Oden Adventures

We've been doing Tummy Time with Vianne to strengthen her neck, but she's had these incredibly strong little legs since birth (seriously, she almost pushed herself out of her first bath and gave the nurse quite a scare!) and so far, she'd rather work more on her legs than her neck.  She likes to push against the floor and try to scoot forward...and every once in awhile tries lifting her head.  Daddy & Uncle Jon are already planning her soccer career!

On Wednesday afternoons, Grandpa comes over after work to, let's be honest, see Vianne.  We all love it because Grandpa gets lots of cuteness, Vianne gets lots of lovin' and Mama & Daddy get a little break :-).  Don't let her (what we call) frump face fool you - she's thrilled!

Showing off those strong legs!

In her beautiful sweater knitted for her by our friend Amy!

Wearing pants for the first time :-)

"Mommy's Sweetheart" in her sweet outfit from Aunt Jenny

Cute little ruffle booty - an outfit from Grandma & Grandpa Oden

 Me & Rachelle

 Rachelle invited me to sing "We Raise Our Hands" for the shower, with her and Brian.  I was so honored, and thrilled that the song has meant so much to her.

Six weeks old on Sunday and Vianne's first time at our small group from church - with baby friends Ansley and Gracelyn, and their Mamas Melissa and Jill

With Gracelyn - isn't that so sweet how she reached over to touch Vianne's head??!  Too cute!!

I was the only one of four siblings that was born outside of Oregon, in Lansing, Michigan, while my dad was pursuing his doctorate.  My mom tells the story of how she was a bit sad at the lack of family nearby when I was born, thus I got decidedly less attention - visitors and gifts - than my Oregon-born older siblings, so she went out and bought me a new dress of my own to rectify the situation.

I had often seen the pictures growing up, of me in this little green gingham dress, but what I didn't know was that Mom had saved the dress all these years!  She surprised me with it at my shower in January so that Vianne could wear it, too.  But I find it's a little too precious for every day use, especially since V's a bit of a spitter-upper these days, but I did put it on her for some photos this week!  

Me at 17 days old

 Vianne at 37 days old

It was an unspeakable joy to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a mother this year!  Vianne is such a treasured gift and, as trite as this sounds, I can't find words to articulate how blessed I am that God has entrusted her to our care.  I love being her Mama and being with her all throughout the day soaking up all the cuteness, even when it means not sleeping as much as I'd prefer to or getting done all the things I used to be free to do or leaving the house less & with more equipment.  One look at her sweet face & any frustration or irritation melts away!

We celebrated all weekend and Patrick spoiled me like a queen!  On Saturday, we had a wonderful Italian lunch at Cafe Allegro in La Verne, CA, with the Odens, and then enjoyed some family time & gifts at Jon's place.

When we got home, Vianne indulged me in this photo shoot while she was still wearing this ridiculously cute dress.  I bought it as her coming-home-from-the-hospital dress, but she was so itty-bitty that it was way too big for her...so, 5 weeks later, it served as her Mother's Day dress!  I thought this red & white chair made the perfect background and she amusingly obliged by sitting up in it, like a mini-adult.

 Patrick felt that such a grown-up posture merited a grown-up pastime...

On Sunday, we took Vianne to church for the first time and she did great through the service.  She got so much attention in the hallways from fellow churchgoers; so many people stopped to declare how tiny & cute & precious she is.  She also got to meet our pastors & some good friends, which was a great joy!

We thought about going out to eat after church, but since the rest of SoCal had the same idea, we opted for a relaxing day at home (the choice of introverts the world over).  There were two things I love that I had to deny myself while pregnant - pear cider and medium-rare steak - so Patrick surprised me with two kinds of pear cider, a beautiful card and a necklace.  Then he made the most incredible steak dinner for me - I was in heaven! The steak could not have been more delicious!  Patrick really set the bar high for his first Father's Day :-).

Patrick took some mother/daughter photos to commemorate the day.  These are some of my favorites, especially this first one, which shows off the necklace he gave me (it's a mother w/ child pendant with a diamond for Vianne's birth month, April).

What we all feel like on Monday morning..."just five more minutes, pleeease..."

On Tuesday, Vianne turned one month old!  I have a separate post about that...but one more special thing about Tuesday is that my friend Megan, who's in California for a couple months from Texas, came to visit us!  I didn't manage to get any photos, but definitely will on our next rendez-vous - but Megan got this cute shot of us!

Megan brought us these beautiful sunflowers and Jelly Bellies, because she is a wonderful lady and remembers what I like :-).  We sat & talked for hours and had such a lovely time catching up.  It had been way too long since I'd seen her:  She is one of the most beautiful souls I've ever known and our conversations are always rich and deep.  I am thrilled that Vianne could be exposed to Megan's beauty in her early days.  We are hoping to see her again soon!

A big day of being one month old wore her out!  Daddy's introducing her to her future alma mater (heh heh) via subliminal message.

Taken with each other...(she's starting to make some serious eye contact!)

Our Little Rockstar (finally kind of fitting in this onesie I bought her - NB size!)

Girls Rock...and Wail!

Playing a mean air guitar...

Fight The Power

Vianne has started liking baths a lot more now, and another favorite thing is "Naked Time", post-bath, lying in her Pooh napper with her lavender blanket in just a diaper.  She just lays there peacefully, looking around, sometimes for like 20 minutes!

After our successful restaurant excursion with Aunt Jenny, and since V had passed the one-month mark, we started taking her out more often this week.  On Wednesday, we braved T Phillips & it went pretty well.  Fortunately, it's a noisy place so any crying just sort of blended in.  I happily indulged in my first pear cider in 9 months!