Easter!

So, as usual, Easter was a crazy day for me. I had to be to church by 7:15am to start getting ready for our annual Pancake Breakfast youth fundraiser. By the time church was over and we were at Ron & Barbara's house, I was beat!

Kat did well- she is such a good baby! Check out the Easter dress! She wasn't too happy about it in the first picture, but had her bunny and was much more content in the second one! Being in such a rush that morning, I completely forgot to pack in a change of clothes for later. Luckily, we were able to borrow some things from Sydney's closet to make it through the rest of the day.



Amy and the girls will soon be returning to Japan and I, of course, am pretty bummed. It is so fun to have them here and see the girls grow. I feel like they'll be so different the next time they come back to the states... ok, so I don't just "feel" that... it is true! They change so quickly at this age! Skye will certainly be talking like a pro and done with diapers all together... Sydney will probably be walking all over the place and look so different... ahhh! There are little girls growing up all around me! I know Kate will change so much, too. It is hard for me to picture her as a "little girl" as opposed to a baby girl, but I know she is sure to be so SO cute! :)

Here is a cute picture from Easter- Skye and Kat both sporting their bunny ears:


They are so cute- and check out Madison... she loves these little girls! What a cool family :) I'm sure Kate's life will be filled with so many embarrassing moments created by this family, but I do hope she realizes, one day, how amazingly blessed she is to be surrounded by so many people who love and adore her. On that note, I leave you with this picture... because the expression on her face kills me!

A New Chapter in Motherhood

Yes, it is official: I have a mom haircut.

I've spent the past 4 months wearing my hair in a ponytail, and I'm over it. Today I went and got the mom cut. Short, just under the chin, side bangs and I must say- I think it looks pretty cute!


Now, much to Kat's dismay, she can no longer grab a handful of my hair and put it in her mouth... therefore, I am free from the ponytail! Woohoo!

Freedom!

Kat is officially done with the swaddling business- completely! Now that she is sleeping without swaddling, we have come across a bit of a concern for me: she flips over onto her belly! Everyone now makes such a big deal about putting baby down to sleep on their back to prevents SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Supposedly, they are safe to sleep on their bellies once they're strong enough to flip over... but it still keeps me up at night! I know it is ridiculous and that many, many people were put to sleep on their bellies and lived (my whole generation grew up sleeping on their bellies), but now that they make such a big deal about it, I find myself in Kat's room at 3:00am staring at her to see if she is actually breathing. Sometimes I have to stand there and stare for a good 10 minutes, just to be sure. Crazy!

However, now that she has discovered the beauty of tummy sleep, she is sleeping through the night consistently. Woo hoo!

She turned 4-months this week and she is just more beautiful than ever! She laughs, coos, plays independently and is changing so quickly. Look how big she is now compared to her monkey!


Easter is on Sunday (the earliest I've ever experienced it) and you know she is going to look adorable in her frilly little dress! In the meantime, I had to be the crazy mom and put bunny ears on her... but holy moly, she is so cute!




So that's what we've been up to... sleeping on our bellies and wearing bunny ears! Fun!

Operation: Unswaddle... Successful!

Well, I have been stressing about how we were going to wean Kate off of swaddling. I was having nightmares; visions of being up all night with a crying, flailing-armed baby. I was avoiding it at all costs thinking, "Maybe we can swaddle her until she leaves for college".

Fortunately for us, she decided she was ready on her own. Tuesday night, she woke around 1:00am to eat and I wrapped her up to put her back to bed. She would not go back to sleep, so I rocked her in the glider for a while, thinking she would succumb to sleep. As we rocked, she never stopped fighting to break her arms free from the swaddle. So, I unwrapped her and wrapped the blanket just around her body with her arms free... and she slept! For 5 hours, woohoo!

*Sidenote: Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" was just dubbed the #1 song of the 80's on VH1 and I have to say, that is a pretty good pick.*

So... she is growing and learning and changing everyday. i am looking forward to the day she is totally independent from the swaddle and we can just plop her in her crib and let her soothe herself off to sleep! I don't want her to grow up too fast, though... she's still my little sweet pea!

One year ago, yesterday...

One year ago yesterday, I stood staring at myself in the mirror. I looked at myself and said, "I'm pregnant! Oh my Gosh- I'M PREGNANT?!"

Yep. It has been one year since I peed on a stick and learned that in approximately 36 weeks I would become a mommy. I remember every emotion I had that morning. Joy, fear, disbelief and worry. I worried I'd miscarry. I worried Matt would tell me he wasn't ready (totally illegitimate fear, but hey- your brain goes through every scenario when that plus sign pops up). I worried that I wasn't fit to be a mom. I worried that I would soon begin vomiting every morning (which, by the way, never happened- the first time I threw up while I was pregnant was while I was in labor!).

One year later, that tiny little bundle of cells has become the most beautiful, sweetest, most wonderful little girl ever! I don't think I could have even pictured how perfect she would be.



If I am honest, I miss being pregnant. I loved it. Looking back at posts from when I was at the end of my pregnancy, you may question that statement. However, I really did love it. Knowing you're carrying life inside of you is something that only someone who has been pregnant can understand. Feeling that life move for the first time is breathtaking (and becomes LITERALLY breathtaking once they get big and start pressing against your lungs). I miss my big ol' belly (and not having to suck it in). Being pregnant is the coolest. We're not looking to add to the family for quite some time, but I will be excited when we do.

Kat remains amazing- I love her more everyday. She is a rolly-polly now and can roll from back to tummy like a champ... and if she really wants to, can roll tummy to back. She is a super baby! So advanced ;-)

What a week!

Our little girl is growing up! Now, usually, I am opposed to her growing up... but this week she started sleeping through the night. Not just until 4am... but on Thursday night, she slept until 8:20am!!!!!! Amazing! I think the new combination of pajamas and the SwaddleMe blanket have joined forces to create a super sleeper! Although last night she did wake twice, but I think that is because she squirms and bumps her head against the side of the crib... I think we'll tone down the incline on her mattress a bit and see if that helps.

I also learned a valuable lesson on Tuesday: no matter how long it has been since she ate, spit up is still possible. I picked her up from the changing table, held her over my head and started telling her how wonderful she is when suddenly, she spat up... IN MY MOUTH!!!! NOOOOOOO! My instinctual reaction was to spit it out, which all ended up back on her face. She started crying, because she didn't know why I was freaking out... meanwhile, I am gagging. I had to put her in her crib and run to the bathroom for a thorough mouth washing. It had been 2 hours since she'd eaten, too, which meant the milk was all curdled and nasty... oh man... it was filthy. Then I had to go in and console her and reassure her that I knew she didn't do it on purpose. Poor little bug.






Well, as I type this, she has just spit up all over herself again, so I guess I'd better go take care of that. Over and out!