What I've Been Up To

I have been really busy lately. The weather has been nice, sometimes. When it is, mommy and daddy make sure to take me out to the park. I really like the slide but my absolute favorite thing to do is spend time on the swings!
I love swinging!

Mommy says I am a great helper. I pick up after myself and I am able to do a lot of things that she asks me to do. I can go get my shoes and bring them to her so she can put them on for me. I can pick out pictures of animals I know in books, help put away my toys when asked (specific toys), and I make my parents' day when they as me for kisses and I dole them out happily!!!Putting my towels away after I played with them.

I have also been getting to try other new things:
Like a great picnic outside with mommy and daddy.
A fun ride on Marty's new boat -- thanks Uncle Marty ; ).Playing with some of my new toys I got for my birthday. I love my horsey!
Opening a package (thanks grandma), and of books of all things! YAY!Eating olives with daddy! I can hang ; )! (You can also see I got my first 'boo-boo,' it's okay, I'm it's almost all healed already.)

...and... Yup. That's right. My new baby brother or sister will be arriving at the beginning of November. I guess I haven't really gotten to experience this yet but I sure can tell that everyone around here is excited, including me : )!!!

Well, I'm going to get going now. Mommy will take a minute and fill you in on how daddy and she have been doing.

I love you! Bye-bye.

Hi there. James and I are both really excited about the new addition. Things have been different this time around. I have been much sicker, I think I threw up 3-4 times during my whole pregnancy with Aoife. This time I have managed as many in a single day. It has proved challenging taking care of a toddler and being sick on and off all day. Both of Aoife's grandmas have been out to help, and we loved every minute that they were here! Thanks ladies ; ). Otherwise, James has been really busy at work. Even though it means pretty late nights at least twice a week, and sometimes work on Saturday, we are grateful for the opportunity to get ahead. We are busy and tired, but really happy.

We hope to hear from you all soon and we'll keep you posted. In about 5-7 more weeks look for a post on whether it'll be more pink or blue (we do know that it will only be one or the other, thank goodness).

Love you,
James, Maggie, Aoife, & Baby Stuhan

Happy 1st Birthday, Aoife Roisin!

Well, we celebrated a little early. Grandma was in town and the weather was amazing so we opted for a celebration the weekend before my birthday (it's actually Thursday) instead of after. I had a fantastic time!!! We got to eat outside, and I ate the same kabobs as everyone else. I had fun hanging out with out with Mommy and Daddy, Grandma Bernie, Marty, Melissa, and their new baby, Cole! Thanks for coming to my party guys! I had more fun playing with my presents than opening them this time ; )! And, I had my first sugar. Mommy made me a sugar free banana cake but it had a cream cheese frosting that had some sugar in it! Yummy!

This is my cake. Mommy said she won't win any awards for cake decorating, not yet anyway ; ).Opening presents!
I love bubbles.
That looks delicious!Oh, it is!
Did I mention I like my cake?!?
Playing with my new puzzle from Cole -- way fun!
Playin' with Mommy.
Playin' with Daddy (I'm good at playin').Sharing -- something else I am good at ; )!

I had a fantastic day, and Mommy and Daddy did too. They said that now birthdays have a whole new meaning and they can understand why people get so darn excited about them. They also say to check back in a few days (Mommy will let you know when) to see what else I have been up to and because I have a big announcement to make! In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my birthday!

I love you!

Aoife

On the Move, Really!

Well, Aoife started crawling on her 10mo. "birthday." She moves around more and more everyday and is into everything, or course.Yes, I am having fun!

Now that she can feed herself more she also enjoys food more and in a greater variety. She also accepts more pureed food when she has plenty of finger food to eat, so we are finding a pretty good balance.
Yummy, yummy! An orange is a great snack!

For a while Aoife has been laying her head down on us, especially when she is playing at being shy and/or flirty. I'd say in the last month to six weeks or so she has actually started giving us hugs and cuddling, needless to say, we love it!!! Along with the hugs and cuddling she has chosen a "lovey," his name is Abima and he is an UglyDoll, of all things. She often pulls him under her head and falls asleep on him like a pillow ; ). Aoife, Mommy, and Abima. My daddy sure knows how to have a good time! Still mommy's great helper.

Check back soon. It seems like life is changing everyday.

We love you!
Aoife, James, & Maggie

On the Move...

...kind of.

Just a quick update on the goings-on in the world of Aoife. We broke a new tooth last night, that makes three, and I say we because it was a long night for all of us.

Aoife has been scooting around on her bottom, she kind of puts her leg behind herself and then when she pulls it back again she inches forward a bit. Sometimes I think it creeps up on us and all of a sudden she is across the room. She is still working on crawling, she wiggles around, but no forward momentum that way, yet. In some of the pictures below notice where the boppy pillow is, that is where she started out before I snapped the shots. You can see that she is making progress : )!

She has also been playing passing games and putting things in and out of other things for a while now. That can make laundry interesting, and mealtimes sure are fun. She always makes sure to share her food with mommy and daddy. She is such a sweetie.

Just some shots to show off our pretty girl.I'm helping, mommy.Or am I just havin' fun?!?!? ; )I'm not sure how I got over here, but here I am : )!

Changing Times

Well, Aoife will be 9 months old on Friday. Wow! We have heard time and again that children spend the first 6-9 months growing and then really develop by leaps and bounds over the next 6-9 months. We are really beginning to see evidence of that.Give me a break, I just woke up from a nap. Yes, I do have bed head...I guess I slept well ; )!Aoife has been feeding herself more and more recently. As is the case, mealtimes have become much more interesting, as you can see. Notice, too, that there are far fewer pieces of cheese on her table than peas. I bet you can guess what she likes more ; )!We had our first swimming lesson today. It was so much fun! Oh, and, how much do I look like my cousin Gabriel? Mom and Dad say there is definitely a family resemblance. Yes, I am that cute!So, her swimsuit is so darling from the back, too. I had to share a picture.

In addition to the "evolutions" above, Aoife is:

-Waving "hello" and "goodbye"
-Saying: Mama, Dada, and Bye-bye in appropriate contexts (this is super exciting) and babbles up a storm stringing different sounds and syllables together
-Has two teeth
-Pulling herself up from sitting position on mom and dad and in her bath-tub
-Crawling in circles, no forward momentum yet but sometimes backwards
-Making friends every new place we go, she is such a flirt, she smiles and waves to most everyone at the grocery store, Target, the coffee shop...
-Loving to stand, after she pulls herself up she jumps and jumps and takes little steps (maybe we will skip crawling?!?!?)
-(As you can see) Feeding herself finger foods and feeding herself with the spoon (she pretty much insists at this point)

Yes, we are proud parents...we just feel so fortunate to have her.

Keep checking back for the latest.

We love you.
Maggie, James, & Aoife