Girl's Got Attitude

A crank when too tired or too hungry, she's otherwise our cheery little nymph. Say her name, flash her a smile, or make some silly noises and she'll give you a chuckle and gummy grin.

...And every once in awhile you get a nice six month going on thirteen pose...like so...

Love my little cheeser!

Easter Days

Our church has a standing Easter tradition.

Every year on Easter Sunday we gather, favorite dish in hand, at the Varnell's perfect party house in Fort Worth's historic district. The food spills over from the dining room table into the kitchen, where it covers all the counters; cheesy casseroles, sausage balls and all sorts of cakes and pies. After a few hours of brunch with friends (complete with mimosas!) we head on over to the park to watch the little kiddos race to find those colored treasures hidden in the grass.

With the exception of our time in Amarillo, Adam and I have made every Easter brunch for the last six years. I have such fond memories of Easters from my childhood; I was really excited to celebrate with our little munchkin and usher in new spring traditions. A casual affair, we all dressed up this year. Maeve looked so sweet in her little yellow dress! (Thanks Mom & Dad!!)

With Maeve's new found delight for other people's food, the walk through the land of goodies was full of fist grabs with plenty of new tastes landing in her mouth.

(There may or may not have been some dives for our mimosas too...thankfully she missed.)

Daddy finally gave in and began sharing his brunch with her.

This has been a year for babies at Mosaic. All in all six babies in eight months. The littelist baby, Kaitlyn, was out of town for our Easter picture this year so we'll have to get another one soon.

Here you have (left to right) twins Felix & Luna (4mo), Alice (9mo), Harper (2mo) and Maeve (6mo).

All of us chuckled at the idea of our six little toddlers confusedly waddling around the grassy hills of the Fairmount park next Easter, not sure the importance of the little colored eggs. As the time of her first year with us is rapidly passing by, I really try and savor every day. (Even those harder to appreciate moments.) But holidays, it seems, always make it easier to savor the moments with Maeve...and admittedly, make me think of what our future Easters, Fourth of Julys, Christmases will look like and how many little bitties might be there to help make them perfect memories.

Somebunny Cute

I have a weak spot for precious kiddie pictures.

I have an especially big weak spot for precious kiddie pictures featuring my baby girl. A few weeks ago I found some dollar bunny ears in the bins at Target. I thought they'd make for an adorable photoshoot with Maevey.

I had not considered the fact that Miss Maeve had never experienced grass. She is her father's daughter; a true observer, and grass blew her mind. Seriously, there was no way to get her to crack a smile. She would look up momentarily, then grasp at grass and look concerned some more.

What is this?

Do I eat it?

Maeve and her red sidekick.

Six Month Maeve

Friday marked our munchkin's six month here with us, which is almost hard to believe. I'm not sure where the first four months went, or how it could be going by so fast. It sent me in a panic Friday, telling Adam "she's six months now, and soon it'll be summer and after summer it'll be her birthday and then it will be all over!!!"

Have I mentioned my flare for the dramatic?

It really is unbelievable how quickly it is going by and how fast she is learning and changing. I'm amazed every time I see her do something new.

As of her appointment Friday her stats read:

Height 26.5in 62%
Weight 14.olbs 17%
Head 17%

We've got ourselves a shrinking woman! She's a long skinny lassy, that's for sure.

Our little observer studying the paper she's shredding....

At six months Maeve:

Loves:
Oatmeal, bananas and mangos.

Loves, loves, loves bathtime and to splash and kick in the water.

Delights in music, especially silly songs and Beethoven.

Exploring your face. Hands in mouth, pulling lips, grabbing nose....if you're a dog, she grabs your fur and tries to put your ears in her mouth.

Going outside and on walks.
Loves watching you read to her and trying to eat the books.

Hates
Peas. We have to sneak them in by mixing them with applesauce.

If she can't eat your food she throws a fit; and tries to grab fist-fulls of our meals if we aren't careful.

Still hates to be strapped down or confined.

Is a crank only when tired or too hungry. Consequently, this means she is a nightmare at church nursery....

Is Learning:

A sippy cup and keeps trying to drink out of our straws.

To feed herself with the spoon, taking it from our hands all the time though food usually ends up in her nose.
She is (rightly) convinced we were the funniest people in existence.

She still loves to snuggle, but often kicks and squirms like a toddler ready to run so that you'll put her down to roll around and try and crawl.

Can:
Pick things up, and moves them hand to hand.
Still rolls everywhere but is very serious about trying to crawl. She pushes up and tries to rocket forward.
Has dropped her midnight nursing!!! Wahoo!
Flips over constantly on the changing table and in the bath.
Has the best belly laugh and giant smiles. She often grins just because you looked at her, or said her name.
When she wants you to pick her up she puts her arms up and reaches for you, and if you've got a beard she grabs it once she's in your arms.

