Giving thanks

Thanksgiving Day: November 27, 2008.

Dinner at Aunt Beth and Uncle Jay's with my whole family-dad, mom, me, Grandma, Poppie, Grandpa, Nanny and Cousin Zach decided to join us for the family photo op

Photo with Grandma and Poppie and mommy and daddy

There is so much to be thankful for this year. Grandma and Poppie have 3 grandkids under the age of 2 so they are thankful for their new additions to the family.

Grandpa. Nanny and me--I put those smiles on their faces. They couldn't wait to come visit again and can't believe how much I have changed over the past few weeks.

Watching some football with the men in my life...Poppie, Grandpa and Daddy. Its not UVA or FSU football so daddy and Grandpa are relaxed.

Mommy was so busy trying to get photos with everyone so I tried to smile for one with her too. Mommy said this was one of the best thanksgiving ever since she had so much to be thankful for.

Check out my cute thanksgiving outfit...Mom says in this picture I look just like she looked as a baby (although my hair is a little spikey and hers was curly!)

Lindsay and I are wearing matching bibs...I wasn't too happy smiling for the picture but my mom and Aunt sure like to torture us by taking a lot of pictures so she took this one anyways.

Hanging with grandma... my grandma and nanny have the magic touch and know how to keep me nice and relaxed.

Poppie wanted a picture with all his girls

All smiles hanging out with my Thanksgiving bear

Just me and my dad

I'm a libra baby..."I'm charming and easy going; I will be consistent; love to please; balanced, constant, agreeable"

I've started smiling more and more and am such a happy baby!

Good thing my parents have unlimited long distance...i already love talking on the phone. When do I get my own cell phone?

6 weeks old

Can you believe I am 6 weeks old?  

I am getting bigger every day and am now smiling more and more although mommy has a hard time capturing it on the camera.  I still give my parents a hard time in the evenings and dont sleep too much but i'm just so cute they can't get mad.  

My mom tortures me with pictures and here I am with just a few of the stuffed bears that are around the house.  In a few years I'm going to be bigger than this megasize bear but for now he makes a nice chair...

I'm supposed to be sleeping but most of the time I have my eyes wide open (or I'm screaming but mom didn't want to take a picture of that).   So here I am just hanging out in my crib...

In my car seat all ready to go!  I love our outings and tend to fall asleep in the car.  Sometimes I even let my mom and dad have dinner at a restaurant.  They better enjoy this while they can cause pretty soon I won't sleep through their meal.  

Busy, Busy Sydney

Here I am hanging out with my cousin Lindsay who is now just over 1 week old.  The two of us just relaxed on the mat and coordinated our sneezes and movements which made our mommies laugh!  Lindsay is catching to me in size and I'm excited to double my wardrobe and share clothes with Lindsay.

Happy Birthday Aunt Beth!  I helped mommy make a funfetti cake for Aunt Beth which was delicious!  (Mommy got a new sling so she is able to do more than just walk around the house for hours with me in her arms).  

My adorable cousin Zachary (eating in the background) is talking up a storm and Lindsay says he is a great big brother.

Mommy used to work at the Make-A-Wish Foundation before I was born.  She loved her job and misses her coworkers and her position.  She was so sad to leave but everything worked out so she could stay home with me!  Mommy says her wish came true: she has me and daddy :) 

Nikki, Shelly, Jared (with son Jonah) Mary, Ashley and Carly all used to work with my mom and now all have moved on to new jobs.

While at White Flint mall we ran into Jay and Asher, friends of my mom.  Mommy was Jay and Asher's camp counselor when she worked at the JCC in high school/college.  They also like to hang out at the mall so I am sure we are going to see them often since it is getting colder and mommy doesn't want me outside too much.

We went out to brunch at the Cheesecake Factory with Auntie Karen.  The mall is all decorated for the holidays and is a fun place to hang out.  I love shopping with Karen! I hope to do this more often!

This is mommy's friend Sally and her daughter Izzy.  Mommy took a prenatal yoga class (her attempt at staying in shape while pregnant) and met Sally who was due around the same time.  Izzy was born 1 week after me-on Oct. 21st-the day i was due.

Izzy and I had a play date at her house.  I couldn't wait to meet my new friend.  Mostly we just rested while our mommies talked--but it sure is nice to hang out and compare sleep, eat and play patterns. 

 
Every Wednesday mommy and I have been going to a feeding support group and we meet lots of other babies and their moms.  So we invited a bunch of people over and had a support group of our own-it certainly was a little crazy with 8 babies around! Here are a few of our new friends. But it is so much fun to meet other babies around the same age. Mommy especially enjoys the scale and weighing me each week to see how big I am getting.  I'm almost 7 1/2 pounds.

Ally and Ryan came over to meet me.  I was so glad to finally get to meet them. Ally grew up with mommy and is like another sister so I couldn't wait to meet her.  

It's been such a hectic week and I keep my parents very busy.  But I've been growing and doing well.  Hope you all enjoy the pictures and updates!

