Thanksgiving

We kicked dessert up a notch this year: A little decadent chocolate-pumpkin tart a la Martha Stewart. If you want the recipe, I'd be happy to pass it along.

My girl's got the pose down to a science!

Reading with her great-grandfather. Yes, Grace can read.

The life of the party. Boy can she work a room. Look at that "come hither" stare.

We surprised these two with a 25th Anniversary trip to England!! I hope they take a picture of Pemberley for me.

...just in case you've all forgotten what I look like, since I'm usually the one behind the camera.

Grace and her Mom Mom Wilson sharing a laugh.

naptime + camera =

Rookie

Many of you might have heard that I did my first engagement photo shoot a few weekends ago. (Thanks for giving me the job, Stacy!) I had so much fun in downtown Annapolis with the couple and my fellow photographer and friend Mandy, who came along for the adventure! Here is a link to Stacy's Photography blog, which has a link to the slideshow ("Proud Mama" Nov. 19th.)

Cousins

Guess the relation: this cutie-patootie is Marissa. I have no idea what her relationship to my daughter is! Help! She's my mother's cousin's daughter, or in other words Grace's grandmother's cousin's daughter. Leave a comment if you can guess how Marissa and Grace are related, they were trying to figure it out all night.

By the way, Marissa is a little over a year old, and she is a huge football fan. She can do the ref signals for "offsides", "touchdown", and a couple others I can't even remember.

My cousins Shannah and Katie: I'm SO glad Grace has someone to teach her how to text message and do other worthwhile teenage-girl things!

Bryce: I told my 13 year-old cousin that he looks like a model in this picture. He took one look and said, "Hmm, yeah, I do." I guess the only thing to do is put this picture up on my business website!

Happy 10th birthday to my cousin Bradyn. I'm sorry your Ravens let you down, buddy.

Dr. Pepper

Oil painting

cubism

dizzy

the original

Which kind of Dr. Pepper do you prefer? I'm a fan of the cubism version.

Anyway, Aunt Tina and Shannah have arrived, and to celebrate the night of their arrival a bunch of family went out to America's Gourmet Burger restaurant Red Robin. If you've never been, GO. Where else can you get a Guacamole Bacon Burger and bottomless fries? It's the perfect place to get dinner when you're trying to fit into your pre-pregnancy wardrobe.

I am 7 months going on 8 months...

Grace is on the verge of crawling...I think she might do it alone at night in her crib while no one is watching. These are a few attempts captured with the trusty Nikon. And the last one....well, I just can't resist taking close-ups of that face! Do you think her eyes are going to be blue like daddy's or hazel like mommy's? Also, if you click on the picture you'll be able to zoom in and see the delicate film of crusty snot that is always present these days.

We have a busy week ahead as Thanksgiving approaches. Grace's great-aunt Tina and cousin-once-removed Shannah are flyin' in from Georgia tomorrow! It'll be their first time meeting Grace. I think I'll have a lot to take pictures of in the coming days, and I'll keep you posted.

Gross

Turn your back for a second and they'll start licking your windows.

is mom watching?...no? now's my chance..

Today...

...began a little fuzzy. Grace took a 2 hour nap this morning. Recently she's been sleeping a total of 2 hours over the course of an entire day, so she isn't used to getting so much rest.
After breakfast we got bundled up, and on the way to the car we admired our neighbor's pumpkin patch in the front yard.

We spent the afternoon visiting the girls I used to homeschool. Grace was a little overwhelmed with all the attention, and still drowsy from her long morning hibernation, but I'm sure she enjoyed spending time on a new person's lap. S also taught her how to play the guiter, but I didn't take a picture of that.

J introduced Grace to her dog, Casper. Casper loved to lick Grace's bare feet. Grace thought it was hysterical. The mommy in me was inwardly cringing at the thought of an animal's tongue touching my baby's bare skin, but it looked like so much fun I decided to loosen up a little.

After we said goodbye to J and S, we headed over to a private beach where I couldn't help letting Grace play with a little sand! I love living so close to the Bay, and don't mind a little trespassing to get a cute picture.

Grace was exhausted!