The Blossoming Boyle Family

Fun in March

2011-04-28T23:14:00.007-04:00

Here are a few pictures taken in March of my beautiful girls!

Imogen went to go see 'Disney Princesses on Ice' with my mom, sister and nana. She is completely obsessed with the Princesses and there is nowhere else that would have made her happier. She dressed up as her favorite Princess, Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) and posed with Cinderella and Belle.

Here is Imogen one random morning while watching 'Beauty and the Beast'. She lined up all her animals to take in the movie with her!

Ainsley is modeling one of the rompers I knit her. I love rompers for some reason, so it made me very happy to know I could make one for her!

This last picture is one of my favorites to date of her. It was taken on March 1st when she was just 2 months old <3

Ainsley Rolls!

2011-04-28T23:07:00.002-04:00

Ainsley began rolling about 2 weeks ago when she was only 3 1/2 months old! I thought that this was early to be rolling, so I got out Imogen's baby book to see when she rolled for the first time - 4 1/2 months! We don't know what she has in store for us, but I think Ainsley is truly trying to keep up with her older sister right now! Here is a video we took today to show our big girl rolling :)

Dress Shopping

2011-03-22T18:12:00.003-04:00

My older sister is getting married soon and recently we went dress shopping to help my mom pick out something to wear. Imogen LOVED David's Bridal because she was surrounded with pretty dresses! She particularly enjoyed standing on the pedestal and twirling around! Ainsley and I sat nearby and gave our opinions :-)

Month-by-Month Photos

2011-03-22T10:13:00.004-04:00

Ainsley at a few days old

Ainsley at one-month-old

Ainsley at two-months-old

Newborn Photos

2011-01-25T13:17:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago, when Ainsley was just a week old, we had our family photographer come to our house to take her newborn photos. Once again, Sandy from Red Lotus Photography wow'ed us with her talent -- although we take full credit for the adorable model. Below are two of the session's photos, just a sneak peak! I knit the hammock in the second photo :-)

Welcome to the World

2011-01-07T12:57:00.003-05:00

Ainsley Victoria

January 1, 2011 at 2:58pm

8 lbs 12oz

21 1/4 inches long

Fall Arthritis Walk at Idlewild

2010-10-04T15:53:00.006-04:00

On Saturday, we took a trip to Idlewild Park for the Fall 2010 Arthritis Walk. In true Boyle fashion, we got there late, but still brought up the rear for the walk! We had a lot of fun meeting other families and Imogen loved playing with the other kids, going down the slide and riding rides. It was a day all for her!

Here she is with Daddy at the top of the slide. After carrying her up once, I just couldn't do it anymore and became the designated 'catcher' at the bottom.

Eating a breakfast of champions: Eat'n Park Cookie! She REALLY loved attempted to eat the sprinkles (aka candy corn) off the top of the cookie, but gave up before ever really getting a piece in her mouth. But she did have a great time trying!

We got in the park right when it opened, so she was able to ride practically every ride with never waiting in line -- which was fab! She particularly loved the bikes...

But she also got to ride a REAL horsie! Albeit, just a pony, it was her first experience and we've been talking about letting her ride a real one since we got back from the beach in August. The workers circle twice around a stable with the kids. At first, she was nervous and kept saying "All Done!" but then daddy told her 'no' and to keep her hands on the saddle. She did and ended up loving it. The smile on her face while walking towards me was literally priceless. She looks so grown up!

After the horsie ride, we spotted a white, fuzzy caterpillar inching along on the ground. She was desperate to touch it and kept pointing! You can see it in the photo; it's the little white spot in the shade.

Lastly, here is one of the fountains they had with purple water to celebrate the first weekend of Halloboo! We thought it was really cool how colored they could turn the water! I tried to get Imogen to sit on the side of it, but she wasn't interested.

Overall, it was a great time! Our first trip to Idlewild and we'll definitely be back :)

More Belly Shots!

2010-10-04T15:23:00.002-04:00

24 weeks

26 weeks

27 weeks 6 days

I really can't believe that I'm already in my 3rd trimester! This pregnancy has flown by! But I guess that's what happens when you have a busy toddler running around at home to take care of and a really busy job that takes your mind off of baby stuff for most of the day.

I recently started to feel the baby have hiccups, which I love. It's so cute to imagine him/her inside hiccupping! Especially for a second child when you've already had one and really can see the baby in your imagination. I remember being pregnant with Imogen and knowing there was a baby in my belly, but until I actually SAW her on the day of delivery, I couldn't believe it was reality. Maybe I'm describing my feelings wrong...but anyway, now that I've had her, being pregnant this time around is much easier to imagine a tiny baby in there with its little jerky movements and....its hiccups <3

Today was my 28 week midwife appointment. Everything is going well so far. My blood pressure is still down in the normal range, which makes me the happiest. Baby's heartbeat was in the 150's to 160's range...and my belly was still measuring 2-weeks bigger than it should be, which is apparently the norm with me now. I only gained 3 pounds again this month! However, the recent gestational diabetes test I took came back in a normal, yet in-between range. The midwife just suggested that I watch the amount of carbs I eat for the remainder of the pregnacy. How on earth do you tell an Italian girl who is surrounded by pasta, pizza and ice-cream that she has to count her carbs????? I know they are just being precautious, but we are coming up on the holidays and I wonder how this is all going to go.

Enough for now....off to have some cheese or eggs or carrots...or something.

Belly Shots

2010-09-06T10:54:00.007-04:00

It is definitely no secret that I haven't been as good taking belly pictures of this pregnancy as much as I was with Imogen....but I promised some shots, so here are the ones I have so far:

17 weeks 5 days18 weeks 6 days

20 weeks 1 day

21 weeks 2 days

Today I'm 24 weeks (yay!) so I'll get a picture later and post it up!

A Look Back at July

2010-09-06T09:55:00.009-04:00

July was another busy month for us. Here are some of the fun things we did:

We went to our friend's wedding, Erin & Mike, on a beautiful golf course. It was the perfect day and the perfect setting for such an occasion. Thank goodness we were in the back during the ceremony because half way through I hear a whisper in my ear from Imogen -- "potty!" which I have never ignored and didn't want to at that moment especially since we didn't bring a spare dress! So, we were able to sneak out, get to the potty and back to the ceremony before the 'i do's'

We also celebrated Nana's 80th Birthday with a surprise party! Family from all over the country traveled to town for the occasion and it was a fun time for all. The best thing about it was that Nana was truly surprised and enjoyed celebrating with her entire family.

Imogen had fun riding the swing on the deck that Poppa built just for that.

She was exhausted by late day since she had had no nap, so fell asleep right in Poppa's arms.

After she woke up, she played with Uncle Ricky and he snuck her some of her favorite snack: sandwich crackers!

The next day we celebrated our little cousin's first birthday - Happy Birthday Nicholas! Imogen got to spend lots of time with both her cousins (Luke and Nicholas) that she doesn't get to see very often. It was both funny and interesting to see just how different 2-year-old girls and 2-year-old boys are.

Yes, she is eating only sprinkles -- the girl loves gelato and sprinkles, just not mixed together!

We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone! Hope you had a nice July too....it seems so long ago now, doesn't it? :)

Baby #2 is on the way!

2010-08-05T15:58:00.005-04:00

I'm thinking that most people know now, but in case you don't, Baby Boyle #2 is on the way! We are so excited to be expecting our little surprise at the end of December. That's right, a holiday baby! And we aren't finding out the gender this time, which I am very happy about!

So, let me do the math for you and tell you that I'm 19 weeks 3 days today. I had a midwife appointment this morning followed up by our anatomy ultrasound. The midwife appointment went really well. For those who remember from last time, I developed high blood pressure at the end and I'm really making an effort to NOT have a repeat occurance of that. My blood pressure has been normal so far, so that's good. Baby's heartbeat today was 148, which is definitely going to throw my mom off in terms of guessing whether this baby is a boy or girl. It has previously always been around 160...and Imogen's was always in the 160s. Last but not least, my uterus is measuring at 22cm, which equates to 22 weeks, so that's a little ahead right now. I remember always measuring 1-2 weeks ahead with Imogen as well, so I think it's just because I'm short that it doesn't have anywhere to go except out.

The ultrasound went really well too! Our tech was so nice and explained what she was doing the entire time. She said the heartbeat was 145 bpm, which matches what the midwife had just heard on the doppler. She said the baby looks perfect: 10 fingers, 10 toes, heart in the right place, stomach in the right place, cord looks good, good amniotic fluid, etc etc. We are so happy and excited and relieved to know that things are going well in there.

And something interesting to me is that baby is already head down. I have been feeling so many movements down low that I thought FOR SURE that baby's feet were kicking me. Nope, he/she just has strong arms apparently.

How is Imogen reacting to all of this? Well, we tell her all the time about the new baby and the baby in mommy's belly, but I don't think she grasps it yet. She is so loving to her babies and stuffed animals though, so I'm hopeful that she will be more of a helper than the jealous type.

I definitely haven't been as good taking belly shots as I was last time. I will get one on Monday when I'm 20 weeks to share!

Incredibly Busy Weekends...

2010-07-03T10:17:00.011-04:00

Just as the title leads you to believe, we've had some incredibly busy weekends lately. At least the last four have been packed with activities Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. It's been tiring, but after this holiday weekend, I think we are quiet for awhile, so that will be nice. However, even though all the time away from home makes us all very tired, we've enjoyed being outside with all the nice weather and spending time with friends and family -- here is a brief synopsis...with pictures, of course!

We participated in Armstong County's Relay for Life back in mid-June. We pushed Imogen in a stroller most of the way while we walked, but she did walk an entire lap by herself! While we were resting in our team's tent, Imogen enjoyed kicking around a ball -- she is very good at dribbling!

Also that weekend we drove up to Moraine State Park for our cousin's birthday party. It was a beautiful day! They have a small beach area and it would have been perfect for swimming if the sand would have been a little less rocky and the water a little less frigid. Nevertheless, after a few steps into the water with Daddy and Pop Pop, Imogen decided it was not for her and spent the majority of the rest of the day on a swing.

The next weekend we had a wonderful visit with our friends, Mike & Alysia, and their beauiful little girl, Talia. Imogen had tons of fun playing with her and in the picture below, was enjoying telling Mike a very interesting story...what was that story again, Mike?

Later that same day we went to a birthday party for my girlfriend's two daughters, one was turning 4 and the other turning 6. Because it was for two girls, there were TONS of kids there and Imogen loved playing with them all. However, she was one of the youngest and all the other children were trying to decifer what she was saying a lot of the time since she is a chatterbox, but still mostly talks in her own language. It was so fun to watch her interact with them since she doesn't have the opportunity to be around a lot of kids now. She is definitely very social! It was another beautiful day, so they had some baby pools set up and Imogen loved splashing around.

The next day was Father's day and we headed up to Kittanning to spend the day with family and friends at a picnic. It was yet again a beautiful day so we spent most of it outside and Imogen got to play with more kiddos in another pool. She just loves to be in the water! In the evening, we hung out on my parents new addition to their deck

All the activities of that weekend had the entire family feeling under the weather during the next week. Imogen got better first though, so we were happy she didn't get too sick.

By Friday, Imogen and I were well enough to go to Kennywood. My work has an annual picnic there in June each year, and Imogen LOVES riding rides, so I really wanted to take her. Of course, she loved every second and pouted when each ride started to slow down at the end. I would keep promising her that we would go on another and that would calm her down.

For everyone who made it this far, Congrats!, and that is the end of the June activities. I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures! Happy Fourth of July weekend!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Imogen!

2010-05-24T15:33:00.007-04:00

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday our dear Imogen!

Happy Birthday to you!

Our 'baby' turned 2 today. I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad, but I'm leaning towards happy. I love all the wonderfully coordinated and independent things she does now! It's so fun and interesting to see her personality develop right before our eyes.

To celebrate her birthday, I took the day off work and we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. It was not Imogen's first time there, but it was her first time there where she could really look at and name the animals. She loved it! I think her favorite animal of all was the tiger. They only had one tiger in the forest today (although, I think they have 4 total) but he was playing in the water and entertaining us a lot. She also really liked the fishies, ducks, and birds. Go figure -- all things we see a lot when we're NOT at the zoo! Here are a few pictures from the day:

The newest baby elephant

Imogen marching along around the elephant exhibit

Walking with daddy

The entertaining tiger

Pointing to the fishie

A little overexposed, but oh well! It's mommy & me!

Our classic family shot by the big polar bear

Pretty girl!

Watching the polar bears v.e.r.y. closely

We were all tired by the end of the trip! But we had a great time!

Happy 2nd birthday to our beautiful little girl -- we love you!

Kennywood 2010

2010-05-15T15:03:00.007-04:00

We took Imogen to Kennywood Amusement Park last Saturday and, even though it was windy and cool, we managed to get her on a few rides in Kiddyland. She definitely enjoyed them regardless of the fact that she had no clue what to expect every time we handed her over to an employee to get her buckled in.

