Lucy's Visitors - Part 2

It is so fun introducing Lucy to family and friends - she is such a happy and content baby that she doesn't mind being passed around and is often wide awake, excited to make new acquaintances.

My cousin Steve was in town for the weekend at a medical conference/meeting - we got to see him Sunday morning as he and a few friends came to church with us and then out to, the traditional-after-church (at least for the Kidders and their posse) Chipotle lunch. :) It was so good to see him and catch up on his life - can't wait to visit more in November at the family reunion over Thanksgiving!

Pamela and the boys (remember them from this post?) came over yesterday morning - they brought me a muffin (much appreciated!) and plenty of love to share with Lucy. :)

Kyle did great holding Luce - He kept saying how much bigger he was than her, super cute. :)

Drew was a bit worried to hold Lucy, but once we assured him that we would stay right by him, he warmed right up to the idea.

LOL - love this picture! :)

I'm going to miss these boys. A lot. But they are getting e-mail addresses so that we can still keep in touch! :) How great is that! I assured them I would send them pictures of Lucy so that they could keep updated on how she grows.

First Time in the Baby Bejorn

Lucy and I had a few things to get/return to Target the other day and so we took a nice walk south about 11-12ish blocks to the store. We were back home within the hour, got some good exercise (Well, I did, Luce slept the whole time :)), and got something crossed off the To Do List. So fun!

All By Myself

My mom has told me stories of my independent nature as a child. Often the words, "Sarah do!" came out of my mouth. I wonder if Lucy will also be independent - I wouldn't be surprised, especially after she held her bottle all by herself the other evening:

She had nursed three times in four hours - hungry gal! - and so we gave her a bottle, thinking she was frustrated that I didn't have enough of what she wanted.

8 minutes later + 2 oz consumed milk = content baby :)

How To: Hair bow for infant

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programing to bring you a How To Special. :) How to make a hair bow for an infant. Enjoy! (A good friend, Abby Naus, told me how to make these bows - all credit goes to her for creativity! :) )

Infant hair is so fine that many store-bought barrettes do not stay in. But if you have the following supplies in your house, you can make some barrettes in 4 easy-shmezy steps. :)

1. Zip-Lock Baggie
2. Scissors
3. Narrow Ribbon
4. Hot Glue Gun

(You can click on the above image to enlarge it)

First, cut the zipper out of your zip-lock bag.
Second, tie your ribbon into a little bow.
Third, glue your ribbon to the zipper from your bag.
Forth, put your new barrette into your baby's hair.

Done! :)

Beautiful!

2 Weeks

I can't believe it has been two weeks since Lucy was born! It has been so much fun getting to know our daughter - even though we know we are really parents now, it still feels like we are playing house. :) This could be because Lucy is such a good baby - so content and happy. She is continuing to be a great eater and wonderful sleeper.

I realized after I took these pictures that this is the same outfit she wore last week for her 1 week pictures, I thought about changing her and doing taking more but figured it will help us see how she has grown and filled out. Here is a link to her 1 week pictures.




I made this little bow for her using the zipper from a zip-lock baggie. It stayed in really well all day, she pulled it out this afternoon after her nap. :) Already though, I can tell she loves accessorizing. :) Expect to see yellow and white bows in the near future too. :)

(Attempted) Tummy Time

When my sister Laura was an infant I had so much fun doing "Tummy Time" with her. Setting up a few of her little toys for her to look at as she lay on her stomach and exercised her neck muscles. I have been excited to try this out with Lucy too - here are pictures of my first attempt:


As you can see, the Boppy was just too comfy to resist. :) Lucy enjoyed her nap and we will attempt to have some Tummy Time another day.

Mom and Me

I realized the other day that we don't have a lot of pictures of Lucy and me after we left the hospital. :) This is most likely because I am the one holding the camera the majority of the time. Brad kindly took some pictures of sweet Luce* and I to remedy the issue. :)

I love all her cute facial expressions. :)

* "Luce" is quickly becoming one of Lucy's nicknames (Even Dr. Johanson called her this at the hospital! :) ). But I don't know how to spell it, it's pronounced like "loose" but I don't want to spell it that way, what do you think, is "Luce" an okay spelling? :)

Captured

I was trying to capture her "Mad Scientist" hair and she gave me the greatest smile. :)

Pretty in Pink

I have a feeling our daughter will be a preppy little gal. :) She seemed to really enjoy her hair bow and looked oh-so-cute with a polo collar on. :)

(You can click on the picture above to see it larger :) )

A few more firsts

A baby's firsts are oh so fun!

Lucy's first bottle: Dad gave her a bottle while Mom cleaned up the kitchen after dinner on Wednesday, June 23rd. She drank 2 oz faster than we thought was possible and then nursed some more! :) She is doing a great job nursing but after an adventure in Macy's last Saturday (lets just say nursing in public is not as easy as some people can make it look, and I was in the restroom!) - I thought it was best to see if she would take a bottle for when we are out-and-about. She did great!

Lucy's first real bath: After her umbilical chord fell off - I was itching to give Lucy a bath. Seriously, I just don't think that you can get a baby good and clean with a sponge bath. All in all, Lucy seemed to enjoy the experience, she fussed more than she did with the sponge bath but that might have been my fault (first time giving an infant a bath - not necessarily scary but a bit nerve wracking). As always she enjoyed being wrapped up in her towel and having her hair brushed/fluffed after the bath. :)

Visiting Dad at Work

Living with one car is easy to do in the city - especially since there is such "good" public transportation. On days that I need the car, I ether drive Brad to work or he takes the train. On Wednesday Lucy and I needed the car for her one week check-up and we decided to be nice and pick Dad up from work because it was a yucky day outside (in the 90s and humid) and Lucy wanted to see where her Dad spends his days (Read: Brad wanted to show off his Daughter at work :) ).

