Eat your Veggies!

Burke and I love food....all kinds and types. We love trying new restuarants.We are those people that will try the craziest thing on the menu and more than likely love it. We love trying new recipes. This is one of the things I love about being married to Burke. I can make just about anything I want to....from Mexican dishes to Southern dishes and everything in between. It's a creative outlet for me sometimes. I love it. So, for the month of April we are going to try something new. We are going to be vegetarians for the month. I've seen too many books, articles, and interviews that talk about the positive health benefits of a vegetarian diet....so we are going to give it a try. And of course, my sweet husband, is all in for the "experiment". For April we will try new recipes and see if we can tell a difference in our overall health. I'm excited!

Some recipes on the menu...
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili
Homemade Tomato and Basil Pizza or White Pizza with Broccoli and Mushrooms
Greek Veggie Burgers (We've actually already made these and they are SO GOOD!)
Spring Vegetable Minestrone
Pita Quesadillas with Cilantro Hummus
Lots of salads!
Plus some Green Smoothies....thanks Brig!

Marin's First SWIM

While we were in Kentucky, we went for a little swim in the hotel indoor pool. Marin loved it!

The water is way more interesting than the camera.

 You think you can't love someone any more than you already do...
then she puts on a hot pink swimsuit and you manage to love her a little more.



Some pool play time with her cousin Hudson! These two are the youngest
little Brednichs. Hudson loved her. (More pictures of his love to come...)






















We have some video of her swimming that I will TRY and put up today.

Marin is 3 months old!

Our Marin turned 3 months old on Sunday! Can't believe it. She is just as sweet as can be! Some important stuff about our beluga...

• She loves, LOOOVES her daddy. She can be crabby all day and as soon as he walks in the door...smiles all around. She is perfectly content to be in her daddy's lap. So very sweet.
• She loves her fingers. And anyone else's fingers for that matter. I have caught her a couple of times sucking on her passy on one side of her mouth while sucking on her fingers out of the other side. Takes skill....
• Favorite toys: her moose, books, her daddy singing silly songs, her play mat,  her rattles she kicks with her feet, she loves her cds but if you sing with them, she lights up
• She loves her rattles and crinkly toys. She has learned how to hold them in her hands and then bring them directly to her mouth to chew on them!
• She loves a blanket snuggled next to her face to sleep.
• Still is a meesy eater and an even messier doodler... 
• She likes being outside (when we can....)
• She has added a lot more "talking" sounds to her goos and coos. And she loves to have conversations with me! So cute.
• She has been to 5 states and likes to flirt with all the passengers on the plane as we make our way to our seat.
• She likes bath time, basketball, and library storytime.
• Drools a ton!
• She loves cat naps!
• She has started to reach for the book pages when its time to turn the page.
• She loves to lay on her play mat, pull her legs high in the air, and then SLAM them down on the ground to shake everything. She will do on the changing table too....wipes, Desitin, etc go flying everywhere.
• When she is tired or scared, Mommy can make her happy...or asleep.
• She is so ready to be able to sit up by herself. Almost there....

You are growing so fast, Marin! Mom and Dad love you very much!




 

Captain Daddy

We went to Kentucky this weekend to visit the other Brednich family and Marin got to take her first plane ride with her DADDY FLYING THE PLANE! On the way in, I threw her in the cock pit for a few pictures. She was very distracted by all the lights and the other pilot up there...but we managed to get a few pictures.

I love this picture of Burke! Having a little lunch before we board...






This one is my favorite. I think she looks so much like Burke in this picture. And Burke is
a proud Daddy!




"Marin, look at the camera." (But great picture of Burke)




"Marin, LOOK AT THE CAMERA!"



More pictures of the weekend to come....

Marin's Favorite Toy

Marin loves, loves, loves playing with her moose! She will lay on her play mat and grab and chew on every single one of his legs. It is so cute! (Thank you, Solomon's!)



Mother Goose on the Loose

We are really lucky to have two public libraries close to us. So today Marin and I went to our first storytime at the Independence Public Library. (Sulzer Library is our other library and it really is our favorite.) But Mother Goose on the Loose is a storytime designed for infants 3 months to 18 months. So we may have snuck in a week early, but Marin had SO. MUCH. FUN. She was by far the youngest one there, but that didn't stop her from being one of the loudest! And that my friends is a trait she gets from her Mommy (finally). She ooooed and gooed and cooed and laughed and giggled and jumped (at all the right times too) the whole time. She even got a few laughs from some other moms and the librarian. It was funny. There were so many kids there that Marin had a little "helper" that would get her a bell and scarf and other props for the rhymes. It was really cute. The puppets were her favorites and I'm going to need to pull out the sewing machine and try and make her some! But as soon as I put her in her carseat to go home, she was sound asleep. It wore her out. But we will definitely be going each week because she had a BLAST!  



Photo with the Very Hungry Caterpillar

This picture won't turn. Argh. But here she is again but this time her hand isn't in her face. :o)

Wait...here is the one with her hand in her face. Still cute though.

