New Englanders Again

Wahoo! We're finally home. On Will's first birthday we moved to Marblehead, MA - a wonderful town on the shore about 15 miles north of Boston. So far we're adjusting well to the new house, new schools, and new town. We're taking care of all the important things like testing out the ice cream, pizza, and chowder restaurants. We're also loving just wandering around town and, thanks to some recommendations from a friend, we're finding lots of good stuff in the area. Including apple picking at Russell's Orchard. So much fun...and Will loved his first whole apple straight from the tree! Here are photos of our new community.

One Year!

I'm not sure how it flew by so fast, but Will is a year already! He spent his official birthday moving from Chapel Hill to Marblehead, so we had a fun party at out new house the next weekend. It was great fun to have lots of family and friends to help celebrate. He thoroughly enjoyed his carrot cake and the chance to play with everyone.

No official first steps yet. I like to think he's kindly taking his time and giving mom and dad a fair chance to baby proof the new house. He has a little language of his own, though he clearly says E-it for Ian and Mmmmmmm for anything related to food. He's go, go, go all the time - usually with an agenda all his own that he is determined to accomplish. It should be an interesting year ahead!

Eleven Months

Will celebrated his eleven month birthday this week. Milestones for this month include two top teeth, cruising, and his first attempts at walking with his push toy. I don't think the first steps are too far away. Will's favorite summertime activity is going to the pool with Ian and his friends. He just loves the water and is happy to spend hours playing there. Thank goodness because it's about the only suitable activity for the North Carolina summer!

10 Months!

Will is 10 months old...double digits! Well, almost 10 months but I've got blogging momentum today. I don't have much to add from the last post of five minutes ago, so instead, some recent pictures!

Nine Months & All Other Things Belated

With less than 24 hours until Will's 10 month birthday, I figured it was about time to post his 9 month news. And, why not catch up on everyone's busy lives while I'm at it?

Will is full of new tricks. Nine months marked official mobility and he is fast! He army crawls all over the place and is into everything he can reach. He waves, points, kisses, and we're working on clapping and blowing a kiss. He's still 100% enamored with Ian, who is just the best big brother.

Ian finished 4th grade with great success. He made the honor roll all four quarters and did exceptionally well on his end-of-grade testing. Now that school's out, he is attending a few science camps at UNC and enjoying his new bike, learning some new songs on the guitar, and hanging out with friends.

Brian and I are both doing well and keeping busy at work. Brian recently made a trip to California to show off his new iPhone application at the Oracle developer's conference. I finished off the third year of my PhD program and am now collecting data for my dissertation. I'm also back at NORC doing public health policy work four days a week from home.

Our house is still on the market in NC and we're very eager to move up to the Boston area once it sells. The summer down here is already balmy with most days over 90 degrees. Send any good real estate vibes our way if you can spare them!

We're all excited to head up to Northern VA to see Uncle Tim and Aunt Abby for the first time in a long time, and to spend time with Uncle Scott, Aunt Shannon, Isabella and Owen.