Thumb Sucker!!!!!!!

Oh yea our prediction has come true. Liberty has never been a fan of pacifiers and we rarely have ever thought to give her one since she seems content 99% of the time. However, at nap time (IN HER CRIB! YEA!), when she is trying to fall asleep our little girl soothes herself with some good old fashion thumb sucking. She often has her hands/fingers in her mouth as babies do, but I was able to catch her first time really figuring out how to get her suck on...see 2 minute video below.

From Blackberry picsvids

A Whale of a Good Time.

My mom and sister came to visit for a day. My mom wanted to decorate Liberty's bathroom so we set out to Target and tackled it that evening. The Whale/Fish theme turned out SO CUTE and Liberty loves going in there and seeing the colors now. I'm sure she'll love it for years to come - thanks Gma! Liberty also swam a little with cousin Charlie. It was a really fun visit.

3 months old!

Our sweet girl is 3 months old! She really does have a sweet personality. She also is pretty independent for a baby I think. She likes going for a stroller ride right before her bedtime feeding, and her new favorite things include always having her hands in her mouth and sitting up (assisted of course). God answered my prayers for a good sleeper. She has slept ALL the way through the night (8pm-8am) about 7 times. The rest of the nights she is still getting up for a snack once around 4am, but goes right back to bed until 7 or 8am so I cannot complain! She also takes two naps - both about 3 hours long which is crazy good I know. No tears. I hope this love of napping continues...probably since I'm blogging about it things will change:)

Goal for this month: to get her napping in her crib instead of her swing. She sleeps at night in the pack n play in our room so I know its possible. And maybe move her out to her nursery entirely??? :( I'll miss my little pal. Prediction for next month: I think we'll have a thumb sucker on our hands:)

4th of July Party!

We had such a fun swim/cookout Independence Day bash! It was our first 20+ people party at our house and we had such a good time. Three of Liberty's little friends came too - including Adalyn who is 1 month younger than Liberty. They were sporting the same festive outfit so we had to snap a few pictures of that! Our neighbors also managed to shoot off about 20 real, professional fireworks without Gilbert police showing up - which was an added bonus. Liberty was a social butterfly right up until about 7pm when she decided to take a cat nap in the middle of the party. 4th of July is my favorite holiday and I was so happy to be able to spend it with so many good friends.

Laughing with Daddy

The long holiday weekend meant lots of playtime with Daddy - to Liberty's DELIGHT! The pictures speak for themselves.

Baptism

Liberty was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church on June 19th, 2010. We had a family cookout and swam before the 5pm Saturday evening Mass. Following the Mass at St. Timothy's we dressed our little girl in the heirloom gown made from Two-Mom's wedding dress. Exhausted from squeezing into the gown, she fell asleep in Kelly's arms for awhile. Liberty's godparents, Kelly and Doug, promised to watch over her and help her with her faith journey. It was a special sacrament, and Deacon Dutch even called her his "favorite" because she smiled the moment he blessed her with oil.

Pictures of Smiles and Playtime

Finally caught a smile on camera. Here are a few pictures from the past weeks of our cutie pie.

Liberty is just starting to laugh. She also bats at the hanging toys on her playmat. Soon she'll grab them I bet. She's also following objects a full 180* and has great head control. She especially likes to "track" my blackberry with her eyes. She also likes her Sophie Giraffe and the creature Kelly crocheted (we've named Susie Q).

2 months old!

Look who's 2 months old! Liberty's Dr. says she is now in the 97% percentile for length - coming in at an impressive 24 inches long (comparable to a 4 month old!). She weighed 12 pounds 14.5 ounces! That means she grew an entire inch and gained over 2 pounds in only a month. She's growing like crazy and has been very healthy (no illness, not even diaper rash!). This past month was a fun one. She smiles and coos now which has been so fun to get her to grin and "talk". I posted 2 videos (scroll down below) if you want to see her smiling face in action! Also if you want to cruise the slideshow pictures at your own pace, just click on the show. She has a million different facial expressions and outfits to show off.

Oh I almost forgot - guess who is sleeping from 9pm-4am & 5am-8:30am!?!?!

THAT'S MY GIRL!

Cooing

Liberty coos and tries to talk and carry on small conversations. I can't wait for her to start babbling more. But for now, click the image below to watch a video of her cooing.

Smiling Like Crazy!

Each and every diaper change Liberty cracks up. Her smiles light up my day and I couldn't resist filming a few of her grins to share with you.

Firsts

First Smile! 5 weeks old and she smiles when we try to make her smile! Big gummy smiles, small side grins, cooing with open mouth...she especially does this during diaper changes which she has grown to love! Grandma Jo got to witness a bunch of smiles, and Liberty loves to smile when we get in her face and kiss those cheeks.

First Out of Town Trip! Uncle Andy graduated!!!!! We headed down to Tucson (2 hours away) to attend his UofA College of Business graduation ceremony. Liberty slept the whole way to Tucson, slept a little at the graduation, slept a little at sushi dinner and slept on the drive home. We managed to time feedings pretty perfectly. It was nerve racking because she is a still hard to predict 5 week old - away from all the comforts/tricks of home (like that blessed swing).

First time meeting Two-Dad, Mimi, Nancy! Before the ceremony we stopped in to see Two-Dad (Liberty's GREAT Two-Dad) and my Aunt Mimi and Aunt Nancy. It was a very short visit but it was still a special visit. I hope we see them again soon, but at the very least we try to celebrate Oktoberfest in Tucson each year (Two-Dad loves his German music!)

First time meeting Cameron's Aunt Jane, Lolita (from Alaska) and Uncle Thom. We got to visit with family we hadn't seen since our wedding! Liberty had tons of love showered on her this weekend and Grandpa Ted cooked another fancy brunch at our place for everyone.

First time meeting Uncle Patrick, Aunt Michaela and Cousin Jameson! Patrick is on Army leave for 2 weeks before he goes to Afghanistan for a year. I thank God we got to hug him and have him meet Liberty before he leaves to serve. Jameson is walking and it was so good to squeeze that little guy - we hadn't seen him since January!