Christmas vacation (Part 1)

It's no shock that I'm behind on my holiday blogging. Christopher, Alexandra and I spent a wonderful week out in Colorado with the Grimmers for Christmas. I'll have a couple more entries to go to get caught up, but here's my start! In the photo above, Alexandra is wearing her paper hat from her Christmas cracker (a British tradition we picked up while living in Dubai). She loves the Sassy toy on her right - it plays "Hey diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle." Whenever she's upset at the table, I hit the button for the toy to play, and she smiles and is happy! We think that the voice singing sounds a little bit like me, so maybe that's why she likes it so much :)



Auntie Em and Alexandra having fun together on Christmas Eve.




Her Uncle Joey suprised her in this shot at our cabin at the YMCA's Snow Mountain Ranch.




Alexandra looking surprised at dinner at the YMCA dining hall (she doesn't like the red-eye double flash).



"Hello" from our borrowed exersaucer on Christmas morning!

Stay tuned - there's more to come!

Six Months Old!

Wow - where did the time go? Alexandra turned six months old yesterday! We had our visit with the pediatrician yesterday, which went well (except for the shots, which we both cried over). Here are her stats:

head circumference - 17 inches (75th percentile)
length - 26 1/2 inches (75th percentile)
weight - 16 lbs 7 oz (63rd percentile)

I had been saying the other week that her head has grown a lot, and I was right! I'm shocked that she's not 17 pounds yet, since I've worked up some major arm muscles carrying her in her carseat lately. She's so much bigger than that little newborn we brought home from the hospital.

Oh yeah, and I was told during our visit that she hasn't slept the night since I went back to work because she misses me. As if a working mom doesn't already feel guilty enough as it is :(

Christmas decorations!

Alexandra helped us decorate our tree this year! We'll be in Colorado for Christmas day, but we have had fun decorating our home and look forward to our little family's first Christmas together (the day after we get back). I realized I'm always in my green sweater for the photos of me on this blog. I have more clothes - I promise!!

Christopher thinks Alexandra will be great in the Advertising/PR world since she's doing such a great job selling Baby's First Christmas 2008 in her ornament :)

Visit with Santa!

We took Alexandra to the mall to see Santa last weekend! He already knew what a good little girl she had been this year, and we look forward to seeing what he brings her for her first Christmas. Maybe next year we'll see if her cousin Will would like to come at the same time, since I think it would be fun for the two of them to see Santa together.

Gas

I paid $1.78 a gallon for gas yesterday! It was under $25 to fill up my car! The last time I paid less than $25 to fill up my car (in the DC area) was 4 years ago! Thanks to the hard-working and dedicated people at ExxonMobil for saving the consumer money :)

First cold

We are currently living through Alexandra's first cold. I talked to our pediatrician's advice nurse this morning, who told me that her symptoms sound like a normal cold (and nothing scary like croupe or strider). It's very hard to see your baby sick!! We take some comfort at the fact that Alexandra has been at day care for almost two months and hadn't gotten sick yet. I just hope she feels better soon!!!

Ergo Baby Carrier

Christopher and I have a new secret weapon: the Ergo baby carrier. Alexandra is finally big enough to be carried in it without the infant insert (which she didn't care for once she was about 2 months old), and she LOVES it! I took her around the entire grocery store in it on Sunday. She is perfectly content in it - no fussing whatsoever. She also enjoyed going around our house in it on Saturday while I did chores. And, as our photo below shows, she enjoys listening to her mommy play the piano while sitting in it. The carrier is so comfortable. I can carry her in it for a couple of hours and not have a sore back.

We love the Ergo baby carrier!

Cold weather

It's started to get quite chilly here in the DC area. It was only 29 degrees when I drove to work on Wednesday! Christopher and I agree that Alexandra needs some cute new hats to survive the cold. I made her a hat before she was born, but it's gotten a little small (see photoe below). I am working on expanding it, since she needs to stay warm!

This next photo is just for fun. Alexandra always gives her daddy an adorable smile when he comes home from work.

Halloween

This is the latest blog entry ever! I've been out with bronchitis for the past week, so that's my excuse :) Anyway, Alexandra was a bunny (of course) for Halloween. She did not like her costume at first. However, after she fell asleep in it AND we visited Grandee and Granddad, she decided that she liked it. It was the perfect costume for fall in the DC area - she didn't need a coat!