Meeting some of Dad's coworkers (L-R: Top, Aunt Jenny and Micah, Bottom, Rebecca and Dad's desk)

"This is where all the hard work takes place!"

Lucy must have been tuckered out (I guess having a Doctor appointment and going to Target with mom will do that to you) because she was zonked out all afternoon. She didn't make a peep and slept through the whole office tour. :) Oh well, we will just have to make another visit soon. :)

Fluffy Top

When Mom washes my hair - it gets really fluffy. :)

Belly Button

Hello World,

I have a belly button now. It fell off in the middle of the night when I was 9 days old.

Mommy is very happy because now I can take a "real" bath.

Love,

Lucy

One Week Old

Lucy's first week flew by! She has changed so much already, her face is growing rounder and she is getting some baby fat (so cute!).

I'm planning on taking monthly pictures of Lucy with Ellie, her Elephant, so that we can all track how she grows. So that we can see how much she grows in the first month - I figured I would take a baseline picture. :)

Some of Lucy's cute faces. She is such a happy and content baby - we are so blessed!

At her one week check up Lucy weighed 8 pounds (75th percentile) and measured 21.25 inches (95th percentile)! She was 7 lbs 11 oz and 2o in when she was born, I can't believe she grew an inch and a quarter in ONE week! The Doctor thinks she will be tall (hidden gene?!?!) and believes that when she smiles she is responding to her surroundings, not just gas bubbles. :) He was really impressed with her reflexes and said she is responding neurologically like a one month old! When I told Brad, he exclaimed "I knew my daughter was a genius! Play classical music for her!"

Meeting Aunt Amy

It was love at first sight. :)

Father's Day Weekend

Lucy arrived just in time for Father's day!

It was great to have Brad's family in town for the weekend too - Brad and I both knew that we were not the reason for their visit, but this princess was:

Spending time with Dad is one of Lucy's favorite pastimes. :)

Here is Lucy's set up in Brad and my room - we set up her pack-n-play - it works great! 1) Because she is near us at night, 2) Because at about 5 am the sun STREAMS into her nursery and would hinder sleeping in (which both mom and dad are huge fans of).

Laura and Anna loved having Brad's Dad here! They are such Daddy's girls and really missed being away from their dad, they cuddled right up to Mr. Wayne (he enjoyed the attention too).

On Saturday we ventured to Skokie where Lucy enjoyed her first trip to Old Orchard Mall - Brad and I love it up there. For those of you who are not familiar with the area, Old Orchard is an outdoor mall in one of the first northern suburbs. We love it because 1) There is a parking lot. 2) There is a movie theater. 3) We like meandering through the stores while holding hands ;)

Opening Father's Day gifts. Lucy got her Dad an electric razor.

Wayne got "toppers" for his golf clubs. (I am going to get scolded for not remembering what they are called)

Lucy, talking to Grandpa - letting him know how much she appreciates him on Father's Day. :)

Anna wanted in on the conversation too. :)

The only thing missing from the weekend was my dad - we missed you tons! Can't wait for you to meet Lucy Lu!

Grammy Jo

Lucy is named after my Mom whose full name is Jolene, everyone - with the exception of her parents and sometimes my dad's parents - calls her "Jo." :) Brad and I had Lucy's middle name picked out before we knew what her first name was going to be. :)

My mom is such an amazing woman - patient, so so kind, attentive and just - well - wonderful.

It is my hope and prayer that I can be as good as a mom as she has been to me, and that Lucy will grow up to have the same character qualities as her Grammy.

We love you Grammy/Mom!

The Little Aunts

For the first week of Lucy's life she was given LOTS of attention by her two doting little Aunts. They did such a good job with her.

Spending some time on her quilt, made with love by Grammy Jo.

Awake and alert in her cute Cherry outfit. Baby clothes are addictingly (I know that's not a "real" word) cute. :)

Laura and Anna loved it when Lucy would grab hold of their fingers! "She's holding my hand!"

Dress up! Mom recently found these wigs for Laura and Anna - so funny. It makes me laugh that Laura is always the "girl" and Anna plays the "boy" (with no objection) - this is exactly what I would make Becca do when we were little. If ever there was a choice between pink/blue or girl/boy - I always grabbed the feminine option. (What a wonderful, generous sister I was... :))

So much love... :)

This hoodie/pants combo is from Simone Halpin and is (no surprise) one of Lucy's more trendy outfits. The little short sleeved hoodie is seriously adorable!

I came out of my room one morning, after getting ready for the day to find Lucy playing with Grammy and the girls. She was so alert and awake - focusing really well on the little toys they would hold up for her to see.

Loving every minute with Grammy.

During one of Lucy's naps, the girls and I pulled out some beads and made necklaces/bracelets. How can you not have fun when Laura Rae is around? :)

Or this cutie pie - all she has to do is smile at you and you are wrapped around her little finger. :)

And what would a visit to the Kidder's be without some Wii Bowling. Anna would exclaim "YES!" whenever she got down some pins - so cute. :)

And once Laura got the hang of it, she really enjoyed it too - She is like me and if she is not good at something right away, she doesn't want to continue (it is kinda scary to see how many similarities there are between us!). But she persevered and really enjoyed it by the end of the first game. :) She would always stand in the exact spot on the rug, spending an extra second to make sure she was squarely positioned. :)