My future Nittany Lion

I would love for Loryn to go to Penn State just like her mommy and her grandpa Larry. Here is Loryn modeling her new PSU shirt from my sorority little sister Jen.

15 months old

Loryn had her 15 month doctor appointment today. She is in excellent health (knock on wood). Loryn's ears are 100% better than they were, so we don't have to go and see an ENT at this point. The doctor thinks Loryn may have a weak immune system (figures since I have one too) and that is why she has gotten so sick recently. Her body just can't handle getting sick, so she gets all these secondary infections (and LOTS of ear infections). We will be monitoring her ears, and if she needs tubes, then we will do that for her.

Loryn's height is 31.5 inches (76th percentile), weight is 19 pounds 10.5 ounces (6th percentile), and head circumference is 18 inches (41st percentile). Since Loryn has been consistent in her 5-10 percentile range in weight, the doctor isn't concerned. Especially when Loryn is eating me out of house and home. just kidding. But seriously, Loryn is eating a lot. Two days ago for lunch Loryn ate 2 slices of pizza (no crust) and a 1/4 cup of peas and was still asking for more. Loryn is getting in 3 teeth right now, and I think a fourth may start breaking through soon. The doctor has suggested since Loryn is starting to try to feed herself with a spoon/fork, for us to have a bath snack. That way Loryn can practice with a spoon of yogurt or something in the bath, so it is okay if she makes a giant mess. She suggested either doing it before a meal and making it an appetizer or after a meal and making it dessert. If we do it, I will surely post pictures because she can be quite messy at times.

Loryn's First Visit to Birmingham

On Christmas Day we set off for Birmingham. Loryn cried when we entered Georgia and cried when we entered Alabama. We thought it was funny that she decided to start crying as we crossed over the boarders. We arrived on Christmas night and had a nice relaxing evening with my Uncle Larry and Buddy. Loryn and Eric are huge fans of my Aunt Cinda's cooking. Loryn ate a lot and tried lots of new foods. She ate lasagna, sausage biscuits, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, orange sweet rolls, split pea soup, sirloin steak soup, McDonald's Happy Meal (chicken nuggets), Bbq chicken, and Bbq pork. We took Loryn to Sylacauga to visit my cousins Ronnie and Karen, and my Great Uncle Sonny. We also took a tour of my grandparent's old house, Sylacauga, the Salloway Building, and my Aunt and Uncle's old house. We had a great time at the Birmingham Zoo and our favorite part were the tigers. Eric took Loryn out to a park and Loryn had a great time on the slide and playing with pine cones. We also went to visit my grandparent's grave. My great grandparents are also buried there and Loryn kept trying to leave her pacifier with my grandparents. We had to explain that you leave a rock not a pacifier.

My Aunt and Uncle watched Loryn for us so we could go out for our anniversary on Wednesday night. Loryn just loved my Aunt and Uncle and their dog Buddy. For New Year's Eve, Eric and my Aunt and Uncle and I had a very nice dinner in the dining room. Eric and my Uncle had a great time talking sports and watching bowl games. My Aunt and I went to the movies and rented a few movies.

The week went by so fast. We can't wait to visit with them again.

We took Loryn out to the park. She loved the slide. Absolutely loved it!
Me, Loryn, my Great Uncle Sonny (he will be 90 in March), and my Aunt Cinda
Loryn is an Alabama fan!
Eric and Loryn

My Aunt Cinda, Uncle Larry and Loryn

Happy Anniversary

Today was our 2nd wedding anniversary. We had such a great day. We enjoyed time at the park with Loryn and my Aunt Cinda and then went out to lunch to a great little bakery called Edgars. We finished off hte evening at a great restaurant called 26. We highly recommend this restaurant. On Wednesday nights they do wine tasting, so we had a great time.

Here is our menu from dinner. When I say YUM, it doesn't even begin to describe this meal.

We started out with thier house made potato chips with a bacon ranch dip and their chicken satay with a sesame peanut sauce. For dinner we enjoyed the Gulf Coast Shrimp, George’s Bank Sea ScallopsProscuitto Ham, Shiitake Mushrooms, Sweet Peas Handmade Strozzapretti Pasta, Sage White Wine Cream and the Citrus Braised Short Ribs with a Spicy Ham Cheese Grits Cipollini Onions, Summer Squash Natural Jus. The food was so good and so filling and rich. We ended up bringing back half of the meal for my Aunt and Uncle to try.

First Hanukkah Present

Last night we went and had dinner with Eric's brother Brian and his wife Karen. I should have taken pictures of the nursery and completely forgot. Our nephew Gabriel is due at the end of March and his room is perfect-it is decorated in a sports theme and the walls are just a very pretty blue. We had a great time hanging out, having dinner and opening presents. Uncle Brian and Aunt Karen bought Loryn a ball pit. She had so much fun dancing and jumping up and down on the box. We can't wait to set it up in the house and invite Brian and Karen over here.

Please check out some fun pictures of Loryn opening her present with her Uncle Brian.

Take me to the Zoo

Loryn and I went to the zoo yesterday with our friend Jeff Reese. Since he and I are both not working right now, we thought it would be fun to get out and go visit the zoo. Loryn had so much fun. She got to see the giraffes, pet a giant 700 pound pig, go on a private tour and check out some really neat birds and a giant giant porcupine. We had such a great day. It was a nice trip to hang out with a good friend and let Loryn experience the zoo.

Here are some great pictures from our little adventure...
Arriving at the zoo and checking out all the animals
Not sure if you can see it, but there is a tiny new baby gorilla. It was half the size Loryn was when she was born. Just tiny.
At Starbucks after the zoo. She loved being able to walk around. And she was given a free scone
Jeff holding the owl
Me holding the owl, and Loryn checking it all out.
It is amazing that the owl only weighed 4 pounds, but it seemed like a heavy 4 pounds when it all rested on your hand
Susie taking Loryn into see the giant pig. We each got to pet the pig. It was a really cool experience.
Loryn checking out the giraffe.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving at Eric's mom's house was a whole lot of fun. There were lots of people there. Eric and Loryn and I (of course), Eric's mom and stepdad, Eric's grandmother, Marshall's parents, Eric's step brothers Jonathan and Eric, and Eric's wife Heather. Loryn loved the sweetpotatoes, the turkey and gravy and carrots. She especially loved her cupcake. Enjoy some pictures below from the festivities of the day.