Marraine Marine

Marine came to the US for a month this summer, mostly planned around her graduating college and for Aria's christening in July. She spent almost all the weekends at our house to spend time with us, especially Aria. Aria had no problem from the start getting comfortable with Marine. She was always content to be in her arms and didn't freak out when she walked away from Mommy. She loved playing with Marine and was always laughing when she played Peek-a-Boo with her.






It was a nice break for me having Marine around to hold Aria, feed her, and keep her content when I was trying to do other things, or just rest from this bronchitis I've been battling for weeks. She was definitely the definition of another "mother."

Marine came over one last time the night before she was heading home to Belgium to see Aria for a few minutes. She helped me to put her to bed, and it was very sad to see her say goodbye to her little Princess.

Aria is so extremely lucky to have godparents who see her like she is their own child. They give her endless kisses and dote on her the whole time they're there. You can see how much they love her. That touches our hearts greatly knowing we chose such great people to care for her as much as we do.

Aria is 7 Months

Aria...
Recognizes and turns her head toward you when you call her name.
Has been picking up and putting her pacifier back in her own mouth.
Starting to scoot on her butt to get things out of reach.
Learning how to pull herself up to stand on her own.
Blows raspberries when she's done eating or doesn't like the food being offered.
Likes to drink water from our glass.
Loves to splash in the tub.
Does not have stranger anxiety with women with soft voices and a gentle temperament.
Thinks Luc is hilarious, especially when he tickles her neck.
Loves to pull and play with Luc's hair (which he hates, even when she does do it gently).

News to come:
Aria will be visiting the beach for the first time. It'll be exciting to see how she reacts to the sand at LBI.

She has been teething majorly lately. Been up at all hours of the night crying and not settling down. I'm hoping those little teethy pegs poke through soon so we get a little break. I've been battling bronchitis for the whole month of July. Not getting any sleep at night because this little miss (as Luc likes to call her) is keeping me up is not helping my healing process at all.
Fingers crossed we have some miracles while away at the beach...

kiddies practicing for the beach

Belgian National Day

Now that Luc and Aria are also Belgian citizens, and I think it's only fair they learn and celebrate about their Daddy's heritage and where he's from. I decided we'd start celebrating Belgian National Day every year. We take the time to celebrate the 4th of July, why not equally July 21st?

The independent State of Belgium was born on October 4, 1830. However, National Day is celebrated on July 21st. It commemorates the day on which Leopold I took the constitutional oath as the first King of Belgium, on July 21st 1831.

It's impossible to find Belgium decorations. Impossible! So I improvised with my own. I will keep looking for more for the years to come. I was lucky enough to find plates and napkins that were the Belgian flag colors because Target had a pirate theme party supply.
For dinner I made mussels, endives, and fries. Since it was in the middle of the week this year, there wasn't time to make the fries from scratch. Ah well. Frederic ate his fries with mayo, of course. He also had a Belgian beer to wash it all down. For dessert, I got a huge, fresh eclair from the Wegmans' bakery. It was sooo yummy.  

Poor Aria had to go to bed by the time we ate dinner and all dressed up. So she was omitted from these captured moments.

Luc in his over-sized jersey

Hi! I'm Luc.

Luc wanted to draw Daddy a picture yesterday. So he was able to come up with his own snowman. Then I asked if he wanted to practice writing his name. Usually I will write it out letter by letter on the page and he'll trace the letter. This time I just used my finger to make the shapes on the page, and with each letter he wrote it out all by himself. Not too bad for the first time, huh?

Who is that guy?

Aria's Godfather, Matt, was kind enough to take a few days to stay with us and visit for Aria's christening. While most of the 4-day weekend was spent hanging around the house, we did get to go to Baugher's Orchard in Westminster and pick a few peaches and plums.

Since Aria started her "stranger anxiety" stage, she was a little hesitant of Matt when he first arrived. But it didn't take long for her warm up to him again.

We <3 NY!

At Baugher's

Let me try that peach, Mommy!

Aria's Baptism

July 12, 2015, Aria was baptized at St John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Columbia, Maryland.
Since my aunt and uncle in New York weren't throwing a party this summer, we decided we would invite everyone to Aria's christening. Since the christening was on a Sunday afternoon, I was not expecting many people to come, especially those who have to work on Monday. But I was happily surprised. Almost everyone was able to make it. I feel extremely grateful for all of them traveling, some as far as 6+ hours away to celebrate with us.

Aria was a gem during the ceremony. Luc was very well-behaved also. When the priest was talking, Luc turned to me and said, He's a good talker. The priest kept making comments that since Aria couldn't speak for herself, we were answering or responding on her behalf. Until she decided to prove him wrong and would start babbling. She didn't even flinch when the water was poured over her head. Nor did she start to cry when the priest took her at the end for pictures. I thought for sure she would start crying since she has stranger anxiety, but nope. She just sat in his arms like she's known him forever.

