Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!!!

This past year has gone by so fast.... It seems so surreal that we were getting barely any sleep a year ago with our precious little bundle barely home. All of the pain of labor coming back in thought and all the joy after delivery. Our Francesca Amelia has brought so much happiness to our lives it's hard to express in words.

Many of you were at her Ducky Fist Birthday party, but for those who were not I have wonderful pictures to share with you! She had a blast with all of her ducks and especially with her smash cake. It was a very fast paced day (kinda like the past year has been...) but glad everything turned out as I envisioned them to!

Many thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate and to all those who celebrated in spirit :) Thank you all for the wonderful gifts and birthday wishes! Our girl is definitely spoiled and she works it well... It's hard to refuse that precious face.

We also had baby girls one year dr appt where the dr proceeded to say that she has a large head. Yes, we know she has her daddy's s head doc... Get over it! She is gaining weight perfectly. Which I figured knowing how much she loves her table foods! She is now allowed to have cows milk. Which isn't going too well! She refuses to take it in a sippy cup like the dr requests, but will take it warmed, mixed with formula and in a bottle. Hopefully we'll get there soon. I'll have to figure out s clever way to get her to like it. But let's be honest... I don't even like milk, so I can see her point! Other good news... She can have strawberries and eggs... That's fun! We're still going to be waiting on the nuts, honey and shell fish.

Here are some random shots of our one year old... they're goodies- couldn't leave them out!

11 months!

Francesca is loving being able to crawl! I was so worried she wasn't going to crawl on time (if there's such a thing..) and the doctor's suggestions did not ease our worries any. At her 9 month appt her doctor suggested that we get a PT eval because she wasn't attempting to crawl and/or trying to pull herself up. This was upsetting news since she had just turned 9 months and I was under the impression that all babies are different. 

Needless to say I didn't make an appt for another month. Two weeks later.. she was crawling. I cancelled that appt right away! 

She is a busy busy bee! She has free roam of the living room- which now doubles as her play area. I have installed the gate at the top of the stairs. She will sit at the gate looking like an inmate if you leave her to take a quick trip downstairs.. too funny. She has also learned to give me a kiss through the bars.. too sweet! 

Drinking from a straw occurred while we were at Noodles & Co and realized we forgot to bring her sippy cup. Francesca just started drinking like a pro. It was awesome! She loves straws and no she can use them all the time! Perfect

She has mastered shaking her head no. While we were in Colorado recently for my brother's graduation party she picked up the head shaking. And if you say "yes" and nod your head she will just laugh and shake her head more! 

She has FOUR teeth! Her two bottoms ones came in a while ago and her two big front ones started coming in while in Denver. She has the two to the sides of the big fronts coming in now! She'll have a full mouth before we know it! Her two fronts are actually really spread apart... major gap going on up there... but she's still too cute. 

haah this is a really funny picture.. she's doing her scrunched face while smiling,
but it really shows all her teeth well!

On another note... Our little girl is already going to be a year old! Cannot believe it! I have been planning her party in my head and on pinterest since she was like 8/9 months old. Actually bringing it to life has been fun and interesting. She is having a duck themed party (since she LOVES ducks) which totally fits her! I didn't want it to be all yellow and blue, so I have decided to make it more of an aqua, yellow and coral scheme. Yes, I color schemed her 1st birthday party. I found a paper straw set that perfectly fit my vision and went with it! 

Fourth of July was super super hot! We were having a major head wave that finally ended Saturday evening! Hopefully it doesn't come back! We hosted Fourth of July this year and had a lot of fun with some good friends! 

Thanks to hostess with the mostess  for the perfect food and drink signs.. they added a great touch! I really wanted to take Francesca to see the fireworks, but of course it didn't happen. She was good until like 8:20 when something set her off and she had a fit. Dad nixed the fireworks right away because it was past bedtime. how sad...

Also while in Colorado we took some more family pictures with my parents, sis and bro! Driving up to my parents new house in Morrison there is this gigantic red rock on the side of the road. We asked my Auntie Jan to come up and take some shots of us in front of it one night. They turned out great... and are now hanging in our home.. love them!

10 Months

That's my moms new puppy too, Cupertino aka coop.

The next post probably won't be until after baby girls birthday! Stay tuned..

xo

2 months in a nutshell

The past two months have gone by crazy crazy fast! Lots of new things happening in our lives and in baby girl's day to day life! 

First, Francesca got to meet Giada! Grandma Maribeth stood in line soo soo long for us at William Sonoma to get Giada's new cookbook, Weeknights with Giada, signed! Even though we were probably in front of her for like less than 30 seconds we're still saying she met her! Giada said her name in her beautiful Italian accent that she does and also said she was absolutely beautiful. Francesca blushed :) haah so fun!

