Too cute not to share

Carmen was all decked out in hot pink for Rebecca's wedding. The wedding colors were Hot Pink, Platinum, Black and Sparkle so she had to match as an honorary flower girl. She was too cute!

Thoughts for the Moment

My reality with a new baby is a lot different than I thought it would be. I thought things would be so drastically abnormal but they're not. And at the same time they are.

I am still me and Michael is still Michael. Our family and friends are the same. Our home is the same. My sense of humor, preferences, talents, likes and dislikes are the same. Just now there's a baby! I had this weird, un-thought out idea that somehow life as I knew it would be no more- in a twilight zone sort of way. But it's not!

What IS entirely different is what my individual hours in the day look like. Things that happen: I feed the baby, change and dress the baby, bathe the baby, hold the baby, play with the baby, put the baby to sleep, watch the baby sleep, and do it all over again. Things that rarely ever happen: shower, getting dressed, laundry, deep cleaning, washing dishes, completing an email or two, blogging (today is a lucky day), remembering what it was I walked up or downstairs to do, folding laundry, tidying up the house, getting the mail, going to the grocery store, getting wedding work done (scary one!), buying gifts for weddings, showers and birthdays, going to the bathroom (TOTAL change from 6 weeks ago when I lived on the toilet), writing thank you notes, cooking, uploading pictures on the computer. It just doesn't happen. And I think this is all part of Carmen still being so little and new. It's got to become possible to do simple tasks again right??

Though I'd like to shower and clean up the house, those things just aren't as necessary as feeding a new baby. And paying so much attention to my little darling is absolutely worth it!

This morning at 7:30am:

No title

What's wrong with me??? I can't get a blog post done to save my life. Oh wait, I have a new baby and a busy October full of weddings. I cannot wait to be done with them! This weekend marks the end of my 2011 clients. It could not come fast enough. We also traveled to Rhode Island this past weekend for one of my best friend's weddings. It was gorgeous and so so fun. Road tripping took a little toll on us though. (Speaking of tolls, it cost about $75 in tolls to get there and back...says my dad. Ridiculous!) I had one bag packed for myself and 5 bags for the baby. How is that possible?! I'll post more pics of that later on. Maybe in November.

Funny pic: Carmen and Walker Campbell. Look at Walker's eyes! He looks terrified that I was taking a picture of the two of them together.

Hats and Headbands

She's all girl!

We love her owl hat. Irresistible.

All dressed up for her first wedding:

It's Not September Anymore

That was the fastest September I can ever remember. I miss it already. But life has been good.

As each week passes, I can sense life getting easier and more predictable again. Carmen is SUCH a good baby but she's a new baby - and that takes some time getting used to no matter how prepared you are ahead of time. We have started to venture out more. Well, more like we were forced to venture out with my client's wedding this past weekend. We packed up our bags and headed to Charlottesville for a long weekend. I found it pretty stressful to travel and move into suitcases with a 4 week old, but special things like a cozy home at the Uhls' and friends like Amanda and Brett to love on Carmen when I couldn't, made the trip easier. I would love a nap just thinking about it all.

Baby girl has a wonderful nighttime schedule for her age and our days are making a little more sense now. She still loves to be held and talked to and really doesn't like to be without her pacifier after her play time is over. She was like that from day 4, apparently I was the same way as a baby. Carmen's facial expressions and smiles are coming to life. Michael and I love it and laugh at her cute faces all the time.

I need to take bath time photos because she loves it and so incredibly cute in her little tub. If you're ever having a bad day just come over and we can give Carmen a bath together, you won't feel anything but happiness.

Birth Story From Another Perspective

Happy Friday bloggies!

My name is Heather from

One Fisch, Two Fisch and today Megan has thoughtfully asked me to stop on by Los Dos (Tres?) Daubertos as a guest blogger. I also happen to be Megan's sister... her youngersister she often likes to add.

