Almost

I love life's surprises; especially, when it's my children who surprise me. Today they both got me.

I had to go to the bathroom (a mom's moment of peace), so I put Boden in his crib with some toys. Ania is free to roam the upstairs with the gate closed, so she was playing in her room. I was gone all of two, maybe three, minutes. When I came out, Ania was in Boden's crib playing with his mobile and Boden was pulling up on the crib rail to stand!

I was shocked because 1)Ania has never climbed into or out of anything before and 2)Boden has not learned how to push himself into a sitting position yet or really started crawling. He can rock on his knees, but belly flops before he gets anywhere. He is trying like hell though. So much so, he isn't napping well and is waking at the crack of dawn again. Thank goodness he's a cutie! It's his saving grace.

In other news, we have had both sets of grandparents, and some aunties and uncles, visit us over the past couple of weekends. Last weekend, Grammy and Grampy (Matt's folks), and his sister Heather came to explore the area. We went to good ol' Shelburne Farms, had some good cheese (thanks to Grampy forgetting it in our fridge!), and Ania had the chance to feed a baby goat.

Then last weekend we had a full house. Nana and Poppy, Uncles Kevin and Chris, and their girlfriends all stayed here. Saturday we went out to eat at A Single Pebble, http://www.asinglepebble.com, and it was fantastic. Ania was learning how to eat rice with chopsticks. No small task! Then the big kids hit the town while Nana and Poppy stayed home with the babes. It was strange going out past 8pm (for me anyways!), but we had a great time. However, I'm still feeling the effects 3 days later! That's when you know you are getting old!

Lastly, I need to mention I have a new baby. It's a Nikon D80, digital SLR camera and it's the coolest toy I think I have ever owned. Photography is my latest hobby and I absolutely love it! The children grow so quickly that I want to capture every moment I can so I can savor each age, stage and milestone forever. So, it's my mission to learn how to take great pictures of them and their life events. As soon as I upload the photos (and I'll have a ton - my memory card holds over 500 photos) and edit out the yucky ones, I'll send a link.

Whole New World

I have finally had some time to sit down to learn about blogging. This is a whole new world for me and I think it's going to take me some time, but why not give it a go. My mind can use something intellectually challenging.

Let me begin by saying we are officially VERMONTERS! Ok, well we are official owners of property in Vermont which we now inhabit, but as far as the registry is concerned, we are visiting from Rhode Island. We are working on that.

The children have adjusted to their new surroundings and we have spent the first month exploring what the area has to offer. We have discovered ECHO (an aquarium which focuses on the ecosystem of Lake Champlain), Shelburne Farms (which is breathtakingly beautiful), Sand Bar State Park, Catamount (open space for trail running, mtn. biking, XC skiing), and so, so much more.

Everyone is doing great. Ania is silly as ever. She loves to read, explore outside, and run. Yes, she can run almost 1/2 mile (from the playground to our house). She has the most adorable gait I have ever seen! Boden at almost 8 months, has no teeth yet, but insists that he is too good for pureed baby food. I have started giving him whatever finger foods I can think of and he gleefully eats it up!!! He has mastered "girl" push-ups and once he figures out how to fully get on those knobby knees of his.....we are totally in trouble.

Matt enjoys his job and I am enjoying being the mom. It felt strange at first to not have to worry about packing and moving (since it consumed so much of my time) and to just have time to "play". It's great to be able to focus all of my energy back on Nugget (our dear Ania) and Wiggles (the maestro who is forever rocking in his seat!).