O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

I haven't had a REAL Christmas tree since, I was like, 5. My parents bought an artificial one, and we decorated that every year. Now I know why. Randy and I decided that this year we would buy a REAL one because in his family they always bought a REAL one. I didn't mind. I was actually kind of excited. We went to the lot, in the rain, got muddy, spent more than our budget, had to stop off at OSH to buy a tree stand because Target was all sold out, brought the sucker home, stuffed it into the stand, took over an hour to water it because Randy forgot to trim off the bottom branches and it was hard to reach the stand, tried to keep Cameron away because he kept eating the needles and would then throw them up, oh and speaking of the needles-they are EVERYWHERE!
ARTIFICIAL tree next year.

3 Months and a Sad Lil' Reindeer

3 months! It's hard to believe. Soon she will be celebrating her second birthday like her big sister.
At 3 months,
She:
-takes long naps in her swing
-takes short naps in her bouncey seat
-sleeps from 10pm to 2am, then can wake up once or twice more before 7am
-smiles easily
-"talks" to me
-loves to cuddle with a new doll her Great-Aunt Edie bought her
-is showered with hugs and kisses by her older sister
-is able to hold her head up very well
-laughs when tickled
-has dark blue eyes

And the reindeer...I know it looks like she is always sad, but she isn't. I promise.

Hattie Wuz Here

There is no doubt that we have a toddler running around here. We often find balsamic vinegar bottles next to our bed, our toilet bowl brush sitting in our toilet and Cameron walking around the house with a blanet covering his head. We never know what we'll find when we walk into a room.
And yes, I used the "old school" spelling of "was."

2 Months and a Happy Birthday

Two months already!It is so fun having two girls. It's cute to see Celie in her big sister's clothing. It brings back memories whenever I dress her in something of Hattie's.
She:
-is always smiling (present photo excluded)
-is starting to laugh
-is still an easy-going baby (did I just jinx myself?)
-is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at a time at night
-takes short catnaps during the day
-hates the car seat for the first 30 seconds she is in it, then she falls asleep
-has dark blue eyes
-loves her bouncy seat
-doesn't like to be on her back (unless sleeping at night)
-is starting to grow out of her newborn clothing, but size 3 months is still too big for her
-has her 2-month appt. tomorrow
-loves being carried in the Bjorn
-imitates people sticking their tongue out

and a Happy Birthday to my mom! Happy Birthday!

Anna Mayer

Here are the photos Anna took of us. I love them all. http://annamayer.com/slideshows/Fawcett_1009
Copy and paste.
And a photo that she took of Hattie almost two years ago with a photo of her great-grandmother, Harriet. There is also a photo of Celie with a photo of her great-grandmother, Cecelia that you will see in the slide show.

Images by Anna

Last month, we hired the same photographer who photographed Hattie, Anna Mayer of annamayer.com, to come and take photos of Celie. We will get to see all of the photos at her studio next week, but for now she posted a few sneak peeks on her blog. http://annamayer.com/2009/11/day-eight-running-in-milwaukee-sweet-baby-in-san-jose/ You have to copy and paste. For some reason, I can never make these things clicky. Can someone help?
When we see the entire shoot, we'll post the link here. This is a photo I took of Anna taking a photo of Celie.
The "Photo Goodness" section is her commentary on Celie.

Halloween 09

We took the girls out trick-or-treating this year. Well, Hattie went door to door and Celie slept in the stroller. Hattie really got into it and knocked on the doors by herself and said, "thank you" when she was given candy. After she said, "thank you," we got a lot of "awwws" from people and they gave her more candy, which Randy and I liked; especially those people giving out chocolate.
Speaking of chocolate, we let Hattie have her first taste. She ate 5 M&M's and was very pleased. There's no going back now.

2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch

We went back to Joan's Farm in Livermore. It's a smallish pumpkin patch with goats and pony rides and lots of pumpkins. It's also not very crowded so we kind of like it. Hattie had a blast and enjoyed riding the pony, Licorice. Celie wasn't thrilled, but we are thinking next year may be different.

