Reading the paper together.....

POP

My dad came up for a weekend visit to meet his granddaughter! She and I loved having him here!
Marin meeting Pop for the first time!

Sleepy...SASSY...baby!

We love you, Pop!

Look who is a month old TODAY....

We can't believe Miss Marin is already a month old!

She has lots of room to grow in her onesie! Its going to be fun to watch her fill it out over the next 11 months!

She went to her one month check up today at the doctor. She now weighs 11lbs 10oz and is 22 1/4 inches long. She had to get another shot but she was such a big girl (and so was mommy). Look at her cute bandaid but really look at those cute chubby legs!



Here she is with Daddy at a month old....

And with Mommy at a month old....

We love you, Marin!

Rockin' and Rollin'

Marin loves her changing table (probably because we are there a lot...the girl doodles). But she will watch the ceiling fan lights forever (we have a remote that can dim the lights back and forth...). I moved her crib CD player over to her changing table so she can listen to some music while I change her diaper. It is SO FUN to watch her listen. She has started "dancing" and "singing" with the songs. We have been listening to a fairy tale CD this week. It's funny because I think there are songs that she likes more than others. Her favorites are the Goldilocks song and the Little Red Riding Hood song. But I did get a couple of videos of her singing and dancing...dedicated to her cousins Kate and Carson. She can't wait to meet you two!

I love how she gets one leg going first and then everything starts moving. Right now she dances like me but hopefully she will pick up some new moves from her dad.

Untitled from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

And for Aunt Cissy....


I started tutoring again this week. Marin met Olivia for the first time!

Baby Beluga

So Marin had on another cute outfit on and we had to take a billion pictures...and a video of her practicing her "ooooohs"! She is so adorable.

Marin- 3 Weeks from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

A Visit From Maye Maye

My sweet mother and Marin's Maye Maye made her first solo flight to Chicago to help me out while Burke went back to work for the first long trip since Marin was born. Not only did she conquer her fears of flying but she put up with me the whole week. She's a brave woman. Thank you again Mom for coming up! We love you!

Three generations of crazy, southern women....

(My cute hat and scarf came from my sweet mother-in-law. I LOOOOVVVVEEE them. The hat is adorable and is perfect for bad hair days.)

Snuggled and bundled up for a trip out...

Look at those big eyes looking at the camera! It's hard to see them in the pictures because I have to fix red eyes in most of them but Marin has beautiful blue/gray eyes!

Thanks again, Maye Maye. Marin loves and misses you.

2011 Things to Do List (and some more baby....)

A little late but....

2011 Things to do List:

1. Read more. Pregnancy sucked my attention span dry and the only thing I could manage to read while pregnant were blogs and magazines. Short and sweet snip its was about all I could stay focused for....but I have a stack of children's books I want to read and two bookshelves full of books I have wanted to read for some time now. And now...2011...I'm reading them. Burke is a great reader. He reads all the time and I've been so jealous of it. So the pregnancy is over and I've already completed Al Capone Does my Laundry and now I am on to The View from Saturday (A Newbery Medal award winning book). So far so good.


2. Shape-up. Exercise is on my list every year but this year it seems even more important. After having a baby, my body needs a little firming up, toning, shaping, etc. And I've had this body for 31 years now and know that I do not have high metabolism or great DNA that allows this to happen overnight. I am going to have to be intentional with getting my body healthy....for me, my wonderful husband, and my cute, adorable, precious daughter!


3. Church. This is a big one. I have some church issues and Burke works a lot of weekends so there is a good chance I would be going solo a good bit. We have tried a couple of churches here already but they haven't seemed to "fit" for us. But I have a friend here who is planting a church in March and Burke and I have decided to give it a try. I'll keep you posted on this one...


4. Teacher Blog. I started a teacher blog back in the fall simply to have a place to write down fun ideas and lessons I have read about or thought of when daydreaming about a future classroom. But of course, I posted twice and then haven't done anything since. Since I have a really expensive education, I think I should try and use it some how, some way. And the blog allows me to do that while I am snuggling with Marin....then someday maybe I can actually use those ideas posted in my classroom.


5. Home Stuff. Cook one new recipe a week. Sew more so that I can learn more and getting better at it. And consistently work on a digital scrapbook for Marin's first year. I decided to do the digital scrapbook as her baby book because of this blog post. It just looks so cute!

And now pictures:
We decided to try out the Baby Bjorn. Marin looks so uncomfortable but she loved it. She fell asleep in it everytime.

And I had to pump the other night and Burke got to feed her a bottle! She gobbled it up and then came to me for some more. Seriously, the girl likes to eat.

Birthday Celebration!

We had a fun day celebrating Burke's 30th birthday yesterday. Marin and I were so happy that he could be home with us! For lunch we went to a new Mediterranean place and it was delicious! Then it was time to open presents!

Since I was put on a strict birthday budget, I had to get creative. So, he got Birthday Coupons for massages and a running partner for 30 miles throughout the year. He had requested that we get to work out together as part of his birthday gift (which I think is really, really sweet) but, of course, I walk outside, put one foot on the sidewalk which is COVERED IN ICE and slip and fall...hard. I was a bit sore. So the work out sessions will have to come when I can learn how to walk or ice skate.

Some new gym clothes....because he is obsessed with exercise.

Then he requested a Mexican dinner and an ICE CREAM CAKE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Marin loved the birthday excitement.

Burke, we love you so much and are so happy we got to celebrate with you!

Happy 30th Birthday, BURKE!!

We love you so very much! Get home so we can celebrate!

And just because I loved the outfit and the hat....

A spur of the moment updated family photo....

As Burke was headed to work (so very sad about this), my mom snapped a couple of pictures of our little family.

Three Weeks

We can't believe it but our little girl is 3 weeks old today. It's very strange how fast this going! Some new things we are learning about our Marin:

1. She likes to stare at the wall sometimes.

2. Five out of the seven nights she is an angel. Wakes up, gets a diaper change, eats, burps, and goes back to sleep. But the other two nights, at least one of the early morning feedings she either A) is ready for a 12 mile run (I blame this on Burke's energetic DNA) or B) she has so much gas she sounds like a motor boat going across the Atlantic....

3. It takes her a long time to wake up from a nap (see waking up pictures below).

4. She has really funny facial expressions....especially when she doodles.
5. She is making more oohs and coos noises. So very cute.

6. She LOVES to snuggle.

And some pictures:

Here she is in one of her new outfits!

Staring at the wall....

And waking up....she looks like she is crying but she isn't. She just moves and shakes to get awake.

And watching the Bears win with Daddy!