First Christmas (again and again!)

We had a busy holiday weekend! Christmas Eve was spent at my Gma and Gpa Hemesath's house, as it has been every year for the past 31 years. This year it was extra special because Steve and I had Maecy in tow. She was dressed in a cute little red corduroy jumper and snowflake tights. Of course with all that hair, there had to be a headband too!

Of course by the time that Santa arrived, we were already in our pajamas! Maecy was pretty indifferent about Santa Claus this year. I can't wait to see her reaction next year!

We spent the weekend at my mom's, and we had our family Christmas on Sunday. 

She got to play with her cousin Aiden 

(After this picture, there was a small slap in the face!) :)

She also got to meet her Aunt Jenni.

And, of course, there were lots of snuggles with Gpa and Gma!

When we got home that night, Maecy opened the presents from Mommy and Daddy. She had a great Christmas, and got lots of fun and exciting toys that she wanted to thank everyone for!

Now, if you are keeping track, that was only 2 Christmases, but the weekend before, Steve's family was all home for baptism, so we did the Krob Christmas that Sunday (yes, it was an insanely busy weekend!)

Playing with Gpa Jim



Maecy opening her presents

Aunt Jen had the magic touch...she hadn't napped all afternoon

Baptism

Maecy was baptized December 18th. She had a gorgeous hand-crocheted gown made by her Great Grandma Hemesath. Close friends of ours, Rob and Kurin, are her Godparents. After mass, we had dinner at our house for about 20 members of our family. I was happy with how everything all turned out, and the weather cooperated which was great!




My dad came down for the baptism and it was the first time he met her. I think Gpa was pretty smitten with his first granddaughter. It was nice to get a few pictures of them together!



Maecy throwing a tantrum...

which wore her out!

Four generations

Three Month Photos

We had our photos taken for a Christmas card. Maecy was a trooper for about 15 minutes...and then she was ready to be done. I think we got some pretty good shots despite the limited amount of time we had to work with.

I can already tell I won't be able to say "No" to that face!

Does she look annoyed with us already?!?!?

Merry Christmas to everyone!

~ Love the Krobs~

Steve, Jess, Maecy, & Finley

Sleep...at last!

It's happened...I was beginning to think it never would. Maecy has surprised me...She is sleeping through the night!  And not just once in awhile. I have had 6 glorious nights of sleep. Maecy has gone from getting up 5 or 6 times in the night, to sleeping for 10-12 hours straight!

Last Thursday night I had had enough, I was running on about 3 hours of sleep for the second night in a row, and I was so exhausted I just broke down crying at 3 in the morning and decided no more. That weekend we were going to "cry it out" as the books and internet articles say.  I also made the decision to eliminate the pacifier.  It was afterall the culprit of all of our sleeping problems. It would fall out, Maecy would wake up without it, and become upset. I would rush in trying to quiet her. I felt like a big meany, but I decided I was probably a whole lot meaner without sleep! :)

Thank goodness my mom came down on Friday night, so I had her for moral support. And I needed it. Friday night was rough.  She was so mad when we put her down the first time. I proceeded to go in every 10 minutes and reassure her, and try to soothe her (which of course was completely ineffective because she was so worked up). I had to go in 4 times.  I was starting to lose hope...then silence. It lasted about an hour and a half. We repeated the same steps again. The night continued pretty much the same, but the chunks of sleep got longer and longer. I started to think that maybe we were going to get some sleep around our house afterall!

Saturday night was great - she was sleeping within 15 minutes, and while she fussed around 2:30, she was able to put herself back to sleep within minutes.  Since then, she has slept through the night without a peep! :)

Since she no longer has her pacifier, she has found her thumb. Right now I am not thinking about how she might be a thumbsucker until she is five...I am just enjoying a full night's sleep! :) Speaking of sleep...it's about that time!

Maecy's way to tell me she is ready for bed...twirling the hair and sucking her thumb!

All in the Family!

And the holiday season begins! We traveled home Wednesday night for Thanksgiving at my Grandma Hemesath's. I have been spending Thanksgiving at my Grandma's for as long as I can remember, and this year, we had Maecy to bring along (and show-off)!

Maecy was all dressed up and her hair was as crazy as ever (doesn't it seems to resemble ruffled turkey feathers?!?!)

This was the first time many of the family members met Maecy, and she was such a good girl.  Lots of smiles and snuggles!

Maecy got to meet her "cousins" this weekend as well.  The chaos ensued when we attempted to get a picture of all the great grandkids...these are the kind of pictures you look back on and laugh. I think there were six of us in the little room snapping pictures furiously trying to catch that "perfect picture"! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!



2 month check-up

We had our two month check up this week. She weighs 11 lbs 2 oz and measures 20 1/2 inches. The shots were not quite as traumatic as I anticipated, but when they forgot to give her one of them and we had to return two days later to do it again, I was less than thrilled. She was a champ though and cried for just a few seconds. She even gave the nurse a smile before we left!

Check out that little belly!

Giving Thanks

I just realized that 2 weeks have gone by since that tearful Sunday night before I went back to work...and we have all survived. I dropped Maecy off on Monday and got back into my car before I could think about who I was leaving behind. I made it to school without a tear, but when I walked into the office at school and saw a couple of teachers giving me those "oh, it must be so hard" looks, I lost it. I told myself I wasn't going to think about it, which was easier said than done. Luckily, as the day went on, I got busy with work and before I knew it, it was 3:00 ( I may have left a little early that day).

