Play time

The biggest change lately is how much Lucy plays. It used to be a couple of moments a day, she might be conscious enough to smile at you randomly, or she might doing the walking reflex with her legs if you held her up. Now it seems like Lucy is a non-stop play machine! It's fun to think how many little games have developed even within the past few weeks.

It's fun to see how much Lucy responds to each of us differently. Whenever James picks up Lucy, she seems instantly ready to play!

One of Lucy's favorite games lately is baby sit-ups. If you lay her down facing you in your lap, she'll grab your thumbs. Once she's got your thumbs, she'll start trying with all her might to lift her head up. If you pull back on her arms, she'll sit straight up. Meanwhile, she makes the funniest straining face I've ever seen.

Another of her games is "telling secrets." Lucy loves the sound "kkkee," whether she's saying it or you're saying it. Sometimes she'll make the sound very softly and will get this gleam in her eye like she's telling you a secret. So, we usually tell secrets back to her. Sometimes she won't let you get a secret before telling another of her own! So, this is James telling Lucy a secret. It looks like a juicy one by the look on her face.

Here are just a few of Lucy standing.



One of Lucy's favorite places to play is her changing pad. Lately she's starting to kick so hard that it's getting difficult to change her diaper! I like this picture because it shows that in the blurriness of her legs and arm. (Two side notes on this picture: 1. The diaper Lucy is wearing in this picture are some Bumgenius cloth diapers that I bought about a month ago that I LOVE more than disposables. She never leaks in them, they are softer than disposables, and they are one size fits all, meaning she can wear these diapers until she is potty-trained. Amazing? Yes, they are. Sidenote #2: Look at how long her hair is getting!)

This is Lucy's brand new play mat from Grandma Glenda. It pretty much blows Lucy's mind every time I lay her down in it. I think her favorite part about it are these smiling butterflies that hang right above her head. She'll look right at them and start smiling bashfully and talking, so we joke she's making friends with them.

Oh the wonder of it all... Notice the fist sucking. That's been happening quite a bit lately! We think she's eventually going to be a thumb sucker, but so far every time she's actually gotten her thumb in her mouth, she starts choking herself with it. So, she usually just sticks with her fist, and sometimes tries to get both of them in there.

I think this is one of my favorite Lucy summer outfits.

This is the top of our wedding cake, which made a trip from Wisconsin to St. Louis before being frozen, and then a year later was thawed upside down. Whoops. Oh well, it was pretty gross anyway! We each just had a tiny tiny bite before chucking the rest of it.

So, yes, we have been married a year now. (And what a year it's been!) We celebrated the day by going to mass and going out to lunch with our friends Abbie and Ken (who we also went out to dinner with the night before Lucy was born!). We were going to try to have a little picnic on Art Hill, but sadly it started downpouring as soon as we got there. So, we moved the party home and... took a nap. After we finished being lame, we made a nice dinner, watched a movie and just stayed up late talking. Yes, we could've done something fancier, more exciting, blah blah blah, but I think we all loved celebrating the day in this simple fashion.

This Saturday we leave for Summer Training in Champaign, Illinois. I'm excited! I mean, besides the fact that we have to pack up our lives into a small car including all baby paraphanalia for 5 weeks and I haven't started yet. Besides all that, I'm excited.

I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the beginnings of your summer!

Baptism pictures

Courtesy of our friend, Michael, here are some more pictures of this beautiful day.

Deacon Phil invited all the kids to help him bless the water. Cousin Taylor got to help!

With Lucy's godparents, James and Brie.

In the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

Yay for a baptized baby! Let me just restate that she slept through the entire thing. This is amazing to me because, as I've mentioned before, anything water related is usually not cool with Lucy. Maybe I should try bathing her with holy water from now on...

Lighting the baptism candle.

A blessing for Mom...

...and a blessing for Dad.

A close-up of sleeping beauty. Lucy wore the same baptismal gown that my brother and I wore, which was made by my grandmother.

Lucy's buddy Abigail saying hi.

They don't quite get it yet, but I have a feeling that sometime soon it's going to click.

In other news, James's work on campus ended a little over a week ago, so now he's doing full-time fundraising... from home! This is a very nice treat for Lucy and me. We are enjoying some extra time with him, and trying to let him get some work done too!

This is a big week for us-- Lucy turns three months old, and James and I celebrate our first anniversary! Oh, and it's Memorial Day, so that's fun too. Also, at the end of May (which is just around the corner), we are heading to Champaign, IL for FOCUS summer training for about five weeks. I'm getting very excited for all of the summer fun that is in store for us in the next couple of months (weddings, seeing family and some faraway friends, outdoor fun in general, etc).

I just asked Lucy if she wanted to say anything on the blog and she said, "Geeee!" So, there you have it.

Some activities as of late...

Here's what we've been up to lately!

Smiling,

Having a girls night with the FOCUS women of Wash U. It's a bit of a trick to balance cucumbers on your eyes...

Lucy wanted to join in the fun too.

Lucy got baptized!

More pictures from this lovely occasion later. For now, I will tell you it was just a beautiful day. These are her godparents, Brie and James, who serve on Wash U's FOCUS team as well. And to answer that eternal baptism question-- No, Lucy did not cry at all. In fact, she slept through the ENTIRE thing : )

We've also been playing in quite a few parks lately. This is Lucy with Amanda (FOCUS teammate headed for Boston next year!) in Forest Park. Playing in the shade...

Here's Lucy enjoying the lap of luxury: a king-size bed. (Side note: I don't know why the text is all blue and underlined right now, but I don't have time to figure it out!) This was at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, where the Wash U FOCUS team had its end of the year off-site. Lucy and I got to tag along and enjoy a night in a hotel!

Lucy has been quite active lately, doing little baby sit-ups, and wanting to "stand." She just smiled and smiled while Uncle Jeremy played with her.

Lucy and her adoring fans : )

Playing in the park...

Cousin Taylor loves baby Lucy. It's the sweetest thing. That might have to be a post all on its own!

A recent event I don't have pictures from (thank God) is Lucy's first round of vaccines. Long story short: It was such a horrible experience that I think we're changing pediatricians. But, three days later now, Lucy has recovered and is her old happy self-- except when she's not being held or paid attention to : )