.

July

In July, my little sister was married. We had a great time at the reception, which was held in a restored barn that General George Washington used, ya know, back in the day.

July 31, 2010

I was really proud of us for taking a picture together.

Getting their groove on.

My father and I

My brother, Tracy, was able to meet Charlotte for the first time on his way down to Washington DC for the wedding. It was a great day!

Uncle Tracy and Charlotte

Tracy and Hanna.

My niece, Sophie, Tracy's daughter. She's about 3 months younger than Caleb, and too cute for words.

The trouble makers, themselves, Katie and Jordan Harmer.

Another grand adventure in July included a trip down to the Please Touch Museum. When we lived in the city, we went to PTM about twice a week. It was great. Now that we're further away, PTM is a big treat. Caleb loves it.

All the toys in the world to play with, and he must play with the trains.

That sums up July! Only six more months to catch up on!