What a difference a few months can make

I have always loved before and after pictures so I couldn't resist taking one of this group. On the way back from Josh and Becky's wedding (which was so much fun), we stopped at the Martin's house for lunch. It was great catching up and introducing our babies to each other. It has been invaluable going through pregnancy and starting motherhood with these girls. Mary Beth is the runt of the group so it has been great having everyone a few steps ahead of us so we can ask questions and seek their advice. I love these girls!

Pregnant on New Year's Eve - 12/31/08

With our babies on 10/4/09

The little ones in their birth order line up (Madison, Eli, Susanna and Mary Beth). Eli is a lucky man to have all of these ladies visiting him. Tiff was dangling a pacifier in the air to get their attention, it was hilarious.

Mary Beth absolutely loved Susanna!

Mad as a hornet

My mom and I saw this bee outfit at a consignment shop and we couldn't resist buying it. As you can see, MB is wishing that we had left it at the store. It probably didn't help that we were all laughing at her when she was wearing it since she was was pitching such a fit. We are hoping she will come around though, it's too cute!

Three Months!

Ms. Mary Beth is three months old. We are enjoying her so much and she is really getting a personality. She is smiling and talking and it cracks us up. We are waiting on her to laugh and are hoping that she will do it soon. She laughed once but she was asleep and was having a great dream. We didn't have a scheduled visit to the doctor this month but we took her to get her weighed and measured so we could update the baby book. She weighs 11 pounds and 3 ounces and is 24 and 1/4 inches long. She has only gained 6 ounces since her two month visit which is very low. I was really worried but the doctor said that she is fine and is in the 40th percentile for her weight and 90th percentile for height. He said that she is putting all of her growth into her length and that is why she didn't gain as much. She is eating every four hours five times a day and seems to be getting enough to eat so I am going to try not to worry. Here are a few things that she has accomplished over the past month:

She can roll over both ways but only does it at selective times.
She loves being swaddle free in her crib and rolls close to the bumper to snuggle.
She can sit in the bumbo seat and looks so grown up.
Her facial expressions are so fun to watch.
She likes to stand up and straighten her legs.
She is getting more control over her arms and hands and seems to be more deliberate in her movements.
Everywhere we go people say that she looks like a little delicate doll.

Mary Beth, We love you so much and are so glad that we get to be your parents. You are an abosolute joy!

Lamb Photo - 5 weeks
Lamb Photo - 3 months

Watching the Tech game in the bumbo seat

Big smiles for G-Mother

Big cousin Owen is going to show her the ropes

Hanging out with her Papa

Chatty Kathy

Mary Beth has so much to say and we love her sounds and facial expressions. (Warning, she spits up after about 40 seconds. This is normal for us but we realize that not everyone has a baby that spits up constantly. :-) We have to work hard to get a video without her spitting up and this one was too cute not to post.)

Free at last, free at last

Much to Dan's (and my dad's) delight, the miracle swaddle has been retired. He couldn't stand seeing his little girl in the straight jacket for any longer. She has done really well without it and is enjoying her new found freedom. When she is not stretching out, she rolls from side to side and kicks the bumper. I have loved the miracle swaddle and am thankful that Tiffany gave it to us! Since the swaddle has been retired, MB has started wearing pajamas which has been fun, she seems to like them and looks very cute if I might add.

Feeling good

Unfortunately, she can now roll off the side of the waterproof pad and burp cloth we have in place to catch all of her spit up.

Beach Beauty

Mary Beth loved her morning conversations with her grandaddy. They had so much fun together, this video makes me smile.

In this video she touches the ocean for the first time, she didn't know what to think about it but I'm sure she will love it next year.

Tah dah!

This is the much awaited video of Mary Beth rolling over. She likes to roll over a few times a week and we were able to catch it on camera but you have to look fast. She holds a nice gymnastic type pose at the end to make sure we caught her performance on tape.