Claire's First Trip to the Ballet + Bros Trip to Pittsburgh

On Thursday morning, the day after our excursion to Bainbridge Island, we picked my brother up from the airport. He'd flew in from China for his spring break! We hung at a nearby park for a while, had lunch at Chipotle, and dropped Allie off at the airport for her flight back to Houston.





Scott was here for a scholarship interview in Pittsburgh, so on Friday we got him all fixed up. We went shopping for a new blazer and got him a haircut. On Saturday, he helped us out a bit. Well, quite a lot actually. One of Adam's coworkers was giving away a free swing set, so that morning he and Scott went to claim it. Turns out it was much larger than we thought - they left at 8:30 a.m. and didn't come home until 3:00 p.m. when we had to be downtown in thirty minutes for the ballet!

Scott helped Adam disassemble a play structure all morning (without complaint!) and then watched Maggie while we took Claire to the Pacific Northwest Ballet's performance of Snow White. The day was much more stressful than we planned, but thankfully we made it to the theater right in time. The show was especially for children, so it was narrated and only an hour long. Claire dressed in her Snow White gown in honor of the occasion and seemed to really enjoy herself. Although she was a little disappointed that she didn't get to meet Snow White or dance on stage.





We ended the day with a much-deserved trip to Five Guys and the next morning, the guys headed to Pittsburgh for Scott's interview. They got to stay with Maggie's godparents, Joe and Alex (who are expecting Joe Jr. next month!) While Scott was off interviewing, touring, and meeting on Monday, Adam got to see old professors and our dear priests at the Newman Center. They had lunch with Adam's roommate Jonathan in the Strip District, dinner with Claire's godfather Andy at The Porch, our favorite restaurant near campus. They met up with our good friends, Matt and Kelly, for drinks at a swanky new bar. (Matt and Kelly have two sons the same ages as Claire and Maggie. We may have some betrothal plans in the works...) Obviously they had to squeeze in time for ice cream at Dave & Andy's. And they had breakfast at Pamela's before heading to the airport on Tuesday. I'm glad Adam got a chance to catch up with so many of our favorite people!

Insta-Pittsburgh

 

The best part of the Sea-Tac airport. Well, second to the family line at security that let us jump ahead of everyone else!

After a long, long day of flying, it was so good to be back.



What if there were two of her?! Claire did much better sleep-wise this time than on our Christmas vacation to Houston. This first night, when we were staying in a hotel, was the roughest. She did not want to sleep in a pack-n-play at all. In the span of two minutes, she cried so much that she made herself throw up and also managed to have a poop explosion.



After that all went down {at 1:00 am, I might add} we decided to give co-sleeping a shot. She doesn't like to snuggle, though, so she eventually conked out at our feet on the very edge of the bed. Don't worry, we didn't leave her like that!



Baby friends. Amelia's little ponytail gets me every time!



Lunch with Mr. Pete at a favorite Oakland spot, the Porch.

A smile for her godfather!



Two little panthers jumping on the bed.



Who is happier to be sitting in my lap? Not my own daughter...



Finally over her stranger anxiety, right before we head to the airport.



Ready for boarding!



Crossing the Rockies towards home.



What sleeping in until 10:15 looks like. Sometimes an overtired baby just needs to sleep fourteen hours straight to recover. And her parents didn't mind one bit!

This trip went way, way better than our Christmas vacation less than a month ago. We knew what to expect on the long plane rides and had a better handle on how to keep a busy baby occupied. Claire slept a lot better and was much less anxious around strangers {since everyone had their own cute babies to hold, she wasn't the center of attention}. But, remember how she cut a tooth over Christmas, which brought her immune system down and led to her catching a cold and throwing up a few times?

Well, that happened again! She threw up twice on Sunday morning, but we chalked it up to the few bites of chili she had at the Newman Center chili cook-off the night before. She seemed like her normal self the rest of the day {well, normal overtired and anxious traveling-self} so we didn't think too much of it. When she threw up three more times on Monday {including once on the plane, but then she slept for two hours straight, so we'd still call it the best flight of either trip} we started to worry, although she still wasn't acting sick. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the chili because the girl's had taco meat and refried beans before and been absolutely fine!

She slept in super late on Tuesday, which of course was very weird, but what really put me over the edge was how she fell asleep on the pile of laundry she was "helping" me fold shortly thereafter. I took her to the doctor, who diagnosed it as a stomach virus, and then later that day I spotted the culprit, tooth number five, poking through.

