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.