Happy Memorial Day!

America's Pastime - We're Saving it for the Future

Tonight we went to our first Richmond Flying Squirrels (minor league) baseball game. We were pumped - the weather was great, our friend April was singing the national anthem and Mary-Michael was looking pretty stinkin cute in her polka dot dress from Kim. The first 30 minutes were golden...and then it was time to eat. I decided to forgo the bottle and just feed her under my udder cover while enjoying the game. Ha! It was a little too warm, and about every 17 seconds the crowd would cheer, chant or sing, which inevitably would distract her. So, we stopped nursing for the moment. And then the cheers got louder, and our sweet girl put the pre-cry face on and let it out. After a few rounds of this, I took her out of the stands and to the bathroom to change her. What do I find? A bathroom with no changing table! Seriously - this is a family friendly event, right? So, a nice woman helped me clear a table holding paper towels, so that I could get M&M freshened up. After this, I decided to remain outside of the stands where the noise level was lower and wait for Geoff to realize I was not coming back. When my rendition of Take me Out to the Ballgame seemed to get her even more upset, I faced a concrete wall and swayed so that she could stare at all the passersby. Daddy came out eventually; we put her in the car seat, and once we hit the parking lot not a peep was heard. Lesson Learned: 12 week old babies are not ready for crazy fans, sudden loud noises and nursing under a tent-like contraption that probably feels like a convection oven. Maybe later this summer Flying Squirrels...

Memorial Day

According to wikipedia, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. As Geoff and I were busily planning our weekend of cookouts and relaxation by the river, I was reminded that this three day weekend is not really about us. It's about those who have served and died while protecting all of us. Today marked the 1000th US military death in the Afghan War. These are the children of 1000 mothers, the brothers and sisters of thousands of Americans, fathers and mothers to children, and spouses. Geoff and I realized last night that we often hear about casualties "over there" and think about the sadness of it for a moment and then move on to our own agenda. How easily we take for granted the freedoms that we have as Americans and the sacrifices that our service members make on our behalf. So, thank you to the many of you who serve. We'd particularly like to thank our friend Jerome who is there for the second time defending us. Whether you agree with the politics of the war or not, in honor of them please take a moment out of your weekend to pray for their protection and pray for comfort and peace for those who have lost those they love in this war and past wars. This weekend, it's about them, not us.

A Great Last Week of Maternity Leave

I am wrapping up my final week of maternity leave, which is hard to believe! It has been a fun week all around with a baby shower for April, a cookout at our house with softball friends and kids, a visit from Anne (my college running partner and dear friend), M&M's first wedding and trip out of state and some precious momma/daughter time. I love this little girl more than I ever thought was possible.


April and M&M


Anne and M&M


The new Mr. and Mrs. Cookson


The cutest girl in the world!

Ups and Downs

So, this has been a weeks of ups and downs, but we like to focus on the ups so we'll start with those.

Ups
1. Mary-Michael has slept 7 hours straight the last 2 nights. Amazing!
2. We celebrated my Dad's (Poppy) birthday at Pad Thai.
3. Daddy and his company have a ton of work, which is a great big blessing.
4. Mommy still has one week left of maternity leave.

Downs
1. Mary-Michael seems to have some indigestion and constipation issues, which has led to a few moments of screaming, very few succesfful naps and an explosive diaper while in Kroger that decorated her carseat.
2. An hour of this screaming happened while at Pad Thai celebrating Poppy's birthday, so we all took turns trying to comfort her outside.
3. Daddy has so much work that it's becoming hard to manage it all and yesterday he had a minor car accident...he was reminded that he needs to slow down (he actually wasn't speeding but in a hurry to get back to the office so he changed lanes improperly)
4. Mommy only has one week left of maternity leave :(

Here's a picture of our sweet girl waiting to get our family picture taken for the church directory.

Another Celebratory Weekend!

We enjoyed another wedding this weekend. Gretchen, my roommate 1st and 4th year, was married to a very handsome army officer whom she met on match.com (they could make the next commercial!). It was a great day for an outdoor wedding, and we enjoyed seeing some old friends and making new ones. Since the wedding was in Northern Virginia M&M got to spend some more time with Grandma and Papa George. I think they enjoyed it as much as she did. :)

Here's the very happy bride and her Dad.



On Sunday, Grandma and Papa George hosted a cookout at their house, so that friends and family from the area could come by and meet Mary-Michael. It was a perfect day for a cookout! We had lots of great food and really enjoyed seeing so many people that we hadn't seen in a while. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us and to Grandma and Papa George for putting on a great event. Here are some pics from the day.

2 Month Check Up

Mary-Michael had her 2 month check up last night (aka shots!). The doc said she is doing everything she should at this age and growing well. She even got her to roll over from her tummy to her back! I was informed that she should have tummy time 3 times a day for 15-20 minutes each time. Wow! I've been focusing on 5 minutes a day since that's what one of my books recommended. Sorry baby girl - more time on the tummy is coming your way!

She had 3 shots, which the amazing nurse was able to do in a matter of 5 seconds. A scream like I've never heard came out followed by a whimper and then silence, like it never happened. She's a champ. I think it bothered me more than it did her.

