November 6, 2000 - Out for a Stroll

When Erin was a newborn, one of the things that she really seemed to enjoy was when I'd bundle her up and take her for a walk. She'd stare off at the things around her, and I'd always wonder what she was thinking about this strange new world she was living in. She was always quite peaceful on these walks, and it was like a special time that we could share together. These days, I look at pictures like this and then at the young lady sitting across from me (who's multitasking, playing a game on the computer and texting away on her phone) and it's hard to believe that they're the same person. Wow...

August 30, 2006 - First of Many

Everyone knows about the relationship that girls develop with the phone. They spend HOURS on it, giggling and gabbing with their friends. On this summer day in 2006, Erin called one of her friends for what wound up being a rather lengthy (for 6-year-olds) conversation. She even hopped up on the counter and made herself comfortable for the long haul. I just remember looking at her up there, leg tucked up under her, thinking that this was no doubt the first of many such conversations. And I was right. Although these days, she usually talks on her cell phone, and rarely does she hold her conversations where I can see, let alone listen to, her doing it. 

July 1, 2001 - Getting Creative with Bath Time

Giving babies baths can be something of a pain. The adult has to practically break their back leaning over the tub, control the wriggling and slippery baby, AND make sure that all the nooks and crannies get their proper cleaning. When Erin was a baby, we found a great solution for all of this when we visited my parents' house: we bathed her in the kitchen sink! No bending, it was the perfect size, and except for the stainless steel sink and counter being a little chilly sometimes, she seemed to really enjoy it. We just had to make sure to grab the shampoo instead of the lemon juice bottle.

February 22, 2003 - All Tied Up

Lots of little girls like to play dress up. I specifically remember loving to play in my mom's high heeled shoes and my grandmother's frilly nightgowns. Erin's not so different. She's always enjoyed teetering around in my shoes and trying on my jewelry. But when she was little, she really enjoyed playing around with Jim's ties. On this memorable day, she insisted on putting them ALL on at one time. She still hasn't mastered a perfect Windsor knot, though.

August 11, 2008 - Date Night at Sea

One of our favorite things about taking cruises is that there's really something for everyone. On each cruise that we've done, Erin has had a great time in the kids' club, and has spent many evenings there, playing with her new-found friends. That's especially nice because it makes it easier for Jim and me to enjoy the adults-only restaurants that each ship typically has. In 2008, aboard the Liberty of the Seas, we got to visit both of the grown-up dining options, and they were among our favorite meals that we've ever enjoyed on a cruise. Not that we don't enjoy eating with Erin at night, but it's nice to have dates nights now and again, too!

May 27, 2007 - Bedtime Buddies

What kid doesn't dream of having their dog sleep on their bed with them? Erin certainly did! At home in New Jersey, Erin slept in a twin-sized bed, and there was no room for Molly (who takes up way more than her fair share of the space). But when we'd go to Ann and Peter's house in Baltimore, Erin got to sleep on a bigger bed, and Molly was more than happy to curl up with her at night. These days, Erin has a queen-sized bed, and Molly sleeps with her every, single night. She starts out curled up at the foot of the bed, but lately, she's been doing middle-of-the-night migrations, and Erin awakes to find her right up next to, with her head practically on the pillows. Very cute... But can you say "spoiled?"

June 25, 2005 - Cousins

Ever since Erin has known who she is, she's completely adored her cousin Hannah. Hannah is 4 years older than Erin, and that means she's just old enough to have that mystique about her that fascinate little girls. I had the same thing with my cousin Stacie - I idolized her, wanted to be like her, and could never be with her enough. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to spend a lot of time with Hannah, but that doesn't mean Erin loves her any less. The two of them IM each other, and Erin likes looking at Hannah's updates on my Facebook account. It's hard to believe that Erin's now the age that Hannah was in this picture. My, how they've both changed. But I'm sure if they saw each other today, they'd be just as close as they were here.