She's also very good at making messes...

Our happy girl!

A Little Owens Time

This last weekend Adam's Dad, Maeve's Grandpa, was in town. We were able to see him for a picnic lunch on Sunday and had a family dinner with some of our Dallas/Fort Worth family Monday night.

Uncle Jacob and Miss Maeve

Full of giggles for Aunt Cynthia!

One of Maeve's newest things is touching faces. She feels around your cheeks and lips, and especially loves to stick her wet little hands in your mouth while you talk. If you make munching noises it's all the better.

After a few grabs and Grandpa's nose, he began explaining to her just what it was she was honking.

Maevey Bean and Grandpa in their blue jeans.

My favorite picture of the weekend; Maeve and her cousin Daniel. Hard to believe they're only two years apart! They were complete hams in front of the camera, and Daniel was keeping an eye out for Maeve. He pinned her down when she attempted to throw herself off the chair! That'a boy!

Luck O the Irish

An Irish Prayer:

May God give you...

For every storm, a rainbow,

For every tear, a smile,

For every care, a promise,

And a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends,

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.

Checking out her lucky tummy full of celebratory green peas!

There's our dimpled girl!!!

Goin' to the Chapel of Love

Thursday we were among the lucky few invited to our dear friends Cassandra and Fonz's intimate chapel wedding. We have been friends with them for nearly five years now, and were so excited to see them celebrate their love and devotion for one another! Congratulations Ojeda family! We love you all so much!!

The beautiful and happy couple.

Mama bride and ring-bearer son.

Maevey and her daddy had coordinating outfits for the wedding. She was very well behaved and only (happily) squawked during one prayer.

FebruMaevey

The end of February brought us to Maeve's 5th month birthday mark! How that is possible, I'm not even sure. She's continued to be an opinionated, squeal, chatty little munchkin. So long as she's not tired, she's a social butterfly. Loud, louuuud, happy squeals fill the rooms where strangers are found. Her way of saying "Hello!" "I'm happy!!" "You're new!!!"

Being her mama (and if you ask Adam, her daddy) is nothing (ok...mostly) fun! She can be quite exhausting, but for the most part she's an easy baby, and I'm really starting to feel more and more sure of myself. Sure that I know her needs and can identify her cues pretty quickly.

She's not sitting up on her own quite yet, but she likes to practice. She'll give the Bumbo a shot here and there, but after about five minutes she begins arching her back and trying to climb out. Never mind that she can't climb. (Did we mention she wants what she wants?)

Another super cute Maeve-ism, most smiles she scrunches her nose and sticks out her tongue. It.Is.Adorable.

Also, the girl who was not so in to tummy time before is the tummy Queen! She is our little alligator, flipping over and trying to crawl away the moment you lay her down to change her diaper. On the play-mat she flips over almost immediately and we often return to find her turned 180 degrees.

Watching her doggies.

She is very impressed with her Christmas toy from her Grandma and Grandpa. (Spot on grandparents!) A gyroscopic music box it has the music on one side, a mirror on another and the third side has little beads you can slide back and forth. A few weeks ago she watched me slide the beads back and forth and push the toy to make it swing and copied me. Three times in a row! It was absolutely amazing to see her do something deliberately. Amazing!

Another Maevey favorite is still eating her clothes. Particularly dresses and long shirts. But in a pinch, bibs will satisfy.

Look at those yummy baby feet! How I love this little girl and spending all day kissing her chipmunk cheeks and nibbling her little toes!

Our Swimsuit Model

This weekend was the perfect kind of weekend. Relaxing for both Mama and Daddy, with sweet sunshine you could practically smell. We attempted the pool on Sunday since it was 75*, but the water was a wee bit too chilly so we settled for sitting in the hot tub (more like warm tub) and letting Maevey dip in her toes every so often. Don't worry, I did not immerse my five month old in a whirlpool. :)

Mama and sweet baby girl.

A hint of a grin.

Sweet, silly girl. Can you see the sheen on her cheeks from her drool covered hands?

Of course by the time we tried to get a picture of Maeve and her fiery red locks and how they shone in the sun, the sun had moved and you couldn't quite tell. Oh well. Next time.

She looked darn cute in her new swimsuit, hat and cover-up though. It really made me excited about the warmer weather and vacations to come. She loves LOVES bathtime, so my hopes are high for the pool and ocean. Right now she kicks and rolls and talks the whole time in the water. Being a fishy is in her blood. (My mother's maiden name is Fisher after all.) My brother and I spent our summers and various other holidays in Hawaii at my grandparent's. I don't remember a warm day where I wasn't swimming as a child. An area swim club offers Mommy/Daddy and Me swim classes starting at six months. We plan to sign Maevey up for some special time with Adam. Hopefully it's a hit!

