hee hee i stole the computer!

dear all,
it's me mary beth. hijacked the computer. again. auntie kim swooshed into town and showered me with hugs and kisses. and i wore the snoopy and woodstock presents she gave me and i finally grew into. they took a bunch of pictures of me. uncy matt makes me laugh in them. here they are.
-mb

hmmmm...

Just in case any of you receive strange e-mails in the middle of the night...

happy 7 months!

Dear Mary Beth,

Seven months? Really?! Wow. Time flies. Soon you'll be asking Dad for the car keys. OK, maybe not "soon," but eventually. Right now you've taken to the wonderful world of sitting up on your own. And you LOVE it. In the evenings we put you on your new blanket (thanks Anne and Alex!) and you sit and play with your toys. And you roll over, smile and giggle. This has really happened in the last few weeks, and you love practicing it.

You've discovered your high-pitched scream -- oh goodie for us. It came when you discovered Orbit, and for some reason you feel the need to show off this new-found talent at all hours. But you do it with a smile, so it's hard to get upset. With that smile, you could probably get away with armed robbery.

You still do tummy time, going  back and forth between "flying" and your yoga pose. And we can tell that you want to start using your knees and legs. All that can mean is crawling. And then we're SCREWED.

Even better, you like to attack our faces with hugs and kisses. There are some pictures below of your latest attack on your dad. Priceless.

We love you, Baby Love!

Love,

Mom and Dad

the world's most patient cat

So, it's been a crazy last few weeks here at the Francisco home... we've all been sick, had doctor's appointments, a trip to Minnesota and more. I have many photos to post, but first just had to post this one from our trip up north for a surprise party. They were all surprised by how damn cute she is becoming!

And now...Auntie Kim complained that the last Mary Beth vs. Orbit video was too short. Well, the world's most patient cat came back to taunt Mary Beth. And we can't stop laughing...

happy baby!

In the last week or so, Mary Beth has REALLY begun to smile and giggle a lot. She's also squealing, like she does in that video with Orbit. That is slightly annoying. But the smiles aren't. And she loves when I do "pushups" in the air with her -- making her come back down for a kiss! Since she's 15 pounds now, I can only do about 10 at a time. For those of you wondering how a busy mom can keep in shape, there's your answer! There's a video--we'll post it later.

Grandma Lil came to stay for a bit, and here's some photos with her. Mary Beth LOVES her Grandma!

poor little kitty

Mary Beth is practicing sitting up on her own.

And Orbit decided to come get some love from us. Little did he know what he was in for...

wooooooah big sweetie!

Mary Beth had her 6 month appointment today. You know what that means! SHOTS!  Boo, hiss. She had 2 vaccines and a flu shot - which both her mommy and daddy need to have. And you all know how much I just love getting shots. Anyway, she did her normal, expected, blood-curdling scream as the shots were happening. But then when we picked her up, she stopped crying and screaming completely. She must have gotten that one from Bob...

So here's her stats, for those of you keeping score at home:  15 pounds (46th percentile), 26 inches tall (77th percentile) and 16.5 inches head circumference (47th percentile). I'm still absolutely amazed every day when I see her and realize how much she has grown from that 5.9 pound munchkin. When I was nursing her last night/this morning (hey, it was 2 am!), I couldn't help but compare to how LITTLE she was in my arms back then! This growing up thing is going to kill me...

i don't think she gets this whole eating thing...

Day Two of sweet potatoes. I don't think she likes them very much. I think they may be too thick for her, even when we add water or breast milk. But I think we need to teach her to cover her mouth when she sneezes...

half a year?!?!

Dear Mary Beth,

Six months?! Really? You're a whole half of a year old today. Six months ago today I terrorized some poor nurse who had the unfortunate job of giving me an i.v. and holding me in place when they gave me a spinal. Poor girl didn't know what she was getting herself into... Then before we knew it, Dr. Jeff was holding you and introducing you to the world. And our lives haven't been the same since.

