Maria's First Christmas

THE GIGGLE!!

Okay... ignore the silly song that Jon makes up! "Maria's got a duck on her butt" only makes sense if you've seen her adorable yellow pants with... well, yeah - a duck on her butt!

Anyway, this is a pretty good clip of her adorable giggle. We could listen to it all day long! Enjoy.

Catching up...

"Bath time? Yippee!"

"I just can't stop smiling..."

"... especially when I'm being tickled!"

"I love to fall asleep on Aunt Chrissy."

"Here I am, just loungin' around. This is my fun new ball next to me. Come over and I'll show you how I play with it. (And by 'play with it' I mean try to eat it.")

"I'm all bundled up & ready for a Wisconsin winter. Well... maybe not."

We haven't written in a while... so we thought we'd post a bunch of miscellaneous pictures so that you can see how Maria is doing. She's growing FAST and really interacting with people. She also has a giggle that can melt your heart! As soon as we get a good video of it, we'll be sure to share it with you all.

Puke = "I love you" in baby talk :)

Watch carefully...
Maria spits up right in dad's face and he doesn't even notice right away!!!

3 Months!

Well, folks, yesterday Maria officially turned 3 months old. We hear that things are supposed to get easier from here... we'll see about that!!!

We celebrated by having her pictures taken at Sears. It was quite an experience.

Note to self: Avoid all portrait studios just prior to any major holiday!
But we have some pretty great shots of our little cutie pie! We'll show them off soon.

Here's some highlights about Maria:

She currently weighs 12lbs 8ozs. She smiles A LOT. She has officially become a thumb-sucker... as long as she can find it! Her favorite toy is an iPod-ish little device (a gift from her cousin, Alex) that blinks lights & plays songs - songs that mom & dad hear in their sleep all night long! She is sleeping through the night quite beautifully, but has absolutely no need for naps during the day. She has (sadly) grown out of her 0-3 month clothes, but it's fun to put her in all her 3-6 month stuff!

We are incredibly thankful today for Maria Katharine... and we can't even remember what life was like without her!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Good morning! It's time to watch the parade. I hope I get to eat some turkey-flavored formula later! Gobble, Gobble, Gobble."

"Hmmm... my phone's ringing. I wonder who it could be?!"

"Oh, hi Grandma! No, I'm not busy. Mom & Dad just keep putting me on the floor to take pictures of me. They're pretty annoying. (But don't tell them I said that!)"

"Yay! Grandma's coming over!"

Maria's ear infection appears to be all cleared up.

Now that she isn't as crabby as she was last week, it gives her more time for her favorite new activity - trying to get her whole hand in her mouth!!! Yes, she has discovered that she can chew on her fingers. It's sort of amusing to watch.




(Oh... and she likes the taste of dad's nose, too.)

Back to the Doctor's Office!

While we are all familiar with Maria's cute and cuddly side... rest assured that she does have an alter ego!! As you can see in this picture, she actually has the ability to physically frown. We see this face from time to time (especially in the evenings between 6 & 7pm,) but got concerned when it was really her dominant mood for the last few days. She was sleeping and eating poorly, so we called our old friend - Maria's pediatrician. We brought her in and it turns out that she has an ear infection!!!

So... we're back to antibiotics and not looking forward to the diapers she'll produce as a result. But at the same time, we're happy that it is something treatable and that she'll be better in a few days. All she wants to do right now is sleep and cry. We prefer the sleep.

Hopefully the next post will have some happier pictures! Until then, we'll just cuddle with our little crabby girl.

Yesterday was a special day for Maria. We're so happy that she will grow up during this amazing time in our country!

"We're on our way into our polling place.
Wow!!!!! I am experiencing history in the making."

"Voting was fun. I can't wait until I get to do it!"

"Me, my Dad, and my future President!"

Here I am with Mom, Dad, Uncle Andrew & Aunt Mel. It was quite a party!!! There were lots of Obama signs and red, white & blue decorations. There were even festive adult beverages - but nobody would let me try theirs!"

"Yawn! I''m so tired! But I am glad that I stayed up to watch the race officially called for Obama."

Maria's First Halloween!

Prune Juice: Take 2

Funny video!

MARIA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!

Yes Maria, do you have a question?

"Do you guys think I have the best dad ever too?"

"I think I'll go for a walk outside now..."

... well, maybe not today.

We've been blessed with good weather since Maria has been born, which has allowed us to go on lots of shorts walks around the neighborhood. Maria either closes her eyes and uses it as an opportunity to get one of her naps in, or she opens her mouth and looks around the whole time! We keep telling her that she's going to swallow bugs if she isn't careful (how about that for her first solid food?)

The rain today will probably keep us indoors.

Here are a few cute pics of our latest walk.

Gettin' in the groove of things...

"Hmmm... should I eat or poop or sleep? So many choices..."

We're starting to develop a routine with Maria. It is fun to get to know her dynamic little personality. She is definitely mellow & happy... we are so lucky. Her neck is becoming incredibly strong and she tries to turn to see where all the voices are coming from!

Jon went back to work yesterday and it was as hard as giving birth via forceps! Maria missed him so much (so did Lisa.) We can already tell that the time we get to spend together as a whole family is invaluable. I guess we will live for weekends.

Maria continues to be healthy (and "poops like a champ," according to Jon.) We had her 2 week check-up yesterday and all is well. We feel as though our pediatrician is now an old friend!

Life is good.

Maria's cousins...

Alex, Adam & Kayla enjoy playing with their new cousin! Here are a few pics of their first few interactions.

ok... we have kind of turned into germ-a-phobes

Everyone that comes in our house has to be decontaminated...





Here is Maria's first bath in the big tub... since her umbilical cord fell off!
It didn't go according to plan as you can see...

Maria comes home!!!

Maria is home, happy, and comfortable.
Our doctor called us, and she did test positive for a virus that is common for children to get, especially in the month of August. If she had been even a couple of months old, this would not have been as serious. It just was scary because she is so young. Her little body doesn't have the immunity to fight anything yet. (But now apparently she has immunity against this one virus. Ten million other viruses to go...)

We are so happy to be home, and we are so happy that Maria is feeling better. Thanks for all your prayers.