On the swings, which I think she enjoyed the most:

On a helicoptor ride, in which she had no interest in touching the wheel, but rather hung onto the safety bar for dear life:

On the Whip. This one she was really unsure of, but warmed right up after being whipped around the turns once or twice:

We finished up the day with a ride on the big Carousel. She loved it so much, she went around twice! Here she is with her daddy and pop pop (as she is now calling him).

We're going back for a day next month, so here's hoping the weather is nicer and she can ride even more!

Big Girl Panties!

2010-05-12T20:06:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile since I've posted and there is so much to catch up on, but the most exciting thing to share about Imogen is that she hasn't worn a diaper during the day in TWO months! She loves to pee pee in the potty and is a regular pro at this point. We do continue to wear a diaper at night, though, since I'm not sure she's ready for that just yet.

Several people have asked me how I taught her so early, but I have no tricks up my sleeve. I didn't read any books about it, I just followed my and Imogen's cues. Starting around 16 months old, I would put Imogen on the potty once a day before bedtime. She didn't do anything up there for a month or two. Eventually, one time she peed and I cheered and she caught on! We left it at that once-a-day trip for quite awhile and she knew it was coming and always went.

In February, I decided to try an all day bout with no diapers during a long weekend and it was mildly successful. The problem was that it was so cold at the time that Imogen had to wear layers which made it hard to get to the potty immediately if she had to go. We decided to scrap the big girl panties after the weekend and wait for another month.

In March, I decided to try again. It was warmer and Imogen could wear a dress around the house. I was home on a Friday armed with 6 pairs of cloth trainers I had just purchased. We put on her first pair in the morning and off we went. She peed in almost every pair that day, but we also had some success with her going in the potty. On Saturday, she did even better with fewer accidents. And by Sunday, she didn't have any accidents! She caught on so quickly! What did you give her as a reward, you ask? toilet paper! She loves the paper and so after she pees, we would give her a few sheets and she would throw it into the potty. It worked for us!

Her wonderful progress was kept going during the day on Monday and we haven't looked back at diapers, but rather clean up any messes and keep moving forward. Now, it is rare to have an accident and if/when she does, it's typically at home when she is too busy playing to tell us she has to go. It took about a week for her to start telling us she had to potty. And, up to today, we continue to ask her if she has to go every hour or so if she doesn't say something. We do trust her, but she isn't even two yet, so we know her success is continued with our help.

We have THIS travel potty chair which has been wonderful for potty on-the-go! Highly recommend! It's enabled us to take her anywhere and not be worried about where she is going to go to the bathroom.

I think potty learning has been my favorite milestone since walking. Our "diaper" bag is lighter, her bum is smaller, and we all enjoy the fewer loads of laundry.

In Her Mother's Shoes...

2010-04-10T17:46:00.003-04:00

Literally. Click 'play' to see the fun!

Recent Knits

2010-03-21T21:22:00.006-04:00

I haven't posted anything I've knit for quite awhile, but really it's because I don't want this to turn into a craft blog when really it's about our family. The truth is, though, that my love for my newest hobby grows each day and creating things for Imogen and others to wear is a creative outlet that I know I've been searching for for a very long time.

Recently, I went with a few friends to the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival in Cranberry. I saw some information there and heard people chatting about the relationship between math and knitting. (For anyone who doesn't know, I was a mathematics major in college and love, love, love it!) I think one of the reasons I love knitting so much is one of the same reasons that I love math -- you start out with something so jumbled, tangled, and unknown, and through a series of clearly layed out steps get to an end point of clarity...an answer....a finished object (FO in knitting terms!). I know it's crazy, but I love to take a skein of yarn, which if you're not careful with while winding can turn into a tangled mess, and lay the stitches in order in such a way that creates something beautiful. Every time I see new yarn, I'm always wondering what it would look like knitted up. Will it be beautiful? Will the colors clash? Will it be prettier than it looks in the skein? The unknown excites me -- it lights a fire under me that says....knit faster to find out!

Here are a couple things I've knit for Imogen recently...and I have so many more projects in my queue, that the infinity symbol comes to mind quite clearly :)

The Oriental Lily top knit in the colorway "Madeline" and dyed by Western Sky Knits. This colorway definitely looks way more beautiful knitted up than in the skein! I was surprised how much I love it!
This next top is called the Playtime Top and was written by DiscoBaby Knits. I knit it up in an unusual way -- I held together two strands of sock yarn to get the correct weight yarn for the pattern. The colorway is "Dandelion Chain" dyed by Dashing Dachs -- a dyer located in Erie, PA.

Imogen reading one of her FAVORITE books:

Trying on Mommy's shoes:

Sleeping Beauty

2010-03-14T13:17:00.002-04:00

I came home from work on Thursday to find Imogen sleeping on the couch...like this. I guess it's just another trait she has from me -- the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, anyway.

Round & Round She Goes

2010-03-07T10:49:00.001-05:00

We brought our stroller in the house this weekend to clean it and left it sitting out to dry afterwards. Imogen decided she wanted to push it instead of her shopping cart this morning. She was remarkably good at steering it around and around our first floor, even navigating well through the tighter doorways.

First Haircut

2010-02-16T20:00:00.003-05:00

Imogen got her hair cut for the first time on January 31, 2010! My mom made the actual cuts while I entertained her so she would keep her head looking forward and somewhat still. We just trimmed her 'tail' that was growing in the back so now it's all even :) Here is an *after* picture. You can see a *before* picture in the Red Sparkly Shoe post right before this.

Her Red Sparkly Shoes

2010-02-05T15:03:00.003-05:00

Imogen is a shoe lover -- this we know. And at a very tender young age, she actually cares about what shoes she wears. Take, for instance, this past Sunday. I put a very adorable outfit on her and brushed her hair. Then I grabbed her shoe basket out of her closet to see which pair would match the best. She immediately grabbed the basket from me, dumped it out and found her favorites: a pair of red, sparkly ballet flats that Nunny bought her in the fall to wear with her halloween costume. I, however, did not want her to wear her red sparkly shoes, but rather a pair that matched...but this girl would not let me get another shoe NEAR her feet without saying "all done! all done!" So, we wore the red sparkly ones. Choose your battles wisely, right?

Have I also mentioned that she loves Goldfish?

20 Months Old

2010-01-24T19:15:00.009-05:00

Today we entered a new decade with Imogen -- she turned 20 months old. I often wonder, how long do we count months? On children's clothing, they typically count them up to 36 months, but am I really going to say, "Oh, she's 32 months..." one day? Probably not. I suppose we'll keep counting them up to 24 months, and then it will be 2, 2 1/2, almost 3, 3, and so on. I can't believe she is getting so old. It's funny to think that I think she's 'old'. To me, she is still my tiny baby, and I suppose she always will be.

So, what is Imogen like today? Here are a few tidbits:

* She knows about 30+ signs in American Sign Language thanks to Baby Einstein "My First Signs" and "Baby Wordsworth" DVDs...and to us for using the signs at home and reinforcing them. We highly recommend the DVDs if anyone is looking for baby gifts! I have attempted to get her on video running through all the signs, but have been unsuccessful. Maybe one day...

* She sleeps through the night like a dream. This has been going on since mid-July and it is wonderful -- we waited a long time, and the patience paid off! I don't really remember what it was like before now, but I'm sure one day we will be back at that place. When she wakes up on the weekend, she will now play in her crib and we'll listen to her talk to her stuffed animals. It's only when she yells "ba-ba" (that's me), that we will go in her room and get her.

* She is just about running like a big girl. *sigh* Like the kind of running where she is quickly switching feet and getting from point A to B fast. She can also dribble a ball with her feet amazingly well. I'm sure soccer will be in her future.

* She can count from one to six...before then skipping straight to ten. It's awesome to watch her learn and I never would have thought she could count this early -- but I guess a love for numbers does run in the family.

* She loves to eat. I would say her favorite food now is probaby yogurt. She polishes off typically between 1 and 3 a day -- and not just any yogurt; she loves YoBaby brand. What does she love about it, you ask? Why, the picture of the baby on the front, of course! While she eats it, she points at the picture of the baby on the container the entire time and says "bay-bee". We love the fact that she eats this yogurt because it is very wholesome and nutricious, but our reasons are purely trivial to her. She also loves to eat pasta with red sauce, pancakes, bagels, cheese, crackers, cereal bars, goldfish and of course, Cheerios. Fruits and vegetables continue to be a source of frustration -- one day she eats them and the next she doesn't. We solve this problem by hiding them in bites of pasta and other foods. However, if her Poppa feeds her broccoli, she will eat broccoli.

* She loves to stack stuff, whether it's blocks, babyfood jars, cat food cans, etc. Anything she can stack, she will. She also loves to push around her grocery cart, play 'chase' with daddy, and spend time loving on her baby and cat.

* Bathtime is really fun now! She will read through the three bath books we have and also identifies all of her colors with her bath toys. Her favorite is the purple one...and she even says "pur-ple" as she grabs it. In the collection of bath toys we have, there are two matching green turtles and when she grabs one, she will always instantly look for the other. She also swims in the tub, laying on her belly and kicking her legs around.

* She loves clothes and shoes -- we have quite the girl on our hands. In a store, she will hold things up to herself and if she really likes it, she won't let go of the hanger. The other day she picked out a cute fleece jacket that was thankfully on clearance for $4.50 -- a bargain shopper too! She had me put it on before we even checked out. She sorts through all of the shoes in her closet to find the pairs and will attempt to put them on, but can't do it just yet and gets upset. One afternoon she wore her red sparkly slippers with her play clothes around the house and just would not have it any other way.

* She does not say 'yes' or 'no', but opts for 'okay' or 'alright' (pronounced awl-wight) for yes and 'all done' for no. We love it!

* Above all else, she is a very happy, content little girl who brings so much joy into our lives!

Here are a few pictures:

This one is back from December on our old camera -- she was playing in the box we used to mail gifts and having a blast.

These next two are also from December. We were shopping after Christmas and let her ride the train in the mall. We weren't sure she'd like it, but thought we'd give it a go. Well, it turns out she liked it so much, she didn't want to get off! Nunny paid for a second trip after seeing that pouty face below.

Now in January -- I had a good friend knit Imogen a hat and mittens. She's an amazing knitter who I've never had knit anything for us before. Back when I was learning, she helped answer so many questions for me! The hat and mittens are perfect.

This next one, I'm not sure what was going on, but loved the expression that I caught on her face :-)
Stacking blocks on the couch at Nunny's house. She was so proud of herself after getting them so high!
Eating a cracker in Daddy's lap over the weekend.

These were just taken yesterday. When Imogen got downstairs in the morning, she kept saying 'ca-cake' which means pancake, but we were in a hurry and didn't have time to make them. All day she kept saying 'ca-cake' so at Nunny's house, she finally got them after dinner. Yummy!

Now trying to feed herself the pancakes. She made an attempt, but the plastic fork wasn't that great; she ended up just using her hands.

Here's to another decade of Imogen...more learning, more doing, more smiles, more laughs, more love.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-13T21:08:00.008-05:00

We know it's late, but as they say, better late than never. So,

******HAPPY NEW YEAR******

We spent New Years Eve at a party at my parents house. We had a fun time chatting with friends and playing games as we all waited for the ball to drop. Imogen even stayed up until midnight -- though she was sooooo tired. She fell asleep as soon as she hit the carseat to head home. Here are a few pictures from that night:

Imogen hiding...yes, just behind her hands. Whenever she doesn't want to do something or doesn't want us to 'get' her, she puts her hands over her eyes and disappears!

Laughing about nothing and everything with her Nunny.

The proud parents -- we are really looking forward to all that 2010 has to offer! Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas...and all that jazz

2009-12-29T10:02:00.010-05:00

Merry Christmas to all! Chris and I decided to start a tradition where we buy an ornament for Imogen each year that commemorates the past 365 days in some way, shape or form. So as Imogen grows, we will be able to see how she has changed over time and what her likes were. This year, we chose a Cheerio's ornament. I could not pass this one up when I saw it at S.W. Randall. Imogen is a Cheerio lover -- and is so adorable when she tells us she wants them! The ornament now adorns our tree and will for the next many, many years.

We had a wonderful holiday shared with lots of family and friends. Our activities started on Christmas Eve at our home. Imogen opened her presents from Santa and from her Nana and Grandpa in Mississippi.

First, the presents from Santa, which she opened with enthusiasm. Her stocking contained two little stuffed animals, a doggie and a kitty. Here she is hugging the doggie.

Then she very nicely sat in her new chair at her new table holding her new bear while waiting for the next gift. Have I mentioned that she has an infinite love for babies and stuffed animals?!?! I love her expression in this picture -- sort of like, "mommy, stop taking my picture!"

After opening a couple gifts in her chair, we moved to the ground where the sun wasn't so bright. She, of course, had to take her little kitty and continued to hug and kiss it while opening all her gifts.

