Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Paul turned 30 yesterday, and it was a great day for the both of us! Here are a few pics from the mini-celebration- we're thinking about having a bbq to continue the celebration this weekend, but we had to make the day special too!

she couldn't hang through the celebration- again in daddy's nook!


my attempt at a double layer cake- it tasted soooo good!


mommy and ginger hanging in our pjs while daddy opens presents!


Randomly, we had 2 ducks visit us today in our pool- we believe the mallard was sent from heaven by Paul's dad coming to wish him a happy 30th! (We have never had ducks swim in our pool!)


Daddy's presents!


My handsome husband, and wonderful father to baby Ginger!

Happy Easter, Ginger!

What a wonderful first Easter we had together as our new little family. My folks were out of town, and Paul's family wasn't getting together since we just got together last weekend for Isabella's (our niece) birthday, so Paul and I were planning on just a quiet day at home, with maybe a visit to Tom's Farms. However, we were invited by our good friends Josh and Cari to a family Easter BBQ, and we had SUCH a good time! It was their daughter, Emily's birthday as well, and Ginger just adores Emmie!

Here are a few pictures from the day- Ginger's first Easter basket, and the BBQ.

Here's what the "Easter Bunny" left for Ginger!

Ginger checking out all the loot...

I think she knows that there is a Reeses inside this egg...

What a grin!

"Ahhh, Mom, enough with the pictures!!"

This just might be her official "cuddle partner!"

She snuggled with the bunny completely on her own!!

The happy little family...

This is where she spent a good portion of her day...


Dad loves hangin' with his girl!

Her favorite "nook"...

grateful.

One of the blogs that I follow regularly is the story of matt and madeline (and liz) http://www.mattlogelin.com/archives/2009/04/10/words-escape-me/ . Matt and Liz (who are complete strangers to me, I found their blog on another blog list I follow) were married and delivered a baby girl, and within hours Matt lost his beautiful wife Liz to a pulmonary embolism...so now Matt is raising Madeline on his own, and has a truly amazing blog about the day to day thoughts of raising this little girl on his own. Every single time I read his blog, I consider myself grateful for my health, Paul's health, and Ginger's health. I always get up from the computer, go give Paul a squeeze, and kiss my baby girl. I am so blessed.

Well, today's post on Matt's blog gave me another reason to be truly grateful. It appear that Matt became friends with a follower of his blog, and this couple (Heather and Mike) had a beautiful little baby girl named Maddie too. He was even able to meet with them and let the two girls have playdates in the park.

Heather and Mike tragically lost Maddie 3 days ago. These are complete strangers to me, and yet I shed tears just reading about the news. You can find their blog here: http://www.remembermaddie.com/ It reminds me that when I think this new mom thing is tough, it can't possibly compare with the tragedy of losing my little one. I am so grateful for everything I have been blessed with- and this recent news of the loss of Maddie is a sobering lesson for me tonight.

Tonight, Paul and I ordered a pay-per- view movie (which we never do- $5.99 is ridiculous!) but little Ginger decided she wanted to talk, talk, talk through the first 30 minutes. Can you believe for a moment I was trying to quiet her so that we could watch the movie? I finally decided to give up on the movie, and spent some time in the nursery rocking with Ginger and having her fall asleep in my arms. After reading these blogs I'm glad I did- Steve Carrey will be there tomorrow (good ol' TIVO) and I'm just so grateful for the time that I have with her, and that she is healthy and happy. We are so very blessed!

Angel kisses...

When Ginger was born, she had two little red marks on her face- one in between her eyebrows, and one over 1 eyelid. Initially I was concerned that these would develop into birthmarks, and asked the doctor about them. He said they were called "stork bites" and that they usually dissapear by the time the baby has reached 1 year of age.

As I was looking at a few pictures I took of her recently, I decided to research "stork bites" to learn more about them. It turns out that when they appear on the baby's eyelids, they can also go by the term "angel kisses" as angels were kissing them while they were in the womb, sleeping. I like this explanation a LOT better and now when I see these marks on Ginger's face, I smile and am happy. :)

Here are a few recent pics of her in a dress (which is pretty rare to see, as mommy doesn't dress her frilly too often!) She won't get to wear it on Easter, as she recieved another (even more frilly) dress, so we decided to have her wear it before she grew out of it!

Old friends...

It's so nice to have friends who have known you for a lifetime. Yesterday Shanna, Ginger and I headed over to Monrovia for a visit with our friend Jaime, and her baby Ryen. It is SOOO nice to hang with moms and babies- they just seem to get my life right now. We pulled the strollers out, went for a walk, and stopped in at Starbucks. I haven't been to Starbucks that often, actually, since I've had Ginger so it was definitely something I enjoyed. We laughed about the fact that we've become "those people"- you know, the moms who meet at Starbucks with their babies in the middle of a weekday to enjoy lattes. We strolled down the blvd. on the way home, stopped in at a boutique, and I found a fabulous new purse! Of course, Jaime's baby Ryen is a complete doll- take a look at a few pics from the afternoon!

