A New "Little Starky" is Born!!!

Today at 5:55 a.m., CeCe's new cousin was born. Lillyan ("Lilly") Mira James weighed (hope I recall this properly) 7 lb. 2 oz. and measured 20 inches. She's such a cute little peanut. Lilly James . . . doesn't she sound like a poet?

We were there for just a few minutes early this morning. Here's the only two photos that didn't turn out blurry:

CeCe meets Lilly.

She was so tired so we didn't get to see her eyes. It's hard to remember CeCe ever being so little!

Congratulations Brian and Lisa!!

CeCe In the City

Greetings Friends and Family! The past month has been jam-packed with fun events for the Stark family. We returned yesterday from a week in Washington D.C. and New York City where we discovered that Cecelia LOVES traveling. What a relief for these nervous parents. We had bad visions of CeCe having a breakdown on the plane but, alas, she was an absolute sweetheart everywhere we went, giving BIG smiles to everyone we encountered. Nothing like a baby to start conversation.

Photos from each day:

July 2 - arrived in Washington D.C. where we visited and stayed with mommy's cousins Nick and Laura.

At baggage claim with daddy

With Laura at their house in Vienna.

Daddy and a few strangers outside the National Cathedral

CeCe loves mommy's sunglasses!

With Nick and Laura while out for Greek food. We discovered that Celia loves hummus and pitas.

"Trooper Pooper!" Laura discovers a phrase that puts Celia into stitches.

July 3 - Mommy, daddy and Cecelia spend the day at the Holocaust Museum and walking the National Mall.

Cecelia all ready for her big day. The backpack became her ride for most of the day. It gave daddy a sore back!

In front of the Washington monument. Gotta love that goofy daddy.

Big eyes!

Cecelia learned a new trick while on the trip. Check it out!

July 4 - Independence Day in D.C.! We all got dressed in our red, white and blue (note Matt's "Virginia is for Lovers" shirt which he borrowed from Nick) and headed to the National Mall. We were there for a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the National Archives, followed by a parade. Given that the festivities started at 10 a.m. and the fireworks began at 9 p.m., we decided to skip the fireworks for Celia's sake. It was quite the exciting day nonetheless.

Outside the National Archives, waiting for the festivities to begin.

In front of the Lincoln monument.

Independence Day parade along the Mall.

WWII Memorial.

After all that excitement, CeCe was sleepy! Here she is on daddy's shoulder riding the subway home.

July 5 - After a four hour bus ride, we made it to NYC. Cecelia was so good on the bus. (Thank goodness!) We settled into our hotel, grabbed lunch and headed up to Yankees Stadium for a Red Sox/Yankees game.

CeCe was still tuckered out from all the July 4th fun. She fell back to sleep for quite awhile after initially waking up.

On the subway on the way back to Midtown, CeCe got a seat all to herself (still in backpack). She was quite the hit with the other passengers.

July 7 - We spent the morning in Central Park. Celia went on her first carousel ride ever.




In other news . . .

• On June 5, Cecelia FINALLY slept through the night. WHOO-HOO! Can't say that she's had a perfect record, but she's certainly on the right track.

• On June 7, we went to Nick and Laura's wedding. Celia was only there for the ceremony, but it stands as her first wedding, nonetheless.

Uncle Jake feeling for Celia's teeth at the rehearsal dinner.


Sleeping on Oma, as usual.


Grey just loves his Super Man pajamas. So cute . . .

With Papa.


CeCe and Taylor, a little girl she met at the wedding ceremony.


Mommy and daddy at the wedding reception at the Wisconsin Club - same place our reception was held.

Matt hit the dance floor with Nick in a dance-off a la Britney and Justin.


The happy couple!

• The torrential downpours and flooding continued the next day. CeCe sat on daddy's lap to watch the rain come down. She jumped a few times at the thunder and lightning.
  
  

Root beer. Yum!

• On June 13, CeCe went to another Brewers game.

With "Uncle" Mark and Bill Porter.

She was out before we hit the parking lot.

• On June 14, we went to Appleton to visit Jake and Shelly to celebrate Father's Day with the Weiss clan.

Grey and Cece BOTH love Elmo. Really. Love. Elmo.

Grey on the octopus chair.

With Oma.

CeCe on the octopus chair.

• On June 27, our friends Ody and Suzanne came over for dinner with their kids, Zachary and Elena. Celia just LOVED playing with them.

Zachary gives a big smile!


Elena was helping CeCe out by bouncing her. Can you tell it was fun?

• On the 28th we went to Grandma and Grandpa Stark's house for Grandpa's birthday and Aunt Lisa's baby shower. As usual, CeCe got lots of attention. Aunt Sandy was home for the weekend so CeCe got to play with ALL of her Stark aunties!

With Nana while Great Aunt Terry, Aunt Sandy, and Grandpa watch on.

Playing with Aunt Sandy. She is so much fun!

One More Thing . . .

Did we tell you that Cecelia is already reading?

Happy Anniversary and a Trip to the Zoo

I have no idea where the time went. Our anniversary was on May 25, but if you would have asked either of us, we would have told you that it felt like only a few months since our wedding. We enjoyed a wonderful evening out, stopping at some of our favorite places and celebrating with a bottle of champagne at the spot where we got engaged. By the time dinner was over, however, we were ready to get home to our little peanut.

(In honor of our anniversary, we post this photo from our wedding, taken seconds after Stacey's cousin Nick introduced us as "Matt and Shelly." Wrong cousin! With his nuptials just days away and Matt slated to be the emcee, here's a small warning to Nick to be ready for just about anything!) :-)

CeCe was just as eager as her mommy to eat the anniversary cake.

On Saturday the 24th we took Cecelia to the zoo for the first time. She was in desperate need of a nap and, therefore, fell asleep just a half hour into the visit. Most of the time she was more interested in the other kids than she was the animals. However, she did seem to like the aquarium quite a bit.

Elephants? Nah.

Fish? Heck yes!

Yesterday (the 29th) CeCe had her six month check-up. She's about 18 pounds now and in the 97th percentile for height, 75th for weight and 55th for head size. All in all, a very healthy girl! Given the fact that she now eats like a champ (three meals a day plus bottles), we expect she'll have no problem maintaining that pace.