Life is Busy.

March and April are crazy months for us. Between all the family birthdays, Lent and Easter (when you work at a church, its ridiculous), I feel like there is little time to do so much as breathe! So... yeah, a month has passed since I last updated here. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, really.

Kate had her first gig as a flower girl at Carly & Chris' wedding on April 3rd. They got married up in Lodi at this fantastic winery called Wine & Roses. Everything was beautiful and Kate was a super star! She does love the spotlight :)





So far, I have to say that this is my favorite age. I know- I've said it probably every month since Kate has been born, but seriously. She's this little walking, talking, curious ball of fun now days. She's discovering so much and is such a little sponge. My current favorite things about my [baby] little girl:
* Dragging her blankie around, laying in the middle of the floor and saying "Niiiigh-niiiiigh".
* Giving big ol' kisses over and over again, complete with "MUAH!" sound.
* Dropping her blankie & lovies out of the crib and exclaiming, "Ohhh NO!" as they hit the floor.
* Touching her nose and saying, "Beep".
* Uncontrollable giggles when we chase after her (extra giggles if we crawl on our hands and knees).
* Her undying passion to use a spoon all by herself (always followed by bathtime).

Yeah. I could go on forever. She's fantastic.

Genetics

There is a tradition that runs in my family. It was passed down to me from my mother, to her from her mother... maybe even to my grandmother from her mother. It is well known among family to be something the women in our family have in common. Perhaps genetic.

What is it, you ask? Ok... I'll tell you. Come closer:
We're terrible housekeepers.

It's true. I've always wanted to be Suzy Homemaker, but I am afraid it may not be in the cards. There are times when I look around and think, My word. If some old friend showed up at my door right now, I'd have to poke my head out through the door and give them directions to meet me at the nearest Starbucks in order to avoid complete embarrassment. That's pretty bad.

I went on a cleaning kick the other night (which happens oh-so-rarely). The strange thing is, I feel SO good when my house is spic-and-span. Really good. Like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders. Like I can breathe a little easier. So it should be easy to keep things clean right? Hmm. Funny how that never works out.

I've informed Matt that once we're homeowners, I intend to hire a cleaning service. Once I have that pride of ownership, instead of that crappy "eh, it's a rental" attitude, I hope I'll feel a bit more motivated. I hope. But just in case, I plan to hire the professionals.

In the meantime, if you intend to drop by... could you give me 24 hours notice? I'll have some tidying up to do.

Where's your....?

I've started my own little project- a 365 project. One photo every day for 365 days! It will be tough to actually commit to taking and posting a photo every day, but I like the challenge! www.onephotofor365.blogspot.com

Today Kate and I went out in the yard to play and take some pictures. To keep her attention, we played the "Where is your _______?" game!

Where is your mouth?

Check out the CHOMPERS! These "first year" molars are intense! They must h.u.r.t because she has been extraordinarily whiny! They look huge- I can only imagine how much they must ache :(

Where are your eyes?


Where are your feet?


She is so cute- it really is unreal. She is just so much fun.

All I have ever wanted was to be a mommy. When I was little, I wanted to be a mommy. In high school, I knew one day I wanted kids. When I met Matt, his desire to have kids in the future was a big plus. When I got pregnant so quickly, my dreams were coming true. Now I have this perfect little bundle of love... and I am so blessed. But sometimes I find myself wondering: how could I ever love another child as much as I love Kate?

I know I will (presuming that we're blessed with another baby one day). But it was difficult to imagine loving Kate as much as I do before she was born. Now that she is in our lives, I wonder... could I love another little person as much as I love her? How can someone have that much love? The love I feel for her is sometimes overwhelming. The natural love and protection I have for her is sometimes even frightening- like I would do ANYTHING to protect my daughter. As an only child, I never felt any competition for love. I am excited for the future- for God to teach me how much a human being is capable of loving. I think that I am sadly unaware of how much capability to love we are actually given as humans. It really is boundless, I am sure.