Butternut Babe

We've resumed operation "Maeve Tries Solids" and she is much more receptive this go round. She is a huge fan of butternut squash, and an even bigger fan of Mama and Daddy pretending to eat her food all up! She is less entertained, however, by us taking our time to feed her.

An Attempt at Rice Cereal

Maeve may only be four and a half months old, but she's already formed a pretty opinionated self. When Maeve wants something, it's pretty hard to calm her or make her happy until you've met her new expectation. And if she's decided against something?

Hah! Just give up now.

I know her passionate personality will make her a strong young woman, and serve her well. I know as a toddler it will most likely be the center of our training and parenting, you can't always have your way. But have you ever tried explaining that to someone so small? Yeah..So for now, she's pretty well catered to. Don't misunderstand me, she's mostly a very cheery, smilely baby. People often comment how often she's just looking around with her wide, watching eyes with a silly grin on her face. It's just that she has two sides. Happy and annoyed. :)

Rice cereal, she announced last week, makes her the latter.

Her pediatrician had told us that sometime between now and six months we could start cereal, what signs to look for, what to consider, etc. She's still doing just fine nursing, and in retrospect isn't showing much interest in table food and what we're doing. But I got excited. So many of our friends have babies a week or so older than Maeve (Hi Megan! Hi Christine!) and they started, so why not!?

My lil' Maevey Bean watching Daddy pour her cereal.

Priming her. Isn't this fun Maeve?

She would like you to know it is indeed not fun.

And there you have it. Two bites in got us many loud screams and the biggest tears you've ever seen. We'll try again in a few months.

Four Month Stats

Baby girl's appointments are often the highlight of my month. It's exciting to see how much she's grown, hear where she is percentile wise, and find out the pediatrician's take on her development. The shots...I could do without the shots, and so could Maevey, but what can you do?

Holding steady our munchkin continues to be tall and skinny. Though not in the 90% like we were as babes, she's still 77% at 25.5in and up from 33% to 40% at 13lbs 5oz.

I'm convinced the weight gain is all in those sweet Fisher chipmunk cheeks.

(Along with her nose, it's one of her for sure Mama traits

Funny enough, the when the sweet older nurse at her appointment remarked on those "big ole cheeks" Maeve burst into tears. Upon apology and telling our sensitive girl it was meant as a compliment, she stopped crying.

I could not make this up. It was hilarious.

Four Months Old

I cannot believe it's been four months.

But it has. Monday marked four months since I birthed our little smiley sassy pants. Four months since I went from "I will never have this baby" to "I will never sleep again" to "I will never get anything done again." Four months since our surprise redhead made our lives complete. (for now at least ;)

Every day I am reminded, at least once, how lucky I am that we're able to make this stay-at-home thing work. While I do get stir crazy from time to time (how many trips to Target can I "need" this week..) and the adult conversation is a little lacking, it's still wonderful to get to spend my time watching Maeve change and learn new things. It's amazing to me how literally within the span of two days she'll have developed a new skill, make a new sound, notice new things or even have grown an unbelievable amount! Yesterday I went to put her in a 3-6 onesie that fit her last week and this week the buttons were barely clasping!

At four months Maeve has mastered rolling front to back and back to front. As of this weekend she's begun rolling around to get where and what she wants. Goodbye playmat. Goodbye ten minutes to wash dishes. She can also inch her way towards things when motivated. It seems the dogs are a great source of motivation.They will be very inconvenienced once she can crawl and doomed once she can walk. She is in love with her puppies, especially Kitri who still isn't quite sure what to make of Miss Maeve, but is very curious and gentle with her.

Kitri keeping Maeve company while I dried my hair. (Yay for...doctor's appts?!)

Maeve has turned my days into some new form of mommy alligator wrestling. Changing her diaper is a challenge as she flips herself around and kicks her legs as fast as she can while "talking" to me. Bathtime is a similar event, and often ends with her splashing too much water in her face or getting us soaking wet. She is super giggly these days too. I can never seem to catch it on film, but it makes you smile just to hear her deep little laugh. Among the things Maeve finds funny; pretending to eat her up (especially if you munch on her cheeks and feet and make plenty of "nom nom" noises), raspberries on her tummy, her feet in Daddy's beard, Mommy's hair in her face, singing and dancing silly songs, funny faces and her doggies. Everytime she gives a good smile her dimples pop and her little eyes sing! I LOVE it! I'm pretty sure people on facebook are petitioning I quit posting baby pictures but I.can't.help.it!!!

