6 Months Old!

Our sweet little girl is 6 months old today! She is so much fun....

• She stands up just about any chance she gets.
• She shakes her head no at really funny times.
• She loves her farm puzzle and her blocks. 
• She has tried bananas, apples, peaches, green beans, squash, avocados, and carrots. Bananas, green beans, and squash seem to be her favorite right now. 
• She puts everything in her mouth....especially the camera case! 
• She is putting herself to sleep. We didn't have to do the "crying it out" stuff really because she just seemed ready to do it. Her little routine is read a book, sing a song, go to bed. 
• Loves to splash in the tub.
• She does not like her car seat or her stroller! 
• She is trying to crawl! She can scoot herself backwards but can't quite figure out how to get things going forward....
• She loves to have her back scratched. 

Love this kid so very much!

Checking out Dad being silly!

Hooray! 

Playing with her toes. I could eat those piggies!

Marin Pulling Up from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Here is a little video of Marin pulling up. She takes a break to flirt with Ryan.

Playing, playing, playing!

Pat-A-Cake

A little floor version of pat a cake....

Pat a Cake from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

We clap with her and do pat-a-cake the normal way but for some reason on this day, she thought it was so funny to see my head "roll" in the song. (And she had a wet drool-y dress so we took it off. She doesn't normally sit around topless. But if you read my sister-in-law's blog you will see that going topless or pants less runs in the family. ) 

Summer Fun and Snuggles with Dad

So Burke and I have taken up three new hobbies this summer....yard sales, grilling, and tennis. We have so much fun doing all three of these things.
Here in Chicago, a whole neighborhood will have "community sales", so you just park your car, get a map, and walk around. It is so fun to just be outside and go on "treasure hunts".  I will have to do another post to show some of our finds.
We got a $25 grill at Target. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on one because we weren't sure if we would actually use it since neither one of us had really done any grilling before. We have already got our money's worth out of it. We have made burgers, hot dogs, bratwursts, chicken, pork, and veggie kabobs. Burke is definitely a grill master. We love it.
And finally tennis....
The park closest to our new place has tennis courts, so we have been going in the afternoon. Please know that I do not have one athletic bone in my body. Poor Burke. But even he said the first day, "This is going 100% better than I had expected." It made me laugh. In case you are wondering, yes, I hit the ball. Our goal was to hit it back and forth 10x. Today we made it to 20! Woohoo! And Marin loves sitting in her stroller, watching, and chewing on anything she can reach.

And for the pictures....

Snuggle, snuggle...

Melt. My. Heart.

She loves standing up these days. 

Flying like Dad

"SuperMarin"

I LOVE these two so very much! 

But Dad, I'm on camera.....

Marin noticed the video camera as soon as Burke put the blanket on her head for a game of Peek-a-Boo. Please notice how FAST she jerks that thing off so she can smile at the camera. She is a ham.


The Little Ham from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.


And Marin's sweet friend Emily (9 months old) came over for a little play date and walk. Stephanie and I had such a fun time watching these cuties "play". They just went back and forth with all the toys. But I must say that Marin loves Emily. I had to tell her a couple of times that Emily was a person not a toy. Marin wanted to pull on toes, her dress. She thinks Emily is the best ever. I so look forward to watching this little friendship grow over the years.

Here is a video of the two sweethearts. Of course, as soon as I turned the camera on they stopped playing and stared at the camera. So this is try 3...


Play Date with Emily! from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Nails

I wanted to write this down so we don't forget! Marin's nails grow incredibly fast! She'll probably appreciate that later on in life when she gets pretty manicures but right now it drives me nuts. I have to clip her nails at least twice a week. And it's no easy task. The girl is too busy to be that still. (And trying to do it when she is sleeping is a disaster...)

