4 Christmases

I can only upload five pics at a time and then they get all out of order...so these are not in order of event but I *think* I have the pictures grouped together by event...
On Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Meyers' house...fun times! Lucy got plenty of gifts and got to share with cousin Alli and play, play, play!
On Saturday - Christmas Eve - Lucy went with mom and dad to Bob Evans! It's their tradition and now Lucy gets to be a part of it, too! She had fun looking at the menu and even though she packed her own food, she had fun trying eggs and gravy from daddy's plate!
I make baby food for her and one of the latest food I've made are potatoes...I've been surprised that she seems to really enjoy them because they're so bland! On Saturday Lucy tried them with daddy's sausage gravy and now that she knows what she's been missing, she may never want to eat plain potatoes again!
Christmas Day was busy but wonderful! Lucy woke up...and Santa had come! We got to open gifts, play with new toys and take a snooze but then it was time to go to church with Great Grandma Herman. After that, we went to visit Great Grandma Meyers...it was the first time being at her condo and we had a lot of exploring to do! Next we went to Grandma Terry's house and spent the rest of the day there! She spoils Lucy! It was great to see her Godmother, Aunt Amy, too! And Lucy was definitely happy to see her friends Tracey, Eric, Sarah and Jackson! She's missed them!


Here we are at Great Granny's house! Lucy's looking oh-so-cute in her candy cane jumper and snowman tights from GranJan!


Little bit of love for the Godfather, Uncle Jason!

She can't believe a baby would actually play *inside* an exersaucer! All Lucy wants to do these days is walk around the *outside* of them! But she had fun playing with Alex and Tyler and all of mommy's other cousin's kids at Uncle Steve & Aunt Debbie's house.

Here we are at Grandma Terry's house opening gifts...she's become an old pro! She was more interested in eating the paper after making a couple of tiny tears off the first gift she opened but she got the hang of it!

Lucy is a carnivore! I've given her meat a couple of times now and she really likes it! I just tear up pieces of lunch meat and she shovels it in quite nicely! Here she is at Grandma's getting ready to eat some turkey!

These are just a couple of cute pics I took at home over the past week...Santa's little helper just cannot seem to keep that tongue in her mouth! Santa's Little Helper outfit came from St. Nick at Grandma Terry's house and the gingerbread shirt came from GranJan, mid shopping trip because Lucy "needed" a new shirt. The three of us were at the mall and GranJan let her chew on her sock...soon it was far too wet to put back on her foot so we went to buy socks...we found some cute gingerbread man socks and since there was a shirt to match...she NEEDED IT!

Before we went to Grandma and Grandpa Meyers' house, Lucy posed for some pics with daddy to try to get a good shot of the whole outfit...pretty little dress from Old Navy with snowflake tights and a a little ivory flower in her hair...gorgeous!

Lucy loves playing with her Little People nativity scene Grandpa and GranJan gave her! She even knows the angel goes on top!

Lucy got an alphabet choo-choo train that she and Alli had a lot of fun with! Now that we have it home, it's become a favorite toy and we like to ride the train wherever we need to go!

We have one last Christmas tomorrow at Grandpa and GranJan's house! Stay tuned for photos and details!

We hope everyone had as magical a Christmas as we did!

Santa came!

When we got home from Granny's on Christmas Eve, we put Lucy to bed...then it was time for mom and dad to play Santa! Dave teared up once all was in place and said, "This is such a good feeling! I can totally understand why mom's and dad's make up Santa!"
From the looks of it, Lucy was a very good girl this year!

Mommy and Lucy both got iPhones from daddy! Lucy got the 4S and I got the Fisher Price...but I asked if she wanted to trade and she said yes!

Lucy got a couple of ball poppers...we know they will be lots of fun for her but for now, they just make her eyes get real big!

She got a baby doll, a new bag that says "Lucy's stuff" filled with books, and her very own CD player!

9 Months Old!

Lucy turned 9 months old on Christmas but we did her photo shoots a little bit early...I took her to my auntie's house for the holiday themed photo shoot and used those pics for our Christmas card this year.
But, once again - no monthly photo shoot is complete without some giraffe suit pics!
Here are five of my favs...