Maecy is doing great at daycare - she loves watching the two little boys, and she is napping better for K than she is for Mom at home! Our nights have been a little rough. That first night home after daycare, Maecy was inconsolable until she finally wore herself out and fell asleep. All I could think was "This was not how I wanted to spend our two hours together."  I told myself she was just exhausted from her first day at daycare, and it will be better tomorrow. Unfortunately, the next four evening were a repeat of our Monday night, with Maecy crying and me trying to figure how to get  her to stop.  I felt completely inadequate as a mom. We have since turned a corner, and have had some great nights together!


We are getting into a routine and everyone is doing well as we begin the week of Thanksgiving - which of course means we will be throwing the routine out the window as we travel home! Oh well, it will be so good to be back at my mom's, and everyone in the family will finally get to meet Miss Maecy! :)

This year I am most thankful for the beautiful and healthy little girl that God has blessed us with. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Here comes daycare...ready or not!

I have been a wreck the last week...my maternity leave ends Sunday night and Monday morning I start back to work, and Maecy starts daycare. I kept hoping that Steve would win the lottery and I wouldn't have to go back to work, but since that didn't happen, I guess I will be returning to the working world.

I have been mentally preparing myself this week for that inevitable Monday morning. I brought Maecy to daycare for a few hours a couple times this week. Once in the afternoon because I had a meeting to go to (yes - a work meeting while on maternity leave...I know!) and once in the morning so that I could make sure we could actually get out of the house before 10.  Both days were a success for two reasons -  I didn't cry when I left her, and she slept the whole time I was gone!

I have also prepared my work area for my departure from my new little bundle of joy. I have loaded my favorite picture of the moment on the desktop of my work computer and I have purchased a picture frame to fill with her photos for my desk. I am wondering if this will have the opposite effect initially, though, and instead I will not be able to get my mind off of her. I am hoping I will be too busy trying to catch myself up on the goings-on of the last 8 weeks. Either way, it will be nice to have her smiling face right there in front of me.

So ready or not, here we go - me to work, and Maecy to daycare...wish us luck!

Trick or Treat!

Maecy is 6 weeks old today, and I decided we better try on our Halloween "costume" before the big day...just to make sure she is able to keep it on, as it says 0-9 months on the tag.  That seems like a pretty big range - and it is pretty big on her.  I am thinking that she may be able to wear it again next year!!Oh well, she looks pretty cute in it, even if it is big, and she seemed to like it to based on the smiles I got out of her...and even managed to capture them on camera! No trick or treating for us this year. Maecy is going to help Mom and Dad handout candy to all the kids in the neighborhood.

HaPpY HaLLoWeEn!

Play time!

Maecy has been spending more and more time awake, which makes it more fun for us! The other day we played with some of her toys with minimal interest on her part, but then we put her on the floor with her "overhead gym" and she was so interested in the toys and music! Of course we had to snap a few pictures.

Finley wouldn't dream of missing out on the fun!

We got tons of smiles while playing, but of course none of them were caught on camera!  Oh well, we are seeing more and more smiles , so I am sure we will catch them sometime soon!

One Month Check-up!

Maecy had her one month check-up today. She is a good little eater and her weight has jumped to 8 lbs 6 oz. I can't believe she is a month old already! Where does the time go?!?! The doctor says everything looks fantastic, and she assures me that in the next couple of months we will get more sleep! She is spending more time awake during the day, so hopefully that means we will start to spend more time sleeping at night...last night was not one of those nights however!! :)

Tummy Time!

First trip to Grandma's!

Last weekend we took a trip up to my mom's house for the weekend! We made a detour to Aunt Chris' house for some baby pictures and then we stopped by Great Grandma Hemesath's house so that they could meet Maecy.

On Sunday, Aunt Cathy and cousins Christopher and Hannah stopped by to meet Maecy.

Needless to say, there was plenty of snuggle time this weekend. 

The car ride went pretty well - Maecy slept the whole way up there, and there was only a little spell of crying on our trip home.  We have a good little traveler! Now I just need to figure out how to pack for a little one - we had plenty of diapers, but ran out of wipes...trial and error I guess!

Bath time!

Maecy has had a few baths now, all of which have been fairly traumatic for her! However, today, she finally seemed to be a bit more relaxed. This, of course, made it that much easier to get the job done! She is such a little peanut, she still slips and slides all over the place, but I know she won't stay that way for long!

first bath tub bath!

no tears is a good sign! 

A busy weekend!

We had lots of visitors this weekend! Kassie and Emerson stopped by on Saturday morning and met Maecy. Emerson loved using "the tube" (the boppy) to hold Maecy. She also made sure that Maecy always had her binky close!

Angela, Morgan, and Sydney also stopped by on Saturday afternoon to see Maecy~ Aunt Angela brought Maecy a really neat gift. 

We had been looking for a piggy bank, but now I am glad we hadn't found one yet!

On Sunday, Heidi, Jeremy, Jenna, and Hailey came from Postville to see Maecy!

We definitely want to thank everyone for all their generosity with gifts, meals, and offers of help!  We are so grateful for all of our supportive friends and family!

Grandma comes to visit!

On Monday my mom came to visit for a few days and help out, which was fabulous! She got lots of snuggle time with Maecy, and I got to take a shower without worrying. We squeezed in a little shopping, but mostly passed the time watching Maecy sleep.



Maecy also met her cousin Aiden on Monday. My sister Chris took some pictures of Maecy, and then we took some of Aiden and Maecy together. Aiden definitely knows how to take a great picture and pose for the camera!

Meet our little peanut!

Maecy Madelyn Krob joined us on September 13th, 2010 at 9:34 p.m.  She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches in length. She surprised us with a full head of hair!!! We have already fallen in love!