Then, she proceeded to open all subsequent gifts with only one hand, holding the kitty in the other hand.

And with gifts still unopened, she decided she had had enough and played with the kitty some more. She layed on the floor and talked to the kitty, hugged the kitty and kissed the kitty.

One gift she did manage to open was an awesome shopping cart from her Nana and Grandpa. She loves this thing! As soon as we got it together, she took off around the house with it. Of course, her kitty and doggie are safely inside going for a ride too.

Next we move to Christmas Eve dinner at my Nana's house. Imogen received several toys, but instead decided the water bottles were more fun and showed us how many she could carry at one time. She looked so pretty in her classic red satin dress!

She took a break from the water bottles to wrestle her (2nd) cousin, Luke, to see who could get into his chair first. It is an adorable mini-recliner and Imogen loves it. Too bad it went home to Kentucky with him.

Imogen then moved to the television and watched whichever football game was on. She cheered as each team made good plays. She does love her sports thanks to daddy.

We spent the night at my parents house on Christmas Eve. Imogen woke up to more gifts -- the most exciting of which was a new kitchen! This thing is so fun; it makes boiling water sounds and frying pan sounds when you put the respective pans on the little burner. She is going to have tons of fun buying food at the store with her shopping cart and cooking it all in the kitchen!

She only opened a few presents Christmas morning before telling us she had had enough. The rest of her gifts were opened later in the day by me....but Imogen did help with a few when she felt like it. She was so funny when she (or I) opened clothes -- she would hold them up to herself and exclaim "wow" !! It was so cute! She was honestly just as excited for the clothes as she was the toys!

Later in the morning, Imogen and her Zianna decided to rest together with Zianna's puppies, Lady (black) and Duke (red). Imogen LOVES her dogs! They are both mini-dachunds and are very cute I must say (but we want nooooooo dogs right now). I would like to point out that this picture was not posed. I walked in to find them all laying like this and cracked up!

Finally, our festivities rolled over to the 26th where we had fun with friends and family at their Christmas party at my parents house. It was so wonderful to see everyone -- many of whom we haven't seen since this summer or even last Christmas. Since I was behind the camera much of the holiday, I don't have many pictures with Imogen, but here is a nice one of us.

And Imogen was on the go most of the day, so this is the best family picture we got. She was trying to get down the entire time I was holding her.

Merry Christmas from the Boyle Family!! <3

18 Months Old

2009-11-25T15:47:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Imogen hit the 18-month milestone and today was her Well Baby visit with the doctor to make sure she's growing on track -- which she is! Here are her stats:

Weight: 23 pounds 6 ounces (36th percentile)
Length: 31 3/4 inches (38th percentile)

The doctor was very happy with her growth and overall development. She had to get two shots to finish off the series for the Pc and HiB. She was a trooper, but definitely knew what was going on as soon as the nurse swabbed her leg with alcohol. Imogen started crying at that moment and didn't stop until after the shots were over. It was so sad :-( However, she quickly forgot about the pain as we wisked her out of the office and went out for breakfast. We are not sure which vaccination we are going to start next, but talked with the doctor today about what our options are. We have decided to put Imogen on a selective and delayed vaccination schedule, which means that she won't be getting some vaccines and we'll delay others that can be given at an older age. Barring any sicknesses over the winter, we won't go back to see him for another six months -- which I am sure Imogen will smile over.

Here are a few pictures of our 18-month-old girl playing. It is getting harder by the day to capture a photo of her looking at the camera, but I will never stop trying!

Happy (Belated) Halloween & Other Stuff From October

2009-11-25T14:44:00.006-05:00

We have been a very busy family lately and our poor blog has taken a back seat to our action packed lives. However, I am hoping to get back to normal with several posts each month of what's happening with us. For now, I wanted to take a few minutes to post some pictures that I really love from last month and Halloween. Hope you enjoy them :-)

Imogen has always loved reading books, but now she will actually sit and let you read the page before turning it! Here she is reading one of her favorite books with Daddy called "Yummy Yucky" She highly recommends it! (and so do we!)

She has mastered the art of sippy cup drinking and has a couple different ones she uses. I love this photo because it's like she is trying to chug the water! LOL She doesn't drink like this all the time, but does do it every once in a while and I always find it funny.

Imogen LOVES dogs. And while we have no plans in our future to get one, she completely enjoys playing with my parents and sisters dogs! There are plenty in our family to keep her occupied that we are not directly responsible for :-) Here she is with the queen-bee of my parents house, Tessie. In the first picture, she is hugging Tessie and the second picture, she is sitting on her -- in other words, Tessie loves her back.

A picture with Minnie to get all prepped for Halloween!

We didn't go trick-or-treating on Halloween this year because she is really too young (in our eyes) to eat candy yet. However, we did get to go to a costume Birthday party for one of her good friends, Lily! Here she is strutting her stuff in her best Minnie Mouse attire complete with ears and red sparkly shoes.

We had a great October and hope you did too!

80s Baby, Yea!

2009-10-31T21:08:00.005-04:00

At the beginning of October we celebrated in retro-style by attending an 80s Themed Birthday Prom for our good friend, Erin. It was so awesome and the whole fam dressed the part. Chris wore a white polo with popped collar, white shoes and an awesome visor that you definitely haven't seen for decades. I wore a knit dress, decorative neon tank, leggings, hot pink legwarmers and silver shoes. Of course I was rocking blue eyeshadow, big earrings and a side ponytail with scrunchie! (and yes, I actually bought a scrunchie!) Imogen was wearing a large printed dress and also wearing legwarmers. I wanted to put her hair into a side ponytail too, but the girl will not keep anything in her hair.

We had a great time eating lots of good food, dancing to some 80s tunes and watching our friends sing karoke. A couple gals painted a backdrop where all the couples could get their "prom" photo taken -- just like old times! (see top photo) There were tons of balloons and Imogen kept signing "ball" and stood there staring up at all of them for a lot of the evening.

Imogen and I with the birthday girl, Erin!

80s Footwear

Imogen and her balloons

We had a great time! Happy Birthday Erin!!

The Hug Heard Around the World

2009-10-10T13:42:00.004-04:00

From the evening of September 30th...the tender moment of reuniting with daddy. Imogen had such a grip on his shoulders she would not let go. I had often wondered if she missed him like I did -- I think at the very moment of seeing him, her world was right again.

Yum Yum!

2009-10-10T11:59:00.002-04:00

Imogen is now at the point where she will experiment with new foods -- and recently has tried chocolate! She was hesitant at first, but warmed up to it in no time and really enjoyed eating a chocolate popsicle with me :-)

Below are pictures of her eating some pasta, which is definitely one of her favorites. When we cook spaghetti, we'll chop up a bit and put a pile in front of her to feed herself and she just goes to town. Since she really won't keep a bib on, we almost always end up changing her shirt after a particularly messy meal like this.

We taught Imogen how to do sign language and have LOVED her being able to tell us what she wants when she wants it. The bottom picture is her telling me "more" because she is almost done chewing and needs another bite on deck...and she needs it now!

A Visit from Violet

2009-09-20T11:43:00.005-04:00

Last weekend our friends stopped by with their baby, Violet. We first met Violet and her family back in January when I was searching out babies to donate my extra breastmilk. Here was our first mention of her -- they are the local Pittsburgh family. We've visited with them several times since January, at first just getting to know each other, but now to catch up on what's going on. To date, I have donated 1,015 ounces of breastmilk and Violet has been the recipient of all but 200 ounces of it. It makes me so happy to know that another baby is benefiting from my milk the way that Imogen has and I am very proud of that.

Violet is now 19 months old and a strong, vibrant, healthy little girl! This visit was the first that we got to see her walking, see her new teeth, and hear her chatting away. I also love her hair -- something that has grown out a lot since we saw her last back in July. She also has a little more chub on her than we've ever seen and I love it! Imogen had a blast playing with her and they enjoyed a game of "pass the bear" back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

I made the knitted dress that Violet is wearing and gave it to her a couple months ago. It now fits and she looks adorable in it! I chose the color scheme (with the help of Chris!) and the colors are perfect for her. She is a very special miracle baby, born at 24 weeks 1 day, weighing 1 pound 2 ounces. Every time I see her, I am amazed at how, with the grace of God and some modern medicine, even the tiniest of babies can go on to flourish!

Pittsburgh Pride Longies

2009-09-20T11:12:00.003-04:00

I recently finished Imogen's first knitted pants of the fall/winter season, and I used a beautifully dyed yarn that I purchased locally from another Pittsburgh-ian. No one could have matched the colors of the Steelers and Penguins better! Imogen will get tons of use out of them during the football and hockey season this year and we even have an awesome matching jersey. Action shots to follow, but I don't have any just yet.

Yarn By: Maggie of Burgh Baby Gear
Yarn Type: BFL Aran
Colorway: Pittsburgh Pride

15-Month Well Baby Visit

2009-09-08T22:30:00.002-04:00

Today I took Imogen to her 15-month Well Baby Visit with Dr. Lincoln. I can't believe she is so big already! The receptionists in the office always say, "Wow! Look how big she is! I remember when she was this little." Have I mentioned that we really love our doctor and his office? Anyway, Imogen's stats are:

Weight: 22 pounds 6 ounces (39th percentile)
Length: 30.5 inches (46th percentile)
Head: 45.5 cm (50th percentile)

He said she is growing wonderfully and looks like a healthy little girl. She had to get one shot, her last DTaP for quite some time, and took it like a champ. Seriously I think it was the best shot experience we've had so far. I also got some paperwork to take Imogen in to get her blood drawn and tested for lead among other things. I'm sure that will be fun.

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone a quick update!

Sittin' on the Pot

2009-09-07T09:41:00.008-04:00

A couple nights ago, Imogen was playing in the kitchen cabinets that hold all our pots and pans. Normally she would just take a few out and maybe slide one across the tile making all sorts of loud noise before abandoning the items as boring. But this day was different. She grabbed one of our large pots and carried it to the family room. I watched her as she then stepped one foot in, then the other in and attempted to squeeze her whole body down into it! LOL! It was soooo funny to watch! She couldn't get herself the entire way in, so she ended up just sittin' on the pot -- and she was so very proud of herself :-)

We already have a potty seat for the real 'pot' and Imogen sits on it at least once a day to start learning what is coming in the future. I can't wait until she uses that pot all the time!

More Friends!

2009-09-05T10:09:00.005-04:00

Last week, a good friend of mine who has moved east was back in the area to pack up the rest of her and her family's belongings. She has a beautiful little girl named Samantha, who was born 2 1/2 months after Imogen. You all know Imogen's love of other kiddos so I was excited for them to get to play together. Here are some pictures of them. Do you know how hard it is to get two one-year-olds to sit still for a picture?? It was so funny watching them because whatever toy one was playing with, the other always wanted too! My friend said that Samantha was walking more than she'd ever seen at our house and I think Samantha was just trying to show off to her new friend :-)

A Picnic and a Shooting Star

2009-08-23T13:52:00.005-04:00

Yesterday Imogen and I went to a picnic/30th birthday gathering at our friends home. It was so nice to get out of the house, eat some (okay, lots) of good food, talk with lots of friends, and let Imogen play with some other kiddos.

One little boy there, Carter, was born the month before Imogen. They were actually due at the same time, but he decided to come a little early. The pictures speak for themselves, but Imogen adored him....as she does all kids she meets. She is so social! When we first got there, they played with a ball together. And as a side note -- Imogen was signing 'ball' over and over. She would pick up the ball, then throw it and sign/say 'ball', although her verbal version was usually 'ba'. She loved to touch him and hug him and, I think, had a really great time herself. The funny thing about the photos below is that they were not taken quickly one after the other -- they were taken at separate times; she just hugged him that much!

Imogen and Aunty Nicole checking out some of the photos she took at the end of the night.

Our group photo we take every time we're all together! Imogen sure has grown since the first!

On the drive home, Imogen slept the entire way -- she was exhausted! I was left pondering our lives and our uncertain future at this point when, there it was. In the dark night sky, right in front of me -- a beautiful shooting star. And I have to say that I'm not sure if I've ever seen one before. I mean, I may have seen one but was never sure if it actually was a shooting star, but the one I saw last night was the real deal. It made me smile because I feel like GOD sent it just for me to see at that very moment and let me know that everything was going to be okay...no matter what happens, it will be okay. And that put my mind at peace.

September Please

2009-08-21T22:38:00.005-04:00

It's been one rollercoaster ride of a month, this August, and I'm ready for it to be over. September, won't you come faster, please? I don't normally wish time to go by quickly, but just this once wouldn't be so bad. In light of this rollercoaster, I have been slacking bigtime with picture taking of Imogen. I promise to take more this weekend! Here is a picture of my dear friend, Erin, and Imogen, taken last week. Erin has been there for me through it all and she came to my rescue once again when I needed a friend to talk to. (Thank you bunches!)

