Two-Months Old!

 

Miss Marin is two months old. How can that be? She's growing like a weed and getting cuter by the day. She is now smiling at us often and making the cutest baby sounds--gurgles, coos and squeals. She had her two-month check up and her growth is not slowing down:

Weight: 13 lbs,  14 oz: 96th percentile!

Length: 23.25 inches: 86th percentile

Such a happy girl!

 

Does this diaper make me look fat?



Marin loves tummy time. It gives her a chance to suck her hand and chill out on her belly. I love it because, when she's only wearing her diaper, I can marvel at her ROLLS! She's so squeezable!

And here's a bonus picture of Marin's beautiful sister! Lily has definitely gotten over any camera-shyness that she had as a baby.

Family Photos

Smartypants

At dinner, Lily said, "Mama, is your food running away from you?"

"No," I said.

"Then why are you eating it so fast?" she replied.

My eating habits were called out by a three-year-old. She's too smart for her own good...or for her parents, anyway.

Belly!

Let's just say that Miss Marin does not miss a meal.

She's been at the pediatrician weekly since she was born for a number of issues (reflux, thrush, diaper rash, plus the standard check ups) and every time, she's weighed. When she was born, she weighed 8 lbs. Not too small. Not too big.

Now, 5 weeks later, she's just over 12 lbs! She sits in the 98th percentile for weight and weighs 50% more than she did on June 21. Newborn clothes were left behind weeks ago and she's filling out 3-month clothes with no problem. Our little chunky monkey!

Sisters

Lily was very excited about the arrival of her baby sister, but we were anxious to see how she reacted when Marin was actually here. Well, Lily has exceeded our expectations when it comes to being a sweet, helpful, caring big sister.

During their initial meeting in the hospital on the day M was born, we put Marin in Lily's lap and that lasted about 10 seconds before Lily said,

"Take it away!"

Since then, Lily has shown what a sweet girl she is by kissing M on the head often, asking to hold her, sharing her blankies with her (after unceremoniously snatching her favorite blankets off of Marin during the first week) and being such a great helper.

Just yesterday, we were doing tummy time with Marin and Lily sat next to her the whole time, clapping her hands and saying, "You can do it, Marin!"

If Marin cries, Lily offers helpful advice too:

"Mama, she's crabby. Maybe you should feed her." Or "maybe she needs her diaper changed."

It's so fun to have the two of them together. It really warms my heart!

One Month Old!

How has it been a month? Time flies!

Marin Claire

At 1:46 pm on Thursday, June 21, we welcomed our second beautiful daughter, Marin Claire.

I was due on June 24 and fully expected to still be pregnant whe the 24th rolled around. But Marin had other ideas.

I woke up around 12:30a on the 21st with a mild contraction. In fact, I fell back asleep and when the second one hit, I thought I was dreaming. I gave Ethan the heads up that things were starting to happen but told him to go back to sleep. I, of course, couldn't sleep so I decided to start timing contractions. (There's an app for that!)

Though the contrax were never very strong, they did start getting close together, so we decided to get up, get ready and get to the hospital. By the time we got ready and got Lily ready for school, the contrax had pretty much stopped. We headed to the hospital anyway, though I was fully prepared to be sent home.

My midwife agreed to let me stay at the hospital, or I could go home and come back later. I opted to stay, as I didn't want to be too far from my epidural, should I want it. Ethan and I walked the halls of the maternity floor for a couple of hours, with just a contraction here and there. We both thought we were in for a very long day. Wrong.

Around noon, my contrax suddenly got very strong and at 12:15p, my water broke! Things moved very quickly from there and Marin Claire was born! She weighed 8 lbs and was 19 1/4 inches long. She had a head full of dark brown hair and looks just like her big sister. We could not be happier!

Cuddles from Mama.

Meeting her big sister, Lily, for the first time.

Tired but happy family.

And, we're back...

And...we're back! After a long blogging hiatus, I've decided to resurrect our family blog. So what have we been doing the last seven months? Here's a quick review to catch you up:

Baby #2 is on the way. Estimated due date: June 24, 2012.

Thanksgiving in Baltimore

Hiding behind our Christmas tree

Lily riding her new tricycle she got for Christmas.

Wearing her chef's coat and "cooking" cake and pizza.

Playing with her new kitchen from Santa on Christmas morning.

This is what happens when Lily and Daddy hang out while Mama sleeps late. Green hand!

Easter morning.

Pretty flower (and girl)!

We sold our house...

And bought a new one!

All of these things kept us very busy from November until June. Then in June, we anxiously awaited the arrival of the newest Ackerman...but I'll save that for another post.

Pancakes

What do you do with a freezer filled with gallons of fresh blueberries you picked yourself? Make blueberry pancakes!
Most Saturdays, when Mom gets to sleep in, Lily and Ethan make breakfast. And almost always, breakfast is blueberry pancakes. (every now and then, especially right after Halloween when this picture was taken, there are pumpkin pancakes.)

Lily loves to help, as there are aprons, spoons, stirring, batter licking, and syrup involved.  Ethan likes the fact that Lily gets fruit, and the only required ingredients are batter and water!

About the time mom wakes up, she's greeted with this sight:

Monkey Pancakes!

Happy Halloween!

Kids these days...I remember when we only got to dress up once for Halloween! Well, Lily got to dress up three times for Halloween festivities this year.

First, her daycare hosted a Halloween party for all the kids and parents. Lily dressed up as a princess (thanks to a cute princess dress-up outfit she got for her birthday from Sissy!).

The dragon and the princess.

 Then on Sunday, Oct. 30, our neighborhood hosted a Halloween party at the park. Lily opted for a butterfly costume. This costume may look familiar. If so, it's probably because this is the same costume she wore last year. When I started asking her what she wanted to be for Halloween, the first thing she said was a butterfly. No matter how many times I asked, the answer was always the same. Conveniently, I had her old costume (which still fit) in the attic!

Bobbing for marshmallows. She not quite sure what to make of this...



Decorating a pumpkin.

Finally, on the big day, Ethan took Lily trick-or-treating while I stayed home and to give out candy. When Ethan got home from work at 6 p.m., Lily was already in her costume and waiting. She was pacing up and down the sidewalk in front of our house, she was so excited! She had a great time!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Lily turned three on October 20 and we celebrated with cupcakes at daycare, a special birthday dinner at home and then a fun birthday party on the 22nd. She had a blast! Special thanks to our neighbor who served as a party photographer. There are tons more photos here in the October photos.

Lily and her cousin Everett in the ball crawl.

Presents galore.