Marching with MeeMaw

One of Virginia's favorite things to do in Alabama was to march in front of the mirror in my parents' house while my mother (aka MeeMaw) was holding her. My mom would turn on the light and Virginia would whip around to face the mirror with a big smile on her face, as if to say "I'm ready for my closeup!" She would march and march and talk to the cute baby she saw.

Alabama Outings

Our time in Alabama was full of fun activities and reunions with old friends. We enjoyed having lunch with John McWilliams and getting a tour of my high school's new theater building.

Thomas and I also went to a Biscuits game with Aunt Liz. Thomas had a fun time scoping out all the future players for the Tampa Bay Rays and texting our friend James (who works for the Rays) about the young talent.

We also drove to Birmingham and had dinner with Charles Moore - Thomas's roommate from UVa. Charles's wife, Amy, gave birth to little Sally only 15 days after Virginia was born, so it was fun to get the girls together.

Sweet Home Alabama

Thomas and I spent two full weeks in mid-July visiting family in Alabama. Luckily, the weather cooperated most of the time we were there. Virginia met lots of my family while we were visiting. Here is Virginia meeting some of the Neelands and Webbs:

With Ed the Great:

Cousin Lawton:

Both Great Grandmothers - Granny and Nanny!

Aunt Nee Nee:

With Aunt Liz:

Great Aunt Janet:

Uncle Dave:

Cousin Beau (who is not a Neeland or a Webb - but we will claim him now that he lives in NC!):

Good Morning Sunshine!

One of our favorite things is watching Virginia wake up in the mornings. Below is a video we took while in Connecticut of her arms popping out of her swaddle.

Unfortunately, the swaddle is now officially gone. Because Virginia can now roll over, it is dangerous to have her arms pinned. Last night, we attempted our first no swaddle night . . . I was up about every 15 minutes getting her back to sleep. Her ability to wave her arms kept waking her up. Hopefully things will improve soon - I want my uninterrupted 8 hour stretch of sleep back!

Pool Parties

We spent lots of time in CT hanging out by the 1918 pool. Virginia wore her first bathing suit and even got into her own baby pool. Mainly, she just did a lot of napping in the shade. Thomas and his brothers caused general chaos with a new pool jousting game they ordered online. I did my yearly front flip off the diving board just to prove that I still can - even after a baby and a 30th birthday!

Boola Boola

It is never too early to start indoctrinating our daughter with Yale pride, so we took the chance to visit New Haven while we were in Connecticut. We took Wormy to Thai Taste for lunch - one of our old dating haunts many years ago. We roamed the campus and shopped for Yale gear with Uncle Steve and Douglas. Virginia Harvey - Yale Class of 2031!

At lunch at Thai Taste:

Notice the Yale banner in the background:

We Are Family

Virginia met LOTS of family during her travels, and we did our best to photograph each family member holding her. We unfortunately missed a few people, so we are giving those folks first dibs on the next trip!

Here is Virginia with her Connecticut cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

As the Worm Turns

Our trip was full of lots of milestones... not the least of which was Virginia beginning to roll over! On her 3 month birthday (our last day in CT), she amazed all the Macks by rolling from her back to her tummy. She waited until she had a big audience to do it - our girl is quite the showman! As we predicted, Virginia is proving to be a unique baby who wants to do things her way. Most babies roll from tummy to back first, but Virginia did it out of order.

Virginia wanted to make sure that the Alabama crew witnessed their fair share of milestones too - so she rolled from her tummy to her back a week later while my mom was babysitting her one afternoon. She hasn't duplicated the feat since, so we think this was an accident. Then on our last day in Alabama, she began rolling from her back to her tummy in the other direction (to the left). So, I have a baby who can roll from her back to her tummy in either direction, but then can't get off her tummy... which is a little frustrating for her. In any event, we are so proud of Virginia. We just have to watch her like a hawk on the changing table now!

Wormy's Big Adventure

On July 2, Thomas and I set out on the official Baby Harvey World Tour. We headed first to Connecticut to visit Thomas's extended family in Trumbull and Fairfield. Our first flight with Virginia was a success! She only cried for about 10 minutes of the six hour trip. Things were made easier because we purchased a seat for her on this flight and because Susan, Peter, and Douglas were traveling with us. Going through security with 5 adults and 1 baby is not bad!

We had a fantastic time in Connecticut seeing lots of family. A highlight of the trip included going to Lake Compounce - a local amusement park where Thomas and his cousins often went many years ago. Virginia even went on her first log flume ride...

(For those of you about to call Child Protective Services on us, you might like to know that Thomas's Uncle Steve is highly skilled in Photoshop)

Virginia met Great Gram for the first time and we took a four generations photo to commemorate the event.

We had lots of excellent food - courtesy of John and Joyce Mack. Lobster boils, chocolate macaroons, and choco tacos!