Mary Pat's 1st Flight!

We returned home on Monday from a wonderful two weeks in South Carolina where Mary Pat got to experience many firsts! She had her first airplane ride, first Christmas, first time down South, first time in the Bumbo seat, first time in the exersaucer (or "ADD chair") and many other exciting events. She also got to meet the rest of Mommy's family as well as spend some quality time with her Nana, aunts, uncle and Big Cousin Victoria!

Mommy and Daddy took over 500 pictures which are slowly being uploaded so expect various posts over the next few days. For now here are some pictures from Mary Pat's 1st airplane ride from JFK to Charlotte.

She loved looking around the terminal at JFK!

She did great and slept almost the entire way!

We were greeted at the airport in Charlotte by Nana, Victoria and Leenie.

New Cousins

We are so excited - Mary Pat has two new cousins!! Emily Colleen and Patrice Erin Casciola arrived yesterday, December 9th. Both girls weighed over 5lbs and are doing wonderfully! Their parents, Amy (Chuck's sister) and Johnny are also doing well and are very excited to finally have the girls here. We can't wait to meet Mary Pat's new cousins very soon. All six of Big Poppa's granddaughters are going to have a fabulous time growing up together!

Computer Time with Daddy

Mary Pat loves to sit on laps and watch everything going on around her. This includes sitting on Daddy's lap while he checks his email. As you can see from these pictures she enjoys this!

It was hard to get Daddy and Mary Pat to smile at the same time!
Mary Pat loves when her Daddy gets home from work!

Christmas Party

On Saturday, Mary Pat attended her first Christmas party at our house. Although she was not the happiest girl during the day while Mommy and Daddy were trying to get things ready, she was the star of the show once guests started arriving. All of Mommy and Daddy's friends were excited to meet Mary Pat and she decided to show off for everyone by smiling and "talking" until it was time for bed. She even got to have her first slumber party in Mommy and Daddy's room with Dave and Celia's little girl, Claire! It was a great night filled with friends, food and fun. Here are some pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mommy and Daddy have many things to be thankful for this year, most importantly our very own little turkey Mary Pat. We are also thankful for all of the love and support we have received from all of our family and friends over the past year. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

After beginning the day watching some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, we enjoyed a wonderful day with Daddy's side of the family.

Mary Pat had a great time at Aunt Charlene and Uncle Bob's house and especially loved all of the many new things to look at! Here are some pictures from the day.

A Night of Many Firsts

On Saturday night, Mary Pat experienced her first trip to the Boogie Down Bronx, her first trip to Daddy's alma mater, and her first live sporting event, watching the Fordham Rams battle Manhattan at the old Rose Hill Gym. Unfortunately the game did not turn out the way we would have wanted it to but a good time was had by all and Mary Pat got to meet the newly jacked Ram mascot up close!

An Early Visit with Santa

On Tuesday, Mommy decided to take Mary Pat to sit on Santa's lap. Although it's early, Mommy really wanted to beat the crowds at the mall since the line usually has a 1-2 hour wait every day after Thanksgiving! After about 30 tries, this was the best picture with Santa. Of course Mary Pat decided to smile as soon as the pictures stopped, but mostly just looked confused and was in awe of all the action going on around her at the mall. At least she is looking at the camera in this shot and looks cute in one of her Christmas outfits!

Story Time with Daddy and Other News

Sorry about the lack of posts recently, but there has not been much news to report. Mary Pat is getting bigger every day and is being much more vocal. She loves making all sorts of noises especially when she wants attention! She is also becoming much more interested in the world around her. She likes to sit and be held facing out so she can be part of the action. She is also starting to really enjoy her nightly story time with Daddy as you can see from the pictures above. Here are some more pictures from the past couple of weeks, including a visit with Aunt Michelle, Uncle Tommy and cousins Jocelyn, Noelle and Keira, as well as "taco night" at Al & Rosette's house!

A Favorite Afternoon Spot

Recently, Mary Pat has started to get a little cranky in the late afternoon hours. Mommy has discovered that she enjoys "being a big girl" and sitting on the couch next to Mommy during these cranky times. As you can tell from this picture, she becomes happy as a clam once she's propped up in the boppy and can sit this way for an hour or so before she gets tired or bored!

