Tuesday, March 31, 2009

American Cutie-Pie

Stasa and I had a pretty good day today with only one yucky surprise this morning. She hadn't pooped since before I put her to bed last night so when I got up this morning and saw that she STILL hadn't pooped, I knew I was in for it. I cringed with every diaper change in anticipation of the monster poop, but all I got was soaking wet diapers.

And then the rumblings came and came and came. I waited a minute for the aftershock and then went to change her. Well, it APPEARED to be a normal poopy diaper when I first unsnapped her. But then I lifted her shirt and there it was - up her front, her back and out both sides. So I wrapped her up in the receiving blanket and ran her up to the bath.

After that, we had a great day - she took some good naps and was happy while she was awake. A new book came in the mail, Pee-Ew! Is That You Bertie?, so we had story time, too. Here are some pictures from our day.

Our American Cutie-Pie




Hanging out on the Greek alphabet blanket that Yia Yia made

Clutching her toy from Betsy - she wouldn't let it go

Monday, March 30, 2009

Generosity

Most of you know I spend a lot of time on this one pregnancy board, TheBump.com. I've met some really great moms (in real life, too) and have learned A TON about pregnancy, childbirth and babies from them. Recently one of the moms was giving away a box of baby girl clothes and since I was the first to respond, the clothes came to me (free of charge and shipping!). The clothes arrived today - let me say I was AMAZED. I expected a normal sized box with a month's worth of clothes. Boy, was I wrong. I have clothes that Stasa will be wearing until she's 18 months. Here's the aftermath of me unpacking the box.



Playing dress ups

Since Stasa asked so nicely I let her play in her tutu again this morning. She loves it so much!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

What's wrong with this picture?


We took Stasa to the mall with us to do a little shopping. I'm not sure this is my child - she was supremely bored. That's okay, I'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

The ghost cat

Now you see her.
And now you don't.

Dancing queen

I made Stasa a tutu last night and she tried it on this morning. I think she's a fan of it, what do you think? I'm going to make her another one out of cream colored tulle.

Look at this ham

She's been experimenting with sticking her tongue out. If I stick mine out at her, she tries to stick hers out. It's so stinkin' cute.





Clutching her lovey from Aunt Jennifer

Friday, March 27, 2009

Playdate at Helen's

Stasa and I went to Helen's today for a playdate with the ladies (and gents). Tom calls my playdates "hen parties", but as Helen pointed out Henry and Landon aren't ladies. It's so nice to relax with other moms, even when the babies get fussy. We dressed the babies in different colors for our photo ops. Stasa wore her Ralph Lauren outfit that Marianne gave her and her lamb booties, which she won't be able to wear next week - they barely fit today.
She was a P-I-G hog while we were there and it felt like I was feeding her the whole time. She passed out on the ride home so we stopped by the fabric store to pick up some fun stuff. I'm planning to make her a couple of tutus and am also making some fun presents for our playdate friends.
Here are some pictures from today.
Stasa snoozing before we left for Helen's

Henry and Stasa relaxing on the couch

Lulu and Landon's little bear feet

The babes hanging out together (from L to R: Landon, Lulu, Henry, Stasa)

Ruben Studdard


Stasa is a huge fan of Ruben Studdard. He was performing last night on American Idol (yes, I know, but we don't have cable yet). She was bobbing her head and kicking her legs while he sang. And she had a death grip on daddy's fingers during the performance.
She's up for the day now (5:30 AM) and is happily cooing in my lap. We're going to try to get a nap in before we have to leave for our playdate today. Check back later - you know I'll have lots of pics from our playdate!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

10 weeks old

Happy 10 weeks, Stasa! Look how much she's filled out since she was born. The first picture is from the day we left the hospital. She weighed 6 lbs 6 oz. As of her last doctor visit (March 17), she weighed in at 10 lbs 8 oz.

