10 months...and full of new, fun tricks!

Allie has been quite a busy girl during the last month. She made her first trip to Albertville to visit Pops and Ommie. Auntie made it up from Auburn to visit with us too. While in Albertville, Allie got Pops his first computer! She's so excited that she'll be able to email him pictures and he'll be able to keep up with her blog and learn about all the new things that she is doing.

After the trip to Albertville, Allie made a trip to Tampa, Florida for her first American College of Medical Genetics meeting....well, her first postnatal ACMG meeting. No doubt that there are many more of these meetings in Allie's future. After the ACMG meeting, we made a quick side trip over to Clearwater to go to the wedding of one of Mommy's great friends, Aunt Karyn. The wedding was a beautiful beach wedding, and Allie looked precious in her spring dress.






We returned home from Florida for one day...just long enough to unpack, do laundry, and re-pack, before we headed to New Orleans with Daddy for one of his meetings. Although Allie did take a short walk down Bourbon Street, we weren't able to capture any of that walk on the camera, so you'll just have to take our word for it. Allie spent so much time playing in the lobby of the hotel and eating breakfast, lunch, at dinner in the hotel restaurant that she became the mascot of the New Orleans Ritz Carlton. They even gave her a little Ritz Carlton stuffed lion and a cute Ritz Carlton pink onesie!

During all of these travels, Allie has learned so many new things....while in Florida she learned how to drink through a straw and how to point to things...she can show us all the lights, fans, and the food that she wants to eat. While in New Orleans, tooth #8 appeared, and Allie quickly mastered climbing the marble staircase in the hotel lobby.....looks like it's time to get those baby gates up at home! Allie has also started "talking". She can say "uh-oh", and she tries to say several other words, although the sounds that she makes sound only minimally reminiscent of the word that she is trying to say, but hey, we're working on it! It's also become clear to us that Allie understands most of everything we say to her...she is quite a smart little girl! And finally, although Allie not quite walking yet, it won't be long....she pulls up and cruises on everything she can find.

UPDATE ON THE LITTLE BROTHER:
So, you might have noticed that the title of this blog has changed a bit...that's because, as most of you know, Allie will be having a baby brother in August! We are very excited about this new edition to the family, and I'd like to include updates on baby brother in this blog as well. Our due date is August 24, 2009 (meaning that in 3 days, this pregnancy will be half way over already!). We have decided on a name for the baby...his name will be William David, and we plan to call him "Will". The pregnancy has gone well so far. I had a bit of nausea for the first 8 weeks, but after that my main problem was just being tired. Now that Allie is sleeping well at night, my energy level is much better. I'm feeling well, and hope that I continue to do so in order to keep up with Allie! We're scheduled to have a detailed ultrasound on Wednesday, April 8th, and I hope to post some of those ultrasound photos as well as some from Will's early ultrasounds at 9 and 11 weeks. We'll keep you posted on this wonderful new addition!

Nikki