Meeting Uncle Phil

Uncle Phil (Mommy's uncle) was in Manhattan for work this weekend so we took Mary Pat in on Saturday to meet him. She slept the entire way there on the train and the horrible walk through Times Square so she was wide awake once we got to the hotel! She loved staring at Uncle Phil (she liked his glasses) and sitting on his lap while she took in all the sights of the Marriott Marquis lobby. Mommy, Daddy and Mary Pat were happy that we got to meet up with him and are already counting the days until we get to see all of Mommy's family in Spartanburg at Christmas!

Gymboree Class

For the past few weeks, Mommy and Mary Pat have been going to a "Play and Learn" class each Wednesday at Gymboree Play and Music. At first Mary Pat was not really happy to be there (as witnessed by Aunt Shay Baby) but she has gotten used to it now and seems to enjoy it more each week. Not only does it help get Mommy and Mary Pat out of the house once a week, but it exposes Mary Pat to different songs, motions, toys, and other kids. Her favorite part is definitely being around other babies!

Once Mary Pat is a little older she will be able to take music and art classes in addition to the play and learn class. We definitely recommend these Gymboree classes to other moms and babies if you have one of these centers nearby. Here are a few pictures from class last week (it was Halloween week so all of the kids were in their costumes at the beginning of class).

Uncle Knox's Visit

This week Mary Pat finally got to meet her Uncle Knox. She had a great time snuggling with him and can't wait until her head is more stable so she can learn some more dance moves!

After two wonderful days with us, Knox is now off to Boston and New Haven to look at some grad schools but we will get to see him on Saturday night before he heads back down south. Here is a link to more pictures from his visit and the past week.

Trick or Treat

Mary Pat had a great time going trick or treating on Friday night. Our little pea pod looked adorable and stayed nice and warm in her costume.


We had a great night of Halloween fun at Al and Rosette's house where Daddy gave Mary Pat one of her first bottles! She seemed to do well with the bottle so hopefully we will be able to give her one more often. Here is a link to many more Halloween themed pictures from the week.

Happy Halloween!

Mary Pat has received many precious Halloween outfits this year so Mommy has been dressing her up all week. We are going to go trick-or-treating this afternoon so look for costume pictures later. For now, here are a few pictures of her regular Halloween attire.

Two Months Old!

We can hardly believe it but our little baby girl is two months old today! She celebrated with a nice warm bath followed by a screaming fit that luckily didn't draw a local squad car to the house. That two month old volume is a few decibels stronger than what it once was. Here are some pictures from the weekend and hopefully a video of Mary Pat talking to some of her closest friends (the animals on her mobile)....

First Shots

Last Thursday we had Mary Pat's 2 month check up. She continues to grow and is now weighing in at 11 lbs 1 oz and measuring 22 1/2 inches! At this appointment, Mary Pat also had to get three shots and one oral vaccine. She was a big girl and only cried for a few seconds before falling asleep which made Mommy happy since the whole vaccine process made her a nervous wreck. Mommy is not looking forward to doing this many more times. However, Daddy was so proud of his "brave little soldier" that he brought Mary Pat a special present when he came home from work Thursday night. Here she is enjoying her new friend Big Bird.

A fun weekend with Aunt Shay

A great weekend was had by all as Mary Pat got to spend some quality time with her Aunt Shay. Mary Pat and Mommy even took the train to the airport to see Aunt Shay off. We were very sad to see her go today and can't wait to see her again soon! Please follow the link for pictures and enjoy!

Aunt Shay Baby is Here!!!

Aunt Shay Baby arrived yesterday morning for her visit and made everyone very happy! Mary Pat has had a great time getting to know her aunt and has been showing off all of her noises and faces. Mommy has to upload all of the pictures we took yesterday, but here are a few to give a preview of what's to come.

Mary Pat LOVES having her Aunt Shay Baby here to play with!

Mommy LOVES this picture! We can't figure out what prompted this silly face from Mary Pat, but it is great. She looks a little bit like Mommom if you ask Mommy and Aunt Shay.

