11 Months Old!!

It's very hard to believe that our little girl is almost a year old! Everyone tells you that it will go fast and boy are they right! Mary Pat turned 11 months old on Monday and has a new trick to show us every day. She is LOVING table foods both at home and at school with green beans, carrots, and pasta among her favorites. She will also pull up on almost anything and is starting to "cruise" along the sofa a little bit. She loves to stand at her bookshelves and pull out all the books as well as to stand at the front door and look outside.

Last weekend, we went to Big Papa's house where Daddy played in his annual golf outing while Mommy and Mary Pat spent some time at the house with Aunt Charlene. Saturday night we stopped by Kelly & Kevin's house on the way home to visit with them as well as Kelly's sister Shannon, her husband Anthony, and their kids Cooper and Reilly. Mary Pat loved all of the attention she got from the big kids!

Here are a few pictures from the day including a few showing off some of Mary Pat's new tricks!

Looking outside

Having fun pulling all of Big Papa's cds from the shelves.

Our big girl!

An Afternoon at the Beach!

We spent a wonderful afternoon at Lido Beach while Nana & Victoria were visiting. Both Victoria & Mary Pat loved playing in the sand and Victoria even built a sandcastle with a "sand hole" (a moat). Although the ocean was still a little on the chilly side, Nana, Victoria and Chuck all enjoyed playing in the waves. Mary Pat was not a big fan of the cold water but we hope to get her used to it throughout the rest of the summer! She is like her Mommy and preferred watching others play in the ocean from the beach.

Enjoy the pictures below and at this link!

The two cousins playing in the sand.

Mary Pat trying to figure out what Victoria is doing with the shovel.Victoria couldn't wait to get to the ocean! Nana & Victoria heading into the (frigid) ocean for a swim. This is as far as Mommy and Mary Pat wanted to go in the ocean.
Family portrait on the beach!

Mary Pat loved the sand!

Central Park Zoo & Carousel

While Nana and Victoria were here we took a day trip into Manhattan. While in the city for the day we went to the Central Park Zoo, rode the Central Park Carousel, had delicious cupcakes from Crumbs bakery and met up with Chuck after work for a yummy dinner at Tony DiNapoli Restaurant in Times Square.

Both Mary Pat and Victoria had a great time at the zoo. Victoria loved watching the "seals" (sea lions) eat and getting to see all of the animals from the movie Madagascar. Mary Pat LOVED the penguins and got especially excited when they swam under the water. After the zoo we headed over to the carousel where Shannon took both girls for a ride. Neither one was too crazy about riding on a horse so we sat in the sleigh and had a wonderful time. Check out a few more pictures here. Mary Pat wasn't too sure about riding on a horse.......
Neither was Victoria, so we all ended up sitting in the sleigh on the carousel.

Fun at the Pool!

While Nana & Victoria were visiting, we made many visits to the Garden City Pool. Mary Pat has finally started to get used to the cold water and loves to splash around in the shallow end of the baby pool. Victoria loved both the baby pool and the big pool and is almost swimming completely on her own! Mommy (aka Aunt Shannon), Daddy (aka Uncle Chuck) and Nana all had fun playing in the water with the girls and Daddy even took a trip down the water slide for Victoria!

See below for a few pictures of the pool fun and follow this link for more!

Both girls looked precious in their matching bathing suits!

Taking a rest and snack break from all the swimming.
Victoria and Aunt Shannon having fun in the big pool!
Mary Pat and Daddy splashing around in the baby pool.

Victoria running around in the baby pool.

Mary Pat was happy to ditch the hat in the evening once the baby pool was in the shade!

Playing With Nana & Victoria

We were very lucky to have Nana and Victoria up for a visit last week! Mary Pat loved the vacation from day care and having her big cousin around to play with her! However, she most enjoyed having her Nana around for almost an entire week. Nana gave her good snuggles, lots of play time and most importantly, introduced her to MANY new foods. Over the past week Mary Pat has tried noodles, crackers, bagels, pancakes, bread, ravioli, french fries, soft pretzels and ice cream! She misses both Nana and Victoria and has been crawling around the house looking for them since Sunday afternoon!

Of course, Mommy and Daddy also loved having Nana and Victoria here. They were both a lot of help and the week went by way too fast! We can't wait to see them again soon.

Here are some pictures of the girls playing together during the week. We also made a few trips to the pool, the beach, and NYC to visit the Central Park Zoo and Carousel so look for many more pictures to come over the next day or two!

Mary Pat getting snuggles from Nana!
Victoria being a big girl helper feeding Mary Pat
Mary Pat enjoying her very first bagel!
Victoria showing Mary Pat how to put her blocks in the right holes.
Big Cousin, Baby Cousin!
Nana with her two favorite girls!

Mary Pat Goes to Washington!

A few weekends ago we decided to take a trip down to Washington D.C. to visit Aunt Shay Baby! For those of you who don't know, Shay graduated from Appalachian State University in May with her Master's Degree in College Student Development and has moved to Arlington VA to work in the Office of Housing and Residence Life at Marymount University.

We had a great weekend visiting with Aunt Shay Baby. She has a HUGE two bedroom apartment on campus at Marymount and we got to spend some time walking around the campus, checking out her office and even eating breakfast in the dining hall! Needless to say, eating at the dining hall was one of the highlights of the weekend for Chuck.

After driving down on Friday, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and then to eat at Uncle Julio's in Arlington. Saturday we got up bright and early, and after having a delicious breakfast at the dining hall, we headed into DC on the metro. We walked around the monuments and National Mall area all morning before stopping at the Museum of American History for some lunch and much needed air conditioning! After lunch we headed to the Capitol, Ford's Theater and the White House before ending our day in Georgetown for a yummy dinner. Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the time we got back to Shay's apartment.

We were very sad to leave Aunt Shay Baby on Sunday but we are happy that she is within driving distance of us now! We can't wait to see her again soon! Here are some more pictures from the weekend, some with people in them and some just of the sights.

Mary Pat was very happy to see Aunt Shay Baby on Friday!
At the Albert Einstein Monument
Posing with Abraham Lincoln inside the Ford's Theater.

With Aunt Shay Baby outside the White House.

Happy (belated) 4th of July!!!!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. On Thursday, Mommy & Daddy went to cousin Julie's wedding while Rosette babysat for Mary Pat. Mary Pat squealed in delight when she saw Rosette and they had a wonderful time playing!

Mommy and Mary Pat got to spend a wonderful Friday relaxing (Mommy did not have to work) before picking Daddy up from the train and heading to the pool for some evening swimming.

On Saturday, Jen came out to Long Island to visit with us and we had a delicious lunch at Leo's in town before heading to the pool. Mary Pat loved showing off her swimming "skills" (sitting and splashing in the baby pool) for Jen. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures in the pool but here is a link to a few of Mary Pat swinging at the pool playground.

Standing in the crib!!

Imagine Mommy's surprise last Thursday when she went to check on her laughing little girl only to find her standing up in her crib for the first time! Mary Pat had been playing quietly in her crib while Mommy got ready for a wedding. All of a sudden she started yelling and laughing really loud. When I went to check on her, there she was standing up like a big girl. She started laughing and smiling like crazy when I started clapping for her. As you can see from the pictures, she was very proud of herself!