Happy Thanksgiving!

We certainly have so much to be thankful for!  We had a great Thanksgiving sharing it with our wonderful family!

Brian and Amanda stopped by Columbus to begin the week on their drive from North Carolina to Indiana.  It was great to be able to spend so much time with them during this holiday!  

 We then began our week of traveling the Midwest with our first stop in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with a big feast.  Blakeley met her Aunt Gayle, Uncle Eamonn, and cousins Scarlett, Magnolia, and Eamonn (aka Bayboo).  She also met her Great Grandmom. Her Mimi and cousin Shay were there to celebrate with us too!  

 We then headed to West Lafayette, Indiana to celebrate with Casey's family and enjoyed another delicious feast!  Blakeley also experienced her first Black Friday shopping event--some nice purchases were made with her Uncle Brian and Aunt Amanda.  

 We then headed to Cambridge, Wisconsin for the weekend.  Blakeley loved meeting her Great Grandma Donna and Great Grandpa Bill.  

We headed back to Columbus with a late, overnight stop in Ft. Wayne to break up the long drive home.  We are truly blessed and so thankful for the wonderful people in our lives!

Our Nation's Capital

Casey had a conference to attend, the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, which was held in Washington DC this year.  It isn't too far of a drive or flight from Columbus, so we decided to make it our first "family" trip! We packed and packed and packed and headed for DC. This little girl needs A LOT of stuff! We were quite nervous about this long car trip for Blakeley but she did great--sleeping most of the way there. Blakeley liked life in a hotel room: the big bed, she could see everything going on, and especially the big bath tub to splash and play in! 

In addition to relaxing, we did some sight-seeing while in DC, it was the weekend following Veterans Day when we visited some of the monuments in the National Mall.  Seeing all the historic sights and tributes to America and our veterans was moving...definitely a trip I will always remember (and Blakeley will have the photos to show she was there); it puts things in perspective when you reflect on what the monuments symbolize...truly amazing! 

We were fortunate to also take advantage of visiting family as well. Blakeley met her Great Aunt Susan & Uncle Mike. They treated us to a wonderful dinner at McGinty's Irish Pub and gave Blakeley some toys and cute clothes. It was great to be able to see them while we were there.  

We also took a trip to Alexandria, VA for dinner on  King Street in Old Town. We walked to the Potomac River to see the view of DC.  

 We had a great time on our trip!  

4 Months!

Blakeley is 4 months old! She is 14 lbs. & 3 oz. and is 25 1/2 inches long! She is outgrowing her 3-6 month clothes, especially her pj's because she is so long. She is having fun with her tongue and toes; they are her new favorite "toys". Her main form of communication lately has been squealing, screaming, and blowing raspberries. She rolls from side to side and has rolled over from her back to belly once--Casey and I were talking and missed the process, we looked over just as she was getting to her belly. She has become more in tune with her surroundings and environment, she prefers to sit up or face out when we are carrying her. When somewhere other than home she seems to take in her surroundings and the people around her cautiously, then opens up with smiles, "talking", and squirming with joy or the opposite: clinging to us for dear life with worried looks. She is growing and learning so much, so fast!

Great New Yorkers visit Columbus

Blakeley met her Great Grandma O'Callaghan and Great Aunt Nano! They made the trip all the way from New York to meet our sweet girl. We had lots of fun with them...seeing thhe OSU campus and eating out. We went to Sloopy's Diner in the Union for lunch, took a walk through campus, and then went to the 11th floor of the library to see a great view of Columbus. It was a great sight of the city as well as a silent place to study. The place was packed and of course Blakeley needed everyone to know she was there; she was squealing and laughing loudly the whole time. We then headed to German Village to Schmidt's Sausage house for an "authentic" german meal. The next day was Grandma's birthday, so we had a birthday dinner at Columbus Fish Market and ate the biggest piece of carrot cake ever! It was hard to say good-bye to such wonderful family but we had a fabulous time during their visit.