Who needs to collect bubble gum wrappers for the "Billbo Club" (of which Aunt Shay was apparently the treasurer) when you can be a member of the "Aunt Shay Baby Gang". Here she is flashing the gang sign for Mary Pat.

An Action Packed Weekend

We had a very eventful long weekend for Columbus Day. On Saturday we took Mary Pat to the Long Island Fall Festival in Huntington with our friends Kelly and Kevin, Al and Rosette, and the Simon family. It was a beautiful day and Mary Pat loved being outside. The festival also gave us an opportunity to try out the Baby Bjorn. Mommy and Mary Pat both enjoyed it which opens up many possibilities for their adventures!
On Monday, since Daddy was off for the holiday, we decided to take Mary Pat on her first trip to Costco. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but was sound asleep in the Bjorn after about five minutes. This left Mommy and Daddy plenty of time to deal with the ridiculous crowds that always seem to plague Costco.

Aunt Shay Baby arrives in two days for a visit and we are all very excited! Mary Pat can hardly sleep since she is anxiously awaiting meeting her aunt. I'm sure we will have many stories to tell over the days that she is here. Until then, here are some pictures from the festival and the rest of last week.

Mommy's night out

Last Wednesday, Mommy had her first night out since Mary Pat's birth. She went to the New Kids on the Block concert with her friends Kelly, Sarah and Rosette. The concert was wonderful (here are some pictures) and very nostalgic! NKOTB played all of there old hits and a few new songs and a good time was had by all.

While Mommy was out, Daddy and Mary Pat had a fabulous evening of playing and hanging out. I think they wore each other out since this is how Mommy found them when she got home:

Busy Week

Mary Pat is now 5 weeks old and has had a very eventful week! She has begun to smile and make all sorts of gurgling and cooing noises in order to "talk" to Mommy and Daddy. On Saturday, her official one month birthday, we went to the wedding of Mommy's good friend from college (and one of her NYC roommates) Kathleen. This was very exciting for Mary Pat and she was a wonderful baby throughout the ceremony and reception. Here are a few pictures from the wedding!

Four Weeks Old!!

We can hardly believe that Mary Pat is four weeks old already. She had her one month check up this morning and is already weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs! I guess her Auntie Leenie's nickname of "Chubbette" is pretty accurate.

It has been a busy week for the Kolenik family. Mary Pat received her first real bath this week now that her belly button is officially healed. To mommy and daddy's surprise she seemed to enjoy her bathtub and didn't cry at all. She has also been helping daddy cheer on the NY Mets as the regular baseball season wraps up. Daddy is hoping that the Mets make it into the post season so that Mary Pat can continue to wear all of her apparel!

Here are some pictures from the past week. Enjoy!

Mirror Time!

Today Mommy and Mary Pat embarked on their first adventure together without any help. Mommy is pleased to say that Mary Pat slept the entire time we were at Babies R Us and seems to really enjoy the car and her car seat. When we got home Mommy laid Mary Pat in her crib for a minute while she got some things done in the nursery and realized after a while that it was VERY quiet. Apparently Mary Pat had discovered herself in the mirror and was completely enthralled looking and making faces! Here are some pictures of her entertainment.

Big Cousin/Baby Cousin Weekend

After waiting so long she could hardly stand it (and then some) Big Cousin Victoria finally got a chance to come to NY to meet Baby Cousin Mary Pat. We were all thrilled to see that they hit it off swimmingly. Please follow the link for pictures of the cousins first of many times playing together!

She's Three!!!! (weeks old)

Plenty of action in Mary Pat's life so far as you'll see by the pictures linked below. Mary Pat got to meet her big cousin Samantha and her Aunt Linda (Linda if you read this you left your sunglasses at our house) and spent some quality time with her Nana and parents. If you are disturbed by seeing someone passed out with drool running out of the side of their mouths these pictures might not be for you. And those are just the ones of Nana, Mommy and Daddy as they tried to catch up on sleep! We've heard the week after the youngest is dropped off at college is the ideal time to catch up.

Please follow the link for the pics and enjoy!

We're Home!!

The newly expanded Kolenik Family is home safe and sound. As much as Little Mary Pat loved spending the night sleeping in a bright room with her 30 closest friends nearby she seems to like her new home a bit better. As you can see from the picture below, we gave the neighborhood a subtle hint that she had been born.....