April 20, 2004 - A Capital Visit

In April, 2004, I got to attend a professional conference being held in Washington, D.C. Because it was so close to home (relatively speaking, as opposed to the one the next year, which was in Las Vegas), Jim and Erin came with me. While I learned all about new recruiting tricks and tips, they spent the days doing the tourist thing in DC! They went to the zoo, checked out the Air and Space Museum, and had a really great time. I just looked at these pictures this morning to see when the trip was, because tomorrow we're meeting a friend of mine for lunch that we haven't seen since then (we were at the same conference). I can't wait to see her, and I can't wait to see her reaction to seeing how much Erin's grown and changed in the six years since then. Wow!  That's a long time in the life of a 9-year-old!

January 4, 2009 - Welcome "Home!"

Our trip from New Jersey to California was, for the most part, a fun-filled week that we'll no doubt never forget. Each state that we entered was a big deal for us (and especially Erin, who had never been to them before), and we took pictures of as many welcome signs and welcome centers as we could. But when we finally arrived in California, THAT was a big deal. It was our new home state, and I was glad I was able to grab my camera and get a picture of the sign (even as we traveled at quite a fast clip). We may leave and return to this state many times, but this first time was special!

February 18, 2002 - Aunt Ann

In February, 2002, Jim's sister Ann came to visit us for the first time since Erin had been born. Erin took an immediate liking to her Aunt (who, for a long time, she called Eh-Ann, as she couldn't quite pronounce "Aunt"), and enjoyed the visit thoroughly. Ever since then, Erin's always looked forward to her time with Ann, whether it was at our house or hers, and she's just as excited about Ann's upcoming visit in a few weeks. In fact, we all are! Just three more weeks to wait! Woo-hoo!

March 12, 2010 - Guard Puss

One thing you can say about Mia, she sure decides that some interesting places make good nap spots. For a few weeks, this Corona case was a favorite spot to snooze. When we'd get too close to her spot, she'd give us the hairy eyeball look that said, "Stay far away! I'm protecting these here bottles!" Uh, OK. But seriously, when we got rid of the box (because, let's face it, the beer's purpose is to be drunk!), she went to the spot a few times and looked fairly put out to find it missing. Sorry, puss.

August 1, 2006 - Meet Molly!

In honor of Molly's 4th birthday today, I thought I'd post one of the very first pictures I ever took of her! When we put Uno down, we had decided not to get another dog, at least not right away. But that very afternoon, when we came home to a dog-less house for the first time in over 14 years, we knew that we had to have another dog. Just three short days later, we brought home Molly. From the very first moment we laid eyes on her, all three of us were hooked. And now, almost four years later, we're still hooked. Sure, she's incredibly goofy (I mean, have you ever seen a dog that will not willingly go up or down stairs without a huge amount of coaxing?), and sure her nose has changed color (it's now a very light brown, almost pink), but she's our Miss Molly, and she's a huge part of our family. So here's to you, Molly! Happy birthday!

January 25, 2008 - Silly Puss (Part 367.2)

As my parents are now re-learning first hand, there's not much more entertaining in life that watching a cat, especially when they're exploring a new home. Such was the case with our own Missy Puss, Mia, when we first got her. She found the goofiest places in the world to "hide." One of them was inside (yes, inside) Erin's step stool. She was small enough to climb in one end and peek out the other. What you don't see in this picture, though, is that her tail never quite made it into the stool, so her cover was kind of blown. But as far as Mia was concerned, she was invisible. Silly puss!

December 30, 2007 - Brrr!

Montreal is truly an incredible and beautiful city to visit. It has so much to offer culturally, and its being a French-speaking city adds to the feeling that you're really in another country. However, if you're planning a trip there, take one lesson from our experiences: Don't go in December! We thought it would be a fun weekend getaway over a long New Year's holiday, and somehow forgot to factor into the equation just how cold and snowy it can be in Canada in the winter. Silly us... We still had an incredible time, all bundled up, and Erin swears she's never seen that much snow in her life. But next time we visit the great white north, we'll do it when it's not so, well, white. 

