Green Daisy Outfit

We measured Dahlia last night and she was just over 22 inches! At her current weight and height, she is about the size Michael was when he was BORN!

Auntie Em

Emily came to visit for a wonderful long weekend to meet Dahlia! Em joined us all in our first adventure to the Rampart for Sunday brunch and a quick strip trip to the Wynn. Emily is expecting her baby in October... can't wait!

Sleepy Pants

If only you could hear the tiny, tiny snores she is making while asleep in her swing. More and more she is willing to spend a little time in her swing - I think we are up to about 10 min before the crying starts.

Blue Eyes Wide Open

Here are a few shots of Dahlia's bright blue eyes wide open. She is so alert everyday and tracking amazingly well!

Day of Outings

We had a FULL day of outings on Friday with little Miss Dahlia. We started by a trip to the doctors where we found out Dahlia has thrush (luckily a little bit of medicine should knock it out and she doesn't seem to hate the taste). Next was onto Pet Smart followed by Olive Garden for our first lunch out! She did a wonderful job and only had one complete break down which Dad was able to resolve with a diaper change and a bit of a bottle. THEN we went to Casual Male for new shorts for Dad and our last stop was CVS. The day was finished up by picking Emily up at the airport and going to Fatburger for a late night dinner. Dahlia was completely overwhelmed by the end of the day but slept so well! Above is her nap at the Olive Garden!

Sleeping on Dad

We measured Dahlia and she is already over 23 inches! Her big toe is still amazingly long and as seen in this picture, so are her legs! Hopefully she will have avoided the 'short gene' her mother has :)

The top picture is just because the look on Michael's face is hilarious!

Summer Dress and Funny Faces

Today was over 90 degrees so today was a cotton dress sort of day. We went to Target for the first time and she did okay. Still would rather be held and walked then ride in her stroller. So for those of you keeping count, Dahlia's outings have been 1. Pet Smart 2. Fresh and Easy for grocery and 3. Target! We spent the rest of the hot day inside hanging out with Great Grandma Helen and Great Grandpa Les. Yay for living in the desert!

Great Grandma Helen and Great Grandpa Les

Christos Anestie!

Happy Greek Easter!

Little Bugs

Look at that giant big toe!

Dahlia has her Dad's feet (let's hope she keeps them prettier then her dad does) and along with her long fingers, she has the longest big toe EVER! It is a bit out of control and I hope her foot grows into it :)

A smile... almost

More tummy time and she almost smiled (although this may have actually been just before crying because her ear was curled up). Still... our adorable bug playing on her new tummy time mat!

Tummy Time with Mom and Dad

During a tummy time session - Dahlia fell asleep! She has a couple of minutes in her before she starts to loose the ability to hold her body up and typically just puts her head down and going to sleep.

Play Time!

How do you like dem' apples???

This is a priceless moment of Dahlia's personality caught on 'tape.' She cracks her parents up all the time!

Giant Sleep Sack

Dahlia seems to love her sleeper sacks. This is my favorite with the purple elephant and the poka-dots around the collar. The funniest part is she only fills up about a quarter of the sack!

Happy Easter!

This is the first dress Dahlia has worn. It was so cute and even had matching bloomers! And please note - Miss Frowny Pants managed to NOT frown for a few pictures today. Someday she will smile all the time... I just know it!

First Easter Basket

Thank you Mom Mom and Pappy for Dahlia's first Easter basket! The chocolate covered pineapple bunnies were mom's favorite and dad ate all the strawberries!

First Swing

This was Dahlia's first swing adventure! Lesson learned by new parents: Don't put the baby in the swing after she eats... it comes back up!

Hangin' at Grandpa's Pool

Hangin' out with Cousin Lil', Uncle Ben and Dad at Grandpa's pool. It will be a few more months before Dahlia gets to join in the water fun, but she will be in Daddy and Me lessons soon enough!

Lovely Hair

This is one of our favorite outfits... the big girl pants have pockets! Plus you have to love the hair post bath!

Opening Day

The first of many Orioles games with Dad! Happy to report they won!

First nap in the Pooh Crib

This was the first attempt to have Dahlia take a nap in her crib. She has a classic Winnie the Pooh theme in her room and we have painted her crib a mix of tigger tummy and pooh yellow. She lasted about 5 minutes....

Our little bug at 8 days old!

Thank you to Brad and Andrea for the adorable socks that look like shoes!

Miss Frowny Pants

This one was just too funny not to post. Dahlia came out frowning and so she has some pretty priceless moments with a sour old man look to share!

Bath Time!

Miss Dahlia has yet to embrace a love of bath time.... we pretty much go as fast as possible to avoid the 'donkey bray' cry she makes when upset for more then 20 seconds.

Bionic Baby (hearing test)

Daddy's little Bug

Sun Bathing

WAY Close Up

Our new family

Our first family photo... post bath for Dahlia and Wendi can't walk thanks to the God sent called an epidural!

Happy Birthday Miss Dahlia Ann Merkle

Dahlia Ann Merkle born on March 28th, 2009 at 5:10pm. She weighed 8.7 pounds and was 19 1/2 inches! A wonderfully healthy (and oh so frowny) baby girl!