After the church, we had a party at Grandma and Papa's house. Lots of food and drink and fun. A few people left early, but we stayed well past 9pm.

Aria's Godmother, Marine, bought her christening dress in London. And it fit perfectly.

 

Aria, Mommy, Nikki, Cousin Karen

 

Happy 4th of July!

 This 4th of July was pretty low-key and chill. We hung around at home in the morning, then in the afternoon we went to my parent's house for a BBQ dinner. We were home early enough for Frederic to take Marine to see the fireworks. People in our neighborhood were shooting stuff off, and I'm really surprised the kids slept through it.

Orange You Going to Eat It?

Aria's favorite color is orange. Anything she sees that is orange she tries to grab.
I put an orange shirt on her after her bath and she started to try to eat it. I also had to capture the moment because I love her lil tummy.

Half a Year

Aria,

You are half a year old already? How did that happen? Weren't you just born? Weren't we just snuggling against the winter chill?

You keep talking and talking all day long. Your new favorite "word" is: Dada Dada Dadadada.

You can now sit up on your own to play and cry when Luc takes your toy (I'm working on teaching him to share and leave you alone. I'm sorry.). But you're usually a good sport if there's another toy available, you're willing to play with that and let Luc have his way. Though in his defense, as he pointed out to me one day, he does let you play with Monkey Hairson.-which, if you ask me, makes you pretty special.

You love to be held which makes doing anything difficult because you love to reach and grab whatever it is I'm doing (food, scissors, laundry, eat the mail, etc.). And you don't give up easily, especially when trying to grab food you aren't allowed to eat yet.

You're new slogan should be: Diamonds are a girl's best friend. You're obsessed with people's jewelry. Necklaces especially, watches, even diamond wedding rings. You just can't resist the sparkle and shine.

You are eating on average 5oz for a bottle. In the morning, Mommy gets you up at 5:45 (I know. Way too early. But you always greet me with a huge smile and a hug). We get dressed and have a bottle to hold you over until you're at Grandma's. This is usually 3.5 oz.
Before Daddy goes to bed, he feeds you around 10:30pm and you're now eating 6 oz and finishing the bottle. You get "solids" at least twice a day: in the morning after a bottle or to hold you over between bottles, and about 6 pm. You just love your food. You get so excited when you see it: you smile and flap your arms like crazy. If we need to go refill the bowl and walk away with it, you start to cry.
Your favorite foods are sweet potatoes, apples, green beans, pears, pumpkin, bananas. You do not like peas.

After your last meal, we get ready for bed around 7pm. We have a routine of changing your clothes and when I'm going to put your sleepsack on, I turn off the room light and leave just the dresser lamp on. You automatically start to rub your eyes, even if you were just talking and playing a minute ago (or trying to undo your diaper, which you just figured out how to do.). The majority of the time (if you've had a decent late afternoon nap), you fall asleep easily. You insist on sleeping on your belly nowadays. I lay you down on your back and you turn onto your side for a moment then roll onto your stomach. If your hand gets stuck you fuss for help. Sweet dreams until about 4-5am and then you're asleep again for a little while. Some mornings you sleep until 5am and wake up talking. I have to come in and give you the pacifier and tell you to go back to sleep. You usually do for awhile longer, sometimes until 7am. On the weekends, we can sometimes get you to nap in the mid-morning for 2-3 hours, in your crib, by yourself.-What a difference from when Luc was a baby!

You're showing your true colors now too. The Irish heritage (and a little bit of Daddy's personality) are coming out in the form of a temper. When a toy is taken away from you, mostly when you don't want to take a nap and I'm insistent because I know you're exhausted, you start a temper cry like I have never seen before, especially in a baby. I would even go to say, you almost out do Luc when he's having a bad tantrum at 3.5 years old. I can even see how you're going to be when you have a tantrum at 3 years old. You do this mean, angry cry with a high-pitched scream/cry. Your face turns bright red and you don't easily give up. There are other times when you show your temper without crying, such as arching your back when you don't want to go into your car seat. And more recently, you refuse to bend at the belly and legs to get into a sit position when I try to put you down in the floor. You're very strong-willed, Little Lady.

Most of all, Bugga, is your sweet personality and your grin. Your smile is so infectious to everyone who gets one. You love to give them, and then you play shy and turn your head into my shoulder. Even when you're sick with a cold, you are always smiling and happy. I came across this saying and think it most certainly applies to you, Bugga-Boo:
"Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile." -Remember that.

Love,
Mommy

Sick baby? Would've never guessed it by this picture.

Weight: 14 lbs 15 oz (26%)
Height: 27 inches (88%)
Aria is now wearing 9 months sized clothing comfortably.