You REALLY like to roll over now. In fact, I have to be careful with you when we're getting you ready for a bath. You tend to roll over off the bathmat and towards the toilet... Although you love the swing at daycare, you tend not to be a big fan of the one here at home. Not sure what that's all about, but you will tolerate it if you're watching Baby Einstein -- which I call Baby Crack. You're developing into more and more of a character each day. You love when I pretend to bite your tummy, and giggle and smile whenever your Dad lifts you up and down.

Drives to see Auntie Kim in San Antonio are not as much fun since you won't sleep for the entire drive anymore, but the new portable DVD player for Baby Einstein makes it a little better. And even after crying during the drive, you still gave Auntie Kim and Uncle Matt a big hug. In fact, you rolled across the couch to snuggle up next to Matt to watch football! We drove down there to make an appearance at the draft for your Grandpa Phil's Fantasy Football League. Your grandpa would have absolutely LOVED to see you there wearing your TOUCHDOWN onesie. And when you grabbed and hugged Carol -- well, I know your grandpa told you to do that. It made her smile on a day when we all needed that!

I kept promising you that I'd finally get you baptised, and I hope I don't jinx this but we now have it planned (again!) for the weekend of November 7-8. YEA!!! It's also Alumni Weekend, so we'll be going down to Trinity Saturday morning to meet the soccer team. Your mommy is supposed to play in the game. We'll see if that happens. If it does, you may have to help Daddy massage out my sore muscles...

Thank you for being such a cutie! We love you, Baby Love!

Love,
Mom and Dad

yummy.

hi all. it's mary beth. but mom's typing this for me seeing as how my fingers are too small. oh, and i can't read or write.

but i am getting bigger and get to have other food. rice cereal. but it's still made with mommy's milk, so i like it! and since i seem to "squirm" (whatever that is) in my pink chair, mommy and daddy took me to babies r us to get my high chair! it's pretty and matches my car seat and my pack n play. i am a bit small in it though...

here's my first night of having rice cereal in my new BIG GIRL chair!

love, mary beth

storms

One of these days, Mary Beth is going to come running into our room, jump under the covers and wimper during the HUGE thunderstorms that make the entire house shake.

But since she's only 5 months, Orbit the Wondercat (and scaredycat) is doing it for her!

Instead, Mary Beth did this. For 11 1/2 hours. Seriously.

slacker mom

Funny how that title keeps showing up... Anyway, I've been told that I'm slacking and not posting enough photos. SO... here are some photos of the nursery, now that I got around to hanging the shelves for the animals, and other items. Also, the CUTEST photo of Mary Beth at daycare during her "Wear Your PJs to School" day, shown above. Seriously, she couldn't be any more adorable.

Shelves for all the animals. Note the Tigger doll I gave Mom in the 80s, the space shuttle and Woodstock from Kim, Bear and Longhorn from Rob, angel from Geimps, and coyotes.

Dresser/changing table with her angels watching over her (Grandma Mary and Grandpa Phil).

Framed "scrapbook" from my cousin Anne and the hotpink board displaying Mary Beth's "Crazy Sock Award" from daycare. Couldn't be prouder.

happy 5 months!!

Dear Mary Beth,

Today you turn 5 months old. It's unfathomable to me that you were born 5 months ago! It seems like just yesterday that we drove really, really carefully from the hospital back home. And dressed you in a St. Patrick's Day outfit and saw your skinny arms and legs. Now your Dad says you look like a relative of the Michelin Man!

You've started sleeping for HOURS in your crib now. Thank goodness. Occasionally you'll still wake up throughout the night, but for the most part you'll sleep anywhere from 5 to 10 hours straight! Sometimes we even need to wake you up in the morning so we can take you to daycare. You're the belle of the ball at daycare--they love you. True, you can be fussy sometimes, but you're just needy and want to be held. But they all like your cute outfits. And you won the Crazy Sock contest for the entire center!

We had a few options for your sign this month. One was "...and I like to wear pj's with feet." You've really taken a liking to them (finally!) and when we went to the outlet mall last weekend, your Dad picked out more for you to wear when you grow! You'll be the best dressed 6 month old! But you really do love bath time. You splash around and get us all wet and squeal in happiness. It's so cute!!

You're sleeping right now... keep it up!

We love you, Baby Love!

