Check me out...

Elena and Daddy Chill'n in the hammock

Mommy prepping Elena for the Mod4 photoshoot..."show me sultry cute"

Quit it with these pictures and just feed me already!!!

Elena hogging the hammock 

An old TV and some dusty VHS tapes anyone?

Sorry that we haven't posted in a while. A few weeks ago we participated in our neighborhood garage sale - it was a success! We made a few bucks, got rid of some junk, made some friends outside of the neighborhood (just kidding- interesting crowd...) Most of all we had fun doing it. Leni was a big help during the sale. She was our security guard, if anyone tried to steal the rabbit figurines we were selling for $2, she would yell out! Here are some pictures of the event below. Some of this stuff is still left over, so if you want, please make us an offer- we negotiate :)

Half a year old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LENI!

Today she is 6 months old!

Exer-saucey!

Elena has definitely gotten more active in the exersaucer. It just seems like yesterday that I put her in there and all she could do was look around. Now I am afraid she will break the thing!!

GoodYear....No, Great Year

Here you go Grandpa, check out my tread...

Thanks for keeping me safe!

I love my Wrangler ST P225/75R16 tires!

Peek-a-No WAY!

O my gosh, my dad is a magician or wait,  no a wizard or he's probably some sort of super hero.  Whatever he is, he's definitely supernatural.  I swear to you, last night I was just chill'n on my changer, right... and there Dad was, clear as day, right in front of me blabbing on about how cute I am... yada, yada, yada.  THEN, the impossible happened - he just disappeared!!! And get this, all of a sudden out of no where and I mean NO WHERE... he reappeared.  I was like, IMPOSSIBLE!!  WHO IS THIS GUY? !!

But you know what?  HE DID IT AGAIN!!!!

Waz up Baby Girl!

Something is up...

Shhhh.   We don't know  for sure, but we have a weird feeling Koney and Elena are plotting something.

We'll keep you posted if we hear anything....

Elena is baptised

Congratulations Elena!!!

Elena was baptised this weekend at Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak (same church Jason was baptised at 32 years ago).  Shrine went old school and baptised the babies in their birthday outfit / aka: naked.  Not a single tear was shed by Leni. (Elena peed on Jason as we were waiting our turn - I guess better him than in the holy water) Only immediate family attended the celebration -  Elena's godparents are uncle Rob and aunt Megan.  We arranged it so Elena would be baptised with her friend/next door neighbor Addison Ross - as parents we are slowly molding a long time friendship here.

I guess it's officially time for us to start behaving and being good models for our little angel.   We're really going to put the effort in to go to church every weekend.  We love the church, it has a lot of history within Jason's family and it's especially nice because of it's convenience of being right in the neighborhood -  just a 15 minute walk away.   Walking to church on Sunday has been a really nice way to start our day.

Congrats Elena - the journey begins...

  

Happy 1st Mothers Day Mary!!!

It's a mother’s day photo shoot starring the world’s best mom and daughter.   You ladies have made me the luckiest man in the world.  Keep doing what you're doing; you do it wonderfully!  These are my girls whom I love with all my heart.  Your smiles make my every day... a bright day. XOXO

Bath TIme....Looking cozy and cute.

More pics from the Hudson visit!

Hi again! I know the post of our Hudson visit was pretty weak, seemed like a lot of pics were snapped that day, but they weren't with our camera. Anyways, Rob uploaded the pics to flicker, so click on the link below to see yourselves!!! You guys are famous!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33519372@N06/?saved=1

Thanks again for a great visit!

Elena Likey....

Elena eating big girl food for the first time... YUMMY!!

Check it...

The Thumb Sucks

Well, Elena is officially a thumb sucker. Those that have recently seen her have witnessed this. Since she has been a newborn, she has not been fond of the pacifier, and that was ok with us.... That is until she stuck that thumb in her mouth! Don't get me wrong, it is cute as can be, and it is nice that she can soothe herself when she starts crying, however now that she is start to grab and touch everything I already see the thumb becoming a petri dish of nasty germs, not to mention I get flashes of the future... getting her diploma at HS graduation sucking her thumb and having mangled teeth from all those years of not being able to "kick the habit"! (I put those words in quotes because that is something my dad always said growing up about anything Rob and I did consistently wrong - HA HA Rob and I say this to each other all the time while imitating my dad's accent. It's funny.) Or what if she is at a sleepover party and starts sucking her in the middle of the night! How embarassing! My good friend that is a kindergarten teacher said that a kid in her class had to get a retainer type thing installed in the roof of his mouth with 2 prongs that poke his thumb when he tries to suck it (OUCH!). I figure if I can nip it in the bud now, then I will try, so we have been practicing the pacifier more often now. She definately prefers the thumb though, so if she is really really upset and won't take the pacifier, then I let her. It's a hard decision though. If I knew she could stop before kindergarten, then I would be fine, but what if she is one of those kids that get obsessed with it? So in the meantime, we will practice the pacifier, which is just as cute to me.

