3 Months

MaryP hit her 3 month mark a week ago. She loves standing (with our help) and looking around. She could stare down anyone, she hardly ever blinks, making her look all the more intent on studying her surroundings. Her face lights ups when she sees her daddy, she loves to coo and talk and will sometimes "sing" along with me. We are amazed at how much she has grown and changed - she is a delight and brings so much light to our family. We sure love our little girl!

Here are just a few pictures of her - my brain isn't functioning properly and I need to finish packing but I wanted to post them before we left - so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Clues

So, we are down to the last toilet paper roll
. . .and we like it that way.

We eat odd combinations of food:
like Pot stickers & soy sauce, BBQ chicken and rice, Jello, and oranges for dinner.

And we're making devious and conniving plans to confuse the mailman once again.

If you haven't guessed or heard the word, we're moving again. I think we are doing a better job of getting rid of all our food and supplies. I wonder if the post office will do a double forward? We are still getting mail forwarded from our last location.

The funniest thing of all to me is that back when Woodine name this blog "Into the Woods" I thought, "Oh that is so fitting, we live up north of Albany and there are lots of woods here." But we moved to Connecticuit, and Groton puts NY to shame for being woodsy. From what I saw of the Bangor WA area, it looks like we will continue the trend of moving deeper and deeper into the woods.

I'm really excited for this trip. We'll be able to see the PennHens (my brother & his family) in PA, John and Alison (two really good friends from BYU) in Wisconsin, Both sets of parents, four brothers and one or two sisters while we are in CO and UT.

We are looking for some good book on CDs or normal books to read on the trip. Woodine finished Eclipse, and I am reading Elantris. By the way, I really like Elantris and recommend it. Our problem is we usually get book on CDs from the library, and I don't think it would be prudent to take a library CD across the country. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

*This blog was started a few days ago and we're heading out tomorrow. Book suggestions would still be welcome. We didn't quite make it through our food. Does anyone need a large bag of sugar? Or an almost-full bottle of vinegar?

Apparently this is very comfortable!

Early Start

We got a great jump-start on our day today. A 3:40 AM jump start. MaryP was sleeping soundly, but Wood's alarm had gone off around 2:45 and we had fallen back asleep (can you blame us?). Somehow the time on his clock was set 4 hours ahead and so when we re-woke at "7:40" (aka 3:40) we thought we'd over-slept and that he was running late. We hopped out of bed and quickly started getting ready, only to notice the correct time on other clocks. With a relieved sigh we climbed back under the covers, almost with a sense of cheating time and getting extra sleep. Almost.

All dressed up

So things are pretty laid back here in Connecticut. We have lots of time to spend together which is a nice reprieve before we get to the boat and life gets busy and Wood starts making trips out to sea. We do go out and about - to the library, on walks, etc. We also spend a lot of time around the house. Although after the conversation last night, I think maybe I've been a little too relaxed.

Scene: Me- dressed in jeans, a sweater, and my hair not in a bun (I really need to get it cut!).

Enter Wood, just coming home from a flag football game.

Wood: Hey, what are you all dressed up for?
Me: Um, I'm not dressed up. I just decided to change out of my exercise* clothes and put my hair down.
Wood: Oh, well it looks nice.

If jeans and a sweater is dressy, maybe I'd better re-think my daily routine! I guess it is a notch up from my semi-formal wear - jeans and a T-shirt!

*Wearing exercise clothes may or may not indicate actual exercise occurred.

Maine

Two weekends ago we headed up to Maine. It was only a 4 hour drive from here - though this was extended by Boston traffic and an unhappy baby - she was bored? Once we got into Maine we saw some really beautiful fall colors! By the time we made it to the Navy Lodge it was too dark to do any sight-seeing, so we made our way to a restaurant to try some Maine lobster. We shared the dinner and it was one of those things that is fun to do once, but we probably won't repeat. We had New England clam chowder, lobster, muscles, and crab-stuffed haddock. That haddock was our favorite. I wish we had taken a picture of the plate with the lobster and the muscles, it looked awesome!

We decided that lobster is really a glorified way to eat butter - but we couldn't pass up the opportunity while in Maine! However, I decided I do not enjoy seeing the whole creature I am eating while eating it. First of all, it looks like a bug. Not to mention those bug-like legs that were flailing around while Wood cracked the thing open. And removing the intestines - blech. I guess I've seen a fish cleaned before, but that doesn't bother me as much. Yep, I definitely am not a lobster lover. Once was enough for me.

Saturday we drove down two peninsulas and onto some little islands. The Maine coastline is truly a must-see in my book. We didn't get out to take pictures (someone was sleeping happily as long as we kept moving) but it was just incredible. A very rugged coastline with rock and sand formations jutting out into the sea. Combine this with fall colors and you have quite a scene.

We also made our way to the Portland Head Light - one of the most famous light houses, and commissioned by George Washington. The weather was not ideal, but the view was!

Shots

Apparently our family is due for shots. MaryP just had hers (and is due for more soon) and Wood came home from work yesterday having received 5 shots, 1 PPD test for tuberculosis, and his blood drawn. Yuck. We are happy to report he does not have tuberculosis.

Great weekend

This last weekend my dad came down for a little visit. He had business in Boston Wednesday through Saturday so he popped down for Saturday evening and Sunday before he flew to Rochester for more business on Monday. It was so nice to have him here! Saturday afternoon we took him to nearby Bluff Point which is the " last remaining significant piece of undeveloped land along the Connecticut coastline." It's about a 3 mile walk and really, really pretty. MaryP slept through most of it, but I'm sure she enjoyed it too!

Saturday evening we ordered out Applebee's (which makes it much easier with a baby). Disposable is definitely my favorite kind of dishes. Thanks Dad!

MaryP sure enjoyed seeing her Grandpa B. When he was playing with her she was smiling and making noises that were about as close to a laugh as I've heard yet. It was really fun to hear. She coos for Mom and Dad, but I guess right now the laughs are for Grandpa!

My favorite part of him being here was just talking and talking about anything. Our year + adventure on the East has convinced me that I could be very happy living in this area. But I sure miss being close to family, so it was a real treat. I sure love you Dad, it was great to see you!