Girl Talk

Now that the weather is warmer I want you two outside as much as possible. The problem is you are both mobile. Maya is standing and on the verge of walking any day now, and you are rolling both ways and trying desperately to crawl. It's nearly impossible for one person to handle both of you, so Mimi and I brought the pack n play out on the patio. As I was struggling to get it out the back door, I was thinking to myself the odds of both of you actually sitting in here for more than 5 minutes, is slim to none. But I set it up out there any way, filled it with books and toys, and plopped you both in. Maybe it was because you were never in there together, maybe it was because we were outside, who knows and who cares because you and Maya loved it. Maya brought books over to you, and started chattering away as if she was genuinely trying to read to you. And you listened, and looked, and just let Maya talk and talk and talk. You both were in there for about and hour, which in baby time is an eternity, too bad Mimi and I didn't utilize the time to do anything, we were just so mesmerized by your little gab session.

You both are growing so much everyday, I can't even believe you are 6 months old and Maya is a year. You are both so different, but get along so well, just like Jen and I. These are the days her and I have been waiting all our lives for. These are the moments that we only dreamed would someday happen, and we never even dare dreamed that they would happen for the both of us at the same time. Lucky doesn't even being to describe how I feel when I look at the two of you. Such wonderfully beautiful little souls that have blessed me beyond belief.

A Rare Moment

BEST BABY EVER...that is what you are. Sometimes I get scared to even say it for fear that you may change, but I have to tell everyone how wonderful you are. You don't cry, you loudly complain, the only real way to explain it is you growl. It is so funny that when you rarely get angry I just stare in amazement at your face. I almost never see you cry that when you do, I just love to watch you. Sounds horrible, I know, but you are just so funny when you are mad. I took this picture the other day when I was feeding you, and you got so angry when you finished all your food and there was none left. I ran to get my camera, wanting to get a picture of you crying and of course you started smiling when you saw the camera! But your need for more food eventually won out and you started crying again. Please forgive me...I promise I got you more food.

My Mini Baby

Weighing in at only 5lbs 10oz when you were born, you were by far the smallest of all your little friends. We had to have Bulya run out the day after you were born and buy you preemie clothes because everything we had was huge. You were 5lbs 8oz when we brought you home, and everyone could not get over just how tiny you were. I guess because I work with the premature babies, I never really though you were that tiny, but looking at back at pictures of you now, I really can't believe it. You were like my little doll baby. You are still a little peanut, never quite reaching past the 20th percentile on the weight chart, but you are growing just fine at your own little steady pace

Love Those Eyes

The first thing we all noticed about you the minute you were born were your eyes! They were wide open and you were so alert for hours! You have the EXACT same eyes as your Aunt Mitzi, the same shape and color. Now that you are a little older I think it was that your head was so small that it made your eyes look super big, because they don't seem so huge anymore. But when you were first born they took up your entire little face. I can get lost in those eyes, you have an old soul Michaela, I just know it. Wisdom beyond your years, almost as if you have been here once before.

My Big Girl

You have been threatening to do this for weeks. You mastered sitting propped up against something, but every time I took my hand away you face planted in a matter of seconds. I learned quickly to always have you on a padded surface, and we tried and tried and tried. And finally today you did it. Only for about a minute or so, but long enough for me to grab the camera and snap a picture. It's funny because I fixate all the time on how big you are getting so quickly and how sad that makes me, so you would have thought my initial reaction to you sitting up would be sadness...but of course it wasn't. I was so proud of you, mostly because you were so proud of yourself. You tried to sit up as straight as you could without toppling over, and you were smiling from ear to ear, as if to say "hey look what I did!" I love you so much little girl, you are just the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

Poppy

You are definitely a Poppy's girl, even though if you asked him, he would probably say you weren't. You become all smiles when you hear his voice, and even though you grimace at his moustache against your face, you always let him shower you with kisses. He was the very first person to hold you after you were born, after Daddy and I. He is the best Dad in the entire world, and I know he will be the best Poppy to you as well. He has the patience of a saint, and I am sure will be the first person to explain everything you ask "why?" to as you get a little older. He loves to show you everything, and he can't wait to take you to the beach this summer. He tells you every single day how beautiful you are, and then he says we are the luckiest people in the world to have you in our lives...he couldn't be more right. Everyone said we had to have a little boy for Poppy, since he has been surrounded by girls all his life, but I know Poppy wouldn't want it any other way!

