Life in the Fast Lane

At the Pumpkin Patch, although I think that's pretty obvious

Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Marvin

On the boat tour of the Riverwalk

At Aunt Betsy and Uncle Dante's wedding

The pool at the hotel


This fall has been fantastic and crazy busy! At the end of September we flew to San Antonio for Brian's sister Betsy's wedding. It was an extremely beautiful and romantic wedding and we had such a great time seeing family. On Friday we took a boat tour of the newly developed part of the Riverwalk which Lucy throughly enjoyed, mostly because she was entertained by cousin Austin. Then we had fun playing in the pool on Saturday. The wedding was Saturday night and unfortunately Lucy and mommy had to miss most of the reception because Lucy had to go to bed but we did get to see the gorgeous mansion where the reception was held. The next day Grandma Ellsmore watched Lucy so we could go see the Riverwalk and of course, the Alamo.

Then, the first part of October we enjoyed a nice long visit from Grandma and Grandpa Marvin. The picture was from our leaf drive. Lucy got to stay home with Grandma and we are forever grateful for Grandpa Marvin's manual labor around the house-painting the living room, sanding the deck and mowing the lawn.

This past weekend we took Lucy to the pumpkin patch. She had a great time smacking the pumpkins and watching all the kids. We left with two awesome pumpkins that Lucy helped pick out.

Lucy is doing so many fun things. She can say "mama" and "dada" and "uh oh." She is crawling like a champ and can pull herself up. I don't think she'll be walking any time soon but she sure loves to get around. Her favorite toy right now is the little table she can stand up on and play music and move the parts around. She also LOVES her books right now. In the mornings when we're getting ready we leave her in her room and usually come back to find her "reading" her books to herself. Now, if only we could get her to take her milk from a sippy cup . . . .I have no idea where she gets the stubbornness from.

Hello fall!

Definitely a teacher's daughter!

Playin'

Lucy LOVES her baths!

This dress was mama's when she was a baby

This picture may drive her into therapy as an adult but oh well, she's so cute

Sorry for such a long time between blogs, this has been one hectic start to a school year (when is it ever not hectic though really?). Lucy has started full time at day care and has taken to it like a pro! She LOVES the other kids and Sherry. Every day when we go to pick her up she's doing something fun from watching the kids limbo, to playing with Legos, to hanging out outside. We really couldn't be happier. The only thing better would be to be home with her myself.

Even though I think "working mother" is an oxymoron, I still think this working parent thing is super hard! Between meetings and classes and all the "extra" stuff that comes with our jobs . . speaking of jobs, Brian is back to work and loving it. The time we do get with her in the mornings and evenings is very precious though and we are so lucky to have such an adaptable little girl. Love to all of you!

Happy Summer!

After last month's crazy house of illness this month has been so much better. I took Lucy in for her tests on July 8th. She had an ultrasound of her kidneys and a very unpleasant test of her bladder. The doctor put a catheter into her bladder and filled it with dye until she couldn't take it any longer and peed. Understandably, she was not happy about it AT ALL! The good news is that everything is normal and her urinary tract works great!

After the three weeks in June when she couldn't eat baby food we started her over on all the different "first foods". She is back in the swing of it again and loves almost anything, especially having daddy come home after work and feed her dinner.


Cousin Austin and Lucy


Cousins Austin and Carson and Lucy


Dressed like a giraffe in front of giraffes-oh the irony




Aunt Kristy and Lucy at Casa Bonita


Lucy and Zachary's playdate


8 month old beauty




Lovin' the pool




Mid July we enjoyed a visit from the Smiths. This was their first visit to Colorado since we've lived here and we had such a great time! Lucy had a lot of "firsts" including a trip to the Denver Zoo, the Coors Brewery (never to young to start 'em), and Casa Bonita. She loved spending time with her cousins and was completely enthralled with Austin who was a very good baby entertainer!

Lucy has been to the pool several times this summer and absolutely loves the water! She is "talking" up a storm with lots of dadas and mamas. Her new favorite sound is an interesting take on a machine gun. We are having so much fun this summer, it will be difficult to head back to work and not spend the whole day with her!

One Crazy Month

If you read this blog, you're probably related to us somehow and already know all the details of the last 3 weeks or so. Feel free to just look at the pictures and say "ah, how cute" and be on your merry way. Otherwise, I feel a duty to relay all the craziness that has been Lucy's 7th month of life. It all started so great with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Ellsmore.





I was done with school for the year and Brian had yet to start his new job so we took the opportunity to do fun things like take Lucy to her first Rockies game. It was really exciting because there were back to back to back Rockies' home runs. Lucy and I didn't actually get to see that happen because we were in the family restroom but we heard the screams.


Eden and Grandpa feeding the fish

Lucy and Grandma


The first two weeks of solid food went well. She got over her initial hatred of cereal once we began adding vegetables. Then she seemed to like everything until we tried pears. She hated them and didn't want to eat her usual amount. The next morning I got her up and found out she had thrown up sometime during the night. The next day we had several instances of projectile vomit including an unfortunate incident at lunch with Kendra and G-Ma Nanc. I called the doctor and the nurse thought that as long as she didn't get sick the night before our trip home to go for it. She did great on the plane but was still acting sick once we were at Alissa and Tai's house. Then I got VERY sick with the stomach flu and thank goodness for Alissa (I love you, girl! I know you are one of the few who read this!) because she took care of Lucy all the next day when I couldn't. It was not how I had planned to spend my vacation and missed out on seeing my friend Carmen who lives in Chicago which was a big disappointment. But, luckily no one in the Ward house got sick!

