Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy birthday daddy!!

I love you because you:

fly me around and sing super baby

put me in the bumbo and sing bumbo baby (see a trend?)

read my bedtime book twice before bed

bring me into bed with you and mama when i wake at 6am

teach me spanish, sometimes

kiss my nose, all the time

I love you because you love me so big and you're the best daddy a girl could have!

Biggest x's and hugest o's,

Audrey Lu

Welcome Home Marlee Joy!!

For this child I prayed... 1 Samuel 1:27

This is Marlee Joy.

She is the newest member of the cool baby club.  And these are her parents, Miss Shelly and Mr Eric.  Miss Shelly and Mr Eric have been praying for a long time for Marlee Joy and God has been preparing them to be the perfect parents for this little baby.  Marlee Joy was barely 2 pounds when she was born.  And I thought I was teeny!  She spent the next seven weeks in the hospital getting bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger, and just got to go home with her mommy and daddy on Wednesday.  Yaaaay!

You might think that her story is different than mine or than yours, because she is adopted.

But the truth is, everyone who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior is adopted, too.  They've been adopted by God!  God calls them his CHILDREN.  Not just his servants or his followers, (and certainly not his adopted children), but his children. Pretty special, huh?

So... adoption is not always what mommies and daddies do because they can't have their "own" children, adoption is what mommies and daddies do as a response to what God has done for them.  After all, the point in having cute kids like Marlee Joy and me is to be parents, not to be pregnant.

Daddy says that the love of God for us produces and love for others in us, and I can tell that's true for Miss Shelly and Mr Eric.  Marlee Joy is lucky to have them as parents, and we're lucky that God finds us when we are lost and calls us His own.

James 1:27 says that genuine religion in the sight of God means caring for orphans and widows in their distress!

Everyone doesn't have to adopt, but God loves us THIIIIIS much and people who have been changed by that love will simply want to reach out to those in need the way God does.  God's desires start to become their desires.  How is God using you to love on those in need?

Singing with daddy

Daddy and I sang a duet for mommy before bed...

Four Month Check-up

Since I was technically four months old this past Sunday, I thought I had squeaked by another month without the dreaded loony toon bandaids that represent the painful pricking of my chubby baby thighs.  It hurts to be wrong sometimes, and this was definitely one of those times.

I'll start from the beginning.  Since Monday is errand day and Wednesday is playgroup day, I like to take it pretty easy on Tuesdays.  This Tuesday was no different.  This is where I was when the pace of our day changed.

Mama woke me up and put me in a cute outfit.  This always means we're leaving the house.  That's okay though, I've gotten a lot more used to the car seat... especially since I can hold things and get them to my mouth and chew.  Of course, I didn't realize where we were going...

We'll start with the good:

The doctors' office had a really large mirror with a cute baby in it for me to play with.

I'm gaining weight, although maybe a little slower than the doctor would like.  I guess my chubby baby thighs could use a little more meat on them.  12lbs 14oz, 25th percentile.  This is double my birth weight, but the doctor says I'm asking for more calories.  She gave mama the green light to give me fruits, veggies, even chicken!  She also told mama I didn't have to have rice cereal which is awe-some, because I hear it tastes like paste and has been known to stop a girl up a time or two.  IIIII think I'll pass.

I am 25 3/4 inches long... 90th percentile.  What?!  Have you seen my little mama?

Now onto the bad stuff:

The doctor and I were having a fine time talking about how amazing I am doing, how mama and I both sleep like babies at night, how I can finally eat some of the foods mama lets me lick all the time, how I'm lean and mean sweet as pie!... when in walks the nurse again.

I've already learned it's never a good sign if the nurse returns.  I was right.

I was crying before I was even done swallowing the oral medication.  Sigh.  I get my emotions from my mama.  Now I know why mama didn't wear mascara... in case she cried too!  She didn't, by the way.  But, oh boy, I sure did.

And then there they were: two loony tunes bandaids.  Like we're laughing or something.  This is no time for funny little cartoons :(

Mama scooped me up and honestly, after a few moments I realized it wasn't that bad.  I even managed to smile at the receptionist on the way out.  After all, it wasn't her fault.

Well, after that emotional roller coaster I think I'm ready for a nap, but while I've got your attention I'll show you how I feel about mama getting me dolled up just to get pricked...

4 Months

Easy, breezy, beautiful

I don't know what's going on, but when I woke up this morning it was chilly!  No warning?  The good news is, mama and I can't wait to get into some of our new fall outfits.  The bad news is, I'm still wearing 3 month clothes and I have one (one!) outfit that fits me that is warm enough for this craziness.  This gets even more challenging considering I had spit up all over this one outfit by 2:00 today.  Several times.  Enough that mama could no longer just ignore it.

