Meeting a new friend

Miss Lily Small visited Cedar Rapids on her way back to Boston this week. I'm not sure anyone got "good" pictures of all the kids together, but there are 4 out of 5 in this one and only Lily is crying! Maybe the Vogel's will post one of the "kids lined on the couch" fiasco...

We were so happy to meet little Lily! She was a bit overwhelmed by all the action from her friends, but she will soon catch up! Thanks for visiting us Lily, Grant, and Rebecca! Hope your trip home was uneventful!

Ten Months Old!

I get this feeling every time I come on to post and say that Maren is a month older. It's a feeling of amazment and awe, but also a weird feeling of saddness! (Is this normal?) Lee and I drove past St. Lukes Women and Children's Center last night and a eery feeling of deja vu passed over me again, even though I have been past it so many times over the past year. The difference now is that the weather is again changing and the season is so like last year. Also, today around 10 am, Maren was hungry and getting tired and during her bottle she started dosing. I fought this strong urge to just hold her for her nap because she was so comfortable and it reminded me of when she was tiny and would just dose off for EACH bottle. (Ugh, *tear*).

Alright. Off the sob story. Here's the reality - MAREN IS 10 MONTHS TODAY! She is an amazingly sweet tempered little girl who seems to have new tricks each day. She weighs around 18 pounds now, and her feet have grown and the 0-6 month Robeez will soon need to be retired! :) Her newest tricks that I can think of are pulling to standing, waving hi and bye, blowing kisses, pointing (and it appears using this as a method to scold Izzy for barking!), holding her bottle, giving kisses when asked, clapping, and throwing or pushing away an item when she doesn't want it. Of course, she only shows us these tricks when SHE wants to. She loves playing with books and other toys, removing blocks from a box or books from a shelf. That's all I can think of right now!

Vicki

Daddy's Birthday

Maren helped Daddy blow out his candles last Wednesday on the birthday brownies she also helped make. Last night, we went out with friends for Lee's birthday and Maren got to visit Uncle Eddie and Auntie Mary for the evening. They had lots of fun together playing and practicing how to say Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Maren

My Very First Snowman

Wow, the weather is amazing today! So sunny and warm! I can't believe there is any snow left! Maren took a long nap, then we headed outside after her lunch to build her very first snow man using the very special kit Santa brought.

Maren even made a snow angel. Isn't it so cute?

Superbowl 2009

We got together with the Vogels and Serras last night for the big superbowl! (Thanks to mommy Kristin for sharing the pictures.) I thought it was more fun to watch all the children play and follow each other around than to watch the game! Big sister Olivia supervised to be sure the babies were not getting into her stuff! The night went quickly with so much action (oh, and the fact that the "night" is now reduced to 2 hours...). Baby Anthony showed us his big boy walking skills. Baby Kate wanted to show us her walking skills too, but was most often too darn excited to concentrate on it! Baby Maren rocked so hard and fast on her knees that I thought she was going to take off a couple times, but also got too caught up inthe excitement and just used her belly crawl instead. Oh how our lives have changed...what will next year bring?

Vicki