Some of you may be confused, but I'd rather not post details on here. Just know that our family could use all the prayers you can muster up right now. We really appreciate it!

My First Juliette

2009-08-02T14:38:00.006-04:00

I've been working on this knitting project since casting on on my birthday. It's been 5 weeks -- and now it's finally complete! I bought a pattern online called the Juliette Skirtie and this is my first. I really love how it turned out and it looks adorable on Imogen!

Yarn by: Mosaic Moon
Yarn Type: 3-ply Merino

Colorway: Foxglove

BFFs

2009-07-30T19:01:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we went to a picnic at my parents house and many friends and family were there -- and it's so fun because now there are lots of other kids for Imogen to play with! The little boy in these photos is Tristan. He was born 2 days after Imogen (on Imogen's due date!) and he lives several hours away, so we don't get to see him very often. Imogen enjoyed stealing his puffs and, with the help of a couple other little girls, ate all of them! It was so funny seeing all the girls stuffing their face with puffs while the little boy played happily to the side and could have cared less.
The little girl is Imogen's BFF, Leah. Leah is 9 months older than Imogen and loves her so! When Leah saw me for the first time at the picnic, she yelled, "Imi!" It was so cute! Leah and her parents live close to my parents so when we go to see them, we get to visit often. Now that Imogen is a tad older and into other kiddos and playing, it's been fun watching her and Leah together. We hope they continue to enjoy each others friendship and company :-)

Trip to Florida: Part V (The Finale!)

2009-07-27T19:16:00.005-04:00

Saturday was our last full day in Orlando and our plan was for each mini-van (we had 2) to take a group to their collective favorite rides/games from earlier in the week. The mini-van we rode in first went to Hollywood Studios to ride the Toy Story Midway Mania game. It was definitely worth another try, although I think I did better the first time. Then, Chris, Imogen and I ate a little breakfast while the others went to ride the Rockin' Roller Coaster. We made great time, getting into the park and riding both rides within an hour and a half.

Our next stop was Epcot -- and we were there just in time for lunch! We ate at the Mexican Restaurant and it was very tasty. Imogen was such a good girl and slept through the entire meal! After eating lunch, we swung by Norway for another almond pretzel and went shopping in Germany.

Here we are at the end of lunch in Mexico. Imogen was sleeping in the stroller between us.

Next, we jetted off to the Magic Kingdom for something we completely missed the first time -- a photo in front of Cinderella's Castle. We also decided to wait in the obnoxiously long line to ride Dumbo. Imogen was sleeping when we were in Fantasyland on Tuesday, and we felt like she should ride Dumbo of any ride at Disney. Overall, it was a very hot day! Our first day without rain all week, so it was a tad miserable...you know, all the sweating and feeling gross and the constant thirst. But we didn't stop going and going! I think the sunny weather just made us thankful that it wasn't like that every day of the week!

Chris had been carrying around a backpack with our camera in it and when he took it off, I captured a photo of what was left behind -- and exact outline of the bag in sweat! Yes, it was that hot!

Waiting for the gate to open so we could get on Dumbo!

The best photo we got of the 3 of us on Dumbo :)

Our last stop of the day was at Downtown Disney to meet the other half of our group and eat dinner at Portabello, an Italian restaurant. It was delicious, but inside the restaurant was FREEZING. So cold, in fact, that the waiter brought all the girls tablecloths to wear as shawls since we only had tank tops on. After the meal, we were excited to go back out in the heat, but it had rained while we ate and cooled down tremendously! So, we all ran into the stores and bought sweatshirts.

A final group photo before we headed home the next morning! It was a great (albeit exhausting) trip! :-) I hope you enjoyed following along! (if you made it this far--haha!)

Trip to Florida: Part IV

2009-07-24T20:48:00.006-04:00

Wednesday we went to Blizzard Beach and unfortunately took NO pictures! It is a very large water park with sand, so we decided to keep our camera clean and dry and locked it away in a locker when we got there. In hindsight, I wish we would have kept it out because Imogen had such a grand time playing in the kiddie area, called Tykes Peak, and we would have loved to capture her face on film. Oh well! We have those memories in our mind. We enjoyed lounging on the lazy river and even took Imogen on a very long family raft slide! Just as all the other rides she was on during the trip, I really think she just didn't know what was going on enough to enjoy them fully. But, as I mentioned above, she LOVED to play in the kiddie area. There were all kinds of fountains and spraying water and other kids that she loved to stare at. It was a great water park and I would definitely love to go back on our next trip to Orlando.

Thursday we went to Epcot. In the morning it was drizzling even before we left, so that made for a very empty park. However, the rain was never very bad and we enjoyed a day of short lines and small crowds.

The gang when we first got to the park.

We ate lunch at the hibachi in Japan called Tepon Edo. It was very tasty! I gave Imogen some rice and zuccini and to our surprise, she ate it! Our chef was a very old Japanese guy and he was awesome. He made an onion choo-choo complete with steam!

Imogen was asleep when we first got there, but as soon as she woke up, she wanted in on the chopstick action.

I got some great shots of her when we were finished eating.

Imogen had a great time!

Waiting in the lobby with Nunny and pointing to her nose! It was her favorite thing to do -- point at noses. Imogen can now point to my eyes, nose and mouth!

In Germany, we got our first and only character pictures during the trip -- with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. The lines were always long at the characters and since Imogen doesn't know any of them yet, we didn't wait anywhere else.

While we waited for the laser show and fireworks, we let Imogen walk around and stretch her legs. Here she walks around with her Uncle Joe.

We definitely had a nice day of eating in Epcot! Food was the theme of the day! Chris and I had an almond pretzel in Norway, eggrolls in China, gelato in Italy, dinner in Japan, and ice cream at night! And the park was not crowded at all, so it was very nice not having to wait in long lines.

Friday was Animal Kingdom day!

A family picture with the Tree of Life in the background.

The first thing we rode here was the safari. This is my favorite picture Chris took during it -- of the lion. ROAR! There were some very cool animals to see, but since we live near the zoo in Pittsburgh, we have seen lots of them before. The bumpiness of the vehicle we were in put Imogen right to sleep, which was so nice and easy!

Unfortunately we forgot to charge our camera battery Thursday night so it died early in the day, therefore that's all the pictures we have of Animal Kingdom.

We have one more day to recap and it was a fun one! Look for the finale of our Trip to Florida coming soon! :-)

Trip to Florida: Part III

2009-07-20T21:27:00.005-04:00

Tuesday we went to the Magic Kingdom and from the beginning, we knew it would be a long day. They have a parade and fireworks at 9pm -- so of course we had to stay for them. It was the first day in the parks where it rained on us, but besides being slightly annoying, it was a welcome cool down. It didn't slow our group down at all...we would go in to see movies or ride in-door rides during the heavy rain.

Imogen slept a looooooooong time this day! She took a 2 1/2 hour nap in the morning and then a 2 hour nap in the late afternoon! It was nice for Chris and I because we were able to ride some rides and do things that we couldn't take her on, but at the same time, for anyone who's been to Disney, you know you can't take strollers indoors at all, and we didn't want to take a sleeping baby out of the stroller -- so Chris and I diverged from the group a lot this day and just walked around. One thing we got to eat that we haven't had since our honeymoon in Hawaii is Dole Whip. I'm not sure exactly what makes it so special, it's really just like a soft-serve ice-cream, but it was so good and completely took us back to our time at the Dole Pineapple Plantation on Oahu. Chris got a root beer float with vanilla Dole Whip and I got a pineapple float (it was orange/vanilla twist Dole Whip in pineapple juice). They were incredibly tasty on a hot day!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Sleeping in the morning...almost as soon as we got into the park.

Imogen wore her Minnie polka dot crossover dress and cute pigtails!

She woke up while most of our group was waiting in line for Splash Mountain -- I stayed behind with her and Nana.

Nana and I rode the Mad Tea Party with Imogen -- I think she liked it!

Chris and I rode the Carousel with her. She stared at the center mirrors the whole time we circled.

The afternoon "Celebrate Today" parade. I think this character is Abu from Aladdin.

Sitting on Minnie's chair in her house in Toon Town. Imogen would have spent hours in this giant cartoon house if we have let her.

Waiting with mom for the fireworks show.

A closing family picture :-)

I know, I know -- we didn't get any pictures of/by the castle this day! Not to worry -- we went back on Saturday for a prime photo-op. Stay tuned!

Trip to Florida: Part II

2009-07-17T17:24:00.008-04:00

Sunday we drove over to Orlando and got settled in our condo -- 12 adults, 2 tweens and a baby -- we were like one big happy family all crammed in there! That evening we went to Downtown Disney and enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Rainforest Cafe and walked around for awhile. Imogen got to ride her first Carousel -- I think she liked it! She also got her first Minnie stuffed animal. My mom bought it for her and when you push her white glove, she talks and says the cutest things. Imogen absolutely loves her! At the end of the day, she was completely exhausted and had a nice nap in her stroller.

Monday was Hollywood Studios. I had looked online before we left to see what days were the busiest in each park, and so we scheduled our days around those. It is a very fun park with an amazing new 3D ride -- Toy Story Midway Mania! It is a game more than a ride consisting of 2 people sitting behind toy guns (for lack of a better word) and shooting targets. The car moves from screen to screen and each is different and you try to score the most points. Perhaps it doesn't sound all that glamorous in my description, but of the 14 people in our group who can talk, 11 said it was the top thing in all of Disney at the end of the week. It really was so fun! And the bonus was that Imogen could ride along in our car and just watch, so we didn't have to leave her outside while we waited awhile in line.

My dad and brothers got to participate in another attraction at Hollywood Studios -- the making of the action movie: Harbor Attack. It was pretty cool, just browse through the series of photos below and you can get the gist. They were very good actors!

We also rode the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster, which were both fun! Monday was a very hot day with no rain, so we were ready to leave that evening and spent time in the pool when we got back to the condo.

To be continued....

Trip to Florida: Part I

2009-07-15T20:50:00.006-04:00

We recently got back from an action packed trip to Florida to visit family and take Imogen to Disney World for the first time. Since there are WAY too many pictures to post in one post, I'm going to do a series...and the first is our time in Tampa.

We flew down on Thursday July 2nd and enjoyed a nice smooth flight after a one-hour delay in Pittsburgh. We had a direct flight, which was key...and also another thing we learned was to take late afternoon flights whenever possible. It was so nice not having to get up before the sun and race around to get to the airport on time. My aunt and uncle picked us up at the airport and we stayed with them until Sunday. It was so nice to visit and I was excited for them to see Imogen -- it had been about 11 months since they had! Imogen has grown so much from last August!

My aunt and uncle have a beautiful pool in their backyard and we really took advantage of having it available to us! It was Imogen's first time in a pool and she loved it!

Here are some pictures from our first couple days:

Waiting at the gate in Pittsburgh with Mommy

Floating around in the pool in her cool baby ring

Posing with Mom and Dad

Her swimsuit was a tad big...but I got it on clearance at the end of last season and guessed Imogen's size for this summer. She was a little smaller than we expected, but those things are NOT cheap full price! Nevertheless, she looked adorable in it!

Happy 4th of July! We bought her some special pigtail bows and shorts to celebrate the Independence of our country!

Munching on some goldfish

We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and spending time together

Posing with Zizi Lisa before our trip over to Disney World (zizi means "aunt" in Italian and is pronounced zit-zee)

To be continued...

Kennywood

2009-07-13T11:49:00.007-04:00

My company hosted their annual picnic at Kennywood this year on Friday June 26th. All employees and their families got free tickets and they rent lots of pavillions with food and drinks for all of us. It was nice to get to go again -- last year I was off on maternity leave during the picnic. I enjoyed getting to see some of my co-workers families and children, and I think they liked meeting Imogen.

It was Imogen's first trip to an amusement park and first time riding rides. She did rather well, I think. No crying at all, but she certainly didn't bubble over with laughter on any of the rides. We rode 3 with her -- and here are pictures from each one...along with some other pictures from the day.
At one of the pavillions, Imogen liked playing in the wood chips.

I rode the Lil' Whip with her -- that was the biggest smile we captured all day.

Chris and Imogen waiting in line for her first roller coaster!

They rode the Lil' Phantom together. It was a pretty fast ride for such a little girl!

Waiting in line for our last ride of the day -- the Mini Turtle.

It was fun, but I think all the riding and waiting in line exhausted her. She took a nice nap after these. We look forward to coming back to Kennywood in the future when she can ride more and more rides!

Birthday & Wedding

2009-06-28T21:29:00.007-04:00

First I want to shout out HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY to my Uncle Nick!!!! What a milestone to reach -- we wish you many more years of good health and happiness! See you soon! ;-)

Last weekend, we drove up to northwestern PA to celebrate the wedding of good friends of ours: Lindsay and Keenan. It was an amazing time and I wanted to share some pictures of the occasion...

