2009 in pictures

Here we are at the end of another year. I can't believe time is going by so quickly. This year has probably changed my life more than any other. Let's take a look back...

I knew this year would be more momentous than any other as I entered it looking like this:

I was 14 weeks pregnant...out of first tri and enjoying my new little bump that made my old clothes fit awkwardly and my new maternity clothes feel like I was wearing a tent.


I started the new hobby of quilting... I made this one for my mom and gave it to her on her birthday.


My mom was able to go with us to our big ultrasound on February 25th, where I was shocked to learn that the bean was a GIRL. I was sure I had a little boy hiding in there, but was delightfully surprised to learn that my future was full of hairbows, dresses and the mother-daughter bond.


In March, K and I decided that we should take a mini-vacation before the baby came. We went to Vegas for a long weekend. We did a lot of walking, shopping, and eating. It was wonderful to get away and spend some quality time with my husband... even if it was unreasonably cold in Nevada and we had to wear our coats.


I had a fantastic first grade class that was keeping me busy and entertained. In May they threw me a wonderful surprise baby shower. They had made me a book and brought gifts. We had food, drinks and games. And the best part was - it truly was a surprise! They did such a good job at keeping the secret, I had no idea and they had worked on it for months.


Shortly after that I had my baby showers with my families. They were great and I loved seeing everyone.


July came around so much quicker than I thought it would and before I knew it I was on the verge of giving birth to our daughter. July 5th (6 days before my due date) I went into labor at home. We went to the hospital and got all checked in.


July 6, 2009 at 1:03 am my life was forever changed. Kate Elizabeth was welcomed into the world and our tiny little family started a brand new adventure.


I was, and still am, so proud of my new baby girl. I will never forget the sense of accomplishment and joy I felt in bringing her into the world.


Our good news was followed by some bad news when my Papa suffered a fall at home breaking his hip and landing himself in the hospital. From there he moved into a rehabilitation facility where he stayed for 8 weeks. Unfortunately, he never regained his strength and is now in a wheelchair. The extensive time spent away from home also accelerated his Alzheimer's. He is now at home with my grandma and a 24-hour nurse. I visit whenever I can and still love spending time at their house.


The summer and fall was spent hanging out with my baby girl. I had resigned my position as a teacher to become a stay-at-home-mom and was happy to have all my time devoted to raising this new little person.


In October, K, Kate and I went to pumpkin patches and apple orchards and soaked up the beauty of fall. Kate had her first Halloween, for which she dressed up as a little cow. She was the sweetest cow I've ever seen! :) K and I also reveled in the fact that it had been a year since finding out I was pregnant. Where had the time gone?!


In November we celebrated Thanksgiving with our families. It was great to see everyone and eat lots of great food!


At the beginning of December my mom had knee surgery. Kate and I went and stayed with her for a week to help out while my dad worked. It was great to spend some quiet days at home with my mom.


Kate's first Christmas was nothing short of wonderful. We had 6 different celebrations over the course of 3 days. She has now entered the "mommy" stage and only wanted me to hold her, but that was ok by me. She was a good girl and handled the overwhelming chaos pretty well.

I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for us. I have many hopes for the new year and can't help but wonder what will be coming our way. I'm ready...bring it on 2010!!

I'm a slacker at the blogging...

So there's lots to catch up on....

We had Kate's 4 month doc appt and it went really well. She is 16lb 3oz and 25.25 in. That puts her in the 90th percentile for both. Big healthy girl! She had been pretty fussy for a couple weeks and the doc seemed to think it was reflux related. Due to her being so active (legs kicking, arms swinging) she was aggravating her reflux, which was making her cranky. We made a small change to her medicine which we're hoping will help, and so far seems to be.

The fussiness was really getting to be a problem. There were a couple weeks where she was so miserable all the time and wasn't napping during the day. It was rough. I finally figured out that she had reached the point where she is able to self-soothe for naps and bedtime and she didn't want to be rocked/walked anymore. She still cries when I put her down for a nap, but she'll only cry 2-3 minutes as opposed to screaming for half an hour and then not napping at all. That and the med change seem to have made a huge difference and she has been really great the past week or so. She's been so sweet and happy and playful.

We had her first Halloween, in which she was an adorable little cow. We are eagerly looking forward to Thanksgiving, at which time I think we will be giving her her first real food!