Meet my Cousin Lindsay!

My cousin Lindsay arrived yesterday.  She was born exactly one month after me on Nov. 14th at 9:33pm.  Aunt Beth went into labor at home and almost didn't make it to the hospital.  Uncle Jay drove about 100 miles per hour and got to the hospital just in time to park the car and get to the room as Lindsay was making her appearance. Here she is just minutes old since mommy rushed to the hospital to meet her niece as soon as she was born.

Mommy and Aunt Beth with cousin Lindsay.  Hard to believe it was just one month ago that mommy was here at the same hospital.  Time sure does go by fast... 

Lindsay was 6 pounds 1 ounce at birth and 20 inches long (just a little smaller that Sydney is now at 1 month old--Sydney is ready to start sharing her clothes if Lindsay needs anything!)

Aunt Beth, Uncle Jay and Lindsay (Cousin Zachary was at home) at the hospital.  Everyone is doing well and we are so excited to welcome the newest member of our growing family.

Here is a picture of my mommy with her niece Lindsay.  Welcome to the world baby Lindsay!  We love you!!!

 

One month old!

Where has the time gone?!  Sydney is already one month old.  We just had our check up yesterday with the doctor and she is 6 pounds 13 ounces and according to the doctor and nurse practitioner--she is "perfect"!  (We already knew that but it is nice to hear from the medical team that they think so too!)

And so it begins...the scrapbooking challenge to create, record and document all aspects of Sydney's life.  Mommy loves to scrapbook so here I've created a sign which I will update every month.

Here is proof that Sydney does sleep in the afternoon (something she hasn't done in the past several days).  

Tummy time!  Sydney does really well (for a few minutes) on her tummy and here she is enjoying looking at herself in the mirror.  Most of the time Sydney just prefers to be held (which is OK by Mommy) but every once in awhile she will hang out on her activity mat and look at some of her toys.

Sydney and Daddy

Sydney and Mommy

Mommy and Daddy had a date night and went to Warner Theater in Washington DC to see Joel McHale (of E! The Soup-Jill's favorite show!).  This was our first big night out and Sydney enjoyed hanging out with Nanny for a couple of hours.

Friends and Family

All the pictures are in random order as mommy still has not figured out how to move things around.  But the fact that she is able to download at all is quite impressive considering in college mommy "broke email" and caused all kinds of computer problems.

Aunt Beth, Uncle Jay and Cousin Zachary have been so fantastic.  They come to visit often.  My new Cousin Lindsay is going to arrive any day now (Beth is just about 40 weeks pregnant) and I can't wait to meet my new cousin.  We're going to be best friends and will share clothes and toys.  

Adam, Jess and my friend Sophia (who just turned 2 and has a great vocabulary--hope she teaches me some things) came to visit when we first got home from the hospital.  

Here are the 4 generations:  Sydney (just a few days old), mommy, grandma and Granny!

Isn't this adorable?!  Mommy and Aunt Beth wanted a picture and since we couldn't be together on Halloween, we had a dress up day.  Zachary is the CUTEST little monkey and loves hanging out with his new baby cousin.  He better get used to the idea of a baby at his baby sister is going to be born any day now.  

Zach is going to be a great big brother and older cousin for Sydney to look up to.  He has a great sense of humor and is very adorable.  

This was taken at our first Pediatrician visit.  Yes, mommy is that crazy lady that tries to take pictures everywhere.  Dr. Potter is in the middle and Jane (on the right) is the baby aide that helped out during my first week at home.

Josh and Ashley came to meet me when I first got home.  I was on my best behavior and tried not to put any pressure on them to have kids....

Mommy couldn't believe that her friend Robyn came all the way from California to meet me!  Her husband had a work trip and she tagged along.  We had a great time hanging out and even took her to Great Beginnings for shopping!  Thank you Robyn--it was so fun to meet you and Mommy really appreciated the visit.

Great Grandma Juliet and Great Uncle Neil came to meet me.  Juliet knitted me a fun pair of booties and a matching sweater for me and mommy.  Can't wait until it fits!

"Auntie" Karen came to meet me.  She made the most incredible picture for my room which I love.  She does amazing computer work and created this personalized picture which was so creative:  Thank you--we all love it!!!

Hanging out with Grandpa at the hospital.  He has helped out so much around the house.  We kept him busy with projects and he did a nice job putting things together and fixing things.  

Aunt Lisa and Cousin Rebecca also came to meet me.  I've got some family members close by and others that live far away in New York and California and I hope I get to meet everyone real soon.

Here's a cute picture of me and Grandma.  

I'm so lucky to have all 4 grandparents.  They all take such good care of me and love me unconditionally.  They've been absolutely wonderful and have helped make these first few weeks a lot easier for mommy and daddy.  

I love you Grandpa and Nanny (Jason's parents) and Grandma and Poppie (Jill's parents).  You are the BEST!