Link to the rest of the homecoming pictures here

Mary Pat's Birth: The Inside Scoop

The best place to start the story is on Tuesday, August 26th. We were already overdue as the expected due date was the 21st, so the doctor had us in for a non-stress test and a sonogram to make sure everything was okay. The sonogram estimated her weight at 9 lbs. 11oz., a tough delivery for a any woman, especially one Shannon's size. So on doctor's orders we checked into Winthrop Hospital at 9am Wednesday. Mild contractions had started at about 3:30am Wednesday morning, so we sat in triage for a few hours. A few minutes after the Showcase Showdown (Drew Carey is no Bob Barker) the PA administered Cervidil to aid in opening up the cervix. At about 3:30pm the doctor stopped in and said the usual course of action would be to give another Cervidil at around midnight, and that he would be by at about 9am the next morning to discuss our options, his gut feeling was that we'd be talking C-section around then.

About five minutes after the doctor left the pain really started to pick up at that point so we flagged down a nurse to see what we could do about pain management. The nurse said she would be happy to oblige but she would have to do an examination first. Well this examination showed dilation of 5 centimeters, completely unexpected to even the most optimistic among us. Next stop was Labor and Delivery!

Not long after arriving in Labor and Delivery Shannon made a dear friend for life in the form of the anesthesiologist who administered the epidural. Within minutes the mood changed from "Oh my God I'm going to die and take you all with me!!!!" to "Let's hang out and watch some of Apollo 13 for a bit while the contractions strengthen, and then does 7pm sound like a plan to start having the baby?". If the epidural manufacturer's need a spokesperson I think we have a candidate.

Well that 7pm time seemed more or less right to start pushing Mary Pat out into the world. Shannon was pushing for about at hour or so and soon enough wouldn't you believe it there was our precious little girl Mary Pat looking up at us with those big eyes saying "Hey, I know that voice!". If we took the best feeling either of us had ever felt and multiplied it by a million it still wouldn't even come close to the joy we felt.

Everyone we dealt with (with the exception of the parking attendant who shall remain nameless) at Winthrop was outstanding and couldn't have been nicer and more supportive. Melissa's tips in the birthing class were top notch and it was great to see her when we checked in. The doctor who delivered Mary Pat was actually our doctor's backup but Dr. Dolisi was just outstanding, what a great doctor who I would recommend to anyone. Our nurse Stephanie who was with us throughout the pushing was incredibly supportive and understanding, and we can't wait to get the slide show made of pictures that Donna took, and thank her for all the help even though she was off duty.

Finally, and not just because she is the only one of the people mentioned here likely to read this, we want to extend our most sincere thank you's to Dr. Katie Gallagher, Shannon's old, good friend from college. It was so comforting for both of us to have Katie there with us every step of the way and it is something we will never, ever forget. Thank you Katie from all three of us!

So that's our story of how our little Mary Pat came to join the world. The whole 10 months has been an unbelievable journey. But stay tuned, this isn't the end, its just the beginning......

Welcome Mary Pat!

Many more details to follow later as we are running back to the hospital but she's here and she's healthy! Mary Pat joined us at 8:11 weighing in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring a tall 22 inches! She is a dream come true, absolutely beautiful. Please follow the link below for pictures!

No News is Good News

Don't worry, you didn't fall off of our email list, we didn't lose your phone number, and we're not trying to keep it a secret from you. Our little angel has just decided that she is comfortable hanging out where she is (can't say I blame her, its nice and warm, all meals are delivered, and who knows what is on the other side). Maybe she's just being extra courteous and waiting for her Nana's flight to land on Monday. Either way, assuming nothing happens between now and then we have some doctor's appointments set up for next week so Mary Pat should be here soon (whether she wants to leave her current home or not!).

Our New Arrival is Here!! Talking About the Chair of Course.....

The final major piece of the nursery puzzle has finally arrived. It had been so long since we had ordered the glider and ottoman that we had completely forgotten what the fabric pattern looked like. Thankfully we were both happy with the result when the box was opened. On top of fitting into the room perfectly, the glider is very comfortable and will serve us both well for those late night feedings. Can't wait to use it!