Baby Beethoven!

Meema and Papa brought us a piano when they came and guess who loves playing it? Meredith's Daddy and I decided today that she'll probably start lessons when she's three or four. I'll teach her beginning and intermediate lessons then Aaron will teach her advanced-level lessons. Of course, these lessons will be in addition to her french horn lessons, percussion lessons, ballet rehearsals, cross country running, Spanish lessons, swimming lessons, violin lessons...

Meema & Papa came!!

Grandma and Grandpa Gehrels came to visit us over the Thankgiving Holiday weekend. We had a wonderful time with them. Grandpa and Aaron put in new exterior doors at our house while Meema, Meredith and I shopped all day on Friday! Yesterday we baked Christmas goodies. Aaron and I got to go out on a date last night while Meema and Papa babysat. Ask them about that experience... While they were here, Meredith was introduced to a few new things, pictured below (chewing on celery and wearing a barrette).

Happy Thanksgiving!

They brought her a new favorite toy. The first thing she does with it is flips it upside down. Apparently it's more fun when you just try smashing the different buttons into the ground.

Papa and Meredith shared a birthday on the 26th. Papa turned 49 and Meredith was 7 months.

She had two really runny, very messy diapers today... because of her new food?

You think this is cute, you should see the one she gets to wear in her hair that matches her Christmas dress. Her Daddy and I just melt when we look at her in her 'Christmas outfit'.

Hey Scooter!

So in 5 minutes she went from here...

...to here...hmm...

So close!

Meredith will get all the way up on her side, as you can see, but still can't roll over.

Meredith's first snow!

It snowed today! Sadly it was only a quarter of an inch, but it was enough to qualify as the first official snow. Meredith must think we were crazy to do this.

Purple Zebra!

This set of pajamas is our favorite. Sadly, she may be too big for them the next time she wears them!

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Due to the wonderful city we know and love as Chicago, and the even more spectacular traffic in that particular city on Thanksgiving, Grandpa and Grandma Staub decided to celebrate with us a few weeks early. Here are some pictures from their visit.

Grandpa loves to read to Meredith.


Daddy and grandpa gave her a mohawk.


Grandpa and Grandma brought Meredith her "car". She loves it!


Meredith is telling Grandma a story...


They love to smile at each other!

Meredith is 6 months old now

Seems like she was just born. I think both Aaron and I would love to be able to live the last six months over again.

Meredith has a 6-month wellness appointment at the doctor on Friday. After that, we'll update you with her height and weight. Currently "Miss Meredith," as Jessie her babysitter calls her, can find her pacifier and put it in her mouth by herself, she can sit up really well, she can talk baby talk like Ma ma ma ma ma and Da da da da da and Ya ya ya ya and Bbbbbbboo, she can laugh hysterically if prompted too, she can hold her own bottle, she can eat rice cereal and some Gerber veggies, and she can lay on her tummy for about 10-15 minutes without crying (we've come a long way). Still no rolling or crawling or teeth. Most say she looks like her Mommy. Lately though, she's had big brown eyes.

Here's some pictures we've taken in the last few days:


One of our favorite students made this hat for Meredith!


I just about had to cut that red dress (from the previous blog post below) off of her because it was too tight. Can you see from this picture how her extra "armpit boobs" can get in the way?


She HATES laying on her stomach. It's a miracle if we can get her to lay there for 10 or 20 minutes. I had to capture this rare pleasant time on camera.

FASHION SHOW

Meredith has six dresses in her closet now. Four of them are either too big or are for Christmastime only. Daddy is gone all day today so Meredith and I went shopping for another dress that could fit her now. You know what happens when moms and daughters go shopping? They come home with more than they need; we got two! And they're not cheap! Thank goodness we found the other ones at rummage sales last month.

When we got home, neighbors Claudia and her daughter Mara (age 5) came over and helped us try to choose what dress to wear tonight. Aaron's fall music concert is at school tonight.

So out of the six dresses she has, I got four of them on her without her crying. As you can see by her mood in the last pic, our "photo shoot" had to end early.

"I'm not Russian Daddy, I'm German!"

Aaron thinks this is hilarious to do to her.

Fall is here!

Although it doesn't feel like it today, (the temperature is 80) fall is here. We already have one tree that has lost all of its leaves. Here are some pictures that show "the girls" raking as well as Meredith's cold weather gear.

She sits up!

Here are some pictures of her new favorite thing to do - sit up and play with her toys. She can't roll over yet, but that is not for our lack of trying. I think she still has too much of a belly in the way as you can clearly see.

Bathtime!

Here are some pictures of our big girl who now likes to sit up for a while in the tub. I think it is time to get some bath toys...

Help me!

There are sometimes when mommy (or daddy) wants to kiss Meredith and she really doesn't want to be kissed. Consider this picture proof.

My girls in hats...

I always thought that I was the embarrassing one in the family. That perception will change with these pictures. Can you believe it Jon that Kelli actually wore that to school one day? (Who the heck is "Viking Woman" anyway?) At least Meredith is young. There may be hope for her. I just have to keep her away from mommy...

Leave her alone for one second...

All I did was get up to get a washcloth to clean her up, then the phone rang. While I was answering the phone, I looked over and found that Meredith had decided to go after the food on her tray by herself. And she obviously is still working on her hand-eye coordination because sometimes she'll try to bring something to her mouth but hit her forhead or cheeks instead.

Meema came!!

Last week, Grandma Gehrels (aka, "Meema") decided she was lonesome for Meredith and she drove all the way from South Dakota to visit us! In the few short days she was here, we canned twenty-some jars of tomatoes. She also got to spend lots of time babysitting Meredith. Here's some pictures of the two of them:

More visitors!

Grandpa and Grandma came from Indiana this weekend. Happy Birthday to Grandpa who was 58 last Thursday! Here are some pics from an absolutely beautiful day!

Pictures!

Hello all! We got Meredith's pictures taken a couple of weeks ago and you can view them on the internet. Just go to https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0270102144JCP and enter Kelli's first and last name in the box to see the pics. Enjoy!

Hi Papa!

4 months

We took Meredith to her 4-month doctors appointment two weeks ago. More shots. More weight. More length. The shots went a little better this time. Meredith weighs over 19 pounds and is 27 inches long. Once again, this means that she is off the charts. Our friends in Illinois have a daughter who just turned one. Madalyn is 21 pounds and 27 inches long. No wonder I had to buy 12 month clothing for Meredith yesterday. And I even have to take some back because I brought it home and laid it next to her and two of the outfits are too small! It is so sad that she has skipped nearly 10 to 20 outfits in her closet. She'll never get to wear them because she simply just skipped the 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothing range. Luckily I found an awesome children's consignment shop where I can buy nice clothes inexpensively. We also have to invest in a new car seat because she is now too big for the infant one. Oh well, big and healthy is better than the alternative.




Meredith? At 1-month.













Our baby at 2 months.













Notice how the circumference of her thighs changed from 2 months to this 3 month pic.











And our Meredith last week, at 4 months, with noticeably more hair.