Stop! Nana Time

 We went to DC for my spring break to find a place to call home and so I could get oriented with my new job. In order for all these things to happen we needed a bit of help, insert Nana. My mom oh so generously offered to stay in our Airbnb with us and watch Gem during the day. We also happened to be staying within blocks of the zoo. Gotta love a free zoo, something tells me that her reaction to the zoo will be more enthusiastic in the future...

 Nana is the best and poses photos, buys hats, and treats this girl to all the apple sauce her heart could desire. The spoiling starts young.

The Big Move

Pulling a Max Keeble and preparing for a big move. Swap out pranks for manic packing one handed and forget the ending of movie when the move gets called off and you've got yourself a comparison.

I have a job lined up at CUA and our family is preparing for the next chapter. It will be hard to leave New England and the first place we ever called home. These places and especially these people have come to mean the world and more to us and we will miss them terribly. But I am excited for this move (not the actual U-haul portion... get real!) and sharing the District with Tim and Gemma! Prepare yourself for weepy Boston goodbyes and excited DC explorations in the next month or so.

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

After Easter this year Tim's parents made the cross country trek (via air plane naturally) to visit their grand baby. As Gemma's roommates this also meant Tim and I got to spend quality time with them, but let's be honest we know what the real motivation was.

I kid!

Tim had some crazy work commitments and they oh-so-generously offered to watch Gemma during the week so that we could survive it.

It was so good to see them and for Gemma to get some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. 

She has grown so much and is so fun to be with right now. She gives smiles and happy squeals and will generally play with you. But physical touch is definitely not her love language because this girl wouldn't dare snuggle.

They had an eventful week of museums, fabric stores, tummy time and then some. It's always the best to have visitors when family lives thousands of miles away.

It's Fun to be Featured

Brooke is a Senior at CUA and we run in all the same circles. Like as much overlap as could be possible I think. Anyway she has a beautiful blog where she focuses on Uniquely Catholic Brides and Brides-to-be. It was fun to write for her and to share a bit about our wedding and marriage. You should definitely check it out. Of course I left out the details of how much of a bridezilla I really was becuause that doesn't seem to fit with the image of a Catholic bride, ya know?

Anyway, it's like Wedding Week in April!

Gemma- 6 Months

Typical Rylee, take the pictures a week late and then wait another week to post them. I may be chronically tardy but at least I'm reliable.

Gemma Brigid brings us so much joy. I cannot believe that she has been in our lives for a half year.

At her six month check-up we found out that she weighs 14 lbs and 11 oz. So she has gained 8 lbs since birth, and we keep thinking she's huge. Typical first time parents think their kid is perfect in every way and can't believe how fast she is growing... Jokes on us, she is down to the 18th percentile in weight. Our little peanut. We should have known because she was wearing 3 month clothes up until the week after 6 months. And they fit. Except the pants turned into capris because she's in the 66th percentile for length. We disguised this with high socks when we easily could have pulled the 6 month clothes out of the box, but I'm in denial and begging time to slow down.

 Our 6 month photo shoot was a bit of a struggle because she wanted to be chewing on her hands/feet constantly so that's what we got.

 At 6 months she can, sort of, kind of, in a very wobbly way, sit up.

 She also loves her tongue and all the sounds she can make with it.

 She has started doing this (we think it's) adorable thing as a prerequisite to a real laugh; when Gem gets excited she starts panting. Like a dog waiting to be let outside as they see you pull into the driveway.

 She is such a rolie polie olie and a little squirmer.

 She wants to be moving and to be paid attention to. At the same time she needs to pay attention to whomever is in the room. Don't even think about walking away from the crowds in search of a quiet space.

 She's getting to the point of ticklishness and loves raspberrys.

 Dad! Stop! I can't even.

 We hoped that we could get her stretching so you could see how long she actually is, but the knees would instantly spring back up.

 She's mostly formula fed now and we are introducing solids in the morning to add to our evening ritual. She is eating mostly bananas and sometimes other things stirred into her bananas but she doesn't seem too enthused about any of these.

 She is proving to be a real Curious George and likes to touch everything so she can put it into her mouth including, but not limited to: the computer screen, a mirror, dads watch (while he's still wearing it), mom's hair, easter eggs, shower curtain, iPhones, necklaces, kitchen table, beer bottle, her hands, books, and of course toys, namely Sophie the Giraffe). Unfortunately, in the above photo, the headband eluded her. Depth perception is not yet her strong suit. 

 She uses one arm to balance and the other to roll, rotate, and grab things.

 Playing with dad is probably her favorite thing.

So I'm sitting up, what's the big deal?

Again, one hand to balance and the other to reach for things.

There she is, our beautiful girl! And her feast day is tomorrow, the 11th, so a big day of celebrations are being planned. I'll let her choose dinner (bananas) and activities (bath time) and we will celebrate (virtually) with friends and family. Thank goodness for internet.