and we have crawling!!

She's been rocking on all 4s and doing the army crawl, but this morning Mary Beth decided she was done with that and that she wanted to crawl for real. I finally got it on video -- it's not an easy task since Mary Beth stops and poses for smiles whenever she sees/hears the camera! I'm on the phone with Kim, so you get to listen along...

We're so screwed...

follow the bouncing ball

Mary Beth has discovered a love for the stuffed soccer ball that Kim gave us last Christmas. It's absolutely hilarious! We were playing with it tonight and she just kept giggling and giggling and giggling. And she's such a ham in the video below. Whenever she hears or sees the camera, she smiles and poses. Priceless.

i think the meds are working...

So Mary Beth was diagnosed with a "raging ear infection" in her right ear Monday morning. After a lot of Tylenol, Motrin and bubble-gum tasting penicillin (I'll take the pharmacist's word on that), I think it's all working. We put her down at 8:30ish tonight after she finally started eating again. And then she woke up. A completely different person. She decided to show us both that she was feeling better. Proof shown below...

happy 8 months!

Dear Mary Beth,

Eight months ago tonight, your dad and I tried to fall asleep in the hospital room -- physically exhausted and emotionally elated. We didn't really get to sleep much, between nurses checking on me and you being brought in for feedings.Your dad had diaper duty, as it was near impossible for me to get out of bed yet because of the c-section. And I was learning how to live on few hours of sleep and give you lots of yummy milk to eat.

You're still loving the yummy milk, but a lot has changed since then. We're all sleeping a lot more, thank goodness. You're sleeping through the night, but every once in a while wake for a feeding. In the morning we let you "talk" for a while in your crib, as you move around and practice your army crawl and scooting backwards. And when we go to get you, you greet us with the biggest, best smile we've ever seen. It's simply priceless.

You are starting to get up on all 4s, but haven't mastered the crawl yet. Which is good because we know that once you start, you're going to be off to conquer the world. I can just hear your Grandpa Phil laughing and saying "Oh you're so screwed!" But at least there's only going to be one crawling around. I still don't know how they did it with your Auntie Kim and me going off in different directions!

Tomorrow will be your first Friday the 13th. I'm sure as you grow up you will learn how much your parents LOVE this day. In fact, your Dad was born on one. And you almost were too! And in addition to a Friday the 13th, tomorrow is also our 5th wedding anniversary. Little did we know back then what joy you would bring to us.

We love you, Baby Love!
Love, Mom and Dad

mb's big adventures

This was QUITE a busy week for little Mary Beth. First, she got to spend the week at home with Nana as her private little nanny. No stooping down to be with the little people in daycare. Oh no, she got to have her grandma cater to her every need. Not the she was spoiled or anything. I think she's already put in her requests for next time Nana comes down to visit!

Then on Friday we headed south on 35 to San Antonio for Trinity's Alumni Weekend and her baptism. We had to introduce her to the soccer team, and she watched as her mama attempted to play soccer for the first time in years. I didn't do too badly either. Just can't feel my legs anymore.

Then on Sunday she was FINALLY baptized! She told me she was ready to start cussin' and causing trouble, so it was just in time. We headed to St. Mark's, and the baptism was presided over by Father Kevin Ryan -- who back in 1993 buried the original Mary Elizabeth. Quite appropriate, we thought! This time he remembered all of our names (hi Rob!). She was a little fussy throughout the ceremony, so our beautiful pictures include the pacifier. Hey, whatever works. We were joined by all our immediate family members, as well as Bill, Kelly and the girls (who showered MB with kisses) and Vanessa and Joe. It was wonderful to see everyone! And little Mary Beth looked so adorable in her long, white dress with eyelets. It reminded Kim and me of our dresses Mom made us for our First Communion. Though we didn't have a bonnet...

(Special thanks to Vanessa who took a TON of photos for us during the baptism!! You're awesome, Vanessa!!)

trouble with a capital T

Mary Beth and I had the weekend to ourselves at the house. Makes it difficult to get things unpacked and arranged how I want it. But Mary Beth did help me by laughing and giggling in her room while I was putting stuff away. Then Orbit came and joined us... and let's just say I saw a glimpse of what will happen soon. And oh boy. As you can see from the video below, we're in trouble:

weeeeeeeee!

After driving past a park at least two times a day, we finally took little Mary Beth to experience the swing. I was a bit nervous about it, because she's not exactly the biggest baby and I knew she wouldn't fit. So on a BEAUTIFUL day, we grabbed a spare blanket to stuff behind her, and headed out.

And what can I say... she LOVED it! She was having a particularly fussy weekend (too many "binding" new solid foods = unhappy baby) and this was definitely a highlight. Hadn't seen her smile this much in a long time.
Looks like we're definitely going to have to get a swing for the backyard at the new house...

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