Baby it's cold outside

We had such a great Christmas -- getting snowed in at Gigi and Papa Tom's and then driving into Lawrence for Christmas #2 with Mimi and Papa John. With 2010 just around the corner and nearly 6 inches of snow on the ground, Josie wants to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Don't forget to stay warm and bundle up!!

My Christmas List

"I'd like a barbie, my little pony, rainbow bright, the barbie dream house, play dough, some make-up..." These are the things I overheard Josie talking about during her first visit to Santa's lap.


We took Josie to a Christmas party last weekend at the Ashley's. The annual Christmas party is centered around kiddos with crafts, songs and of course, a surprise visit from Santa Clause. Here's to Josie's first Christmas!

Guess Who's 2 Months Old?!?

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy 2 month birthday dear Josie, happy birthday to you!


We celebrated Josie's 2 month birthday on December 15th by taking the traditional "watch me grow" picture in her crib - she's getting so big!


We also celebrated by having dinner at our favorite, Dean and Deluca, and bringing home another gourmet cupcake. This month daddy picked Red Velvet and it was amazingly delicious. Just thinking about it now makes me want to pack her up in the car and drive back for another one. And if I want to do all that work, you know it's worth it!


And of course, a birthday celebration or any celebration for that matter, wouldn't be complete without a larger than life bow. I wonder how long she'll let me put these in her hair...

Choppin' down our tree

We went to Bishop Tree Farm last Saturday to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree. After searching the farm (literally to the far corners of the farm!), we found our tree. Isn't she a beauty? I felt the heavens part and heard the angels sing when we spotted her.


This picture was taken to document the darling ruffles on Josie's Christmas outfit. I mean, there are few things more darling than ruffles on a baby's bottom.


Our first family trip to the tree farm. There was a family of 7 sipping on hot chocolate in the cottage when we arrived back from cutting down our tree. I chatted with the mom briefly and she told me how their family has taken a picture in front of this fireplace every year for the past 10 years. Of course I teared up, because everything makes me emotional, and after the family set off to pick out their 11th Bishop Farm tree, we snapped this picture.


I wanted to highlight my stud husband for chopping down our tree in reportedly record time. He's so cute.


And of course, Todd couldn't leave the tree farm without playing some type of war game by himself, using the measuring rod as his weapon.


Of course, we planned this trip as something special to do with our growing family and as always, Josie loved it so much that she slept right through it. :-)

I'm Stuffed

Looks like someone had just a bit too much turkey this Thanksgiving...

So cute

I mean, have you ever seen anything so cute??

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 1-month birthday to you, happy 1-month birthday to you, happy 1-month birthday dear Josie, happy 1-month birthday to you!


We celebrated Josie's 1-month birthday on November 15th. Can hardly believe she's now a month old! Our little girl is growing up! And yes, that is our Christmas tree up in the background because we are "those kind of people". :-)


Not gonna lie, the Dean and Deluca raspberry chocolate truffle cupcake was to die for!


And of course, no celebration is complete without a larger than her head flower. :-)

Scrub a Dub

Josie hated us during her first bath. She hated us just a tiny bit less during her second bath and she only moderately disliked us during her third bath. But tonight, following her fourth bath, Josie actually seemed to enjoy soaking in the warm, soapy water. No tears! Well, until the end when we took her out. But overall, turns out that Mommy and Daddy are starting to get the hang of this bath time thing!

Buh-bye!

On the eve of her 4-week birthday, we are saying good-bye to Josie's newborn clothes. I can't believe it, our little one is getting so big! So...good-bye to the teeny tiny onsies that are just a smidgen bigger than a barbie doll and hello to size 0-3 month-old!! I didn't think I could grow attached to her ity bity clothes, but I have. If anyone knows me at all, you know I'm a saver...so of course each of these tiny newborn clothes are going to be preserved and kept forever!! :-)

Big Brother

Big brother Wrigley was very excited to sport his "big brother" bandana, creatively designed by Auntie Rachel. Wrigley has been a big help around the house since we brought Josie home. He's become a master of changing diapers and wrapping Josie up in the swaddle. He even gets up for midnight feedings. He is also the perfect guard dog. He's staying close to Josie in this picture in case her binkie falls out. He is always ready to put it back in before she starts crying. I don't know what Todd and I would do as first time parents without the extra help of big brother Wrigley.

Mini-Milestones

Josie's 3 week birthday marked two mini-milestones for us at the Heitshusen household: Josie took a binkie for the first time AND Todd gave her her first bottle. I have never felt so much freedom! So because of this...


And this...


I got to do this...


This...


And this...


If you're curious, I'm reading Twilight in these pictures (the fourth book in the saga). But in all honesty, I was so excited that she was quiet taking her binkie AND I was very excited to get a break from feeding, that I was really too hyper to read. I read about three pages and was done. I guess it's the thought that counts!

Happy Halloween!

I was so excited to have Josie dress up for Halloween; however, they don't make too many Halloween costumes to fit a two-week old. Oh well, there's always next year!


Josie loved Halloween so much, she slept right through it! :-)

What's up doc?

So just two days after being home from the hospital, we had to visit the pediatrician for a weigh-in. Josie was a bit jaundice when we left the hospital and the doctors just wanted to make sure she was gaining weight. Which she was, yay! Todd did a nice job of keeping her warm and quiet as we waited for the nurse.


