Gooooo, Steelers!

Today the Denver Broncos played the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. The Livingstons are Steelers fans since Mimi is from Pittsburgh (and Pop-Pop became a fan when he lived there after he married Mimi) and the Lubeleys/Makis are Broncos fans since they are from Denver. 

Since we all knew that neither team would make it to the Super Bowl, our friends Ian and Danielle had a party at their house. It was kinda like our own unofficial Super Bowl. Pop-Pop loaned Mia his Terrible Towel for a photo with our friend Janet. He figured it covered up her Broncos jersey quite well. Hee, hee!

I thought you might like to see the paparazzi at work that day. Now they've switched to using the cameras on their phones! Unbelievable! Better keep your eyes on those guys, Mia. They are certainly crafty.

Of course the Broncos won so Pop-Pop and Mimi had to go home empty handed. Oh, well, there's always next year.

Thanks, Ian and Danielle, for the pre-Super Bowl fun! We'll be back for the Big Game...

Mia's Sip 'N See

Today Mimi and Pop-Pop hosted a Sip 'N See party for Mia! We invited all of our friends to come over and meet our little one in person. Mimi and her friends put out a really nice spread for our guests. The food was delicious!

Mia got to meet lots of wonderful people, including Linda, Dele and Jessie.

And we took a great four generations of women photo with all the grandmas and great-grandmas. Love this photo!

Great-Grandma Betty, Jeff's grandma, met Mia for the very first time today. They were instant buddies.

She also got to meet Jeff's Aunt Mary. She fell right to sleep in her arms.

Taking a quick milk break. I was a mean Mommy today and made Mia practice her bottle feeding. Eventually I had to give in and nurse her but she did really well. Here's Mimi honing in on her feeding skills. Have to get ready for when Mia spends her weekdays at Mimi and Pop-Pop's house while I am at work sometime, right?

Mia also got to meet our friends Allison and Everett. Isn't Everett getting big! We couldn't believe he was 22 pounds already.What a cutie!

Here's Mia with our friend Dorla. Mimi had to get some kisses and hugs from Everett. He is such a love!

Later, Jack and Noah arrived. They had fun playing their new fishing memory game that they got for Christmas.

We even had pizza for dinner. Jack loved it but of course Noah had a hot dog.

Mia finished out the day with some snuggles from her Tutu.

It sure was a busy but fun day. Mia was pooped!

Thanks, Mimi and Pop-Pop, for a great party to welcome Mia to our circle of friends. It was a special day for all of us!

Baby Gym

Now that the holidays are over, Mia and I are getting into the swing of things and enjoying our days together. Today I decided it was time to try out our baby gym for the first time. We inherited this one from Cousin Jack since Noah's old one broke in storage. At first Mia wasn't so sure she liked being on the floor.

Soon she realized there were things to see over her head.

Then I brought out her seahorse from Christmas and she seemed to be more at ease.

Then the crankiness started again so we gave up on the gym for the day. She's only six weeks old, after all. It was a lot of stimulation for one sitting.

Ahhh, much better. That was tiring. We'll have to try again soon...

Rubba-Dub-Dub...Mia in the Tub!

Today Mia had her first official submersion bath. Her cord stub fell off last week so it was time for us to move from sponge baths to real baths. So here we have Exhibit A: one unsuspecting newborn lounging peacefully in her bed. Little does she know what's in store for her.

Exhibit B: the tub. Yes, this is the very same tub Big Brother Noah had his first—and many, many subsequent baths—in. As you might remember, Noah did not exactly enjoy his first bath. Was Mia's first experience any different, you ask?

Ummm, apparently not. I give you Exhibit C: one crying and very annoyed newborn in her first real bath. What is with our children? What are we doing wrong? The agony! Sigh.

After a few minutes, and with some serious calming efforts from Daddy, Mia began to relax a little bit.

Exhibit D: one slightly calmed newborn almost enjoying her first bath. Good job, Daddy. Whew!

Exhibit E: one very annoyed newborn upon leaving the bath. I actually think the after affects were worse than the bath itself. Mia did not enjoy the drying off or lotion parts of the bath experience either. Oh, boy.

Exhibit F: a still very unhappy newborn even after her bath is over and she is back in her clothes. Man, she was not happy. Don't worry, I soothed and soothed and hugged and kissed her after this photo was taken and eventually she forgot all about the unsavory bath experience and was our happy little angel once again. 

We will definitely have to work on making baths more fun for Miss Mia. Better luck next time, Mommy and Daddy.

Mia's First Christmas Day

Today is Mia's first Christmas! She got her own Dirstine matching stocking with an angel on it (for our sweet little angel baby, of course) and we hung it with the others for Santa to fill up.

This was the scene on Christmas morning as Big Brother Noah tore into the presents. Chaos!

Miss Mia blissfully slept through the whole thing.

So of course, I opened her gifts for her. She got a cute glowing/musical seahorse from Mommy and Daddy, which she loves, and a Laugh & Learn Puppy from Santa for when she gets a bit bigger.

She also got her first official Dirstine traditional ornament for Baby's First Christmas. It's Classic Pooh just like Noah's first ornament.

And finally, she got a card from Santa like her big brother.

Here are a sleeping Mia and her Daddy. She was quite toasty and cozy!

Merry first Christmas, little Mia Patricia. I promise next year will be much more fun.

Now it's off to the Dirstine's house for Christmas Day fun! Stay tuned...

P.S. I am trying my best to track down some photos from another family member's camera. I was busy feeding Mia during the present opening and most of the dinner eating so I unfortunately have zero pictures from my camera. I know, loser Mommy! Mia did get a beautiful outfit from Tutu and Sir and Noah and Mia both got a really wonderful Advent book from Uncle Mike, Aunt Marisa and Cousin Ella. Aaron, Aunt Nora, Mimi, Pop-Pop and Great-Grammy also joined us for the festivities. It was quite a wonderful day. Hopefully I will be able to post a take-two for Christmas Day at some point.

Mia's First Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is here! Mia is also officially one-month-old today. She was looking quite cute in her hot pink butterfly sleeper earlier in the day.

That evening, we headed to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house to celebrate with the Livingston family. Mia snoozed most of the time and even wore what Pop-Pop would call "a ridiculous looking hat." Uncle Jon was one of her "holiday holders."

Meanwhile, Big Brother Noah and Cousin Jack decorated cookies.

Great-Grammy Mary brought all the stuff to make them. Noah was very proud of his cookies, did very well with the icing and he loved eating them all up.

Soon it was time for the kids, young and old, to open presents. Our friend, Terry, supervised.

Noah got lots of goodies, including a Peter Pan Pop-Up book, talking Spiderman action figure, money and much more.

Miss Mia spent the present-opening time eating and looking rather cute. She got a few cute outfits, money and some fun toys.

We closed out the evening with an awesome family photo of the four of us. Priceless!

Happy first Christmas Eve, Mia! Guess what? We get to do it all over again tomorrow with Daddy's family! Stay tuned...

Mia Is One Month Old!

OK, I know Mia is not a month old until tomorrow, technically, but Mimi and Pop-Pop were at our house today and so we decided it was as good a time as any to take Mia's one-month-old pictures. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is our one-month-old princess!

 A half smile...

 A big yawn...

 A big kiss....

Big Brother Noah is still one of her favorite people. She just loves his kisses.

 A cute little sister...

 One precious one-month-old baby girl.

And there is nothing like cuddles and snuggles from your Mimi!

Happy one-month birthday, Mia Patricia! Keep growing, little one! We love you!