On Friday we checked in to the hotel. Imogen immediately dug into the box of goodies left for all the wedding guests!

The bride & groom at the rehearsal dinner -- they are such a wonderful couple!

Imogen wore her very first pigtails to the rehearsal dinner! I love her little watermelon outfit! (I also love watermelon, but that is beside the point.)

Both Anna and I were in the wedding. Here we are in the church basement all ready to go!

Chris and I at the reception -- a handsome couple to say the least :-)

My mom took Imogen outside by the pool and would slowly spin her around on the chairs. She LOVED it!

One of THE best ideas I have ever seen at a wedding -- a basket full of all different sizes of white flip flops for the dancing guests! This just shows you all the details and thought that Lindsay and Keenan put into their wedding day; every little thing was perfect!

Anna and Imogen dancing away!

Towards the end of the night, my older sister, Lisa and I posed for a picture.

Keenan has been a friend of the family for many many years and he's always been known as a jokester -- it did not surprise me at all that their first dance was so fun -- although, I think we all were surprised! See it here: The good part starts around 2:00!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9dkqYd3gqY

Everything was amazing Lindsay & Keenan and we wish you a hundred happy years together!

Congratulations as well to my friend Kara who got married the same day and whose wedding I could not attend....you looked beautiful!! Pictures and more details can be seen by clicking on the "Thoughts from E" blog on the right tool bar.

Oh, Baby Baby Baby!

2009-06-25T20:00:00.005-04:00

There has been a flurry of new babies born in the last 2 weeks to my friends and family. I just wanted to say congratulations to all of them here :)

First, born on **June 13th** to my wonderful friends Hannah & Jon is Tirzah Ruth. They didn't know what they were having and were very surprised about having their second girl after a very different pregnancy than her first. They live in Delaware and Jon attended the University of Delaware, so I knitted the baby some UDel inspired pants and soaker! I knitted these quite awhile ago, but didn't want to share until I gifted them.

Next, born on **June 20th** to my friends Alysia & Mike is Talia Mae. They didn't know what they were having either, but I knew it was a girl all along. Alysia's belly grew sooooooo similar to mine! You can view their blog in the link to the right and see lots of beautiful pictures of little Talia. Mike, Alysia and I attended Penn State together and so I knitted their little peanut this Penn State Hudson Hat. I love it and am so pleased with how it turned out! I know it will get lots of good use in those cold Michigan winters!
Lastly, born today, **June 25th** to my cousins Bonnie & Joe is not-yet-named Tiny Boy Turco! I'm so excited for them and know they will be great parents! I didn't knit anything for them because they live in South Carolina and I couldn't think of anything wool that he would ever need there! (HA!)

Congratulations to all of you!! The journey of parenthood is so amazing and such a special gift!

Father's Day & Birthday

2009-06-23T19:15:00.008-04:00

First, I want to give a public (although belated) Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, Chris! He is such an amazing daddy to Imogen, and it makes me smile so much every day as I watch him interact with her. He does it all -- changes diapers, brushes her hair, puts her down for naps, plays with her, cleans up after her....the list could go on and on! I love you and happy 2nd father's day!!

A special happy father's day also goes out to my dad and Chris's dad!

Happy belated Birthday to me! I turned the tender age of 28 yesterday. I suppose it's not so bad getting a year older....at least not yet! My 27th year was an amazing one filled with wonderful memories of Imogen's first year -- it's one I will surely not forget!

And because you're all here to see pictures of Imogen -- here are a few cute ones :-)

Nana helping Imogen learn how to hold the handle to the popper.

Off she goes!

Playing inside at Nunny's house

Busy Busy Busy!

2009-06-18T19:56:00.007-04:00

Well, summer has hit and besides being able to be outside in the evenings, I've also been extremely busy at work -- so have been really slacking at posting on the blog! (I'm sorry!) But, I haven't forgotten about my lovely readers :-)

Imogen is definitely in a growth spurt! Besides sleeping a lot she is also eating more than we've seen her before. Some new foods she's eating include pancakes, eggs, cheese, and yogurt. She really loves fruits and needs time to get used the veggies before she'll really dig in. Also, she's started using a sippie cup and drinking water. She's not a pro yet, but she finally got the hang of how to suck from the spout.

Here are some recent pictures I took of Imogen around the house:

She somehow opened the top on the glowstick container and before I knew it, several were lit up from her bending them! LOL!

Imogen spends a lot of her day chasing her two furry friends! One (Lilly) enjoys the playmate in her -- the other (Felix) could care less and stays as far away as he can.

She's really good about NOT going up the stairs -- she'll wait at the bottom and yell at the cats, who know how many steps up are just out of her reach.

I love how she gets up on her toes to reach for things! Again -- reaching for a kittie!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful June so far!!

First Piggies & Swinging

2009-06-08T21:57:00.007-04:00

This weekend we traveled to Columbus for a cousin's graduation party. There, Imogen sported her very first pigtails! Earlier in the day, we bought some very small ponytail holders at Target and Imogen actually sat relatively still while I was brushing her hair and putting it up. Her hair is so fine and soft that I was surprised they stayed in so well! Everyone at the party loved them too!

The yard across from our cousin's had a baby swing, so we asked if Imogen could swing in it. She had a blast! Nothing but pure joy on her face -- it was so heartwarming to see how much fun she was having on something so simple :-) As adults, I think we forget about the simple pleasures of childhood. That being said, I decided to swing next to her! Talk about reliving your childhood with your child -- I'm all for it! We don't have room for a swingset at our house now, but have a park nearby and will go up there soon so we can take advantage of the swings!

Birthday Party

2009-05-30T23:27:00.005-04:00

As you all know, we had Imogen's first birthday party last Sunday on her birthday. I am finally getting some time now to post pictures of it!

Her 3-D cupcake birthday cake. Chris baked it and my mom iced it. It looked even more amazing in person!

The birthday girl toddling around in an outfit hand-crafted by my Aunt -- everyone commented on how beautiful it was!

We all sang 'Happy Birthday' as Imogen batted the cake! She got lots of help blowing out the candle by the other kiddos who were there to celebrate.

Not surprisingly, she was completely uninterested in the cake. We then brought out a small cupcake that we tried to get her to eat. She licked the icing a few times, but then got upset, so we got her out of the chair.

She also had her first vanilla frozen custard, which I definitely think she liked more than the cake! Again, she just licked -- but that is the best thing to do with ice-cream :-)

I'm sure that her favorite part of the whole party was opening presents! She really loved them all!

After they were all open, she kept knocking them over and pushing everything that played music or made noise...and she loved looking at the pictures of the kids on the sides of the boxes.

They're mine, all mine!

Four generations of women here! Nana, my mom, me (and my sis, Lisa) and Imogen.

At the end of the party, she was so tired, which made good use for the pacifier. She just sat on the deck and played with a spoon as we all said good-bye.

We had a great time and think everyone else did also!! Yay for Imogen being one!!!

A Look Back: Part III

2009-05-25T13:04:00.008-04:00

Saturday morning was all business and no more fun in the hospital. At 9am I was told that if I hadn't made any progress by 4pm, that it would be recommended I have a c-section, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid. But, for some reason, I wasn't progressing at all. At noon, the nurse checked me and I still hadn't made any change from the day before. I was so upset! As I layed in bed crying and trying to talk through my options with Chris, my mom and dad, the most unexpected thing happened -- Imogen broke my water! It was so exciting and painful after that. But I didn't have to endure it for very long -- she was born in a hurry a mere 3 1/2 hours later!

It turns out that her head was tilted back instead of chin tucked and her left arm was up above her head and came out first (which they couldn't see on the ultrasound the day before)! I say she was a ballerina even in the womb :-) Anyway, those two things were the reason she wasn't descending and I wasn't progressing, but they were all forgotten the moment Imogen was layed on my stomach. Seeing her for the first time was the most surreal moment of my life -- one that I will never forget. My body grew and delivered a perfect little baby, and from that moment on, I have a new respect for it and for all women who have children.

Our last picture together before Imogen was born.

This was taken while she was getting examined by the midwife. The red mark above her left eye is broken capillaries, and it's almost completely healed itself now.

A proud new father.

Happy Grandparents!

After a long day, Imogen finally settled in for a snooze....while swaddled in 3 blankets (hospital policy).

I guess that's enough reminiscing for now! It was just a very special time for us last year and as Imogen's first birthday has come and gone, I wanted to remind myself of the incredible miracle we experienced.

She's One!

2009-05-23T20:31:00.011-04:00

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Imogen!
Happy Birthday to you!

...and many more!

We can't believe a year has gone by, but our baby girl is now a toddling little lady! We're celebrating with a Cupcake-themed birthday party attended by our close family and friends. Thank you so much to everyone who has touched our lives in some way this past year -- all of you are very special to us! We look forward to what the next year brings!

Enjoy some pictures from our recent photo session.

"A Look Back: Part III" will be posted tomorrow due to all the celebration going on today! :-)

Photos curtosey of Sandy Yetter/Red Lotus Photography
http://www.redlotusphotography.com/

A Look Back: Part II

2009-05-23T13:42:00.002-04:00

Day 2 in the hospital was an exciting day because we thought Imogen was going to be born this day. We woke up full of energy even though I had been contracting all night long every few minutes. The pitocin wasn't as bad as I expected -- as you can see, I'm still smiling!

I passed the time by looking at all the cute and very tiny accessories we brought for Imogen to wear and use when she arrived. We also watched a lot of tv and I enjoyed texting in between contractions! Sounds funny, but when you have all day laying in a bed waiting and waiting for labor to really start you find anything to do to keep yourself occupied!

My sister, Anna, arrived home from her semester in Sicily just in time for Imogen's arrival! I was so happy she could be there to see her niece :-)

To be continued....

A Look Back: Part I

2009-05-22T09:44:00.006-04:00

Today, last year, was the day that I was admitted to the hospital to be induced because I had high blood pressure. I was so sad that I had to be induced because I really wanted to go into labor naturally and I knew in my heart that Imogen just wasn't ready to come out. But, alas, to keep both of us safe and on as few medications as possible, my midwives told me it was the best thing to do. Over the next three days, we'll look at some pictures taken just before the parenthood adventures began.

Me and Baby Girl -- ready to labor together. I had to stay laying down the entire time because even when I sat up, my blood pressure rose into dangerous levels.

We had a beautiful view of downtown Pittsburgh from our room!

To be continued...

One-Year Doctor Visit & More

2009-05-21T20:09:00.006-04:00

Today was Imogen's one-year doctor visit and it went very well! Here are her stats:

Weight: 20 pounds 9 ounces
Length: 29 inches

Those measurements are both in the 50th percentile for her age and so was her head circumference although I don't know the number for that. The doctor asked us lots of questions as to what Imogen was doing these days as far as development, and those answers, as well as her physical, put her in prime condition for a one-year-old. We are so happy and thankful to have a healthy little girl. And she was happy that she didn't have to get any shots today!

I finished another knitting project this week as well, and I have to say it's probably the cutest thing I've knitted for her thus far. It's a Halter dress! I bought this yarn because of the colorway name "Liana." It is Imogen's middle name minus the 'E' on the front :-)

Pattern: Sugerbubbie Halter
Yarn by: Candy Pants Yarn

Yarn type: Licorice Twist
Colorway: Liana

Size: 12-24 months

Next, Imogen has finally realized the purpose of a teething biscuit!

And a picture that will never get old...our little lady fell asleep in her jumperoo again this week! She doesn't play in it every day anymore, but when she does, she obviously wears herself out.

The Discovery of Grass

2009-05-18T17:45:00.007-04:00

Last summer, Imogen was brand new and never had the chance to explore the outdoors much -- or if she was outdoors, we really never put her down to let her feel the grass or sand. Now that it's warming up, we've been taking her outside to play in the yard. The first time we set her on her feet in the grass, she just stood there. Literally for at least 5 minutes, she did not move a millimeter. We eventually sat her down and then she held her hands up and woudn't touch it. After a few swipes of her arms and a seemingly safe new toy, she started grabbing, and the grass didn't have a chance. She pulled and pulled and pulled! She was having a grand ole time! Now, she loves to walk on it, although the uneven terrain can sometimes get the best of her. The two photos above are her first experience with it in our front yard. The bottom two are at my parents house over the weekend.

Walking Video

2009-05-08T22:26:00.005-04:00

Imogen took her first steps almost a month ago now and I finally took a good video of her showing off her new-found mode of transportation. Enjoy :-)

First Wedding

2009-05-07T12:57:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to post this all week, but every day when I get home from work, it seems that I get sidetracked with so many other things, that typing up a blog post gets pushed to the way-side. So, here I sit at work, eating lunch, and letting you know about Imogen's first wedding!

