Giggle Pants McGee

We took this one night after a taste of rice cereal. Her sour face didn't stick around for long...

HAIR!!!

Yes, she was born with all of that hair.

Yes, she ended up rubbing some off in the back and on the sides. It's finally starting to grow back on the sides... ...and it never stopped growing on top.

A clippy bow worked for a while...
The solution her aunts have been waiting so long for...



a real ponytail.
And we can't forget the bow!!!
And for her next trick.........PIGTAILS!!

Rice Cereal, Mom...really??

The night Mallory and I got home from our week in IL Casey and I gave her rice cereal for the first time.

Eat...

...spit...
...repeat...

Have you tried rice cereal?? Pretty bland...can't say my face would look any different than hers.

And yet, she comes back for more as though she's hopeful it will taste just a LITTLE better the next time...

Nope. Same taste.

Edit: yes...we know...her hair is a work of art.

Week at the Miller's - Part 1

Mallory and I spent the second week of January at the Miller's (Casey's sister and brother-in-law) because Cole's sitter is recovering from a broken leg. We arrived Monday and hung out through the weekend. This turned out to be the coldest week EVER (not that I would know since I literally didn't leave the house all week) so Kane didn't have school Wednesday and we were all home together on Thursday and Friday.

Like I said, she's getting the hang of her hands...
I found Cole asking Mallory what color light saber she wanted. When she couldn't make up her mind, he challenged me to a duel! (I'm guessing he won since he told me to fall down and make death noises...)

Since Kane didn't have school Wednesday we had bath time for everyone! Mallory had plenty of toys to choose from...

Always a smile for crazy Uncle Stevie...

Steve's parents stopped by for a visit on Thursday night so Mallory was sporting her Texas onesie she got from Steve's sister for Christmas. (Casey is not a fan of Texas, or really any team that isn't OSU, so I had to put her in it when he was hundreds of miles away.)

Stay tuned for "Week at the Miller's -Part 2"...Cole's sitter is still recovering, so Mallory and I will be camping out again next week. She loves the attention and I'm happy to get to spend so much time with my nephews (and Shannon and Steve, of course).

Claddagh Update

Time for Claddagh to weigh in - 10 months now. She's gotten a little too big for Casey to keep lifting her (though I'm fairly certain he could still manage with proper form), but I'm always looking for ways to show her "scale". Here she is laying (lying??) in front of our 6 foot patio door. Weight?? Um...I think she was 137ish when she was at the vet a couple weeks ago. The dog weighs more than I do, folks.

Four Month Well Visit

Mallory's four month checkup was two weeks ago and I'm behind in posting as I have been with a lot of things lately.

On December 3rd, she was 13lbs and 24in long. Well, on January 12th she weighed 14lbs 4oz and measured 25.5in! She is LONG LONG LONG! A few more shots and she's good to go until March.

Mallory & Daddy

I found Mallory and her daddy watching TV a couple weeks ago (I always feel like she's ACTUALLY watching). I grabbed the camera and Casey said, "Make sure you get a good one so she can use it in the slide show at her wedding." I often think about what Mallory will be like when she's 2-years-old or as a teenager or how it will be so much fun to be a troop leader if she decides to join Girl Scouts or that I'll probably have to go back to school in order to help her with her math homework (ugh...math...actually I'll probably have her call my friend Amanda who teaches 6th grade math...that would be much cheaper than school and considering I failed my second semester of pre-calculus..................) Anyway, I smiled and took a few more pictures just for good measure. I'm sure she'll want lots of pictures of her daddy in her slide show.

Sitting Up

For some time now this is what we get when we put Mallory in her car seat or any seat where she is even remotely reclined (including while she's being held).


She prefers the comfort of the bumbo or being supported while sitting.

And how convenient for chewing on a caterpillar...

Laughter

Maybe all babies are smiley and happy, I don't know every baby ever. What I do know is that Mallory is smiley and happy. We consider it a challenge to try to come up with different ways to make her giggle. She has always enjoyed getting dressed and especially likes it when you pull her arm out of her sleeve....weird? I think so....my attempt at catching it on camera.

