Staying in Salem

Again, we apologize for not updating more frequently; this may be the pace for a while. We've been busy with a teething ten month old, busy projects at work, and finalizing our house purchase. We finally found a house that was right for us and right in Salem. It is a ~170-year-old, 3+-bedroom, single-family house which can be seen here. We will close at the end of October and move throughout the beginning of November. We're very excited to be staying in Salem, not only because we love the city, but because we also don't have to worry about changing the name of our blog.

In other exciting news, Avonlea Jane is creeping all over the place and successfully moving herself from room to room. We have no doubt that rapid crawling will happen soon. She is also pulling herself up to stand. Her swim lessons have aptly been coming along swimmingly. She is exceeding all of her instructor's expectations. She has been putting her face in (without crying) and has started to kick her feet and blow bubbles in the water. Whenever she has taken in water, she has coughed it up and not even been upset about it. In fact, getting water in her mouth has made her laugh more than a couple times. Today she also signed to another baby for the first time. We were at lunch and both babies were showing each other the sign for "light" while pointing to the chandelier.

Avonlea Jane enjoying the beautiful weather in her Grandma-made booties.

Having fun at our Friday morning baby group

Below are some pictures from our friend Gail:

4th of July

Look how bald she is here!