July 26, 2009 - New Water Fun

I'm always amazed at how easily Erin is able to do new things once she tries them. Last summer, we spent a few days with friends at Dana Point Harbor, and everyone (who wanted to, that is) got to give paddleboarding a try. I'll be the first to admit that I must simply lack a basic gene that would allow me to succeed at this activity. However, Erin must have gotten that gene from Jim's family, because she took to it right away! Within the first few minutes of trying it, she was standing up on the board, paddling around, having a blast. Jim, who (of course) was also able to do it, went along with her. I, on the other hand, was perfectly happy sitting on the sidelines, snapping pictures. The water's not warm enough quite yet, but Erin's already asking when we can do it again. Yep, she gets it from Jim, I guess! 

April 29, 2006 - A Sure Sign of Spring

When we first moved into our house in New Jersey, the previous owners told us that the scraggly-looking shrub out front was a wisteria bush that would bloom gloriously (if briefly) in the spring. It was really pretty ugly during the rest of the year, but we left it alone, figuring we'd wait until the following spring to see what it really looked like. The thing certainly didn't disappoint us! For about a week, it blossomed into beautiful and fragrant purple flowers that attracted more bumble bees than I've ever seen in one place, and then went back to being an icky-looking thing in our front lawn. I made sure to take pictures of it each year, and every time I'd bemoan the fact that it was there looking bare, I'd look at the pictures and be reminded of just how gorgeous it could be, even for those few, short days.

November 24, 2005 - It Takes Three

Have you heard the old joke, "How many grown-ups does it take to prep a turkey?" Apparently, in our family, the answer is three, especially where the turkey is going to be rotisseried on the barbecue. Doing a turkey on a rotisserie is tricky, as you have to get the balance just right or else it can go off balance, break the rotisserie motor, stop turning, and catch on fire. (Don't ask how we know this, just take my word for it.)  In our case, though, we had two engineers on the job, which could be very good of very bad. Obviously, at this point in the process, everyone was smiling, so things must have been going well. Oh, and in case you're wondering, rotisseried turkey is DA BOM!

August 13, 2008 - Yep, We've Officially Been to Hell

One of our stops on our Liberty of the Seas cruise in 2008 was Grand Cayman, where we took a tour of some of the island's not-to-be-missed sites. One of them, believe it or not, was Hell, a little town in what felt like the middle of nowhere, whose big claim to fame was its unfortunate name. I just couldn't resist taking this picture of Erin (I actually have one of her at the angel sign too, but this one is much more fun!). Some days I feel I should print it poster-size and hang it on her bedroom door!

January 3, 2004 - How to Make Kryptonite

There are very few foods in the world that Jim won't eat. Two of them happen to be hard boiled eggs and mayonnaise, which as everyone knows, are the prime ingredients in egg salad. So you can imagine his absolute dismay when Erin tasted egg salad and declared it delicious. He was horrified. Even more so when she kept asking for it whenever we'd visit my parents (because I knew better than to attempt to make it in his own house) and when my mom showed her how to make it. To this day, whenever we're with my parents for any length of time, Erin asks to make egg salad, and Jim turns the mildest shade of green. Poor thing...

July 8, 2007 - The Magic Bed

On our first Royal Caribbean cruise, on the Adventure of the Seas, Erin was positively tickled to find that her bed would be above ours. On the first night that we got back and saw it all made up for her, she couldn't wait to climb up there and sleep. In fact, it took her quite a while to calm down enough TO sleep, she was so excited to be sleeping in what she dubbed the "magic bed." She kept leaning down to look at and giggle at us. For our part, having her above us wasn't that big of a deal except for the one night I forgot she was there and sat us rather abruptly, soundly conking my head on her bed. Ouch. Well, it's probably the closest to bunk beds she'll ever get, so I'm glad she enjoyed it!

January 8, 2002 - Hide and Seek

One of Erin's favorite games to play as a toddler was hide and seek, especially when the seeking party was Uno. Erin would hide in her play tent and make noises, making Uno a little bonkers as he sniffed at the tent. Then she'd reveal herself, all smiles and giggles, thrilled at foiling Uno's detective efforts yet again.

