Summer Fun!

Today's been a busy and exciting day for us! We had our first poolside play date with our friends baby Gavin and Jenny Cobb and Jenny and Collin Keele. I think the pictures below tell the story better than I could!


Brianna was very happy to be poolside and checking out the water but as you can see, she wasn't too happy to be actually in the water. I gave her a few minutes to see if she'd adjust to it but after that, she was content to sit in the sun and hang out with mommy. She decided it was more fun to watch Gavin in his glasses and floaty and Collin splashing around than it was to try to join them.

All that excitement wore her out and she was ready for a nap when we went back inside...

So, after that we came home, took a bath to wash off all the sunscreen and decided we'd share our adventures will all our blog friends and family. In other news, Brianna's 4-month well check is Tuesday and Justin and I are anxiously awaiting the stats on how much she's grown in the last 2 months. That's the good part of the visit. The bad part is that she's due for her next round of shots so that won't be fun for any of us.

She's doing very well at school these days, which makes it a lot easier for me to drop her off. Her teachers, Rose and Donna, both love her and are always telling me what a good baby she is. She got to create one of her first "art projects" this week using a pulley and string. She'd pull on the string to drag it first through the paint, then on to the paper. In some circles, it might be called genius but around here, its just cute! Her first art project was finger painting and she apparently didn't like getting her little hands dirty so there wasn't much painting actually taking place.

I think that wraps up the week so far for us. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Love you all,
Lucretia

Our First Fever

Well, poor baby Bree caught whatever virus Justin and I have been battling for the last week. I dropped her off at daycare yesterday and she felt a little warm, but didn't actually have a high temp yet. Sure enough though, by 11:30 when Justin stopped by to drop off her Zantac before heading to work, she had a 100.4 fever and was not herself. The little sweetie wouldn't smile, laugh or do anything other than snuggle up to whoever was holding her. Rose, her teacher, said she was holding on to daddy's finger so tight and when he had to leave to go to work, she cried as soon as he was out of sight. Poor baby just wanted her daddy and mommy!

I took her in to the doctor and by the time we got there later in the afternoon, her fever had come down and she was feeling much better. She's still not 100% today but the fever hasn't returned and she's getting a lot of cuddles and naps today to help her finish getting over this bug. Thankfully, I'm able to work from home, although its not that easy to do when she's needing the majority of my attention. Now, if I can just get to feeling better, life would be back to normal.

Toes!

Brianna found her toes yesterday, May 15, and now she can't get enough of them! No matter where she is or what she's doing, she's looking for her toes so she can grab on to them. Its absolutely adorable and so much fun to watch her discover all the new things in her world! Here's a couple pictures from tonight. You can see how intent she is!

Among the many things I love to do with her, one of the most enjoyable is to take a bath together. She loves the water and will splash and giggle as long as I'll let her. Justin took a few pictures of her last night and here's one of my favorites. She loves bath time right up until she has to get out though but up until that point, she's a very happy girl!
And last but not least, here's one last picture from this week. She's getting almost too big for the picture basket so I'm going to have find a new ways to pose her each week. I know I'm biased but I think she's an adorable little munchkin!Love you all,
Lucretia

Where was this face yesterday?

Part of our bedtime ritual is a little baby massage to help her relax and make sure her skin stays soft and yummy smelling. Last night, she was a little fussy until I started rubbing her back and then she held her head up for about 2 minute straight and just smiled ... now where was this adorable face was when we were at Target for pictures!


I just had to share ... enjoy!

My First Mother's Day!

Today's my first Mother's Day and its been a very relaxing, enjoyable day together with Justin and Brianna. Bree made me the most adorable plaque at daycare for my first mother's day. She contributed her footprint and, according to Miss Rose, had a very good time doing it! She seemed to really enjoy having paint on her little toesies but she kept curling them up so it took several attempts to get a good footprint. Here's a few pictures of the plaque and poem that went with it...such a sweet little girl!


I'm definitely feeling loved today! We've spent lots of time cuddled up together for naps and I've gotten several sweet baby smiles to top it off. We took Brianna for her 3 month pictures at Target today and even though the little squirt didn't want to grace the photographer with a smile, we still got some cute pictures. When we get them back next week, I'll be sure to post them up.

As for how I made it through my trip to Minneapolis, let me first say that Justin and Brianna were perfectly fine without me. Justin even confessed to having enjoyed his daddy/daughter time and although they missed me, they had a good time just hanging out together. I on the other hand, had a rough time of being away from her. To say she was all I wanted to talk about would be an understatement. I was very happy when our meeting Thursday was canceled and I was able to get a seat on the last plane home Wednesday. It was very nice to be home a day early, even though she was sound asleep when I got here. I've got to go back up there Wednesday but thankfully its only a day trip and if the plane's on time, I'll be home in time to tuck her in bed that night.

I think that takes care of this week's updates. I hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Love you all,
Lucretia

My First Week Back at Work

Well, its Sunday afternoon and I've never really dreaded Monday morning the way I am right now. The weekend has flown by and I haven't gotten enough time with my baby girl to get me through this next week. I leave Tuesday morning for my first trip back to Minneapolis and won't be home till after she's in bed Thursday night. I'm nervous on many fronts about this trip. Not only will it be my first time away from her, but there's a whole list of things I'm going to have to figure out as I go ... like pumping in an airport bathroom (yuck!) and then taking milk through security, which I know can be done as long as you declare it to the TSA agents and let them inspect it. My buyer, who has a daughter a few months older than Brianna, is very understanding and has agreed that future trips will be consolidated into one day if at all possible so I don't have to be gone overnight. Thank goodness for that! Now, I've just got to get through the next few days, and so does Justin. He's a little aprehensive about this as well but I know he'll be fine!

Brianna's doing great at school and seems to be adored by both of her teachers. When I picked her up Friday afternoon, Miss Donna was rocking and cuddling her since the other babies were either sleeping or had been picked up already. She didn't seem to anxious to hand her over to me either! I think its safe to say she's sufficiently won over both Miss Rose and Miss Donna!

She hasn't quite figured out the fine art of napping at school though. She's getting better but there's simply too many fun things to explore. This past week's theme was "bubbles, mud & puddles" and they had some cool things for her to play with ... like toothpaste squeezed into a bag to simulate mud. Apparently, she loved squishing it! I wish I could have seen her face when they handed her that! Another day, they blew buddles and that was also a big hit. Once the backyard dries out, we're going to go outside and give that one a shot ourselves! I have a feeling Moab might be pretty excited about chasing bubbles as well.

Here's a few pictures from the past week ... enjoy!

Chilling with Mommy after first day of school
Sleepy Girl!
Mommy's First Day of Work
Meeting Robyn!
Playing on her mat...and yes, that's a mirror she's staring at already!

That's all for now ... love you all,
Lucretia