Unfortunately they also had to draw blood to make sure her bilirubin level was going down. The tech was right when he said it was most likely going to hurt me more than it hurt her.


The tech was actually very sweet and gentle with Josie.


She was such a champ. Not a tear or even a peep. I'm so proud of my little girl. Nothing to worry about because she basically slept through the whole thing. She's so brave!

Grandparents and cousins

Grandparents and cousins welcomed Josie, Todd and I home last Saturday. It was really fun showing Josie her new room, which is where we took these pictures with the grandparents. I think Josie was really impressed with her closet. I mean, what girl wouldn't be impressed with a closet FULL of clothes, shoes and hairbows? :-)


My parents are in the above picture and Todd's parents are in the picture below.


Josie got to meet her cousin, Luke, who is only 5 months older. Unfortunately, Luke's older brothers, Miles and Max had a little cold that weekend and could only say hi as I held Josie on the other side of the front door. They both had tears in their eyes as they waved to their new baby cousin. It was very sweet and heart breaking at that same time. Max, who is two, asked his mom the next day if they could "Go see Josie and open door." Again, so sweet.


Josie did get to meet her girl cousins that night. Emri, baby Claire and Ava. I love how the older girls are trying to quite the babies. And if I'm being completely honest, it was during the time we took this picture that I accidentally called my three day old daughter Sophie instead of Josie. I really have no explaination for that. You can see how I made that mistake. They kind of rhyme, right?


Josie also got to meet Todd's grandma, her great grandma, that night. It was so great to see our families that night when we came home from the hospital. And just think, there are SO MANY more family members and friends who have yet to meet her!

Homecoming

After two short nights at the hospital (with complimentary diaper changes and food service, which was hard to say good-bye to!), we were ready to go home. But of course, not after Josie's new aunts and uncle had the chance to meet her.


Aunt Rachel and Aunt Kerri


Aunt Holly


And Uncle Scottie


Here we are getting ready to leave the hospital - we were just a bit nervous. I couldn't help but think, were they REALLY letting us take her home?? We had to go through more of a background check when we bought our new car!


Our family was waiting for us at the house when we got home - with a hot meal and groceries filling the fridge and cabinets. Again, our families have taken VERY good care of us! Josie couldn't wait to make a fashion statement with her new hat. At first she thought it was a bit much for her first trip home, but I convinced her that it went really well with her polka dot sweater. :-)

She's Here!!!

On Thursday, October 15th, we welcomed a new little addition to our family. Josie Lynn arrived at 6:24 PM. She weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19 inches long. What a big girl! I may be a little partial, but I think she is perfect. :-)


After a somewhat traumatic first bath (so I heard from Todd who got to see it first hand - I guess Josie wasn't a big fan of getting clean at the moment), she got to relax under the warmer in the nursery with a very stylish knit beanie, compliments of Shawnee Mission Medical Center.


We stayed in the hospital Thursday and Friday and then once cleared by the doctors, we got to go home on Saturday afternoon. Mom and Josie are doing really well. Todd was the greatest labor coach a woman could ask for. He helped to make the day run really smoothly. Also, our family was a huge support. We were so lucky to have friends and family visit at the hospital - thank you!! It was so fun to introduce Josie to everyone and I can't wait for her to continue to meet our friends and family now that she is settling into her new home.


More pictures and updates to come!!!

It's All Coming Together

I love that everyone keeps asking me to post nursery pictures. Now that we finally have most of our things together (including the glider which just arrived this weekend, finally!!), I thought this would be the perfect time to post.


Below is the chest of drawers my sisters and I used when we were little. My mom helped me paint it and pick out new hardware. This has to be one of my favorite things about our little girl's room. I love that she's using the same furniture I used when I was little. And please note our darling little wicker rocker. Todd's mom, Laura, bought that and painted it for us. It's so precious. Our little rabbit is keeping it warm until our little one can sit in by herself. Also, I love that since we're having a girl, I can use words like "darling" and "precious" to describe her stuff. :-)


These are my shoes from when I was little. I don't know if it's the hormones near the end of pregnancy or what, but each of these pictures are making me tear up as I blog. Everything is so sentimental these days. Even commercials for life insurance, it's just crazy. I always have tissues near by.


And last but not least, another belly picture for my out of town friends and family. We're less than two weeks away from our due date. Our hospital bag is packed, the room is ready...now we're just waiting for her! :-)

Good-bye Twenties!!

Todd and I celebrated our 30th birthdays last weekend in Lawrence. Mine was this past Wednesday and Todd's is October 6th. Since we're due October 9th, we decided to go ahead and celebrate his early, in case we get distracted by the arrival of our little one later on.


Our cakes were pretty adorable. I love Todd in his Wrestle Mania costume (wearing underware OUTSIDE of his tights, I might add) and then there's me in my sweet little recital costume. Picture cakes are the best.


And here I am on my actual birthday before heading off to work. My parents snuck over the night before to send me a Happy 30th Birthday message. Sidewalk chalk is so under-rated. I LOVED waking up to a fun message in my driveway. What could be better than that?


Good-bye twenties! You were very fun, but honestly, I don't think I'll miss you. My 30th year is about to hold a ton of new and wonderful memories for me. Starting with our new little one joining us sometime over the next few weeks. I just can't wait!