Beach trip

We loaded up two cars full of gear and headed to Atlantic Beach, NC on Saturday afternoon for a little weekend getaway. It was about a 45 minute ride - a little longer for the car that had to stop for Angela to eat. When we arrived the family surprised me with a big sign, presents and cake - they decided that I needed a belated 30th birthday celebration.
We ended up ordering take-out on Saturday night and had a low-key night in the condo playing cards and relaxing. Sunday morning we packed up and headed to the beach. Ang looked pretty cute in her swim suit (long sleeves to add extra protection from the sun) and beach hat.
We found a perfect beach spot and Ang camped out under an umbrella. It was hot out but there was a great ocean breeze that kept us very cool. The sound of the ocean was so relaxing and put Ang right to sleep.


After lunch we decided to check out the indoor swimming pool - it turned out to be HOT. I took Ang in for a quick dip but she was pretty much unimpressed. We all decided the beach was more fun and headed back to our umbrella for the rest of the afternoon.

Monday morning we packed up the condo and headed back to the beach for another day. Unfortunately we found that all the umbrellas had already been rented so we headed to Emerald Isle, NC and found public beach with umbrella rentals. Once again Ang seemed very relaxed with the ocean breeze and sound of waves!

The countdown has started!

Rich has moved into our new apartment in Shanghai (we are still waiting for our shipment to arrive), Ang and I have applied for our Chinese Visa's (which should arrive in the mail tomorrow) and we've picked our travel dates (although we haven't booked the flights yet). The final countdown is on - we will be leaving from Raleigh on Friday, July 17 and arrive in Shanghai the following day. I am getting anxious and excited for the trip. I'm curious to see how Angela does on the plane and I am so excited for us all to be together in our new home. I have heard from many moms that have traveled with babies this age that it went really well because they sleep a lot on the plane. We will see!!

Happy fathers day to all of the dads out there...we are bummed we can't be with Rich today and told him we will celebrate in July when we were all together. He spent this weekend in Kuala Lumpur and it sounds like he had a great time. Of course, he managed to find a casino and won some money playing his daughters birthday on the roulette table. For some reason I was not surprised when I heard this.

Last week we had visitors from Vermont - Thea, Bailey and Dot came down to meet Angela and spend a few days with us. Chris and Katie are coming this week and will be staying for two weeks. Colleen will also be coming for a weekend in July - she had planned a visit in June but had to reschedule. The Ziemba Inn has been so busy!

Finally - new pictures of Angela - that little smile totally makes my day every time I see it!! Sorry for the pictures that I can't seem to rotate the correct way, I'm still trying to figure out this blogger thing.

Fun with video

I was able to catch some great facial expressions earlier today while Ang was in her bouncy chair. She is very entertained by the toys that hang over her - the little flower plays music and lights up and she gets very excited about it. I hope the video clips open ok - this is my first attempt at uploading video!










The videos are also on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/MegBozz/Video02#

out little traveler

Angela's passport arrived in the mail today. Next steps, apply for a visa for China and book our flights.

Quality time with...

...DADDY!!


Rich arrived in NC yesterday afternoon and will be here until Saturday morning. It is a very quick visit, but we are so happy to have him here.

Memorial Day Fun

Now that I'm not working, holidays seem completely different! Its not a day for me to enjoy being off work, its a day for me to enjoy having company at home since everybody else has the day off!! Yesterday was a gorgeous day here - mid 80's, hot & humid (just the way I like it). Grammy volunteered to baby sit so I was able to enjoy a nice boat ride with my dad, Katie, Chris & Tawna (visitors from New Hampshire). The highlight was seeing dolphins!

We are really enjoying our time here in North Carolina. Its a blast having so much time with Grammy & Dziadziu (and they have been a HUGE help). Rich is coming back next week to visit and I'm so excited! He misses his little girl so much and is going to be amazed at how much she has grown (and at how well she sleeps!).

Some new pictures taken this past weekend...

Aunt Katie & Angela

Dolphins on our boat ride!

"Grammy time"

The girls on the boat

Sleep

Since my last post on sleep, we have made even more progress. We now have a nightly routine that includes a bath and eating and then put her down in her crib while she is tired, but still awake. The past two nights she has fallen asleep within about 30 minutes with minimal fussing and SLEPT THE ENTIRE NIGHT (9pm - 6:30am)!! I am absolutely amazed that in less than a week we have gone from barely sleeping in my bed to sleeping the entire night in her own bed. To be honest we did have to let her cry it out a little and as much as I didn't want to do it I have to admit that it worked. Angela seems so well rested and so much happier! It's so great to see.

Some pictures from our bath time fun!