Celebrations

Well, given that Maelee has just turned 6 weeks (!!!), I'm a little late on the "1 month" post, but thus is the life... Hopefully I'll get to the current happenings in the 2nd month post in a more timely fashion!

(But go ahead and check out a sneak peak of some great "Happy Maelee" pics from 6 1/2 weeks old at the bottom of the post!)

The focus of this one, though, deals mainly with three days in a row of fun celebrations that we had a few weeks back.

5/20-5/21: Becky's graduation from Stony Brook with her DMA.

With my sweet family after the hooding ceremony...

(nice hat...)

After the Music Dept ceremony with Prof. Goldstein-
one of my most favorite teachers ever!!!

Little sweetheart tuckered out after a long day

My folks came up for all the festivities and even treated us all to a night at a Hyatt so we didn't have to make that drive two days in a row. We enjoyed lots of good eats and it was awesome to feel like I am finally finished with school. For good!!!

5/22: Sweet Maelee girl turned one month old!!!

And what an amazing month it has been and continues to be into the 2nd month. Some recent things that we are just L-O-V-I-N-G as the 4th week came to an end:

* More smiles that absolutely can NOT be blamed on "gas" and are totally in response to us or something she sees - sooo fun!!!

Listening to her Pop-Pop

* Checking out the toys on her swing

* Hearing her adorable little coos and noises like "haaaah" and "gowh"

* Watching her stare intently at our "shapes" book

* Watching her learn how to use her arms and continuing to work her neck and leg muscles!

* More play dates with good friends!

* Her 1 month photo shoot- last one hamming it up with the "ladybug" theme

Also on 5/22: Our dear friend, Shawna, had a surprise baby shower!!!

With some of the most amazing ladies I know- Ginger, Shawna, and Katy

Felt super weird to be apart from my sweet girl, but knew she was in good hands with her daddy and I couldn't miss being able to shower my sweet friend with LOVE!

And surprise!!!

Little Wesley decided to make an early arrival on 5/27- CONGRATULATIONS Sullivan Family!!!

Our first month with Maelee has been amazing and we are enjoying her more and more as the weeks pass. We thought we'd never want her to get bigger or change but we are loving each new experience with her and are so excited to watch her grow. I'll save some of the more recent fun things for the next month, but she is incredible. Still has those days where she just refuses to nap, but we'll blame that on her desire to spend time with us- HA! (j/k)

She has quite the personality already and we are loving it.

Here's another slideshow of more pics from graduation and the "photo shoot:"

And here are some pictures taken around 6 1/2 week as a preview of what's to come in the next post featuring the happenings of Maelee's 2nd month!!!

(too cute to resist)

Oh, the Places You'll Go

And the people you'll meet!!!

Our little Miss Maelee has had quite an eventful couple of weeks, filled with:

*meeting many more new friends and family (her Uncle Daniel and "Great Too-Daddy" were huge highlights)
*a couple of long car rides- one to DE to meet more family and one to Stony Brook so Becky could finish her last requirement as a teacher (4 1/2 hour juries...)
* more outings and hanging out with friends
* her first trip to church after several weekends of family in town and a trip out of town
* the perfecting of some pretty impressive vocal chords during some diaper/clothing changes that she's not thrilled about, or after hours of being restlessly awake!!!

While we absolutely adore our little lady to pieces and can't complain one bit, our hands have definitely felt a bit more full lately (hmm, maybe something to do with Nana-Lin no longer being here??? Sigh.)!

Our Maelee girl still lets us sleep at night and gives us more enjoyment than we could imagine when she's peacefully awake (we swear some of her big grins are NOT just gas, and she mimics some of our silly faces- so fun!), but sometimes we feel like our little pinkies are about to fall off!!! That seems to be the only thing that will pacify her when the fussiness kicks in and she can't get to sleep...

A big fusser? We'd still like to think no, but we are definitely seeing it come out more and more as the days pass! We seem to be on an every other day pattern over this past week of great napping days and fussy napping days, but we continue to count our blessings!!!

One thing that hasn't changed, though, (in our humble opinions, at least) is her daggone, stinkin' cuteness! So without further ado, here are some pictures of our beautiful, sweet girl over the past couple of weeks.

Starting with her 2 week photo shoot with daddy
in her BIG bow :)

Followed by her 3rd week photo shoot with daddy
in her little bow :)






And with the bunny her Grandma Mason handmade for her

Meeting new friends

Nate and Lauren

Jessa and Todd and Radhika and David


And meeting her Uncle Daniel in her 2nd week!

The whole family!

So thankful for Daniel's quick trip back from Japan!!!

Loves to be in her daddy's arms

On outing with mommy and Nana-Lin to Bloomingdales


Some more favorites from her 2nd week...

Our little conductor :)

First time taking in swing- not sure what to think!

So sad to see Nana-Lin leave :(
She loved her naps in Nana-Lin's lap!!!


And the highlight of the 3rd week...

Meeting her "Great Too-dad"
and more family in Delaware!

With Nana-Lin and "Auntie Coop"
(college roommates and longtime friends)

With Mary Catherine, her "Great Nart" :)

Another big day meeting extended family for Mother's Day luncheon
Lots of family photos and posing!!!

Too-dad with his great grandchildren

Our little cutie on Mother's Day

With a very happy mom, indeed!

Meeting her new BFF, Teegan, born just 6 days after Maelee!

And in case that sampling isn't enough, here are slideshows of her 2nd and 3rd week "photo shoots" with daddy, and more 2nd and 3rd week general faves:







And another video showing her first meeting with her Great Too-dad:

http://vimeo.com/11622317
(password- Maelee2)

We just can't seem to stop taking pictures of her...