Beginning of October - Cristy's Birthday

Wow. We are only a month behind now! Isn't that incredible!

Good morning Harrison. How are you enjoying October conference? Harrison says, "It's excellent. Thanks for asking. Troy and I are enjoying it very much..."
...to which Troy replied, "you're breathing my air Harrison! Get off me!"
[In a Austrian accent] Harrison: "I will crush you."
So Dad had to save Troy from his first brawl, but otherwise was really grateful for the opportunity to watch General Conference and be spiritually refreshed.
Jeanine's pregnant, so she gets a pass on this one...
...but the Millers get NO PASS. No soup for you!
Recently Dad and Troy have had a really fun tradition of Sabbath Day Showers. Troy is really liking the water and his rubber duck toys.
To be fair, Troy likes everything (except big person food) so this isn't really much of a compliment for Dad.
Troy has also started sitting up a little bit. "Rolling over is for babies," Troy says. "Real toddlers just figure out walking and roll with it."
Hey Harrison. How did you get here...? Where are your parents?
Birthdays are Christmas are an adventure for the Alexandria Moreiras because we usually have three of each - one with family, one with friends, and one with each other (sometimes more). So following are pictures of Cristy's Burke Moreira/Wright family birthday party.
Troy says, "Thanx 4 this hat Grammy. It fits my dome piece real good."
We had an awesome picnic down by Teddy Roosevelt Island, followed by a walk around the island (it's about a mile).
Cristy turned 1.
Has Abuelo forgotten about blowouts and spit-up?
Out boy is so handsome. We love him.
Nathaniel says (or wanted to), "if you fail to blow out this candle you're really show your age Cristy."
"Abuela, please teach me how to be skinny."
The memorial on the island is small but fun. You should come and see it ;)

Next up: Feeding Troy solids and Halloween

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

On 30 October, 2010, the Moreiras and some friends ventured into Washington D.C. for their first rally as a family. The Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear was hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central. Its stated purpose was to provide a venue for attendees to be heard above what Stewart describes as the more vocal and extreme 15–20% of Americans who "control the conversation" of U.S. politics, the argument being that these extremes demonize each other and engage in counterproductive actions, with a return to sanity intended to promote reasoned discussion. The rally drew about 215,000 people, according to aerial photography analysis.

The day turned out to be very eventful, though we will spare you the minor details.

Cristy, Nathaniel, and Troy arrived in D.C. via metro and were not able to meet up with their friends. Apparently, when you have a big rally, cell phones don't work. Is it the lack of cell towers, or "the man" keeping us from launching a coordinated attack?

The family walked around for a little bit and then decided to split up. Cristy would walk around a little more, then return home via metro before the crowd hit the metro stops again. Nathaniel would walk around, take in the sights and posters, then head home later.

And there was A LOT of signs!

And security too!

It was a real pleasure to see some people came just for fun and to give their own initiatives face time, like these folks supporting our Space Program.

Nathaniel had worked in D.C. for 4 years and never seen such a group assemble. People were everywhere! Even the trees...

Many people wore costumes just for fun!

At one point Nathaniel climbed a giant wall by a museum and starting taking pictures, but then a very mean security guard threatened to call the police on everyone, so most of us got off the wall (the ones of us she could see!)

Horses. Just because.

The event ended with a really powerful speech by Jon Stewart, which Nathaniel recommends for anyone who considers themselves a moderate and/or independent voter. Actually, Nathaniel recommends this speech for anyone is isn't nonsensical, because it should make a lot of sense to most people.

HOWEVER, Nathaniel left before this speech to beat the crowd, knowing he was recording it at home. He took a very interesting route to get to his metro stop, going what would be considered "out of the way" by some, in order to beat the large crowds that would form shortly. And then...

...he found his wife, also in a very weird part of the Metro station.

Cristy did not look happy, in fact, maybe a little weepy. She told him a crazy story about how she was on an escalator that broke while she was riding it, then plummeted 3/4 of the way to the floor before its emergency brakes engaged.

Nathaniel will let Cristy write the story another day, but here is the news article as it was covered a few days later: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/31/AR2010103104563.html

Four people went to the hospital, but Cristy was unharmed! Because she was the last person on the escalator before it broke, she was not thrown into the dog pile of people at the bottom. Cristy ran back up the escalator when it stopped, and a helpful man grabbed the stroller and hauled that up after her. Troy slept through the whole event in his front carrier!

That Cristy and Nathaniel met again is a miracle -- neither of them should have been in the place they were when saw each other. Needless to say, Cristy was relieved to see Nathaniel, and he was very happy his family was safe and that he could take care of everyone now.

Troy, asleep again!

End of September Ohio Campbell Visit

During the last week of October we got a visit from the Ohio Campbells. Everyone had a very good time.

Hallie Berry just loved Mr. Happy. Interestingly, most babies/toddlers do...
Troy took lots of notes from Hallie on how to walk and do other fun stuff too.
One day we went to the pool. Everyone had a good time, even Troy Boy.
But seriously, when you go out with "that guy," doesn't everybody have a good time?
Everyone give Liz a big "thank you," for keeping up the Ohio Campbell "weird face" tradition for family photos. Thanks Liz. Good thing Troy was asleep for that hyena impersonation.
Big time asleep.
We all took turns on the high-dive and we all took longer than expected making our first jump, including Cristy, who took around 2 minutes. A little boy was trying to motivate her to jump so he could start doing his flips.

What a precious family!
The next day we went to a beach in Maryland. The water was a little too cold, but we had a nice walk down the coast. Nathaniel was soon exhausted from all the excitement...
...but nothing can rejuvenate a parent like a folksy dance with Captain Adorable.
Everyone gave half-smiles because the boardwalk was scorching hot.
Who doesn't love swings? Probably the same people who don't get upset when their ice cream falls off their cone. We also went for a walk around a local park. We saw a lot of turtles in the pond and tried to get pictures, but none really came out, so we settled for these Jokers instead :)

After the weekend, Cristy continued home with the Ohio Campbells for a week in Cincy. Hey, by the way, have you ever read that book "Brave New World?"


Cristy helped Liz wrap up some projects around the house and plan a baby shower. They had such a good time getting to know each other better.
And
Taking
Pictures
Of
The
Kids
Apparently this is Grant's idea of showing Cristy a good time around the town. She's never going up there along again!

Cristy took this picture just for Nathaniel, who loves Kentucky basketball. The football shoulder straps just made it that much better.

Next Up: Surprise!!!