A new addition...

Today, Friday, December 29, 2006, Chris and I dropped off Maeve at Rocky Hill Day Care. Usually I'm the one to do it and Chris picks her up, but It was a collaborative drop-off effort this morning so that we could take one vehicle to my aunt and uncle's annual holiday hoopla in the evening. I swear when we dropped her off she had that irresistible gummy smile. But when Chris picked her up in the afternoon, he made a discovery (with a very large hint dropped by Pat, the day care provider) that there was a new addition to Maeve's mouth. When I finally was reunited with her in her awake state in Duxbury, MA that evening, I gingerly placed my fingertip inside of her mouth and sure enough, there it was...a tooth! My immediate reaction, of course, was one of great sadness. Because, any indication that my baby is growing breaks my heart a little bit each time. Selfish, I know, but I want her to remain small and dependent a little bit longer than I know she will. Sigh. But once I was able to process this big event, I realized that more and more fun was to come our way as we pioneer through new foods, all different textures and sizes. And so, we welcome you, little tooth, and any little friends that you wish to bring to the party.

The 9 month check-up

Today Maeve saw Dr. Douglas for her 9-month check-up. All reports were good. She sits comfortably in the 50th percentile for both height and weight, measuring 27 1/2 inches tall and weighing in at 18.4 pounds. The doctor told us it is perfectly OK to begin introducing normal foods (with a few exceptions), including what we might be eating at the time, but just to be sure it's good and cooked! She didn't have to undergo any vaccinations at this appointment which was a plus for her and her parents but she does have to go for a blood draw before her next appt. to test for lead. We'll see Dr. Douglas again just after St. Patrick's Day barring any surprise illnesses! I think she's going to have a word with me when she gets older about posting this picture but I couldn't resist...

A shot of Chris, hard at work in his home studio. He was hired by a brand new company in the beginning of October but the actual office is still be renovated before they all move in so in the meantime he is burning the midnight oil here at home in his studio located downstairs. Thank God we (I say "we" very loosely because Chris did all the actual work) decided to set up a studio for him in our house because it allowed him to transition from his old job to his new one almost seamlessly. Hopefuly by the end of January 2007, he'll be in the new office space out in Lincoln, RI!

My little lima bean...

Here is Maeve in all her glory wearing her new jumper from Auntie Jen. The moment I put it on her, she smiled as if say, "Ahhhh, how comfortable!" She rolled around on the floor for a good fifteen minutes and allowed Chris and I to snap a couple of photos for posterity. To me, she looks like a little lima bean that I could devour in a second (and I don't even like lima beans)! Bon appetite!

A couple highlights for the McNamaras from 2006

I realize that I'm kind of throwing things in at the last minute and wish that I had started this whole thing sooner but I wanted to mention a couple of big happenings from the year that's about to draw to an end. The first would be the McNamara family reunion held this past July which was basically the coming together of the 5 McNamara brothers (2 reside on the east coast and 3 reside on the west coast). It was exciting for all of us to be together again (the last time being in April 2003 for our wedding) and there were many photographs taken to document the occasion, this being one of them. My father-in-law, otherwise known as Dad Mac, is second from the right and of course, the pround parents are smack dab in front!



The other big happening for the McNamara family would be the evening with Curt and Shonda Schilling hosted by the ALSARI (ALS Assoc. of R.I.). Curt and Shonda were this year's recipients of the Spirit of Lou Gehrig award which would have been presented back in June at the Evening of Hope but we all know that Curt was smack in the middle of his baseball season at that time, so the presentation was postponed until 11/29/06. There were a number of items that were auctioned off (many autographed by Curt) and obviously plenty of photo opportunities. The Schillings have done great work to raise awareness about the disease and also to raise money in the fight to find a cure so it was was nice to be able to thank them in person as a family. Pictured here are, of course, Curt with Mom and Dad Mac!

Christmas 2006

Here are a few pictures from Maeve's first Christmas. She was pretty overwhelmed at everything that was going on both on Christmas Eve with Chris' family in Providence and on Christmas day in Hanson with the Moores. She certainly isn't old enough to appreciate it and probably won't remember anything so hopefully these pictures will serve as satisfactory evidence that she actually did enjoy the holiday. Of course, she wouldn't really go down for a decent nap on either day which made for long, cranky evenings, but we were sort of prepared for that and managed to survive it all. Pictured here are Maeve and her Great Nana Rafferty and Nana Moore and Auntie Lee helping Maeve open one of her MANY gifts...

Here goes nothing...

OK! So, inspired by the incredible blogspot of my longtime friend Teresa Santalucia and my brand new digital camera from my husband, Chris (I think I'm the last person on the planet to receive one), I am going to attempt this "blog" thing. I will make no promises in terms of creativity or frequency of entries but I will make a valiant effort. Hope you all enjoy...

This is the headlining act of our show. Our bundle of joy, Maeve Leahy McNamara (born on St. Patty's Day 2006 believe it or not). She is pretty much the only subject of any photos I take these days so I'm going to have to expand my photography horizons a bit.

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