Day 66: Swimming in books

I love that they actually made a pool of board books at the library. This is the first time I've let Zaria in with the books like this, but it's really pretty fun.

Day 65: Special delivery

What a nice surprise! There was a package from Zaria's Great Grandma Mary when we got home, so I opened it today and let Zaria have fun playing with the card that was with it. And then she wanted to play with the rest, so she pulled down the outfit from the blue bin. She was getting around everywhere today-- I needed to nap with her this afternoon.

Day 64: The long journey home

We left at about 9 am EST and arrived home at about 11 pm Central. For those of you that aren't math wizes and are as confused as I get about travel time changes mixed with daylight savings time changes, that means we spent about 15 hours in the car. With a baby. Long, long day. But we had this short respite in Milwaukee by Lake Michigan. We took a short walk by the beach, wondering why there weren't more people out on such a lovely (if cold) evening. We sort of figured it out when we smelled the dead fish nearby. It was still very beautiful. We bundled Zaria up in this cute little bundler that looks a bit like a starfish. I had almost gotten rid of it because I thought she wouldn't fit in it this year, but my mom rescued it and it was nice to have along.

Day 63: Dressed alike cousins

Mom and Dave bought outfits alike for Zaria and Tricia that we opened at our early Christmas yesterday. I love the fact that these two cousins are just 5 weeks apart. Now that they're both more active, they both wanted to play with the same toys and see what the other one was doing. Soon after Zaria was done with this pretend mixer, Tricia had to try it out, and then they both slid into the kitchen in their tights. So adorable.

Day 62: Early Christmas

We celebrated an early Christmas and birthday for Becca after a nice shopping trip with all us girls. Renee bought a few things she needed and a bunch of clothes for Zaria for her birthday and for Christmas (both Becca and Zaria have December birthdays). Mom and I had fun watching the girls open presents. Tricia had the most fun trying to eat the wrapping. She was getting a head start in this photo.

Day 61: Visiting a cousin once removed

This is my cousin-once-removed Carol, in front of her newly sided house. Her tree was so bright and gorgeous, I told her I had to get a picture of it. We had a discussion about how cousins get to be seconds and removeds, and I explained how she was my cousin-once-removed because she is my mom's cousin. We stayed overnight at Carol and Tom's place and then drove through the morning to arrive at Renee and Kurt's.

Day 60: Dinner in Chicago

My mom, Zaria and I piled into the car today to go visit my sister and her family in Michigan. We took this journey last February and visited my friend Anne (pictured above), but this time she was in a new place and had a roommate and a residency student living with her. It was a very cute place, and we enjoyed getting to know her temporary resident, Natalie (in the background). We came a bit early, but were fortunate enough to have Natalie be home when we arrived, so she let us in and welcomed us while we waited for Anne to get home. Anne's been working as a regular physician's assistant for just over a year or two now in Chicago, at one of the clinics where she did a residency training.

I've known Anne since junior high, and the fact that we're still friends after living through those years is a true blessing from God. Anne also knows my sister Renee and her husband and has even seen the house that we're on the way to see in Michigan.