I'm off to bed... before I crawl under the covers tonight, I'll no doubt turn on my video monitor, take a look at my sleeping sweet pea and thank God for that girl. That girl! She is a blessing beyond words. And Matt will, no doubt, get a kiss too. :)

The "Eyes" Have It

EYE! It's Kate's new favorite word. At any given time during the day, she can be found jabbing her finger into my eye, Matt's eye, or her own and excitedly exclaiming, "EYEEEE!!" It is usually followed by "Nooonse!" (nose) or "Ayyyre!" (hair- which she pulls out of my head, thankyouverymuch).

She cracks me up. Today while watching Yo Gabba Gabba, she was trying to imitate Elijah Wood's "dancy-dance" by picking her foot up and then swinging her arms around like a crazy person. I swear, I try to get these things on video... but the second I bust out the camera she just stops and stays perfectly still. Little bugger.

A few weeks ago, Kate and I had a lovely lunch with my friend Summer at Corner Bakery in Irvine. When we left, I, being a total airhead, left Kate's high chair/shopping cart cover on the high chair. I didn't even realize until a few days later... by the time I called CB, it was long gone. However, Etsy always makes me happy again. I found a fabulous seller, MichaelMoooDesign: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5862007 I sent her my own fabric and she put it together SO fast! She is phenomenal- if you need a cart cover, she is the one to go to :) Here are a couple of shots from our trip to the grocery store today:


I don't know where the heck those blue eyes came from, but all I can say is God Bless recessive genes!


Since pictures are always fun, here are a few from how we spent our valentines day. The two loves of my life and I headed up to the park to play, since the weather was perfect- crisp, but sunny: my favorite kind of day! I am so blessed... it is ridiculous.







Her new trick is "jumping". She tries to jump up and down... which basically amounts to bending her knees, then standing up tall. It's so cute- but again, she turns into stone when I get out the video camera. Ugh.

I had to have Matt take a picture of me today for church's new website. Ugh. I'm just the youth director- can't we skip my picture? I looked at the picture and realized just how fat I have let myself get in the past year. I was looking good before I got pregnant, since Matt and I had been walking the 4.5 miles from home, around MV lake and back. It's just gotten progressively worse after being pregnant. I need to get my butt in gear, because seriously- yuck! Oh well- maybe this will serve as some inspiration. If I got in front of the camera more instead of being behind it so much, maybe I'd think a little harder before settling into the couch instead of going for a run ;-)

Off to change the laundry and get everything ready for tomorrow morning... its tough to get ready for church anymore without proper planning the night before!

My Little Caged Bird

Now that Kate is a mover and a shaker, being locked up in my office for 4-5 hours a day is an absolute tragedy for her. She stands at the chair that blocks my office door (yes, chair... she can pick up and move the gate I bought) and whines and throws her toys out, trying to coax any of the ladies that work in the office to let her out. Inevitably, someone always comes to her rescue.



I try not to feel bad- we have definitely developed a schedule now (and hey, she naps better at the office than she does at home, now) and there are so many people here who love her. I am sure that being around so many people so often has contributed to her socialness- she is definitely a people person. I do feel kind of bad, though. She just wants to fly and I have to keep her caged. It's just part of being a parent, though, as I need to keep her safe.


I am so amazed by this kid- she's just so stinkin' smart! Her vocabulary is growing every day. She has mastered Daddy, Momma/Mommy, doggie, nana (banana), night-night and moon; she definitely gets her point across in other ways too. She knows her nose, eyes, ears, hands, toes and belly. She grabs her socks or shoes and tries to put them on. Maybe these aren't unusual for kiddos of this age, but in general, it really is an amazing feat... kids this age just learn SO much SO fast. Impressive!

At almost 15 months, Kate's new favorite things are spinning around in circles, bubbles and eating kiwi. A day with any combination of those three things is a good day!

