One Month with Marie

It's hard to believe we're already a couple days past Marie's 1 month birthday! Marie has mastered the basics of being a baby (eat, sleep, poop), and had a great checkup this week.

She's now 9lb, 5oz (52nd percentile) and 19 3/4in (54th percentile). She is very easy going, and loves snuggling, sleeping (usually 6 - 8 hours straight each night!), taking baths, and nursing.

Here she is, "living the good life."

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, and glory to God in the highest!!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration starting at GG's last night, continuing all day today. Santa was very generous, visiting us both at GG's house, and at our house this morning! 

We had a fun-filled day-- starting with opening presents as a family, then going to Mass, enjoying brunch and presents with Mommy's family at Grambie and Grandpop's, followed by dinner at Grambie and Grandpop's with even more extended family.

Marie snoozed through almost all of the festivities, but Katherine seemed to soak up every moment with joy. She loved opening presents, and she told us about a dozen times "Santa... cookies!!" as she was amazed that he ate our cookies last night. 

If we didn't get to see you this Christmas, know that we wish you the very best celebration with your own family. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Mommy is officially a quarter of a century old! Katherine has been working a lot on her counting, and can make it up to 5, but 25 is much bigger than she can even imagine.

We had a relaxing celebration on Mommy's birthday, and we also got to have a party with all of Mommy's family on Sunday.

Happy birthday, Julie! We love you and hope this year is filled with happiness.

Picture Palooza

Here's a quick news update(with a lot of pictures) of what's been happening with the Blocks lately:

As promised, here are the pictures from Aunt Mary Beth and Uncle Casey's wedding:

Here comes the beautiful bride!

Up close of Katherine as the flower girl

Even their dogs, Hampton and Laney, were there-- dressed to the k-9's

Mr. and Mrs. Cruise

Katherine was very excited to wear fancy gloves with her fancy dress!

The 2 most beautiful ladies of the day ;-)

Ted escorting his mom

Katherine walking down the aisle with the ring bearer

Their first kiss!

The beginning of happily ever after

Katherine had a great time playing with the other little girls at the reception

Daddy + Daughter dance

At the wedding with Oma

We've also been adjusting very well to being a family of four. Katherine asks for Marie every morning as soon as she wakes up, and insists on giving her hugs and kisses throughout the day. Here's one of our favorite pictures of the two girls together:

Katherine begs to hold Marie, and is always very gentle

Also, Marie's umbilical cord fell off! She loved her first "real" baby bath so much that she fell asleep in the tub. :-) In general, sleeping is one of Marie's favorite things to do. She's sleeping long stretches at night (which we know may change, but we'll enjoy it while we can!), and is usually very easy going during the day as well. At her last checkup she was 7lb 14oz. The doctors were thrilled with her weight gain (10oz in a week), so they told us we don't need to wake her for any feedings (hooray!!!).

Marie loved her first bath in the Cleanwater Tub

She was so relaxed that she fell asleep!

 We've all been enjoying the extra family time together while Mommy's on maternity leave. Here's a picture of Marie hanging out with Joshua during one of our many special evening spent at Grambie and Grandpop's with the cousins:

Joshua and Marie "hanging out" together

Today we also ventured out to the mall to meet Santa for the first time. Katherine was very excited until we got close to him, at which point she started screaming and crying (so we didn't even try for pictures). She MUCH preferred the choo-choo train, and rode it twice. 

Taking a play break at the mall

We also got Grambie's help to take some family pictures at the mall. Here's a sneak peak of what you'll likely see in our Christmas card (which we're hoping to get sent out by Easter) ;-)

A VERY special day!

Yesterday was a very, very special day!

First it was Grandpop's (and Aunt Kathy) birthday! We enjoyed a great celebration with the family over dinner and dessert. We haven't given Grandpop his gift yet, as Katherine is extremely excited to give it to him. Anytime you mention the word "birthday" she exclaims "Pop-pop, pat-zoo!" (that's the only hint Grandpop gets on what his birthday gift is). ;-) We look forward to celebrating a little bit more when Katherine and Daddy return.

Happy birthday Grandpop-- we love you!!

Next, at Grandpop's birthday celebration, we finally got to meet cousin Joshua! Joshua was born 3 days after Marie, so he's technically her "little cousin," however he's actually a good bit bigger (Joshua was 8lb 4oz at birth). Congratulations to Kari, Dante, and Luke! We're so thankful for Joshua, and we're excited to see Marie and Joshua grow up so close together.


Finally, today was Aunt Mary Beth and Uncle Casey's wedding day! Katherine had a blast being a flower girl, and we're all thankful that Daddy and Katherine got to be a special part of the wedding. We can't wait to share pictures whenever Daddy and Katherine return. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Cruise-- we wish you a lifetime of happiness.

quick update-- I just got this picture from Daddy this morning and thought I'd share:

All this celebrating has us exhausted, so hopefully Marie will sleep soundly tonight. :-)