1 month and A Sad Lil' Pumpkin

These four weeks have flown by a lot faster than the first four weeks with Hattie. Having two is not as hard as I thought. I'm not saying it's easy, just easier.
At 1 month
She:
-is a great daytime sleeper
-is an OK nighttime sleeper
-is starting to give us lots of smiles
-has gone to her first baby shower (Congrats Sandy!)
-has gone to her first pumpkin patch
-is still too little to fit into her 0-3 month clothing
-has her 1 month doctor's appointment this Thursday (will update her weight/height here)
-sleeps soundly to her noise machine
-is an easy going baby

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday (more photos later). She wasn't thrilled with being there.

7lbs.!

At her two-week appointment a week or so ago, she exceeded her birth weight, and is now 7lbs. (I'm sure she is bigger by now).

Little Baby Parts

Belly Button.
Toes peeking out of too-big-for-her pants.
Fuzzy Hair.
You really forget how small they are until you are holding one again.

Welcome to the World!

Cecelia Rae was born Sept. 19, 2009 at 7:20 am. Celie (See-lee) was 6lbs. 6oz. and 19.5 inches long. The delivery was smooth and pain free! We are all absolutely in love. More photos soon.

Kayne West...

has something to say about our website. Click here: Steph and Randy

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Happy Grandparent's Day To Grandma and Grandpa ("Mama" and "Pa"), NaNa and Grandpa ("Pa"), and Grammy and Grandpa ("Mammy" and "Pa"). You guys are the best, and Hattie and the new little one are so lucky to have you. We love you!

San Francisco Zoo

Several weekends ago, Mike and Martha stopped by for the weekend to visit us on the way to Palm Springs. We drove to the San Francisco Zoo. I don't think I had ever been there before. I think I enjoyed myself more than Hattie did. My favorite animal was the giraffe. I probably took 50 or so photos of them. Hattie's favorite attraction was the train. We could hear it from any point in the zoo. Her least favorite? The goats and sheep at the Children's Petting Zoo. We were finally able to get her to feed a goat, but that was about it.

3 Years

One beautiful daughter and a baby on the way. Life is good.

A Beautiful Day in Monterey

After the park, we headed over to the Wharf and ate lunch. We had the most fabulous meal at Cafe Fina, and John and Hattie shared a beer. Actually the bottle was empty and they took turns blowing into it to make a noise (don't call CPS).
We saw a seal, and then Hattie played in the ocean. The water was freezing, but whenever we tried to take her out, we got, "more water."

Dennis the Menace Park-Monterey

Yesterday, we met John and Jenny in Monterey for some lunch and fun in the sun (overcast). We stopped at Dennis the Menace Park to let Hattie stretch her legs. I had never been there before, but Randy went often when he was younger. It is a great park with lots of slides, swings and other play structures. Hattie had a great time playing and chasing geese.
And for those of you who have expressed concern about Hattie's height (19.5 inches)from the previous post ("30"), that was a typo. She is 29.5 inches! She was 20 inches when she was born. :)

30

Yes, it's my birthday, but no, I'm not 30 (actually, I'm much younger than that). 30 weeks is how far along I am in my pregnancy. I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by compared to the first. Lots of nesting going on around here. I've been throwing things out left and right and reorganizing everything. We even hired a housekeeper to come in twice a month to clean. What a difference!
In other news, Hattie had her 18-month appointment yesterday. She is 21.1 lbs. and 29.5 inches (5-10 percentile). The doctor said she is the most advanced 18-month old he has seen in awhile (regarding her language). Of course she showed off during her appointment; naming body parts, putting 2-3 words together, and naming shapes. But, the best part was when he said that she is no longer allergic to dairy! We have to slowly reintroduce milk and milk products, but we don't have to read labels anymore and prepare special meals for her. Meal time will be so much easier around here.