Visiting Great-Grammy and Great-Grampy

Harry, Susannah, and I travelled to Somers Point, NJ, Friday through Tuesday to visit my grandparents and other extended family members. Susannah was an absolute ANGEL during the seven-hour car ride, sleeping most of the time and hanging out in her carseat when she wasn't asleep. What a blessing to her Mama and Daddy, who worried we might have a screamer on our hands (and seeing as Mama can't let her baby cry for more than about two minutes without swooping in and picking her up, this scenario could have been disastrous!).

We had a wonderful long weekend visiting with family, going to the beautiful Longport Beach (near Ocean City), eating great summery meals and playing games at Grammy and Grampy's house, strolling the neighborhood bike path, and hitting our favorite spots, including the Ocean City Boardwalk where we lunched at Mack 'N' Manco's Pizza (best EVER!!!!) and washed down the pizza with a warm coconut macaroon from George's Candies. Such a gift to be able to take Susannah to the place where my family has spent a week or more every summer for 30 years!

Sitting on the deck at Great-Grammy and Great-Grampy's house, enjoying the summer sunshine and ocean breeze. Great-Grammy LOVED holding our sweet baby! My college friend Erica DeRosa drove two hours to spend the afternoon with us and meet baby Susannah. Erica has joined our family at Grammy and Grampy's house for a day or two several summers since we graduated from JMU in 2000. She's like part of the family now, and everyone looks forward to her visits.

Mama and Erica talking with that sweet smiley baby girl

Sleeping in Mama's arms on the beach, enjoying the sound of rolling waves and the gentle breeze

Chunky baby toes in the warm sand!!!! Susannah's first time feeling that soft-but-scratchy stuff

Susannah doesn't own a bathing suit, so instead... (get the tune ready in your mind, folks...)

She wore an itsy-bitsy, cutey-wutey, pinky polka-dot sun-suity!!!!

(It only took me about three minutes to come up with that little ditty. I'm quite the gifted lyricist, I know... :)

And what itsy-bitsy, cute-wutey, pinky polka-dot sun-suity would be complete without PINK SHADES???!!!

When she wasn't being held, Susannah slept in cousin Sophie's sun-blocking pop-up baby beach tent.

Later that night, Susannah got her game face (and beady red eyes) on as she joined the family for an intense round of "Apples to Apples."

Daddy needed some strategy help from his sweet baby doll.

Susannah savored her first piece of Mack 'N' Manco's pizza, which she tasted about 6-12 hours after Mama ate it for lunch :) Great Aunt Joni and cousin Chanel enjoyed holding our teeny one.

Getting ready for an evening on the Boardwalk. Great-Grammy got to feed and baby-sit while I enjoyed some shopping. Pictured here: Great-Grampy, me, cousin Lisette, Natalie (Uncle Seth's girlfriend), Uncle Seth (my brother), and Great-Grammy (holding Susannah)

Great-Grammy really loves babies, so Susannah was an extra-special treat for her! She fed Susannah a bottle of pumped milk one night. Doesn't my baby look big in this picture?

Another fun beach day! This time, we let Susannah put her piggies in the water. She did not like that cold rushing stuff one little bit! But she did love taking a long walk in the Baby Bjorn with Mama and Grammy!

Hanging out in the pop-up baby beach tent just soaking in the vibrant colors :) Our lily-white darlin' will need lots of shade her whole life, we are certain! (We think it entirely appropriate that the name Susannah means "lily" in Hebrew!)

Great Aunt Joni and cousin Lisette holding our Beach Bum Baby

Great-Grammy and Grammy soaking up the rays

Chatting with Daddy under the cool shade of Great-Grammy's "shaggy" green umbrella!

A close-up of our sweet beachy baby under the lime green umbrella

Whew-wee...what a handsome man and a beautiful baby girl I spotted on the beach!

Back at the house that night, Susannah was her chatty, smiley, wakey-baby self for cousin Lisette. These are Mama's favorite moments with her charming doll baby!

We had a very "Snoozie Susie" our last night visiting Great-Grammy and Great-Grampy. The sun and fun sure wiped her out!

