20 Weeks of Maeve

It is hard to believe how quickly the last five months have passed since sweet baby Maeve came into our lives.  The kids keep complaining that they never want her to grow up, they want her to stay this cute and tiny forever.  I tell them this is exactly the same way I felt about all of them too!  But each new stage brings more joy and fun with babies - they are like a present you get to keep unwrapping.

In my attempts to savor every moment, I've been doing a Maeve version of Young House Love's 'Clara Photo Project', taking a picture of Maeve in a white onesie every Friday since she was born, and then photoshopping her age on the front of the onesie.  

John and Sheri Petersik who run YHL, have a little more free time than I do (and a sewing machine!), so I toned down my own version of their awesome project.  Instead of searching out a different fabric each week to then assemble into first birthday party decorations, I just hunt the house for something colorful to stick under the baby and roll with it.  Some weeks its a baby blanket, but I've used throws,sheets, rugs, curtains, bathrobes...nothing's off limits, really!

And here are the results, from week one to week 20, and every week in between.

And the last two weeks might be the cutest yet!

Time keeps marching on, week by week.  

Luckily, we've got a trusty camera to use every Friday as we 

unwrap the most adorable present ever.

Dandelion Wishes.

Ahem.  Just a wee bit overwhelmed with life at the moment.  Life is WONDERFUL, don't get me wrong.  I'm just drowning in it a smidge, so it's no wonder the poor blog gets neglected.

I'mma dip my toes back in tonight starting with life as it is RIGHTNOW.  Lots has happened since the last blog post, but I think it's best that I back into it, otherwise I might never get to it!

So tonight.  A GORGEOUS night.  So lovely I kept the kids up late to get outside and enjoy it.  It took us a half hour to get to the top of the street because we stopped along the way to dig in the dirt of the construction site across the street....to pet our neighbor's cat, Lola (the chillest cat EVER that lets kids paw all over her and never complains)...and to make dandelion wishes with friends among the gazillions of dandelions in the last vacant lot on our street. 

Clockwise from top: Lily Hebel, Molly in her sweet new dress from Auntie Treecie, dandelions galore in a vacant lot, The Pram, and three of the four Hebel girls making wishes with Ben and Molly.  L to R are Lily, Evie, Molly, Ben and NieNie (Sydney).  NieNie's twin JoJo was busy crying her head off after stubbing her toe.  She's the 'Jack' of their family :)

As you can see from the collage, Maeve got to try out the vintage pram that Auntie Treecie found at a yard sale years ago, that came out to Illinois with us when we moved because either Ulia or I would be having the next babies in the family and this beauty needed to be used!

When we lived on Edgewater Drive in Pembroke, in the raised ranch with a 4x6"landing for an entryway, I spent an exhorbitant amount of time wishing that I had a house where I could store my baby's carriage in the front hall and just push it out the door when I wanted to go for a walk.  And then when the baby fell asleep, I could push the carriage back into the house and the baby could nap while I did things around the house.

Honest to goodness, we spent actual money, LOTS of money, working with an architect to try and design this wish into reality.  It never did, because we weren't meant to stay (though of course I didn't know it at the time and shook my fist at the sky...and at Marc...and at our architect...many, many times).

But here I am ten years later, marveling at how these dreams of mine manage to come true...just in their own time, not mine. 

Because tonight I laid Maeve in her pram where it sits in the dining room, pushed it straight out the front door, and went for a stroll.

And it wasn't lost on me that despite the many things about our new house that I wish I could change, it is also a place where dreams come true.

No dandelions necessary.

3 Months Old

Yesterday, Maeve turned FOUR months old, and it occurred to me that I hadn't shared her 3 month pictures!  Father Time keeps marching forward dragging me along behind him, much to my chagrin.

 

It took Herculean effort to get her to sleep for these pictures, but it was worth it!  She is so rosy-cheeked and long-lashed, I just want to kiss her all day long (oh, who am I kidding here, I *DO* kiss her all day long!)

 

 

 

 

Three months old was BEAUTIFUL for Maeve.  Aside from her distaste for her car seat,now that her reflux is under control she's been perfectly manageable, though manage you must.

 

During the day, we follow The Baby Whisperer's EASY routine...

Eat - Activity - Sleep - Your time! 

When Jack was born, MY time, actually WAS my time. 

Now "my" time means laundry-folding time, dinner making time, basement purging time, etc.

 

But the EASY routine has always served me well because it saves you from the trap of nursing the baby to sleep, which is a total quagmire.  Maeve's "activity" these days consists of a diaper change and a rotation through all her favorite spots.  First she hangs out on the changing pad on the kitchen counter (buckled in snugly of course) and talks to the artwork we've drawn for her and taped to the underside of the cabinets for her to enjoy.  Then she heads over to her bouncy seat to stay semi-upright while she digests her meal.  When she lets me know she's done there, we move on to her activity mat, and if she still has energy after that, to tummy time. 

 

On a good day, this can occupy her for the better part of an hour. 

Then when she's good and tuckered out, she gets swaddled from the waist up, buckled into her papasan swing, the white noise gets cranked up high as the swing gets going at top speed. 

 

If all of these things are not done in the proper order and with the proper timing or if, God forbid, we actually need to leave the HOUSE...well then, manageable Maeve becomes a bit of a basket case.

 

But she's still the cutest basket case around!

The Week Through Diptic

1. Baby girl gets gild star for going 5 minutes in the car without crying. It's her new personal record.

2 My favorite coffee shop closed this week. Thank goodness for K-Cups. I'm going to clean Costco out before they disappear forever.

