Alivia's First Cardinal Game

All these "1st" days are so much fun! We took Alivia to see her first Cardinal game on Sunday, Stan the Man Day (she was born on Stan's bday!). I can't say we actually saw much of the game (except on the big televisions), but it was nice walking around with her in the concourse area (staying out of the sun). She was so amazingly good; always smiling and laughing!

I'm sure we'll write more after Craig gets his few words in, but I just had to post some pix! May have more to come! :)

Alivia's Godparents were also there and we all met up! It was nice to be with everyone! Alivia loved it!Wow! The real live Fredbird! Alivia knows Fredbird through her mobile, but this guy is BIG! :)

My First Official Mother's Day!

What fun I had! I celebrated Mother's Day last year while Alivia was growing in my belly, but this year was just amazing! Saturday night, my Mom and Dad came over so we could celebrate with them. It was so nice and relaxing and Alivia "performed" like a champ. She's doing all sorts of cute things now; rolling over, laughing, examining things so closely, talking...it's so much fun!

Sunday, I woke up to many strategically placed cards from Craig and Alivia, along with a cute picture frame...exactly what Mama loves! Alivia knows me so well already! We had our little family time on Sunday morning and I cherish that. I love going to church with all three of us and then spending Sundays together. It's become my favorite day (since Craig is off sometimes)

We spent the afternoon at Tish and Kent's. It had been a month since they had seen Alivia, so they were so happy to have her there (and us too, I guess!). The food was yummy and we got to catch up.

Here are a few pix from that VERY special day!!!

This pic is from a different day...notice the warm weather clothes!

DON'T FORGET!!!!!!

The Gang's All Here!!!

That's right! The gang is all here!

During our days of invitro, a small family was formed of women, each facing different challenges on the road to having their own family. Each has an absolutely amazing story to share leading up to now, but now the next chapter has begun for all of us! All the ivf babies have arrived, again, each having an amazing story!

I owe much of my sanity to Robyn, Rachel, Julie, Lindsay and Mandy. We went through all of the challenges together and cried, vented, smiled, and laughed our way through the ups and downs of the process, some having more ups and downs than others. To me, they will always hold a VERY dear place in my heart and I hope we always stay in touch and that our kids will play together at our annual bbq! :) (Robyn...you have the pool, so we'll do it at your house).

Like I said, each of us have our own stories, but one thing we have in common; we have a very good support system in each other and in all of our families and friends. I know I do not speak for myself when I say that we are all so thankful for EVERYONE who shared our journey with us. IT HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN!

Here are our little miracles, newest to oldest!

Taylor (Lindsay's Little Angel)

Olivia (Robyn's Youngest Angel)

Abigayle (Robyn's Oldest Angel, by a minute!)

Mia (Julie's Little Angel)




Carson (Rachel's Little Angel). Carson is the only boy! Lucky kid with all these cute little girls around him! :)

Alivia (Our Little Angel)

Victoria (Mandy's Little Angel)

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Before I was a Mom

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

Before I was a Mom.

thanks to Amy Yount for sharing this poem with me. :)

To find out the history of Mother's Day, Click below:

http://www.brownielocks.com/mothersday.html

Crazy Hair Day

The other day, I was just having a crazy hair day! Mama thought she'd show pix!

I love my Fredbird!

Our first trip to the zoo

Well, we took our first trip to the zoo on April 23rd. It was such a pretty day and there were alot of strollers there! :) Alivia had as much fun people watching as we did!

It was hard for her to focus on any animals, but she did notice the monkeys. She would watch them all over their cages. It was quite adorable, I think.

Was she confused that I was a monkey? :)

Pushing the stroller was great exercise. I'm so glad that the weather is getting nicer so we can take walks after work. Hopefully we'll be participating in some of the charity walks coming up soon.

By the end of the day she was done! She had a nice nap in the car on the way home!

We had a lot of fun and are looking forward to trip 2 if anyone would like to join us!

It's good to see our wildlife has their priorities right. They know that if they don't recycle, there will be nothing left of our world for their grandsquirrels!

Time for a change

Well, I thought it was time for a change. With Spring here and flowers blooming, I wanted something more colorful! In addition, we're celebrating our daughter, so thought I'd use "girlie" colors! (Craig will probably love it...we'll see how long it lasts!)

Alivia's Special Day

Alivia's baptism was April 13th.
The day started with some fun playing in her jumparoo! bouncy bouncy bouncy!

Then it was time for the special event...

It was absolutely beautiful and we were so proud!!

The priest who married us, Monsignor Jim Buerster, came in all the way from Germantown, IL to perform the baptism. Craig and I are so honored to have him as such a special part in our lives and now Alivia's life. We will forever be thankful to him.

Family and friends came from all over to share in the joyous occassion! As Craig tried to get out in his thank you, we hope each and every person there continues to play a special part in Alivia's life, guiding her in down a good and holy path. Thank you for celebrating with us.

Thank you to Brenda and Jeff for being Alivia's Godparents. We know you will always be there for her.

Alivia received so many nice gifts...thank you everyone! Look for thank yous soon. Alivia is busy making them for you all!

At the end of the day she was pooped! Such fun and excitement. Actually, I think we were all pooped! :) We went home and had our quiet moments together as a family and thanked God, once again, for each other and for our little angel. She's truly heaven sent.

It worked!

As you all know, I am a scientist. For the past several years I've been working on cloning in our basement! hahah

Here are my results!

We've Got It Easy!

When Alivia is in a grumpy mood or is crying from a belly ache, I just remind myself how easy we really have it! The link posted is an article about 2 of our best friends and the life the live now. Here are their angels!

http://northcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/04/09/news/sj2tn20080408-0409flo-triplets0.ii1.txt

Cassie, Jenna, Alli and Jimmy Clauser

Our precious gift

Hello everyone! We can't believe how quickly she is growing up and learning new things. It's sad giving up her little bitty baby days, but it's so exciting, fun and just amazing to see her growing and learning. We are so proud of her!!!!
Alivia does so well eating. Of course, she likes to stick her hands in her mouth and gets a little messy sometimes, but she's taken to the spoon pretty well! I just think it's so cute when she holds the tray of her highchair like this. It melts my heart! :)
She's getting better at tummy time and holding herself up. We think it's a combination of just getting stronger, wanting to move and her tummy feeling a little better. Fortunately, the Pepcid is working the best out of the three we've tried! There are not nearly as many painful fits of crying. We are so glad she is getting some relief.

She has rolled over about 4 times now!! I'm sure soon it will be a regular thing. Wow! A mobile child!

Alivia splashed in the bath for the first time on 4/2/08. It was so cute! She was getting ready for swimming...kicking her feet so proudly!
She loves her toes now!!! :) They haven't reached her mouth, but we're sure that's soon to come.
Alivia loves her robe from Auntie Leen, Uncle Bobby and Bri! :)
After a rough tummy day (lots of crying and spitting up all over her cute shirt) Daddy and Alivia were pooped. After taking her wet shirt off, she looked even more like Daddy, both of them hanging out in their jeans and white undershirts! :)

Craig and I feel so blessed. I know we've said it before, but it's just amazing what God has given us. She is just a wonderful little girl; definitely made from sugar and spice and everything nice.

We're looking forward to her baptism next weekend!

God Bless!