Smiles

The first documented smile. Well more of a grin here but you will have to trust us. Hopefully one of many. You can't see her cute little dimple here but she has one. As of right now it's only on her right cheek?

Raggedy Ann

The Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls. How cool are they? It's something I haven't thought about in so long but such a big part of being kids around our age and earlier. It's like the fisher price record player with the little plastic records but so much more iconic.

As I said I haven't thought about the dolls probably since I was a kid. So I was floored when Mia was presented the Ann doll from Mrs.Duff. We made a short stop in on thanksgiving, so some of the Duff clan could meet little m. I am ecstatic that she now has that doll. Moreover when we arrived home I was checking the doll out and I had some vague memory of the heart of the doll. I couldn't remember definitively so I pulled up the shirt to find a hand sewn heart that inside reads I love Mia. Well golly, this deserves a very special mention.

People like the entire Duff family constantly move me. They are so wonderful that I almost feel undeserved. I am so thankful that Mia will have people like the Duffs, Prendiss, and LaFives in our life. There are more but just naming a few. So, in the spirit of thanksgiving we are thankful for Raggedy Ann dolls and the people who represent that type of childhood magic.

Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for obviously.

Just a few points on our first big holiday with the little M. The day went well. We are so happy to spread the cute new baby wealth and again focus on family.

We headed south early to Trixies parents. Mia's great grandmother was there so we took the opportunity to get a picture of four generations of women on the Trixie line. How cool is that? I am going to touch on lineage again because I think it's such a neat thing. something I haven't seen a whole lot of it so it's another great aspect of having a baby. It's a little group or team that shares something wonderful, even in the picture they all look so proud of one another.

Our good friends SAM-AH and annah were home. This is always a treat for us, again the whole importance of friends and family. A little background on our friend is that he is huge, like see him in the street and get nervous, the really cool part is that the biggest person I know and the smallest person I know were instant friends. Coincidence or not the cooing started upon the Arrival of SAM-AH.

Later in the Day saw us at my parents house where there was more introductions to aunts and cousins. Thankfully our very wonderful cousin Marta took care of the babe during the meal so we were able to relax with the family. So again a big thank you to cousin M. Now auntie M. for Mia's sake.

All in all we had a wonderful holiday and look forward to more interactive ones in the future.

Sorry for the delay on the blog more today.

Discovery and breast feeding

Everyone must know that parents are biased and probably a little crazed about their little ones. Rightfully so we say. Just the other day I heard myself saying "Oh look she has the cutest little pimples!" Pimples...? Yes, they were pretty damn cute! So, as you can imagine every little trait or moment of discovery is going to get a lot of ooohs and ahhhs. I mention this one because it's the first sign of her picking up on the outside world and I was very excited.

I sit watching the little M. like I always do as if it were the 10th inning of a Sox's Yankees game and David Ortiz has just come to bat. I notice her little hand in front of her face and her following it with her eyes. She is sitting in her car/carrier with the little frog and duck hanging down in front of her. Accidental i assume, she hits froggie with her hand and it makes a little ding. Froggie has a bell in his belly. She then proceeded to hit the frog with wide eyes over and over again. Do I assume a lot? Yes. Could it be like her smiles and mean something else like gas? Maybe. Am I any less amazed and filled with happiness? No.

OK, a brief note on breast feeding and some cold hard truth. For all the good it is, all it's magic, wonderful bonding, and plain old greatness it's just plain hard. It can be stressful and depressing. I know this is a touchy subject, and some opinion is quite adamant that you must breastfeed! Well, we say good luck to them we (by we I mean she) did a very wonderful job of trying it for as long as she possible could, we did our very best tried every angle, talked to many a nurse, lactation specialist and mom on the street. Alas, it's time for formula. May the lactation gods forgive.

Mia meets the aunts

The older we get the more important friends and family become to us.