Today I am going to recount a short story that is near and dear to our hearts, and will be one that we will tell Little Miss over and over throughout the years to come: the birth story of sweet Carmen Isabelle from my family's perspective:

When September 6th rolled around, I could hardly believe the day had come that my sister would bring a new, precious baby into the world. All the months of dreaming about what Carmen would look like and how she would act, had finally come to an end. This was the day we would get to meet her ourselves

I could barely focus at work Tuesday morning because I was counting down the hours until noon when I would leave town and head to Fairfax hospital in Virginia. How long would Megan be in labor? Would she deliver before I got there? Would Carmen come quickly or would she make us all wait for hours in suspense? These were the questions running through my mind as I raced down I-95 in the pouring rain. Baby Carmen, here I come!

I arrived at the hospital around 3:00 and met my mom in the cafeteria so she could fill me in on Megan's progress up to that point, while Megan and Michael tried to rest. Was this really happening? It seemed like yesterday that we were all gathering at the hospital to welcome baby Brianna into the world. And now it was Megan's turn. How time flies.

Mom and I then took a quick trip up to Megan and Michael's room to see Megan and say hi one last time before the two became three. Megan looked tired and calm and seemed a bit out of it, but was still beautiful with her perfectly curled hair. It was obvious they were both so ready to meet their little one.

Around 4:00 dad arrived with Preston and Brianna still dressed in their school clothes, but too excited to care. Next Ashleigh and Amanda arrived and we all sat in excitement and anticipation, hanging onto our cell phones for any word of Carmen's arrival. Just as we were preparing to leave for dinner, we got a text from Michael saying that Megan was fully dilated and had begun pushing! We knew that Megan could be in labor for awhile and that we'd have to wait at least an hour to see Carmen ourselves, so we set out for a quick dinner at Sweet Water Tavern. The food was delicious, but we were all distracted by the thought of sweet Carmen being born. So we scarfed down our food and rushed back to the hospital.

When we arrived at the Birthing Center waiting room, we saw Bill, Lissa, Sarah, and David Daubert already there. It was a large waiting room but we all somehow made it feel small by our loud, happy chatter, the massive baby girl balloons we had ready, the several baby gift bags, and all the video camera sitting on the floor. I'm pretty sure everyone in the waiting room heard our entire conversation and knew quite well that a Carmen Isabelle was being born; we were way too excited to be considerate of the noise level.

Sometime around 7:00 we saw nurse Lynne McLoughlin who we've known for years from church, come into the waiting room with a big smile on her face. We all held our breath while she said "Well, I'm happy to announce that as of 6:34pm, Megan and Michael became the parents of a healthy, perfect, 7 lbs, 13oz baby girl!" There was a quick pause, and then "AHHHHHHHH!!!" was all you heard as well all jumped up, cheered VERY loudly and clapped our hands in-between hugging one another. The excitement was priceless; the moment was precious; and I'll remember it for the rest of my life. It was such a fun, loving moment that it left me thinking "I hope that when this day comes from me, I will be near all my family and have them right there anxiously waiting for my baby too."

We tried to wait patiently to get the message that it was time for us to see the baby and Megan and Michael. Our Worthley family all fought over the Daubert's cellphones as Michael (accidentally?) sent a picture text of baby Carmen to his side of the family and not ours. We all grabbed for the phones and within one second of looking at the little image, said "Oh my goodness, she looks just the Megan! And Preston, and Brianna!"

Holding Carmen in my arms made my heart melt. It is so incredible to hold a new baby who is so tiny yet so real and alive; it really speaks for what a miracle it truly is. Megan looked great overall, and despite the fact that her face was a bit swollen and she appeared to be out of it, her hair was still perfectly curled.

The end :)

3 Weeks Old

It seems like Carmen is changing everyday. She is so adorable, we can't stop looking at her. I think I need to work on some other phrases to say to her besides, "You're so beautiful. You're so pretty." We've really missed Daddy this week. He's been on a business trip in Austin, TX and it's been so hard having him gone. We both miss him too much.

I can tell that Carmen knows full well who I am now. She calms down when I'm near and loves to for me to hold her. It's so precious. We are starting to work on falling asleep on her own for naps and it's painful for me - but I know it's best for her. I have great support and encouragement from our beloved Mallory and of course, Michael, but he's just been gone for a bit now. Here's some recent photos:

Our first time at church as a new family of 3
Carmen's first shopping trip to the mall. Had to get her some colder weather clothes. And an owl hat...pics of that to come.
First time spending the night at Grandpops and Nonni's house - with Mommy of course! Plenty of people to hold and love on her here.