Ahhhh, the sweet smell and feel of a baby on your shoulder...

Snuggling with Great-Grammy on the couch on the last night of our visit

Great-Grammy and Grammy tried to wake Susannah for a feed, but she wanted nothing to do with it! Luckily, she finally woke up enough to eat just a bit before going down for her six-hour stretch that night.

Four generations together...such a GIFT to see life come full-circle in this way!

Before we left to return to Staunton, Susannah played with Great-Grampy for a little while. Look at that smile she gave him! She is such a DELIGHTFUL little angel.

A final good-bye to Great-Grampy before we hit the road to make the long journey home...

We are thankful for...

FAMILY to love, laugh, and share life with... SUNSHINE to warm ourselves in (and the baby tents that protect us from it!)... SAND on our toes... OCEAN WAVES to frolic in... BOARD GAMES that bring out our competetive and creative sides... YUMMY FOOD to enhance the memories of summertime (hand-tossed pizza, fried green tomatoes with brown sugar cream sauce, slightly-charred hot dogs and burgers on the grill, homemade hot fudge sundaes, warm fluffy coconut macaroons, Johnson's sweet 'n' sticky caramel corn, gleaming red Jersey tomatoes....MMMMMMM!!!!!)... and

A BREATH OF TRUE JOY TO RELIVE MY OWN CHILDHOOD WITH NOW AND AS SHE GROWS!!!!!

A Week of Firsts

When you're only six weeks old, there are, of course, many, MANY, MANY firsts...but this past week or so has marked some really significant firsts for Susannah Joy. Harry and I both feel such excitement with each of these new things that she experiences! We love sharing the world with her, and even though her world is still very, very small (we don't leave the house much yet), I have a strong desire to record every moment of her interactions with it both in words and, when possible, with pictures!

• Last Wednesday, our Strawberry had a true baby shower! I mean this literally! I awoke in the morning to find her bassinet empty. I wandered to the bathroom, peaked into the shower, and found her in her daddy's arms, her super-slipper nakey baby body soaked from head to toe, blinking her bright blue eyes and "lapping up" the water as it sprinkled onto her rosebud lips. She LOVED her first shower, and had another one a few days later! Sorry, folks...no pictures of this one! :)
  
  
• Susannah wore her first sundress, a gift from Lacey's cousins Tony and Vicki and their little ones Aiden and Morgan, after her "baby shower." One of my preschool students, Jesse, visited with his mama (also my friend!) Jennifer that morning, so she had to look extra pretty. Jesse and his friends spent the entire school year witnessing her in utero growth through books, a picture timeline of fetal development, a pink paper chain for a countdown to her birth, and "In the Womb" experiences that my co-teacher and I set up for them. Baby Strawberry is partly theirs, it seems! :)

Our little ray of sunshine...

Sleeping during Jesse and his mama's visit! Jesse, an avid Spiderman fan, tried to teach Susannah how to make Spidey's famous web-spinning handshape!!! :)

• Our little "fashion plate" also wore her first hat this week. Mama and Daddy both LOVE this denim dress on her because it makes her already bright blue eyes extra blue! And Mama loves her baby doll in hats...especially hats with straps like this one! We are so excited that she has grown enough to fit this sweet outfit that Trish and family gave her. (Though you can't see them in the pictures, the dress has matching bloomers with ruffly buns and matching shoes!)

Sooooo pretty in light blue!

• Susannah and I stopped by Covenant Nursery School's Summer Camp last week in order to visit the children for the first time. Many of the children attending this week-long summer fun "camp" were in my preschool class, and they were shocked to see "Baby Strawberry" outside of my body! They loved her strawberry hair, her tiny hands and feet, and the strawberry on her bottom (compliments of the outfit Katie McGaha gave her!). "Ms. Jackie," my co-teacher while I taught at Covenant for the past two years, again did everything in her power to awaken our sleepyhead, and had a little bit of luck this time! When we returned home, Ethan, his sister Danielle, and their mama visited us for the afternoon. The children took turns holding Susannah and playing with some of her toys. What a special visit that was!

