She's a month old!

Most of these photos were taken when Marina was about 4 weeks old. At 4 weeks she weighed almost 6 pounds and 20 inches long. She's still wearing preemie clothes, but can begin to wear some newborn and 0-3 month clothes. And she outgrew preemie diapers. Yay!!

At this point she finally started feeling like

a real baby and not a babydoll!

We call this one "4 Marinas"

Getting ready for her first party - 4th of July. All that effort to get ready tuckered her out!

Deep in thought ... er, something like that...

She's awake!

sleeping beauty ...

She finally decided to open her eyes!

and yes, she does look a little tipsy here :)

Her first dress! (Thanks Auntie J!)

Marina - first week photos

Here are first week photos of Little Marina. She slept about 20 hours a day during this time so while things were scary and we were concerned, she was pretty easy to take care of!This is one of the very first photos of Marina.

This is moments after I was wheeled out of surgery and got to hold Marina for the first time. You can tell by the look in my eyes that I'm heavily medicated!

This is her very first photo at home. Sleeping like an angel!

***********

These photos were taken after we'd been home for a few days and Mimi had arrived to help out.

You can see how small she is in comparison to her very first baby doll (thanks to Mimi!). Who knows why she's making that crazy face.

You can't tell if she's going to cry or fall asleep here.

Mimi giving Marina her first bottle.

Another photo showing her size ... a bottle of nailpolish seems so small but was pretty big compared to her! She's grown so much that I can barely remember her being this small!

She's here!

Many of you probably think that I have abandoned this blog. And it definitely seems that way, but I promise I haven't. I just went on a small hiatus. I've thought about posting many times in the last 6 months but haven't found the time or energy.

We had a long and challenging pregnancy which ended with a month of bedrest and a beautiful, preemie baby girl.

Marina Riley Jaynes

Born: June 10, 3:46pm
4 pounds, 15 ounces and 19 inches long

She's really incredible! The family is all doing great and big bro Dylan thinks she's awesome (which was a huge relief)!

She spent about 6 days in the hospital, but has been thriving and doing incredibly well ever since we got home. This experience has given us a small understanding and such respect for parents with with premature babies. We knew she was coming early and were able to do a lot to prepare (her and ourselves) for the early delivery; however, it was still hard and scary. And so, so, so worth it. She's truly amazing.

Now that I've made my apologies for no recent posts I promise to get back in the habit of posting. And in the meantime, I'm going to post a bunch of random photos from the last 6 months.

Birthday Wishes

I have been really lazy and am way behind on uploading holiday pics and Dylan's birthday pics. However, I promise I'll do that within the next few days.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some cute videos of Dylan's birthday party in Indiana last week. (Thanks Lindsay!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVNmUvuFTFY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmfXYCK-8do

Too cute!

My sad, aching heart ...

It's with very heavy heart that I write this post. I just learned yesterday that Brian McElhatton, a very dear and wonderful friend, passed away. He battled cancer for the last year and a half and it finally claimed his young life.

I had the great privilege of meeting Brian while living in San Francisco. He was the most charming, witty Irish man I've ever met. He charmed me with his accent from the moment I met him. He leaves an enormous hole in many hearts as he will be sadly missed.

So, Brian, here's to you, my dear old friend. I love you DB.

Update:
Here is a link to Brian's obituary (oy, what a terrible word) with the details about the memorial service.

Um, where did the last two years go?

Dylan turned two yesterday. Unbelievable, right? It's really hard for Bryan and I to imagine, but it's true. He's two. He's independent, full of energy and charismatic. I didn't know that a two year old could be charismatic, but he is.

Here are some pictures from his birthday weekend. Enjoy!