Richmond Memories

I've been missing Richmond a little this week, so I thought I'd finally get around to posting a few pictures from our time there. Waaayyy back in the fall, my Aunt Mileta and Uncle Carter were visiting my cousin Jerrod in D.C., and they came down to Richmond for a few days, so we were able to hang out with them while they were in town.

Don't they look like they enjoy meeting Miss Cora?



We had so much fun!

We went to Jamestown and did the historical center/reenacted village thing. We saw lots of ships



And we climbed aboard those ships


And we even got to meet an old ship captain


Uncle Carter had some fun playing colonial dress up


And I had to get a picture of this


I kept referring to everything as "colonial X" or "ye olde Y" that day (you know, "ye olde musket" or "look, colonial vending machines!"), so I entitled this one, "Ye olde colonial hair: the Original Mullet."

I'm such a history buff. And these are just some cute Cora pictures we took that day




We also went to the lovely St. John's Episcopal Church, where Patrick Henry delivered his "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech. The churchyard is the burial place of George Wythe and Elizabeth Arnold Poe (mother of Edgar Allen Poe). Across the street is the house of Annabel Lee, and early love and namesake of the poem Annabel Lee (obviously). I don't think that's her car, though...


This is the church's exterior


Interior


And our fabulous guide, native Richmonder, and shown here with Cora doing a Sic'em Bears in honor of our Texas and Baylor connections (his daughter lives in Austin).


Just another cute shot of Mileta and Cora at the church


Random, but hilarious old sign painted on the side of a building:


Uneeda biscuit? Ineeda biscuit, too!

We visited an old cemetery where three American presidents are buried: James Monroe, John Tyler, and Jefferson Davis. Notice I said American presidents, not United States presidents.

Isn't this family crypt gorgeous? It was so tranquil.


The graves and monuments were lovely, but I thought you'd prefer to see us posing with Cora amongst the roses!




We also toured the Capitol building, the House of Burgesses chamber, and the grounds.





It was such a fun visit - so many cool Richmond/Virginia outings, and they were so good with Cora, taking care of her and being patient and understanding with all the ways that accommodating her might amend normal sightseeing activities. They seem ready, willing, and eager for grandparenthood...hint, hint (Landon? Jerrod?). I'm so glad they came. Love you guys!

Beg, Borrow, or Steal

Okay, so probably not steal, but it is wonderful to have a community within which you can do the others.

Tonight my women's small group met at our place, and within just one evening, all the following transpired:

-I returned a large diaper bag that I borrowed from one of the other girls to take on our Texas trip so I wouldn't have to check a bag (that's a $25 savings, each way!)
-A friend brought me yesterday's Sunday paper, which we get free at the gym and use for the coupons, and I gave her last week's, which I picked up for her
-I loaned one of the girls our carry-on sized luggage for a trip her family will be taking this week, since they will be flying with two car seats and needed something small enough to be manageable and also on wheels
-A batch of my maternity clothes was returned from one of the group members, and some of it was immediately transferred to another member who is quite pregnant now and needed a few of the pieces to supplement her work attire
-I discussed plans for Wednesday night - when Coleman and I will be going to see Wicked, for which he got tickets as a birthday surprise - with my friend who will be watching Cora that night
AND
-One of the girls, whose only shower drain is having major malfunction issues and whose plumber did not call today (despite their landlord's assurance that he would), needed a shower, so she took one at our place before she left.

Now, come on. Is that a great system or what? With so many of us so far from home and from our families, it is wonderful to have a community here to support and take care of one another. And thank God for fabulous women. My life is much fuller and more wonderful because of them.

Ah, the simple things in life

Kids are amazing.

Cora is sitting here and I'm trying to keep her entertained with this Leap Frog piano toy that has lights, sounds, a mirror, and "piano keys" that play music and teach shapes and colors. She likes it, but I just watched her get distracted from it by a cat hair on the couch.

Fancy, electronic toy...cat hair...flashy piano toy...cat hair. I can see how that would be a tough call.

And of all the toys she's ever played with, the ones that have lasted the longest and captivated her for the most amount of time are measuring cups. Plain old plastic measuring cups. My grandparents can attest, she can sit in my grandmother's high chair from when she was a baby (as she is seen doing here) and play with those suckers for forever.






(oh, and sometimes measuring spoons)

Her penchant for the low-tech joys in life is reassuring: perhaps this whole kid thing won't be quite as expensive an endeavor as we thought.

Yeah right!

Happy Baby

Cora loves her feet and she loves to be naked, so having both at once is a recipe for fun!

Just look at this happy, naked baby!


Just take a gander at my precious girl!

Sorry

I promise I've been trying to be better about updating, but blogger is currently having problems with their videos. I've been trying to upload one for a couple of weeks now - very frustrating!

If this isn't resolved soon, I may have to consider switching blog hosts, but I'll let you know before I do anything.

At any rate, I'll have to go through Christmas pictures and get some of those up since I can't seem to do videos right now. :o(

Check back soon...

Oh, and when I was clicking on a few old videos to see if they were working, Cora turned around and started watching them. She sat perfectly still - transfixed - and couldn't take her eyes off them. She loves to watch herself!