Christmas and Pensacola

The last week of December brought Jessica's first Christmas and her first post-Christmas trip to Pensacola (a tradition with her Mommy and Daddy since the year 2000). Here are some pictures from each:

Excited about her gifts from Santa Claus on Christmas morning:

Enjoying her presents at Granny and Grandad's house Christmas morning:

Admiring herself in the Greenville, Alabama, Comfort Inn, our stop for the night on the way to Pensacola on the day after Christmas:

With Mommy at the The Zoo — Northwest Florida (formerly Gulf Breeze Zoo):

Wearing Daddy's hat at The Zoo:

Walking along the pier at Pensacola Beach:

And walking along the beach adjacent to the pier:

Since it rained some of the time we were in Pensacola, Jessica needed to wear her raincoat:

Jessica and Mommy admiring the sunset from the pier:

And finally, feeding the seagulls on the beach:

On this road trip we learned the value of knowing the locations of every Chick-fil-A along the route — after a few hours in the car, half an hour in the Chick-fil-A playground does wonders for a cranky baby. It doesn't hurt her parents, either.

Long-Overdue Update

We've been so busy with the joys, frustrations, and wonders of being parents that we haven't made the time to update this site in five months now. Here are some of the highlights of what Jessica has been up to in that time:

Sometime over the summer, Jessica mastered the art of sitting up--a significant milestone for babies. She quickly got so good at it that she could simultaneously sit up and chew on a block:

During her brief sitting-up-but-not-yet-truly-mobile stage, the cats were still brave enough to approach her:

(They now give her a wide berth as she races--still on hands and knees--in their direction.)

Jessica got her first teeth at the age of four months; here she shows off two of her six teeth:

In early July, we all went to the Chattanooga area to visit the Eames family and to see some of our favorite Lookout Mountain/Chattanooga sites, such as the Tennessee Aquarium:

In early October, Jessica went to visit her Gramma and Grampa in Minnesota, where she got an early taste of winter:

Jessica has developed a great sense of humor. She thinks her mommy is the funnest, funniest person ever:

In mid-October, Jessica went to the zoo yet again, this time with not only Mommy and Daddy, but also Granny and Graddad:

Jessica has been to Stone Mountain Park many, many times--even more times than she's been to the zoo (but not nearly as many times as she's been to Borders!). Here she is with Daddy:

and exploring nature with Mommy:

Finally, during the last couple of weeks Jessica has become an absolute pro at crawling. We don't have any pictures of that because we can't keep up with her!