She's definitely on the mend now and only got sick once on Tuesday and Wednesday. So far, so good, today. Is there a baby sign for "I'm about to throw up?" because I'm a little tired of cleaning vomit off the carpet. I had a lot of problems spitting-up as a baby though {in fact, one of my uncles may have called me the worst baby ever} so I guess this is payback.

If you're interested, you can find me researching steam cleaners and figuring out where we can store one in our tiny apartment...

Pittsburgh Visit

Over the long weekend, we got to visit all of our friends in Pittsburgh! We flew in really late on Thursday night, so we just stayed in the hotel connected to the airport. The rest of the time, our friends, Tim and Abigail, acted as very generous hosts. Their daughter, Amelia, is a month younger than Claire. The last time Claire and Amelia got to hang out, Amelia was less than a month old.



This time, it was so cute to see the little girls playing together. Although, really it was more like stealing the other baby's toy and chasing after each other!

Follow the leader. 

Let me show you some cords we can chew on!

A sweet moment captured, that probably devolved into stealing or slapping shortly afterwards.



Our friends, Matt and Kelly, joined the rest of the gang for a trip to the Strip District on Saturday morning.



The baby mamas.



Claire was so exhausted that she napped in her stroller the entire time. That never, ever happens!

We got to have lunch with Adam's old roommate, Pete, which of course had to include a stop at Dave & Andy's. During college, Adam, Pete, and the rest of their roommates made a weekly ice cream excursion there.

 

Matt and Kelly's son, Jude, is exactly two months younger than Claire. They first met when Jude was only three days old. They've actually been betrothed since Jude was still in the womb!



Jude making his move. Claire thinks they're taking things a little fast...



Caught holding hands!



Pitt Class of 2034? I found those shirts on super clearance at an Old Navy here in Seattle. I had to scoop some up for a photo shoot! When Amelia woke up from her nap, she got in on the action. Two parents were assigned Cheerio duty...





There are many, many outtakes, but we managed to get a few with everyone sort of in focus and sort of looking at the camera.









There were four of us at the Newman Center expecting their first babies last spring. Here we are with our interior babies at our Mardi Gras party last February:



And here we are almost a year later!



Isn't life beautiful?! Even if 75% percent of the babies are chewing on plastic cups. Oh, the realities of parenting. From left to right:

- Rosemary with Michael Augustine
- Abigail with Amelia Marie
- Kelly with Jude John Paul
- Caitlin with Claire Camille

I can't believe Claire ended up being the chubbiest baby! I am so proud of her little thunder thighs.



I would be remiss not to mention Claire's godfather, Andy! As you can see, Claire was quite happy to be reunited.



You've been so good to us, Pittsburgh, and blessed us with the best of friends. Let's make this happen again, guys!

Trip to the Zoo

Last week, we kicked off summer with a trip to the zoo. We bought a Google Offer for two tickets back in October and were really excited about this being our first fun outing as a little family. 

 





It turns out, though, that infants aren't so into the zoo. Who knew?

Spring Break

Last week was Adam's spring break. We just stayed at home and relaxed. Adam did some homework; I worked on a photo book. We both completed some baby projects and enjoyed our very quiet apartment, courtesy of our upstairs neighbors leaving for the week.

Even though spring break started off with snow, it ended with a sunny skies and temperatures in the sixties. So, of course, we had to get outside and enjoy the city!

One afternoon, we headed to the Strip District for some donuts.





And finally checked out the Heinz History Center. Can you believe I never went there in my four years at Pitt? That's quite embarrassing for a history major to admit.



Another day, we walked through Schenley Park to Phipps Conservatory. Oh, I love that place.





We ended the excursion with a trip to our favorite spot in the whole city. Yum!



Seriously, though. We are planning to get an ice cream cake from there for Adam's birthday and graduation. We've been debating what flavor to get for months. Raspberry cookies & cream? Nutella? Such a hard decision.

The Rest of Thanksgiving Break

While Adam's family was in town, we took them to all our favorite Pittsburgh restaurants and attractions, like Phipps Conservatory...





...and the Duquense Incline.





The weekend after Thanksgiving, we made an impromptu, whirlwind visit to my grandparents in Ottawa, Canada. It was a lot of driving in two days, but worth every second on the road to see them.



While we were there, we had just enough time to swing by our favorite Canadian spots.





We stopped for dinner in Buffalo on the way back. I'd heard Mighty Taco was a Buffalo 'thing' from some college acquaintances. I have to say, it was really gross. I'm pretty sure they put slices of provolone cheese on the tacos. Blasphemy! That is how we established a new family rule - no eating Mexican food in upstate New York.

P.S. I took advantage of our very clean for company apartment to take some updated pictures for the 'Our Home' page.