We left Chicago on June 4th and drove to Iowa. We spent a great night with Amber and Eden and Grandma and Grandpa Marvin. But, then Grandpa Marvin got his turn with the stomach flu. Lucy was still throwing up about once a day at that point, too. We were all one big pukey mess!


Lucy and Elliott

After a trip back to Fairfield on Tuesday, June 8 Alissa and I spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Ellsmore in Iowa City. Lucy slept well that night but the flight back to Denver wasn't something I'd like to repeat anytime soon. Lucy was fussy and didn't want much to do with sitting in her seat.

After getting home and and having another big round of throwing up I decided we'd had enough and I took her to the urgent care Thursday night. The doctors ran blood tests, urine tests and took an x-ray of her stomach. She had lost weight and had a fever. I found out on Friday that she has a urine infection which evidently is the cause of all the vomiting. She started antibiotics that day and today is day 9 of taking her medicine. She had another bad morning on Monday so I took her back to the doctor. I guess bladder infections aren't super common in infants so Lucy gets to look forward to having an ultrasound of her kidneys and some other tests we have schdeduled in July. To put the cherry on top, I was sick all weekend and finally went to the doctor on Monday to find out that I had strep throat. We are quite a pair.

Lucy is doing much better although she's still fussier than normal and isn't sleeping through the night anymore. She hasn't had solids since she began getting sick almost three weeks ago per doctor's suggestion but tonight we will try it again. This time we'll stick with trusty sweet potatoes.

6 months old

Lucy's 6 month photo shoot


"Yup, that's me. Hanging out in a wicker chair for some bizarre reason" Lucy


"flying"






We picked out an adorable little sundress for her to wear. She only got a couple of shots wearing it, however because


this happened. Which is why we ended up with several "naked" baby pictures we hadn't planned on taking. Best laid plans . .







A couple of weeks ago I took Lucy to her first rally protesting some Colorado legislation that affects public schools. She's the one in the stroller.



Lucy had her 6 month check-up on Friday. Brian and I went together to the appointment and when we got there we realized we left Lucy's diaper bag at home. And of course, she pooped one giant poop. The doctor's office had no diapers, no wipes, etc. Brian ran home to get the bag and I washed her with cold water in that little sink the doctors use to wash their hands. They gave me a couple of bags to put her poopie clothes in. I think the labels are very fitting for the contents.



Lucy weighs 14 lbs, 11 oz (25%) and is 25 1/4 inches long. She's leveled off on height somewhat but is growing nicely. She got her last round of shots for awhile and considering she spent the whole appointment wrapped in a hospital gown while we waited for Brian to bring her diaper bag-she did really well.



At her 6 month birthday we gave her rice cereal for the first time. As you can see from the video . . . . she HATES it. Actually, since then it's been worse. She actually got a few bites down the first time. Oh well, it will come with time.




Lucy's first "real" food

Spring Time

Sleepy Baby

Lucy's Favorite Pasttime-Sucking on her Fingers

Rings

Our Self Portrait

Brian told me the other day- "I kinda like her"

Almost 5 months! Lucy has become quite rolly polly. We never know exactly what position she'll be in when we go to get her out of her crib. Her new favorite things to do include sucking on her fingers (well, anything within reach actually) and squealing. I tried to get her on video but darn it if our little girl isn't smart enough to figure out how to be camera shy.

It is spring time in Denver. I tried to get a good picture of the tree in the backyard that is blooming but the picture doesn't do it justice. It is fun to discover new things about your house-this is our first spring here so the beautiful flowering tree was a nice surprise. A not so nice surprise? Ants. Lots of 'em. There are some definate drawbacks to having a basement.

If you get a moment, visit the Littleton Public Schools website-www.littletonpublicschools.net. You'll see a smily Crystal on the front page.

4 Months!

Today Lucy is 4 months old! We celebrated with a trip to the doctor yesterday. More shots and vaccines. One vaccine they give her orally and she just hates it. The nurse said most babies don't mind it because of the sweet taste but not our spunky gal. She got back at the nurse by spitting it out at her face. Lucy now weighs a whopping 12 pounds 9.5 ounces! This keeps her right where she was 2 months ago, at the 28 percentile for weight. We were a little surprised to find out she is 25 inches long which puts her at the 80th percentile for height. It isn't a predictor of future height or anything, but it all makes sense since she hasn't fit lengthwise as well in her footy pajama clothes. Just this weekend we switched out her clothes so she's started to wear 3-6 month sizes.

Grandma and Grandma Marvin paid a visit last weekend. I had Friday off from school because of parent/teacher conferences so it worked out great to spend a long weekend together. Lucy rolled over, albeit reluctantly at first, for both of them. She is so close to rolling over from her back to her front. She gets about halfway over and then just needs a little "umph" to get her over the rest of the way. I can't believe March is half way over. One more week before spring break! Woo-hoo!!