Travels and Pictures

Eliza turned 8 months this weekend and this last month has just flown by because we've been in and out of town so much.  Jeremy has been traveling a lot for work and we took two trips as a family - one to Santa Fe for Thanksgiving and then Eliza and I tagged along for Jeremy's work trip to St. Croix.

Eliza traveled great to Santa Fe - we drove it with Brett and Jermanie in the back seat to keep her company and she didn't cry once!  We rented a house with my parents, the boys, Audrey and David and the Basharas and it was a whole lot of fun.  I had a bit of a disaster with my first Thanksgiving turkey because the oven in the house was WAY hotter than it was supposed to be, but Josh and mom swooped in and saved the day.  We were close enough to the Plaza to walk and just mainly hung around the square and the house, having fun.  Jeremy insisted on taking Eliza while I went to a 3 hour cooking class on New Mexican cuisine, and I had so much fun, and now am ready to try out my new skills!  It was a very relaxing and fun weekend with tons of delicious food.

We got back from Santa Fe late on a Sunday and Jeremy left early that Monday for Jersey again.  When he returned late Friday he had Saturday at home and we left early early Sunday morning for St. Croix.  Poor guy was beat.  Eliza did okay on the six flights - some were better than others.  At one point we were separated and no one wanted to move to let us sit together and that was a bit scary - I was ready to threaten the person next to me with a big messy breastfeeding display before she finally agreed to move at the last minute so the crisis was averted.  When we got to St. Croix Jeremy had to work for a couple of days and then we had three days to enjoy it together.  It was a very different trip from our previous St. Croix visits, as we couldn't really do anything in the water or go too crazy in the rainforest, so we just did a lot of relaxing with fewer than usual pina coladas and some scenic drives.  We got Eliza a traditional St. Croix bracelet and it is the cutest thing in the world.  She really enjoyed playing in the sand but wasn't crazy about the water.  We are signed up for swimming lessons here soon so hopefully she'll get more comfortable.  Overall it was just really nice to get to spend some time together without Jeremy worrying (too much) about work.  This has been a long year for him with few breaks so he definitely needed the down time.

Eliza has been doing great, for the past few weeks she has been showing a lot of interest in learning to crawl.  She's not quite there yet, but can get from sitting to her belly and back, and can worm her way backwards, which is stinking cute.  My video camera is not cooperating, so I can't post the video but I will try to get Jeremy to figure it out here soon.  Other than that, she is just a bundle of fun, very happy and smiley overall.  Now I just need to hurry up and get the house babyproofed!!

And without further ado, a zillion pictures to catch up :)

Little Miss in her Thanksgiving gear, showing off her awesome tongue

Santa Fe was great because so many people were around to carry her - my back got a break!

First plane ride!

Playing at the Dallas Airport

When you're this tuckered out you can sleep anywhere - even the airport floor!

I wish I looked this cute in a swimsuit!

Palace of a Bulgarian Countess - we've always seen this from afar but decided to drive up for a closer look this time

Happy to be home with her puppies

This was from a day where she refused to nap - she's looking at me saying . . I'm not tired . . . at all . . . I swear!

Ginger snuck a kiss!

Practicing crawling!

Hanging with cousins - little Lauren is the only one that rivals E's size!

Best buddy Jack!