Fun Family Outing

Manhattan Beach, CA
September 2008

Two years ago, I won a trip to LA. Brian and I were put up in a luxury hotel in Rodondo Beach, and needless to say, we had the time of our lives. I think what we both remember most is the way each day started there: breakfast on a marina followed by bike rides up the Pacific coastline. We both travel back there often in our minds, and the trip left us with a love of getting an early start in the morning with coffee and adventure. While we would love to recreate that exact California feeling, we live in the middle of swampland and not the Pacific Coast Highway, and well, we take what we can get.

This Sunday, we took the first of what I'm sure will be many early morning outings. We chose Ballwin Park as the destination for our first fun family outing. It has a sort of city feel, which we don't get too often in our little patch of suburbia. It also has nice shaded walkways and a large lake with walking trails around it. The morning was a little warm and sunny for the trails, but we did wander down to the lake for Mary Ellen's first visit to a body of water. And we actually remembered to use the brakes on the stroller when we took the following pictures as to avoid Mary Ellen's first swim.

Mary Ellen loved the trip, she just doesn't remember any of it because she slept the entire time. Brian loved trying out our new stroller (once he figured out how to get the monstrosity into the trunk of a Corolla).

I was really thankful for the Barnie's Coffee. Mmmm...coffee and bagel.

In case you didn't know, Brian is the master of self portrait photography. This was his first attempt to capture our family of three. Not too shabby!

I had to throw this one in because I found it while searching for the photo of us on Manhattan Beach. Here's Brian and me with Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. Pretty cool, huh?

Chatty little one

Cries aren't the only sounds that we hear from Mary Ellen anymore. She's becoming increasingly more vocal, and she's expanding her little "vocabulary." While it is impossible to catch all of her sounds, here's a little clip of the chatty one. Enjoy!

Back to Reality

Mondays don't seem so bad when (A) you don't have to go in to work and (B) you had the most refreshing weekend you've had in a long time. This weekend marked a return to some sort of normalcy in our lives. For the first time since Mary Ellen arrived, I was able to spend some of my time doing things that I have long enjoyed doing. In two days I was able to bake banana bread, work on a wall hanging for her room, go to a fabric store, put a coat of polyurethane on a shelf, and read (a novel, not a child rearing book) before I went to bed. What a life! And the best part, hold onto your hats: Brian, Mary Ellen, and I went to brunch on Sunday morning. We left the house a little before 10 and were the only people in the restaurant, but who cares? It was lovely. I didn't go for the mimosa just yet, though. Maybe next weekend.

Mary Ellen's first smiles

After only five weeks, here it is. Here is the return on our investment:


Her first little smiles melted my heart. I thought there was no way that I could love this little girl any more than I already did, but I was wrong. She smiled a few times when Amy was taking her photos last Saturday, but I was certain it was a fluke since we hadn't seen any more since. But yesterday (during Hat Fashion Show) she gave up a couple of big grins and I happened to capture one on camera.

And just for fun, here are a couple more photos from Hat Fashion Show. We decided to have this event because Mary Ellen has so many cute hats, but it's too hot to really need them. So she wore them while we played. How fun!

Mary Ellen is 1 month old!

Can you believe it? I'd say that I can't believe it, but then I look at the little girl sleeping in her bouncy seat and I have to come to terms with the fact that she's not a newborn any longer. She's grown so much in one month, and she has the cheeks to prove it. If this pace keeps up, the next 18 years are going to fly by.

Here are a few things that we've learned about our little girl in the past month:

She loves laying in her changing table. She can do it for 30 minutes at a time. We think she likes it because she has a great view of us and of the light behind us (I'm sure it gives us an angelic glow). She also has a friend named Giraffe Stick, who lives near the changing table, and she loves to spend time looking at him and occasionally (and likely accidentally) touching him with her hands.



She loves going on walks and drives. Mary Ellen loves her car seat and any sort of traveling. We go for daily walks around the neighborhood and although she sleeps through most of them, she seems perfectly content throughout. And I've learned that she's one of those kids who can be easily put to sleep by putting her in the car and taking off. We're not usually out of the cul-de-sac before she's passed out cold.



She's a snuggler. Mary Ellen can sleep for hours cuddled up on a chest or shoulder. I just love a snuggly baby, and she's one of the best!



She's quite photogenic. It's a good thing, too, since her grandma and Aunt Amy love to take pictures. Here's one of my favorites from the past weekend.

Oh my!

Just watch. I hope you find this as funny as I did.

Clothes Horse

It's absolutely amazing how blessed we are. You all know that Brian and I decided to wait to find out what we were having until the baby was born, and I know how vexed it made some of you because you couldn't really shop for baby things until she arrived. Well, you've more than made up for it. Here's a shot of Mary Ellen's closet. Notice how much pink is in there? Now think about the fact that our little darling is not even a month old. In fact, Brian suggested that in a few months, I'll have to stop doing laundry for a few weeks so that she'll have a chance to wear all of her outfits.


Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who have showered us with little girly things. Here are a few shots of her in the different outfits that she's received so far. And trust me, there are plenty more where these came from. She just has a little growing to do first.

Thank, Grandma Janet!

Thanks, Miss Kim!

Thanks, Tim and Cathy!

Thanks, Susan!

Thanks, Aunt Kelly!

