Mary is half of a year old!

Mary has been eating solid foods lately, although I think they should be called mushy foods instead of solid foods. She eats rice cereal and some fruits and vegetables. She makes funny faces that make us think she doesn't like it, but at the same time I think she likes it. The peas smell terrible, although I tasted a bit and they aren't as bad as they smell.

I guess babies should sit up on their own at about 6 months of age, and apparently Mary knows that and didn't want to be too early or too late. Right on her six month birthday, she sat up by herself for the first time. It was pretty amazing to us because she always just fell forward whenever we tried to sit her up before that. It actually was really nice to see that she is developing well considering she had a rough beginning and could have been delayed.

She smiles a lot more now than ever before and is a joy to be around almost all the time. She does have a personality and is never shy about sharing with us how she really feels - I think she gets that from her mom.

Anyway, we just love our little princess and hope you enjoy the pictures we've been posting on the Photo Gallery portion of the website.

Summer Update

We are now in California, living with Murray's grandma in her home in Los Alamitos. It is really nice to be here and spend time with her. She has been a big help with little Mary. Murray found a temporary job as an accountant at Makita U.S.A. (the power tool company). He likes it and is glad to have found such a good job just for the summer time. Margaret stays home with Mary and enjoys making fresh orange juice and lemonade from Grandma's fruit trees. Margaret also gets to spend time with her family and they enjoy seeing her and Mary. Mary is growing fast. She is already 5 1/2 months old and about 17 pounds. She loves to have so many grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends around here that love her and play with her. She is fun to be around especially when she laughs and smiles. We are getting ready for another move soon to the Memphis area - it looks like we will be heading out there in early or mid-August. Our house is just about finished and from the pictures we've seen is looking good. Murray is excited to start optometry school and hopes it won't be too hard.

Hope you are enjoying the pictures we post. We'll try to post another video of Mary soon since everyone seems to love those.