Updates!

Woo... what a busy month has passed. And it only continues...

So Kate is 13 months old today! In the month since I've updated I feel like so much has happened, but my brain can't recall much of it! Kate's party was a good time... there are far too many pictures to upload, but here are some highlights:






We spent Thanksgiving at Matt's parents' house, and my mom and grandpa joined in the festivities. It was fairly mellow and thankfully we were close to home. It was loads easier this year with Kate being a year old- rather than 4 days old! No breastfeeding every 2 hours, no yucky "I just had a baby" tummy to hide (ok, well it isn't gorgeous still, but its an improvement)... much more enjoyable!

Two days later we hopped a plane to Maui! Yay! Kate was awesome on her first plane ride! Slept very little, but didn't make too much noise. We did upgrade to first class which was AMAZING with a little one... made it so much easier (and it was a cheap upgrade- holla!). The trip was a blast. We didn't do too much- just hung out by the pool and the beach and enjoyed the family. It was a Conrad family extravaganza: Matt's mom & dad, aunt, brother, sister & bro-in-law with the two girls, and us. Lots of fun.





Kate is a TOTAL water baby! She couldn't get enough of the pool or the beach. She'd cry when it was time to get out of the water! She also ate a TON of sand... I definitely need to plan better the next time we hit the beach!





The flight home was a red-eye and she slept from take-off to landing... amazing! I couldn't believe it, but she did. Now, me... I didn't sleep a wink... but at least it was quiet.

Matt's sister and the girls are here visiting now, which is so fun. It's nice to spend time with them, and Kate just adores being around them. The girls are 3 and 16 months, and they do play so sweetly together :)

Last weekend I got a call I didn't need... my grandpa fell. Again. And broke his neck. Again. So now he is in the hospital and was fitted into a halo. Again. Unbelievable. Our praise report is that he isn't paralyzed (when by all accounts, says the doctor, he really should be). We're really praying he can be home for Christmas in a week, but time will tell. Any good thoughts, prayers and/or positive ju-ju are welcomed and appreciated!

Highlight of my day today (aside from Kate's killer giggle, because that is my highlight every day): I bought some wicked red heels this afternoon. We have a Christmas party to go to on Monday and I wanted something to liven up my little black dress. I love them- and of course I got the little red clutch to match. I heart shopping.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

One year. I can't believe it. How did this year go so fast? In some ways, it feels like our daughter has always been a part of our lives... like, I don't really remember what we did without her. On the other hand, it feels like we just left the hospital with our new little bundle, all wrapped in pink.

At this time last year, we had just met our little Kathryn Elizabeth... seen her for the first time, heard her cry and already fallen madly in love. Within moments. I remember counting all her tiny fingers and toes. She was very pink and had the most perfect nose... and she still does.

It is amazing how much babies change in only one year. What one year ago was a helpless, flailing, delicate newborn is now a giggling, stubborn, moving, shaking ball of personality! I can't even begin to imagine what this next year will look like! At 12 months, Kathryn is cruising (not walking yet, though), says "baba" very excitedly any time she sees her bottle, laughs at anything, shakes her head "no" anytime she starts doing something she knows she isn't supposed to... she's too wonderful!

If you know much about me, I cry. Often. At most anything. So tonight, while I was rocking her, right around the time she made her appearance into the world one year ago, I finally got emotional. My baby girl has almost (not quite) tripled her weight since birth, gained a good 10 inches, has 6 teeth (and is working on 2 more) and begun the transition from 'baby' to 'little girl'. Crazy!




This morning, she had birthday pancakes for breakfast then battled her morning nap until it became a futile task- so she won. Mommy lost. Then we went off to work as usual. Had a birthday lunch with the office staff, had a birthday cupcake- with some fun orange frosting (what a mess!), then came home.




She's been crabby and whiny most of the day... and only napped for 30 minutes total. She'll sleep good tonight, though. Tomorrow morning is her one-year check, complete with a few shots. Poor kid. And then Saturday is the big day- the 1st birthday party!