This past Saturday, we went to the wedding of two friends of ours and it was so much fun! The ceremony was held in a Catholic church and now that Imogen is more talkative, I was very worried that she would start babbling at the most inopertune time. But, as it turns out, we were able to keep her distracted and quiet except during the 'Our Father'....which didn't really matter since everyone else was talking aloud too! After the ceremony, we hung out downtown in a bar/restaurant with friends before heading over to the reception. And yes, we had Imogen in a bar (haha! non-smoking of course!). The reception was held at a great restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh and it was really unique because it had 2 in-door floors and then a roof-top terrace. It was a beautiful day and evening, so everyone could enjoy the sites and views from being up so high. The food was delicious -- and the cookies were even better!

While everyone was eating, I allowed Imogen to walk around on the dance floor since it was mostly empty. I couldn't believe how much she was walking -- it was like overnight, something clicked and she was on her feet everywhere. All that practice led to her being able to boogy down that night with some of the other kiddos there. There were these two little girls who had so much fun dancing with her. They would hold her hands and walk around to the music, and if she would fall, the other would pick her back up and they would continue on. It was really so precious!
We had a wonderful time, as you have read, and wish our friends many many years of health and happiness as a married couple!

Hope everyone's first May weekend was filled with smiles -- and here's onto the next.

May Day, May Day!

2009-05-01T19:21:00.004-04:00

It's May. Yes, May. I've been dreading this month getting here because it means Imogen will be a year old by the end of it. No longer our little baby, our tiny tiny peanut, our bean burrito. Now she is walking around about 1/3 of the time! She always takes steps after letting go of anything and sometimes gets to her destination without falling. In the one picture below, she is simultaneously walking to my brother Joe and putting the paci in her mouth -- already a multitasker just like her mama! The other pictures below are Imogen looking out our back french doors toward the garage, where her dada was exercising and she just had to know where he was.

I'll be trying to post more often this month as the big day approaches. I hope everyone has a fantastic month! It's sure to be a special one for us.

Another Shower

2009-04-26T13:06:00.004-04:00

It's shower season, as you have seen from our plethora of pictures at them. Yesterday was no different -- another spring Saturday was spent celebrating the upcoming wedding of friends of ours. The shower was beautiful and very fun! They had some great games to play and the food was very tasty. The only problem was the traffic on the way there. Why o why does PennDot decide to do construction on the busiest roads at the busiest times? I will never understand I guess.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the shower -- and it's one of the best of Imogen and myself in a long time! (since I'm usually the one behind the camera)

Imogen playing with her 'Little People' at the table.

Anna and I with Imogen doing an infamous 'arm-out' shot.

11 Months Old

2009-04-24T22:35:00.008-04:00

Imogen is 11 months old today and I cannot believe it. I know I must say that every month, but time has truly flown by. She is such a big girl and will be walking on her own before we know it! Let's go over some fun facts about Imogen at her 11 month birthday:

* She weighs a little over 19.5 pounds

* She wears 12 month clothing pretty well, but it's a tad big still

* Her hair has grown and filled in so much that we can almost do a ponytail

* She has 6 teeth

* She loves to point and talk at/about whatever she is pointing to. This is actually quite funny because she doesn't tuck her thumb in, so it looks like she's making an "L" or "loser" sign all the time!

* She took her first independent steps on April 10th, but has to-date take as many as four controlled steps in a row without sitting down

* She loves cruising furniture

* She is an amazingly fast crawler

* She babbles constantly, but besides "yes" and "ba ba" it's still her own little language

* She absolutely loves bathtime! The other day she put her face in the water twice. And she's brought the phrase "splish splash I was taking a bath" to a whole new level. I am also soaked at the end of one.

* She is eating babyfood much better, but is still working on solids

* She can feed herself Cheerios -- and should be their new spokesperson apparently (see picture...haha)

* She loves her Baby Einstein "My First Signs" DVD and we're hoping to teach them all to her!

Above all, she is just a busy little girl! We are enjoying her so much and relishing every minute of watching her grow up!

The above pictures are her with her favorite 'toy', the TV remote. Imogen and Tess, one of my parents' dogs, who she is very interested in now. And her with her favorite snack.

We wish this next month to go by slowly -- very slowly.

Rainbow Brite Capris/Shorties

2009-04-19T16:42:00.004-04:00

Earlier today I finished what were supposed to be Imogen's first shorties of the season, but they really turned out to be capris. Personally, I think she just has short legs like me :) It was my first time knitting with BBR, which is very soft wool! I tried knitting them a bit big so they would last all summer long and I think I accomplished that. Stats on the shorties:

Yarn by: Yarnoodles
Yarn type: 2-Ply Blackberry Ridge Merino (BBR)
Colorwary: Kettle Dyed Rainbow

And as always -- some pretty action shots!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T20:26:00.005-04:00

All dressed up in her Easter Sunday outfit!

Loving the rainbows on Holy Saturday!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend with family! We enjoyed staying overnight at my parents house on Saturday, going to church on Sunday morning all together and feasting with family on some delicious food the rest of the day. Besides all of that, Imogen showed us so many things this weekend --

She has found a new favorite toy in the house! She loves to walk all over the place and chase the cats with her little push cart. And she really gets a kick out of walking to us as we call her and she giggles with delight when she reaches us. Plus, over the weekend, on two separate occasions, several people (myself included) watched her take 2 steps without holding onto anything!

Imogen finally put Cheerios into her mouth all by herself on Sunday!-- and she now says "Yes!" quite clearly! We're marking that as her first word :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter as well! Enjoy the video!

Miracle on Food Street

2009-04-06T19:40:00.006-04:00

It's been a long road, but I think we've finally had a breakthrough with Imogen eating solid foods. Tonight she ate at least 3/4 of a jar of 'Peach Oatmeal Banana' babyfood. (see photo below) Woot!! It only took a little over 2 months! And she's been eating puffs and Cheerios like a champ. We are so happy that feeding her is no longer a battle. Now it's only the slow introduction of all different foods that's the fun part :o)

I've been busy knitting away! But my last couple completed projects can't be shown yet because they are gifts -- I will post pictures after I give them to their rightful owners. However, last night, I completed a Kimono for Imogen! I worked on it for a week straight to/from work and a little in the evenings -- it turned out exactly as I imagined! I'm so pleased with it. And to top it all off, I bought Imogen some hot pink bloomers for the summer and they match so well! Imogen enjoyed showing off the outfit earlier today.

Pattern: SMSS Seamless Infant Kimono

Yarn by: Yarnoodles

Yarn type: BFL Aran

Colorway: Wildflower in Spring

Playing Hard

2009-03-30T22:03:00.004-04:00

One thing Imogen loves to do is play -- and she plays hard! She is always busy doing something, moving towards something, studying something. I thought I would post some pictures of her playing it up this past weekend at my parents house. And boy, was she worn out! She slept in late today and took extra long naps. Chris was very happy about this :-)

She was very interested in the dogs this visit as well -- Evie especially. Evie is Imogen's little protector and I'm sure they'll be good friends! Imogen is learning how to pet Evie gently...hopefully she catches on soon!

10 Months Old

2009-03-24T21:45:00.003-04:00

Imogen is 10 months old today! She is getting to be more and more like a big girl and less like a baby every day. In the top picture, she is pulling up on a bookshelf (typical), the middle picture is her playing on the floor at my parents house, and the bottom picture is her and my youngest brother, Joe. You can see her bottom 2 teeth if you look close!

Here are some fun facts about Imogen at 10 months:

* She has 6 teeth! (the 4 top front teeth all came through at the same time -- we noticed them on March 14th for the first time)
* She pulls up to standing like a pro and cruises ever so slowly around furniture.
* She is able to stand all by herself and balance for up to a minute before falling on her bum.
* Crawling is her favorite mode of transportation, and she is fast!

* She is a little chatterbox, talking to us or herself or the cats.

* She claps and waves to everyone.
* She loves to eat Gerber Puffs...and is slightly better at baby food, but otherwise still on breastmilk.
* She is probably close to 20 pounds and wearing 12 month clothing.

There are so many other fun things that Imogen is doing now that I cannot possibly name them all. She is such a happy little girl who enjoys smiling, laughing, playing and cuddling! We are so very blessed :-)

Another Shower

2009-03-21T22:34:00.003-04:00

Tis the season!

Today Imogen and I went to a bridal shower for our friend, Vanessa. It was held at a beautiful country club. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and catching up with some friends before watching Vanessa open loads of gifts while Imogen played on the floor with 2 young girls. That's one thing I've noticed since we've been getting out -- Imogen loves to play with other kids! It's so fun to watch her interact with other little ones and try to mimic what they are doing. Here are a few pictures from the day...unfortunately I didn't get one of us with Vanessa because Imogen was getting very tired towards the end of the shower and needed to get home. However, we'll be sure to get one on her special day :-)

Baby in a Basket

2009-03-12T20:26:00.003-04:00

The other day while I was folding clothes in the upstairs hallway, I noticed that Imogen was playing with this basket more than usual...so I picked her up and put her in it. She sat so nice and barely moved at all. Mostly because every time she moved, it would rock back and forth and I'm sure she got nervous. Of course, I had to snap some pictures! Enjoy :-)

Birthday, Little Tornado & a Shower

2009-03-08T14:26:00.008-04:00

First, I want to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister and Imogen's Aunt Lisa :-) I won't say how old she is in the event she doesn't want me to tell! We miss her lots and hope that we get to see her again soon. Mwah!

Next, you read the title right, folks. We have a small tornado on our hands....about 27" tall and nearing 20 lbs. She seems to cycle around the house leaving a destructive path behind her wherever she goes. There is no telling when this tornado will stop! See below for graphic photos of the tornado in action...

It is really so funny seeing her go from place to place and try to figure out what she can open/move/pull-up on. At this point, we don't mind cleaning up after her, but she will learn how to do it herself soon enough.

Lastly, yesterday we went to a bridal shower for a good friend who got married on Valentine's Day. It was a lot of fun and Imogen got to play with tons of kiddos! She was all dressed up in her sailor dress, looking pretty! It was very hard to get a picture of her from the front because she was constantly on the move.

Knit Ruffle Capris

2009-03-03T11:18:00.006-05:00

A week ago today I finished knitting a pair of capris for Imogen. I even added ruffles at the bottom cuffs, which is much harder and more tedious than it looks. I bought this yarn awhile ago after pondering over it for at least a week--I absolutely loved the colors in the pictures and the yarn did not disappoint in real life! It is also so unbelieveably soft! I have never knit with this type of yarn before, so it was fun :-)

Capri Specs

Yarn Dyed By: Southwest Spectrum

Yarn Type: Gaia Organic Merino

Colorway: Dawn's Early Light

Imogen likes them too, but she hasn't worn them yet except in these action shots:

Onto the next project...

9 Months Old

2009-02-24T22:56:00.002-05:00

Today Imogen is 9 months old -- and this past 9 months has gone by in the blink of an eye! Watch the short video to see Imogen crawling on her hands and knees. She's been doing this now for about 2 weeks. Also, in the past week, she's started to clap and wave! Some things we've been trying to teach her are all coming out at once. She is a pro at pulling up on anything and everything too, so we've had to watch her a lot more than we are used to. She also has conversations with herself in her own language and Chris and I get tons of laughs from this!

Food continues to be a chore though. The lady will not open her mouth to save her life! It's actually kind of funny to sit there and watch her purse her lips and shake her head as if to say, "get that crap out of my face!" HA I made her some applesauce tonight and after she gagged when I tricked a spoonful into her mouth, I decided to move to some bananas, which she normally likes, but tonight was a no-go. She mashed it between her fingers and played with it for awhile, but never once put her hand to her mouth for a taste. Oh well, when she is ready to eat, she will! Clearly she is not starving, so right now we're going to take food slow :-) She's got her whole life to enjoy it!

9 Month Doc Visit

2009-02-23T14:24:00.004-05:00

Imogen went to her 9-month doctor visit today. She will be 9 months old tomorrow -- I cannot believe it! Above is a picture of her and Dr. Lincoln from this morning. We really love him! He is a great family practice physician who has embraced the things we wanted to do with Imogen with no questions asked, such as extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering and delayed vaccinating. He has really taken time to explain things to us, much more than we ever expected with a doctor. He said Imogen is growing wonderfully and is a good natured little baby, which we know she is. She got two shots and did the best so far with them--only cried when the needles went into her legs...but who wouldn't? Here are her current stats:

Weight: 19 pounds 3 ounces
Height: 27 inches

The above two measurements and her head circumference are all in the 50th percentile -- right on track :-)

Below are some pictures from the weekend:

Imogen playing her Aunt Lisa's piano. She loved banging on the keys and swinging her legs!

A great Mommy & Me photo

Reaching up for her Nunny. She is such a happy little girl! More details about her being 9 months old coming tomorrow...