She received this giraffe as a Christmas gift last year...from GranJan...when she was still in the belly...but they've become good friends!

(Almost) 9 Months Old!

We just got back from Lucy's 9 month appointment...Like at 6 months, she's in the 60% for weight, coming in at just over 19 pounds. She is 27 inches tall and only in the 34% there...but she's a growing girl so no worries! She'll probably be taller than her momma some day...We had to wait quite awhile today - in the waiting room she played at the toy table - this was the first time she was big enough to do so! She walked all around the table and had a fun time playing!
She had to have her finger pricked today to have her iron checked ("right on the bubble" - we were told to give her more iron-rich foods...) and she had to have just one shot (which was more than enough for Miss Lucy girl!) - the Hepatitis B Vaccine. The only side effect is a low grade fever so I'm sure she'll be just fine for all of her Christmas celebrations!

Lucy has already received a couple of Christmas gifts! Here she is about to open one from Daddy's friend, Pauly...he got her two new outfits!! She especially loved taste-testing the wrapping paper!

She also got a gift from her W-F babysitter, Tammy...but mommy stole all the fun and opened it while she was asleep! She loves it, though...a xylophone fish! She's a big fan of chomping on the starfish wand that you're supposed to make the music with...

Just standing around!

My little climber

(Pardon the quality of these images...iPhone pics...my memory card is full because I am paranoid that my computer will crash again and am afraid to delete anything from the memory card, even after saving to the computer...I need to come up with a new method, fast!)

All Lucy wants to do anymore is stand and walk...if you try to set her down on her bottom to play, she stiffens her legs and just won't allow it! If you do manage to bend her and set her, she gets pissed! She pulled herself to standing - all by herself! - for the first time on December 1...we were putting clothes away in her room and I had the bottom drawer pulled out - she put her tiny little hands on the drawer and pulled herself right up! For awhile she could only do it there, but she's figured out how to pull herself up pretty much everywhere and anywhere she wants to!

We were at ABC's house on Friday night making cookies with the kids and I sat Lucy down next to a basket of books in the living room and walked to the kitchen to put more cookies in the oven and before I knew it, Cleo was yelling, "Danielle! She's standing!" and I turned around to see her standing at the basket of books...that girlie doesn't want to sit still!

She loves playing in her room...we spend quite a bit of time in there...she likes pulling herself up on this storage bin (we keep it handy to pack away clothes as they get too small) and banging blocks on it and she loves doing her "trick" in her mini recliner (I set her in it and she slides herself out, landing in the standing position, then she turns around and "walks" over to her bed).

We had a fun day with GranJan yesterday...we had a few returns to make and GranJan had a few things to shop for and we made a whole day of it. Lucy was on...looking super cute in her red winter hat and passing out smiles galore...she was able to sweet talk her GranJan into buying her a Santa bear and some new clothes...yay Lucy!

Here we are at Toys R Us...luckily all we ended up doing there was returning something because the lines were CRAZY...not that Lucy seemed to mind!

Tomorrow is my last day of work until January 3 and I can tell - Lucy's getting pumped! Unfortunately for her, though, she's got her 9 month appointment, featuring 9 month shots, on Wednesday...

Lucy loves the Christmas tree and she loves playing with paper...so I just know Christmas will be all kinds of fun for her! What's even better is how many celebrations she'll have-

Grandma & Grandpa Meyers on Friday!

Great Granny & Grandpa Beiting on Saturday!

Grandma Terry & Troy on Sunday (plus Santa will come at home)!

GranJan and Grandpa on the 29th!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

St. Nick came!

St. Nick came while we were sleeping!
Lucy got to play this morning before leaving for Tracey's...she got a new Llama book (which we read while she ate) and some holiday Little Peoples (actually, GranJan gave this to Lucy last Christmas...yep, while she was still in the belly...and we just opened it today).

She also received her first toothbrush! And it looks like little Lucy had her eye on those new snacks...can't wait to try those tonight!

