January 2010 update

It is hard to believe that an entire month has already passed us in 2010. I am still having to make a conscience effort to remember to write 2010 and not 2009 on my checks! The year is off to a pretty good start, but just like everything there are ups and downs.

Here is a picture of our weiner dog Belfry. She was going to be 16 years old this year. I think that is like the equivalent of 82 in human years. Sadly, Belfry left this world on Jan 29th. Her brothers Rusty and BamBam miss her terribly. BamBam was really upset when we took down Belfry's cage and he went to lay where her cage use to be. Rusty has been moping around the house and I think he still expects to see her come back to the house. Belfry had a good long life though and she is now back with her buddy Sasha. It is weird for us to only have 2 dogs in the house instead of 3. RIP Belfry.

Here is a picture of our new bedroom set. We have been talking about getting a king size bed for about 6 years now and we finally went and did it. We like how the new bedroom set looks in our bedroom. It's a big change from the white wood we were use to. It feels more like "real" furniture though and we are enjoying it so far.

Me and Angelica (6 weeks old) - smiling for the camera. This picture was taken right before mommy and daddy's first date night out since she was born. We went to the Weber Grill for dinner downtown and to the Chicago theatre to see comedian Jim Gafigan.

Mommy and Angelica singing to each other.

On a side note, I got my hair dyed back to it's "original" color - although I feel like this is a little dark, it does seem to match my eyebrows well. I guess we will have to wait and see as it grows out. After being a blondie for so many years, this feels kind of weird to me. We will see if I get use to it and how much the summer lightens my hair...my oh my I just can't wait for summer!

I love her smile in this picture even though there is a weird shadow on us.

Angelica is doing a great job holding her head up and turning it towards my voice. She loves laying on her tummy and looking around.

Here it looks like she just got caught doing something. Actually she was looking at the dogs as they ran back inside after having been outside. They were heading right over to her.

Auntie Lisa babysat Angelica for the first time while I went to the movies with my friend Christen for my birthday. They had a great time!

1 month old!

Angelica was one month old on January 18th. We had her one month checkup that day where she received one shot (yes...there were tears) and learned that she was at 9lbs, 14oz and 21 inches long. The Dr. said that Angelica had gained 22oz in 22 days which is exactly what she had hoped to see. She said that she is looking great and seeming to be very strong, especially when laying on her tummy.

Angelica loves to lay on her tummy and look around. She wobbles herself back and forth and if you put your hands behind her feet she will push off and scoot forward.

This Friday we are at 6 weeks and she is now developing quite a little personality. She smiles a lot more now and makes a lot of different faces. She doesn't cry too often unless she is hungry or needs to be changed. She is still doing pretty well in the car, and not too excited about pacifiers. Angelica has just discovered our puppies and will stare at them for as long as they hang around her.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks!

This is my favorite! She is sooo happy here!

Something must have been REALLY funny!

Hi there!

Laying on her tummy and trying to roll

With her new monogrammed blanket sent to us from our friend Kristin in Savannah

looking around

1 month old and looking pretty happy!

WUZUP? - Rocking her ladybug gangster look...hehe

Penguin love

4 weeks old

2-4 weeks old

Today Angelica is four weeks old! She is already growing and changing so much! Although she was 8lbs, 10oz when she was born, she was down to 7lbs at 4 days old. Today she is somewhere between 9-10lbs. We will find out for sure where she is at her 1 month checkup on Monday.

She is much more active already spending 4-5 hours awake at a time during the day and she is very alert and looking around at things in the house. One thing she really loves looking at is a black and white painting of Venice that hangs above our couch. (I think she is trying to tell us it's time to go back to Italy! Sounds good to me! haha) She focuses much more on our faces now and she will try to mimic us from time to time. She loves spending time on her tummy and bobbing her head up and down.

She has outgrown most of her newborn clothes and is now in the 0-3 month stuff. She has already outgrown her first snowsuit too! It's amazing how quick the has grown!

She is still a pretty good sleeper giving us a good 7-8 hour stretch of sleeping time at night, usually sleeping from 9pm-4am and then right back to sleep after eating. As a newborn she was spending more time asleep during the day, but now she seems to be much more alert and awake during the day. She does well in the car and is usually pretty quiet even when she is awake. Last week I mastered 5 errands while toting her along! I was pretty proud of myself. On Monday she had her first trip to the mall...we bought baby clothes...of course.

I have made a pretty good recovery. After a week I was pretty well pain free from the c-section and doing good. I developed an allergy to motrin (which is what I was prescribed for pain from the surgery) and developed a pretty severe allergy. After working with a dermatologist though I am now 95% better. Most of my swelling has gone done and I am happy to say that I have lost all of my "baby weight." Now it's time to begin losing all of that other weight I had put on in the past 3 years before the pregnancy. I've packed away all my maternity clothes though and it is nice to be back in my regular stuff. As of today I have regained feeling in my fingers! This is monumental for me. It's been nearly 20 weeks since I have had feeling in my fingers! Now I am just waiting to be able to get my wedding ring back on. It looks like I may have permanently outgrown my shoes though...maybe I will need to go shopping. Oh darn!

We have been having a lot of fun with Angelica and with our new camera, as you can see below. Here are some pictures from the past 2 weeks. The most recent ones are at the top with the older ones below.

Modeling for mommy...surprisingly she kept this headband on all day long!

I think she looks like "popeye" here - definitely a strong little girl. A lot of times when I am putting her lotion on in the morning, she will curl that right arm around mine and try to pull herself up!

hahaha

Time to get some rest.

FEED ME!!!! WWWHHHAAAAAA!!!!
(Don't worry, I don't just stare at my child and take pictures when she cries....this was just too cute though so I had to capture the moment!)

Time for a little massage!

Tummy time!

Bath time...thanks Auntie Lisa and Uncle Doug for the light up rubby ducky!

Me and my baby!

Daddy feeding Angelica

Chubby cheeks! This is one of the first little shirts we bought when we found out we were expecting...it seems like just yesterday and here she is wearing it!

Angelica's first big soical event - Auntie Lisa's bridal shower. Here Angelica is sitting with her second counsins Rebecca and Jeff. Becca and Jeff are my cousin Jim's kids. I think that makes them second cousins?

Angelica with her Grandma and Aunt

Hanging out on Grandma's shoulder

Looking at her Auntie Lisa!

3 weeks old!

Happy New Year! We enjoyed a quiet New Year's Eve this year. Here we are ringing in 2010 with Angelica - 13 days old

And here she is at 2 weeks. You can see how much she's changed already!

More cuteness

Here Angelica is giving me the "thumbs up" as she and I were spending the evening alone while Daddy went to watch a hockey game at a friend's house. Somehow she just went into this pose and I just happened to have my camera laying around.

And here she is sleeping peacefully with her dolly. I think she looks a lot like me (from my baby pictures) in this picture. I was just bald for a long time whereas her hair seems to be getting redder every day!

Cutie Pie

She is just tooooooo cute! Isn't she?
Angelica at 2 weeks old! :)
I love love love her!