When September Ends

September has flown by. John is well into the meat of his courses and is beginning to outline, with the ever present thought of finals in the back of his mind. John begins every day at 6:30 by working out (lifting or a long run) with a few other friends from school. He's taken an 8-6ish approach to his work, starting early and studying between and after classes so that when he comes home we have his undivided attention.

Softball has been something he looks forward to, another distraction from studying. He is now playing on 3 different teams. (He even got me to join one...I actually hit the ball too!) As captain of his section's team, John was responsible for getting sponsors and designing their team's jerseys. John got a great local pizza place called Slice as well as a grad bar called Backyard to sponsor the team. It's sort of a tradition that the names of the sections be a little controversial. Remember that John is in section E. They came up with Ex-parte, a legal term referring to motions or hearings done on behalf of one party. Then, just to be scandalous, they added a section symbol to the front of the name. The jersey's came out great and we even did an iron-on version for Adeline and another baby in the section (I know...horrible mother).

Team mascot

The famDad running home

Addie has been changing every day. She isn't crawling yet, but is able to get pretty much anywhere she wants by rolling around. She's turning 6 months this week and we cannot believe it's already been half a year! She's been such a happy girl and greets her Daddy with a huge smile every evening when he walks in the door. She's sitting up with some help, without it she sometimes topples forward. She and I have recently joined a Baby Boot Camp workout class and she enjoys jogging around and participating in the exercises with Mom.

Fletch took some adorable shots of Adeline while visiting.

Sarah Fletcher Photography @ sarahfletcherphoto.com

Sarah Fletcher Photography @ sarahfletcherphoto.com

She has enjoyed having a few visitors here in Charlottesville (Uncle Dave, Aunt Gloria, Cousin Emma, as well as "Aunt" Fletch) and has also been able to see some extended family on a short trip back to Maryland. Our door is always open to visitors, we have a blow up mattress and some pretty comfy couches. Come visit our sweet girl!

Emma came to play

Pajama party

Goodnight story with Dad

Cute Birthday Mommas

During our quick trip to MD Addie got to watch Uncle Shayne score a touchdown, just for her!!

The girls, Addie, Mommy, Cici, and Muzzie

Love these cheeks

Big Win

First two weeks of law school are over and John wants to keep at it, so I guess that's a good sign! We are loving Charlottesville so far. We have made lots of new friends, mostly other LDS families here for school. We have been trying to get involved and go to all the social gatherings. We made red beans and rice for one potluck and jambalaya for another. We have hosted dinner for a few a John's classmates as well as bookclub for some girls in the ward.

John was elected as one of the softball captains for his section. Softball is a big UVA tradition and they sure do take it seriously. Last night there was a big event called the Dandelion Parade. Each section (there are 12) of first year law students, 1L's, was expected to plan and perform a skit/dance to represent their section in front of the older students. It was a fierce competition and the winners had to play the 3L's in the first opening softball game of the season. John's section is section E and so they did their skit and dance about the "E"arthquake. It was pretty cute and they even got their elderly professor involved, which everyone LOVED. John's section stole first place and they played in the game right after! Even though there was lots of drinking and typical college inappropriateness... it was a fun evening and we all really enjoyed it. John was pretty proud about their big win (although the softball game was another story!)

celebrating the big win

As for his actual education, he is really liking his classes, professors, and section mates. His favorite class is civil procedure, which he tried to explain to me is something about how the law works and what the rules are.

Addie has been such a happy girl lately. Everyone loves her and can't believe how well mannered she is. We have been trying to switch to a more consistent nap schedule-- set hours, less naps, longer naps-- that way Mom can get more done!! It has been a pretty smooth adjustment this week which makes everyone, including baby, very smiley! We have also begun to introduce a few solid foods. So far we have done rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and carrots. She's not a big fan of the veggies, but we want to try to get her use to those before we bring on the good stuff a.k.a. FRUIT! Here are a few shots of our doll.

she didn't like carrots much

sleepy time with Samson

our girly girl