First Comes Love...

I know, I know... classic first time parents, but we couldn't resist. Gave Littles her first "real" bath tonight; she's a fan!

Young House Love is one of the blogs I follow, and while pregnant, I saw this awesome weekly picture project they did with their baby, Clara.  For the last few months I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a spin off, but finally decided, "hey, if it ain't broke, why fix it?" So a big thank you to Sherry and John at YHL for inspiring us to document Abigail's first year in pictures! Click on the new tab above or here for a sneak peak. We plan to take pictures each Saturday (her weekly "birthday"), and have updates every Monday or Tuesday...maybe I should say Wednesday and play it safe! I've also been keeping a weekly journal (about her growth, my growth, and all the fun memories) and will be making a coffee table book of her pictures and my letters to her as a keepsake. Just for fun, I've included a few "out takes" from the first 3 weeks. Hope you enjoy following along and watching us grow!

Kevin and I redefined this word a few years ago. Bones (as in lazy bones), is defined as anyone who sleeps too much, lays around and acts lazy, or is just plain tired all the time. I think we have a bones on our hands.... And the second place, runner up award goes to.....  drum roll please ..... her Dad! I promise, we really do more than sleep around here... This week has been going really well.  Needless to say everyone sleeps great.  Abigail has been going through a growth spurt and eats constantly but is keen to taking bottles, so it's nice to get a break sometimes and let Kevin feed her. We've also tried giving her a pacifier (so she'll stop using me as one!), but apparently that's not gonna fly...every time we give it to her, she dramatically gags it out.  I don't see that trend picking up anytime soon... One of many failed pacifier attempts Aside from that, just been busy with the daily grind....naps, feedings, diaper changes, baths...

An official welcome to Miss Abigail Victoria Lauckner! This video was created by Kevin as a digital birth announcement;  we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Blogging everyday is becoming a thing of the past.  As I mentioned before, my hands are too busy holding this bundle of joy to break away to blog, and that's okay.  As I type, Abigail is laying on my chest, both arms wrapped up around my neck, and I couldn't be happier.  Motherhood is an amazing blessing. So, in lieu of my normal updates, our life in pictures will be the extent of this blog for the next few weeks / months until I master the ropes of Motherhood. Like how I optimistically use the word "master"?  ;) We enjoyed an evening at the zoo on Sunday for Abbie's first concert; below are some pictures. Sunday morning I also took a stab at pumping and it went really well; minus the fact that Kevin came downstairs with Abigail 5 minutes into it, letting me know she was hungry (great timing kid..).  So, instead of storing the milk, we gave her a bottle, and wah-la!, she took it like a pro. You rock Littles!! Yesterday and today we've been re...

Here's what I found a few minutes ago when I went down to let Kevin know coffee was ready.... Apple doesn't fall far from the tree  ;) But I shouldn't complain.  Abigail sleeps in 4 hour increments each night, so really, all of us have been getting good sleep... some just better than others  ;) Last night around 8pm.  Littles takes her sleep very seriously. Headed to Zoo Tunes tonight to see Aimee Mann.  Should be fun; Abigail's first concert!   That is, if my family can stay awake to enjoy it  ;)

Wow.  It has been a busy, busy week! Finally coming to an end and resting up tonight for a weekend full of festivities.... one of these days I'll get some down time. Wanted to share the pictures below from Kevin's birthday dinner at the Needle and his surprise happy hour last night at Maximilien's.  Thanks again to everyone who came out last night and made the evening so special; you guys are the best! Kevin with his birthday ice cream Seriously, the cutest picture ever Littles loved the monorail!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!  We're looking forward to Dan and Anne's baby shower tomorow afternoon (their little one is due October 7th!) then a concert at the zoo on Sunday night. Maybe rest on Monday?... 

Happy 30th Birthday my love!!! We headed into town this afternoon to have lunch with Kevin for his birthday.  Tonight we're headed back to pick him up, then it's off to the Space Needle for dinner.  Should be fun... it's a great night for it! Last night Abigail got to meet her cousins!  Some fun pictures below of the evening. Thanks again Anne and Ian for bringing dinner! all dressed up and waiting for her cousins to arrive Lucy was very careful and sweet with Abigail Oscar had fun helping her swing  A picture Lucy drew of Abigail and I.  Clearly we need to cut our nails  ;) After the kids left we gave her a bath, then rested and watched TV.... she was pooped!

We brought Abigail to Gorditos last night to size her up against the competition. I didn't swaddling her very tight, so I thought for sure she'd be much bigger than the burrito, but not really.... have to say, this is a pretty big burrito! 5 minutes later, after fussing with the swaddle, taking a million pictures from different angles, and turning her head left to right like a toy doll, we settled in to enjoy the feast. And of course, we polished it off! Now we just need to print a copy for Gorditos to hang on their wall. She'll be famous!  ;)

The plan was to head to Kasbah  for my birthday last Thursday, but after a full day of activities and shopping,  I was exhausted.  So we opted to rain check for Sunday night; something to look forward to once Kevin got back from Michigan. Headed out last night for a nice walk to the restaurant.  Turns out Abigail's not a fan of bumpy roads, but since Seattle is clearly not focused on funding our roads, she'll have to get used to it... And you know how we've been bragging about what a chill baby she is?  Well, she mixed things up last night and stayed awake through dinner and her very own 4 course meal...  Luckily we were sitting in a corner, so I was able to feed her without being too obvious or hippie-like about it. Although in true Abigail form, she never cried, so really, I have nothing to complain about.... She opted for the cushion between us instead of her stroller No belly dancers last night, so we made up our own African napkin danc...

I intended to maintain the blog over the past week, but I've been too busy cuddling to get to the computer.  Abigail is such a doll, has the best temperament, makes silly faces, mostly sleeps all day, and feeds like a champ. She's an angel, and we're in heaven. This week has been so packed between her birth, visitor's, my birthday,  and Kevin's travels, that instead of trying to wax poetic on the last 7 days, I figured a week in pictures would be best. What a blessing.  I am at a total loss for words... Thursday night.  Headed into the hospital! Getting hooked up to fetal monitoring After the epidural I was able to smile (and feel sane!) again  ;) Abigail Victoria Lauckner. Born at 3:13am on August 6th, 2011. 6lbs, 7oz, and 20" long Grandma and Grandpa meet Abigail! A close up of her IV.  I'll explain more in a future post We're home!! Newborn clothes were too big, so we bought a few new ou...