So I'm exhausted and emotional, but so SO grateful for the blessings in my life. I'm certainly undeserving of all these blessings, but I guess that is the beauty of grace. This second year will be an adventure and I am so excited for all the amazing things we'll get to experience together as a family!

My cup runneth over!

The Due Date

It was a year ago today that I sat on our couch pouting. Kathryn was due 11/11 and my uterus hadn't made any moves yet. Over it. People that were due with their babies after me had already had their babies. I was getting grumpy.

It's funny looking back... she was worth every single minute more that she stayed "in the oven", but I was so crabby and tired of being pregnant. Seven days later- bam, baby! And a year later, I miss being pregnant. Funny how that goes.

We had a fun scare on Monday morning at 3:00am. I woke up to the sound of the smoke alarm in Kate's room screaming at us! I don't think I have ever moved so quickly in my life- out of bed, down the hall and into her room. She hadn't even woken up at that point- which REALLY scared me at first... then she started to stir. I took her out of the room and Matt came in to check out the alarm. It was no biggie- our heater had come on for the first time in many months and the dust that collected was burning off, which triggered the smoke detector. After that adrenaline rush, it wasn't easy getting back to sleep.

Now she is working on two new teeth and has been quite the crab. On that note, time to go deal with Crabby McGee!

Cute as a bug!

Last night was a first for Kate: her first Halloween! We took some time pre-Halloween night to get some good shots in her costume, and then had a playdate with her friend Sienna, who was also sporting the ladybug look, coincidentally.





That first picture cracks me up... poor Kathryn doesn't get to spend a ton of time with other babies, so when she does get some social time, she is all over it- literally. She kept trying to pull to standing using Sienna's dress, crawling all over her, putting her finger in Sienna's mouth (and yes- she did get bit), and trying to give her little friend kisses (which amounts to licking her). Babies are so funny.

So we're halfway into month 11 and I'm planning Kate's 1st birthday party. Unreal. Matt and I spent some time in the backyard last week trying to get one good picture to use for her invitations... out of 81 pictures, here are some faves (the first one is the one we used for the invite, by the by):





It is amazing how much she has changed, even just within this last month/ month-and-a-half. She's a cruising machine- zipping around the furniture like it's no big deal; she proudly declares "Baba!" when she catches even the slightest glimpse of her bottle (which, much to my dismay, I am planning our escape from once that first birthday hits); if you ask for a kiss, she'll plant one on your cheek (open mouth I'm afraid... I swear I'm trying to teach her to be a lady...) and then the sweetest part- she says, "isssss!". Now, to anyone else this probably means nothing, but I SWEAR she is saying Kiss! She does it all the time- there is no way it's just a coincidence. Is there? No- there's no way.

Her personality is really starting to shine- she's always been a sweet and mellow baby, but now she is just so personable. She babbles away with full inflection in her voice and has fun little conversations with her toys. She shakes her head "No" when she starts to head for a "No-no zone" in the house. She slays me- she is hilarious!

Tomorrow morning should be an interesting experiment... our first "Fall Back" with a baby. So on a morning that used to bring a delicious extra hour of sleep, we'll see what Miss K does. On that note, I am off to reset the clocks, put my laundry in the dryer and maybe read a little before I call it a night.

Ugh.

Dear Next Door Neighbor's Dog,

Thanks for that fun barking fit. I love when Kate gets a 20-minute morning nap. It puts her in a great mood.

One request: can you SHUT UP for her afternoon nap?
Thanks.



I'm not bitter. Not at all.
Off to get Crabby McGee.

New lens!

October-13
Originally uploaded by A-Rad

As a birthday gift from my mom and grandpa, I got a sweet new lens for my camera! Woohoo! My mom says it is like giving herself a gift, since she gets the outcome from it.

Matt and I took Kate out to the backyard with our new, big ol' pumpkin to try out this new lens... fun! It was an overcast day, which was actually kind of nice- so many pictures of her end up with "hot spots" from the sun (bright spots on her face). Cloud cover is much appreciated.

I just love this expression- she is such a happy girl!

Pumpkin Patch!