Valentine's Weekend

2009-02-16T21:54:00.008-05:00

The weekend started on Friday after work when Chris gave both me and Imogen roses. Here he is handing a single red rose to Imogen for her first Valentine's Day. We held it up to her nose to sniff and she actually looked like she was doing so!
Saturday, very early in the morning, Imogen and I headed down to Kentucky with my mom and Nana to visit family. Our cousins' baby, Luke, turns one on February 18th and we celebrated his birthday this weekend. Here is our little sweet pea in the car. It was her first time in Nunny and Poppa's carseat! She slept most of the way.
Here is Luke at his party enjoying his first sugar! Some homemade cupcakes made by his mommy.
Some outtakes of Imogen on Saturday evening at my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Sam's house. We just relaxed and hung out together chatting the night away...while watching Imogen do her gymnastics all around the family room.
On Sunday, Imogen and Luke got to play together a lot more. Imogen loved exploring all of his toys! He has so many that she had never seen before and was captivated the entire time.

We returned home this morning and were very thankful that Imogen was wonderful in the car both to and fro. A friend popped over with her baby girl, Samantha, this evening for a short playdate. Samantha is about 3 months younger than Imogen.

Then Imogen enjoyed playing a bit more before bedtime.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

Crawling?

2009-02-12T08:55:00.002-05:00

So, yesterday was the first day that we could actually see Imogen getting from Point A to Point B without laying down on her belly. Her favorite mode of long range transportation while she's trying to catch the cats continues to be the army crawl, but, at one point, she went from me on the floor to Chris on the chair completely on her hands and knees! It's been a little harder for her to get her grip on the floor for crawling, I think, because all of our floors are tile and hardwood, so sliding around is just easier. But, I don't think it will be long before army crawling is a distant past and hands and knees are here at last!

Of course, a totally mobile baby presents an entire new set of challenges. Here's to hoping we're ready for them!

Crafts

2009-02-09T19:05:00.007-05:00

We received an awesome gift this weekend from my Aunt Carolyn, who is definitely one of the craftiest people I know. It's a beautiful handmade and smocked romper for Imogen :-) And it's smocked with none other than ice-cream cones! Perfect for her!! It is just a tad big, but will fit her perfectly this summer -- but I wanted to try it on her now anyway! It's getting increasingly harder to take a good picture of an active baby girl!
I also got a great picture of her in the downward-dog position!

I finished my latest knitting project for Imogen this weekend, a Hudson Hat! It's my third and final hat of the winter for her (haha!). It's called a 'scrappy' hat because I've used lots of scraps and loose ends of yarn to knit it. The hat came out better than I expected it to, complete with earflaps and tassels -- and I really love it! It does fit her, but is equally big enough for her to be able to wear it next winter too.

What am I working on next? You'll have to stay tuned to find out!

First Teeth

2009-02-02T21:14:00.002-05:00

Chris and I have had quite a few sleep deprived nights lately, but finally have something to show for it. Imogen's first teeth made their debut on January 29th. I thought it was just one tooth, but upon further inspection, both of her bottom front teeth are on their way up. I actually attempted to get a picture, but was unsuccessful...as soon as I get one, I'll post it! Yay for Imogen!!!

More Happenings

2009-02-02T20:38:00.011-05:00

We start out last Sunday at the celebration of my dad's and my brother's birthday. We had dinner at my parents house and hung out with them all day. It was nice to have everyone together and, of course, everyone loved playing with Imogen.

This is a picture I took that I love!

Imogen loved helping my dad open his gifts. Although she really just enjoyed flailing the paper around.

Here is a picture of Imogen and my mom before we left. I just love the expression on Imogen's face! Normally she hates to be all bundled up in her winter gear.

Longies Specs
Yarn Dyed By: Candypants Yarn
Yarn Type: Corridale Worsted
Colorway: Kandygirl

Next, I want to share the most recent pair of knitted longies I finished for Imogen. These ones actually fit her too! They are her Valentine's Day pants and she'll be sporting them most of the time this month. Here are a couple action shots:

Had to distract her somehow! Haha!!

A first for Imogen recently was her first ponytail!! Her bangs have grown long enough to hang in front of her eyes and it's been hard keeping a barrette in her hair, so I got some very small hairties and put one in. She looked sooooo cute!

Apparently she didn't like her outfit though because she took her sock off and pulled her arm out of her sleeve all by herself! It was so funny to watch :-)

And in more 'big girl' news, we finally lowered her crib mattress. Since she can pull herself up to standing now, we had to make sure she wouldn't topple over the edge. She loves it! (as you can see in the picture below)

Hope everyone had a great start to the New Year and here's to a happy and healthy February!

8 Months Old & First Food

2009-01-24T19:56:00.005-05:00

Today Imogen is 8 months old and we thought we'd celebrate by giving her her first food! I know some people think it is crazy that a baby can last 'so long' on just breastmilk alone, but really, before 1 year of age, any food at all is just for taste and carries no nutritional value. Our doctor said we could start feeding her babyfood when both we and her were 'ready'...and although I can say that we weren't necessarily ready, Imogen was giving us all the signs that she was. We started her out with some tasty bananas! My guess is that maybe she actually ingested a teaspoon worth? A picture tells a thousand words below:

I tried giving her some so innocently at first. She didn't open her mouth, but rather sat there staring at me as if to say, "what am I supposed to do?!?!"
I dabbed a little under her upper lip and tongue. You can see how much she liked it above. Her faces were priceless!
Chris decided to give it a try next, and got just about as far as I did.

So, we let Imogen explore on her own. She played in it and was happy!

Although she didn't put her fingers in her mouth at all, she did lift the jar and put it in her mouth one time and looked shocked to find a new taste! It was quite the event -- which was succeeded by a bath, of course.

Other fun things about Imogen at 8 months old:

* She weighs right over 18 pounds
* She is wearing 9-12 month clothing
* She goes from sitting to the crawling position and back (but no crawling yet)
* She gets around inch-worm-style. She can go anywhere this way!
* Her pincher grasp is in full force. She is able to focus on something very tiny and grab it!
* She tries to pull up on anything and everything
* She calls me "na na" and Chris "da da"
* She loves to give hugs to people she knows and recognizes
* She continues to love the bathtub and doesn't cry when water goes in her face

Imogen is generally a happy little girl and we have been very blessed to have her with us. She makes us smile when we're sad or upset or angry, and she adds to our joy at all the happy times. We cannot imagine our lives without her!

Lots o' Pictures

2009-01-20T13:31:00.010-05:00

Back in November, we had Imogen's 6-month and Christmas photos taken. Sandy, from Red Lotus Photography, has decidedly become our family's 'family photographer' and she was back again. Here are a few photos from the session that I loved that you probably haven't seen before:

Here are a couple from early January taken by us around the house:

Enjoying a good play on the floor!

Flipping through a magazine to pass the time while Daddy finishes up his homework.

Also, want to send out Happy Birthday Wishes to my brother, Anthony!! Happy 24th Birthday!!! And also, a big Happy Birthday to my friend, Esra!!! :-)

Pulling Up

2009-01-17T11:57:00.002-05:00

On Thursday this week, I was in Imogen's bedroom putting her clean clothes away and she was playing on the floor. She likes to scoot herself over to her dresser drawers and pull them open. Well, one of the times when she pulled a drawer open, she grabbed the top of it (from a sitting position) and pulled herself into a squat. Then pushed up! I couldn't believe it -- right in front of my eyes! She's been trying to pull herself up on things for awhile now, but that was the first that either of us saw. What a big girl she is! Here is a picture of her standing after pulling herself up on the couch in our living room. I always keep a hand on her because she doesn't have full balance yet, but our little lady is getting so big so fast!

Under the Weather & Longies

2009-01-11T19:47:00.004-05:00

Thursday marked the first day that I noticed Imogen getting a little under the weather. Thursday night was especially fun -- definitely our roughest night since the day we brought her home! We only got 2 hours of sleep. So, we decided to take her to the doctor on Friday to make sure she was A-okay. The doc checked her out and said, "no fever, no strep throat, no ear infection, no flu." It is just a little URI. She said to continue flushing her nose with saline and using the bulb syringe to keep it clear. Today she is feeling better (I think) -- her nose seems a little less stuffy and she slept well last night. We kept a low profile this weekend to reduce her being outside in the cold and exposed to germs. It was very nice to relax at home and give her some extra TLC.

All the time at home gave me more time to knit. I finished my first pair of 'longies' !! I am so happy with them. Longies are knitted pants that are made with wool yarn, which is a natural diaper cover over cloth diapers. They can be quite expensive if you buy them knitted up from someone else, which is one of the reasons I wanted to learn how to knit them myself. As you read before, my older sister, Lisa, taught me how to knit over Thanksgiving. Since then, I've knit Imogen two hats and then these pants! I just decided to dive into a pattern and figure it out as I went along -- and I think that was the best way for me :-) Here they are:

Longies Specs
Yarn Dyed By: Three Irish Girls
Yarn Type: Carys BFL
Colorway: Gwendolyn

Front:

Back:
My favorite way to look at them in pictures:

The only bad thing about them is that they are too small for Imogen. I followed the pattern for a medium size and later learned that the pattern runs small :( But that's okay! This was my tester pair anyways -- and we'll just save them for the next little Boyle! I have some pretty Valentine's Day yarn, so I'll be sure to post pictures of those pants when I'm completed.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy weekend!! Go Steelers!! Heading to the AFC Championship game...woot!!!!!!!!!

Milkshare

2009-01-04T20:32:00.002-05:00

Since I went back to work when Imogen was 3 months old, I have continued to breastfeed, so every day at work I have to pump. I've been storing the milk for Imogen to eat while I'm at work, but have been fortunate enough to pump more milk every day than she eats. Slowly over the past 5 1/2 months, I've been filling our freezer to the point of max capacity. It got to where we couldn't even store much food in it! So, I decided to do something. I searched online and found a community called "Milkshare" where people go who want to donate breastmilk or receive breastmilk for their babies. I found 2 very lovely families and this past Friday, donated 200 ounces of my breastmilk to each of them. It's something that was very hard to do, but I know that other babies can benefit from it just as Imogen has.

One family was local here in Pittsburgh and their baby girl was a micro-preemie born at 24 weeks 1 day. She was only 1 pound 2 ounces at birth and survived! She was born at the same hospital as Imogen. The little girl is now 10 months old and such a tiny peanut at only 12 pounds. Imogen was huge compared to her. The mother breastfed for as long as she could, but after 6 months her milk went away and they've been using donor breastmilk ever since. They understand the wonderful properties of breastmilk and know how it is very different from formula, especially in the case of their special little girl.

The other family was from northern Virginia. They adopted a baby girl who was born in Missouri. She is just a month old. The mother also understands how important breastmilk is for her little girl, so has decided to seek it out rather than use all formula, although they have had to supplement.

Why would someone want another mother's breastmilk, you ask? The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends feeding an infant (in the following order):

1) The mother's breastmilk from her breast
2) The mother's breastmilk from a bottle
3) Another mother's breastmilk from a bottle
4) Commercial Formula

It made me feel very happy that I could help 2 other little babies as much as I am loving feeding Imogen. I will continue to donate in the future if I can, and encourage others to as well if it works for their family!

Visit www.milkshare.com for more information.

7 Months Old

2008-12-24T16:54:00.003-05:00

Besides being Imogen's first Christmas Eve, today is another special day: her 7th month birthday! She has grown by leaps and bounds since the first day we saw her as a tiny bundle of joy. At 7 months, Imogen weighs about 17 1/2 pounds. She is typically wearing 6-12 month clothing, but depending on the maker, some of those size clothes are too tight. And she does lots of fun things too, like:

* She can sit up without support

* She gets on her hands and knees and rocks
* She scoots her body backwards and sometimes gets into precarious positions
* She says 'da da da da' and 'ba' and (for the first time today!) 'ma' !!
* She can now sit upright in the bathtub
* She likes to put everything in her mouth
* She definitely knows what she wants, when she wants it (and we are good at reading her!)
* ...and so many more there is too much to name!

We look forward to what she will do next every single day and are enjoying our precious baby girl so much! She is such a blessing :-)

Must Be Santa

2008-12-24T14:37:00.005-05:00

Okay, so upfront, I must say that I know these aren't the best photos, but I don't have my camera cord so I had to take a picture of a picture with my cell phone.