She's growing, growing, growing. I find myself packing away clothes each week. I just packed away her 0-3 month undershirts and a lot of her PJs. The PJs got to the point where the sleeves were at her elbows and her legs had to be bent to fit. I have a couple of boxes of free (yay) baby clothes coming my way, so I'm holding off buying stuff until I go through the boxes.
Stasa's making more cooing noises and is starting to make noises back at me when I talk to her. She's still unpredictable with her moods, but generally if she gets her naps in, she's happy. She's almost always Miss Crabby Pants in the evening before bedtime. But we all still love bedtime (even if Stasa cries through her bath).

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A visit with Uncle Cousin Peter

Stasa and I went to visit Uncle Cousin Peter yesterday since he's home for Spring Break. Peter has a habit of stealing my camera and taking multiple self portraits with it. Unfortunately for him, he can't do this with my new camera and telephoto lens. I took pity on him and took a few close ups to make him feel better.

Stasa was a perfect angel while we were there - she napped for a good 2 hours and sat happily the rest of the time. She only got fussy when I put her back in her carseat to go home. Peter and I worked on the puzzle we started on Saturday - we're so close to being finished. I got tired of trying to match up pieces of sky and took a little snooze in front of the fire (and snored according to Peter). Peter obsessively checked his grades online, as if his professors would post them within the 5 minutes he last checked. Loon.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.
Peter's close-up

Stasa snoozing like an angel


Evil Peter

Rough morning

Stasa was up at 4:00 this morning crying, so Tom got up with her since I'm a little hurt. I somehow managed to injure my ribs (again) and now it's really painful lifting Stasa or moving a certain way.

side note: Yes, Aunt Peggy, I'm doing the exercises you taught me years ago to help fix this problem, but I think I need to be fixed.

Well, Stasa cried for a solid hour while Tom changed her, fed her and soothed her. Finally at 5:00 AM, he brought her to me so he could get 20 more minutes of sleep before he had to be up for work. The minute he handed her to me she stopped crying. By the time I walked downstairs, she was drowsy and cooing. After a couple of laps around the house, she was passed out.

Now, do you think she wore herself out or she just wanted her mommy? I hope it's the former because I want her to calm down when other people try to soothe her. sigh.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Late night videos

Exercise with Stasa - We're focusing on legs

My Sunday Night, a story in pictures

I really need to poop. Can you help me, Grandpops?

You're doin' it wrong!

Oops. I think I pooped my pants.

I don't need a bath, that's the cat you smell.

Crap.

Well, if you must...make sure you get my butt!

Hey! Where are my PJs? It's cold being naked.

I think you need a bath, mom.

Man, lockdown already?!?

Fine. Goodnight!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Queen of Fussiness

Proof that Stasa can be the Queen of Fussiness when she wants:


Although who knows? It could just be crazy Uncle Peter making her that way. Haha! And here's Stasa sitting in her new big girl chair that Aunt Peggy got for her.

Aunt Peggy and I went to a consignment sale yesterday and got some great stuff. I bought a couple of clothes and some toys and only spent $11. Pretty good, right? Plus I got some toys that I LOVED as a kid which I consider a bonus. Then we went to G Street Fabrics to get some stuff for a shawl for Aunt Peggy. I picked up a pretty fabric and some fun buttons to make another dress for Stasa. Today we're having GrandPops Merkel over for dinner. Stasa's taking her second nap of the day so she can be refreshed for dinner time.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Happy bath time



Well, technically it was a happy shower time. She was being really fussy and nothing was calming her down, so we hopped in the shower and she was immediately happy. Little stinker. At least she stays clean.

Ava, Landon and Stasa


Helen's friend, Lauren, came over and brought her cute daughter, Ava to play with Landon and Stasa. We set the 3 of them on the couch for pictures and Ava and Stasa started leaning on Landon - and he didn't seem to mind at all! It's the power of beautiful girls.

Landon's photo shoot

Meet Helen's son, Landon (and Stasa's friend). Stasa and I went to Helen's today for Landon's photo shoot. We shot most of the pictures in Landon's room - it was beautifully decorated and had great natural light. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot. Enjoy!