Here we are with the scary jack-o-lantern her daddy carved.

Here we are with our neighbor, Ian, who went as Chewbacca!!

Who does she look like?

When Alexandra was born, people said that she looked exactly like I did as a baby. Now, people are starting to say that she looks like her dad. My mom has always said that she looks like her sister (my Aunt Donna) did as a baby. Now, it's your turn to vote! Please answer the poll question on the right of the screen to help us determine who Alexandra resembles the most.



Aunt Donna



Mom (Sarah)



Dad (Christopher)

Election Day

Many of my friends and family know how torn I have felt about this Election Day. I'm so frustrated, as there is not a single candidate that represents all of my views and beliefs. I thought about not voting this year out of protest. Then, I reflected upon all of the women suffragettes who fought and suffered in years past so that I, as a woman, could have the right to vote. I thought about my ancestors, who came to the United States in years past so that I could have a brighter and better future. I also thought about my parents, who worked very hard so that I could go to wonderful schools and be an educated voter. Then, I learned that STARBUCKS IS GIVING AWAY A FREE CUP OF COFFEE TO EVERYONE WHO VOTES TODAY!!! I'm never a girl to say no to a free cup of coffee :)

So, I voted, and I have the sticker to prove it.

Although we learned that parents could bring their children (up to age 15) to the voting polls with them, Christopher and I decided that Alexandra was too young this year to appreciate learning about the democratic process (maybe for the next presidential election).

If you haven't voted yet today, GO VOTE! And then stop by your local Starbucks. Oh yeah, and apparently some Ben & Jerry's stores are giving away free ice cream this evening to voters as well.

Portrait Innovations

I'm a bit behind in my blogging (going back to work and getting sick, while having a teething baby at home will do that to you). I'll try to catch up and post our adorable Halloween photos this week. But first. . . .last weekend, we took the entire Yurasko clan out to Portrait Innovations for a family photo! This is the photography studio chain co-founded by the father-in-law of my very good friend, Katy Davis (check out photos and stories of her cute baby, Evan, at her family blog - http://www.katyandian.blogspot.com/). We had a great day! Here are some of the highlights.

Group shot! Bill, Barbara, Christopher, Sarah, Alexandra, William, Will and Erica.

Alexandra having fun with her pink bunny blankie.

Alexandra looking thoughtful.

Our little family.

It's exhausting being this cute!

Four months!

Alexandra had her four-month appointment with the pediatrician today!

Here are her stats:

length - 25 1/2 inches (90th percentile)
weight - 14lbs 14 oz (75th percentile)
head - 16 inches (50th percentile)

Christopher and I were both a bit surprised at her weight - we thought that she would be over 15 pounds. It looks like we have a very tall girl on our hands, which is not a shock for tall parents :)

Before a round of shots, we were told that she was doing "extremely well" developmentally, and she got especially high marks for her neck strength and tummy-time skills. We're continuing our breastmilk-only diet and will wait to introduce solid foods until closer to the six-month mark. She did better with the shots this go around (as did mom), and we hope she'll be happy and smiley for our family portraits tomorrow!

More rolling!

Alexandra waited until both Christopher and I were playing with her last night, and she rolled over from her stomach to her back (the first time she rolled, it was her back to stomach). She's now rolling and wiggling all over the place and gets frustrated when things (like sleep sacks) restrict her movements! She turned four months old on Saturday, and we have our four-month appointment with the pediatrician on Friday to learn how big she is :)

Family weekend (Part 2)

Alexandra and I had last Monday off of work and daycare for Columbus Day. We convinced Christopher to take off the day as well, and we had a lovely time together at Meadowlark park in Vienna, VA. It was also Alexandra's first time ever to wear jeans! We got some great photos that day - here are the highlights:

It's fun to do tummy time with Mommy in the park!

Alexandra showing off who gave her those baby blues.

Family shot!

This is my current all-time favorite photo of Alexandra.

Even though everyone says that Alexandra is now starting to look more like Christopher, this photo shows that she's still my mini-me!!

Family weekend (Part 1)

We had a lovely visit this last weekend with Grandma Evelyn Lewis, Alexandra's only living great-grandparent. Alexandra wanted to wear a new dress for the occasion, so she tried out her plaid pink dress (as she is modeling above).