Last but not least...her own set of keys! I am sure she'll still be more fascinated with mommy and daddy's keys...but these are worth a try!

Happy Holidays!

Funny girl

I'll be back soon with a "real" post but for now, I just have to share this photo...she posed for the camera!

She's wearing an outfit from my friend Gina from work...and my boss, Denese, bought her the matching shoes...much to Lucy's frustration, this pair actually stayed on pretty well!

Lucy + Santa

November 29, 2011 at the Florence Mall

Another milestone

Lucy's Christmas tree is up...and she seems to like it! I thought she might be a little more mesmerized by the lights than she is but as you can see, it makes her happy!

When she first came back into the newly arranged living room, she just looked all around a lot...I think she was just making sure all of her stuff was accounted for! The swing is now where Daddy's chair was (the tree is where the swing was)...the couch is where the jumperoo was but that's now next to the tree, and the exersaucer is now by the front door...whew! It's all still there!

Last night Lucy had another first...she pulled herself up from sitting to standing - all by herself! She loves to stand and likes to "walk" around things that she's holding onto / standing against and often we give her a little push or lift and she lifts herself the rest of the way up...but last night she and I were in her room picking out clothes to pack for the babysitter's and pj's to wear last night...I pulled out her bottom drawer and she took hold of it and STOOD! I called for Dave and plopped her back down...and she did it again! We need to get it on video! Such a smart girl we have!

Lucy met Santa on Tuesday! She got dressed up in her holiday gear and went to the mall with me and GranJan and her godfather. She napped from the time I picked her up at Tracey's house after work, through the fetching of GranJan and Uncle Jason and until we got into the mall...so she was well-rested and in a great mood - perfect! We have an actual picture of her with Santa but until my home computer is back in action, these two cell phone photos will have to do.

I had Uncle Jason get her out of her seat and take her up to Santa...just in case she freaked out if Mommy left her on a random lap...but she did great! She didn't exactly love being up there but she hung in there for a photo...and she loved hanging out at the mall the rest of the evening! So much to see!

Lucy will be seeing her pal Santa again this Saturday...we're going to the city building for lunch with Santa with Daddy, Aunt Jessi and cousin Alli...can't wait!

Lucy's Thanksgiving style

On Thanksgiving Day, she got dressed up and we went to her Great Granny Beiting's house...GranJan and I found this sweet little dress at Babies R Us on clearance back when I was on maternity leave! Grandma Kathy had given her the tights and they went perfectly with the dress and the sweet little shoes Uncle Jason and I found at H&M...she got the shoes off even faster than she got the hat off and proceeded to taste-test each one of them! She wasn't a huge fan of the hat, as you can see...

She's tried a variety of baby food, both store-bought and home-pureed, but on Thanksgiving she tried baby food meat for the first time...turkey in gravy, of course! I've heard babies typically don't like pureed meat, but Lucy girl seemed to enjoy it! She had fun at the big table with everyone looking around, eating puffs and turkey (and a taste of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce) and banging on her tray!

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to Grandma Terry's...Lucy wore the shirt mommy's boss Denese bought her...she had fun playing on the floor with her godmother and meeting Aunt Amy's doggy, Lola! She had some more pureed turkey along with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Look at the turkey butt!

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, she went to GranJan and Grandpa's house to hang out with the Stallkamps...she was a hit! She played on the floor with fun toys and let lots of people hold her and walk around with her. When Auntie Em arrived, she teased her a bit - pouted and wouldn't go to her...but finally did and fell asleep in her comfy arms!

She wore a dress and turtleneck we found at Gymboree...on clearance!...several months ago...and those tights from Grandma Kathy came in handy again!

Let's hope Lucy continues loving giraffes because there's plenty more giraffe attire waiting for her!

I think Lucy enjoyed being with mom and dad extra over the long weekend and I know we certainly did! It was hard to leave her Monday morning!

It seems as though Lucy is getting more teeth...she's been showing off those two bottom ones more often and she's been drooling even more than usual and has been extremely fussy and restless at night...stay tuned for more chompers news!!