Bows

I'm getting tired of people thinking Reagan is a boy, even with pink clothes on. It must be all the hair. I decided not to waste her beautiful hair and got some barrette bows to make it more obvious. It looks too cute!

My First Walk Around the Block

Reagan and I took advantage of the nice weather on Monday and went for a stroll around the block. It wasn't easy though since some of the sidewalks were still covered with snow, so we had to make a few detours. It was nice to get out of the house, though and get some fresh air. We can't wait for spring!

All bundled up and ready to go!

The sidewalks by our house were cleared, so we stuck to those.

Monkey Kickboxing

Reagan is starting to discover that she can move her arms and legs to hit things, like her hanging toy monkey. She has mostly just been batting at stuff, but then last night she started using her legs to kick, too. It was funny to watch!

Hangin' with Mom

Reagan fell asleep leaning on my leg the other day. I thought it was too cute, so I took a picture!

Two Months Old!

Reagan turned two months old this past Monday. At her 2 month checkup she weighed in at 10 lbs, 12 oz and 22 1/2" long. She's a growing girl! She had her first round of immunizations and handled it pretty well. I made John come along for moral support, but it didn't take too long for her to calm down after they were through. I'm pretty sure I felt worse than she did. It's so hard to listen to her cry so hard.

Baptism

Reagan was baptized on Sunday, January 13th at the Parish Community of St. Joseph's in New Hope.

Reagan was so lucky that Uncle Tim flew in from London to be a part of the baptism. We were so sad that Auntie Kathleen and Auntie Jane couldn't come too.

Reagan handled the baptism wonderfully. She didn't even cry when the priest soaked her with water. The two little boys that were baptized at the same time screamed when they got wet.

Reagan with Fr. Terry, me, John, Uncle Tim (her godfather) and Auntie Carrie (her godmother).

The dress that Reagan wore is made out of the fabric from John's great-grandmother's wedding dress and has been worn by over 20 members of his mother's family, including John and his brother and sister. The wedding dress was from 1910, so the fabric is almost 100 years old. It's amazing that it is still in such wonderful condition.

Later, Reagan also tried on my baptism gown. We now have both spit up on the gown, so maybe someday, her daughter will spit up on it too.

Cancun!

Reagan is so lucky that she was able to take her first international trip at only 7 weeks old! We had a great time! Grandma and PaPa McCarthy were so gracious to treat the whole family to this wonderful trip! We were so glad that we could treat our daughter to some fresh air and warm weather.

Reagan's first airplane ride. Reagan slept through the whole plane ride. We made sure she was eating on take off and landing, so we don't think she had any problems with her ears. I think she would have been a little fussier if she had. I don't know if you can see it, but Reagan had a little rash on her cheeks when we left for Cancun. It cleared up within 24 hours of arrival. 70% humidity helped all of our dry skin!

Arrival at our hotel in Cancun!

The family in front of a Mexican Christmas tree.
Reagan got to meet her uncle Tim and Auntie Jane for the first time on our trip. I could tell she loved them right away!

With Auntie Jane.

Look out boys! Reagan in her bikini! It was so cute and little. She only got to wear it one day though. After this, the weather turned much windier and colder so we didn't take her down to the beach.

Our sunbathing beauty

At the beach. We stuck her feet in the sand and let the waves run up to her feet. Like mom, she just wasn't a fan of the ocean.

Cute in my hat

The crew on New Year's Eve! This was about as wild as it got for us. After leaving Reagan with the grandparents, the "kids" went off to find some New Year's entertainment. Needless to say we were back within 45 minutes with a bottle of daiquiri mix. The bar we wanted to go to was full and the other bar had karaoke, but the McCarthy men were not up for that.

New Year's fireworks from downtown Cancun. I was happy to celebrate the beginning of 2008 with John and our little girl.

Reagan is starting to smile a little bit. It's usually just a fleeting smile, but I was able to get this one on camera. She's starting to make cooing sounds too, and was really talkative this morning.

Since we didn't have too many toys with us, we invented new games. This one we call "Fishing for Reagan." John is about to get one!

John was so proud of this shirt.

Out for a walk on our last day.

We attempted to go for a walk on our last day while the rest of the gang went to Chichen Itza. We got down to the beach and were almost blown away. We headed back to the room after this.

I had to put this picture in because it pretty much represents our whole trip. Reagan definitely did not lack for attention.

My Hat

Alexis Lehman had given Reagan this hat one night when we were over there. Alexis had been using it for one of her dolls, but I think it had been hers as a baby. I put it on Reagan when we were headed to Target one day and it was so cute, I had to take a picture.

Christmas 2007

It was so fun to celebrate our first Christmas as a family! Although Reagan pretty much had no idea what was going on. Our Christmas celebrations still aren't over but here's what we did Christmas weekend:

We had our first Christmas celebration at my cousin Dave's house. Reagan got to see her Grandma Great again.

Four generations of Etters: Me, Reagan, my Dad and my Grandma Etter

On Christmas Eve we went to mass and Reagan got dressed up in her fancy Christmas dress. John was a little upset that I got Reagan a dress that could only be dry cleaned, since she enjoys spitting up a lot. She made it through mass though (we put a bib on for the car ride to church). Reagan got to meet a lot of my high school friends and strangers were walking by telling us how beautiful she looked. They don't have to tell us twice!

Reagan and Mom all dressed up and ready to go!

Reagan and Dad

On Christmas Eve night, my aunt, uncle and two cousins always join us. John and I had them come over to our house since it would just be easier having all of Reagan's things near by. As you can see in the picture, we had to change out of our dry clean only dress by then. Not only did we have a spit up casualty, but we also blew through our diaper.

Mark, Dad, Mom, Auntie Phyllis, Uncle Frank, Me, Reagan, Carrie and John

Reagan again found a comfy spot on Uncle Frank. She looked quite funny wedged into his armpit like that!

On Christmas day we went to visit John's family in Rochester. We had a wonderful dinner and were able to visit with their family friends, Ann and Andre.

John, Kathleen, Jim, Reagan, Me and Mary

Random Photos

Reagan in her snow suit to go across the street to Bryan and Kim's house.

John got a picture of Reagan mid-sneeze. It was so cute!

What a sweet face!

First Friends

My friend Jonie and her mom, Janice B. came over to meet Reagan on the 17th of December. Jonie and I were "first friends" and we hope our little girls will be friends too!

The grandmothers: Janice B with Lauren, my mom with Reagan.

Lauren checking Reagan out. This was a rare moment of Lauren sitting still. Most of the visit she was "talking" to Grandpa on Jonie's cell phone!

The Mommies: Jonie with Lauren and me with Reagan

One Month Old!

Reagan turned one month old on December 14th. She is quite a bit bigger than her pal Marley now!

Giving Marley some love . . .

See how big I am, Mommy and Daddy! I much bigger than Marley now!

Naked Baby

John and I gave Reagan some naked time after a bath a few weeks ago. We wanted to take some pictures of her without a diaper on.

We discovered that if we don't brush her hair right after a bath it will stay like this for a couple days! Ooops!