Want some videos?

For those who miss Annie or who can't wait til Christmastime to see her, here are some videos!

The first one stars Brant and Annie making breakfast one morning. Annie has been newly introduced to her Bumbo seat, and she seems to really enjoy it!



The second video stars Annie, just playing around in her crib one morning.


And third, here's a video Brant made when Annie was trying to wake up in her swing. She was soo tired that day and just couldn't. :)

First Snow!

Hello! :) Well, the holiday decorations are up around Middletown, and it really snowed for the first time today. It's been snowing all morning and afternoon. It's still pretty warm, so nothing's laying too much. But it feels very seasonal! Memphis sure was excited. I'm not sure Annie understood what she was looking out at the window . . . but that's all right. Anyway, here's a good deal of pictures for your viewing enjoyment!
Brant and Annie making me breakfast!


What the trees looked like before the snow


Pretty blue eyed baby


My two loves smiling at each other


Happy Annie!


Thinking Annie


I came home from running one afternoon and found them sleeping on the sofa like this!


My mom came to stay with Annie while we went to play tennis. So fun! So cold!


Brant was covering a class on campus the morning it snowed, so he had to get up early and clean off the car!


Isn't she pretty sleeping?


"Come on and let it snow!"



Annie in her koala vest from her GG Jane!


super cool


So, tomorrow is the Harrisburg Holiday Parade downtown. We're thinking about going for a bit, unless it's just too cold for Annie. There's a good chance it will be. Then we'll head down to Gettysburg for a yummy dinner and to see Twilight! I can't wait! I feel like I'm coming down with a bad cold, though, so there's also a chance we'll have to call off all the festivities of the day. Hopefully not, since we already bought the Twilight tickets.

Brant's been working hard on his term papers. Almost finished! His Civil War paper is getting really interesting, and he's learning tons about the ins and outs of serious research. We're watching Love Actually right now--I know it's not quite time for Christmas movies, but it's snowing!! I'll wait to watch A Christmas Story until after Thanksgiving!

"I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes . . . ."

oh, and my favorite quote from the movie . . .

"Just in cases." :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Changing Table Photo Shoot!

Hello! Hope everyone's doing well! We're doing FANTASTIC here today. I think I can officially declare that Annie slept through the night last night. I'm SO excited. Not that we're getting our hopes up that she'll do that every single night now . . . but it's encouraging at least. At this point we just needed SOME kind of positive outlook. :) And she delivered; we got a good 7 1/2 hours of sleep! Uninterrupted sleep! Can you tell I'm excited?

So what have we been up to since I last posted . . . Ah yes, the two-month doctor appointment! Annie is doing great! She now weighs 10 lbs 11 oz (well, that was last week) and is 23" long/tall. She's in the 75th percentile for most stuff. I think her weight is in the 50th and her length and head size are in the 75th. She got four shots, and I felt sad watching her go through the pain, but she handled it much better than I'd thought she would. She got over it really fast and was giggling again in Brant's arms by the time we left the doctor's office. So, her next appointment is in two months! It'll be the new year, 2009!

On Saturday we went down to Gettysburg to have dinner at my parents'. We went through some of the hand-me-down clothes to get some 3-6 month clothes for Annie. She doesn't fit in hardly any of the 0-3 month sleepers anymore. Her legs and torso are just too long! While we were going through the clothes, Brant found a Winnie the Pooh costume and put Annie in it. There's a picture below of her wearing it. So funny looking, with the little chubby pouch!

Yesterday Brant had to attend a "Pets in America" lecture on campus. So Annie and I came with him, since it was in the evening. It was fun to sit and listen. Annie slept the whole time. Everyone came up and commented on her being such a quiet, passive baby. hahahaha, they have no idea. ;-)

Here's some pictures!!
Her startled look when Brant let go of her hands on the changing table


She's SO happy when she's getting changed. Especially when Daddy's doing it.


As promised, the Pooh costume


Driving down to Gettysburg--so pretty!