December 24, 2009 - Buds

Bronte is the daughter of our very good friends September and Cori, and Erin's known her since she was born. Erin's always called Bronte her "little sister," and it's been very cute seeing them grow up together. Even though there's almost 2 1/2 years between them, the two girls get along incredibly well, and always have a good time when they're together. Unfortunately, now that we live 3,000 miles apart, their time together is obviously limited, but we were fortunate to get to see Bronte and her whole family when we visited my parents in December, and the girls (along with Bronte's cousins, who are around Erin's age) had a blast hanging out together on Christmas Eve. I have a feeling that these two girls will be friends for a very long time, just like their mothers!

August 2, 2006 - Lap Dog

When Molly was a little puppy (and this picture is from when she was just 8 weeks old!), she decided that she loved curling up in my lap. I think it may have started when we first brought her home and I was holding her in the car. When she weighed just 16 pounds, like here, it was adorable. Now, however, she's 70+ pounds, and still thinks she can curl up in my lap. Some nights, I'll sit on the floor and she'll curl up in the V of my legs, just like she was a tiny puppy. We call it Labby Love Time. She snuggles in there, happy as a clam, and will lie there for as long as I'll let her. I guess she'll always be part lap dog!

January 8, 2001 - School Daze

After three months at home with her, Erin started daycare (or, as we called it, "school") on January 8, 2001. We had looked at a lot of centers before deciding on the Kiddie Academy right near our house, and felt good about the place. An added bonus was that they had video cameras in each room, and we could log in online and look at Erin during the day. Fortunately, she had hair, because that was usually what we used to differentiate her from the other babies in the room (this was a long time before hi-def video!). So on Erin's first day, we handed her over to Miss Denise, who would care for her, and waved good-bye to her through what they appropriately called the Bye-Bye Window. Then Jim headed off to work and I headed to the airport (no, not escaping, just a little business travel). Erin stayed at Kiddie Academy until we moved after pre-K, and it gave her a great foundation for lots of years of education to follow!

March 19, 2005 - Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy

Ah, the things one can remember from looking at a picture! For example, this picture reminds me of a long walk we took at my parents' house with the dogs. When we came home, Erin eyed the trampoline in the neighbor's yard, and she asked if she could jump on it. She was kind of timid about it at first, but after a while, she was bouncing like a pro. (You can even see that her feet are off the ground in this shot!) Not one to let the little kids have all the fun, Jim decided to give it a whirl as well. That's where the memories come in.  He climbed up there, jumped a few times, and decided to do a butt-bounce. And he'll never do it again. 'Nuff said. 

July 5, 2008 - Snuggle Time

As I wrote about in this post, Erin's relationship with Ann's dogs Harry (pictured here) and Lucy got off to a slow start, but improved greatly over time. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Or in this case, in the pictures. During a visit to their home in Baltimore in 2008, Harry obviously decided that Erin's lap was as good a place as any to take a snooze, and he curled right up on her for some cuddling. He's such a goofball... For a dog that can (and has!) easily upset the dining room table during vigorous playtime, he can be such a sweet lovey-dovey.

April 6, 2010 - Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day, and what better picture to use on this day than one of my Mom, Erin, and me! This was taken last month at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and I love it because it's the three of us together. Ooh, how I miss being with my mom, especially today. But in just 58 days we'll all be together again, and we'll celebrate a belated Mother's Day then!  I love you, Mom!!!

August 4, 2007 - Sprinkler Fun, Doggie Style

In August 2007, we threw a big party to celebrate Molly's "gotcha day," the anniversary of when we brought her home. To help properly celebrate the event, we invited some of our friends and family, and some of Molly's friends as well, including her "cousins" Lucy and Harry, and another yellow Lab who belonged to one of Erin's friends. It was an atrociously hot, humid, New Jersey day, so we set up the sprinkler in the back yard for the kids and dogs to play in. Molly didn't quite get it, and thought it was an upside down water fountain. Well, it was effective, however she did it. If I remember correctly, too, she slept REALLY well that night!