Ofcourse by the time I got the picture she was distracted, but still. It's so cute to see her perch with Adam and rub her little toes in his itchy beard!

As sweet and cute as she is, Maeve is also a tad opinionated and has very little patience for things not going her way. She's not high strung, but she's definitely not laid back either. Things that upset Maeve: not getting what she wants, being held facing in and not the crowds, being held by strangers, carseat, stroller, swing, bouncer...basically anything that contains her. Things that make Maeve cry: blowing your nose, sneezing loudly, dogs barking, keeping her contained too long and not putting her down on time for her naps. That girl loves to sleep and she's becoming less and less portable during naptime and bedtime.

All the cliches surrounding motherhood and parenthood are all I can think of to say about being a mother to my sweet little munchkin. I won't, because who really likes hearing those things, but know they're all true. Even in times of frustration I look at her, especially while nursing and think, "You're amazing! You're beautiful! I adore you and can't believe I'm so lucky to have you!" I imagine what she'll be like as a toddler, a child....a young woman. What her interests will be and where they will take her. How is it possible to love someone so tiny so darn much?

She was talking to me here. "Bah bah bah oooooooh"

Happy four months munchkin! Our lives will always be for the better because of you!

Lots of 3AM

If Maeve isn't teething or going through one long growth spurt, than it's obvious she's trying to kill me.

We have seen an awful lot of 3am these days, and that's not usual for our family. We were incredibly lucky that Maeve came home wanting to sleep long stretches. At night those first six weeks we set alarms and had to wake her up to get in most of her late night, every two hour feedings. Normally her schedule is bedtime at 7pm, midnight feeding and 6:30am breakfast. Like clockwork! Most of the time she starts to wake up before we've gotten to her for that late feeding. Naps have become the similar clockwork predictability, back down in the morning until 10am, back down from 12:30pm to 3pm and then perhaps a catnap in the late afternoon while we wait for Daddy.

Not this week my friends. This week has been exhausting. Starting Monday night we've been waking up just about every other hour. Down at 7pm, up at 10pm, up at 12am, up at 1:15am, up at 3am, up at 5am, up at 6:30am, up at 8:45am....then down at 11am, but a short short nap. Essentially cutting out her first morning nap, shortening her other and being a bit of a pill in between. Let me tell you, it's been quite frustrating. I know there are others out there who have it worse, who hardly ever get sleep, but this has been a rough week. I knew I was exhausted when sometime between bedtime and "DOES SHE KNOW IT IS 4AM?!?! I WAS JUST IN THERE!!!" I went to go to the bathroom and ran into the door. Because it was still closed.

Oye.

We have several theories. One is teething; she can't get enough things in her mouth, and if you get close enough she'll pull your hand or finger in her mouth to gnaw down. I haven't taken a good look in her mouth, but last weekend my sister-in-law thought she could see something lurking down in those gums. Our second theory is the obvious, especially the more I read. In ten days our little munchkin will be four months old!!!! While there's no noted 4mo growth spurt, it's not impossible that she's having one anyhow. All the signs are there; constant demand for food, messy schedule, crankiness, latching on and off in frustration. Yep, she's a regular peach right now. My only hesitation, outside of her timing, is that her last growth spurts have only lasted about 24-48hrs, and last night was our fourth night of crazy. Finally, our last theory. She's trying to kill me. Or at least drive me into madness. Maybe she's bored, and hearing me mutter to myself at 4am and walk face first into walls is very entertaining.

Grandparent Visit

The "O"s at the Dallas Zoo

This weekend Adam's parents were in town, which means several things. Our whole family got together, Maeve had plenty of extra snuggles, and there was a second Christmas celebration!

Saturday we, along with Adam's sister's & brother's families went to the Dallas Zoo together with Grandma and Grandpa. All in all, that was fifteen people. :) Yes, we're quite the crowd. (and we were missing two folks!) We have yet to take Maeve to the zoo post-utero, though she made it to the Oklahoma City Zoo a few times while I was pregnant. She's in a new stage of awareness that really made the zoo fun. When her grandfather held her up to the monkeys her head moved side to side and up and down following a particularly frisky monkey across his enclosure. It was incredible to see, especially since it was just a week or two ago she seemed to REALLY see the dogs for the first time.

We loved seeing you all, and so did Maeve! We can't wait for the next visit!!!

Grandma and Maeve.

Grandpa and Maeve.

Very happily opening prsents from her sweet grandparents.

While in DC my Mom and I dug this photo up. I'm a few months older than Maeve is now. We girls love pink dresses and white bonnets!

PS: I have no idea how I turned my post into a hyper-link and thus cannot undo it. ;)