Below is a photo of four generations on the Lewis line (Christopher, Barbara, Grandma, and Alexandra). Pretty impressive! Christopher's side of the family is where Alexandra gets her beautiful baby blues.






Great-Grandma gave Alexandra a cute set of socks and this adorable headband, which she is modeling below.

We also had cousin Will's baptism last weekend (hooray!). He was baptized at the Fairlington United Methodist Church bascially up the street from us in Alexandria. The service was followed by a fun party at William and Erica's place. Christopher and Alexandra were exhausted and fell asleep together in a chair during the party. Fortunately for Christopher, I messed up our camera's settings and did not get a good daddy-daughter-asleep photo.

This is the absolute cutest photo of Will (at least that I have taken - I'm sure his parents have even cuter ones). His baptism outfit was complete with this adorable white hat.



Cousin Will with his proud parents after his baptism.

Alexandra rolled over for the first time. . . .

Mere minutes after this photo was taken last week! Maybe it was something about not being restricted by clothing right after her bath. Good thing mom was there to catch her so that we didn't have a little naked baby roll off of the table onto the floor :)

This photo is for Alexandra's GG, who wanted to see what her new purple chair looks like. We absolutely LOVE this chair (it's a Bumbo chair). She can sit in it and play with her toys, and we have been putting her in it while we eat dinner so she feels like she's part of the group. We even brought it to Grandee and Granddad's house last weekend! I have a lot more fun photos of our family weekend (with a visit from Christopher's grandma, cousin Will's baptism, and our little family's Columbus Day time at the park), but I'm going to stretch them out over the week.

Once Upon a Time. . . .

There was a little girl named Alexandra, who did not like to sleep.

Return to Work

We made it through my first day back at the office! Our little family is having some difficulty adjusting to our new early schedule (sleeping from 12am - 8am had been just fine for baby and mom for the past three weeks), but other than that, everything went better than expected yesterday. Many thanks to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers.

Chocolate World!

We took a quick family trip up to Hershey, PA, to visit Hershey's Chocolate World! I wore Alexandra in the sling, which worked really well (since you can't use strollers in parts of Chocolate World). On our way home, we stopped at Gettysburg, PA, and Emittsburg, MD (to
visit the St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Shrine). I ate too much chocolate while in Hershey (yes, it is possible), and Christopher had a minor accident in our hotel room which fortunately did not require stitches. However, we still had a wonderful time on our first family trip with Alexandra!

What makes Hershey's candy so good? As we learned on our factory tour from these silly singing cows, "it's the milk chocolate!"

Taking a lunch break (before buying chocolate cupcakes).

Family Picnic

I'm a little behind in my blogging, as I've been working from home and getting Alexandra ready for daycare for the last week. Anyway, the weekend before last, cousin Will came to hang out with us on Sunday afternoon, and we went on our first family picnic in the park. Will slept for the entire picnic, but seemed quite happy in the shade! Alexandra had fun playing with her parents on our new blue picnic blanket. We also took some fun video of the day, which I'll post as soon as I figure out how to do that!

Fun with mom!

Enjoying the blanket.

Fun with dad!

Fun with Flowers

Since Alexandra is starting to grab things, Christopher and I thought that it would be fun to give her a flower to hold. She enjoyed experiencing the flowers with multiple senses! She enjoyed touching, seeing, smelling, and tasting the flowers.

In this first photo, she is poking herself in the eye with the flower ("seeing" the flower).

Here she is smelling the flower. Doesn't she look thoughtful?

And, in this last photo, she is about to eat the flower ("tasting" the flower).

We're glad that she enjoys flowers, and Christopher is happy to be the first man to have ever bought them for her :)

Scottish Games

Christopher, Alexandra and I headed out to Delaplane, Virginia this weekend for the Virginia Scottish Games and Festival. Alexandra's first Scottish Festival - she was so excited! We got to see our friend, Fr. Jaffe, compete in the athletic competition (although we unfortunately had to leave before the caber toss), and brought home some tastey scones and honey. Christopher and I had the sound of bag pipes ringing in our ears all the way home!



We finally got to see Fr. Jaffe throw something!!



It was a really hot and bright day. Good thing Alexandra came prepared :)



I absolutely love this photo of my little girl.

Sucking her Thumb

Alexandra has sort of figured out how to suck her thumb. She doesn't quite yet understand how to hold the rest of her fingers together while doing so :)

Isn't she super cute hanging out with her daddy?