It's starting to have that really cold fall look around here. The leaves are mostly fallen off the trees. On Friday night we took a drive up to Hershey and found a big park to let Memphis run. It was chilly!!

And here's another fun video!

Quick, before she wakes up!

Hello! Annie just fell asleep, and I'm hoping she'll sleep for a while. Brant's at school, and these evening hours are usually the only chance I have to get work done around the house (or to post on the blog). :)

So, things have been going well with us! This week has been exciting, especially with Election Day. Brant and I both voted for the first time, and it was fun! Our polling place was the borough office, which is a block down the street from us. And since we live in such a tiny little town, I don't think anyone ever had to wait in line. So we didn't get that experience, which I hear many Pennsylvanians had! It was neat to be in a battleground state, where so much attention was being placed during the campaigns. Last night we stayed up watching the election coverage, and we even kept track of all the states on our own little map we printed out--just as Josh Lyman would do! :)

Last Sunday we drove down to Havre de Grace, MD to my aunt's house and ate chicken pot pie. It was sooo good. Annie also made her debut to some members of my dad's family. She met Kylee, whose hand-me-downs she's been wearing since birth, and Julia. Both are her second cousins and are about 6 or 7 months old. It was interesting to see what we have to look forward to in 4 months by watching the little girls.

I'm getting excited for Thanksgiving! I'm really looking forward to Brant not having class for a week, and I can't wait to spend time with family. I haven't been here in the East with my family for Thanksgiving since 2001, the last year I was at home before leaving for college! PLUS Twilight comes out on November 21st--and I can't wait to see it! :)

Brant is almost done with 3 of his 4 term papers for this semester! He set up a workspace (as Dwight Schrute would call it) in our bedroom by the door to the balcony. It's helped, having a place to keep all his research material, and it means he can stay home more instead of going to campus!

I hope everyone's having a great week! Tomorrow is Annie's 2 month doctor's appointment. More shots, booo! But I'm excited to see how much she weighs! More updates later!

Daddy and daughter (Annie's in her post-Election Day outfit)


Tracking electoral votes!


Watching Election coverage!


First-time voters walking down the street


Annie with Kylee and Julia


GQ pose in her sleep :)

Happy November!

Well, it's warmed up here! And we've been going on all sorts of adventures the last few days, so I have a ton of pictures to put up! Today we went to Lititz, which is about 35 minutes northeast of where we live. It's a gorgeous old town with a lot of cute shops and great buildings. We got there kind of later in the day, so a lot of the places were closed. We walked around, though, and had a good time. I found a used book shop that's REALLY cool. I can't wait to go back. I bought some children's books for Annie. So, the picture above is of an inn--and in the bottom right corner of the picture is a statue carved right out of a tree!

Annie had a lot of fun just rolling around in her stroller!


Taking a break to play with Daddy.


A girl's boarding school--as it says, the "Oldest in His Majesty's Colonies."






We also went to a park along the Susquehanna today--Chickies Rock, it's called--and there was a trail to an overlook. There was a huge group of Mennonites walking along the trail, and we had a great time chatting and showing off Annie. :)
The overlook at the end of the trail.




Exploring the woods along the trail.





These pictures are a little backwards . . . the rest of these are from yesterday, Halloween! Annie and I spent most of the afternoon on campus with Brant. He got a lot of work done on his term papers, and I finished watching the West Wing! 7 seasons--and we've watched them all since Annie was born--a true accomplishment. Halloween was pretty uneventful, honestly. The kids trick or treat on the Thursday before Halloween (to keep crime under control or something), so yesterday we just had a restful evening inside, once we got back from campus.
Campus at sunset!

Annie's Halloween photo shoot on the sofa!





warm afternoon on the front porch


sleeping soundlessly in Brant's arms



So, it's November now! In other news, Brant found out the book review he wrote for The International Journal of the History of Sports has been accepted for publication! His classes are going great, and his teachers are being really helpful in his search for scholastic opportunities. Tomorrow we're going down to Maryland for a dinner at my aunt's house. Chicken pot pie, a tradition! yumm!