5 Months!

April 18th marked 5 months of life for our little lady! Cuter than ever, she is quickly outgrowing her monkey! For the 5 month picture, poor Monkey's little green flower is missing from his body... one morning, as Kat wrestled Monkey in her crib, she pulled the flower right off! I could stitch it back on easily enough, but it is likely she'll just pull it off again, and I wouldn't want her to choke on it (since everything goes in the mouth these days).

It's hard to believe we're coming up on 6 months... for some reason it seems like 6 months is a big milestone. My 'mini-goal' for nursing was to make it to 6 months then decide from there whether to continue or to wean... I haven't made up my mind yet. I know the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends a year, and it is way cheaper than formula (free, in fact... I don't charge per ounce), but we'll see. Maybe we'll go until she has teeth. Maybe we'll go a year. I don't know yet. Some days I am ready to give up... other days I love that personal time I have with her. It's a toss up right now.

The highchair got put together today... I put her in it for a minute and she wasn't quite sure. We've tried cereal a couple of times now, but she seemed not so excited. So we waited another week and tried again this morning. She was a little more enthusiastic, so perhaps I'll start giving her a little every morning to get her in the routine, then see whether to start adding in other foods. I'm not in a rush, but I want to do it the right way. I just had her on my lap this morning, instead of trying to add the highchair into the mix. I think she needs to be a little more comfortable with the idea of the food before we do the chair. Solid food experiences are funny... check out the look we got the last time we gave her cereal!


She's growing and changing all the time and is so much fun... what an adventure!

Hey- how'd you get over there?!

So our days of leaving the room for a minute are over. I can no longer leave Kate on her playmat for a few minutes while I make breakfast or go to the bathroom. On Monday, Matt and I put her on her playmat and stepped into the kitchen to make lunch. When Matt peeked in to check on her, she had scooted a good 2 feet forward and was right up next to a chair leg, that she easily could have bumped her head against. Who knows what else she might get into! Sooo... baby proofing must begin. It is amazing, too, how fast it happens! Today at the office, I laid her on her belly in the middle of a blanket to play. I turned around in my chair, opened my e-mail, clicked "Get Mail" and turned around to see what she was doing while my mail came in... and she was a foot off the blanket! She just looked up at me like, "What?" So funny!

She's starting to get pretty good at doing the 'tripod'- sitting up and putting her hands on the ground to keep balanced. She usually starts to fall over after about 45 seconds to 1 minute, but that is pretty good, I think!



I've been playing with my camera more and definitely learning more about Photoshop and how to edit my pictures so they look even better. It's a lot of fun... but poor Kat- she is going to be looking at a camera for the rest of her life. I just want to capture every minute!

I was thinking about how quickly she grows, and here is just a brief list of things I always want to remember:
- how pink she was when she was born
- how tiny she was!
- what it felt like to wake up and see her laying in the bassinet next to me that first night in the hospital... so surreal and amazing
- how big her coming home outfit was on her
- the way she'd open her mouth all the time like a little baby bird
- the way she held her hands when she'd eat
- the adorable face she'd make when she was waking up... her eyebrows would raise and she'd shake her head back and forth. We never caught it on camera, though, and now she doesn't do it anymore :(
- the 'pooping' face... it is kind of an Elvis lip curl
- her first smile
- the time she laughed in her sleep and I almost melted into a puddle right there
- her first real laugh... bouncing on Matt's knee and listening to Nora Jones
- the noises she makes when you put your face right up in front of hers... she squeals and it is so cute!
- the smile she gives me when I come in to get her in the morning... like she's so happy to see me
- the night time feedings where she falls asleep and I can't bear the thought of putting her down... sleeping babies have to be a little glimpse of heaven...
- seeing her learn and become more alert and active
- seeing the smile spread across her face when her daddy walks in the room

There are so many other things that I can't even begin to list them all. She changes so much, but it gets better everyday. I always swell with pride when people comment on how cute, how beautiful and how perfect our daughter is. Of course, we are biased, but seriously... she is extraordinarily beautiful! More importantly, I think she is going to grow into a sweet, loving and caring little girl... that is my hope. This song, called "Pray", by Kendall Payne is such a beautiful illustration of the faith I hope that Kathryn grows in... life won't always be easy and perfect, but I pray that it develops her character and helps her to grow in faith:

"Pray" by Kendall Payne
I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friend
While the road we walk is difficult, indeed
I could not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in
May your strength all be spent upon the weak
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet
May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater each stride
May your company be of humble insignificance
May your weakness be your only source of pride
What you do unto others may it all be done to you
May you meet the One who made us
And see Him smile when life is through
May your blessings be many, but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see
May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan He has for you
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire
May you fight with all your life for what is true
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would pray for me

The 4-month Check-up

Kat had her 4 month well baby visit today... she is now 16lbs. 10 oz. and 24 1/2 inches long! She's in the 90th percentile in weight and 60th in height- that's our dainty little flower.

Dr. Dyer said she is ahead with all her milestones and that she looks perfect- hooray! We even got the green light to start solids as soon as we want. I'm not in a rush, but seeing as she is hungry so much these days, maybe we'll go ahead and give it a try.

We have started using Kat's activity center and it is super funny! There is a keyboard with jungle animals that all represent different musical genres... the zebra cracks me up because it is a deep, black man's voice that says, "I am a ZEBRA! I have STRIPES!" You can't quite grasp how funny it sounds without hearing it... but here is what Kat thinks about it:

Oh, poop.

4 days. In a row. Kat has blown out her diaper and it goes EVERYWHERE! On Wednesday, it was up to her armpits. Seriously sick. I have grown immune to being grossed out by these explosions, but it is just a pain! I carry two extra onesies and a pair of Babylegs with me wherever we go (Babylegs are great! Check them out: http://www.babylegs.net/) just in case of disasters.

I think we may have gotten a bad box of diapers, because this never seemed to happen before. I think she is in the right size, too. Hmm, who knows.

Kat is through the first hour of a nap in her crib and is still sleeping! Wowwy! I'm so proud. Now if she would just go down at night without pitching a fit, I'd be even more excited! Every night this week, she'll eat, sleep for about an hour, then wake up crying... trying to soothe her back to sleep takes a good hour some nights. Matt is great at it, though. Phew!

I think that it all for our adventures lately... we're fast approaching month #5! In an attempt to learn a bit about taking pictures with backlight, check out the cheeky little smile we caught... isn't she the most?!

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!