Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To Gigi's house she goes!

After returning to work for 4 days, Steve and I took off on another trip. This time an extended weekend in Disney by ourselves. This was the first time that we left Josephine and it was kinda hard, but it ended up being a nice little break for both of us. We love her so much, but didn't know just how much we needed to recharge our own bateries until we were able to get away. Josephine had a grand time staying with Gigi and spending everyday with her and Grammie.
Meanwhile in Florida, I was running my second 1/2 marathon...the Disney Princess 1/2! Steve played the role of chEARleader and did a mighty fine job of it!
I had to fly straigt to New Orleans from Orlando for work on Monday morning while Steve got to stay and paly at the pool for most of the day before returning home. Nana McRae also flew in on Monday to help Steve during the week while I was away working. Needless to say, Joey was spoiled by both grandmothers for a whole week, I'm not sure what to look forward to on Monday when I am working from home alone with her!

Snow Baby

We had a big snow when we returned home from California and Mexico. It was pretty much the only snow we had this winter. We had a few storms, but never enough to cover the ground completely. I had been waiting and waiting and waiting to introduce Joey to snow and I finally had my chance on Monday, March 2nd. She instinctively stuck out her tongue and started catching snow flakes. I love to watch her experience new things, and I am amazed at how much we are universally alike!

Mama, Dada and other new words!

On Wednesday February 25th Josephine said Mama. In fact it was the only thing she said the whole day! She is absorbing and learning so much, it is amazing to watch. We also learned that she had picked up some sign language in daycare. While in San Diego we thought that she was learning how to wave "hi", but she kept making the hand movement over and over. We started thinking that she might be trying to telling us something and she was. Josephine now signs for "milk" when she wants the bottle. She also signs for milk when she doesn't want the bottle but we are using positive reinforcement to teach her. While we were away last weekend in Disney, she added Dada to her vocabulary too. These words are in addition to "hi" which I am convinced she has been saying since 4 months. And this morning, I'm pretty sure that she said "up" when I laid her down on the bed and she wanted to stand up. She is a fast learner.

International Baby

I know that it has been awhile (ok, a LONG while) since I last posted, but it has been a very busy time for us. We took a nice vacation February 21-28. We went to San Diego to visit our aunts Kim and Kristin on the way to meet up with my company on a Cruise to Mexico. The company I work for turned 10 this year and to celebrate they took everyone on a fabulous cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. The cruise left out of San Diego which gave us the perfect opportunity to squeeze in a visit with the Cali girls. We had a nice trip all around. A great time visiting and catching up with Kim and Kristin, good food and wine! The cruise was nice too, better than we expected. It was nice to meet the entire company and their spouses. We have decided that we would like to take another cruise. We are thinking it will be the Disney line, of course!

Josephine is a great traveler. We bought her a seat for the flights there and back and we were so glad that we did. It really helped to have the extra space as she has become quite a wiggle worm. We did have a little accident on the flight out...Josephine had a blow out about 2 hours into a 5 hour flight. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack an extra outfit in the carry on. So she had to fly the rest of the flight in a t-shirt and diaper! Could have been worse...it could have been a one piece outfit and she would have had to gone naked! Live and learn.

The end to another weekend :(

We had a nice week last week. Grammie came down on Monday and watched Joey while I got to work from home semi-undistributed. The rest of the week was pretty routine. Josephine has been doing pretty well sleeping. She has been going down between 7:30-8pm and usually gets up just once between 3-4am. What makes that even better, is that Steve has started getting up with her during the night a few times during the week. I am still nursing but we are also doing formula, probably about 80% nursing/20% formula. I still enjoy nursing and having that special cuddle time with her, and when we are home or in our office it is great, however, out and about...you can't beat the convenience of giving her a bottle (especially since she is learning to hold it herself). I like to get out and having more than 2 hours at a time out of the house is worth a bottle here and there!

Josephine has gotten great at sitting up. She can now sit up in her pack-n-play for a long time before falling over. She has even started riding in the front of the shopping cart when we go to the grocery store as well as sitting in the restaurant high chairs! These two things are making it so much easier to get out and do things with her.

I know that I have been a bit behind with new photos so I am going to paste some of the recent ones here in this post. Enjoy!

This is her after breakfast one morning. The highchair was perfect for holding her thumb in place for a quick nap.

We bought this for her before we even "knew" her from a tot-swap. I fell in love with it when I saw it. We tried it out for the first time this week when Grammie came over. She doesn't get the rocking motion, but I'm sure it would be easier on the hardwood floor.

This is a toy that Nana McRae got us. It is a HUGE hit! It has a different activity on every side and while she has only mastered a few of them, she loves to play with this toy.

Here she is wearing her first pair of shoes! The "Shoe Fairy" (aka Aunt Zoe) is making she that her wardrobe is complete. She didn't really know what to make of them, but she didn't cry and kick them off...that is a start.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing everyone lots of love today and everyday!

I'm too cute for this dress!