PARTY TIME...EXCELLENT!!

Grandma and Grandpa Vizmeg hosted a "welcome to the world" party for Elena in Hudson, OH.

Many friends and family gathered to meet Elena.  Everyone had a wonderful time.

THANKS BABA AND GRANDPA!!    See you soon!

4 Generations - Great Grandma, Grandma, Ma and Elena

Uncle Rob and Elena... both looking darn cute in pink

O my gosh....we're moms!  New BFF's Elena and  Mary Cate meeting for the first time.

Aunt Sonja and Elena having a good laugh.

My parents have most of the pictures on their camera. Rob, please upload them to flickr and I will post the link!  

Random non-Elena Blog post

As you can see I am catching up on the blog. It's just been pretty hard since Leni has been sick. Most the readers pretty much know that my sister in law Laura is expecting a baby cousin for Elena. Well, at her shower this past weekend they had M&Ms with their faces on them!!

We are all coming to Hudson next weekend for the first time to see everyone, so we expect M&Ms with our faces on them too.   Preferably Peanut. (jason has a big forehead)

--- So MAKE IT HAPPEN ROB! Jk

Some bunny loves you!

Hoppy Easter everyone!  (Jason and I have been getting a kick out of saying that today).  

We had big plans for Elena's first Easter. We planned on dressing her up all fancy and showing her off at church for the first time. Unfortunately about a week ago Elena caught her first cold. This is something I haven't mentioned on the blog yet.  Poor little girl was MISERABLE! It was/is so sad... you could see it in her watery little eyes. She was not happy, nor were we. We have no idea where she got it from, noone has been sick around us and she hasn't been in daycare in a long time. We just don't want it to happen again or at least until she knows how to blow her nose (suctioning out snot with that mini turkey baster thingie was not fun). The good news is that she was starting to feel a bit better. The bad news is that she now has an ear infection.  Poor Leni.

So... Elena and I stayed home for Easter while Jason went to church for some Jesus time with his family. It really was a bummer though. I really wanted to get her gussied up in this fancy Gap dress that my aunt brought for her on Friday. I decided to get her in the dress and do a little photo shoot anyways, but the pics didn't turn out that great. For obvious reasons Leni was not in the best of moods, but here is the best one I got, which is still pretty cute.  Don't forget to take notice of those gorgeously dyed eggs that I slaved over... they were personalized for each family member! Elena and I stopped by Grandma Jenny's house for brunch and we played the "egg game" to see who's egg was the strongest. Laura's egg remained undefeated at the end of it all!  Everyone will be eating egg salad this week... well, everyone except Adam  ;o) 

O Canada....

The Trifunovski clan from Toronto came for a quick visit this weekend while en route to Ohio - Uncle Risto, Aunt Donka, Zok, Zlat and baba Milanka. We missed Renata, Milana and Christopher who were livin' it up at the beach in Australia.   It was a beautiful day to BBQ Shish Kabobs, so that is what we did.  

The trip was a special one, not only did the whole fam get to meet Elena, but so did Mary's grandma, Elena's last living great grandparent.  We all had a good time, talked, ate, took photos,opened up beautiful baby gifts, smoked cigars (not the ladies of course) and go go ga ga-ed at the baby.  It was a good day.

Thank you all so much for the lovely baby gifts... next time... don't forget the Carmel Crunch Cake, eh?

Here are some photos from the day:

   

Hang'n with the boys

Back to work, but only for a short time

The automotive industry here is Detroit is going down the tubes. My company had already had a layoff while I was on maternity leave, but luckily I was protected under the family medical leave act.  I was back at work for only a short time before there were rumblings of another bigger layoff. Everyone was getting mentally prepared for what is to come, including myself. The day arrived and I was one of the many chosen ones. Luckily I was prepared for possible bad news. My time back at work was short, but sweet (less then 1 month back), but at least I got some severance out of it! Now I can spend more time with baby Elena while I look for something new.  I am sure she will miss her new friends at the daycare, but she will be back if I find something new. 