Ginger's first Easter Bunny photo!

Yes, we had to do it. My friend Kymberli had one done with her baby girl Riley, and it came out really cute- plus the fact that my mom is notorious for still putting out the easter bunny and santa claus pictures from when we were little. I knew I wouldn't want to miss her being so small in the easter bunny's arms!

The set-up was a little more "hokey" than Kymberli's shot- I could tell this bunny did NOT know how to hold a baby so I just let the picture happen with minimal fussing-I just wanted to make sure he/she didn't drop her! So Ginger wasn't quite looking at the camera- but it's endearing in a way. I also took a few pics of her while we were in line, in her little pink plaid outfit...check out the last photo- what a face!

Mommy turns 30!

I can't believe it- I'm 30 years old!! Yesterday was my 30th birthday, and I must say, I swear I feel 21 most days...Paul stayed home and gave me a "baby-free day" as he called it- and sent me off to get pampered by getting my hair done. I had to cancel my appointment last weekend because of my back problem, and he heard me whining all week about having horrible roots for my 30th birthday. So, when he told me about this plan the night before, I was stoked! It took quite a while to chop and color my hair, so by the time I got home, it was time to get ready to go out on our date night to Sho-gun. Godmother Shanna, and Godfather Randy watched Ginger while Paul and I ate teppan and Sushi and drank out of pineapples. We came home to gifts and cake from Shanna and Randy. The cutest gift of all- while we were gone, Shanna and Ginger made a piece of art for mommy- shanna painted gingers feet and hands, and smushed them against a blank canvas. I'll have to get the pics from shanna of the process, they were hilarious. Here are a few pics from the whole day/night!

Here's a pic of my new 30th birthday haircut!


Here's mommy attempting to not look 30 yet...


Bring on the Teppan!


Rockin' the Shogun birthday crown:


Ginger helping me blow out the candles:


my BFF and godmother Shanna- she is the best!

THE luckiest girls in the world...

This past Friday afternoon, around 2pm, I put Ginger down to sleep and felt my back "pop". This isn't a new phenomena- I have had back problems since I was 17, when it was identified that I have 3 herniated discs. These discs sometimes bulge onto my nerves and create what's called sciatica. It is excrutiatingly painful, and I called Paul right away. Luckily, Ginger napped while I waited for Paul to get home, and from that moment until now, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world (Ginger does too).

Paul has picked her up, held her, rocked her, brought her to me to nurse, picked her up to burp, played with her, sang to her, bathed her, watched cartoons with her, and put her down for her naps. He has taken all overnight duties (except nursing, of course, but he brings her to me and then rocks her afterwards).

While Ginger napped, he has emptied her diaper trashcan, washed her laundry, loaded the dishwasher, emptied the dishwasher, cooked us T-bone steaks, and cleaned out three drawers in the kitchen. He has also brought in a favorite chair of mine into the living room (good for my back) and brings me ice packs every hour. He reminded me to take motrin on schedule to help reduce the inflamation. He has assertively stated for me to sit down and relax when I tried to help out around the house.

Ginger adores him. She and Paul will lay together on the floor, on her favorite blanket, and play with her toys while watching cartoons. He has taught her how to hold and shake a rattle this weekend! We all watched The Notebook together yesterday (my favorite movie, and he loves all the old cars/the era of the movie so he likes it too) and as I looked at my little family, I realized that she and I are the luckiest girls in the world to have such a wonderful husband and father. I feel truly, truly blessed.

2 month vaccinations...

Ginger took a trip to the doctor's office today, and received her first full round of vaccinations. Being a first time mommy, I decided to take along Ginger's godmother (and my BFF) Shanna, as she's a nurse so she knows what's normal, vs. not. I am pleased to share the Ginger was a champ, and shed just a few tears while taking the shots. Within minutes she was back to smiling at Shanna, and we were on the road. This afternoon after waking from her nap, she was definitely sore and unhappy, but a little tylenol fixed the problem and other than being a little sleepy, she's been fine.

Some other good news- this little girl weighs in now at 13.1 lbs. and is 23 inches long. That puts her in the 95th and 90th percentile, respectively. That makes mommy happy!!

Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll!

Today, Ginger made her first visit to Troy Lee Designs to see Daddy (and be shown off to all of his coworkers who've been dying to meet her), and we had to get dressed in an uber-cool outfit for her debut. So we decided she would wear the "hippie" onesie that Troy gave us, and gosh does she ever look cute! I am out of control with the camera- she actually will pose now that she spends so much time in front of it. But this little girl is soooo cute that I can't stop taking pics of her!