Cruising

Ben and I just got back from vacation - we took a 3 night cruise out of Port Canaveral to the Bahamas and CocoCay (an island owned by Royal Carribean). It was our first trip with out Lucy, which also included our first night away from her and basically the longest time we've been apart from her. As hard of a decision as it was to leave her, we both wanted to set a precedent of putting our marriage first and we felt like a long weekend away was just what we needed. Hopefully we will have more mommy-daddy only trips in the future!

Lucy stayed with her Grandma and Grandpa Wehner while we were away, and they loved having her! In fact, they even said they'd keep her an extra night if we needed some time to recover from a long day of traveling home... we appreciated the offer but couldn't wait to get her back in our arms! What a relief... I was so nervous that they'd be itching to give her back to us when we got home, afraid she wouldn't sleep or would be a bother, but they said she was a perfect baby!

Our first day of vacation we flew into Orlando and stayed the night there. I have to admit, leaving Lucy was much, much harder than I had imagined! I figured I would miss her, but the first 24 hours felt horrible - and I kept telling Ben I wish we hadn't left her. Fortunately the feelings wore off, but I was so shocked at how empty those first couple hours without her felt. Once we were on the cruise ship, Ben and I got into the swing of just being us and completely relaxing (i.e. watching TV, laying out, and eating... repeat)

A couple highlights from our trip:

Getting off the ship in Nassau (I swear I have a shot that is almost identical to this of Ben on our honeymoon, he has the same jersey and bathing suit on that he wore 4 years ago!)


We tried to keep the trip pretty cheap, so didn't do any excursions. The first thing we did in Nassau was head to a beach within walking distance from the ship:


Then walked around the town and grabbed a beer and some hot wings (I know, I know, we have all you can eat food on the cruise... but hot wings sounded soooo good!)


Back on the ship... one of the many things we love about cruising... towel animals! Also, a shot of our cabin... it was much smaller than the other two times we cruised when we had a balcony, but neither of us seemed to mind.


Formal night... and the only shot we got with both of us in it!


The Atlantis at night


A little wind blown... and sun burned! We really only had one good day of sun, so we made the most of it!


Day 2 - relaxing at Cococay! Well, first we took an extremely long walk, trying to make it around the island but then turning a wrong way and ending up on a gravel road in our bare feet... ouch! So this is what we did when we got back... (Ben and I were both reading Harry Potter on the trip)


And one last shot, wanted to include this fashionable hat I got... ok, just kidding... wanted to include this one because we had a long day of travel on our way home. We got off the ship about 7:45am, but our shuttle wasn't supposed to come till 9:30am and then our flight wasn't supposed to leave till 2:30pm. So I decided to make the most of sitting outside in Orlando, and tried to get some more sun! But did not need anymore on my face...


Fortunately the shuttle came early and we were able to get a nonstop flight home, putting us in Indy an hour earlier than we thought. The whole day I was so excited to see our baby girl, it was so great to be back together as a family when we got home!

A Chance to Slow Down

So... I haven't posted lately, but not because I've been too busy or stressed, mostly because we haven't been up to much... which has been AMAZING! After painting and re-doing a lot of the downstairs, then planning for Lucy's party, I needed a break. But I did want to get some pictures that I've taken over the past couple weeks to show how big our baby girl is getting and share some of her favorites lately...

Helping Dad mow the lawn (don't worry it's turned off!) Lucy has been loving pushing things around, like her stroller, almost the entire way home from the park... so naturally she loved help her dad push the lawn mower (and by the way, yay for having enough sunshine to have to mow the grass for the first time this year!)




Getting into everything! On this day I was getting ready in the bathroom and peaked down to find I could no longer see Lucy. Somebody had sneaked into the cabinet...


And this isn't a great picture, it's hard to snap a baby that's on the move with my iPhone, but just had to show off these adorable new shoes we got Lucy...


Other cute things she's been up to - going over to the pantry, pulling out the cheez-its and saying "cracker", as she looks for me to give her some, calling everyone a baby (especially pictures of herself and her baby dolls), saying "owwwww" a lot, even when she is clearly not in pain, and finding her head and toes when we ask where they are.

Lucy's First Birthday

Wanted to put a few pictures from Lucy's party here on the blog. We had a wonderful day celebrating our baby girl! Our house was full of people who love Lucy very much and who have been a part of her life and our lives as a family this past year- it was great to have everyone all in one place!

The birthday girl, complete with a tutu, leg warmers and an "I am 1" onesie... I forgot to get a full body shot with the shirt... oh well!


The dessert table, all food was doggie themed... "pup-cakes", puppy chow, dog bone cookies, and a smash cake for Lucy.


Drinks... and a newly wallpapered wall! Poodle theme designed by the lovely Katie Kruithof...




Food... hot dogs, corn dogs, kibbles n bits pasta salad, and doggie bags! (plus our new gray walls!)


A year of lucy... pictures from each month


Birthday cake!


Completely uninterested in the cake, and wondering why everyone was staring at her


Trying out one of her new presents


Love our silly family :)

More laughing!