Love, Mom and Dad

only my child

Go ahead, Rob. Let the comments begin...

i'm a big kid now...

After a very busy weekend schedule of riding quietly to San Antonio, having dinner at a steakhouse, shopping with her Auntie Kim, and meeting her mom's cousin Kelly, Mary Beth then proceeded to cry and scream for an entire hour and a half of the return drive home. Yes. Hour and a half. It was more, but we stopped 2 times, making the 4 1/2 hour drive really 6 hours. But the last 2 hours included her screaming for 90 minutes STRAIGHT. It was enough to drive her parently LOONEY. Once again I'll use the same four words: she's lucky she's cute.

Anyway, when we were staying at Kim's place, Mary Beth actually fell asleep on her own. I about fell over when I saw that. It never happens. In fact, she was on the bed, chillin on the towel after a diaper change. So I literally wrapped myself around her and slept with her on the bed. There was NO way I was going to move her.

That got me and Bob thinking... so last night we put her down for a late nap in her crib. She hardly ever naps in there. She was out for 1 1/2 hours. Fed her again and put her back in the crib. She actually went to sleep on her own, IN HER OWN ROOM! :-) It really is an awesome room, but she's just used to sleeping in ours, 3 feet from her mommy. Hooked up the monitor and went to bed ourselves in a quiet room. It was eerie, actually. She woke up hungry at 2:30, so I fed her again and put her back in the crib. She fidgeted for a while, but quite honestly I wasn't about to stay up with her again. Monitors are fantastic things -- worth every sweet penny we spent on it. I woke up at 5 and she was asleep. Ahhh. She liked it so much, we literally had to wake her up at 8:30!

So what do we do to celebrate this milestone in Mary Beth's life? Well, we take her to get shots, of course. :-( Poor little girl. Didn't even see it coming. Oh well. Won't be the last time. So here are her four month stats, for those of you keeping track:

• weight: 13 pounds, 50th percentile


• height: 25.3 inches, 92nd percentile -- I KNOW! HOW'D THAT HAPPEN???


• head: 15.8 inches, 35th percentile

Not too shabby for the girl who at one week old was in the 10th percentile for weight and 72nd for height. She was given the green light to try rice cereal at night, and later some stage one food. Food? Sniff! My baby's growing up!

happy 4 months!

Dear Mary Beth,

We're a day late in posting this, but yesterday we celebrated your 4 month birthday. Wow. Can't believe it has already been 4 months! Looking back, it feels like just yesterday... and it feels like a lifetime. We look at photos of you when we first brought you home and just can't believe how tiny you were! You're now 12.5 pounds, and growing every day! Next week you'll have your 4 months shots -- so I'm apologizing in advance for that.

You're having fun at daycare - though we were nervous about leaving you there. You tend to get, um, vocal when you are tired or hungry. But you're making friends there. Another baby, 7-month old Elizabeth and you seem to get along like best friends. They even put you two in the excer-saucers facing each other because you "talk" to each other. So cute.

You're talking more than ever. It's adorable because you look like you're concentrating SO much to tell us something. And we have no idea what you're saying, except that you're cute when you do it. It's probably what you're thinking when you hear us. Somehow like the teacher on the Peanuts comics. Oh, you don't know what/who that is. Don't worry, with Auntie Kim in your life, you'll know ALL about Peanuts.

Speaking of, hopefully we'll be heading down to San Antonio this weekend so you can visit Auntie Kim. She's going through Mary Beth withdrawals. Besides, we need to celebrate your Auntie and Mommy's birthday,

And once again I have to post that one day in your lifetime we'll get you baptized. We thought we had it all finalized (AGAIN) but didn't take vacation schedules into account. Don't worry -- there's a lake about a mile from the house. We may just take you out there and do it ourselves. But don't let Uncle Rob take you anywhere near a lake. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll tell you that story one day.

So, as the photo shows above, you're 4 months old today and you like to smile. Whenever the camera is on, it takes a little more coaxing to have you smile. And you certainly don't know how to hold a sign. But you'll get there.

We love you, Baby Love!