Watching the other kids putting on their coats...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar



It was hard holding her and taking her picture so the next few are the best I could do. But I had to try. She was laughing and moving so much...it made it hard!



Loved it!

We had to bib up halfway through. All the excitment made lots of DROOL!!

"Those are really cool farm puppets."



Again, not looking at the camera. Thanks, Marin.



March Madness

Marin loves basketball. It is really, really funny. Burke can hold her and walk around the room and she will turn her head, to the point of breaking her neck, to see the basketball game. Cracks us up. But she enjoyed some good Daddy time watching some of the games going on...



She is thinking about how she will be playing basketball with Dad someday using those feet.



Best seat in the house. Seriously, what a sweet dad!



Sleep!!

When we returned home from all of our traveling, Marin was upgraded from the bassinet to her crib! She has been in her room/crib for about 2 weeks now. She really is doing great! I complain some days but I know I've got it easy compared to some moms.  The first week wore me out. She woke up quite a bit...scared and a little confused. Usually I could just give her the passy and she would go back to sleep. But I was not going to spend the next few weeks getting up for a pacifer! Thankfully, with each night, Marin feels safer and more secure in her crib and she has gone from waking up a billion times a night to about twice. She is learning that her crib is for sleep and at night when I want to read to her and give her goodnight kisses, she just wants to be swaddled and put in her crib. And so for the past few nights, that is her little bedtime routine. We can sneak a few kisses in as we wrap her up, but she just wants to be left alone to go to sleep.

We have tried to figure out the best bedtime for her little body and I think it's going to be around 7:30. Her naps were so weird during the day that before it was making her bedtime at around 9:30 and it was just too late for her (uh, grouchy baby). So we've been putting her in her crib earlier and it seems to be helping her rest much better. She usually wakes up for the day between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. She will want to eat twice during that 12 hour period usually around midnight and 4ish. I don't see those two feeding times going away any time soon. But she will eat and go back to sleep.

We haven't really needed to do the "crying it out" phase yet even though they say that should start at 4 months. Apparently, babies this young aren't quite ready to self soothe yet. And I have to remind myself that even though she is the size of a 4 year old, she is still a new baby. But Marin is funny. She really does seem to have her own little timing of things that works just perfectly for her. Right when I want to take a night time feeding away, she does it on her own a couple nights later. Right when I think I need to take her pacifer away, she grows again and has calmer nights where she doesn't seem so dependent on it. I just have to learn to be patient with this little one. She seems to know what she is doing with this growing thing!?!?!  (Speaking of growing, she is now in size 3 diapers. Geez.) But she is as sweet as she can be and we are all getting more sleep around here. I do have to say that there is a HUGE difference in the way we both sleep when Burke is home. Just something about having Daddy home that makes us sleep so much better.



Sorry it is so dark. The only light is her little night light but she is just so cute when she is asleep.



It is hard to see the blanket on the left but it is a monogrammed blanket that Mrs. Mary Joy made for her. It is quickly becoming her "special" blanket. Because it is so small and thin, it is easy for us to pack on our trips and it gives her something to sleep with that smells of home. But even at home she likes to have it close to her face when she is sleeping.

Pinch Proof

I wanted a picture of Marin and I in our matching St. Patrick's Day green and this is what we got. There is a reason all the pictures we have of her are with Burke.

This is the only one where she is somewhat cooperating...


Then we get this...

and here I am the awkward one...

and now she isn't even going to look at the camera.

Again, there is a reason the pictures are always with Burke.

And now she is with her Daddy and we get...

smiles...

and more smiles....(I love this picture! Mary Beth, don't worry I will get you a copy.;o)

and yes, more smiles. (You little booger. And he wasn't even wearing GREEN!!)

Isn't this one sweet though?

So the photography session wasn't the only time she was uncooperative for me today. She was a wee bit o'crabby this St. Patrick's Day. I finally sat her down in her swing and said something like, "Marin, you aren't being very nice." And she looked over at me and...

Ok, you're forgiven. :o)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And we have....

Sunshine!!!

Marin and I were able to go on a walk this afternoon!! And we didn't even need a hat or a scarf! It was beautiful. The only thing that would have made it better is if Burke was here.

Ready for our walk....

Checking out the kids playing at Bell Elementary School...

Awkward picture, I know. But this is her new trick. She has some serious abdominal muscles (again, she gets this trait from her dad) but she can completely pull herself up to a sitting position. She does it in her bouncy seat, her swing. So really she should be buckled in right now but.....

And this is a common face right now. Those fingers are so very tasty.

No really. They are tasty. So tasty her hands are raw from her chewing/drooling on them. I have to put heavy duty lotion stuff on them every night.

It was so sunny, we even needed a little shade!

It is funny how fall has always been my favorite season. Always. You get a cool down from the hot, southern summer and of course, its a new school year with new cute students. But now that I am a Chicago mommy, spring may very well be my new favorite. I am so looking forward to it. I know that it will snow here next week just because I am writing this...argh. But Chicago spring, I can't wait to meet you! Hurry up!