The idea of a big close knit family is a great for us. We want Mia to appreciate and have meaningful relationships (eventually) with the people that are meaningful to us. People that shape(d) our lives. That being said, we fully understand that life happens constantly and we each move in our own little worlds. For instance my sister Cali from the left coast who is here for the holiday, and my sister Kat from not so far away made it up to our cozy cabin to meet little M for the first time. It's great to see, it's their niece as much as it's our daughter. I hope that no matter how short or how great the distance we can do our best to bridge the gap.

Truly it takes a lot of hands to raise a baby. ( I refuse to quote a Clinton!)

It's another perk of all this to see sisters and brothers together with the new edition, and knits everyone just a little closer. Personally we think it's just peachy. Just peachy indeed.

Baby blues

No, were not talking about the five o'clock waterworks, Thankfully that particular post partum anomaly only lasted a week or two.

I am going out on a limb here to say that we have a blue eyed baby! She is officially one month old today. A month already, if she were crying right now I would say it seems like three months, but for the most part it feels like we just left the hospital.

My professional doctors son opinion is blue! Mommy is elated as it's the first contribution from her that she can pinpoint. So far everything else has been attributed to me crankiness, stinky diapers and an affinity for the breasts. ...Glad I could help.

Blond hair blue eyes, is it to early to be worrying about boys? (more pics Nov, 14)

Famous baby

Here is the Debut picture posted on the Maine Medical center website. Mia I am not sure how long it will be available but we had to put it on here for everyone!

Thank You!

We are constantly moved by the generosity and genuineness people have shown us since they found out that we were having and had a baby. It is truly wonderful. We have received so many gifts for little M that we have hardly had to spend much to make sure she is properly set up for her adventures in babyland.

She has blankets that ding, and toys that ring
A mat to lay and a seat to play.
Heirlooms to save and diapers to brave!

See how we are getting into the baby/Seuss thing?

All of the gifts have been wonderful, cute and thoughtful. One of my personal favorites is a little pink onsie that says "Red Soxs Girl." Also her first pair of jeans, and cute red converse. She is all set up with a silver rattle and spoon. Both are engraved!

So, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and the rest of our family and friends, thank you!
From the very bottom of both of our hearts thank you. We are so grateful to have such wonderful people in our lives and we will make sure that Little M thanks you herself with many smiles and happy days.

The Nursery

It's Cute it deserves some mention.

So there is a wonderful book called Guess how much I love you. I bought it for my parents when I was in my mid twenties. I thought it was sweet and a nice sentiment. Well, Trixie and I looked at a few houses when we were buying. In our house hunt we came apon the house that we would eventual buy and of course hope to have babies in. And wouldn't you know the nursery already had the illustrations from the book painted on the wall! Another sign that the house was a must have!!

I told you it was cute.

So, to add to the story, a very nice co-worker of mine gave me a little care package for the baby. It was very nice and very unexpected. I think you can guess the book was part of it. She said she reads the story to her kids and has been doing so since utero!

Far to early to tell if it has any impact on the little M, but I will say you shouldn't ignore the signs.

Welcome to the world!

On October, 16th 2007 at 0954 baby Mia weighed into the world at 7lbs 4 oz. She made her first appearance a few days early but mommy was all to happy to get her out and breathing real air. As you can see from the pictures she was fortunate enough to come in as a cute baby. None of the pruneyness or typical baby complexion issues.

















Delivery itself was fairly seamless. Of course the epidural was already in full effect, and the pushing took about 40 minutes. The labor portion on the other hand phew..... were are going to call it from start to full dilation -- 33 hours!!! You go mom! They started out small and tolerable, and then at about 21 hours in, there was a rather strong plea for drugs!

Today Mia is 3 weeks and 3 days old. Her weight is a little over 8 lbs and moving. She is still a beautiful baby. Her eyes seem to lighten everyday. The majority of the time I am convinced they will be blue and other time they hint of browns and greens. Trixie* has blue eyes and mine are hazel. Although my sister Cali* is adamant there green and hazel is just a cop out. Her hair remains a sandy blond and only as a teaser of what might be.

Pictures, videos, anecdotes and all the trials and tribulations are going to be posted just as fast as we can get to you so please keep an eye on us!!!

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent!