Date night!

A few weeks ago, Brad and I went on a date. Woo! It was great fun. There was an Australian Circus in town (Circus Oz), and Brad got a great deal on tickets. We got our friend, Karli, to come stay with Bearsy, and we headed off for a night on the town.

Boston, like all big cities, has pretty specific areas for specific facets of life. So, when you want to go see a show, you'll probably end up near the Boylston T stop, as that is the theatre district. If we hadn't ended up on a slow train and had to hustle to get to our theatre, we would have enjoyed walking around and just looking at everything. It's a fun, busy, zippy, artsy part of town that we definitely want to go back to sometime.

We dashed in just a few minutes after it started, the usher actually seated us is better seats than we paid for (!), and we enjoyed an hour and a half of crazy acrobatics, juggling, balancing on tall/wobbly things, and live music. It was just a fun time of being awed by the things people can do. Oh, and we got a soft pretzel and...wait for it...an RC cola. I didn't even know they made RC anymore! 

After the show was over, we thought briefly about getting something to eat in the area, but we ended up heading home so that Karli could head out and get on with things she needed to do. We did, however, order Boloco burritos on my phone's Boloco app and picked them up when we got off the train at our stop. I love that app. I just tell it I want burritos, and it has them magically ready when I get off my train.

Although we didn't stop for dinner down on ol' Boylston, we did walk through the Boston Commons on our way to a train station. It was so beautiful with all the snow, so I tried to snap some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The Frog Pond...an ice rink in winter!

The State House

Park Street Church

Oh Boston, you're so pretty! At least...when the snow is white, not gray. 

A Visit from the South

For Claire's birthday celebration, my parents came into town! It was really fun having them here for such a big life event (and not just for the fact that no one makes grits like my mom...even though I follow her recipe exactly). It was super fun having them at Claire's party. I'm pretty sure they loved it, too. 

But, since they were here for six days, and the party lasted only two hours, we had to come up with some activities to fill the rest of the time. There was a lot of Bear-cuddling, obviously, but we also got out and did a few things. 

Back in August, we went with Brad's parents to Cape Cod and had a blast. Now, March is definitely not "in season" for Cape Cod, as they actually end up with more snow than the city does (i.e. we get 10 inches, they get 15), but we're rebels and went anyway. We went to the best restaurant on the Cape, The Keltic Kitchen, and spent a few *extremely* chilly minutes on the shore, getting some photographic documentation of our visit. We kept our itinerary to a minimum, as Claire is a one-year-old and has limits.

Keltic Kitchen

Hanging in the car while the grandparents get pictures.

We saw this house whose fence was made of old doors. It was so cool.

As usual, we set aside a day to get lunch at Regina's in the North End and cannolis at Mike's (we also picked up Bearsy's birthday cupcake). We had planned to walk toward Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church after picking up our cannolis, but we ran out of time (and by that, I mean that Claire's window of pleasant wakefulness began to close). We settled for a walk through Quincy Market (not for food but for the shops), which was great for Brad and me because we found some Boston art that we wanted. 

Regina's. Mmm.

We spent another day visiting Cambridge, which included lunch at Mr. Bartley's, a walk through Harvard Yard, and quick browsing at Black Ink and the Curious George store. Due to some unplanned walking in the wrong direction, Dad came to the sad realization that Cambridge, MA is not nearly as universally quaint and classy as his mind had always seen it. I felt bad about shattering that vision for him, but unfortunately, it's true. Harvard Square itself is quaint and rather Americana, but Cambridge, as a whole, is not. Bless it.

Mr. Bartley's. Iconic Cambridge.

We squeezed in a lunch at Shawarma King (mmm...we love some Middle Eastern goodness). and Brad and I got a date night, as well (we saw The Monuments Men and loved it!). An excellent time was had by all (especially Claire). We've been adventurers around here lately, so here's hoping I get on a blogging streak and tell you all about it. 

And now, some gratuitous Bear photos:

The Best of Bear: Party!

Although I'm no Pinterest-party-throwing-Mom, I did manage to pull together a first birthday party for Bear. My parents were in town, and we were able to have some friends over to celebrate with us. 

Of course, we had our friend, Charlie (and his family) over. Charlie and Claire are six weeks apart in age, so they were each other's special birthday buddies this year. We also had our upstairs neighbor, Anne, and two friends from church, Tim and Bobby, join the fun. Because our birthday party ended up being scheduled for the same day as the men's retreat from church, we had a birthday breakfast...which gave the dads and male guests time to head out to the retreat. Brad made cinnamon rolls (from scratch, y'all...he's a keeper) and bacon-egg cups, Mom made grits, and I put out yogurt and strawberries. I'm very helpful like that.

Thankfully, Brad had the foresight the day before to pick up a birthday cupcake from Mike's (while we were getting cannolis, of course). Claire did a fabulous job of tackling that sucker, and she seemed to enjoy it very much. Although, I don't think she enjoyed being messy. She gets that from me. 

We had a really fun time and are so grateful for our friends. We wish that more of our friends and family from down South could have joined, but we're thankful for the people that the Lord has brought into our lives here in Boston. We love them so much!

And with this post, I'm wrapping up my birthday posts for Bearsy's first birthday...two weeks after the fact. :)

My parents sent these gorgeous roses to Bear on her birthday. They were so beautiful.

Our dear Senora Romine sent Bearsy this wonderful trio of book. Claire particularly loves when Brad makes the "SNORT" sound in Are You My Mother?

Reading (and wishing that Brad was making the SNORT sound)

Special birthday tv watching

Birthday picture with Daddy

The awesome cookie bouquet from Auntie and Uncle Paul. We all enjoyed it!

Claire ate this one on her actual birthday. This was her first, intentional snack of refined sugar. She loved it.

Mom and Dad brought this amazing quilt from Mrs. Tidwell. My jaw dropped when I saw it. Claire can't get enough of it (neither can I, truth be told).

Birthday guest! Charlie's sweet sister, Elizabeth

Party outfit!

Our neighbor, Anne

Eating birthday grits

Making faces with Bobby

Bobby, Brad, Bear, me, Tim, and Anne

Jonathan, Elizabeth, Brad, me, Bear, Rachael, and Charlie

Trying out that cupcake.

Family shot

She loved it.

Busy and focused.

With Nana and Poppy.

Thanks for sticking with me through the Bear birthday posts. Hopefully, I'll have some fun posts coming your way soon!

The Best of Bear: Part late

Well, this was supposed to go up last week, but I got a little off. Sorry about that.

In appreciation for Bear's first year, I was also going to link up some of her travels. For a little thing whose dad is in graduate school, she's actually traveled quite a bit! If you haven't been keeping up with us throughout the year, here's a little round-up of Bearsy's journeys:

Alabama's Gulf Coast
Cape Cod 1, 2, and 3, plus Martha's Vineyard
Hogwarts...I mean, Orlando, Florida
East Tennessee
North Alabama

And, this little list doesn't include the day we met up with our friend, Kylie, in Asheville, North Carolina or ended up spending the night in Greenville, South Carolina or took Kat up to New Hampshire and into Maine while she was visiting. Bear is quite the traveler. We hope this continues in 2014!

The Best of Bear: Part 5

Over the past year, Bearsy has had so much fun welcoming visitors to Boston. Most have been family, but we've had several dear friends visit us, as well! If you want to stroll down memory lane, here are a few noteworthy visits to re-visit:

Aunt Rachael
The Brassart grandparents (and Bo/Aunt Amiee)
The Boswell grandparents
The Kitty Kat
Uncle Tim
Mrs. Tidwell
Mrs. Breanne

As you can see, Bearsy is well-loved and well-visited. And, that's just last year's visits. There are already a few on the books for this year, too. What kinds of shenanigans will she get up to as a one-year-old??