June 27, 2004 - Sprinkler Fun

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do was run through the sprinkler on a hot summer day. Erin discovered the joy in doing this during the summer of 2003. On a hot, June afternoon, Jim set up the sprinkler in our side yard, and Erin, dolled up in her bathing suit (and old sneakers, because she hated walking in the grass barefoot!) blissfully dashed through the spray.  These days, what with water restrictions and the lack of a decent-sized back yard, sprinkler-dashing isn't really an option for us. But I'm really glad that got to enjoy this time-honored tradition on the East coast.  I guess these days, if we want to cool off, our best bet is to take a 5 minute drive to the ocean. Bummer...  ;)

August 3, 2003 - A Pillow of Portia

After yesterday's post of Erin with Portia, one of my friends asked me to post more pictures of the two of them together. This is the first one that came to mind, and truly, it's one of my all-time favorite pictures of Erin. She was not quite 3, and Portia was showing us just how sweet and tolerant she could be, letting Erin drape herself over her without so much as a peep. Do dogs get any sweeter than this? I don't think so!

November 23, 2002 - Nose-to-Nose

Big dogs have always been a part of Erin's life. We had our own (Uno, who weighed around 80 pounds or so when Erin was born), and my parents had two Akitas as well. One, Breyer, was not-so-fondly-but-quite-appropriately nicknamed the Man-Eating Beast, and nobody but my parents ever got near him. (That was actually a good lesson for Erin, in that she learned early on that not all dogs are friendly.) Portia, on the other hand, was a sweetie. She was incredibly gentle with Erin right from the beginning, and on the rare occasions that she'd come inside (Portia, not Erin), she'd allow Erin to lay on her, etc. When Erin was two, the two of them were just about nose to nose, and it was always cute to see them together. Erin adored Portia and would try to shower her with ear scratches and kisses. Portia, for her part, tolerated Erin's affections with a wag of her puffy tail. What sweeties... both of them!

June 16, 2009 - Mishpucha

We'd waited six LONG months for this day... the day my Mom arrived for her first visit to our new home in California. We didn't waste any time getting to the fun parts. The very first night she was here, we drove to the beach to watch the sun set and to get Mom her daily dose of "water feature." (And let's face it, there aren't many more impressive water features than the Pacific!) I just love this picture. I think you can really see how genuinely happy we all were to be together. And the really nice thing was that after two weeks together, we were still smiling like this!  Now if only we didn't have to still wait so long between visits. But at least, as I write this, I know Erin and I only have 63 days until we fly to Pennsylvania for our next dose of Formans!

November 22, 2001 - Wrapped Around Her Finger

Meet the main men in Erin's life. From a very early age, I think she realized that these guys would be the ones that would always be there for her, and also be the ones to spoil her rotten.  ;)  They were the ones who made her laugh, who played with and sang to her, who wrote her poems about practically-mythical dogs. They were the ones who were always happy to see her, who always smiled at her, and who always snuck her pieces of chocolate chip cookies. I'm pretty fortunate... They're also the men in my life! But I don't much remember the sneaking of cookies part...

June 16, 2006 - The Graduate

Erin was very proud on the day she graduated from Kindergarten. It had been a challenging year, and she'd learned so much that we were all amazed. On that day, she donned her cap and gown and joined her classmates in a demonstration of some of their new skills. Erin's part was reading a book to the entire group of parents and friends that were there - a huge group of people! She did great! She actually still has the cap and gown in her room, and each time I ask her if it's time to get rid of it, she gives me a look like I'm asking her to get rid of Lucky. I guess even all these years later, she's still really proud of that day!

October 16, 2000 - Swingin'

When Erin was an infant, one of her favorite places to hang out was in her baby swing, facing out the big windows we had in our kitchen. She'd hang out with me for a long time, gently swinging back and forth, happy as a clam. Even at a very young age, she seemed cognizant of the world around her, and sometimes I'd look at her and wonder exactly what she was thinking. I like this picture because she looks so peaceful, but still looks like she's about to say something. Or maybe she's just wondering, "What's with Mommy and that camera!?" Somethings never change...

