Stella's Baptism...

Stella Grace was baptized in Greenville on Mother's Day weekend. She was baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic Church during 10:30 a.m. mass and she was such a little angel. She didn't make a peep the entire time- not even when the water was poured over her head! She wore the Mauceli family baptism gown- she was the 3rd generation to wear the gown and it was beautiful. It was a really special day for us. There were so many people there to see her baptism and we were so greatful to everyone that came. I have heard my brother in law say so many times how much you appreciate family once you see how good they are to your children, and I can totally relate now. We have the most amazing family and friends, and to see how much love they shower on Stella Grace fills my heart with so much gratitude and joy. My mom had everyone out to the house for a celebration and lunch after the baptism. I was really proud of her for having it catered instead of her stressing out about all the details! I couldn't have asked for a more special 1st Mother's Day- it was so crazy to have people tell me Happy Mother's Day this year!

The entire weekend was so much fun. We were so happy to have Chris' family in Greenville again and to be able to take them for their first trip to eat at Doe's! We asked Beck and Lindsay to be Stella's Godparents and were so happy that they accepted. It was a wonderful weekend surrounded by family and friends. It's too bad we don't get to have weekends like that more often.

The Barnes Family

The Fitts Family

The Cook Family

Scarlett's Best Friends (-L) & their families

The Godfamily :)

Stella was amazed by her Uncle Blue!

Chunky Monkey...

This is our favorite picture of the Chunky Monkey right now! She is 11 weeks old today and growing by leaps and bounds. Over the last two weeks she has changed so much. She has really gotten a lot easier to take care of. She's become really laid back and happy most of the time. She's really discovering her voice and loves for Chris and I to mimic the sounds she's making. She'll coo back and forth with us and smile really big when we make the sounds she's making :) Stella's sleeping 5 to 6 hours at a time at night, and only wakes up once during the night. Usually about once a week she'll sleep through the night which is incredible for us! She's doing lots of smiling now and really lights up when we engage her after having left her alone for a while. She loves watching her mobile and swinging in her swing. She's the most happy outside and we go on lots of strolls through the neighborhood. It's been so much fun getting to know her and watching her grow and do new things each day. We're going to the lake for Memorial Day so we're excited about her first of many lake trips. She has a tiny little swim suit that she's going to look adorable in :) It's going to be a lot of fun!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

Easter 2009 was too much fun for the Cook family! This was Stella's first holiday, so we were really excited to be sharing it with her. We went home to Greenville for the weekend and stayed busy the entire time. Stella and I went ahead of Chris on Wednesday, and he joined us on Friday.

We went to eat at Lost Dog Pizza Company on Wednesday night with Bella, Pop, Aunt Tootsie, and Uncle Pete. Stella met her Uncle Pete for the first time.

On Friday, Johanna and her little girl, Emilie, came over to meet Stella Grace. It had been a while since I had seen Johanna, so I was really excited about our visit. It was a lot of fun to watch Emilie with Stella- she was so excited to see a REAL baby that looks just like her babydolls!

Friday night we went over to Papa and RoRo's house and spent lots of time with them and Aunt Mary Claire. MC has been really nervous to hold Stella because she's so small, but she did a really good job holding her and I think she's getting a little less nervous each time.

After we left Papa's house we met up with the entire Mauceli clan over at Aunt Tootsie's house for a crawfish boil, and Stella met her cousins Anna, Michael, Brandon, Brian and her Uncle Mike and Betsy for the first time. Our friends Michael and Miriam also came by to meet her, and they have a bun in the oven that we can't wait to meet!

Saturday we went to the soccer fields and watched Uncle Beck play in a charity soccer game, and then Chris and I met up with our friends, Heather and Brian, before going downtown to a block party. Stella met Heather's beautiful babies, Hannah and Elliot, and her mom, Susie, while we were there visiting.

Sunday was Easter and the Easter Bunny was sure to visit us in Leland for Stella's first Easter holiday.

She was so good in church (even though we were late and had to stand in the back!) and didn't make a peep throughout the entire mass. After mass we had our entire family out to Pop and Bella's house in Leland. We got rained out of our adult Easter egg hunt, but we improvised inside. It was a great first holiday for Stella Grace and for us, and we can't wait to go back to the Delta for Stella's baptism!

March Madness...

Stella Grace arrived just in time for March Madness this year and you better believe her Daddy had her decked out in Memphis blue (or grey or white!) for every single game. Thanks to our friend Lara, Stella had every piece of the baby Tiger clothing line available. We're pretty sure she had something to do with the Tigers making it to the Sweet 16 this year! Go Big Blue!

Such a tiny little baby...

These photos were snapped when Stella Grace was 2 weeks old. She was the tiniest little being you've ever seen. She was 6 lbs 8 oz when she was born, and dropped to 6 lbs before we left the hospital. By the next week she had dropped even lower to 5 lbs 11 oz, and had almost reached her birth weight again by her 2 week doctor appointment. Neither Chris nor I had ever held a baby so small. It was amazing to hold such a tiny little being in our arms :)

I don't know why this picture showed up upside down, but it's still really cute of her yawning!

Where the Princess Sleeps...

We have had a lot of fun decorating Stella Grace's room. Chris had his first experience with painting and did such a great job. He painted it a really light pink ("sugar blossom") weeks before we bought her furniture, and every time we passed by her room we would be in shock that there was a pink room in our home! It really made everything real :) In the weeks and months leading up to Stella's arrival we would find ourselves hanging out in her room for a little pick me up after a stressful day at work. It's such a sweet little room! I'm still trying to decide what to put on her walls, but besides that, it's just about complete. I don't have any pictures of my favorite part of the room to post- I wish you could see her armoire doors open and full of tiny little dresses. It makes me smile everytime I open the doors, and I love to dress her up! She is such a little star and she never has to wear the same outfit twice :)

Our good friend Marriah came to the house and took pictures of all the little details in her room. She is so talented with everything she does- she even made our birth announcements from scratch!








Look how tiny her diapers are!

A Few More Pics from the Hospital...

Here are a few more pictures from the hospital. These were taken in the delivery room right after her arrival. Her Bella (my Mom) and Meme (Chris' Mom) were so excited to finally meet her!