Happy Thanksgiving

We had the pleasure of hosting the entire Reifenberger Family for Thanksgiving this year. Needless to say, there weren't as many leftovers this year as in years past!

A Trip to Drumlin Farm

Our friends, Bethany and Evie, picked us up last week and took us with them to Drumlin Farm in Lexington, MA. We had a really fun time. Saw the cows, sheep, pigs, horses and chicken and took a ride on the hayride. That was not Anne's favorite part. For some reason, she was the only one crying on the ride!




We happened to run into our friends Dan and Zach while we were there too. What a pleasant surprise that was.

Our Budding Artist?

Brooklyn for Halloween

A couple of weeks ago we went down to Brooklyn to spend the weekend with Jen. She has a new apartment near the water with a view of Manhattan in the background. Definitely a more laid back feel to Brooklyn than the fast pace of Manhattan. We had a very enjoyable weekend.

You gotta use the belly for Halloween. Jeff was an absolute gem and stayed at Jen's place to watch Anne for the night. Our friend, David came over to hang out with him so Jen and I could go out to a Halloween party with her cousin, Leslie. A non-alcoholic beer bottle at the bar and my costume was complete. I can't tell you how many people loved my costume and didn't realize that I was pregnant. One person asked me if it was some kind of inflatable device! "Uh...no...I'm pregnant, that's actually my belly."

A Trip to Central MA

We've had a couple of busy weekends lately, hence no recent posts. A few weeks ago we went camping for the weekend in North Hampton, MA which is about 2 hours west of Boston. We stayed in the same trailer we rented last year at a KOA. The fall colors were absolutely fabulous!

Here's Anne and Jeff at the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Park in Springfield, MA. We stopped there on our way back home.

Matt and Darcy came and joined us for the day on Saturday. Matt entertained us by the campfire with his guitar.

We hiked Mount Tom on Saturday. Lots of breaks needed for the pregnant ladies, but the view was worth it.

Our friend, Anne, came out to hike with us as well.

Devil's Lake 2010

Last weekend we went for our annual trip to Devil's Lake. The weather could not have been better! 70s day after day and nice cool nights, perfect for a campfire. Anne stayed in the tent with us this year and did great. Except for the fact that she consistently woke up at 5:30 every morning. It was completely dark outside! Luckily, Aunt Renee gets up early so we were able to head over there for some coffee and toys.

It's a Boy!

Jeff couldn't be more excited for the next generation of Reifenberger baseball players. He's due to arrive February 18th. He's quite active so far in my belly. We're looking forward to meeting him. Anne is obsessed with babies right now, we're hoping that continues when her little brother arrives.

Anne Becomes Civilized

Now that Anne is over a year old we are trying to civilize her (something her father and two uncles still struggle with every day). No more eating with her hands, Anne must use a spoon! As you can see, she is pretty good a bringing the spoon to her mouth from the bowl. But she still needs work on scooping the food onto the spoon. An experienced Reifenberger eater would completely fill the spoon with a mound of food. Maybe Uncle Matt can give her a few pointers.

Anne Helps in the Kitchen

Anne really likes to help out, especially if it involves taking items out of a box, bowl, drawer, cupboard, or dishwasher. This video shows Anne using her talent to help mom in the kitchen. If you listen carefully you will hear Anne attempt to say fork and then spoon as she repeats mom's prompts for the items Anne has pulled out of the tray. Finally when the all the spoons, forks, and knifes (don't worry they are butter knifes) have been unloaded, Anne waves her hand (the sign for all done). Our next step is to teach Anne how to load the dishwasher.

Anne Visits Uncles in Atlanta

Anne has visited Atlanta three times already, but the first two times she was in mommy's belly. Finally on the third visit Anne was able to see Atlanta outside the womb. The original purpose of the trip to Atlanta was to party with her uncle's. But with Matt and Darcy moving to Boston by the middle of September the trip became tour of Atlanta one last time. We visited the Cyclorama, Stone Mountain, the Aquarium, and the World of Coke. Anne had a great time with her Uncle's.

The Reifenberger Brother's renact the battle of Atlanta

Anne looks at the Bulga Whales with Uncle Matt

Anne falls asleep on the train ride around Stone Mountain in Uncle David's arms

Anne with Mommy and Daddy on top of Stone Mountain

Anne's First Trip to Colorado

Anne and I had the privilege of spending 5 days in Colorado with my Dad, Uncle and friends. We had such a great time. Anne told me she's hooked on the mountains! We were sad Daddy couldn't make it, but grateful he let us go.

