Nice Try Mom!

Recently, Chad and I have been fortunate enough to watch the "Happy L'ie Bear Show" on a daily basis!!  We find ourselves making countless funny faces or noises, and L'ie usually rewards us with smile after smile.  

But apparently this is one show that will never be televised!  Despite numerous attempts, I have been unsuccessful in catching an L'ie Bear smile on camera.  At first, I turned on the video camera and tried to coax one out of her.  Fail!  All she wanted to do was stare at the camera.  Then I decided to start the camera once she was already smiling.  Her eyes would sparkle, her nose would crinkle, and her lips would curl up to reveal a wide set of toothless gums.  She would smile....until she saw the camera.  Then her smile would immediately disappear, a serious look would come across her face, and she would simply stare at the camera some more.  Fail again!!!!  It was almost as if she were telling me, "Nice try mom"!

It dawned on me that L'ie might not enjoy being filmed, but I quickly disregarded that thought.  Any child in the Pali-Fisher family must love being in front of the camera.  They have no choice!!!   So I still have my video camera ready and I will not give up on my quest to film the impossible...that elusive smile! 

The Rocking Chair!!

Yesterday marked two months since L'ie entered our lives.  She currently weighs 11 lbs 12 oz and is 23 inches long...woo hoo!!  And while many things in our lives have changed, Chad and I are still determined to maintain as much of our previous lifestyle as possible.  Now whenever we go somewhere, we just drag L'ie along for the ride.  Luckily she is content to sleep through most of Chad's hockey games, dining out, shopping trips, etc.  Our fingers are crossed that this pattern continues once Maryland football season rolls around, since little L'ie has a lot of tailgating and sporting events in her future.

To celebrate the past 2 months, Chad and I took a moment to prop her up in a rocking chair for photos.  This rocking chair is very special because we received it from Memaw and Grandpa, also known as my parents, this past Christmas.  After marveling over how small and cute the chair was, we immediately thought it would be perfect to mark our baby's progress every month.  And so the monthly photo sessions have begun!!

Of course, L'ie is still too small to sit up on the rocking chair by herself, but a carefully place boppy pillow does the trick!  Right now, we only have two photos and the changes in L'ie are small, but it will not be long before she is happily rocking along all by herself and we will be able to look back at these photos and wonder how something so small could grow into such a lovely (and hopefully tall) young lady!

Happy two month birthday L'ie!!!!

One Month Old

Two Months Old

No wait...this is my favorite stage!!

It is hard to believe that we celebrated our first Mother's Day this past weekend!!  What a great day and so much to celebrate!  While I was pregnant with L'ie, I couldn't wait until she was born.  Time seemed to move so slowly and it felt as though I was going to be pregnant forever.

However, once she was born, I would have given anything for time to slow down.  I was holding a brand new sleeping baby in my arms and remember thinking that this was going to be my favorite stage.  There was something so special about experiencing a bunch of "firsts" all at once...her first diaper change, her first swaddle, her first outfit, her first car ride, her first time coming home, her first night in her crib, her first bath, etc.  And it didn't hurt that all she wanted to do at that time was sleep.  Nothing was going to be better than all of those firsts in my mind!

She has been home for nearly 2 months, and these days she is trying to figure out how to suck her thumb.  Part of me is happy that she will be a self-soother and the other part is already looking ahead to breaking her of the habit.  UGHHH   Also, after nearly 2 months of ignoring the mobile on her swing, she has started cooing at it!  I never thought I would be so excited to watch her make funny noises and faces while staring at stuffed lambs rotating above her head, but I am!!!

And finally, L'ie has begun smiling (and no it is not always gas)!!!  And as with any 2 month old baby, there is still plenty of crying, but we forget about the frustrations that come with trying to figure out how to calm a screaming baby as soon as we see that smile!  

So on Mother's Day, I couldn't help but marvel at how different L'ie Bear is after only 2 months.  We are so blessed to be able to take part in her life as she changes and grows.  I now realize there will be many more firsts for L'ie and I am sure that each one will be my new favorite stage!!

Oh Baby...Here We Go

I am new to this, but blogs about babies seem to be the current trend, so I am going to give it a go. I used to get annoyed with those crazy Facebook moms that were so wrapped up in their newborns, but after having a baby, I now understand the need to post a lot of pictures and mention every little thing my baby does. Spit up and poopy diapers have never been so interesting to me, and I find myself pulling out the camera to catch every face and movement my baby makes.

I know I am a little late to the game (Lauren is already 7 weeks old), so here is a short recap of the past few weeks...

1. Lauren Marie Fisher was born on March 15, 2011 at 4:04 pm. She weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and was 22 inches long.

2. I think she looks just like her daddy, Chad, but I have been told that she resembles me as well!! Either way, I believe she is going to be a tall girl and we hope she will play basketball for the University of Maryland one day!

3. Both sets of grandparents were there for the first few days after we brought Lauren home. We had quite a full house, but it was nice to have everyone there! She is lucky to have so many people who love her!!!

4. Lauren really disliked her first bath, but now she loves them!! There is no doubt that she is my daughter, and I am already looking forward to her future "big girl" baths complete with bubbles and toys!!!

5. Lauren is quite an easy-going baby. She only cries if she is hungry, needs a diaper change, or is extremely tired!!! AND (sound the trumpets here!!!!), she has been sleeping through the night, which makes for a very happy mommy in the morning.

6. Lauren has already been in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington DC. Of course, she was sleeping in the backseat as we drove through Washington DC and Delaware...but she is a great little traveler and we cannot wait for plenty of family vacations all over the world!!

7. Lauren has quite a special relationship with her Aunt Sarah. Who knows what crazy things these two BFFs will do together, but it will certainly be fun to watch!!!

8. Lauren has been to 3 of Chad's hockey games and even has a matching jersey...she will definitely be exposed to a LOT of sports!!! But lets hope she didn't inherit Chad's sportsmanship skills, or lack thereof!!

9. In a few short weeks, Lauren has made quite a few friends....I am not sure where this social butterfly got her friendly personality from, but the playdates have been so much fun!!!

10. Finally, for those of you confused by the blog name...Lauren's nickname is L'ie Bear (pronounced Ellie)!!!!! My nickname growing up was Kristy Cat and I wanted Lauren to have a cute little nickname as well. I just hope she loves it as much as I loved mine!

So I have now completed the first post, and as you can see, the purpose of this blog is to keep friends and family updated on what L'ie Bear has been doing. If you are expecting amazing insights/proper grammer/correct spelling/etc, this is not the blog for you. But if you are ok with a lot of baby photos and stories about spit up and poop, I hope you will stick around and join us on this crazy journey called PARENTHOOD!!!!!