Here are the stats for those interested:

Height (49%) 1' 10.5" (22.5 inches)
Weight (39%) 10lb. 11oz.
Head (51%) 15.35"

She has slept in her crib the last 4 nights and is doing very well with a 6-6.5 hour strech between her late night and middle of the night feeding. Momma likes this. And to show me that she is fine after all those shots, she was her normal happy self this morning.

Eat, Drink and Be Married

Yes, this pretty much sums up our fun and busy Mother's Day weekend. Here's the weekend in pictures...


Daddy and Momma headed to Alexandria Friday evening. We dropped off M&M at the ballfield with Grandma and Papa George and headed to Crystal City Sports Pub to see Faith, Felicity and family. This is what we found when we came home.


On Saturday morning, after stopping by the hair salon to show off M&M to the bride and family, we went to Carlyle to celebrate Mother's Day with Geoff's mom. Here is M&M with her Aunt Keesha and Uncle Brian. (if you want to experience the best French toast ever, you need to go to Carlyle - yum!)


Daddy and Momma on their second night out at the wedding reception. Felicity and Nate had a beautiful wedding in DC and a super fun reception in Crystal City. We had great food, drink and lots of fun dancing to a very talented band called Amaretto.


Me attempting to get Faith to dance.


And a serious pic with one of my dearest friends (the sister of the bride).


And on Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day at our house with my momma and her side of the family.


Momma and her precious baby girl on their first Mother's Day.


Two worn out little girls after a busy weekend (seriously, we could not have posed a cuter picture - Carla loves her some Mary-Michael!)

Two Months

Mary-Michael,

I never knew I could spend so much time staring at another human being and thinking I have the most beautiful thing in my arms right now. Everyone told me you'll be going off to college in the blink of an eye, and I believe it. I am sure it was just yesterday that the nurses laid you on my chest as you entered this world. You have caused my heart to grow bigger, and I think I have probably clogged all your pores because I kiss you so much (and those that know me know I have to have chapstick on). Your daddy and I love you more than we could ever tell you.

You are growing so fast. You love to stand up in our arms and use your strong little legs to go up and down. You are smiling so much these days, and it makes me so happy. You talk...a lot...in your own little language. You have just discovered your fingers as an alternative to the pacifier and have started sucking on them when you can. I haven't decided which is worse - the paci or the thumb - so for now you are trying both. You love to fall asleep on your daddy's chest, and I hope you'll love that for a very long time. You have started to turn your head when you hear his voice when he gets home from work. It's amazing how much you are interacting with the world around you now, and I know it's only going to increase tenfold. You usually fall asleep as soon as we get in the car - this is something your Uncle Zach was very good at and still is to this day. Momma really appreciates it! You really enjoy walks in your stroller or pram, so we go out as often as we can to at least get the mail (our driveway is .4 miles long so this is no short walk).

You truly are a great baby. You fuss when you're hungry, need a diaper change or just plain tired, but so do we (except for the diaper of course)! We love you and pray for you daily. We know God has a great plan for you, and we look forward to seeing it unfold in the days ahead (ok, that's partly a lie; some days I'd like to freeze time). We love you, M&M.

Momma

Art

Poppy believes the sooner Mary-Michael is introduced to art and museums the better chance we have at her enjoying them and appreciating this stuff in the future...so, today we went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which recently opened a huge new section. After a yummy lunch at the cafe we spent a couple of hours roaming the museum. We really had a great time. I forgot how much I enjoyed going to museums and just spending time learning new things - it was quite refreshing. M&M did very well and snoozed in her stroller through most of it, while Poppy made sure those around us saw his cute new grandbaby.

Daddy's Hands

Mary-Michael was in very capable hands last night as I went out for my monthly girls dinner. We went to a great place in Church Hill called Sette and enjoyed some very good girl time - nothing like a lot of laughter and honesty to end the day!

Here's what I found when I got home...

The Last Week's Highlights

1. Mary-Michael has slept for 6 hours straight the last 2 nights. Wow - we are loving this!
2. Last week we spent a couple of lovely days in Massanutten with my cousin Shirley who was in town from Seattle, WA. Uncle Sonny, Aunt Diane, John and Zach also joined us. It was so nice to return to the place I visited often during my childhood.
3. On our way to Massanutten we enjoyed a delicious lunch with Christian and Lilly Kate.
4. M&M had some guy time while Momma went to a bridal shower on Saturday. Daddy, Dan (and his baby girl, Sherry Lee), Matt, Ryan and Philip all hung out at the house with the babies and dined on frozen pizza. We're so high class around here!
5. M&M went to her first ice hockey game. Ryan and Philip played in a benefit hockey game for a friend who has cystic fibrosis. The USA team won!


Hanging out with my cousin Shirley.


Aunt Diane and the very friendly groundhog in Massanutten.


Charlene kept me very warm at the ice hockey game.


Me and Phyllis (that's what Daddy calls him).


Me and Ryan.


All this fun stuff has worn Momma and me out!