Life

"Life really is hard. No one can escape it. No one is unscathed by it. But we are not just flailing aimlessly in a universal black hole. There is purpose. There is order--because there is God."

~Beth Moore

This struck a chord with me this morning and thought it might be encouraging to you as it was to me. And to really cheer you up, here's a recent picture of our baby girl - aren't those beautiful baby blues!?

Family

Despites the quirkiness, tiffs and differences amongst most families, we know we are truly blessed to be able to see many of our family members as often as we do. They will get to see Mary-Michael often and watch how she grows, learns and changes from season to season. How awesome is that!?


Grandma and M&M at the ballfield watching Daddy play softball.


Papa George and M&M. Grandma and Papa George came to visit Thursday and Friday on their way to Texas.


Me with my beautiful cousins Caroline and Shirley in Annapolis. Almost all of my Dad's side of the family was able to get together for a family weekend at my Aunt and her new hubby's house. We had a blast!


Daddy and M&M in the cabin of the sailboat. M&M had her first ride on a boat!


Family picture in downtown Annapolis by the Naval Academy.


My Aunt Diane and Nana (I hope I age that well!).

4 Month Checkup

Today Miss M&M had her 4 month checkup. In sum she is slender, active (contributing to the slenderness) and on track. She was happy for most of the appt. and showed the doc all of her new tricks - rolling around on the table, grabbing and chewing paper, squealing and laughing, and of course she peed (a lot!) while she did all of this in the nude. She thought that was pretty funny. She had to get 2 shots, which she was not so excited about, but after a few moments of silence...red face...scream...she was fine.

Here are our baby girl's stats:

Weight: 12lb 12.5oz (24%)
Height: 2ft 1in (72%)
Head: 46%

With her combined height and weight she is in the 4th percentile (tiny little thing). The doc said she doesn't seem undernourished but wants to make sure she's getting enough to eat, so I'm to try and get 6 feedings in a day. And it wouldn't hurt to try some cereal again and maybe a few other foods - should be fun!

As a side note - thanks for all of my birthday calls and messages. We have wonderful friends and family and I was blessed to enjoy an evening with some of my favorite people. Thanks for coming out to celebrate!

Food, Feet and Fun

In honor of reaching the 4-month mark, we thought we'd treat Miss Mary-Michael to some cereal on Friday night. Below is a video clip of her ceral-eating debut. I don't think she loved it and most of it ended up ON her tummy and not IN her tummy. We'll try again in a week or two! Our girl has also discovered her cute baby feet, and they have now become the most fun thing to chew on. We had a fun weekend (pics below), and M&M was able to spend a lot of time with Mimi and Poppy while Daddy played softball and Momma volunteered at the Hanover Tomato Festival. We are blessed to have such wonderful caretakers near us.

The Mom Workout

Equipment Needed
Baby in carseat
Long to do list
Car
Good walking shoes

Instructions
With baby in tow visit doctor, stop by church, get gas, go to BJ's, stop at Target to pick up prescriptions and drag baby pool behind you while pushing baby in shopping cart, stop by Home Depot, run into Kohl's where no shopping cart is in sight so you drag baby and merchandise around, and drop off and pick up dry cleaning. Do these tasks within 2.5 hours and all after doing Plyometrics (P90x workout). Drive home, feed baby and put baby down for nap (and maybe Momma, too).

Whew!

4 Months

Sweet Mary-Michael,

Today you are 4 months old. I was telling a colleague today how much I love being a mother to you - more than I ever could have imagined. And each day I'm with you I watch you grow and change, and I love you more. You are truly a darling little girl.

These last few weeks have been so much fun as your personality comes out of hiding beneath that sweet babyness. You are a talker (just like your daddy). You are so much more aware of what's around you, and you want to talk about it. You are staying awake in the car more and babbling on in your own sweet language. You squeal and get really excited when Daddy kisses you. You blow raspberries and drool A LOT! You have the most precious smile and a very darling dimple on your right cheek. You like when Momma sings to you even though no one else may because I can't carry a tune. I love to sing Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately" to you, and even though I only know some of the words you don't seem to mind.

You have great control of your head now, so we can carry you with just one arm. You are rolling all over the place, which means getting onto your tummy and getting frustrated, rolling into the corner of the crib and getting stuck and getting yourself in all sorts of precarious spots that leave you unhappy. But you aren't shy - you let us know when you need help. You love love love to be standing on our laps with our help supporting you. I think its because you can see more and bounce up and down. Momma likes this, too, because much to Daddy's dismay she can make you dance.

You are so good when it comes time to go to bed. We read a story, say our prayers, cover you in kisses and say good night. For a few minutes you'll talk and squeal and then silence - you're asleep. Naptime is not always this easy as your nap schedule seems to change as your feeding schedule changes. Now that you're 4 months, I think we'll have to try a little bit harder. The books say you are very capable of falling asleep on your own (at naptime, too), and you should be showing us a pretty typical pattern during the day of when you're tired. So, we must pay more attention and make sure those naps are happening in your crib. Every once in a while I like to sneak a nap in my arms (i.e. yesterday while swinging in the hammock at Lake Anna). I guess I need to be better.

Seriously though, you are such a good baby. People notice how happy you are and how you rarely fuss unless you need something. And they always tell us how beautiful you are - and it's true, you are so pretty. But all the hairbows and outfit changes aren't what make you special. We know that God has great and perfect plans for your life and that if you let Him, he will use your special personality and life to make a difference in this world. We can't wait to see that unfold.

All our love to you baby girl,
Momma and Daddy

Happy Birthday U.S.A.

From our family to yours happy 4th of July!


Showing her love of the stars and stripes.




Splishin and splashin in the river.




M&M was so over the sand in her diaper, so we went au natural for a while.

Sleeping Through the Night!!!

Woohoo! Momma and Daddy are so proud - M&M slept from 8:30pm to 6:45am last night. Is she amazing or what? Our little girl is growing up. Between rolling over both ways and this - we have had a week of milestones. Here are some sweet pictures from the week.


Hanging out with Uncle Zach.


Napping with Kristie.


Enjoying an afternoon with Nana.