Thanks, Miss Wendy!

Okay, so this one isn't exactly girly. This was supposed to be Mary Ellen's Coming Home outfit, but she was just too little for it. I LOVE the little outfit, though, so I just had to put her in it the other day so I could snap a few photos. It's funny how much her head has grown already - the hat was actually a little tight, but she's still swimming in the onesie.

What a day!

Mary Ellen and I had a nice little mother-daughter outing thus afternoon. First we met our friend Wendy at Infusion Tea for a little lunch. Mary Ellen slept the entire time, so... I decided to push my luck and head for Babies R Us, where I managed to stay out of the girls clothing section. Whew! While at Babies R US, we had a little lunch (for Mary Ellen), and somehow she was still in the best of moods. So we headed out to Jo Ann's where I finally was able to buy the letters for her name to put above her crib. And we topped the day off with a little stop at the Sonic Happy Hour (back to my Mizzou Days, though I didn't go for the Route 44 this time).

It was quite the day, and we both enjoyed it very much. I'll have to admit that I was getting a little stir crazy the past few days, so this outing was good for the both of us. And you can see how Mary Ellen feels about the big day (photo taken just minutes ago):

Big Girl Bath

Now that her cord is a thing of the past, Mary Ellen has been able to enjoy a few big girl baths. She had enjoyed her sponge baths while they lasted, but I think it's so much easier to bathe her now that I don't have to be worried about her cord. I actually feel like she's getting clean and rinsed, and there's nothing as snuggly as a baby just out of the bath.

Happy Baby

As I was changing Mary Ellen this morning, I had to stop and make note of how much she has changed already. She's so alert and she's starting to vocalize a lot more. She's filled out all over - she now has almost chubby arms and legs, not to mention an extra 1/2 of a chin (not officially a double chin yet). She also slept through a feeding last night, which means that I got 4 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. What a champ!

I'm trying to catch up on posting some videos, so in addition to this one, I posted a video on the Aug 5 entry (Mary Ellen is 3 weeks old!). I caught her this morning chilling in her crib, happy as could be, and by some miracle I had the video camera near by. So here's a clip of our happy little girl. Enjoy!

Mary Ellen is 3 weeks old!

It's so hard to believe that Mary Ellen has been a part of our family for 3 weeks already. But then I look at her and see how much she's grown and changed since she was born, and I have to admit that she is, in fact, 3 weeks old. Here's a little video clip from yesterday:



We had a few more firsts yesterday. I took her out on my own. Totally on my own. Our destination: the Mother-Baby Tea. I was pretty nervous about taking her out, actually, but just as she's approached each new adventure so far, she was a champ. She slept the whole way there and most of the way back and made it very easy on her nervous driver. The tea was wonderful - it's hosted by the hospital and designed for nursing moms and their newborns. You can only attend until your baby is 8 weeks old, so it's a really safe place to bring your questions and concerns. I met some nice moms and got some reassurance about a few things that Mary Ellen and I were struggling with. I'm heading back on Monday, too, and I just love having something on the calendar to look forward to.

In other news, Mary Ellen finally lost her cord last night. I have to admit that I was pretty grossed out by the whole thing and that we had not been pulling the cord up to clean it like I know we were supposed to. We'd been good about cleaning it, but the pulling up part was just too much for me to handle. I guess I'd better get over that kind of thing fast, huh? Either way, the deed is done, and it's amazing how much older she seems now that she's sporting a shiny new belly button.

And finally, Mary Ellen and Brian and I took our first walk as a family last night. We loaded Mary Ellen in her stroller, affixed the bug net that Grandma Janet sent us (the netting actually makes her stroller look kind of regal), and off we went. It was just lovely, and Mary Ellen really seemed to enjoy the fresh air. In fact, she and I have already had another walk this morning. We managed to catch the weather while it was in the 70s! Perfect!

Now that Mary Ellen is a little more alert during the day, I've been working to get photos taken for her announcements. She's quite the little ham for the camera. I don't want to share too many before we get the announcements put together, but I think this one is just darling.

Sleep Smiles

Just how cute is this? I know they're not real smiles, but I can start to see just how fun it will be when we get to see the real thing. I love this little girl!

A Day of Firsts (for the Mama)

We were very sad to send Grandma Mary Anne back home today. She was a huge help over the last week, and I hope she enjoyed her visit as much as we enjoyed having her. We were a little nervous, though, because getting her to the airport required me to take Mary Ellen in the car for the first time. Until today, Brian has been the driver and Mary Ellen and I have been quite cozy sharing the backseat. But there's a first time for everything right? We dropped Grandma Mary Anne off at the airport and my little darling slept all the way home (which is about a 30 minute trip). Piece of cake, right?

In other groundbreaking news, I was able to take a shower while home alone with Mary Ellen. God bless video monitors.

And finally, this will be the first night that I'm tasked with making dinner without a supporting cast. There are no Grandmas here for the first time in Mary Ellen's short life. Luckily, we're having leftovers. Surely Mary Ellen won't be able to prevent me from reheating food in the microwave, right? Here's hoping!

Mary Ellen has a little stuffed deer that hangs over the side of her Pack-n-Play, (thanks Gary and Kelly) and she LOVES her deer. This is a shot of her gazing lovingly at her little friend.