May 6, 2008 - Caught in the Act

People who know Labs know that they're notoriously lazy, and Molly's certainly no exception to that rule. I swear, the dog spends at least 80% of her time either sleeping or at least curled up trying to sleep. She's never been restricted to only hard floors to sleep on, either (in other words, she's always had access to carpeted areas), so it's hardly a rough life. But one day in 2008, I came home to find that she'd made herself quite at home on the guest room bed. Not only was she on the bed, but because Jim's gym bag had had the gall to take up residence at the food of the bed, she figured she'd just curl right up on the pillows. Well, for heaven's sake, people do it, right?  (That was, I'm sure, her thinking at the time.) Needless to say, from that point on, we made sure to at least cover the bed with a sheet to keep the dog hair from getting in the pillows. After all, we certainly wouldn't want to not let Molly up there, right?  ;)

July 7, 2007 - Traveling in Style

In 2007, we took a cruise that left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. When it came time to book our airfare, we were surprised to see that flying first class wasn't much more than flying coach, and decided (in a "what the heck!" kind of moment) to treat ourselves. Erin was beside herself with giddiness as we boarded the plane and took our seats right up front. To say she had room to spare would be a huge understatement - you could have fit two of her in that seat side by side! But it sure made for a comfortable and relaxing (and well-fed!) trip to San Juan, and got our trip off in style!

June 2, 2002 - Great Swamp

I got my first digital camera almost a year before Erin was born, so pretty much all of the pictures I've taken of her were digital. I can literally count on one hand the number of rolls of film I've shot of her. This day was one of them, though. We'd gone for a walk with my Mom in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge which was near our house in New Jersey, and for whatever reason, I'd decided to lug out my big SLR and load it up with film. Although the scans of the pictures are grainy, the photos themselves were wonderful - vibrant colors and great depth of field. It reminded me how much I liked using that camera. Not enough to give up my little digi-cam quite yet, though. That still took a few years (and one D-SLR later). But I do love looking at the pictures and remembering the day, with Erin looking for birds and other creatures. Fun times!

December 11, 2004 - Spinning Lies

Beware of conversations that go something like this:

Erin: Mommy, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE come on the Teacup ride with me and Daddy!
Me: Um, Sweetie, I really don't like rides that spin around. They make me throw up.
Erin: PLEASE! You've never been on it with us, and I PROMISE we won't spin the cup. I PROMISE! Right, Daddy?
Jim: Sure!
Me: (Reluctantly) OK.

Bad decision. As soon as the ride started, they started spinning the stupid cup around until I thought I would die. Or lose my dinner. Thankfully, I just focused on taking pictures of Erin the whole time and wound up neither dying or puking. But I will NEVER, EVER either get on a ride like that again or listen to the two of them when they promise a non-spinning adventure. NEVER.

February 28, 2009 - California Girl

Erin's always been proud to have been born and raised in New Jersey, but her conversion to a "California girl" was pretty quick once we arrived here. Her sense of style got a shot in the arm, and every weekend she'd ask to go to the beach. Honestly, in February, the water temperature here can still be fairly frigid (well, not by Jersey standards, but still), but that didn't stop her (and Jim, I might add) from braving the waves on those first few trips. By the end of the summer, Erin was boogie-boarding like a champ and was braving bigger and bigger waves each trip to the beach. The conversion was complete. A California girl she is!

December 9, 2008 - Sing Out Loud

December 2008 was a tough month for us. Jim had started his new job in California on December 1st, but Erin and I were still in New Jersey so she could finish up the semester in school and we could get everything ready for the big move. For the most part, things went fine (except for the water heater dying the day Jim left, but that's a whole other story!). But there were a few days that were harder than others. One was this day, the day of Erin's winter concert at school. She was quite upset that Jim wasn't there for it, and that morning was really sad when I dropped her off at school. I was able to go to the concert, though, and made sure that I took a lot of pictures to send to Jim so he could "see" it. Erin sang her heart out, and seemed to enjoy herself during the show. As she left the stage, she gave me a big wave, and I like to think she was waving for her Daddy.

