Monday, March 29, 2010

Family Visits


We had a great visit this past weekend with Uncle Ray and Auntie Jessica.  Lucy was her typical self:  happy, playful, active... and always good for those nose “bups!”   It was also wonderful to have Grammy, PaPa and cousin Lindsay come spend Saturday with us.  We feel so fortunate to have family make the effort and take the time to travel to see our girl.   It is so important to us that Lucy is close to her family.  Thanks to everyone for the enjoyable and memorable weekend!   (Note:  The last picture is Brian feeding Lucy macaroni and cheese for the first time!  She loved it!)
We found out today that Lucy will need to get tubes in her ears.  Her poor little ear canals don’t seem to function how they should, causing continued wax and fluid buildup, which is leading to inactivity with her ear drum.  I know this is a very routine surgery so I am not worried about it.  On a positive note, Easter is almost here!   We will be going home to Indy this weekend to spend this joyous day with family.  Jesus Is (almost) Risen!  Alleluia!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Our Happy, Healthy Party Girl...

Lucy has had a very eventful week.  We had a great time at my parent's St. Paddy's Day party.  Lucy's cousin, Lindsay, and her friend Kaylee, were such big helpers and enjoyed Lucy so much.  It was so fun to watch them together.  All of my folk's friends were excited to meet Lucy for the first time.  She may have been the hit of the party!

Lucy is adjusting so well.  No more fussiness at bath time!  In fact, she is now laughing and playing in the water--a far cry from how things were just three months ago in China.  We had wonderful weather this week (alleluiah!) so I took Lucy out to the back yard to feel grass for the first time.  She couldn't quit laughing....neither could MaMa-such a great moment.

Friends of mine from church hosted a shower for us.  All eight ladies held our girl and got nose "bups" (translation:  bumps) from her!  Again, so amazing how far Lucy has come in these three months! She just laughs and plays and explores with others now.  It is such a joy to see her true personality shine now that she is more adjusted and trusting.

And to top off this great week, we got news from the doctor that Lucy's thyroid levels had gone back down to "normal" range. We assume that proper nutrition is what helped to regulate the high levels.  The doctor directed us to "celebrate," saying there is no need for further testing.  Praise God!

Today is the first day of Spring....Happy Spring!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

More Walks and Firsts

Brian and I are still seizing every opportunity to get outside with our girl.  As you can see from the photos, the lake is still semi-frozen on our most recent walk.  We enjoy being out and about with Lucy so much....  and she seems to enjoy it as well.   Hurry up Spring!!!

A few more firsts for our girl:  she stood up in her crib all by herself.  Brian and I were so excited!  She is cruising all over the place and seems almost discontent when she is sitting or crawling.  She just wants to walk so badly!  This past weekend, Lucy met friends of ours, Jim and Katie, for the first time.  They  brought their boys, Lou and Nick;  all the kiddos seemed to enjoy themselves.  

We are heading to Indy tomorrow to enjoy my parents annual St. Paddy's Day party.   Oh the flexibility and enjoyment of being a stay at home mom!  Hope all have a great St. Patricks Day!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Birds and Baby Dolls

 
Just a few quick pictures and updates....Today it got up to almost 60 degrees here in Cincinnati.  Lucy and I were so happy to go for a nice long walk.  She loved it, saying "bird" whenever I would say it.  I caught her numerous times just looking around and clapping her hands.  I think she is as happy as MaMa that Spring is in the air and we are finally able to get out of the house. 

The other pictures are of Lucy with her new baby doll.  As you can see, she just loves her.  We catch her all the time just crawling up to the doll and kissing her or giving her the bottle.  She also will do "hugs and squeezes" with the doll, like MaMa and DaDa do with her.   It is so cute to watch her with her new little toy.  

On a different note, I go back to work for three days this week, just to clean out my offices and say good bye to students and staff.  Then I will officially be resigned from Child Focus.  I am sad to leave my job, as I have always loved all the students and staff.  But I would not want it any other way and feel so blessed to be able to stay home with Lucy.  Brian is taking these days off and is looking forward to spending the time with his girl.  He even gets to take her to music class, which I think he will love.   More updates later...
 
 

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

February Updates

I just realized that I went the entire month of February without blogging. And after numerous “reminders” from my mom, as well as some very important occasions that have happened, I decided that I must do some updates! So for those who are still following, sorry for the delay. And now onto our girl….

Lucy has had a chance to meet lots of her family and friends in this past month. We had a wonderful visit with the Streus on President’s Day. For those who don’t know, my family grew up across the street from the Streus. We have all been good friends for many, many years. Our families have continued to grow (with lots of girls…still waiting for a boy!) and everyone was happy to get together and meet. The highlight of this visit was the “cat fights” that Lucy and her friend Izzy got into. (They are only 3 weeks apart in age.) Both seem to be quite independent in their thinking and wants! So it was great fun for all the adults to watch the kids play. My friend, Layne, was also able to come over and meet Lucy. Thanks to everyone for the get together on Songbird Lane!
Aunt Bridget came from New York to meet her niece for the first time. Lucy took to Bridget within just a few minutes. I think it may have something to do with how Bridge and Bri look and sound alike. Lucy loves to do “nose bumps” with people (Brian taught her this) and was immediately “bup”ing (as Lucy says it) Aunt Bridgey. We all enjoyed celebrating Brian’s 39th and Bridget’s 34th birthdays.

Just this past weekend Lucy met her paternal grandparents for the first time: Grandma and Grandpa Barnes. The occasion: Lucy’s baptism and official commemoration into the Catholic faith. This was a very special event for all of us, especially because Lucy was able to wear the same dress that Grammy Buzzelli wore 70 years ago when she was baptized.  My sister, brother and I also wore this dress, as did my niece Lindsay.  Lucy looked like a little doll in this family heirloom, as you can see from the pictures.  There was one unfortunate circumstance:  Godfather/Uncle Ray was unable to get to Indy due to the horrible storms that plagued the east coast. All the airports were shut down the entire day Ray and Jessica were supposed to fly in. We know they were with us in spirit;  we even brought a picture of Ray to the baptism so there was some physical sign of him there. (Wally, Brian’s dad, filled in for Ray.) Lucy cried (as we knew she would) when the actual water was poured. But other than this, she was a true champ during the entire sacrament. We are so grateful to Godmother/Aunt Lisa, as well as Fr. Bob (a friend for many years), for being a part of this special day. We are so pleased that Lucy is now baptized and officially a Christian.
Some other updates…Lucy is now crawling! It is so funny to watch her because she is still very stiff in her movement (it just started within the past few days). We think that she really just wants to skip the crawling thing and start walking. She loves to stand and is slowly cruising along coffee tables and chairs. I imagine she isn’t going to crawl very long. We went to the doctor last week; she gained half a pound and grew an inch. The Dr. would like to see more growth than this since she is still below 10th percentile; it potentially is attributed it to her hyperthyroidism. We are monitoring it and will go to the endocrinologist in April if things haven’t improved.

Lucy seems to be a true joy to all who meet her.  She is very well-natured and easy going and has transitioned so well with all the changes in her life. We continue to feel truly blessed and thank all who have been so supportive and welcoming to our girl.