My daughter is how old?!

Elizabeth is nine months old as of Sunday. She had her doctor's appointment on Monday and here are her stats:
18 lbs, 13 oz: 50% percentile
28 in. long: 75% percentile
46.8 cm (head circ.): 90% percentile

Lizzie is doing wonderfully, as always. Dr. V is still on maternity leave so we saw Dr. M today. She's nice but I like Dr. V better. Can't wait til she's back!

Currently, her favorite activities include:
taking books off of bookshelves,

playing with Dad's wallet--she knows which one is the credit card,

eating new foods (here she tries a mini cinnamon doughnut),

laughing at everything,

and pulling herself up to everything (here, she watches as the tub fills up for her nightly bath).

Talk to you later!

Remember the days of September?

In NJ, we always begin school the Wednesday after Labor Day (so yes, it was weird at BYU when school started in AUGUST). It meant a few more days of glorious napping before hitting the books once more:

I'm a bit jealous of my siblings who went back to school yesterday. I even told them so. There's nothing in the world like the feeling of beginning a new school year--excitement, anxiousness, happiness, nervousness, etc. In grade school, I'd have my bookbag ready and my first-day-of-school outfit picked out two weeks before actually stepping into the school building. I can't wait to send Lizzie to school and I hope she looks forward to it every year like I once did. Here is Liz in front of some of my old textbooks from BYU.

Don't worry, I'll encourage her to like math, just like her Dad and her uncles. ;)

We spent Labor Day weekend in NJ of course, and thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad. We've been experimenting with a new way to get up to NJ--mainly to avoid I-495 and parts of I-95 where there's construction--and it's worked out fairly well so far. I helped Katie clean up her mess of a room and she filled up two trash bags' worth of old clothes for our stake's clothing exchange.


The beginning of this month brought cooler weather very suddenly. I now have Liz in her cute little pants (which have to be rolled up; poor girl has inherited her mom's and dad's short legs) and we're back to socks, which we haven't seen in months! I'm enjoying this cooler weather so far--it means we break out the hoodies, we go on hot chocolate runs, and we don't sweat to death during our walks around the neighborhood!
Oh Mom, you caught me!

Swing smiles

What?

I didn't do it, I promise!

Just standing around


My parents are coming down on Saturday to go to the temple, and Julia will be coming along for the ride so she will hang out with Liz and me! (Kate is working and Joe has a soccer game.) Chris is going on a scout trip this weekend--involving canoeing--awesome! Talk to you soon!

Last Days of Summer

Since our last post...

I turned 22! Woo-hoo! It's official--I'm old ;) Ice cream cakes have become the fave of mine.

My brother, Elder Jett, has passed his one-year mark as a missionary. Go Bill!

Chris is one month away from taking the LSAT. He's been studying diligently every night and I know he will do extremely well!

Liz continues to climb, to crawl, to explore everything.


I've made my first German meal--rouladen and hot German potato salad.

We've been to Jersey, of course. We got some more beach time in!


Chris got his first (and not last) taste of Duffer's in Wildwood.

We made a trip up to Gettysburg, PA--which is only an hour away from us--how cool is that?!


We've been to a luau! Cape May always knows how to have a party!





I tell you--summers are, and have always been, my favorite time of the year. There is a permanent excitement in the air! Summer means beach, BBQ, light reading, sunshine, boardwalk, fireworks, playtime--it's the best! I can say with certainty that we are sad to see it go...

Deep in the heart of Texas

The Dallas temple,

downtown Fort Worth at night,

QuikTrip,

SAM MOON,

A&D Buffalo's,

...this list goes on!

Our trip to Texas was very nostalgic and very fun. Nostalgic when we first got to DFW because everything we saw seemed to have a good memory associated with it, and fun because Texas is simply a fun-loving, laid-back kind of place. I wish more places would take on those qualities!
Liz finally met her Opa, her uncles, and even her GG (Great-Grandma Killion).
Liz with her Uncle Mark

Liz with her Uncle John

Liz with her Uncle Paul

Liz with her Aunt Millie--she likes to pull long hair

Liz with her Daddy

One morning we drove to Sulphur Springs, TX to meet Grandma Killion. We had lunch at Furr's and John found this really cool park (just like Ocean City, NJ!) and we had a great afternoon!
Liz with Grandma Killion

Four Generations

Liz with John

On her TX car!

Going down the slide with Aunt Millie


We went down to Waco, Texas, which is about an hour and a half ride down I-35 from Fort Worth. Visiting Baylor Law School was our main priority down there, but we had to visit the Dr. Pepper Museum= very cool. I am very happy we stopped by!



Baylor has a beautiful campus right off the Brazos River in Waco. The Law Building is very new, state-of-the-art, you name it! We met with the Associate Dean of Admissions and we were given a tour of the building. Beautiful, beautiful place. There's potential there. ;)



We hung out a lot with Hillary and John. Man, when Chris and John get together we laugh and laugh. I love it! We spent a night with the Aaron's. Papa Murphy's+ The Dark Knight on Blu-ray= A-mazing! Valerie treated Hillary, Samantha, and I to a Girls' Day with lunch at Cheddar's and a visit to Sam Moon. Okay, I love Sam Moon. You walk in, and all you see is purses. Purses, belts, jewelry, handbags, shoes...oh boy it is an experience.

(We went back several times; you can see that Chris and Liz are happy about that!)

Chris's family was kind enough to throw me an early birthday party, complete with gifts,

and an amazing ice cream cake! Thank you guys :)


We had a wonderful time. We wish that TX wasn't so far away from MD so that we could make more frequent trips there. Liz had a wonderful time too; she couldn't get enough of her Granny, Opa, and her Uncles and Aunt. We HAD to take her over to the Fossil Ridge and Park Glen wards on Sunday so our Texas friends could meet her and they loved her too. Everyone loved her! Repeatedly we were asked if she could stay when it was time for us to fly back to BWI. On a few occasions we were told she WOULD be staying in Texas! haha
So now we are back home in MD and awaiting our next North Wildwood trip. Talk to you soon!

Oh Liz, here it begins!

She's got rhythm, folks--


Get ready,

Get set,

GO!

Liz started crawling last Wednesday; here is a short video of her that day!


Liz meets Jasper the dog (Fort Worth, TX):


I will blog about our trip to Texas very soon! Until then, enjoy the videos!