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!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn!

 Today we celebrated Uncle Jon (December 19) and Aunt Jenn's (December 15) birthdays! Great-Grammy Mary made homemade spaghetti for dinner. But everyone's favorite part was the milkshakes. Grammy has an old-fashioned milkshake maker so they were extra special. Aunt Jenn helped her.

 And boy were they delicious! She even had special glasses for Noah and Jack. 

 Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn are 35 years old. I don't think getting older is especially desirable for Uncle Jon.

 But Aunt Jenn doesn't look a day over 21. 35 sure does suit her fine!

 Miss Mia spent most of the party napping with anyone who would hold her.

 Soon it was time for cake. It was Uncle Jon's turn to hold Mia during the singing.

 Time to blow out the candles! I don't think Mia liked the singing or candle blowing too much.

Then we lit the candles once more so the boys could blow them out, too. That's the best part, you know.

Soon it was time to go home. Awwww! Happy birthday, Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn! Mia sure had fun at your party. We love you!

#2: Happiness Is...

...having the world's best big brother to give you sweet goodnight kisses. 

Mia loves her big brother so much already. She actually turns her head whenever she hears him talking. Must have been all of those nightly goodnight kisses and hugs he gave her when she was still in my tummy. This photo touches my heart so deeply. It's what I dreamed would happen when "Peanut" finally arrived...that our children would become instant best friends for life!

By the way, we will give a framed copy of this photo to all of our family for Christmas this year. We hope you all enjoy it for years to come.

Happy Birthday, Big Brother Noah!

Today Mia's big brother, Noah, turned four!

On Saturday, everyone came up to our house for a family party since Mia is only two weeks old. She sure had fun visiting with all of her family. She loved sleeping with her Sir.

Awww, look at that face! So content!

More people arrived. Mia is still asleep.

We had a Toy Story 3 themed party this year. Buzz and Woody are not only Noah's favorite characters but they also made it onto his cake.

Oh, she's awake! Time to snuggle with Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn...

...and Tutu, too!

Soon it was time to blow out the candles...

...and open some presents. Noah got lots of cool big boy stuff, including a roaring dinosaur, Batman car and the Millennium Falcon.

We closed out the evening with some family photos. Here's one of the four of us. I think we will use this one for our Christmas card.

Here are all the Livingstons.

And here are all the Dirstines.

Fast forward to today. Since it was a school night, we decided just to have dinner at Noah's favorite restaurant, IHOP, to celebrate his actual birthday. Everyone had pancakes, of course.

But little Miss Mia slept through the whole thing. What a cutie!

By the way, we took both kiddos to the doctor today for check ups. Mia has gained almost a whole pound since birth (up to 7 pounds and 6 ounces) and she is 21 inches long. Grow, baby, grow!

So happy fourth birthday, Noah! Mia is so lucky to have you for a big brother!