Next up, Ryan Francesca and I traveled allllll the way to California to visit Nana, Papa, Nini and Duncle for Easter! Even though she has been on a plane way too much (already) this time was different. Going alllllll the way to NorCal was not fun. She was over tired, couldn't get comfortable and in turn was in a terrible mood. Luckily, coming home was much much easier. We will never be taking a late flight while traveling with the baby ever again. 

 While in California Francesca got to go to the beach, dig her toes in the sand, go swimming in a bathtub temperature hot tub pool, go to her first wine tasting and visit with the Easter bunny! So many first in such a short time! Great trip.

toes in the sand

fam on the beach

dip in the pool

winery

Then, when we got home and back in the swing of things I finally decided to begin my journey as a Stella and Dot Stylist! So far I absolutely love it! I get to style beautiful women with amazing jewelry! I can make my own hours- hello late night catch up hours- and be able to spend the time that I want to with my little girl. The company is wonderful and I can't lie.. so is the jewelry! If anyone is ever in the mood to throw a Stella and Dot Trunk Show, let me know... I am now your girl! And if you've never heard of us before... check out my website here... get ready- you'll love it too!

stella & dot launch party!

Right before I signed up to start as a stylist I had also agreed to calligraphy wedding invitation envelopes for Ryan's best friend's sister, Kate, who is getting married this August. aww. I had only done my invitations for my wedding before, so when Kate and her mom, Jackie, asked me to do hers I was kinda nervous! I mean.... talk about pressure! I knew Kate and Jackie weren't going to hound me if I messed up or anything, but it's still a little nerve wrecking! Thankfully I only messed up a few times and I still had envelopes left over! I finally finished last night... and they look awesome! Congrats to Kate and Pat... Can't wait for the wedding!

kate and pat's wedding invitations!

An update on Francesca: She now weighs about 17 1/2- 18 lbs! She sure is getting up there! I know I say this a lot, but it just blows my mind how fast these past T-E-N months have gone by! Yes, she's ten months already... what happened to our little monkey! She now has two teeth in. Both on the bottom! I believe we are getting some more in on the top as well though! She sits on her own well. She pulls herself to a sitting position in the crib only... and she is still not crawling yet. She doesn't mind being on her stomach... she will push herself backwards and will rotate in a complete circle, but she will not for the life of her get on her hands and knees and crawl. One of these days our girl will shock us! She also sits like a big girl in shopping carts! Auntie Janice made her a beautiful black and white cart cover to keep our girl clean. Sometimes we forget it... that doesn't stop us though. She doesn't know if she wants to be right or left handed. She claps (left handed), waves (both hands... not always at the same time..), removes the back of the remote (both hands). She loves dogs- especially my mom's new pup, Coopertino! So sweet.. can't wait for her to get her own puppy. A chocolate lab, not yet named. She is also a pro at exploring her crib. Before she falls asleep or even after she wakes up she will just hang out in her crib and move all around it! Since we have a video monitor I always catch myself watching her conquer new territory and just having fun playing on her own. 

lefty vs. righty

tummy time fun

yay!!! good job!!

big girl buggy seat!

coop!

crib time fun

For Mother's Day we went to the horses races again (my favorite). It was so fun... baby girl got to show off her mad clapping skills! She loved cheering for all the horseys! We ended the day with her falling asleep in my arms like she used to.. so sweet. 

a mamma snooze

At her nine month doctor's appointment we got the clearing to feed her food were eating. She loved that doctor's appointment- even though those three shots hurt the most. She loves eating what we're eating! She also has taken a bad habit of mine. She smells the food before she eats it. Yes, like I do. Only I didn't start doing it this young! She won't eat it if she doesn't like how it smells. Yes, just like me. Only I swear I didn't do it this young! So we have come across a hurdle we will clear (hopefully). 

We bought pool passes this year for the park district. Ryan loved going there as a child and even though Francesca doesn't really know everything that's going on she seems to love it! So we went to the pool on the Sunday before Memorial Day, just the three of us. I had to work later that day but we were able to spend just enough time there! Then on Memorial Day we went over to Medinah with Ryan's parents and sisters to swim with them! We got her float out and she was lovin the pool and splish splashin around. 

rice pool day!

in our country club swimwear.. family swim!

On Monday, Francesca and I leave for California (early in the morning!) for Anthony's Graduation next Friday. He is such a big boy now... We will go from NorCal to Colorado, where my parents, bro and sis are moving after graduation, for his graduation party. Ryan will come meet Francesca and I in Denver for little less than a week! We can't wait to see the Duran clan... bags are almost already packed! 

