Sweet baby's

While I was in Raleigh last weekend I was able to spend an day in Burlington visiting with two of my girlfriends and their babies.  I know there are a ton of pictures but they are all so cute!

First I went to Sara's house and got to play with Jackson (now almost 9 months old).  I can't believe how stinkin cute that kid is and I had a blast playing with him.  Here are some of my new favorite pictures of Jackson. 

This face is priceless!!!

A fun picture of the two of us

During lunch Jackson was just hanging out...Literally!

I loved how he would open up his mouth so wide and lean forward for a bite.

This is his monkey from his Uncle Scott.  He loves this monkey so much!

After lunch we went over to Anna's house.  I got to meet her baby Rachel for the first time. Rachel is 5 weeks old now but still so tiny.  

Cuddling with Rachel for a nap.  We both fell asleep!

Sweet baby feet

Sweet baby girl

Before we left I thought it would be fun to get a picture of Jackson and Rachel together.  It was a little harder than I thought it would be.  Jackson kept sticking his finger in Rachel's ear, which she wasn't very happy about.   But we finally got a few cute ones. 

This was right after Jackson had leaned forward and kissed baby Rachel on the head.  Such a sweet boy!

Suzanne (and baby Lily's) shower

Last Saturday I attended a baby shower for my friend Suzanne (and her little girl Lily who is due in early October).  The shower was hosted by a few friends and held at Heathers house (Suzanne's best friend since childhood).  There was a great turn out and it was such a fun afternoon with tons of babies and lots of friends to catch up with.

Suzanne with Anna, Heather and Erik's oldest daughter

Maria, Amy and Me...3 of the winners from the game where you guess how big the belly is

My friend Terri and me.  Its been a long time since I have seen her and it was great to catch up.

Me with the mommy to be.  

A sweet cuddle with Anna and Maddie (Heather and Erik's girls).  I had so much fun playing with the girls and then Maddie just fell right to sleep in my arms.  So sweet!

Eli Joseph Gwinn...Welcome to the world!

At 4.44 am on August 21, 2008 Eli Joseph Gwinn was born.  He weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 22 inches long.  Andrea was an amazing champ and did the whole thing natural (something like 33 hours total).  The best part was I had already planned to take a trip to NC on the 22nd.  So on my way into Raleigh I was able to stop at the hospital and meet baby Eli.

Holding a very sweet and teeny tiny baby Eli

I love close ups of babies.  Doesn't he look like a little old man in this picture?

The happy family.  Sweet Eli looks like he's smiling.

The day before I left Raleigh I got to stop by to see Jason, Andrea and baby Eli once more.  It was so nice to cuddle their sweet boy.  I can't wait to watch him grow up.

Meredith and Jessie

Last weekend Meredith flew up to Boston to drive back to NC with Jessie when her summer fellowship was over. They were able to stop in Phily for a few nights and we did tons of touristy Phily stuff and had a really great time.

The three of us at the beginning of the Independence Hall tour.

Our drunk tour guide....seriously, we were all three convinced he was drunk.  He didn't go anywhere without holding onto a rail or the wall.
The stairs to the bell tower (a National Treasure scene).  They wouldn't let us up there.
Out to El Vez for some dinner and Margaritas.  

 

 We missed our train and the next one didn't come for an hour so we decided to go get some Gelato.

Reading Terminal Market

On Saturday I was able to take Marissa to visit a few of the Philadelphia sites.  Marissa is my "mentee" in the PA program the year below me.  I was able to interview her last year and be part of her acceptance into the program when she was applying so it was really fun to also be matched as mentor/mentee this year.  The really cool thing is that Marissa is deaf.  The program has never had a deaf student so naturally there were some hurtles to overcome when figuring out how to integrate her into already established curricula but I am really excited that our program took on the challenge and look forward to seeing how Marissa can help change the program at Phily U and at other schools as well in order to help more people with challenges like hers to be able to become health care practitioners.

We were able to spend a few hours hanging out at her apartment and she told me a lot about how she became deaf (she was a premee and got an ototoxic dose of an antibiotic while in the NICU) and about her family and some of the things she has done over her life to get her to where she is now.  Then we went down to Reading Terminal Market, an historic amish market in the city.  They were actually having the Amish festival that weekend so they had a ton of extra stuff.  Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

 

Me with the cows.....I love cows!

Marissa and I hanging out at her apartment

An out house in the street outside the market.  I have been to the market several times and never seen an outhouse so I'm sure it was just there for the Amish festival.  The sign at the top says "supply your own toilet paper please".
We had a great time and ate some really great food.  I look forward to being able to spend some more time with Marissa throughout the next year as she goes through the program.  

Frankie's

During a quick trip to NC at the beginning of August a bunch of us went out to Frankie's for the evening to play some putt-putt. It was such a great evening and I think everyone had a really great time.   Unfortunately I didn't get a group picture so there are about 10 people who aren't in any of these.