November 24, 2005 - Ringing the Bell

In my parents old house (still sounds strange to say that!), they had a brass bell on the wall near the stairs. It was solely for decoration, but like most children, Erin just loved ringing it. When she was a baby, we'd hold her and let her swing the chain back and forth, marveling in the sound it made. As she got older, she was able to reach it herself, and would ring in Thanksgiving dinners or any other occasion that she felt warranted it. I have quite a few pictures of her ringing this bell. The first few have her standing on her very tip-toes to reach it. And in this one, she barely has to reach up to ring it. It's just another measuring tape we have to see how big Erin's gotten!

July 10, 2001 - Oops!

What do you get when you are in the middle of feeding a 9-month jarred apricots and she sneezes explosively? (Which, by the way, is a trait that she obviously learned from her maternal grandmother.) The answer is a real, if cute, mess! But one that, at 9 months, isn't anything to worry about.

February 3, 2007 - I was a *BAD* Girl

Molly has always been a remarkably good dog, especially for a Lab. Labs are notorious for chewing and eating things they shouldn't. (Our last Lab, Uno, actually devoured a cordless phone handset in about 15 minutes once when we made the costly mistake of not crating him while we ran out). So we were surprised when Molly proved to be so trustworthy that she could be left with run of the house at just 6 months old. The only thing she ever destroyed that she shouldn't have was a carpet tread on a basement step. Our guess was that there was a thread hanging from it and she pulled on it, effectively unraveling it. Regardless, it was pretty much destroyed. She knew she'd done a bad thing, though, and the look on her face as she peeked into the kitchen from the staircase pretty much said it all. "Yeah, I did a bad thing. I'm sorry..." It's OK, Sweetie. We forgave you. 

March 31, 2006 - Playtime

One of Erin's favorite features when we moved into our "new" house in New Jersey was the swing set in the back yard. Although it was kind of creaky (not creepy, mind you!), she just loved to go outside and play on it. She'd climb the ladders, swing on the swing (often to my nervous-Nelly warnings of, "Not too high!"), and slide down the slide for hours. After a few years, though, we had to take it down. Erin was getting too big for us to be comfortable with it being able to support her, and we worried that it would fall down or someone would get hurt on it. Erin was very upset at the news that it would be removed, but surprisingly, once it was down, she didn't ask us to replace it. I guess it was another sign that our little girl was growing up.

November 28, 2002 - In Pop-Pop's Arms

Erin and my Dad had a little bit of a rough spell when she was around a year and a half old. They were playing hide-and-seek in my parents' house, and Dad had hidden behind his bed. When Erin walked into the room, he jumped out to surprise her, and scared the daylights out of her. As a result, she wouldn't go near him for a while. I didn't know who to feel worse for! He felt terrible for having scared her like that, and she just kept giving him sideways glances and refused to let him hold her. After a few weeks, thankfully, Erin seemed to either forgive or completely forget, and by that Thanksgiving, things were back to normal. For her part, Erin has no recollection of the whole event (whew!). For me, I just look at this picture and smile, knowing that all was right with the world again.

December 16, 2000 - Mommy and Me

I have always been the one taking the pictures, and as a result, I'm in very few of them. That's fine with me for the most part, although I do wish I had more pictures of myself with Erin when she was a baby. This is one of the few from her first few months, taken when she was just two months old. It's still so hard to imagine that she was ever this small! Erin still asks me to pick her up regularly just to make sure I still can. At 70+ pounds, she's a far cry from this little bundle of joy. But she's still my baby!

January 2, 2009 - Flat Texas

Driving across the country last year was a real adventure for the Tracey family. It was six days in the car, listening to Harry Potter novels on CD, and watching the country sail by outside the car windows. For Jim and me, this was our second time doing this drive, and we had a lot of memories from the first time, back in 1995. One of the things we remembered the most was how flat and dull our two days in Texas were. (No offense to anyone who lives there, but I'm sure you know what I mean.) In fact, in the video we shot of that first trip, we titled that part "Suck Footage." We were happy (?) to find in 2009 that Texas hadn't changed much, and the flat parts were still incredibly flat, with nothing to be seen from one horizon to the other. It wasn't the most exciting part of the trip visually, but our gas mileage was GREAT!