Father's Day

Zach enjoyed his first Father's Day.  It was a day for cuddling with Monroe and playing golf.  

We went and got sushi with the Johnstons for supper.  The boys ordered Chinese, but Emily and I couldn't pass up sushi.  For Grand Island, our sushi restaurant is quite good.  We go there a lot.

Happy Father's Day to Zach.  We love you!

Two months

Two months

Monroe was two months old yesterday.  We had our two month check up, and the doctor thought everything looked great. The doctor confirmed that Monroe's a big girl.  She is 23 1/2 inches long.  That puts her in the 90 percentile for her height.  She is also 12 pounds, and that is the 75 percentile.   She had three shots while there.  She screamed when she got them, but then she slept the rest of the day.  She took them like a champ.  At two months, she loves to stand, giggle, and jabber.  It is so fun watching her grow. We have two more months together.  I'm hoping they go by slowly.

Enjoying the bath

Her cheeks are getting even fuller

Cuddling with Great Grandma while watching Daddy play softball

Isn't she precious?

Getting so big

Summer so far

My two favorite people

Zach, Monroe and I have had a great summer so far.   We finally got around to planting flowers this week.  The last two years we have planted a vegetable garden and had produce coming out of our ears.  This year we decided we wanted to focus on Monroe and not bother with the garden.  I did, however, plant flowers.  I planted my cannas again.  I also bought new pots and planted arrangements in those.  We also got around to pulling weeds, which was overdue.  The landscaping now looks much better.

A couple summers ago I read the Harry Potter series and absolutely loved it.  I had never seen any of the movies, though, so last week we decided to watch them.  We watched all seven movies in two days.  It was a lot of movie watching for this girl, but it was fun.  We look forward to the last movie coming out in July.

Monroe is changing so much.  This morning she weighed 11 lbs 8 oz.  As you can tell, she likes to eat.  She is also sleeping through the night, which I obviously love.  I don't realize how fortunate I am until I talk to other moms whose babies wake up every few hours.  Monroe is also smiling, laughing, and cooing all the time now.  We can't get enough of her.

Muffin top in more ways than one

I love that face

She loves to stand

Another year is over

Summer officially started today.  It is funny because yesterday was my first day back and my last day. My long-term sub, Bill Chadek, did an amazing job.  He is a retired teacher who taught at Newell for 35 years. He works way harder than he should.  It made being on maternity leave so easy for me.  I just hope he's around when I have another baby.

Zach was glad to finish his year as well.  He didn't like going to work everyday while Monroe and I stayed home these last few weeks.  The ending to the year was bittersweet for him, though, as he is not returning to Westridge next year.  He has been reassigned to the Success Academy, an alternative middle school, because of cuts in the math program.  He has tried to have a good attitude about the situation, but he is really going to miss his colleagues at Westridge.

One person I will miss next year is my principal.  Brad Wolfe has been my principal for the last five years.  He is leaving to take a middle school position in the district.  He was a wonderful leader and a great person to learn from.

This summer we have no big plans.  I hope to go on a lot of walks, do some gardening, and read a few books.  Zach hopes to play a lot of golf.  We both want to take in every second of being with Monroe. She's growing so fast.  We don't want to miss a thing.

Newborn Pictures

Monroe had newborn pictures taken when she was seven days old.  We loved working with the photographer, and we love how the pictures turned out.  I have so many favorites.  I know all moms do, but I think I have the most adorable daughter ever.

More from our photographer can be seen at www.jessicarichterblog.com

Westridge shower

Zach's school threw us a diaper shower this week.  We were given tons of diapers and wipes.  What a blessing.  Hopefully we won't have to buy these things for a while.

Monroe had to look adorable for her big day.  I love the new headbands I ordered from Etsy.

This is what Monroe's closet looks like now.  I think this will last us a while.  Thanks, Westridge!

Week Three

Monroe and I had an eventful week.  My sister-in-law, Julie, came to stay with us for a few days.  Our days filled up quickly, and the time went way too fast.  Julie and Monroe enjoyed good cuddle time, and Julie and I laughed A LOT.  It was a great time.

On Friday night my siblings and parents came to our house to celebrate Mother's Day.  Grand Island is central for all of us, so we met here.  The night was beautiful, so we ate and played outside.  The kids had a great time, but I didn't get any pictures.

I had a nice first Mother's Day.   Zach's parents, his brother, Derek, and Derek's girlfriend, Emily, came to Grand Island for dinner.  We tried out the new Italian restaurant in town.  The food was delicious, and everyone loved holding Monroe.

90 degree weather brought out the summer clothes

Monroe also rolled from stomach to back for the first time on May 8th.  Less than one month old.