I know that Josephine is cute, I know that she is the cutest baby in the whole world...but I'm her mommy so I'm supposed to think that. What always amazes me is how many other people out there think the same thing. Everywhere I go people stop me to talk about her, people give us second looks, and those that don't stop...I hear them talking about her as they walk by. Just tonight within 2 minutes of walking into the grocery store I had a crowd of 5 gathered around her admiring her. I think that it is the flirty smile that she gives everyone. I see the way that she looks at people and draws them in. The funniest thing is when she turns her charm on and the recipient doesn't notice her (the bag boy at the store tonight)...she keeps smiling and flirting and looking and I can see in her face the disappointment that there is someone out there that is not engaging her.
We have been very busy since our last post. We spent half a week in Arizona without Daddy. I had to go for work and took Joey with me. She flew very well and was the hit of the plane (or at least the few rows around us). The flight attendant said she could fly with her anytime and one guy told me that he would have kids if they were guaranteed to be just like her. I could make a fortune if I bottled her charm! We had a nice time in Scottsdale. Our friend Ron and his wonderful wife Shannon and their 4 fabulous children; Havana, Kayden, Jenna and Ashlin were most gracious and let us stay at their house. It was much nicer than a hotel and they even provided a pack-n-pay, highchair and exersaucer! Shannon watched Joey during the day while I went into work, and Josephine really enjoyed playing with the other kids.
We had our first 1st birthday party last weekend. Our friend Nolan turned 1. There were lots of friends born last year, so we expect it to be a busy year of 1st birthday parties. We also have two more friends arriving this year, so now that I think about it...it will probably be a busy few years of birthday parties! We also had a few visits with Gigi and Grammie, in fact Grammie is coming down tomorrow too. We enjoy the company and it is nice for me to work while they entertain and bond with her.
We have been doing well on the food front. So far she likes apples, carrots and butternut squash in addition to rice cereal. She loves to gnaw on pizza crust too! She doesn't like pears and is not quite sure about Cheerios. Tomorrow we are going to try bananas and later this week we will move on to sweet potatoes.
Today we went and got some photos taken at Sears. Here are two of the shots from today. She was a great subject, but got a bit fussy after the 3rd outfit change. We didn't get a ton of shots, but the ones we got were good.

My first snow angel

Sorry that it has been so long since I posted. We have had a very busy, hectic, crazy month. So much has happened since the turn of the new year.
Last week saw a first...I spent my first night away from Josephine. Nana McRae came into town to help Daddy out while I went to NYC for 44 hours. Nana treated us to a Jump-a-roo (aka doorway jumper) which is quickly becoming a new favorite activity.
Josephine has also started to show some interest in rolling over. She has managed to do it about 4 to 5 times, but mostly fusses when you lay her on her tummy.
Today we tried our first "real food" other than rice cereal, it was butternut squash. She seemed to really enjoy it. Later this week, I plan on introducing carrots and pears.
Grammie and Gigi came down to spend some time with Joey today. It was a big girls morning out at the mall while mommy stayed home and got much needed work done. Today we also got to see our first snow fall and what good would it be without an angel! She was not quite sure of what to make of it, as you can see from the photo.
On a sad note, last week we suffered the lose of a friend. We were fortunate enough that Joey was there and able to give Jennifer some love prior to her sudden passing. I am more compelled than ever to tell everyone how much I love them and what they mean to me. Josephine, I hope that you get to read these posts one day and can see in each message how much I love and cherish you and how proud you make me with each and every smile you give. You really are the light of my life.

Teeth...

I've been talking about them in several posts, but they have been hard to capture on film. Here they are in all their glory, I hope that you can see them in the picture. They are sharp little teeth and she has been really going to town chewing on things this weekend. I think since she is feeling better from her cold and ear infections, she can really get the full feel of her teeth coming in. But as you can see, even teething has not put her in a bad mood! Have I mentioned lately was an amazing little girl she is?

Mmm, mmm good!

Josephine turned 5 months old on December 29th. She has gotten so big over the last 5 months. She can almost sit up all by herself, she has already started to get her teeth. Her motor skills are improving all the time and she has really taken an interest in big people food. All those signs told me that she was ready to start trying to eat her first food, rice cereal. On January 1st we strapped her into her high chair (which she has been sitting in for weeks now, but only to play - not eat) and offered her up her first bite, by spoon of course! We expected some hesitation, but we got pure delight! She smiled, smacked her lips and then grabbed the spoon with both hands and shoved it into her mouth. She is so much her mother's daughter sometimes :)

Under the weather

Joey woke up sick on Christmas Eve morning with a bad chest cough. It progressively got worse throughout the day and Christmas was not a very fun time for her. By Christmas night she had a fever of 102. She was such a good trooper, she never cried just slept the day away. We took her to the Dr. Friday morning and she was diagnosed with RSV and 2 ear infections. All of this in addition to teething. Still she has not been crying, just sleepy and wanting to snuggle. She is such an amazing little girl.
As of today, her ears are still bothering her, the cough is still wet and she is still terribly congested, but it doesn't appear to have migrated into her chest. That is good news. The not so good news, Steve and I are not feeling so hot now!

All I want for Christmas...

Josephine's two bottom front teeth came in on Christmas Eve/Christmas day. Still too small to capture on film, but out enough for you to feel when she bites your nose!

