Marie: Baptism and 6 Months

Hey All,

I wanted to share with you the photos from Marie's baptism weekend. Or 'baptism-apalooza' as we jokingly refer to it. It was an action-packed, fun-filled, three-day celebration befitting only of a first born child. I mean I even hired the always sweet and ever-so-talented Anna Petrow to capture the event for Pete's sake ;) 

It feels like we've been going 100 mph since we moved back to the States, but weekends and moments like this make us feel so incredibly happy and grateful to be living closer to our family and friends. A huge thank you to our family members for making the trip to Kansas City all the way from Omaha, DC and Atlanta and an extra special thank you to Marie's loving God Parents, Sean and Elizabeth, for being a part of her life and special day. We love you all so much!       

There were three babies getting baptized that Sunday, but Marie hilariously and sweetly stole the show :)

I love this photo below. It's her 'did you guys see that?!' face. Melting heart. 

Fun fact: Marie's baptismal gown was purchased by my late maternal grandfather and first worn in 1952. She was the 19th(!) baby to be baptized wearing it. The gown is made out of the most gorgeous lace and silk and is very near and dear to my family. Marie looked like a little angel in it - she knew she looked good that day too ;)

No tears for our little lady. 

Moving on to the after party.

My sister and her fam lookin' sharp! 

Group family photos. 

Love you guys! 

Aunt Ray <3

Our little family. 

Stage mom status - the day also just so happened to coincide with her 6 month bday.  

Love that sweet little face so much. 

I'm so glad we have these photos to be able to relive such a fun weekend with those nearest and dearest to us. We love you! 

XO,

CD

Photo credit: Anna Petrow 2016

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Marie: 3 - 5 Months

Hey All! 

It's been awhile and I owe you guys a lot of photos. In the 3 months since I last posted (oops) a lot has happened. In short, we've re-acclimated to life in the US, moved (x3!), taken lots of fun trips to Kansas City and Omaha and watched our little lady grow and develop like crazy. It was so much fun to look at pics from the past few months. It has only been a short amount of time, but it already feels like a lifetime ago. In a lot ways it truly was another life.

Back to where we left off...

I have so many cute and ridiculous pics of our long voyage home. I took them for equal parts enjoyment, documentation, boredom and the sheer absurdity of it all. And I'm so glad I did. I can't believe how much of a proper BABY she was. No wonder people were so judgemental empathic towards us. Between the crazy emotions, stress and jet lag I barely remember the whole ordeal.  

I literally have thousands of pictures on my phone and camera, so here are just a few highlights... 

LITTLE BABY! 

Teeny seatbelt for takeoff... :)

We hit the ground running back in the US with much anticipated, wonderful trips back home to see our family and friends. 

Marie's first weekend in Chicago! (yes, hats and sleeves in June)

Cousin photo shoot. Aren't they the absolute cutest ever. 

The sweetest little trio. 

4 month portrait (taken at our first Chicago apartment). 

Shades on fleek. (Apparently '+3' does not mean +3 months). She still cute tho!

Title: Mom Wears Makeup For First Time in Ever 

(Great) Nana on the babysitting duty. 

Marie's first 4th of July.

Weekend trip to check out Dad's new office.

Marie does 'The Max' pop-up.

Marie does BBQ festival. 

One of my current all-time favorites :)

Bursting heart status.  

5 month portrait - taken at our second (temp) Chicago apartment.

Just learning how to sit up on her own here.

She sits! 

Marie does fancy dinner out.

Mom and dad go home and promptly research area babysitters.

Marie does Sunday Mass. 

Marie does Chicago River boat tour. 

Marie transitions from taxi to car and learns what it's like to ride in the backseat by herself. 

Marie meets friends. 

Marie takes her like 20th flight - thinks she owns the place. 

Okay, that's all for now folks! Our sweet Marie is sitting up, rolling around like crazy (she can do an impressive 360 spin on her tummy) and just starting to show signs of wanting to crawl and pull up (she completes the majority of her pulling up practice while in her baby bathtub, oh joy). She's got a seriously impressive reach and will grab at and chew on anything in and out of reach (bye-bye newly planted flower box by the door). 

It's practically impossible to document everything with a crazy and ever-changing little girl on our hands, but I'll try better. Besides the simple lack of time and energy, it seems as if she's developing by the minute :). 

Between moving into our permanent Chicago place (our first home!), Marie's baptism (aka baptism-a-palooza weekend) and an upcoming trip to Cabo, Mexico, we have lots to be thankful for and look forward to in month 6. 

Until next time.

XO,

CD

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