8 Months

I've been such a blog slacker lately...I've included some entries from the last couple of weekends as far back as Labor Day. Today Emma is 8 months old - and I have to say that we almost have a walking little girl on our hands! She's definitely mastered crawling, but spends a lot of her time getting up on two feet up against furniture and then lets go for as long as she can free-standing. It's amazing to see how much control she has. She babbles and makes noises all the time and laughs any chance she gets - she's a very happy girl. We are expanding her food intake little by little. I'm starting to get a little adventurous with table foods, but being the paranoid mommy I am, I'm taking it very slow. She holds her bottles all on her own when she eats and has mastered the sippy cup. I've also promised myself that I need to go through her closet and put away all of her clothes that she no longer fits into and need to expand her 9-12 month clothing for the colder months. We're excited to see what these next few months will bring as we get closer to the 1 year old stage! Have a great week everyone!

Morganton Festival

Every September the streets of downtown shut-down for the Morganton Festival. Every corner is lined with people who are there to enjoy the vendors that range in arts and crafts and of course yummy festival foods! The festival is only Friday night and all day Saturday with a headlining act that performs Saturday night - this year it was James Otto. We didn't stay for the music this year only because we didn't think Emma would have the attention span to enjoy it, but we did go with some friends of ours and walked around through the vendors and the kids area. The only "ride" that Allen took Emma on this year was the large slide - we're not sure how much she liked it, but it was fun to watch. I'm sure there will be more to enjoy next year when she's a little older.

Labor Day Weekend

My parents came down to visit for the Labor Day Weekend. The weekend was very relaxed - Allen decided to build Emma a swing-set; it's been something he has wanted to do for a while now and now that the weather will begin to feel like fall eventually, he figured it would be the perfect time. Emma loves being in the swing, she giggles as she swings back and forth probably because of the butterfly feeling that she feels in her tummy. Mom and I did a lot of cooking over the weekend, tried out some new recipes and did a little shopping. It was a good way to spend a 3-day weekend!

The Rollands' Summer Visit

Two weeks ago we had Allen's parents come to visit, which we very much enjoyed. It was a quick weekend, but we made sure to make the best of it by doing some really fun activities. They arrived Friday evening and we decided to go to one of our favorite Italian restaurants in town - the food was delicious. Then we got up early Saturday morning, went out to breakfast and decided to venture to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where we went to the Ripley's Aquarium. Allen and I have never been to Gatlinburg, it was on our list of "things to do" eventually, so this was as good time as any to see what was up there. We had heard great things about the aquarium and it turned out to be well worth the slightly long drive it took to get there. Emma really enjoyed walking through it - we were surprised at how attentive she was to everything there was to see; it took us about an hour and a half to get all the way through and since we had gotten up there later that afternoon we decided to go out to an early dinner on our way out of town. There is so much to do up there so I'm sure we'll be back, but we had a great time and look forward to having his family visit again!

Congrats Airman Apprentice Grimord

Last Thursday I went up to Chicago to meet my mom and dad to watch Thomas graduate from boot camp on Friday. It was just me this time - we thought about taking Emma and Allen with me, but since Thomas was going to be leaving right for his training school the evening that he graduated, we felt it would be too much to drag a 7 month old to and from. I had a direct flight up there and my parents got up there by car and met me at the airport. We stayed at the Navy Lodge on base near the Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes. We spent the rest of Thursday touring around and then met up at one of the local restaurants where a group of the Navy Moms that have all kept up through blogging the last two months met for a meet and greet. We got up really early on Friday only to sit in a long line to get through the gate, but eventually made it inside and waited for about an hour in the big hall where they held the graduation ceremony. It was a good ceremony and I we were all so proud to see Thomas make this accomplishment. Dad wore his uniform, per Thomas' request - my dad has been retired now for almost 5 years so it was a change to see him in his uniform again. Thomas looked great - he lost about 10 pounds, had a Navy haircut and wore his uniform nicely and with pride. Since his division was "grad and go" we spent the rest of the day with him and his division in the airport gate from about 3pm-8pm - it's a long time to sit in an airport terminal, but we didn't have any choice, we were with him and that was all that mattered. He is now in Pensacola, FL where he will be in A-School for about 6 weeks and then we will see where his first duty station will end up. I left Chicago early Saturday morning to come home and enjoy the rest of the weekend with Miss Emma and Allen. She was very good while I was gone - she took good care of her dad!
Enjoy the pictures and have a great week!

Navy Moms at the Meet and Greet

Hall where the ceremony took place

Mom and Dad waiting for the show to start... all we could think about was seeing Thomas!

Navy Band

Here they come....Division 286!

All the families of each division were seated in front of the divisions once they filed in

There's Thomas dead center - second row from the right, 4th sailor from the back (he's looking right at me)

Liberty call

First hugs...and tears of course!

Trying to make plans on where to meet at the airport

Salute!

My brother never smiles

airport pictures...

there's a little bit of a smile!

I am a United States Sailor.
I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America
and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me.
I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me
to defend freedom and democracy around the world.
I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage and Commitment.
I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.

Congrats Thomas - we're so proud of you!

Aunt Julie came to town!

This last weekend Julie came to visit us - she arrived late Thursday night and left around lunchtime on Sunday. It was so great to see her and to watch her interact with Emma. We had a great time while she was here - we did a little shopping of course, went out to dinner and just relaxed. Here are some pictures from the weekend...Aunt Julie brought a few gifts down for her goddaughter, the main gift being a tutu, it looked so adorable on Emma. Enjoy!