Love, Mom and Dad

marybeth the movie star

Well, not a real movie. But close enough.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Annual Engelman Camping Trip/Family Reunion up in Minnesota. But seeing as how we were just there in May for Papa's funeral and that I just started a new job 2 weeks ago, well, we're not going. I'm highly disappointed, as I made it the last 2 years and it's quite fun! Next year, I promise!

Anyway, for all the peeps up there, especially my aunts and uncles, I put together a video/slideshow of the munchkin and sent it to them to watch at the campground. Yes, it's that kind of campground with running water, toilets and showers. Gross showers, but showers none the less. And an outlet for the hairdryer. Majorly important!!

But I can't just keep the show to those who are up in Minnesota for the reunion. So I've posted it here for all. It's about 6 minutes, but worth every second. She's is so damn cute, if I do say so myself.

all at her expense...

So, Mary Beth's Auntie Kim said she almost pees in her pants whenever she sees her in the jumper/saucer toy where she can't reach the ground. In Kim's defense, it is pretty damn funny.

So Bob and I decided to try it again and see if she has grown any. OK. Really it was to just make ourselves laugh again. She really does seem to like it, even if we have to manually move the toy around to make it seem like she's doing all the work.

Still hilarious. You be the judge. There's hoto of the little one not being able to touch the floor in her jumper/saucer toy. I have to admit, it is pretty damn funny. So Bob and I even video this time...

and sorry... can't rotate this one!!!

bratty brat brat

I wrote Marybeth a new jingle today:

Some people tell me I'm really cute
When I smile, coo, burp and toot,
But when I refuse to take a nap
I turn into a real big brat.

And of course she's already made the video for it:

in honor of mary beth's grandpa phil

me, Dad and Kim on first day of preschool

So, this weekend will be quite bittersweet. It will be Bob's first Father's Day, but it will also be the first Father's Day without Dad. So, I decided that tonight I will dedicate this entry to Dad. Sunday will be all about Bob.

What, praytell, would be a good way to honor Dad? Of course by saying everything he probably would say to Mary Beth if he were here:

• You know, you're pretty cute even if you're a redhead. (He'd say that NUMEROUS times!)
  
• Don't worry, we'll get you that hair dye soon.
  
• No matter what your mother tells you, she was NOT a quiet baby. Go ahead and scream. Scream at the top of your lungs.
  
• Go play in the street.
  
• I always had to trick your mother into doing new things. And she always liked them. Just remember that I was always right.
  
• Your grandmother Mary and I had the perfect strategy to stay married all our lives. Whoever filed for divorce got the kids. The other one got the cats.
  
• Your mother was so loud when she was born that they put her in her own room away from the rest of the babies. Seriously.
  
• You can do whatever you want in life. Don't ever let anyone tell your differently, especially a guy.
  
• We tried to drown her at birth, but it didn't work. Then your Uncle Rob tried it 8 years later, but I saved her. Stupidly. Your grandmother made me.
  
• Grades aren't important. But knowledge is.
  
• Where you finish in a class isn't important. I worked really hard to finish last in my class, but I was second to last. Your great uncle beat me.
  
• If you're going to do horribly in a college class, drop it and take it again later. (Yeah, he didn't tell me this until AFTER my experience in micro-economics...)
  
• No, I wasn't a troublemaker. I was the perfect child. The troublemakers were always the girls. Like those redhead great aunts of yours.
  
• No, no, I'm not old enough to be a grandpa. You must be mistaken...
  
• You can get through anything you try.
  
• Always try your hardest.
  
• If you ever need anything, you call me. We won't tell our folks.
  
• And if you ever need anything and I'm not around, you call ANY of the Engelmans. They'll move heaven and earth for family.
  
• If anyone picks on you, beat them up. Picking on you is our job.

You know, this was kinda fun. I'll think of some more later... Happy Father's Day, Dad! I'll have a drink in your honor. But I draw the line at the cigar...

rockstar!!!

My daughter, the rockstar, decided to sleep straight from 9 pm to 6 am. Even amidst rolling power outages. After being, well, bitchy earlier in the day. Dead asleep. I think I may buy her a small country...