Taking care of Elena these past few days has been easier then when she was a newborn. The ladies at the daycare have put her on a schedule, which makes her much more predictable.  She is holding her head up strong now and can't stop looking at her hands.  She is babbling constantly!! She will definitely be a talkative little girl, I already see it!! 

Today we practiced how to sit in the bumbo chair.  She is doing very well as you can see! She is becoming a "big girl", and always gets a kick out of someone telling her that!!! She laughs her little bootie off!! It is so cute!

Here is a video that took this morning of a conversation I had with Leni about Koney...

(Great) Grandpa Tom Joliat (1924 - 2009)

It's a sad time for us...Elena's great grandpa passed away this week.

Grandpa Tom, simply put, was one of the best.  He was a true family man; always supportive and nurturing to everyone he loved. As the oldest of 15 grandchildren, I am blessed to of had my grandpa for so many years - to watch me grow, graduate, become a husband and now a father.  Although his time with Elena was brief, it's special knowing she was held by her great grand dad.

He was a true inspiration that will be forever missed.

Elena certainly has another special guardian angel watching over her.

I just wanted to let you know that the transition to work has been going well. I started a new position and I am really happy my new group. Elena has been doing really well at daycare as well. She is one of 2 girls, so the ladies were so SO excited to have her there. She is doing the bottle great, which is a relief for us, and the ladies say that she is rarely fussy. She is a really easy baby. Jason's group is moving offices to Birmingham which is 2 mins fromt he daycare!! He starts at the new office on Monday, and can go visit Leni everyday at lunch if he wants! Today he stopped in between meetings to check up on her and took the following picture with his camera phone.... She was having a blast dancing and kicking her feet to the music of that toy she is playing with!
-MD

HAPPY PRE-ST. PATS!

Yesterday we headed downtown for the 51st St. Patrick’s Day Parade in historic Cork Town, Detroit with our next-door neighbors Joe, Janette and their 3-month old Addison. It was a beautiful sunny and 60 degree day, just perfect for drinking and watching people slowly walk down a road. This was Elena’s first ever experience with the infamous streets of downtown Detroit, we told her it doesn’t usually look this way… and just left it at that. We set up camp out in front of the Gaelic League - the drunken heart of the parade. I quickly realized I totally pulled a rookie dad move and forgot to bring any beer/refreshments. With a stroller I now have a mobile cooler at my fingertips and I totally blew it. We were so freaked out about forgetting Elena’s hat, mittens, food, diapers and every other baby supply that our St. pats priorities obviously got all screwed up. Luckily beer was abundant and we were able to quickly remedy the situation. Mid-way through the parade we made our way inside the G-league for some corned beef and live Irish music. Now this was truly a mistake/stressful experience… I was on constant guard protecting my little Elena from any and all stumbling drunk O’ Irishman who came within 4 ft of her, and there were plenty. When on the street if you bumped us, it was shame on you…once we made our way inside, it was shame on us. (To be clear, we were not in the bar – we were outside in a non-smoking tent) Overall - it went quite smoothly considering the event. I give us credit for being adventurous and fun young parents, but it doesn’t come without a stressful price-tag. Elena did love being outside. Not one tear was shed. Some day she’ll be saying how she first went to this parade when she was 3 months old and I’m sure they’ll probably respond with “what is wrong with your parents!”

CHILLAX!

I just thought this was a funny picture – SO CHILL OUT! Don’t start silently judging me on how I’m a bad dad and you can’t believe Elena is already playing video games. She’s 3 months old people! I mean get real. Now maybe at 6 months we’ll try again… but right now the controller is just to darn big.

1st Day of Daycare

Well, today is the first day of daycare. :o( I don't start work until Wednesday, but I wanted to put her in today and tomorrow, so she can get used to it while I am still at home. This way if anything happens I can go there to help or if I need to cry, then I will be in the comfort of my own home and not at my desk at work!!!! We dropped her off around 8 this morning and she was sleeping. The next feeding (with the bottle) started off a bit rocky and she was crying a lot, the ladies said. I was so sad when I called to see if she took the bottle and I heard her crying in the background. They suggested I call in 30 mins to see how it was going (longest 30 mins of my life!), and when I did she was fine and had just taken the bottle. I WAS SO RELIEVED! She is being calm now apparently. I plan to call around noon again and maybe go for a visit to check on her.

Today, I will be running a lot of errands. I have to go to Target & BabysRUs. I would like to go for a jog outside if possible. It is chilly, but if I bundle up I should be fine. Maybe I will jog to the daycare?! It is about 1 mile away... which is not so bad.

I will give another update soon! Love, Mary

Polo Shoot

The little lady in Green...