Rich's 30th Surprise Party!

Last Saturday, we threw Rich a surprise party for his 30th birthday!   It was such a great day and we really appreciate everyone coming out to celebrate Rich's 30th!  We really have the best family and friends!   Below are some pictures from the day....sorry I didn't get pictures of everyone there but if anyone has any additional pics, please send them our way :) 

SURPRISE!!!! 

 Amy and Richie

 Richie was getting really pooped out from all the festivities and cuddled up to Donna!

 Jimmy, Jim and Rich

 Heather and Steve (a big thanks to Steve for occupying Rich up until the party!)

 Dara and Mark

 Sara, Madeline, Kelly, Shannon and Richie eating his toes!

 Rich and Richie waiting to sing happy birthday

 Blowing out the candles! 

9 Months

Heeeerrrreeee'sss Richie!  At 9 months! :)  Richie has learned so many new things recently.  He is babbling up a storm - he started saying "mama" down the shore but now says "mama, dada, baba, gaga" and some others that we can't always make out.  He does his own form of crawling - we like to call it the "army crawl" where he drags himself around the room on his tummy.  He also does some "normal crawling" but for things he wants at a far distance resorts to the "army crawl".  He pulls himself into a sitting position (he started that down the shore as well) and is now beginning to pull up on furniture.  It's only a matter of time before he starts walking!  He is beginning to eat more table foods and self feed.  He loves toys that spin and anything with music.  He loves going for walks in his buggy and going to the park to swing and look around at all the other kiddos and events going on around him.  Richie will give kisses if you ask for one and I could just snuggle with him all day if he let me!  Below are some pics of our little man :)  

Richie and Mr. Bear back together again! 

Richie in his Phillies gear :) 

Mr. Serious

We finally created a playroom for Richie and here he is discovering himself in the mirror that's on the frog....he'll kiss it if you ask him!  Too cute :) 

Ocean City, New Jersey

The first week in August, we headed down to Ocean City, New Jersey for our first family vacation!  The week was perfect all around - great weather, lots of activities, and about as much relaxation as you can possibly get with an 8 1/2 month old!  Every day we walked to the bakery (I do believe I gained about 5 lbs!), went to the park so Richie could enjoy the swings (he always was a swing lover since infancy - ha!) and then most days headed to the beach for a bit.  We went to the boardwalk just about every night which is always fun!  The week went entirely too fast and we were sad to leave but have a lot of great memories from our trip :) 

Richie's 1st time on the beach!  Looks like he is already checking out some babes on the beach :)

 "Hmmm, this stuff sure looks interesting"

 "I think I'll just dive right in!"

 Daddy with Richie in the ocean

 "Take me to jump waves, Daddy!"

 Rich taking Richie on the monster truck on the boardwalk

 Richie with Mommy and Daddy at the sand castle contest!

 One team built a huge car! 

 Richie's 1st time on the carousel

 Mommy and Richie on the Dumbo ride

 Up we go!

 Daddy took Richie on his favorite ride - the jumping frogs!  Doesn't Rich look awfully comfy in that frog?!?! lol

 Granny and Pop with Richie on the boardwalk

 Our family on the boardwalk....Richie couldn't look at the camera cause he was too busy looking at the seagulls swarming us for Daddy's box of popcorn! 

 We got this tent for the beach but many days it was so darn windy on the beach that we left it at our house - Richie loved playing in it at the house though!

 One of the days was a bit windy and cold in the morning so we decided to go on the surreys - hopefully next year Richie can sit up front :) 

 The owners' of the condo even take little ones into consideration and had 2 of these little chairs set up in the family room!  Richie looked so cute in it.  Here's Richie all ready to head to the beach!  Thanks Pops for my cute "Little Shrimp" shirt from Sanibel :) 

 Steve and Heather came down to visit us for the day too! 

A very busy July

July was such a fun-filled, busy month - and it flew!  Here are some pictures of all of our activities in July :)

We bought Richie this awesome little buggy cause he really isn't a huge fan of the stroller for walks.  He likes to see everything that is going on around him and he just can't do that in the stroller!  He LOVES his little car - we really enjoy taking him out for walks in it almost every morning and evening.  :) 

My good friend Ryan, who grew up on my street, married Kim on July 23rd in New Jersey.  We had a really great time celebrating with them! 

The next day, July 24th, Aunt Grace and Sean got married.  We got to have some more fun celebrating their day with them :)  

 Rich, Grace, Shannon

 Me, Rich, Grace, Maryann

 Amy, Rich, Matt

On July 28th, we celebrated Granny's birthday!  

We enjoyed Granny's birthday cake for dessert and Richie enjoyed nibbling on his piggies :) 

Told ya July was fun filled!