:-)

3 WHOLE months!!!

Dear Mary Beth,

Happy 3 months, little girl! Once again we come to a milestone, and once again we're thankful that we've all made it this far. In the last two weeks, you have become even cuter than we ever could have imagined. You smile and laugh with us - which definitely is a good thing at 3:45 wake-up calls! You've starting cooing and "talking" to us, which is so damn cute. So far you just sound like you're saying "hi," though both your dad and I swear you answered "yeah" to us the other night. Your dad keeps trying to get you to say "dadda" but I'll be happy with anything.

You're starting to play more on the activity mat, which is a feat in itself since you're now actively laying on your back. We've come a long way since you were screaming in pain in the first few weeks! That poor whale is really getting its butt kicked by you! And you're finally starting to take naps in your nursery as well as sleep at night in the pack and play. Sooner or later we'll move you to sleep the nights in your nursery! It really is a cute room...

You still don't like having anything on you when you sleep, so we wait until your unconscious and put a blanket over you. Without fail you've kicked it off before the time you wake up. And you don't like it when we talk loudly or disagree. It's really cute because you're sort of a mediator! And as we discovered two nights ago, you really don't like HUGE storms that make the house shake and the wind howl.

You were supposed to be baptised next Sunday. All schedules were rearranged and cleared and arrangements were made to go back to San Antonio for the big event. But things changed and it's not happening next week now. It's a shame because your Uncle Andy and Auntie Kim were really looking forward to seeing you again and standing up for you as Godparents. And it would have been on Father's Day, which would have been a great gift to your dad. And his dad, your only living grandfather, has not even met you yet. But hopefully he'll make it to see you eventually, and you'll get to see your only living grandma again, too! We know she misses you dearly - she has us send photos of you to her all the time! We'll get you baptised some day soon, we promise!

We love you dearly, Baby Love!

Love, Mom and Dad

this toy is broken.

it's marybeth here. daddy put together a new toy for me. mom and him were all excited. something about me being able to "go crazy" and jump around.

um, this toy sucks. i'm no rocket scientist (yet), nor do i even know what a rocket scientist is, but in order to jump, don't my feet have to touch the ground somehow?

looks like i'll just have to cry instead. that makes mommy "go crazy"...

home yummy home

This past weekend we went to San Antonio for a wedding reception for one of Bob's fraternity brothers. It was the first time we've taken little Mary Beth home--with the exceptions of course when she was just an interloper inside me. And to nobody's surprise she was the bell of the ball, and everyone found her incredibly cute. Couldn't agree more. Auntie Kim and Quasi-Grandma Terri showered her with LOTS o' gifts, and she will officially be the most styling little girl to grace this earth. Can't wait until she can wear most of the gifts!

And no trip to San Antonio would be complete without trips to Rudy's and Longhorn Cafe. I'm really lucky we didn't live in town when I was pregnant or those two places would have been the death of me and the reason for double weight gain. But Mary seems to like them, especially with her Aunt holding her! I think Rudy's should pay me for her ringing endorsement for their barbecue sauce...

mommy and me yoga

Although I lost all the baby weight before the 6 week appointment (woo hoo!), I still need to get back in shape. But with Bob working so many hours, I never get to leave the house to go work out without Mary Beth. And she's too young for the nursery at the gym to watch her, so no workout for Kristi.

The other day Bob was going to watch her while I went to yoga, but he had to stay late again. So the next day Mary Beth and I had our own workout and yoga session at home...

growing and growing and growing...

With all the excitement about the shots yesterday, I forgot to post the BIG news. That's BIG as in our little Mary Beth!!

At birth she was 5 pounds, 9 ounces. 20 inches tall. Head 13 inches round.

At 2 months, she's now 11 pounds, 2 ounces! 23 inches tall! Head 15 inches round!

She went from 7th percentile in weight (hence the quick c-section) to 81st!!! She may not have liked my food in utero, but she sure doesn't have a problem with it now!! Dr. Z said she just had to catch up with where she was supposed to be.

We liked the news so much we whipped out her pretty pink Bumbo that she can now sit in.

it hurt mommy more...

Or at least we think it did.