She still "explores" things with her mouth but her new favorite way to check out new things is with her nails. It doesn't matter what it is....the couch, the car seat strap, the side of high chair, her pillow....she scratches and claws at it. Burke and I laugh at her because while I am breastfeeding, she is scraping the couch with her nails making the worst sound ever.  It really is funny.

Here is a video of her scratching some Styrofoam!


Scratchy Scratchy from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Belize Souvenir

Marin wore her sweet little dress from Belize today. And although she loved her souvenir and she looked adorable in it, she apparently wanted a sibling as a souvenir instead. So....Marin is going to be a big sister!! We are expecting another little cutie on February 20. Of course, it is all very new but we are thrilled and so excited to have our kids so close in age. (BTW, this is our final addition to our family.) And now for the Beluga in her Belize dress....

Funny face!

I'm going to be a big sister!

And for fun....

Sweet Quilt Surprise!

Marin got the sweetest package in the mail today! Her Aunt Betsy handmade her a very special quilt. Marin loves it (but her Mommy may love it a bit more). It came with a letter that made me cry and will be put in her baby book! Definitely a keepsake!

Betsy, it's beautiful and so incredibly special!
You can't really see in the picture but there lines sewn across the quilt. I am amazed at how straight they are and I know it took quite a bit of time. So very sweet!

But Betsy, you know what this means right?
You better start making another quilt. :o)

Piano Practice with Daddy

We are still trying to get settled in our new place. But we did set up Burke's keyboard in the third room for him to play. Marin had to play her little piano too.

Sweetest thing ever! 

Loving every minute....

Splishing and a Splashing....

Marin loves the bath! She loves the water. She is now sitting up in the tub like a big girl which means it is a lot easier to splash!! She wants to suck on her toes too but when she bends down to get them, she of course, gets her face all wet and it startles her. :o)


Here is a sweet video of her splashing. She got distracted because she saw the shiny drain and went after it....


A Splishing and a Splashing.... from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.


On a side note, she is trying her best to crawl. Ahhhh!! We sit her back up and she ends up on her belly in seconds. She can move herself backwards but  she hasn't figured out forwards yet.

Making Some Music

Love this picture!

I pulled out her piano activity tray and she loves it!

Making music!

Summer is here....

Which means visitors and museum free days! Our first visitor....my cousin IVY!!! It was so great to see her and spend a little time with her! We enjoyed a great Chicago pizza lunch downtown then the Adler Planetarium! Ivy met up with some friends for a concert in Millennium Park and some shopping...us old folks with a baby had to go home. But we had fun!

Sitting in a big girl high chair at lunch. She had so much fun sitting in this thing and it made dining
a lot easier! 

"You get pizza.
I get Sophie."

"Do I smile or do I eat the paper?"

I will do both! 

Marin got tired of the stroller.
My back got tired of the Marin.
But this part was really fun. You could move the astronauts and planets with your hand. 

My sweet cousin! And, of course, Marin turns her head. Like I said, this part was really neat!

You could move these guys around by pushing your hand in the air. 

Ivy is very creative and talented.
She doesn't steal ideas like me...she can actually think of them on her own.
She made this hair clip using our grandmothers buttons.
I thought it was adorable! 

Another try with Marin facing the camera except we felt like we were getting our prom picture. :o)

And we got to spend a extra night with her because she missed her flight. The funny part of the story is that she missed her flight from Austin coming here too. Bless her. 

Extreme Couponing

Burke and I have watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing. Extreme is no exaggeration. But we think Baby B may have picked up on a few of things....

She was in heaven. 

A New Trick

Marin has started doing a new little trick with her passy. She will flip it sideways in her mouth. We think maybe the hard part feels good to her gums but it makes her look so funny.

"What? This is perfectly normal."

"Wanna try it, Dad?"

And just a few more pictures for fun....

Getting some morning exercises in.
(And looking like her Daddy....)

I think it is so cute how she watches this show.
She really only pays attention to the singing parts but I watch the whole show.
Let's Build a Word! 

And a little break for a picture....