BritBaby: Yankees or Southerners???

It's been a while since my last post, but boy have we been busy! Right now we are in Frederick, Maryland looking for our new home!!! Well, at least our new home for the next year. We flew in this afternoon and had a pleasant flight. G loved closing the window and playing with the lights, and he even got to take a long walk up and down the aisle with his daddy! It wasn't too bad, but Gabriel was such a wiggle worm! Our 10 hour flight from London when Gabriel was 2 1/2 months was a million times easier than this 3 hour flight with a 9 1/2 month old. He was restless, excited, and sleepy, but the people sitting around us said he did really great and wasn't too noisy. I hope they were telling the truth!

Anyway, we flew into Dulles (Washington D.C.) and drove through Leesburg to Frederick. It's a great drive, and lovely. There's still a bit of snow on the ground, so it made all the Christmas lights look so romantic and Christmasey as the sun went down behind the hills on the horizon. There were lots of old farmhouses and stills everywhere, and tons of old barns... the Boones know I looove old barns (remember the Washington/U-haul trip and the hunt for the perfect barn???). I saw many antique shops, although Jake refused to stop :( and even a great Farmers' Market. I can't wait to visit there! Leesburg had a huge outlet mall that I MUST visit :).

It was dark by the time we got to Frederick, so I didn't get to see much today, but we are close to a little area with lots of shops and restaurants, but it's set up like a cozy little village. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill and Gabriel had so much fun playing with the crayons and paper on the table. I thought about saving his artwork, but he drooled, spilled food, and tore it up before I could save it. Oh, well. By the time we finished dinner, it was late and Gabriel was ready for bed. Jake and I got a Tiramsu to go, then we came home and got G ready for bed. It was then that we realized that the only spoons we had were baby spoons. So, we had a romantic dessert and hot chocolate... borrowing Gabriel's spoons. It was fun, but silly! Anyway, I want to go back tomorrow to look at the shops -- especially a shop called My Organic Market... the sign says MOM, with an apple for the O. Sound familiar, Mom??? She spells hers with a heart for the O, and I've always loved that!

Here ia a picture of Gabriel in his new coat, mittens and cozy little hat! Oh, this is the first time for him to see snow!!! Yea!

In other news, we took a weekend trip to Wimberley to see my mom and step-dad. G had a fab time, and he made himself at home with Gramma and Pops. We went to see the Christmas lights at the Yule Walk at the Emily Ann Theater. I highly recommend it! Gabriel loved the xylophone section, he got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, and he loved all the lights. Jake and Gramma roasted hot dogs while Gabriel helped me roast marshmallows on his first campfire. Gabriel even got to taste his first

marshmallow... he's a BIG fan, but he'd better not expect many more until he's a bit bigger! We even got to hear the Dripping Strings, a bunch of kids playing violins/fiddles. They were great!

The next day, Gramma took Gabriel and me to downtown Wimberley for a bit of shopping. If you haven't been, you have to go. There are all kinds of shops with antiques, new stuff, and everything in between. I fell in love with a cozy shop in an old house (I forget the name), and Gabriel loved the handmade swings. He even cried when we had to leave!

I haven't posted in so long I have forgotten some of the new things Gabriel has learned. He recently learned the "P" sound, so we have a lot of that going on, as well as the occasional "H" sound. They often alternate, and it is so cute to watch his little lips pucker! He gives tons of kisses and cuddles now, and loves to wave at anyone who will smile at him. Swimming pool day is still his favorite day of the week, and now he loves to sit on the side and jump into the water to me. He doesn't care if he goes under or not, as long as he gets to jump in! What else? Well, he loves to play standing up. He even lets go and walks a few steps sometimes, especially when he's excited. He's gonna be walking any day now!

It's late and I am sooooo sleepy. It's 11pm local time, so it's way past my bedtime. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we search for a new home up here. And as for the title of the post, can anyone tell me if we'll be Yankees or Southerners once we move here??? Nobody seems to agree. Not even the people that live here!