This morning was Mary Beth's two month appointment where they gave her the first round of immunizations. Although she pleaded with Auntie Kim to come kidnap her so she didn't have to get them, she was a trooper. Bob and I watched, and I held her hand, as she received two shots in one leg and one in the other. After the first shot she was still OK. Or looked like it at least. When the second was about to go in, her face went from white to a dark shade of red and she let out a scream that, well, I'm sure rivaled the scream my parents heard from me! Of all the things we wanted her to inherit...

But after the third shot, and the oral vaccine that was given before, we held her and she didn't cry for too long. Which is a good thing because she has these sad, sad crying eyes that would make me buy her the world if I could to make everything better. We came home, ate, and then she slept on me for 3 hours. Yes, I spoiled her. Yes, I would do it again. After eating, I'm trying to see if she can stay awake and see if she has any side effects. So far so good.

As you can see below, she has a new toy. When we were in Minnesota, Uncle Duane gave us a gift card and said we could buy her some clothes. Well, she needed this more than clothes right now. She LOVES the mirror and kicking the whale. And tummy time is fun, she says.

Here's to a good rest of the day...

priceless

I could write a ton right now... but Bob's out of town and that's left me alone with Sybil, I mean Mary Beth. Yesterday she was a terror. Today an angel. Tonight will be interesting -- with Sybil she slept from 11 to 430, fed, and then slept another 4 1/2 hours. So if she's an angel today, wonder what the sleep will be like. Anyway, not going to spend too much time here because I'd rather read a magazine that has been sitting on the table for, oh, 3 weeks. LOVE motherhood.

Instead, I'm just going to post the picture above that was from Papa's funeral. I mean come on... could she be any cuter? She doesn't do much right now other than sleep, poop, cry, eat, and repeat, but sooner or later she'll start mimicking, playing, etc. But in the meantime, I'll take the look on her face here. Priceless.

happy two months!

I'm two months old today. (And I like to fly on airplanes!)

Dear Mary Beth,

Today is your two month birthday! And what an interesting month it has been, especially the last week or so. You're really starting to show a personality, and your facial expressions are priceless. If anyone would have told me about your cute faces and stretches, we would have had you a long time ago! You now like the swing, especially the vibrating function. But you have to be in the right mood to be put in there. Which means we do need to go get more batteries... We thought you were starting to sleep a lot more at night, but the last few days you have stopped that. But we have been out of town, so that may be why. More on that later.

We have discovered something you REALLY like. Baths. The other night you were inconsolable - crying and getting fussy for no reason. As soon as we took you into the bathroom and you felt the heater and heard the water, you got quiet and smiled. You may soon be the cleanest 2 month child out there because we love to see your reaction to it all. And your Auntie Kim likes when you smell nice and clean, too.

Last Monday we found out that my Great Aunt Cecilia died at age 105. And then, your great grandfather, my precious Papa (Cecilia's brother) also passed away. He was 94 and has desperately wanted to join his loving wife Geimps and daughter, your namesake and my mother, in heaven. He missed them dearly and was in a lot of pain, so we take comfort in knowing they are together again. Your Aunt Kim, you and I flew up to Minneapolis for the funeral, and spent time with both the Vener and Engelman families. We were nervous on how you would handle the flights -- you slept the entire way, both flights. I can only hope you act that way on future flights! We met a lot of great people at Papa's funeral - including someone who helped take care of Mom when she was a baby and had whooping cough when she was a baby. That was 64 years ago! It's strange to say, but you were the hit of the funeral - everyone wanted to see you and remember that life is a complete circle. Papa may be gone, but you're his blood that will continue on. I'll post more photos and news from our trip, but right now we're resting from being up since 3:30 a.m. I guess that's nothing new for you, but staying awake since that time is new to me! The photo above is from your trip on the plane this morning. Yes, it's written on a barf bag, which thank goodness nobody had to use. Auntie Kim almost had to on the way up there, but she'll have to tell you why one day.

Next week we have a pediatrician appointment for your immunizations. It would be great if you would sleep through those, too, but that's not going to happen. I apologize in advance for what you're going to go through. It will hurt, but it's better in the long run for you. I have a feeling that won't be the last time I say that to you in your life.

We love you, Baby Love!!

Love, Mom and Dad