On the Move

She did it!



Note: The cough is one that we've determined to be fake since she only does it when someone is looking at her. It's pretty funny, really, provided that it doesn't turn into bronchitis... We're 99% sure that she's just fine.

A Visit with Ol' St. Nick

Mary Ellen had her first visit with the Big Man this weekend. Brian's company had a really nice family party on Friday afternoon, complete with a train for the kids to ride (not this year, Mary Ellen), snow flurries, and roving carolers. But the highlight for us was, of course, a visit with Santa Claus. Mary Ellen was a great sport about it, and after waiting in line for nearly a half hour, she still had a little bit of good humor left for St. Nick. We're not sure what she's wishing for this year, though. Odds are, her wishes have to do with feet or pacifiers - these being her top two choices of things to put in her mouth.

The debut of Mary Ellen's Christmas dress.

Waiting in line isn't so bad when it means that you get to hang out with Daddy during the day, right Mary Ellen?

She really wasn't too scared of Ol' St. Nick, though her face tells a different story here.

Mary Ellen showed off her new bottle holding skills.

Why is it...

That the second I get a chance to accomplish something, Mimi appears? God love her.

Jump Around!

As I said in the last post, Mary Ellen loves her Jumparoo. My apologies for the poor video quality - the light was not so great.

Mary Ellen is Five Months Old!!

Happy 5-month birthday, little one!

These months sure have flown by. Mary Ellen has made the days since July 15 so memorable and I wouldn't trade a second of these last 5 months.

Updates:

As of 12/6, she weighed 15 lbs, 2.5 oz., has the very beginnings of two front bottom teeth, and has a very large bald spot on the back of her head.

When laying on her belly, she can pull her head and chest up. She even enjoys being in this position now (this was definitely not the case a month ago).

She loves to stand (with support, of course) and is getting much better at sitting up in our laps or on the floor with support.

She is a huge fan of her Jumparoo and is even starting to take an interest in the toys that are attached to it.

Her favorite toy right now is the piano that we are borrowing from her pal Jake. Thanks, Wendy!

Her favorite pastime is hanging out with her dad.

She's no stranger to the camera.

And she's yet to meet a stranger. As her aunt Amy says, she is a social butterfly. Here's Mary Ellen and me with her Great Uncle Bob and Great Aunt Sue at her first "unofficial" trip to Disney. She enjoyed her requisite tickles from Uncle Bob and made fast friends with Sue.

All I Got for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

It's official. Mary Ellen's two bottom teeth have broken through. Hooray!

And Boo. This nursing mom is just a little frightened by the new arrival.

Just for fun, here's a little shot of Mary Ellen in her fab skinny jeans and sweater. Such a little doll.

Haul Out the Holly

I've been waiting for this Christmas, our first Christmas as a family of three, for what seems like forever. I'm a little Christmas crazy anyway (I come by that naturally, right Mom?) and sharing Christmas with Mary Ellen has brought a whole new type of joy to this time of year.

I started putting out the holiday decorations the day after Thanksgiving, and by now the decorating is all but finished. Mary Ellen has been a good sport about spending some time watching me decorate, but I'm not sure what she can see/what she notices about the decor. She definitely notices the lights, though. Brian did the outdoor lights this year, and he did a bang-up job. The first night they were up, we took Mary Ellen outside to check out her Daddy's handiwork, and she just beamed. I'm sure you'll agree that they're something that's perfect about a baby's face illuminated by Christmas lights. Here's to our first holiday season with Mary Ellen!

Mary Ellen was a huge help. Watching and being happy is a huge help in my book.

She hasn't had a chance to check out our lights too often, as it's been in the 30s here at night. Brrrr!

We kicked off our holiday celebrations at the Winter Park Christmas Parade last Saturday. Mary Ellen enjoyed it (we think). She did not actually get her first glimpse of the big man himself yet, as you can see from this picture.

Picking out Mary Ellen's first Christmas tree

Now that the trimming is all done, we can just sit back and enjoy!

So much to be thankful for...

Only a week late...

Mary Ellen had a wonderful first Thanksgiving. We shared Thanksgiving dinner with friends and enjoyed a wonderful 4-day weekend as a family. We have so much to be thankful for: loving family and a bounty of friends, good jobs, health and happiness, and above all, the little one that we were blessed with this year.

Thanks, Grandma Janet, for the Thanksgiving outfit. Don't worry: I posed Mary Ellen like this. She is not mobile or strong enough to pull herself up on the armrest of our couch.


Thanks to Chris and family for hosting a great Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was delicious!!

Fun Surprise

So I've been on a little hiatus from Working Title, but I have a good excuse, I promise. Besides celebrating Mary Ellen's first Thanksgiving, we've had a little pre-Christmas cheer to spread around.

Sometimes I get a little bummed that we live so far from our families. I love my (our) life here in FL, but I miss my family dearly. This past year has been extra special, what with the arrival of Caroline and Caden and then Mary Ellen and Jenson (Happy 1st birthday, Caroline!!). Lately I had been doing a lot of daydreaming about how Mary Ellen and I would be spending our days if we lived in the same city as Amy and Jenson. So after a chat with my loving husband, a quick conversation with Amy, and a visit to Southwest.com, Amy and I arranged a trip for Mary Ellen and me to St. Louis so that our babies could spend some time together. But we didn't tell Mom and Dad.

Okay, it's not as mean as you think. Anyone who knows the Knepper clan knows that we're a little ornery. Over the years we've pulled some pretty good ones on each other, but our little surprises tend to be pretty sweet (with a little bit of teasing sprinkled in). So to add a little mischief to the trip, Amy told Mom that she and Jenson were going to come spend a few days in Barry, but she didn't tell Mom that Mary Ellen and I were coming, too.

So Amy pulled into Mom and Dad's house and carried a car seat into the house. The fun part was that we sent her in with Mary Ellen while Jenson and I waited in the car. She walked in and plunked the car seat down in the living room. As any good grandparents would do, Mom and Dad immediately went over to check out the little one. It was pretty cold that day, so they had to remove the blanket to see the bundled little one in the car seat. To add to the fun, I'd put Mary Ellen in a stocking cap, which just happened to be pulled down over her eyes and most of her nose. The rest will appear in play form (for you, Kim and Jenny).

Mom: Hi, Jenson!
Dad: His cheeks are starting to fill out like Mary Ellen's!
Amy: Look a little closer.
Mom: Oh my God. It's Mary Ellen!! What...

She immediately ran to the garage to see Jenson and me waiting for her. It was such a good surprise, and I hope that Mom and Dad will forgive us for playing the little joke on them. If Mary Ellen and Jenson have any chance of making it in our family, we've got to break them in early.


If you've been keeping up with the blog, you might be a little surprised that I decided to board a plane with Mary Ellen so soon after our last long flight, but both flights were great! I did many things differently, including getting to the airport extra early so that she could have some time to stretch those legs out before being cooped up for a 2 1/2 hours. So much for stretching out, though. Apparently, toes are delicious.

Such happy grandparents!

The babies did a lot of bonding. I'm not sure what they actually got out of it, but I do think they were starting to warm up to one another.