... and finally, Halloween Night!

Just in time for Election Day - The First Dude of Alaska and the Maverick herself (wink!).


Maverick and her ladybug.


The First Dude and his ladybug on Beacon Hill the neighborhood to be in for trick-or-treating in Boston (Meg got a Milky Way from Teresa Heinz Kerry (John Kerry's wife)!).


Meg got the hang of picking out candy by the second house. She's really quick on the up-take.


Daddy Tax! Andy got some candy from Meg, per the daddy tax. After all, we do live in Taxachusetts.

Halloween Party #2

Crimson Kids Halloween Party... Meg's second year in attendance!

Halloween party #1

Our little cuties! (Ladybug, lion, Oregon Duck cheerleader.)


First time eating Jello jigglers - and true to the celebration it was orange. Meg LOVED it!


Ladybug eating all things orange (her favorite good color by far).


Mini pumpkin hunt. Meghan actually got the concept and found this pumpkin under the couch!

Our little reader

Meghan loves to "read" (babble and and point at the pictures and turn the pages).


Happy girl! Look at all of those toys!

Luck be a lady(bug) tonight!

Today was the first day our li'l lady bug make her debut! We went to a thing on campus, story time, and then to Trader Joes. I think Meg likes Halloween.


Lady bugs - they're good luck, you know.


"A doctor, a lady bug, a frog, and a University of Oregon cheerleader walked into a bookstore..."

Fall photo session

Autumn on campus.


Leaves are fun!


Really fun!

Mittens

All bundled up and she couldn't be happier. She didn't even mind the mittens.

Pumpkin patch

Here's our li'l pumpkin amongst pumpkins.

(Now that I learned how to use the slide show feature my ability to only pick a few photos has compeltely disappeared!)

Getting closer each day

She isn't walking yet but she is close. She is great at cruising the furniture though!

(Outfit is a birthday pressie from Uncle Tyler and Auntie Rebecca.)

Quality Time

We were soooooo lucky to have Meg's grandparents, Bean and Dado (Andy's parents) come and Meg-sit for a weekend. Andy and I spent our first child-free weekend together at where else? A college football game in Georgia! I think both parties had a blast. We are so grateful that Andy's parents were willing to trek out here and watch their grandbaby. What a lucky and loved girl she is! I think they had a fantastic time and here are some pictures to prove it...

First days as a one-year old

Our little girl is as busy as ever.


Pressies and paper - an awesome combo.


Standing strong (outfit courtesy of Auntie B - who saw the dress and thought it would be something I would want to wear myself).


Precious pumpkin! (Outfit courtesy of Uncle Tyler and Auntie Rebecca.)

Happy Birthday Meghan Jane!!

Meg is now officially a one-year old. She cruises the furniture, says "daddy" and "uh-oh," and signs "all done" and "milk." We are so proud of our little girl. She is almost out of babyhood and into toddlerhood. Crazy.
The following slideshow is only for the diehards, I repeat the following slideshow is only for the diehards, you know who you are... (Mama couldn't seem to edit down the 83 b-day pictures!) Enjoy.

Long walk

Yesterday my friend Kim and I and our respective daughters went on a lengthy walk to the Pru and back. I hadn't been there before and we thought we should really enjoy the weather while it is still walkable. We walked a little on Newbury Street too, a quintessential Boston experience, replete with Brownstones, cafes, and a ton of brickwork.


Lunch at the Prudential Mall. Meg was in a great and silly mood!


Sneak preview of Meggie J's Halloween costume...

Happy errand runner

Meg was cheerful company on an afternoon of running errands. She even left on her fleece hat for the duration of the trip. (Pants courtesy of Nannie & Bop for her 1st bday.)

UGA and Uga love

The littlest Bulldog fan. We love this about Meghan, she isn't afraid to support the team-of-the-day! (Hair bow handiwork of Auntie B - it was from last Christmas but now Meg finally has enough hair to wear it!)


Uga, Daddy, Mama, and Meg - "tailgating" at Michael and Beth's, our go-to Georgia natives and UGA fans.

Nannie-style

This outfit, especially the top, reminds me of something Nannie would wear - a little Bohemian, a little preppy. I mean this in the most complimentary way, of course!

They call me baby driver

Standing and rocking out

A friend lent us the "stand or stroll" (I just made that name up). And as evidenced from the pictures below - Meg really enjoyed herself.


Rockin' out to the music (one of the few toys that MJ has that have potential to drive her parents crazy with kiddie tunes/noises!).


Studying the dashboard options.

Reach the Beach

Daddy ran 23 miles in 24 hours ... on purpose!!


The Team on having reached the beach(ed).


Mama and Meggie J in New Hampshire.


Daddy and Meggie J in the post-race tent.


Daddy miles: 23. Meg miles: 0. But John V.S. lent her his medal, which she happily sported for awhile.

knick, knack, paddy whack

Meg LOVES all the treasures she can surround herself with in Mama & Daddy's closet. (She is holding one of G'Pa Morse's bolo ties.)

Action shots

Maybe she gets this from her mama, but this girl loves books (and bookshelves). Maybe we have a future librarian on our hands.


Pick a card any card. (As far as Meg is concerned, everyday she takes out all the cards and moves them all around on the floor and then like magic they are back in their box each morning for the fun to begin again.)


Daddy needs a new pair of shoes.

11-months old!

Happy near-birthday to our sweet girl! We love you.


Sitting still ...


... on the move.

Clean jelly bean

Almost 11-months old - believe it or not!

Family Vacay!

The Morse Fam went on our first real family vacay, resort and all. Let me tell you - it was awesome. We stayed at a place on St. John in the US Virgin Islands with two other couples from HBS and their respective daughters. So fun and the three baby girls were too cute! We really lucked out with the weather. Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna passed us by with only a little tropical thunderstorm or two to show for it. Thank God! It was really sunny, humid, and tropical the lion's share of our trip. The only downside was there were an obscene amount of mosquitoes due to all of the wet weather. Oh well, I would take skeeters over cat-4s any day!

Bar Harbor

Pronounced "Bah Hahbah."


Meggie J and Daddy on Main Street after a late breakfast. Earlier that morning we took a run on the famous carriage roads built by a Rockefeller in the Park with Meg in her jogging stroller.

Acadia National Park

When Andy's summer internship was all said and done we drove up to Acadia National Park in Maine. Andy had never been to ME before (nor Meg) so we definitely wanted to visit there before we move away from Boston. It is the only National Park in New England (apparently there is an international park up there but that doesn't affect the accuracy of the previous factoid).

Acadia at dusk, view of Bar Harbor's water supply.


Attentive participant on the trees of Acadia hike, led by Ranger Deb.

Cutie Pie

Here are a few pictures of our cutie Daddy's last week of work in NYC. Mama was fortunate enough to stay with Ms. Kim and Ella.

Silly girl (outfit courtesy of Bean).


Reading the dictionary.


"Sorry, no flash photography."

Sunday morning hike

Clamshell hike, CT.

Family portrait.

Washington slept here.

For Uncle Tyler's birthday, we all ventured up to rural Connecticut for a stay at his and Auntie Rebecca's summer retreat. We were in a town that Andy commented looked like a place the entire Revolutionary War was fought.


Traffic jam (seriously, it took forever behind this guy!).


These boots were made for walkin.'


Toast to the birthday boy!


View of main house from the reinvented "barn."


Bean and Meg sitting in the grass.