Craig's Birthday and a Few Other Things

Craig turned 35 at the beginning of February. Maya and I made a cake for his big day.

It's hard to get A. everyone in one picture, and B. everyone looking at the camera, but here are a few attempts I made.

 One of our presents was new plants to spruce up his office. When we stopped by to drop them off, Maya decided she had a little bit of computer work to catch up on.

Valentine's Day

Maya and I went out for lunch with our buddies Katie and her daughter Billie on Valentine's day, followed by a low key dinner at home (and obligatory photo shoot for Granny Annie).

Old John!

Our first hike of the year took us back to our favorite neighborhood "folly," Old John. It was so nice to get out and enjoy the (sorta) nice weather.

All of the paths were covered in a straw-colored moss. It was so strange and soft and almost felt like walking on carpet.

Not sure if you can see it in this picture, but the moon was out.

We let old Petey boy off the leash for 5 minutes. He paused to look back for a second, I took this picture, and then he bombed down the hill and rolled in a patch of deer poop so vigorously that he launched little deer pellets all over the place. You dirty dog.

Around the house

 The crib is Maya's testing lab for new skills. Often after we put her to bed, we turn on the video monitor and see her doing things we've never before seen her do. Her new crib trick: standing on her own by the crib side. You can see Craig's hand hovering in the background just in case she falls.

Oops. She fell! She doesn't seem to mind though. I love this picture because her hands remained in focus even though everything else is blurry.

 Two things: 1. It looks like someone just grew out of her jeggings. 2. Notice how she has a whole pile of kid toys but still insists on playing with my cellphone.

A tisket a tasket a Sox fan in the basket.

365 Days in England - January Again

Well, we did it! We made it one whole year in England. Looking back, I can't believe everything that has happened in twelve short months here. It makes me feel like we can accomplish pretty much anything we set our minds to (but also makes me realize that maybe setting our minds to not accomplishing quite so much in 2013 isn't a bad idea).

Here are a few pictures of our second January in Leicester.

New Year's Baby Party

Our friends Tina and Lin invited us over their house for a little New Year's Celebration. The babies are getting bigger. No more lying around on the mat for these kids, sitting upright is the new craze. This was actually Maya's first real day sitting. I think she was inspired by Alan and Billie.

"Boop" on the nose from Wayne.

Everybody had a chew on a set of keys.

Maybe teething is the new craze too!

The Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference

Lucky for us the annual SHA conference, usually held in the USA, was hosted by Craig's department at the University of Leicester. After a very quiet holiday season it was nice to see some familiar faces in town. 

We had a little get-together at our house one night. Thanks to all who made the trek out to our house!

Maya meets Steve. I think she's going for the beard.

Snowstorm

It doesn't snow that often here in England, and when it does it doesn't usually accumulate, so the whole country went into a tizzy during a 5-day long snowstorm (accumulation approx. 6 inches). 

They don't shovel the roads or the sidewalks. Downside: Everything becomes treacherous ice. Upside: baby strollers make cool patterns in the snow.

Peekaboo. Maya's first snowstorm.

Here we are. Enjoying the snowy landscape.

All the snow meant a lot of time spent playing indoors.

Working on tricks...

... and "drinking tea" out of big mugs.

Maya swims

We signed Maya up for a baby swim class. It's something fun to do inside while the weather is cold and gloomy outside. Here she is modeling her new swimsuit.

Tankini, baby!