Big changes occur in one year...
OCTOBER 2007:


OCTOBER 2008:


I much prefer the latter image- don't you? =)

We took Kate to her first pumpkin patch today! It was a lot of fun- animals to look at, pumpkins to play with and lots of photo ops. I'm sure it will be a lot more fun for her once she is a bit bigger, but Matt and I had a good time at least. Without further ado, some photo highlights from our day.

New business!

So I finally figured out how to add crap from our Etsy site to my blog... now you can see my shameless promotion of my mom's and my business! I think maybe I'll skim Etsy for some other stuff I love another time and share a few of things I have found from other sellers there that I adore :) I could spend a lot of money on Etsy. A lot. So much fun, unique stuff!

Now, about Kate- since she is the whole reason this blog ever started. Much to my chagrin (and yes, I loooove the word "chagrin"), Kate is growing up so much each day. Don't get me wrong, I love to see her learn and grow... but it is crazy! My once immobile little pile of baby has turned into a cruising machine. She is no longer satisfied playing with her toys on the floor. Oh no. She is pulling up on EVERYTHING (including unsafe, unanchored things- gosh, Alison... get the babyproofing finished for craps sake...) and walking holding on to furniture like it ain't no thang. Life was so much easier when she couldn't go anywhere. But damned if it ain't sweeter now that she gets that "I'm so proud of myself" look on her face when she is standing up.

She particularly enjoys standing against the mirror and giving her reflection sweet baby kisses. Dang... we made one cute little girl.




Ooh! And! Exciting news! Kate is finally crawling like a real baby! Though she still reverts to the trusty army crawl once in a while, she is finally a crawling machine (mostly because that is the easiest way to pull herself to standing).

I'm in the midst of the 1st birthday party planning. We were just watching Ace of Cakes on the Food Network, and someone had a Charm City Cake made for their daughters' 1st birthday (twin girls). I love my girl with everything I've got, but I'm not going to spend everything I've got on a freaking cake. She'll have to settle for my homemade Duncan Hines variety. If she remembers in her adulthood and struggles with it, then I guess we'll pay for her therapy. Eh.

Busy day tomorrow- church, teaching Sunday School (look out high schoolers because it is going to be fun), then off to T-town to pay a visit to the proudest grandma and great-grandpa this side of Heaven. And the freaking jumpiest weiner dog... but I digress...

Due to this aforementioned busyness, I am sending myself off to bed.

Double Digits.

10 months old- what gives? That is only two months away from 1-year old and that, my friends, is impossible. There is no way my sweet baby girl could possibly be approaching one year old. No way! The 10 month monkey picture was a failure... I couldn't get my camera to work with me, and I definitely couldn't keep my squirmy wormy daughter to sit still. The result? A horribly blurry picture- but check out that heart melting "I think I'm so funny" smile behind that blur :) Truth is, I'm probably going to cheat and try to take a better one tomorrow. What?



I'll be honest... with all the new babies I see around, I get to thinking. Thinking how neat it was to be pregnant, thinking how unbelievably wonderful it is to get the first glimpse of your baby on the ultrasound, thinking how amazing it is to hold your new baby for the first time and the love you feel all at once. Sometimes I have to remind myself not to blurt out, "Matt- I'm ready for another one!" because there is a slight chance he might say, "Yeah!"

I have to remind myself that Kate isn't even one yet. That I love a glass of wine here and there. That I can sleep for 8 hours at night if I so choose. That my body just became my own again a few short months ago. That the night sweats and emotions after having a new baby could ONLY be amplified by another little one running around.

Yes. I think we will wait. Phew.

9 Months In, 9 Months Out...

I wonder why the nine months of pregnancy felt so much different than the nine months of motherhood... aside from the obvious. While I really did enjoy my pregnancy, in hindsight it feels like I was pregnant for a long, long time when I compare it to the nine months we've had with Kate. The nine months since she has joined us has flown by.