Perspective.

I need to stop being such a whiner. I complain too much. About dumb things. Trivial things. Things that some people should be so lucky to complain about (cell phones, slow internet, car trouble...).

Then something happens and throws everything into perspective. In hearing of a friend's great loss, I woke up (if you pray, please pray for E- for her comfort, healing and health). Life is short; it is precious; it is unpredictable. And the less time I spend whining, the more time I'll have to notice everything precious and joyous about life. There. I said it.

This evening I looked at Kate and had one of those, "I can't believe she's really mine" moments. This perfect, silly, sweet, blue-eyed little girl. Ours? Really?! It's still amazing... 14 months later and I'm still baffled by this little miracle.

I bought her a tutu off of Etsy recently, and just today had some time to take some photos. She is not a fan... and I almost cried from laughing so hard at how silly it all really is.


After I changed her out of the pink-fluffy-ridiculousness, she was considerably happier and gave me that killer smile... with her head against the floor. Why? I dunno. But I love it.


On another joyous note, 2009 is going to be the year of weddings for many of my friends! Hooray (and it's about freaking time, kids)! Now if only they'd make some honeymoon babies... kidding, friends! But in all seriousness, I am so excited for all of them and am really looking forward to this special year. I did get to practice my photography skills and take some engagement pics for Scott (my friend since 10th grade) and Emily (his beautiful fiancee- seriously, Scott, you're marrying up)!

It was so fun and a huge honor- thanks guys!

Off to bed... and to say some prayers. I'll say one for you, too. ;-)

Happy New Year!

What a year! I can't believe how quickly it came and went. It really is amazing, looking back on these past 12 months, how much really happens. I feel like it becomes so much more apparent when you have a little one. The changes in a baby are so remarkable that their first year seems like the biggest year you've ever experienced... does that make sense? I think what I am trying to say is that so many things happen within a year that we lose sight of after a while; but, with a baby you remember details of the last 12 months so much more vividly. In the January of 2008, it was the most exciting thing to hear my daughter laugh for the first time. By December of 2008, she is now walking. Two very different milestones; both so amazing for a mother... and those are only two of the many incredible things she has accomplished.

Christmas was fun as always, but so strange, as my grandpa was still in the hospital. It was the first time in 26 years I've had Christmas dinner without my grandpa and that was a hard thing for me to let go of. Though we visited with him at the hospital in the morning and did some gift opening, it isn't the same to sit around the table with family and not have him there. He is home now, though, and was able to watch football all day on his big ol' TV... so he is happy.

We did take Kate to see Santa for the first time. As you can see, she didn't get the memo that Santa is one of the good guys.


New Year's Eve was supposed to be quiet for us- just sitting on our couch watching the ball drop then heading to bed... but Kate woke up at 11:30 crying and upset. That lasted until about 2am when she finally gave up. As I mentioned, she has started walking this week, so perhaps she is sore (kind of like when we do a new activity that our muscles aren't used to, you know?) and the fussiness will pass. Here are her last photos of 2008!



She was a beastly character today with the whining and back arching... but it is oh-so-precious watching her learn to walk, that it makes up for it ;-) Here is the link to her first ever YouTube performance- the night she decided she was ready to tackle this walking thing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_N-qj629iQ

2008 brought a new hobby for me... photography! I've always liked taking pictures and I've always loved the idea of photography- I just never did much about learning how to really do it. So with the inspiration of our daughter, the purchase of my dslr in February and a helpful class in August (not to mention TONS of reading around the internet and photography books), I've discovered a new love. A month ago, I didn't think I'd ever want to pursue a business... but in the last couple of weeks my curiosity has peaked. Who knows what 2009 might do to my hobby! But as of now... I just love being a mommy with a camera.

So that's that. I'm starting the New Year with the same old bad habits- staying up too late farting around on the internet. With that, I'm off to bed! Welcome 2009!