That Face!

You are the happiest baby on the planet, I mean seriously you hardly ever cry. Maybe that is why I am so in love with this picture of you, because when you are upset this is the face you make! You don't cry, you don't scream, I never see tears, but you scrunch your forehead and let out a growl that is just so hysterical! Michelle came over special on my birthday this year just to take pictures of me and you, and of the hundreds she gave me (which are all so beautiful) this is my favorite. Your Dad just doesn't get it, he thinks its the worst picture of his baby girl, but it is so YOU! And that is just one of the many reasons why I love Michelle so much, she is amazing at capturing moments that are so unscripted. I can't wait to get this blown up and framed, it will forever be one of my favorite pictures.

Your First Photoshoot

You were nine days old when Michelle came over to do your first photo shoot, I guess technically it was your second since she was there to take pictures of you when you were born. It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm day in October, somewhere around 80 degrees, and I was so sick. I developed mastitis 2 days before, I had a 102 degree fever, body aches, chills, I felt so horrible, I just wanted to lay in bed and sleep. I quickly realized the unselfish nature a mother had to have, because laying in bed all day was suddenly no longer an option when I was sick. I thought about canceling the shoot, but I had dreamed of outside pictures and never thought we would be able to do that in October, and then we got this insanely warm weather, and I knew I would regret missing out on it. I'm so glad I didn't cancel...


You were so good the enitre time, I was trying so hard not to look sick, and all in all I think they turned out beautiful!

Mommy's Favorite Hat

I tried not to buy too many things for you before you were born. I had a lovely shower and was given more gifts for you then I could have ever imagined, but that still didn't stop me from wandering over to the baby girl section of every store just to "look". I picked this hat up one day at babyGap and I just had to buy it. I couldn't wait to put it on you after you were born. You had and still have, the smallest head ever! The hat didn't fit you for quite some time, but I just had to put it on you anyway! If fell over your eyes, bunched up in the back, but I didn't care and you didn't seem to mind it either. At 6 months old, it would probably still fit you now...too bad its almost summer!

Muffin Man

Do you know the muffin man?? Unfortunately I can't make any promises about never putting ridiculous hats on you ever again...you are just too cute!

I will promise you that you only wore this outfit once, before you out grew it! We were all hysterical when I put the hat on you, and one day if you ever get a sister, you can laugh with us all over again when she has to wear it!

Your Bulya

She cried the moment I told her I was pregnant. Sobbing in fact. The first thing she said after we told her, was she hoped you were a girl. She quickly backtracked making certain we understood that she would love a boy just the same, but she really wanted a granddaughter so badly, it was written all over her face. Daddy and I decided we were going to find out at our 20 week ultrasound if you were in fact a boy or a girl. I told him if you were a boy, he had to call Bulya and break the news to her over the phone, I said if you were a girl, we were going to drive right over and I wanted to tell her myself. And that is exactly what we did. I was bursting with excitement the entire ride over to her house, I couldn't wait to tell her. And she once again cried the moment I told her you were a girl. More like sobbing. I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. It was like giving someone the best present you could ever give. Your Bulya is one of the strongest women I know. Not much has ever come easy for her, but she never uses that as an excuse. She raised the man I fell in love with, and I hope I can be as good of a mom to you as she is to your Dad. She watches you about twice a week now while I go to work, and she truly lives for those days. She loves to take you on long walks, and always calls to remind me not to forget your stroller. She loves to buy you clothes, and show you off to her friends. I know she can't wait for shopping trips, sleepovers, and manicures when you are a little older. She would keep you permanently if I let her! I can already tell you two have a quite a bond, you never cry when I leave you if you are safely in her arms. I hope have a big heart like her, she would do anything for you. You are the little girl she has been waiting a lifetime for...moe zoloto!