I was so glad I grabbed my camera for this, I just love it when Lucy giggles! We can almost always get her to laugh by tickling her or blowing raspberries on her belly, but sometimes she'll actually find humor in things... like the cow falling off the table below...

She is such a joy in our lives! We are so thankful for each little giggle she gives us!

12 months

I have a lot of catching up to do! This week has been all about rest and recovery (well for me anyway, I don't think Lucy got that memo) since our house is now painted and Lucy's party is over.... but I don't want to forget my final month update!

Well, we did it! Lucy is officially 1 year old, and moving out of her "baby" months and into toddler-hood. So many things have been changing over the last couple weeks as she grows up and becomes more independent. We are officially done nursing, and fortunately, it was totally baby-led. I was nervous she was going to be upset when I tried to wean her, but I honestly think she was more upset that I was trying to nurse her towards the end. My busy-body little girl just did not want to sit still and eventually I think I just lost my supply... but I made it till she was 11.5 months old, so I feel very accomplished about that! She is officially drinking whole milk now and LOVES it.

She has still been taking 2 naps, totaling about 3 hours (although this past week that has changed... not sure if she is ready to drop down to one already???), and sleeps a good 12 hours every night. The best part is, even if she's awake in her crib, she sits and is content to play, so I've laid her down for naps a couple days and just heard her talking away... I suppose that's better than not having a break at all!

She is loving the warm weather and wants to be outside every second she can, and when I don't let her she has been throwing little fits - collapsing onto the floor and fake crying in hopes of getting her way. Hopefully she'll learn soon that her tactic isn't working! She is into everything and loves to open and close doors, cabinets and drawers and then empty out the contents of whatever drawer/cabinet she has uncovered... this has obviously made for a messy, messy house! This curiosity has also led her to discovering the toilet and what she can drop into it (like my iPhone!) and trying to climb up and stand on top of just about anything... I have a feeling we'll be using a lot of band aids in the near future.

She loves going to the park and going down the slide, or just exploring and watching the other children play. She LOVES other kids and always gravitates toward them whenever I put her down. One day I took her to the library and could not keep her away from another family... it was kind of awkward, she kept walking over to them and staring and pointing at the baby! She still loves reading and sits and reads with us several times throughout the day... and of course loves the TV whenever its on. I even have to turn the news off, otherwise she'll sit and stare at the TV... doesn't she know that's boring to watch? She loves going up and down the stairs, although hasn't mastered the going down part and usually likes me to give her a piggy back ride down.

She talks a lot, and we've made out mama, dada, dog, woof, baby and hi... but they are all still pretty inconsistent. She mostly just likes to babble and scream and make funny noises with her tongue... all of which make me laugh throughout the day. And it appears she is beginning to understand a lot of what we say... she'll bring me a ball, book, or baby when I ask, she'll wave bye-bye when we say "say night-night" or "say bye-bye". She'll even shake her head "no" when we ask her to give us kisses! Not sure if that's the response we want... but it's pretty cute. At least we can get her to blow us some kisses every once in a while.

She continues to be a super happy baby and pretty independent. She still loves her mama and needs to be held/cuddled every once in a while, but ultimately she's most happy running after Ruthie in the back yard... have I mentioned how much she loves dogs?

We went to the docotor this month... Lucy has gotten huge! I remember bringing my sweet girl home from the hospital and always being nervous about her weight gain. Well I have nothing to fear now, she loves to eat and drink and has shot up on the growth charts.

Weight- 23.3lbs (83%... her last two visits she was 52% and 38%)
Height- 29.8in (73%... last visit she was 58%)
Head- 18in (72%)

Doctor said she is healthy and everything looks on track with her growth and development... although she did discover Lucy had an ear infection, so I was glad we went when we did! We are lucky though, this is Lucy's first ear infection, so she made it an entire year without getting one!

Now for the birthday girl!


being a goof ball... as usual...


happy as can be!

Spring is Here!

A couple weeks ago the weather started to warm up and we have been trying to take advantage of it as much as possible. I love the sound of Lucy's little feet as she walks on the side walk. The pitter patter her shoes make is just the sweetest noise!

You can also get a glimpse of our strong willed little girl here... she kept wanting to go straight to the street and was not happy when we redirected her!

So excited to take many more "walks" with this little one as the weather continues to warm up!






On a side note, out painting and wallpaper project is done!!! hallelujah! Just in time to celebrate Lucy's birthday.

Water Park

Our house is under construction right now, we've been trying to get the whole downstairs painted before Lucy's first birthday party... so I've been spending almost every waking hour caulking, spackling, sanding, painting, etc. That leaves little time to post, but I wanted to get a few pictures up from when we went to the indoor water park with my sister and Jadyn and Jordyn (I forgot my regular camera, so help my iphone VERY carefully as I snapped a few shots.)

Lucy had a blast and it was so fun to watch her really explore. She loved all the people and all the water toys they had for kids to play with. And she wanted nothing to do with her mom! I kept trying to hold her hand as she walked around and she kept brushing me off... my little baby is growing up!

I put a tshirt over her onesie because she seemed to be really cold when we first got there... I think it helped her warm up a little, at least her teeth stopped chattering.

Watching the big bucket of water dump over...

Cousins!