In Babies R Us today, I was buying Kate's new carseat (since she has grown out of the infant seat) and a mom was commenting on how cute Kate was... she asked how old, and I told her nine months. She went on to tell me about her 3-month old and that her mom tells her that they should not always hold the baby so much so she won't get spoiled, blah-blah-blah. It made me kind of sad... I wanted to yell, "hold her"! Hold her for as long as you can! Because soon she'll be squiggling and squirming and trying to explore the world around her and cuddles will be fewer. Just sayin'.

As I finished my purchase and wished her a good day, she noticed the carseat in out cart. "Oh, she gets a big girl carseat now!" Yep... that made me kinda sad too.

Taking the nine month monkey pic was an adventure. Most of them turned out like this:

We did manage to at least get this one, to show the comparison:


I've become slightly obsessed with remembering the little things... we're all so focused on 'milestones', that I think sometimes the little things get lost. I took Kate to the park last week for her first time on the swing- she loved it! She giggled every time I pushed her, then she'd come back, I'd tickle her feet and she'd squeal with laughter. It was too precious.

Another 'little thing' was last Sunday. She woke up earlier than usual and seemed just as happy as could be. She had her bottle, we played for a while, watched some Baby Einstein "First Signs" for a while... then time came for her oatmeal and fruit. She started yawning in her highchair before I ever had her food ready, and was visibly getting tired. A fun Kate fact: her comfort habit is pulling her hair. Not hard... just kind of like you might twirl your hair through your fingers. So I step over to the counter to grab her cup, turn back around, and sticky-oatmeal-applesauce fingers are running through her sweet, just bathed the night before hair. I almost wanted to be frustrated, because she'd need to have a bath before church now, but I had to laugh. Look at this face...

Makes it look like she has an abundance of hair, hehe. Using a little product always adds volume, right? So, we took a quick bath and she took a fantastic nap before church.

After church, we headed up to Torrance to visit my mom and grandpa. Kate is the light of their lives these days. She has so many people who love her.

I think she has made my grandpa so much more positive in his attitude recently. In May, he broke his neck and has been fitted in a halo for over 3 months now... I don't think I'd be very positive, but he is hanging in there like a trooper and I just know Kate has so much to do with that. Poor guy... he looks like he's been through the ringer, but he is being so upbeat about it. Plus, he can tell all the ladies he was in a motorcycle accident, or something cool like that ;-) That will make up for the fact he hasn't had a haircut in months!


Yep. I love my family.

I miss Matt!

I've realized this week that I often take my fantastic husband for granted. He has been gone since Friday on a fishing trip with his brothers and it has been just Kate and I. As much as I have really enjoyed the time for the two of us, I miss seeing them together. There is just something about watching my husband and our daughter interact that makes everything alright in the world. Yeah... cheeseball, I know. Mushy, indeed. But what can you do- I'm a sap. Lucky for me, he'll be home tomorrow.

In an attempt to not be a fatty-fatty-fat-fat any longer, I've been working with a trainer in hopes of becoming a toned, shapely, hot young mom. This last time I worked out with her, I got my butt kicked. My quads hurt SO bad afterward, that getting down on the floor to play with Kate had to be a hilarious site. I've seriously been having to hold onto furniture to lower myself onto chairs... it is out of control. But the burn is good, right? Hopefully it means something is working.

Well, before I curl up with my trashy magazine and celebrities and fashion, here are a couple more pictures... because what blog post is complete with out some Kate pics?

Mamarazzi class!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to learn how the heck to use my DSLR *out* of auto mode! I actually wasn't using auto too much- mostly Av (aperture priority). Occasionally I'd try manual mode, but it never yielded very good results. Now, I feel so much more confident with my camera and I learned that editing is AMAZING! Adobe Lightroom is a phenominal program... I think I'm in love. I didn't realize when I bought my camera that this would become such a fun little hobby.

Poor Kate... she is destined to be at the end of my camera for the rest of her life!

Here are some of my favorites from the class! The little guy we shot on Saturday was so sweet and SUCH a trooper... look at his sweet little eyes! Adorable!






And of course, I had to try out my new found skills on Kate...







I am thinking I should probably start up a blog strictly for photos, since this could get a bit ridiculous. If I do, you'll hear about it!