We went to visit Santa yesterday at the mall and besides being much more expensive than I ever imagined, it was a good time. Imogen was a big girl and sat very nicely on Santa's lap. He even told me that it was a relief because he had just been through a slew of crying children. Imogen just stared at him, trying to figure him out, as she does to everyone new she meets. She whispered to him sweetly and quietly what she would like for Christmas and what she said, only Santa and Imogen will ever know.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Phipps Conservatory

2008-12-14T20:32:00.004-05:00

This weekend our cousins came to visit from Ohio and we took them to Phipps Conservatory. It was gorgeous all decorated for Christmas, and they even had a great train exhibit set up. Imogen had a good time looking at all the plants, but seemed pretty tired most of the time. The first picture above was taken towards the beginning of the tour and the second was taken towards the end when she had fallen asleep. In the second picture, the Christmas tree behind us was planted in water and it was so cool -- I thought it was a really super tall tree before I realized I was looking at a reflection! It's a great place to visit when you're in Pittsburgh :)

Knitting and Hands & Knees

2008-12-09T22:03:00.004-05:00

This is what the evening of Thanksgiving looked like. My sister, Lisa, taught me to knit! I have wanted to learn for awhile now and we were finally able to be together so I could figure it all out. At this point I was just knitting a rectangle and practicing the stitches: knit, purl, knit, purl....
I was so proud of my first rectangle!!
The Sunday after Thanksgiving I knitted my first hat for Imogen -- not this one -- but a practice hat with quite a few mistakes in a not-really-cute yarn. After I did it and got the hang of the pattern, I decided to buy some nice yarn at a local knitting store and go for it! Tonight I finally finished her first real hat that I would let her wear out in public!! I love it! (and as a side note, I just wanted to thank my wonderful husband who braved JoAnn Fabrics on his own to get me the right size needles earlier today to be able to finish.) It fits Imogen perfectly and is so soft...and I didn't make any mistakes on it. I am really proud of it! I did a garter stitch around the brim, which is alternating rows of knitting/purling and then stockinette stitch for the rest. I knitted in the round for most of the body, but then switched to double pointed needles to close the top.
Up close of the hat!
For those of you who made it this far and haven't fallen asleep, I have some other exciting news: Imogen now can hold herself on her hands and knees! Chris mentioned that she did it here and there the past couple days, but tonight, she was up and holding it! I could not believe it! She is growing up so fast! I'll post a picture of it when I get one.

Updated

2008-12-05T22:02:00.001-05:00

Due to popular demand, I've changed the photo to the right under Imogen's name to a current picture. Enjoy!

6 Months Old

2008-11-24T21:13:00.005-05:00

Happy half birthday to Imogen! It's crazy to think that she is already 6-months old, but it's true. Here are several pictures of her/us taken recently and some fun facts about our beautiful baby girl:

* She can roll from back-to-belly and belly-to-back!
* Her bangs are already dangling in front of her eyes!
* She loves to smile!
* We see a lot of her neck now!
* She giggles when we tickle her!
* She does the "Grandma Grin" with her lips! (see last pic above)
* She loves to talk and babbles on and on all day!
* She loves playing with her toys!

We love to see her grow and continue to be amazed at how much she seems to learn each day. We have been so blessed with a happy and healthy baby :-) And yes, in the picture above, she is sleeping in the jumperoo...it was so cute the day she did that!

In mama and dada news, Chris finished his second to last semester of college -- just one more to go until graduation! And I finally shed the last of those pregnancy pounds and am back to my pre-pregnancy weight! Yay for us!!

6-Month Doctor Visit

2008-11-21T11:06:00.002-05:00

This morning we had Imogen's 6-month doctor visit. She weighed 16 pounds 9 ounces and was 25 1/2 inches long. All her measurements, including the circumference of her head, were in the 50th percentile! The doctor said she is growing beautifully!

The above picture was taken on the table in the exam room at her appointment. She was having so much fun with the crinkly paper!

Rolling...On Video!

2008-11-17T19:27:00.005-05:00

We finally captured it!! Imogen first rolled back on October 10th, but it would be a one-off here and there. The last couple days, she's been moving well all over the floor, going from her belly to back and back to belly. Well, every time I would pull out the camera to capture a video of it, she would just stare at me and never do it -- but this time she did! Ooohhh, I'm so very excited :-) Enjoy!

More Birthdays & Anniversaries!

2008-11-16T15:29:00.004-05:00

November is quite the celebratory month among our friends and family! The 14th was my sister, Anna's, 22nd birthday and we went out to dinner with her and her friends at the Cheesecake Factory on the Southside. It was really fun and we had a delicious dinner. The 14th is also my mom and dad's 28th wedding anniversary! Congratulations you two! We love you tremendously and wish you 50 more happy years :-)

Another birthday wish goes out to my really good friend, Alyson! Happy Birthday on the 15th!!

And another Happy Anniversary goes out to our friends Maggie & Mark (on Nov 11th). Happy Anniversary!!

On Saturday afternoon, Imogen and I enjoyed a little social gathering at my friend Nicole's house. She hosted a 'Lia Sophia' party. They are a direct sales jewelry company. We had a really great time enjoying chatting with friends, eating good food, and looking at all of the fine jewelry. Imogen was a hit too! We stayed for a bit after everyone else left and Imogen really enjoyed tearing up a Current magazine. Sorry about that Nicole :-)

This coming week is Chris's finals week! Then only one semester left until he graduates! yay!!

Peasant's Feast & Birthdays!

2008-11-10T08:50:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to wish my brother, and one of Imogen's favorite Uncles, a very happy 23rd birthday today!!!! (This picture was taken back in September)

Another birthday wish goes out to Chris's dad and Imogen's Grandpa!! His XXth birthday was yesterday and we thought about him all day hoping he was having fun, smiling and laughing! :-) (This picture was taken back in July...but we will get to see him again soon!)

Yesterday we attended the 1st Annual Peasant's Feast at Erin's apartment. Essentially it was an early Thanksgiving potluck dinner....and everything was SOOO delicious! It was nice getting together with friends before the busy and hectic holiday season starts. While we were eating, we watched the nailbiter-of-a-game (Steelers vs. Colts), but unfortunately we ended up losing. Everyone was dressed in their best Steeler apparal -- even Imogen sported her pink Steeler's sweatsuit!

The picture above of all us girls is now a running requirement every time we are at Erin's apartment. Since Imogen was about a month old, we've been taking the picture in the exact same positions to show both her growth and ours.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T22:09:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween from our little pumpkin! Hope everyone enjoyed trick-or-treating :-)

Be Adorable!

2008-10-23T11:35:00.006-04:00

We really love to use Goodmama cloth diapers and their website started a photo contest each week with one of their prints. We happened to have the print that was for this week, "Disco Party," so last Saturday Imogen and I did a mini photo shoot at the house and I got this adorable picture of her and submitted it! She didn't win because she was not on the homepage, but Imogen still made it onto one of the other pages! I'm so excited...and thrilled...and totally partial (it was the BEST picture on there!).

Baptism

2008-10-19T17:41:00.003-04:00

We had Imogen baptized into the Catholic Church last Sunday and wanted to share a few pictures from it. Imogen did wonderfully -- she was awake during the first part of the mass where she was playing with Chris's face most of the time, but then fell asleep...and she slept through the rest of the mass except for a little bit of crying when the priest was putting the oil on her neck and pouring the water on her head.

Her dress was absolutely gorgeous! My mom made it; yes, as in sewed it! (I can only dream of becoming as good with a sewing machine!) The outer layer of organza was from the shawl that came with my wedding dress, so it was extra special in that way. Playing with Daddy's face during the mass.
She was asleep here, but I was trying to get to her neck so the priest could apply the oil. I also included this picture to show you how crazy her hair was that day!
This is part of the shawl from my wedding dress -- these exact flowers were embroidered on the bodice of my wedding gown. So beautiful!

Here is a picture of her in the whole dress. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! (and shouldn't a mother gloat?! :-) )

In other news, I finally saw Imogen roll over today -- twice!!! She first did it on October 10th, when I came into the room to find her on her back when I had placed her on her belly. Today, I was eating lunch and looking right at her, when 'plop', she rolled. Chris and I were so excited and cheering and laughing. I flipped her back over onto her belly and in the excitement of our voices, she did it again! Yippee! As soon as I can catch it on video, I'll post it to show you!

Little Model

2008-10-10T20:37:00.003-04:00

Isn't this simply the most stylish picture of a baby you've ever seen? I mean, I feel like Imogen is a little baby model in it! (Perhaps it's just a mother's view) Anna was over and we were getting Imogen ready to go out and it was sunny -- so I put on the sunglasses that I bought her and she loved them! Imogen wore them in the car and really enjoyed the shade.
Last weekend, my mom helped Anna and I learn how to sew. I am a complete novice -- Anna has some idea at least. We used my mom's sewing machine and followed a pattern I bought for sewing some fleece children's clothing. Fleece is often used as a diaper cover for cloth diapers since it does not absorb moisture. We were making, what they call, fleece longies (aka fleece pants). For the winter time they will be wonderful in our home, which often feels colder than what the temperature says. We made 4 pairs total -- 3 of which fit Imogen now and one for later. After I made the pair she is wearing in the picture, my mom decided to whip up a hat. So, sans pattern, she made one that fit Imogen perfectly. I want to get that good. After I get a sewing machine (hopefully for Christmas...wink wink), I will be able to make lots more things. I really want to learn!!

So, last year on September 11th, I had a dentist appointment for a routine cleaning. I was filling out the pre-cleaning form and one of the questions asked, "Could you be or are you pregnant?" I remember pondering the question and then nonchalantly circled "No." Of course I wasn't -- or so I thought. I actually was pregnant with Imogen at the time, but didn't know it yet! Fortunately at that dental appointment, I did not have x-rays taken. Anyway, today I had my fall routine cleaning at the dentist and I knew I was having x-rays taken. So, just to be on the safe side, I decided to take a pregnancy test, and you all will be happy to know that I am.....

I am not sure why every company doesn't make their pregnancy test likes this -- clearly stating the results. Who needs to go back and forth? -- "Is that a second pink line? maybe but it's really faint. It doesn't look like an actual line. Oh, maybe it is...I can't tell!" haha! This was the banter that ensued after our first at-home tests, which resulted in a call to the midwive's office for a blood test. I think we will use ClearBlue Easy from now on.

4 Months Old -- and a Special Day!

2008-09-25T16:20:00.003-04:00

Imogen turned 4 months old yesterday and today was her doctor visit. Everything is great and she is a healthy little girl :-) She weighed in at 14 pounds 7 ounces and measured 24 3/4 inches long. Both of those numbers are in the 75th percentile! Her head circumference was in the 50th percentile. She also got her second round of the DTaP shot. You can see the bandaid in the picture above. Poor girl was crying the moment they stuck the needle in, but after a minute or so of comforting, she was fine. Our doctor said she is thriving and we couldn't be happier!

On another note, today is a special day for us -- this day last year was the day we found out we were pregnant. I can't believe it when I look at Imogen that last year at this time she was the size of a grain of rice! Our entire lives have changed and we're very happy. God has blessed us in so many ways!

Jumperoo Video

2008-09-22T20:46:00.003-04:00

I finally got a video of Imogen in her jumperoo! She doesn't so much jump, more goes side to side, but I'm sure as she gets bigger and stronger, she'll learn. She loves it so much -- definitely one of the best purchases we've made. It's something we'll get tons of use out of! During this particular session, I took her socks off so that she could have lots of traction on the wood below; well, unbeknownst to us, she pushes so hard that she got blisters on both of her pinky toes from it! They are healed now, but sheesh! We make sure she always has socks on now...Enjoy!

3 Month Shots

2008-09-12T11:07:00.002-04:00

Imogen went to the doctor yesterday to get two shots: the HIB and Pc. She was a very brave girl and was so happy and talkative -- until they stuck the first needle in. Then, Chris says, she started crying and didn't stop until a few minutes after it was all over. At home, she was sleepy and a bit fussier than normal. I know that either the shot sites or her legs in general were sore because when I gave her a bath last night, she didn't splish-splash around like she usually does. Poor girly. She seems to be back to normal today though!

In other news, I bought Imogen that headband she is wearing in the picture over the weekend. Don't you just LOVE it??? I know I do.

Sorry for not posting sooner but it is hard to make it up to the third floor to the computer in the evenings after work. When I get home, I just like to cuddle up on the couch with Imogen and (sometimes) Chris -- when he's not doing schoolwork. We're a busy fam -- you know how it is!

3 Months Old

2008-08-24T18:14:00.011-04:00

Today is Imogen's 3-month birthday :-) I can't believe it, she is such a big girl already! Here is a picture from today so you can see just how big she has gotten. She weighs approximately 12 1/2 pounds and is approximately 23 1/2 inches long. She doesn't have another doctor's appointment until next month, so we don't know those numbers for sure. Imogen is still wearing her 0-3 month clothing, but it won't be long before she moves up to the next size. She is such a great baby -- we are so blessed!

Here are some fun facts about Imogen at 3 months:
***She holds her head up!
***She got her ears pierced!
***She loves to talk! Her favorite word is "ah-goo."
***She loves to stand!
***She loves to put things in her mouth...including her fingers, fist, burp cloth, and little doll, as pictured above.

In other news, we bought Imogen a jumperoo, and although I find it extremely obnoxious, I know she will love it. Her feet don't yet touch the ground, but that's nothing a couple phone books can't fix!

And lastly, I went back to work this past week. In the 'first day of school' fashion, here is me the morning of my first day back. I miss her incredibly while I'm gone, but I know she is in great, loving hands.