Monday, January 21, 2008

Date Night!!!!

This past weekend Joshua, Norah and I went to Canton, OH to visit with friends that Joshua went to college with. We stayed at our friends Babs and Carrie's house. They treated us to a date night on saturday night and they watched Norah! It was great! It was our first official outing away from Norah (meaning planned ahead of time).

Earlier in the day I went and bought a pair of regular jeans because I did not want to wear my maternity pants on a date because that would not feel like a date.

We left Norah in good hands and went to Starbucks first for some caffeine coffee!!!! Yummy! I was determined to treat myself to anything I wanted and not worry about the milk supply for the evening!

Then we went to a nice restaurant called 91 that Joshua actually used to work at when he lived in Canton. We had a swanky booth in the dim lit corner. I ordered steak Marsala that came with homemade ravioli stuffed with mushrooms. It was all topped with mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and covered with the Marsala sauce! It was great! Joshua had their pesto, chicken pizza which was also really good! We both had Pino Grigio with our meal. We finished the meal off with creme brele and wood fired smores!!!! I was surprised they had that on the menu at such a nice restaurant.

After that we went to see the new movie Juno! We really liked it alot. It's a cute movie. I don't want to say too much about it in case any of you reading want to go see it.

It was so nice to have the night out. Thank you, thank you, thank you Babs and Carrie!! We have not done that in so long. What a great gift for us!

When we returned home Uncle Babs and Aunt Carrie reported that Norah did great except that she had some really bad gas! I don't think it was so bad that they won't watch her again in the future though. They seem to dig her! :)

We played two games of Settlers of Catan with Babs and Carrie and even did a late night run to Taco Bell! Carrie actually did the late night run, which I was grateful for because it was freezing outside. (If you have never played this game, you should. It's not sold at any regular stores. It's sold at those game stores or kiosks in the malls)

Norah is such a good baby. She will be held by anyone, sleeps really good and is not really fussy unless she has a dirty diaper or is hungry. What else can you ask for?

This is a picture of Carrie and Babs. It is right after Norah was born and they came to meet her. We spent this whole past weekend with them and I did not take one picture of them with Norah.



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Today (monday) we bummed around the apartment for awhile and then got ready and went to our favorite coffee shop, Second Cup for the afternoon. Then we got fresh veggies from a local market and headed home. I then spent the next few hours rearranging the furniture in our bedroom!! One of my favorite things to do! It looks great! I'll post some pictures soon. I can't take any now because Norah is sleeping.

Well, I'll add some photos from the past couple days.

This is Norah in her cute, cute outfit from Grandpa Elek! He shopped for her himself! It is made of down and is so warm. I'm so glad she fits into now since it has been so cold out. This is also her new thing with smiling and laughing. She really does it the most in the morning and it is just so much fun! And her booties are from our good friends Allie and Phil. They stay on her feet so well. We also have a green pair too!


STRETCHY TIME!!!!!







After a bath...


This is Norah with her kitty cat from our friend Cristin! They are buddies already!


Our friends Ryan and Heather came to visit us in Wheeling! The little chicken on the right is a hand puppet they got for Norah. They figured Dad will be able to make up creative stories for Norah when she is older!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Christmas in Beaver Falls

Sorry this update took so long. Life got a little crazy after returning to Wheeling from a 20 day trip!

Our students were so excited to see how Norah had grown since they saw her when she was a week old! More students were willing to hold her though, mostly the guys! Girls will hold her for sure!

Anyways, our time in Beaver Falls was really great! It's always nice to be with your family and visit all the relatives you are used to seeing at Christmas time!

We had "Christmas" on December 29th with my family. My older brother, Dave and his wife Peg and their son Emmet were in town from Boston. It was great to see them and Norah's other cousins Cora and Ellie. My sister is going to have her baby in about 3 weeks or so, they were not here for Christmas this year. Joshua, Norah and I will be flying out there to see them and their new little one for Easter and we can't wait!

While in Beaver Falls Joshua and I went out without Norah one night to go see my brother coach high school basketball. He coaches at our old high school, and I have not been back since I graduated so it was strange to go there with my husband for the first time. I had a little anxiety walking up to the doors. I was not sure who I would see. It ended up being fine. I saw one of my old teachers and an old classmate. It was funny to see how things changed and how some things did not change at all.

Well, enjoy more pictures! I did not organize them in chronological order because I'm really tired and Norah will be getting up in a few hours to eat so I want to go to bed! :)


This is Cora being silly! She put these goggles on alot while
we were babysitting her and Ellie and they made us laugh.


This was our exciting New Year's Eve! Jarrod, Heather, Joshua the girls and I had a wonderful meal that Joshua made-Salmon, rice fresh broccoli and homemade bread!


Grandma and Norah!


Grandpa and Norah (this is how Norah migrates her head when she is in a deep sleep)


Aunt Heather, Uncle Jarrod, Cora and Norah


Aunt Peg, Uncle David and Norah


Great Grandpa (Pappy), Ellie, Great Grandma, Norah, Emmet and Cora


Cousins Lyndsey and Jason with Norah


Emmet - I think he just got up from a nap. I thought he looked really cute here!


Norah in her Christmas hat from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Amanda


I couldn't resist this cute picture of Pappy holding Norah!


Little Ellie! She is so sweet in her glasses!

Cora giving Norah kisses and hugs with mommies supervision!


Goodnight!
 
I wonder how long it will take Rachel to find out that her husband wrote a note at the bottom of her blog. (July 9, 2008) ;)