Stephie visits Cincinnati

Stephie traveled to Cincinnati today with Grandma Julie and Mommy to attend Mommy's exciting dermatopathology conference. Stephie has now been to (or through, rather) 5 states in her short two and a half months: MO, IL, IN, OH, and KY. We made Aunt Hilary proud by visiting two of the Cincinnati staples: Skyline Chili and Graeter's Ice Cream. Yum! Stephie and Grandma will no doubt have fun tomorrow exploring the city while poor Mommy sits in class from 7:30 until 6. Yuck!

Not quite big enough for the Bumbo...

Stephie tried out the Bumbo chair again; I think her huge cheeks are adding too much to the weight of her head to hold it completely upright! We'll try again in a few weeks...

Moving prep

Mommy and Daddy have been very busy packing bins in preparation for the move. Our POD arrives tomorrow!

Big news today!

WE SOLD OUR CONDO!!!! WAHOO!!! We have to be out in 10 days (yikes!) but are so excited to finally sell. Stephie celebrated the good news by officially growing out of the last of her 0-3 month clothes. Good thing she has an equally cute set of 3-6's!

Stephie meets the Ryans!

Stephie celebrated Memorial Day weekend with a BBQ to meet the Ryan family. Mary came over to meet her too!

Stephie's First House!

We bought Stephie her very first house today! We will be closing on 558 Lee Street in Glen Ellyn on June 27th. Stephie also got to meet two of Mommy's favorite people, Hilary and Jenny. What a fantastic day!

Many more pictures of the house at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ericarogers/EdAndEricaSHouse/

Smiles for Grandma

After four days of taking care of Stephie, Grandma Michelle was finally rewarded with some big smiles today!

Botanical gardens...again!

Good thing that babies are free at the botanical gardens, or Stephie would be running up quite a bill! She got to go there today with Grandpa Roger and Grandma Michelle: her fourth trip there in just a little over 9 weeks. What a lucky baby....

Photos by Grandma

Grandma Michelle took some very cute pictures of baby Stephie today!

Chunky monkey

Mommy and Daddy are totally in love with their little buddha bear!

Stephie's new crib mirror

Dr. Schmandt suggested that we put a mirror in Stephie's crib to encourage her to lie on her side, so Daddy picked one up for her at Target today. Much to our surprise, she loves it!

2 months old!

Happy 2-months old birthday to Stephie! What a big girl!

The first of the Ryan sweaters now fits!

Stephie got to wear the very first of the homemade sweaters from the Ryan family today. Aunt Connie's sweet little pink cardigan fits her now and looked so pretty on our walk this evening! Can't wait for her to wear the rest of them as well....

Super smiles!

Stephie has gotten super smiley lately which is so fun and so rewarding for us. I love to see that cute little grin!

Two big outings today!

Stephie had her two-month old check-up at the pediatrician today. She is now...drum-roll please...11 pounds 9 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long!!! Poor baby also received 4 shots as well as an oral vaccination. Needless to say, she was a little bit fussy this afternoon.

We went out to dinner at Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian restaurant in the Loop. Stephie slept through the whole meal after receiving her second dose of baby Tylenol. Hopefully she'll be able to sleep tonight!

Boat House

Stephie enjoyed (aka slept through) a beautiful day in the park with lunch at the Boat House with Grandma Julie, Grandma Michele, and Grandpa Don.

Mommy & Me

Stephie is getting quite good at making eye contact...though we're still working on actually smiling on cue.

Crazy Bowls and crazy baby

Stephie and Grandma Julie met Mommy for lunch today at Crazy Bowls where Stephie proved to be an extremely hungry girl, eating over 8 ounces within just a few hours. Mommy got to give her a bottle for the first time!

Valley of the Damned

Stephie is practicing her "Valley of the Damned" look with her eyes rolling back in her head. This look was perfected by her namesake, Aunt Stephanie, when she was a little girl and found it quite hilarious to freak people out with her scary eyeballs!

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated Mother's Day with Stephie's dedication ceremony at the First Unitarian Universalist Church. She wore Great-Grandma Rita's dress and Grandma Michelle's hat and shoes. She looked like a little baby doll in her fancy outfit! Afterwards, we headed out to Michelle and Roger's house for lunch as well as some mommy-and-baby-ducky cake made by Ed.

Portriat session...take 2

Based on a tip from Andrea and Ian, we took Stephie to Portrait Innovations for her 2-month photos. They did a great job, and Stephie actually behaved herself for the session!

Stephie and Sophie

We had a wonderful dinner at Andrea and Ian's after which Stephie and Sophie got to play together. So cute!

The Magic House

Stephie took a field trip today to the Magic House. As you can tell by the picture, she was extremely enthralled by the exhibits. We've been calling her Houdini lately due to her uncanny ability to wriggle out of her swaddle blankets; maybe we have a future magician on our hands!

Hanging out at home

We had a nice evening at home while the storm raged on outside. It's a great night to curl up on the couch away from the rain!

Tummy time

Stephie is practicing her baby push-ups. What a strong girl!

Back to the zoo

Stephie slept soundly through yet another outing this afternoon. Mommy and Daddy are desperately hoping that she will start turning around her days and nights; this sleeping schedule is getting brutal!

Baby Bjorn

Stephie has taken a liking to the Bjorn! We took a beautiful walk up to the fountains yesterday morning. Stephie was quiet the entire time, strapped to Mommy's chest. We'll need a regular backpack carrier soon; 11 pounds is a lot to lug around.