Letter to My Little Bear

Dear Bear,

Well, it actually happened. You turned one year old. I feel like so much of your life has just zoomed right by. Granted, some of the days were so long and hard...those days didn't zoom by. But, on the whole, I feel like I blinked and you turned into a one-year-old. In the days leading up to your birthday, I've been sifting through old blog posts, pictures, stories, and whatnot, and I'm amazed at how much life we've lived in the past year. It's nuts how much we've done, how far we've traveled, and how many skills you've learned.

A few quick stats:
11...Planes you've been on
8...States you've been to (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida)

As usual, I have no teeth to report. I'm not sure you're ever going to be interested in getting teeth; you're really adept at gumming up your food, and you're not really talking yet...so why would you need teeth? (another reason I haven't gotten you fully off of your paci yet)

You will only say one word consistently, and it's not even a real word: "uh-oh." You love saying it. It's your favorite. And, it's adorable. Dad and I goad you into saying it regularly because it's so cute. We're unashamed of that fact. We're trying to get you to say "Hi" while waving. The best we've gotten you to do so far is to wave (sort of) when we say "Hi." Fine. We've already discovered that you're only going to do things when you're ready. Never when we think you should be doing it. It's super fun trying to explain to the pediatrician that you're totally normal...just making a statement about your independence.

Crawling is still not happening. However, you are a master scooter. You can scoot with the best of them, baby. You also like to sit on the tile and turn yourself in circles. You can do it for really long stretches of time without getting bored. It's really funny; I've tried to get it on video, but you usually stop as soon as I try. You're pulling up more and more and have even stood unassisted a few times (for a few seconds at a time). I think you really like physical activity...you really just don't want to do anything until you want to do it. You'd think that I'd be used to that by now, but I'm not. I know that one day you'll walk and talk and have teeth, but I'm still having to adjust to the fact that I have very little control over most of that (and zero control over the tooth issue.).

One of our favorite things that you do currently is "singing" at church during worship time. You make such a joyful noise. Everyone loves it. It's a little problematic when you keep "singing" after everyone else stops. You have so much fun joining in. Really, though, you just love music in general. You like it when we sing songs at home or listen to music on our iTunes or when you hear jingles or t.v. theme songs (Downton Abbey...The West Wing). It's just so sweet to watch you try to sing along. Other songs that you love: "Jesus Loves Me", "Moon River", "Let it Go" (from Frozen), and various songs that I make up when I get you out of your crib (they usually have to do with changing diapers or getting snacks or things like that).

This brings me to your new favorite thing to watch: Veggie Tales' "If I Sang a Silly Song." I let you watch it from time-to-time, and you are absolutely mesmerized. You giggle and talk to them and scoot as close as you can to the tv (I'm always having to pull you back- it's for your own good.). We don't watch tv with you too much, but sometimes, it's nice to have a treat.

Another thing that you love (and this one boggles my mind) is going with me into the basement to do laundry. I strap you into the Ergo carrier on my back, and you think going in there is the biggest fun. While I'm putting laundry into the washer, you like to bump your head up against the dryer (it's stacked double high and is very close to the washer...you don't have to do contortions to bump your head, although describing it in words is hard to follow). I think the basement is creepy, generally speaking, but it's more entertaining when you're in there doing happy, jolly things. Thanks for that.

Claire, we just could not love you any more if we tried. This past year has been absolutely magnificent, and we are so thankful for you. You are so happy and so much fun and so sweet. Even your bad days are still good days. We pray that you will always be joyful and hopeful, kind and compassionate, and that you would never know a day apart from Him. We love you! We love you! We LOOOOOOVE you!

Week 49

Week 50

Week 51

Week 52! One year old! You did it!

Sometimes we wear book hats...

#Bostonbaby

FINALLY holding her own applesauce pouch.

Who, me?

Valentine's-ing

Getting geared up for BIRTHDAY WEEK!

It's my birthday! And I have banana on my mouth!

OUTTAKES:

Back off, Matroshka. It's my birthday.

Can we eat sugar now, Mom?