4 months

It's hard to believe our baby girl has been with us for 4 months and at the same time it seems like she has been with us for much longer (which I guess technically she was). I have so many great things to about her to share and I wish I had the time right now to do justice with a good blog post about it. But being on ICU is really limiting my time! So I will just have to make this a picture post (which I know everyone really wants...really it's all just about wanting to see Catie ;-)...right Col? And I can't blame you all...she is pretty much the cutest baby ever.

Happy Baby!

Big eyes!

 

Getting so big :-(

Goodbye PT Cruiser

During college, a mini PT Cruiser sat on top my computer monitor. It was a 3 inch version of the car I hoped one day I would get to drive. Shortly after Mary and I started a new life together and I started a new job, I pulled away from the Chrysler dealer in a black, turbo charged, full size version. Over time, the PT Cruiser was a part of a many experiences in our life. It endured many trips to the landfill and Home Depot while renovating our first house. It felt the wrath of a anxious dog jumping around in the back seat. It witnessed my exceptional parallel parking skills. Last year it accompanied me to many houses as we looked for a new home. And back in February, it welcomed our daughter Catie to the family as it provided a quiet ride home from the hospital.

But recently, the PT Cruiser began showing its age. As it approached 100,000 miles, the turbo charged engine no longer had the pep it once did. The engine started needing expensive repairs and the air conditioning kept failing. It was time to say goodbye to my metal friend.

So I spent this past weekend cleaning the dirt and polishing the scratches left behind from those experiences hoping to restore some of her old glory from the day I drove her off the lot. And on Monday, I rode the PT Cruiser for the last time to the Toyota dealer.


I began the process of trading in the car I wanted for the car I needed. I needed a car with good mileage for commuting. I needed a car so my wife can get to work in the snow. I needed a car to hold a lot of kids stuff. I needed a "grownup" car.

After a couple hours of test drives and paperwork, I no longer owned the PT Cruiser and now owned a Toyota Rav4. It is a nice car and has everything I need for this stage of my life.


As I grabbed my belongings from the PT Cruiser, I gave my friend of my 20's a final pat and walked towards her more mature counterpart.

We're grown-ups now!

We got new bedroom furniture.

Our new bed and Jon's dresser. I love the sleigh bed!

We've got TWO nightstands now! Plus I have a dresser that has functioning/not broken handles.

In a different light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah the things that I find interesting and exciting as I have gotten older may be a little sad ;-)

Beautiful Day!

It was sooooo nice out today!

O's game

To celebrate being done with my surgery rotation (woohoo!), we went to an O's game on Thursday. I tried to publish some of this at the game using Blogger-Droid, but alas it did not work. Not sure if it was product or user error ;-P. Anyway, here's a video of our niece Robin (and Cindy!) dancing.

Catie might not like pitching duels...

But she was very excited about the O's comeback!

Plus Robin made some new friends!

A great day all in all :-D

Now, we just need to get Catie to Wrigley Field!

Things I've Learned: The First 3 Months

They say children learn the most during these first few months of their life. I would add that their fathers learn a lot during this time as well. Here are some of the things I've learned:

• It is physically impossible for a mother to leave Target without buying a new outfit for their child. "It's only $5!" is the common rationale for buying several outfits totaling over $50.
• I have had more women come up to talk to me in these 3 months than before in my entire life.
• The time heating up a bottle is the longest 60 seconds of your life.
• Leaving the house? Add a 20 minute buffer and load up the car with every imaginable baby product.
• Spit-up does not come out of clothes easily.
• Although they know it will happen, women seem surprised that babies grow.
• No more warm dinners. As soon as you are ready to eat, so is she.
  

Now for some pictures of our 3-month old

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St. Patrick's Day (Old post number 1)

March 17th, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with my good friend Fr. Ernest, who actually baptized Catie (which will be in a later post!). Ernest was one of my first friends from my college days at Mount St. Mary's. He got to see how the Irish like to celebrate (He's Italian, but we won't hold that against him ;-)!

On March 19th, Jon and I hosted our 3rd annual St. Patty's Day party. This is a fun tradition that began when my parents still lived out in B'more and Jon and I have sworn to keep the tradition going!

The day actually started out with Catie being introduced to her MSM aunties!

We had a super yummy brunch at Ketchup in the National Harbor.

Then, it was time for a photo session with the cousins...as you can imagine, it was very difficult to get a picture with all three of them cooperating! Here's the best that we've got

And here are the outtakes!

This is my favorite! Carley looks a little possessed.

ANNNDD Catie's done!

ANNDDD Carley's done...

 But through it all, Robin pretty much kept the same expression! Little kid photos are awesome!