11 Months and Meeting New Family

We had quite an adventure in "Our Little Adventure" this month as Gamma June, Gampa Vic, and I took Lola on a cross country trip to see our family in Maryland. We were very nervous, because although Lola has done well on our short little flights before, this was 5 HOURS on a plane! Going was a completely full flight so we weren't able to take on the car seat. Anyone who's been around Lola for any length of time knows she's a busy little bugger and doesn't like to be tied down for very long, nor does she like to be held for very long, so full flight was a little worrysome.
She slept for the first leg of the flight to Albuquerque, which was great, but then was up for almost the remaing four hours to Baltimore. But she did fine, we managed to keep her entertained between the three of us, and she flirted with the ladies in the seats behind us so that was good.
We were met in Baltimore but Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul. Thank goodness they have a van, but even so, it was a tight squeeze! Lola did well on that leg of the trip too, napped most of the way.
She was a definate trooper on this trip! It seemed just as she would go down for a nap, we'd get her up again just to strap her down in the carseat!
Lola seemed to remember Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul, even though she hadn't seem them since August. She loved meeting Sharon and Devin, and would have loved to get her fingers through Devin's ear holes, I'm sure!

Aunt Ester gave Lola the perfect Lola Bear, complete with a July 4th outfit and big flower on her head! We will treasure that Lola Bear for a long time  to come! Aunt Ester let us play with some of Cousin Aiden's toys, which was a life saver! Right when we got home, we found us a Leap Frog table on e-bay so Lola will have one at home to play with too.

The beach wasn't a great success. She wasn't too sure at first, but then quickly made up her mind that this was not a place she wanted to be! The waves made her cry and she tried with all her might to keep her feet off the sand. The boardwalk was a hit, and once the famous Ocean City Merry Go Round started running, she thought that was great!  Even though the day was hot, she seemed to love the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.

Though she didn't get to savor the sea food feast, she loved meeting Cousins Paul Raymond and Karin, Gamma's Cousin Fran and Dick, and other Uncle Paul. 

She is definately finding her voice and once she finds her words, she is going to have a lot to say! I understand that most babies learn to say, "No" before anything else. Lola is consistantly saying, "Uh-oh" and is usuing it appropriately.  Like when she drops her sippy cup from the high chair, she looks at mamma and says, "Uh-oh" and mamma picks it up. (Gravity is her favorite toy.) Rodney and I went for a walk earlier this week and every time she'd go ove a bump in the sidewalk, "Uh-oh". 

And we have vampire teeth. Her middle two bottom teeth came in, but on top, the vampire teeth are in. It's pretty funny looking! 

She went to her first swim party with her daddy and seemed to love it! We are ready to start enjoying our pool with her. Makes me nervous to be in there with her by myself. Years and YEARS of June telling me I can't swim by myself play in my head when ever the thought enters my mind!
We are in the process of planning her first birthday party. We are so looking forward to having our families come to celebrate with us. Amazing that it's already been a year. It was exactly a year ago today that we found out there was a pregnant girl in Colorado who liked our profile book and wanted to meet us.  What a change in our lives that phone call made. And we have loved every minute of it.

Here is the link to Lola's Birthday Party Invitation:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/QPTQGMUNORNHUQQNRVVQ/LolaTurnsOne