Professional Pictures

We had our first professional pictures taken.

We got a good family picture and a ton of great pictures of Mena.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we went to Yutan to visit Jennifer's family.Here's Mena with Grandma Frye.

Here's Mena dozing in Grandpa Frye's arms.

Christmas Eve

Gene's family came for dinner on Christmas Eve.
Here's Mena with Aunt Debbie,

and Mena with Aunt Michelle,

and Mena with Grandma Hogan.

We weren't planning on going to Christmas Eve services this year, but Mena was in a good mood so we went to the 9 pm service at First Plymouth. We decked her out in her new red outfit from Gene's family and her new Christmas bib from Jen's family and the red hat from a craft fair. Mena drank her last bottle of the day during church and enjoyed a conversation with the nice lady sitting next to us. We consider ourselves lucky since she's really quite easy to take anywhere we want to go!

Learning to Shake Her Rattle

I found a rattle that Mena can grasp and even if she moves it slowly it will make a noise.
Of course, that's if she's in the mood :)

New Adventures

Mena and I stayed home on Tuesday and Wednesday. With some extra time to play, I thought it would be the perfect day to dig out some items we'd been saving in the basement for when she was "big enough."
She's been doing a great job at holding her head up so first I tried her in the Bumbo seat. I snapped a couple pictures and then gave her some toys on the tray.

Next I tried her in the Johnny Jumper. At first she just had a weird look on her face. Once she figured out how to push with her feet to bounce or spin around to see the other direction, then she enjoyed it.

While she was napping I opened the Baby Einstein Activity Center and put it together. She quickly figured out it would bounce like the Johnny Jumper and then she became very interested in studying the frog.

A little bit of snow didn't slow down our fun while we stayed inside where it was warm!

Mena in the Big Bed

Mena woke up about 10 minutes before our alarm was going to go off. We brought her to bed with us, and she fell back asleep before the alarm went off. We left her sleeping in the middle of the bed when we got up.

Gene found Mena and I cuddling before going to bed the other night.

3 Months Old

This is a smile we've gotten very familiar with in the last month. Mena is a happy child who smiles a lot for us. She's up to about 13 pounds. Most nights she's sleeping 7-8 hours and she's averaging 22-25 ounces of formula per day. She's really filled out. I went through the 0-3 month clothes (that she hasn't fit into since she turned 2 months!) and just couldn't believe how small the shirt from the hospital looked! Our precious girl is a joy to have!

Christmas Program

Santa came to the Christmas Program at St. Mark's Preschool/KIDZONE where I work and Mena is in the Ladybug classroom. She didn't cry but she wasn't exactly thrilled to be on Santa's lap.

Her class (along with the Monkey and Lamb classrooms) was on stage dancing to Jingle Bells. The girl holding Mena was a practicum student while I was out on maternity leave so Mena wasn't familiar with her.

Mena did calm down during parts of her time on stage.

Mena is in the middle of the picture being held by the girl with long blonde hair. To the right is Stacey holding another child from Mena's room. Stacey is one of the full time teachers that takes care of Mena each day while I'm down the hall in the Mice Room. It's really nice having teachers I can trust and it's really nice to be able to pop into her room to visit Mena during the day.

First Outfit I Bought for Mena

I went shopping the weekend after our first ultrasound. This Minnie Mouse outfit was the first outfit I bought for Mena.

Getting Bigger!

She's started placing her hands on the bottle.

She's getting her head up further during tummy time!

She'll hold a rattle if we put it in her hand. The only thing she's taken a hold of by herself is her binky. When she grabs her binky, she usually pulls it out of her mouth and then gets upset. We still have to put it back into her mouth; that will be a day of rejoicing when she puts it back in herself!

We won't say how old Grandpa is!

We hope you have a good birthday on Wednesday!

Love,
Gene, Jen, and Mena

4 Generations

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parents' house. While there Gene took this 4 generation picture of Mena, me, my mom, and my mom's mom.

Favorite Song

I sing lots of songs with Mena, but "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" seems to be her favorite.

Bath Time

This is what bath time used to be like--there was lots of crying!
Now I've gotten her a new bath chair that goes in the big bathtub. I think she's warmer and I know she's lots happier!

Two Months Old

I don't think she's all that thrilled to be two months old. She's got her first cold and she got her shots yesterday at her 2 month check-up. She's 23 1/2 inches long (87%), 11 pounds and 7.3 ounces (69%), and her head is 15 1/2 inches (75%). She's definitely growing well. Here are a couple pictures Gene took last night as I was comforting her.

Wow, She's Strong!

She hasn't discovered sucking on her thumb or fingers, but is sucking on her fist.

She's sticking her tongue out :)


Look how far up she can push herself!

Emmy Lou bonds with Mena

Gene was holding Mena on the couch and Emmy Lou laid down with her head touching Mena's arm.

Daddy and Mena

They both enjoy hanging out together after Daddy gets off work!

Check Your Mailboxes!

I mailed the birth announcements today. If I have your address you should be receiving yours in the next couple of days.

We've got extras so if you want one and I didn't mail you one, let me know! Or if we sent you one and you'd like the other one also, then let me know and I'll get it to you!

Our Little Pumpkin

Mena makes a great Jack 'O Lanturn!

Mena Lifting Her Head

I took this video on our camera today of Mena during tummy time.