I Hope...

I hope I can make you proud, I hope I can teach you what is truly important in life, I hope I can show you how to be compassionate to everyone, I hope I can always lead by example, I hope I can be firm with you when I know I have to be, I hope I can show you love when you need it the most, I hope I can always be a friend to you, I hope you always know I love you, I hope you always know I care about how you are feeling, I hope I encourage you to be the best person you can be, I hope I can help you follow all your dreams, I hope I can let you make your own mistakes, I hope I can let you follow your own path, I hope you always know you can tell me everything, I hope you will always be my best friend, I hope you will always want to do better than me, I hope you will understand all my choices, I hope you will always love me as much as you love me right now, I hope you always know you are my heart, I hope you think I'm the best mommy...because I hoped for you for so long and you are the best thing that ever happened to me.

Mimi and Your Rubber Ducks

Maya came over last week with a tiny rubber duck. In true Maya fashion she was through playing with it in 5 minutes and threw it on the ground. I picked it up and handed it to you. You grabbed it with your little fat fingers and let out such a happy squeal of delight, and you proceeded to hang on to that rubber duck all day long. Well...that's all you had to do to convince Mimi that rubber ducks were your new favorite thing. She jumped on the Internet that night and ordered you 40 of them! They came in the mail the other day and she couldn't wait for you to wake up from your nap so she could show you what she bought!You were honestly so excited and I couldn't believe you gave us such a great reaction! You tried to grab them all up and it was almost as if you were checking each and everyone out!I think more may be on the way in the mail, she said something about wanting to fill up Pop's entire pool! You are so spoiled, but I guess thats what Mimi's are for!

Daddy's Sunday Paper

Your Dad gets up early every Sunday and goes out for bagels and the Sunday paper. He comes home, makes his coffee, sits at the kitchen table with his breakfast, and begins to read the ads in the paper. He is obsessive with reading it in order, folding everything back up perfectly, and he has a fit if anyone touches "his" paper and messes it up before he is done with it. It has always drove me crazy because I have to wait until he is done before I can read it. So to my delight this past Sunday you did this....You reached your little hand out and he wanted to stop you, he wanted to yell, he wanted to be mad...but he can't be mad at your little face, so he just sat there and laughed. I guess he knows that from now he will be sharing his paper with you.

Your First Halloween

You were only 18 days old when you got to celebrate your first Halloween! I refused to buy you a Halloween costume when I was pregnant because I was fearful that I would jinx myself and you wouldn't be born until November! Lucky for me you came 2 weeks early, and Mimi bought you your first Halloween costume. I love the time of year that you were born and I already know you are going to have plenty of costume dress up birthday parties!
Definitely the cutest pea in the pod, if I do say so myself!

Your Daddy

He wanted a baby boy in the worst way. As much as I knew you were a girl the moment I found out we were pregnant, your Dad swore you were a boy. He even asked the ultrasound technician to check numerous times to make certain you were in fact a girl. He tried so hard, but couldn't hide his disappointment that he was going to have a little girl and not a little boy. That all changed the moment you were born. He said it was love a first sight. You stole his heart, and now he can't even imagine not having you. I know he was nervous about becoming a Dad, since his own Dad passed away when he was young, but he is a complete natural with you. He calls me constantly during his busy day to check on you, we have to send him pictures and videos on a daily basis, and he hates to go on business trips now and leave us. You already have him wrapped around your little finger and I know he is just going to spoil you. He longs for the the days when you can run up and jump in his arms, but I keep telling him that those days will be here before we know it, and not to wish this time away. I can't even tell you how many times I look over at him with you and he is just staring at you with tears in his eyes. I don't think he ever knew he could love someone as much as he loves you. You make him so happy and he calls you his angel. You are without a doubt the little girl he never knew he wanted so badly.