Sweet strawberry outfit that she wore to meet the preschoolers! In this picture, she is trying to fall asleep, which she always "fights" by fussing and attempting to crawl up Mama or Daddy!

Being held by Ethan and Danielle

• Our baby doll smiled for the very first time last week on Friday, July 11, at just over five weeks old! I was singing and talking to her while she was laying on our bed after her feeding, and she looked into my eyes and broke into a delightful "gummy" grin! My heart stopped!!!! At first, I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but when she continued to look at me and smile several more times in response to my smiles, I knew it was true...OUR LITTLE BABY IS BECOMING SOCIAL!!!! For those of you who know me and my relational nature, this is perhaps the greatest achievement EVER for a Lacey-baby!!!! With a week's practice, she now has her social smile pretty well mastered, and "pulls it out" when we retrieve her from her bassinet, while she's nursing, while we're changing her diaper and clothes, all throughout our playtime, and during her night feedings. Sooooo endearing...brings tears to my eyes almost every time she does it still! We are hoping to get more of her smiles on camera soon, as they are currently pretty fleeting.

I've already posted this picture, but it is sooooo blog-worthy that I did it again! Mama and Daddy love their "conversations" with this smiley, cooing baby girl!

• Susannah has been going out a bit with us lately. She attended her first party, a farewell gathering for a couple in our Christian Deaf Fellowship group, last Friday night. She either slept or nursed the entire time! She then attended her first Bible Study last Saturday night, where she once again slept or nursed most of the time. She did have a bit of wake time, during which the children of other couples in our Christian Deaf Fellowship delighted in talking to/signing with her! She had her first trip to Kroger to do some grocery shopping with Daddy last Sunday after church while Mama took a much-needed nap. Daddy said she slept the entire way through the store, making the venture a smooth one.

• Speaking of church...our family went to church last Sunday for the first time since Susannah's birth! We were able to introduce her to our church family who prayed faithfully for us during our seasons of infertility, IVF, pregnancy, and her birth. They have been such a source of love and comfort for us, continually pointing us toward having HOPE in the Creator of life and providing for us in many, many ways. Applause rang out as we introduced our precious lamb, and lots of people wanted to look at and hold her. Two of Mama's friends in the church have also had baby girls recently--one in early May, and one in early July. Susannah is "sandwiched" right in the middle of these future friends!

Dressed up for church in her pastel "bubble suit." This little outfit also has a little white jacket trimmed in the same pastel fabric. Susannah is sooooo gorgeous in light colors!

• Susannah is finally getting her days and nights straight after weeks of an intensive "denocturnalization" procedure :) Do you know how hard it is to teach your baby that we sleep at nighttime???!!!! Aunt Kara said that I have to resist "socializing" with her in the wee hours so that she learns to eat and return to sleep. When have I ever had the self control to resist socializing with anyone, much less my own precious baby!!! I was actually doing so well controlling my behavior...until she started to smile :). Our easy-going girl sleeps for four- and five-hour stretches at night now, waking up to eat and then going right back to sleep, starting at about 10pm. What a gift!

Asleep on Daddy's chest before going into her bassinet for the first part of the night...

• We have begun a nighttime routine of sorts for her. Included in this routine last week was her first story, read lovingly by Daddy. He loves reading her book, I'd Be Your Princess, a gift to him from Hank and Peggy G. It is a story of building Godly character traits, which Mama and Daddy think is very, very important for little girls and boys!

From her princess book to her first Tom Clancy novel, Susannah is turning out to be quite the little reader!