3. THE Glennon Melton from www.monastery.com came to Naperville and signed my copy of her book. Color me grateful!

Daddy's Girl

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot to mention, Cameron is TWO!

I was so completely convinced that I already blogged about Cameron's birthday this year that it's taken me a week of searching my own blog to convince myself that I actually had not.

So here is a belated blogging of the celebration.  We had SO MUCH FUN!!

Here is the fabulous invitation...

 

 

It was a train ticket!!  How perfectly perfect for a boy who LOVES trains!

 

Being a bear of very little brain these days, on our way up to the door I was thinking "Are they prepping for some sort of faux paint treatment on the walkway?"
 

 

No, those are TRAIN TRACKS leading to the party!

How do you spell genius? U-L-I-A thats how!

 

 

Cameron was so excited to have all his favorite people there to celebrate with him.

He was all decked out in his color-coordinated themed birthday tee.

 

"CHOO CHOO, I'M 2!"

it says.

 

 

All the little details were so amazing.  From Cam's cool kicks...

 

 

To the cookie favors Ulia made (the train is the letter "C" - are you kidding me??!)

 

 

 

 

Even the drinks and forks had adorable labels...

Chugga Chugga...
 

 

Chew Chew...

 

 

But this wasn't all theme and no substance...the food was to die for!  Ulia made a huge variety of Mini Strombolis that were out of this world delicious. 
 

 

Tina brought homemade Tiramisu, which Jack and I lapped up like we'd never eaten food before...
 

 

And the Oreo cupcakes were a party in your mouth

(especially for those of us who just got off Gestational Diabetic diets...oh, that would just be me!)

 

 

My favorite detail besides the birthday boy himself, was the CAKE!

 

 

 

 

Cameron liked it too...

 

 

 

The party favors, in similar fashion to the homemade snowman kit Ulia gave out at last year's first birthday fete, was a big bag o'themed party happiness in the form of a train costume and whistle.  The kids were more than happy to play their parts!

 

 

 

 

 This is Cameron's cousin Sophia.  She was Maeve's age at Cam's party last year. 

This year she was WALKING!

Oh no.  Tell me this won't be Maeve in just ten more months?!

My heart can't take it!

 

 

The kids played a rousing game of "who can squish into the cabinet". 

(What, you've never heard of that party game before?)
 

 

 

 

We had so much fun celebrating our little buddy Cam.

He has grown into the most brilliant and adorable toddler!

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Cameron Angelo!

CHOO CHOO! We love you!!

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

Easter this year was only two weeks after St. Patrick's Day - it was a sprint to get the decorations from one down and the other up!  So I enlisted helpers...

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The weather has been so deplorable and un-springlike that there was no way I could put out my forsythia wreath.  It wasn't even in the realm of plausibility, and would scream "fake flowers!  fake flowers!" at the neighborhood.

 

But pussy willows, I thought, could be pulled off.

Gotta love 50% off sales at Michaels combined with a gift card I overbought at Christmas. 

Score one for me!

 

 

 Then there was the issue of Maeve's first Easter. 

This had to be commemmorated and how else, but with a bunny ear photo shoot!

Sadly, we can now add one more thing to the LONG list of things that Maeve hates.

Bunny ears.  Hated them!

 

So I fooled the eye in these shots - the ears aren't ON her, they are BEHIND her.  It worked!

 

 

 

This next one wasn't a unique camera angle...she was actually falling over, haha!

 

 

 

 

 

And could you just die of cuteness overload at the bunny slippers?

I bought them on a HUGE clearance the year Molly was born.  In fact I bought two pairs they were so stinking cute.  The other I gifted to a friend, but these babies were saved with the sole intention of gracing a baby sister's feet someday down the road.

 

Tah Dah!  It's "Someday!"

 

 

 We pared down our Easter traditions this year, by skipping Church.

Nobody needs to listen to a baby scream in church.

And that's what ours does best these days, so we went to brunch instead at Hugo's Frog Bar and Fish House just like last year.

 

 

 

Brunch was a hit with the kids. 

When asked what their favorite items were, everyone agreed on two clear winners. 

Bacon, and dessert.

(well, duh!)

 

 

 

 

 

Maeve wasn't such a fan, though she screamed herself silly in the car and I finally was able to get her to fall asleep in the restaurant, which is why you only see her stroller in the pictures.  She in there, with jackets piled on top to muffle noise and light, with a white noise app blaring to keep her sedated.

 

 

 

 

Jack was a sweetie and took a few pictures of Marc and I.  He did a great job!

Then it was time for our annual walk downtown.

 

Note that by "downtown" I mean in downtown Naperville.

Here, when you say "downtown" everyone thinks you mean Chicago.

I call that The City. There ain't no "town" about it.

Beantown has some town to it.

That's why we say "We're going in Town" when we're going into Boston.

But Chicago? It's HUGE! Not even the littlest bit townish.

I digress.

Downtown Naperville had it's first sign of Spring saying hello!

Thank HEAVEN, is all I have to say.

 

 

We couldn't believe how deserted the place was. 

 

 

Everyone must have still been at church.

(cue the guilt!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look who woke up!

 

 

Daddy and his crew.

 

 

Molly loves all creatures great and small SO MUCH that she didn't think twice about throwing herself belly first in her Easter dress onto a sidewalk that has seen more than it's fair share goose poop all winter. 

 

 

Jack and Ben would not stand in the same place long enough for me to get a picture with all the kids, so we took two. 

 

 

 

There's Molly doing her Vanna White impersonation again.

Would you look at these shoes, Pat Sajack!

 

Well, I'm out of time for tonight.

Tomorrow, the final installment of the Easter photo-bonanza!

(like this wasn't enough?)