I'm so used to being a summer baby and rocking the onesie everywhere I go... this is going to take a little getting used to.  I have to cram my cloth diapered bum into the pants... flailing around like mama does when she's trying to get into her jeans after she pulls them out of the dryer.  All that work and they're still too long for my cute sock feeties to show.

And what is up with these socks?!  The right one stays on, but the left one has come off 4 times already.  In fact, I'm just laying here wriggling (nothing major, it's not like I even roll over yet) and off it slips. I'm just beginning to understand the price of looking cute... and staying warm.

This is me watching the TV.  It's clearly the coolest toy in the house.  Especially when it's playing "Wipeout" (also daddy's favorite).  Mama is calling my name, trying to get me to look at the camera, but that doesn't really mean anything to me yet.

My first big trip!

I just got back from my first big trip.  Well, I got back a week ago, but I just got finished sorting through pictures and videos.

I took an airplane to Illinois to meet daddy's people.  Daddy has a lot of people.  His people are loud and fun.

I'm used to strangers looking at me with smiles that say, "aww, look!  A cute little baby!" but at the airport their smiles all said, "uh oh, is that baby going to be on my flight?"  It's okay, it just gave me an opportunity to prove to them that baby on the plane does not necessarily equal headache for everyone around.  When we landed, the people in the row in front of me said they didn't even know I was back there.  *Proud.

I was pretty nervous before we got on the plane:

But mama and daddy didn't seem nervous at all, they just seemed really excited, so I said, "peace out North Carolina!"

In Chicago there was a huge crowd of people holding a sign that said "RORY," and "RORY" must have been right behind me, because as soon as I jumped into grandma's arms that entire crowd started cheering and applauding, and it was more than I could handle, so I cried.  Once I calmed down I gave grandma and grandpa a big hello smile.  They looked at me like they love me big, I could feel it!

Here's me with my grandparents waiting for our luggage.  Don't think too much of the pout, I'm still not completely over the RORY thing.

I spent four days meeting grandparents, great grandparents, great uncles, second cousins, co-workers, and neighborhood friends.  (Which reminds me... if you know me, love me, and follow along with my blog, let me know by clicking "join this site" to the right.  Thanks!!)

I'm going to let pictures and videos tell most of the story of the trip.  Enjoy :)

Mornings are my favorite anyway, but mornings with grandpa are the best.  Tummy-time is never better than on a comfy couch watching the big squirrels out the window.  Daddy says the squirrels (and many other things) are better in Illinois.  Mama asked me if I could say "elitist."  I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't matter, because I can't say it anyway.  

I sure know a grandma when I see one, they make me feel the best!

Strolling down 3rd St with my mind on my paci:

I eventually ditched the stroller for the grandpa, a much cooler ride:

After almost two weeks, I laughed again.  I thought it was sooooo funny to pretend like my new car seat was a motorcycle.  Maybe it wouldn't take me so long to laugh again if I didn't get hiccups every time... grrrrr...

 Meeting great grandma T was love at first sight.  I hope you can see that happy expression on my face:

Chatting with grandma T:

the girls:

 Here's great grandpa John!  He was a cartoonist.  Isn't that really cool?  I was so excited to meet him:

He made me laugh and was pretty darn proud of himself:

The boys!  The extra boy is uncle Frank.  He has pretty hair like mommy:

I have lots of second cousins, here's two of them, Ali and Tim.  Also please notice my new headband and flower that grandma Debbie got me.  La la la love it!

Then I met great grandma Lydia, also known as "the gramma"

She sang to me in spanish.  Her song made about as much sense as everything else I hear:

(I don't know why this video is sideways)

Her yard is like a magical garden with flowers (and teddy bears??) all over.  I sure did love the flowers...

But I did not care so much for the bears...

Four generations of Meitls:

 One more with grandma Lydia and a picture daddy found of grandpa Bud.  How sweet!!

 On the last night we had a party at Aunt Carol and Uncle Bob's house.  Lots of food, a few presents, and a cake just for me.  I don't know what happened, but we did not take very many pictures :(  Maybe because it was my cranky time and I napped a lot?  I'll make sure my parents do a better job at Christmas.  We did get this one of my great-uncle Johnny and my way-cute cousin Laura:

Here's me telling uncle Johnny a sad story.  Probably that I'm cranky and my parents aren't taking enough pictures of everyone. 

 As a bonus on the trip, daddy's friend Darla visited all the way from Minneapolis:

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Debbie dropped us all off at the airport.  I didn't want to say goodbye so I just said, "see you real soon!"

The flight home went just as smoothly as the flight there.  I slept almost the whole time.  It was past my bedtime when we finally got to the airport.  Here is me snoozing away while daddy waited for our luggage:

Well, I don't think I've ever seen a better "the end" picture so at that I'll say, "THE END!"  

Thanks for the best visit, can't wait to see you all again at Christmas!!