• Last but certainly not least in this string of Susannah's firsts is her first playtime with cousin Sophie Grace! Sophie is Mama's sister Jenna's four-and-a-half-month baby girl. Aunt Jenna and Sophie came to spend the day at our home this past Wednesday. They arrived at 11am, and we hoped to take the girls to downtown Staunton for ice cream and some time going into the cute shops and boutiques. Our best-laid plans were foiled by the fact that our baby girls were on totally zig-zagged schedules that day! We finally got out of the house at 5pm...just six hours after their arrival!!!! :) The day was one that can only be described as "a full, busy day of doing nothing but BABIES!!!!" We had a wonderful time chatting on our sunporch while Sophie smiled, squealed, and snuggled, and Susannah nursed, slept, and snuggled. Both girls are such good babies, and are just so beautiful! Before Aunt Jenna and Sophie left to drive back home to Richmond, we decided to lay the babies side-by-side on a blanket for a picture. Immediately, Sophie noticed Susannah laying next to her and began to smile at, talk to (ok...squeal at!!!!), and reach for her! Susannah was oblivious to Sophie's presence for the first little while, but then looked at her and was very intentional in having a "conversation" with her cousin! The babies even seemed to take turns "talking" to one another--Sophie squealed and smiled, and then Susannah cooed back! HOW AMAZING!!!! Grammy and Great-Grammy will love seeing the video I took of this precious first encounter.

Laying next to cousin Sophie

Sophie has noticed baby Susannah...

Sophie starts more intentionally touching her baby cousin...

...and then begins smiling and "talking" to her in the form of high-pitched squeals!!!! (This is how Sophie talks to everyone :)

Susannah has begun to realize that there is someone pretty sweet and special next to her, and she happens to reach her hand in that direction, touching her cousin in the process.

Now the girls are looking at each other and the "conversation" begins!

Ready to be picked up...

...but not before Sophie grabs Susannah's face and Susannah sucks her cousin's thumb!

Hmmmm.....

Dare I say it? I can't believe how much our Susannah is growing. But what surprises me even more is how much she is starting to look a lot like me. I don't mean to sound so selfish, but part of me likes that. Anyway, maybe I'm just over-reacting and seeing more than what is really there. You all be the judge -- I'm curious to know if you all think she is growing to look more like me or if I am just imagining things......

See below....

A Very Special Day

Susannah had such a BIG day today! She experienced her longest car ride ever, nursed in strange places, and was away from home for about five hours. What a trooper we have! We travelled to Charlottesville to have lunch at a favorite pizza place (Christian's Pizza on the Downtown Mall, for all who are interested in pizza loaded with a plethora of fresh toppings!), and then to the Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Center of Virginia, located at the Martha Jefferson Outpatient Center, to show off our dollbaby. RMSCVA is where we had our in vitro fertilization procedure...so it is the place where Susannah was conceived! We are so full of gratitude for the warm, caring staff there, and are overjoyed that we could take our little one to see them. What a gift to be on this side of their services...

While we were there, Susannah put on a grand display of bodily functions for the nurses, office managers, lab staff, and doctor, including but not limited to: fussing, burps, spit-up, and a big poop. Luckily, they've all had babies of their own and understand the "magical" (and opportune...) inner workings of a newborn!

Dr. Williams, one of the reproductive endocrinologists at the Center, holds our sweet one. He performed our embryo transfer, among other parts of the intensive procedure. His consistent warmth and optimism were a tremendous source of comfort to us.

Three of the IVF nurses--Jan, Bonnie, and Christie--holding our maxed-out little darling. We were incredibly blessed by their emotional counsel as well as their medical expertise during our cycle!

Shelly, the nurse who accompanied us the day of our egg retrieval with Dr. Bateman (the other reproductive endocrinologist at the Center), has been a source of prayer and celebration for us! Susannah was ready to nurse and go night-night by the time Shelly got her hands on her.

We also visited with Dr. Thomas, the embryologist who, along with his wonderful staff, cared for Susannah in her very earliest (ie--microscopic) days.

After such a big day, Susannah and Mama took long naps at home and then had some cuddly time before putting on jammies. Daddy is rocking our Baby Strawberry to sleep as I type this...

Winding down with cuddles and Mama Love...

Smiley one!!!!

Our "nakey baby" on her changing table...the BEST place in the world for our "conversations" and tons of smiles!


Not sure what that face is all about...but that tummy is soooo pudgy and soft!

Mama loves the roley-poley look her baby doll is getting! Such good milk she gets to help her grow!

Settled into her sleep sack and ready to snuggle as she drifts off...

Coming soon..."A Week of Firsts!" and "Susannah's Nursery." (Yes, I do mentally plot these entries out for days before actually posting them...)

Good night, all!!!!