Here's Anne with her cousin Colin, whom she threw a book at. We'd been at their house about 20 minutes when she wacked him. Needless to say, Colin wasn't very happy about that!

This is Boulder Lake. We hiked over the river and through the woods about 3.5 miles to make it back there. It was worth the effort. My Dad carried Anne 7 miles in the backpack that day. He's pretty amazing!

Here's Anne with her biking buddies, Bob and Paul.

Can you beat the scenery at this playground?

Anne is the bike trailer Grandpa got to haul her around in. She wasn't the biggest fan, but was pretty tired from our trip and maybe a little small for the trailer. A few more months and she'll be ready to go.

This was the first stop after the airport. You can take a tunnel through the mountain to get to Frisco, but we decided to drive over Loveland Pass.

Here's Dad on the slide with Anne. I was laughing so hard. Sorry I don't know how to rotate it.

Finally, pics of the new bathroom

We are so happy with our new bathroom and would recommend our contractor to anyone.

This is our above-john cabinet and medicine chest (which was inset in the wall).

It is so lovely not having to shower enveloped in plastic. Jeff is tall enough where he can see the view of Boston from the shower. The sun streams in there in the morning and its absolutely lovely. It used to be quite dark in there.

Tired Little Girls

Anne and I went with our friends, Bethany and Evie to Crane Beach a couple of weeks ago with our playgroup. We had a great time. Anne and Evie were obviously a bit tuckered out by the drive home.

Anne Walks For A Phone

Did we mention Anne will do just about anything to play with mom or dad's cell phone...

Anne is Bipedal!

Mom and Dad tried all weekend to encourage Anne to walk, but she would not have it. After placed in a standing position in the middle of the room Anne would immediately fall to her butt and then crawl towards mom and dad. And so our weekend ended with Anne still not walking. However dad was quite shocked when he picked up Anne at day care today and she immediately took 2-3 steps right to him with no help! According to the staff she had been doing that all day... go figure. Well we had to get it on video and so as soon as we got home we got the video to prove it. Anne is no longer a triped (she has a distinctive crawl using two arms and one leg while dragging the 2nd leg)!

Rude Awakenings

I awoke this morning just after 5am to the tune of what sounded like a child choking. Figuring I had better check on Anne, I walked in to find she had been throwing up in her crib...gross! Of course, it was everywhere. In her hair, on her PJs and Teddy. Yuck! I stripped her down and put her in the tub and kindly awoke Jeffer to deal with the bedding and Teddy. Not sure I could have handled that one without vomitting myself.

So, we get her all situated and the bed cleaned up. Back into bed ourselves when I decide I'm hungry and head downstairs for a bowl of cereal. About 20 minutes later...."Jody, can you come up here?" "What happened?" I ask. "Anne just threw up again."

So, round 2 in the tub and bedding change. I ended up just bringing her back downstairs with me in her diaper with a towel close at hand. Not sure what this is all about, perhaps she didn't like her taco meat with sweet corn and carrots. She's had taco meat before though, so I'm hoping this isn't an intestinal bug that lasts a while. We're playing it by ear.

Can I just say...I really hate vomit! I'm already slightly nauseous at baseline, don't need any extra incentives at the moment to upchuck!

Hope you have a great day! Mine is off to a momentous start!

Summer Fun

There's been lots of action here at the Reifenberger household. Anne came down with a fever of 104.8 a week and a half ago. Needless to say, Daddy was not so happy to be left with that Peanut only to have her wake from a nap burning up! I came home from jogging with friends to find her lounging on the couch (very unusual, as 1 yr old don't generally lounge!) After 3 1/2 day of fever, her rash finally broke out. Just a common childhood virus. She bore it well. Jeff and I tag-teamed work and made the best of it.

This is the music stand that Aunt Jaime and Uncle Jason got Anne for her birthday, she just loves it!

Giddy-up!

New photos are up from our recent travel to Illinois on the Reifenberger Family Picasa website. (See link to the right.)

Anne at the beach on Lake Michigan

Anne was not a huge fan of the cool water, but she definitely enjoyed playing in the sand.

More pics from Anne's Birthday Weekend

Anne didn't even feel the need to open her birthday presents. She enjoyed climbing on them.

Here's Anne on the ferry back from the Boston Harbor Islands a bit tuckered out.

On the T with Grandpa and Mimi