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours..we hope that your holidays are filled with magic and love!

Baby it's cold outside...

Here is a photo I took of Josephine on Tuesday morning. We were going into work for a bit and the car dashboard thermometer was saying that it was a cool 14 degrees outside! So we put on our new snow cover from Nana McRae.

Here kitty, kitty...

Josephine and Reggie are slowly becoming friends. She finally took an interest in him about 2 weeks ago and he has been gracious enough to let her get close and smack him around. She is trying to pet him, but just doesn't possess the motor skills just yet. She grabs handfuls of his hair with one hands and swats with the other. Steve and I are trying to teach her the word "gentle", but I'm sure it will be awhile before she gets the meaning. Reggie is being such a good sport. So good in fact that at 530am I heard Joey waking up and looked over at the video monitor to see that Reggie had decided to join her in her crib! I woke Steve up and he went to correct the situation. We always knew this was a possibility, I'm glad that Reggie waited at least 5 months to act.

Merry Christmas

Sorry to be out of touch, we have been very busy getting ready for the holidays. We had a nice visit with Nana and Grandpa McRae last weekend. And we finally got around to visiting Santa this weekend. You can tell from the picture that Josephine was not very amused, but at least she didn't cry. The line was a bit long and she started to fall asleep when she was only 5 kids away from picture time.

Pop-pop VanWegen flew into town this weekend and we will get to see him at Gigi's house on Wednesday. We will be spending Christmas eve at Gigi's and Christmas morning at Grammie's. We will finish out the special day, just the three of us at our humble home.

Rainy Day

Rain, rain go away...you make for such a dreary day!
I was totally stir crazy today. Even with work and Josephine to keep me busy, the overcast sky and cold rain just put me in some kind of funk. Needless to say my jog has been rained out. Also rained out was our trip to see Santa Claus today. I am determined to take her this year to get her picture taken as she is still really good with going to strangers. The good news is that Steve has decided not to go to yoga tonight so I will have a bit more "me" time this evening, which is just what I need.
Joey had been doing well in the crib and still is for the most part. However the last few days she has gotten back into her normal routine of waking between 3-4am. We are working on a better nighttime routine and hopefully in another month she will be more consistent with sleeping through the night.
Oh, today she actually took interest in one of the cats (Reggie) and attempted to pet him. He wasn't really feelin the love though.

Tuesday's child

Josephine is still on antibiotics for her ear infection and they have the pleasant side effect of diarrhea. Poor thing, she HATES the medicine and I'm not sure that she feels any better as she has been a bit fussy all week.

We had a nice weekend. One of our best friends from San Diego, Kim, came over for dinner on Friday night with our other friend Trimble. Then we had our annual holiday open house party on Saturday and Joey was the honored guest. She was so well behaved and was happy to give everyone a chance to cuddle with her. She was the perfect host! As soon as our guests left we piled in the car and went to see the outdoor light show at the park near us. We also got our first snow on Saturday, not even enough to cover the ground, but enough to make the lights look pretty.

Sunday was my 31st birthday. Our good friend Brooke came over to babysit for us and we got to go to do dinner and a movie. I miss going to the movies. We saw 4 Christmases, and it was very cute. It was a nice day.

Today Grammie came down to watch Joey while I went into the office for a meeting and got a 4 mile run in. Grammie was gracious enough to make dinner for tonight as well. She is too good to us. Speaking of grandparents, Nana and Grandpa McRae are coming down to visit us this weekend.

It's a long one...

Again, I apologize for my lack of posting. I enjoyed having so much time off and I got a little lazy and a bit backed up with work! I'll try to give you all the highlights and a few pictures to catch you up.

We had a nice, low key Thanksgiving at Gigi's house with Grammie and family. Food and company were both exceptional. Josephine sat at the table with everyone else and eyed the food. Next year I'm sure she will be all over it! Friday morning, Grammie watched Joey while Steve slept in and Kyle and I hit up a few stores. We were just doing our part to stimulate the economy!

Saturday Josephine turned 4 months old and to celebrate she helped Steve put up the second Christmas tree, the main one in the living room (the second tree in the master bedroom is the "disney" tree and was put up the weekend prior to Thanksgiving). Steve also decorated the outside of the house which includes an inflatable Santa Mickey (new this year).

Sunday we made the huge transition of moving Josephine from the bassinet to the crib. I have been sleeping in the guest room next to the nursery this week so that I can be close to her. We got off to a difficult start and were up several times the first night, but have settled into a more "normal" routine since. She is still getting up once a night, usually somewhere between 3-5a.

Monday marked another developmental milestone...Joey put her toes into her mouth! This "first" was fortunately caught by Daddy. Today we went to the pediatrician for her 4 month check up to find out that she has an ear infection and is confirmed to be teething. Now she is on antibiotics for 10 days and will have to go back in 2 weeks for her 4 month shots. Her stats are: 27.25 in long (off the chart length...they measured twice to make sure it was correct), 15 lbs 15 oz (95%). She continues to grow like a weed at least one inch a month!

So that is all that I can think of for now, I'm sure that I missed something. I promise not to let so much time pass between posts!