*goin to nana's*

I believe that sums up our hectic life these past two months! Now that I've written it it doesn't seem like we've done more than normal, but trust me... it sure does feel like its been crazy!

this picture is from my birthday in april, but i love it. our happy little family. 

xo

nursery reveal

i'll admit it has definitely taken me way way too long to get baby girl's nursery 100% complete, but now that it's finally done we can all ooh and ahh and tell me how much you like it :) 

i attempted to take some pictures.. bare with me on my not so creative angles! 

mamma's little helper :)

a bit altered now-a-days...

Since I took these pictures AND started this post ohh about 2 (T-W-O) months ago- i know- a few things have happened to the room. Well mostly one large thing happened plus the addition of a ceiling fan (Francesca's favorite thing in the world). The white shelf that has been hanging since the day baby was born decided it did not want to be on the wall anymore anddd fell. Absolutely scared the living everything out of Ryan and I. 


Imagine: sitting downstairs watching Water for Elephants while your darling baby snoozed away. Then BOOM. CRASH. SHATTER. First on the monitor and then in real life all at once. OMG I almost poo'd myself!


The end result is no white shelf, no lamp in the left corner and sadly of all... adios to about 5 of my childhood tea sets that I had neatly displayed on the white shelf to add a little love to the room. 


I am so thankful it was not the ceiling fan. Which was my original thought... Smashing down on my baby girl :( ahhhh so terrible. 


All in all a pretty nursery for a pretty girl.


xo 

odd foods

I just had to get on and write about this because I still can't believe what food our little girl prefers over others. Before we started her on solids I had many people tell me how "babies love peas" or "don't do fruits before veggies." Well let me tell you.. Francesca likes the oddest food. Originally I had mentioned that she didn't like carrots very much. I believe that was because of texture of the carrots that I had made for her wasn't something she liked. She likes them now (yay). 

She hatesss peas. Hatesss. She loves sweet potatoes, squash, and green beans are ok. She loves her fruits- pears, peaches, even prunes, but here is the one that lead me to write this post wayy past my bedtime! Yesterday I bought some bananas and avocados to give them a try. I decided to start with the bananas because she was having a whiny night and I really just didn't want to have to fight her to eat. 

ha. 

she showed me. 

I made these perfect bananas- which tasted delicious might i add- and she wanted nothing to do with them. nothing. she took maayyybee two bites. if that. 

to say the least she didn't eat much food food for dinner last night. 

So. Tonight I pulled out my baby cookbook and decided I was going to give the avocado a go. The recipe is obviously really east for basic avocado, but it did say to add a splash of orange juice so as to not make it so bitter. well I didn't have orange juice, but I did have some Gerber Pear Juice- which she isn't quite sure about when I water it down, probably too much- well to get to the point... she lovvveddddd it! like, it was her favorite. 

who on earth prefers plain ole avocado (not guacamole style) over delicious bananas. Now, I don't know why I just said that because I've already thought of one person, Sarah Steffes. But she's the exception since she has never liked bananas for a reason I clearly still don't understand (gol.. love you stef!). 

but honestly.. isn't that super weird? maybe this is more common than I know, but I'm pretty sure baby girl loves odd foods. 

on that note.. goonight!

xo

6ish month pictures

Francesca went and got her pictures taken! She is a true natural and just totally gave the photographer everything we were looking for. Thanks to Grandma MB for the photo package! Soo exciting... I go back to Nicole Waite Photography  on Thursday morning to try and decide on what pictures we want to keep! I honestly don't know how I'm going to do that. 

Here is the sneak peak that Nicole gave us, a day after the pictures were taken! 

The one question I continue to get is "how do you get her to smile like that" and I honestly don't know! She definitely has her shaky moments, but overall she truly loves to be a happy baby. She makes it really easy on us to capture the smiles, but I also love getting those serious moments too. I'm so glad we were able to do these of (mostly) her. I hope to never forget all of her many many different faces. 

Hopefully I'll be able to decide one a few goodies come Thursday!

xo

st paddy's day

Our St. Patrick's day was in full swing with green gear and Irish music by 8 am on saturday morning! to say the least, Ryan looves St. Patrick's day! Francesca was decked out Friday and Saturday with her green outfits and festive bibs! 

Yes- she's wearing jellies! I'm so excited they fit her and I can't wait to use the up while they still fit! I'm sure this is going to be one of her favorite holidays thanks to dad and she'll always look so festive if I have anything to say about it! 

Ryan and I were able to go out with some friends Saturday night while Grandma MB and Grandpa Phil watched the little tyke. It was good to be able to get out for a little bit, but def didn't need to stay out allllll night. We needed to get back to that precious little face!

happy st paddy's day from our little family to yours!

xo