Baby Friends

Casey and I hung out with our friends Brian and Summer a couple weeks ago. Their daughter Aubrey is only 6 weeks older than Mallory, so it's been fun to share stories and watch them together. The funniest part...they were BOTH born with a full head of thick and crazy hair. We laughed a lot since watching Aubrey is like getting a preview into Mallory's future.
Ooh, speaking of hair...Aubrey is perfecting her "grab and pull" technique. Ha!

Aubrey was entertained with some of Mallory's toys. She was grabbing and reaching for everything. Mallory has started grabbing and reaching as well since our visit (just this morning she pulled my glasses off my face).

"Hey friend, look over here..."

Pretty blue eyes (and check out that shirt full of DROOL!)

There's that reach again. Their dog Tate will get a lot of practice with his patience now that Aubrey has discovered him.

Babble, babble, babble...they both did their share of talking, but Mallory couldn't hold a candle to Aubrey. That girl can TALK. She told LOTS of stories and kept me in stitches. Casey just kept shaking his head since he knows we share the same fate. He always says Mallory will surely be her mother's daughter in which case...talk, talk, talk, talk. I can't even deny it, I just smile and nod.Hope to see you again soon, Aubrey!

New Year's Eve in IL

Casey, Mallory and I (and Claddagh) spent New Year's Eve in IL since we were in WI for Christmas. Just pretend it hasn't taken me three weeks to post these pictures. The only pictures I took were on New Year's Eve even though we were there for four days. We relaxed for most of the day and opened gifts in the evening, first the kids, then MUCH later, we adults.

Doesn't Mallory look thrilled? We need to work on her 'stage presence'.

Mallory with Auntie Shannon

Goodness. Two of our spirited nephews, Braden and Kane.

I quickly learned what happens when you ask a 5 and 6 year old to "do something funny". (Little boys think butts are hysterical!)

An attempt at a "self" photo. Pretty good, I thought.

I'm not sure the wide-open-mouth face is working for her either...

Mallory with Meme

Humans have the red-eye phenomenon...it appears dogs have the blue-eye phenomenon.I was CRACKING up taking these pictures of Braden (will be 6 on February 10th). I snapped the first shot after he crawled into the room with a blanket over his head. He was in a hilarious mood (well, actually he was just being a 5 year old)...so every time I pointed the camera at him he would smile but then RIGHT before the shutter closed he would switch up his face or do something silly. I wanted to post all 15 (literally) but I opted for a few highlights.

He didn't move fast enough on this shot - gotcha!!

Tongues also have a "funny-factor" for little kids...

This one is my favorite. Who DOES that??

Miss Fin and "Baby Ma-wa-wee"

Cole was apparently MIA...I only got pics of three of the four kids...My guess is he was either napping or eating.

Haha...Finley was very excited to pose with this little stool. Again...I have no idea.

I imagine her thinking, "It's like the paparazzi in here!"

Megan, this is honestly the ONLY picture I have of you and Mallory. We may need to have a "Mallory and Aunt Mo" photo shoot. (Though sadly, I think I have equally as many pictures of her and I together...) She appears to be contemplating the conversation we were having about your house plans. A couple shots in the midst of the chaos that was the kids' gift opening.

Baby Mallory's PILE of gifts...this girl wants for nothing. She was spoiled with lots of fun toys and new outfits. (She was napping while the "big kids" opened.)

Yay! SO exciting - Braden received a tool bench from Meme and Grandad which was exclusively hand-crafted by Dave (my dad).

There was a special note inside the drawer, "Always wear your safety glasses and don't hit Finley with a hammer." That's good advice!! Cole with his new NERF Tommy Gun - great gift Uncle Seanie!!

He meant business too! What a fashion statement...sporting his new apron from Aunt Mo.

Granny with Mallory

I officially have no pictures of us adults opening gifts. (I'll have to practice spreading the camera love...) I took this picture after Mallory nearly fell off Grandad's knee from exhaustion. She was falling asleep WHILE he opened a gift. Poor girl had a long day...she slept here while we finished opening.

New Year's Day...Traditionally the Galesburg Mafia gets together on NYE to celebrate, everyone stays overnight and gets up the next morning to cook a big breakfast. Times have changed, but we still try to gather when we can.......this is Cole cracking eggs for the crew. I think he cracked two dozen-ish in all. That's a lot of dedication from 2 year old. (And the eggs were YUM-O...way to go, Shan. Meg made a plate of killer fried eggs too....)

Welcome to 2009! (...better late than never...)