Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas we have had this year! Christmas is so much more fun when you have children! We had a decorated tree, lots of presents, and stuffed stockings for the first time as a family. Lyv got lots of toys, the biggest being her new exersaucer which she loves! Lyv has been such a joyous addition to our little family, and we feel so blessed and lucky to have her in our lives. If I had known just how much joy and love she was going to bring into my life, I might have had her sooner! Merry Christmas everyone!

4 month videos!

4 months old

I realized I never posted any of Lyv's 4 month stats! She turned 4 months on Dec. 8th and weighed in at 13 lbs, 2 oz and is in the 75% for height and weight. She can grab objects that I hold in front of her face and this morning she rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time! She giggles now and then, and definitely coos a lot at us and her toys. She can raise her head 90 degrees while on her tummy and if she has the energy for it, sometimes she can lift up so that her arms are straight. She kicks her legs all the time and seems to want to get herself moving. She puts herself to sleep every night.... we feel so lucky to have a baby that does this! When she starts to act sleepy, I just put her in her crib and she goes right to sleep. I feel like I'm cheating because I don't have to work at all to put her down. :-) She is the joy of our lives and we are so happy to have her!

video

Pennsylvania Christmas

We celebrated an early Christmas in Pennsylvania this last weekend. Lyv did okay on the plane trip out there, but coming back was a little rough. Traveling with a baby across the country is a lot of work! Here are some highlights from our trip:

Sarah and Lyv working on a crossword puzzle together:
Lyv chewing her way through the wrapping to get to her present:
Lyv and her cousin Clara. Clara is about 3 weeks younger than Lyv.
Lyv learning how to grab an object in front of her, and then navigate it to her mouth. Excellent job, Lyv!
A tour of Hershey Chocolate World in Hershey, PA! Yum!

Pictures

Catching up on some photos. Here's Lyv and I at the Highlands Ranch Tree Lighting Festival. We were twinkies in our red and white! We used the jogging stroller with Lyv for the first time and I think she really enjoyed being able to see everyone and everything.


Doing some tummy time. Still working on those neck muscles!

Last night Lyv and I took a bath in the big tub together. She spent most of the time just taking everything in so that's why she has the "deer in headlights" look. But she eventually started kicking and waving her arms.


Lyv really enjoys putting things in her mouth... if she can get it in her mouth. Still working on the whole hand dexterity thing... but she's getting better!
This week we also moved Lyv to her crib. Up until this point she has been sleeping in a bassinet next to our bed. She had been sleeping really well in it, and then about 2 weeks ago she started waking up at nights again until it was to the point that she was waking me up every 2 hours. Yikes. We couldn't figure out what in the world was going on and we were trying everything. Finally we moved her to her crib and voila! She was sleeping 10 hours again instantly! The cats love the new arrangement too! They've been forbidden from our room since July, and they are loving being able to cuddle with us at night again.

Happy Texas Thanksgiving!

Lyv had her first plane trip on Thanksgiving when we all flew down to Dallas to visit my family. Here are all the girls for a photo. We had a great time visiting everyone and enjoying the Texas scene. Lyv was so excited to see her Memomma and Aunt Amy that she hardly slept the first 3 days we were there. Then she crashed and slept for the majority of 2 days. (waking up plenty at night though, of course!).



When we got home, we were glad to find that the cats had not destroyed our Christmas tree. However, they plucked off the one ornament that had "cat" written all over it and unwound it all over the living room floor. (Note to self: hang ball of yarn ornament higher up on the tree).

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Christmas Cards!!!

Now that we have Lyv, I find myself snapping photos of her all the time. We just got the Shutterfly catalog in the mail and were drooling over all of the new designs. We are torn between the ones with lots of pictures or the story cards. It is so hard to get a great family photo so the idea of being able to plug in the best photos from the year is so easy and great. And the best part of already being excited about putting our card together was finding out about Shutterfly's offer. Click here to read more. Perfect! :)
I have already ordered a couple of mugs with Lyv's pictures. One for Daniel to take to work, and one for me here at the house. And I might just have to order some more as gifts. :-)

So thanks Shutterfly! Friends and family keep an eye out for a super cute Christmas card coming your way!

Christmas is coming...

Last weekend we went to a tree lighting festival in Englewood. Even though Lyv is a little young to enjoy the experience, it was our first family Christmas event and thus very memorable for us. We didn't stay long as it was a little chilly out and Lyv was sleepy and cranky. But it was fun anyways.

We also bought a Christmas tree this year. We haven't had a Christmas tree since the first year we were married (Christmas 2003). Partly because of our former kitty, Tiger, and also because it just seemed like a lot of hassle for just the two of us. But now that "we" are "three", we thought we should go all out and do Lyv's first Christmas right! We couldn't resist putting it up and decorating it so that's just what we did.


Beneath the tree is now the ultimate lounge spot for our kitties:

Photos

If you haven't peeked at the new photos I took of Lyv this week... check them out by following my "My Pictures" link on the right side of my blog. The images are amazing... if I do say so myself.

Here are some snapshots of our week:


Start 'em young!
A visit from Grandma...

A visit from our former kitty Tiger! He showed up on our doorstep one day and we kept him for several hours until we could get a hold of his new owner and return him. Oh, and I chopped my hair off as you can see in the photo:

3 months old

Lyv turned 3 months old on Monday! I finally got a few pics of her this morning that I had been wanting to do. Hopefully I can get some more this weekend but I just love, love this one that I took! She weighs a little over 12 lbs now and she is sleeping about 10 hours at night. This month has been tough; but since we started putting her to bed earlier, things have gotten better. The girl just needs a lot of sleep!

acid reflux...

Seems like so many infants have acid reflux these days. I'm so glad there's something that can be done about it. Hopefully Lyv's new medication will make her feel better soon! She just hasn't been herself lately! Here's a brief moment of happiness from last night:

Fear of public...

Lyv seems to have developed a fear of public places. If we go anywhere with a lot of people and noises, her lower lip sticks out, her chin starts to quiver, and her breathing increases. Then she starts crying and there is no consoling her. Holding her and giving her a pacifier does nothing. The only thing that soothes her is to leave the public area. Does anyone have any suggestions or is this a phase we just have to ride out?

Happy Halloween!

Buzz.... buzz.... Happy Halloween from the Bee Keeper, the Queen Bee, and our little Honey Bee!

Smiles!

Lyv has been full of smiles and cuteness as of late. Especially with her Memomma visiting... she is as happy as can be!

More pictures and videos...

Just couldn't resist:

7 Year Anniversary

On Monday, Daniel and I celebrated 7 years of marriage. I think we're supposed to be itchy for something this year, right? We both feel that having a baby has brought us closer and we are learning more about each other because of our new found roles of "mommy" and "daddy". Personally, I feel incredibly lucky to be married to such a wonderful man, husband, and father! Here's to many more wonderful years!

Now for pictures! Here's Lyv sleeping soundly...


So serious... but happy!

Out for a stroll on a cool evening. Lyv got to wear her cap and gloves for the occasion. As usual, she had her hands out and forward... ready to fend off any would be attackers.

Out to dinner on our anniversary night:

Later that evening... we just chilled at home. Notice our ornery cat, O'Malley, forcing his way into the scene. He's not liking his second rate status these days.

Banquet

A few weekends ago we attended a Lockheed Banquet with Lyv. There were about 400 people in attendance at the black tie affair. It was for adults only, but no one turned us away at the door when we brought our little Lyv along. She was all decked out in a new dress, lace socks, and patent leather shoes. Needless to say she was the Belle of the Ball and everyone was cooing over her all night long.