Here are some new things she's been doing:
- rolling over, tummy to back
- giggling more (I found out she likes when I "buzz" at her like the sound the dryer makes when it's done)
- looking when we say her name
- watching the dogs play
- reaching, grabbing, and shoving everything she gets her hands on into her mouth
- getting pretty good at sitting up with support

I haven't written in a while because I've been spending my days soaking up my little girl. She is so amazing. Here are some things I love and never want to forget:

- The way she lays in bed talking to the butterflies on her bumper in the morning
- The grin I get when I go in to get her from her crib
- How when I pick her up she opens her mouth wide like she's going to eat me up and grabs onto my neck with both hands, burying her face in my chest
- The silly games she plays while she's nursing... she makes funny faces and hides her face in my shirt in between eating
- When something startles her and she looks to me to see if she is supposed to be scared or not...then when I say it's ok and I smile, she grins back like I've just rescued her.
- The way she plays shy and then gives flirty eyes to strangers when we're out
- The pouty lip she gives when she's thinking about crying
- The way she looks so serious when her daddy is flying her around the house playing superbaby...she flies like it's her job
- The way she shakes her toys like it's the greatest thing she's ever done
- How she LOVES when I smell her stinky feet and make faces at her
- The way she reaches out to take my hand and hold it when she's nursing
- The way she arches her back and bends all funky to sleep at night
- The way she looks at me sometimes like she's trying to say something and then gives up and just smiles instead
- The way K goes in to check on her at night and comes out of her room saying, "She's the cutest thing ever."

Giggles!!

I finally caught some of the cutest giggles ever on camera. Kate won't laugh at K or I yet, but she sure finds the dogs hilarious!

Just pictures

A few things to say...

1. Note to self: do not write about the schedule that your daughter has been on for WEEKS. Inevitably when you write about it, it will all go to hell. :/ For the two days after writing that blog, my child refused to sleep during the day. Not that she was unhappy...in fact, she laughed for the first time. She just wouldn't sleep! She even got up at 2:30 in the morning one night, which she never does. Last night, though, she went to bed at 8 and slept until 8 this morning, so hopefully we'll be back on schedule soon.

2. Car salesmen love my child. K and I went to look at cars today (I am very much in need of a "mom" vehicle so we can fit the kid, 2 dogs, and luggage easily in the car when we travel...we're looking at suv's). Anyway, Moo slept in her stroller for a majority of the time we were there - until we went in and actually talked prices. Then she woke up and was making flirty eyes at all the salesmen, who came over and chatted her up. It was too cute.

3. This is totally bragging, so close your eyes if you don't want to read it.... I am back to pre-pregnancy weight! Woohoo! My doctor had talked to me about it at my last appointment when I had 6 pounds left to lose. She is concerned that I'll lose too much given what I had already lost and that I will be (hopefully) breastfeeding long-term. So I've basically been given a free card to eat as much as I can/please (healthy stuff of course) and since I've been doing that I still lost those last 6 pounds. I can only lose 5 more before I'll be in trouble with the doc...so screw the healthy foods... I need more icecream. :)

4. I ordered Moo's Halloween costume today! Can you guess what she will be? :) I can't wait to put it on her. Fall is definitely my favorite time of year, and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so I can't wait!

Ok, I think that is all....for now.

Our schedule...

I feel like Kate and I are finally settling into a somewhat predictable routine. It's really nice and I enjoy our days together. Now that I say this she will probably switch it all up on me....but that's just how it goes. Here is our typical day together:

7:30-745 - Up for the day, eats
7:45-8:15 - Chat with mommy while in her bouncy so I can eat breakfast
8:15-8:30 - Walk, cuddle, fuss until falls asleep for nap
8:30-9:15 - Nap in bouncy
9:15-9:30 - Chat and get dressed

9:30-9:45 - Eats
9:45-10:00 - Read a book
10:00-10:45 - Play (playmat, bumbo, or mommy's lap) or go out for walk
10:45-11:00 - Swing until asleep
11:00-2:30 - Nap (sometimes she will wake up partway through to eat)

2:30-2:45 - Wakes up, eats
2:45-3:30 - Play (playmat, bumbo, or mommy's lap)
3:30-3:45 - Walk, cuddle, fusses to sleep
3:45-5:00 - Nap in swing or on couch

5:00-5:15 - Wakes up, gets medicine, eats
5:15-5:45 - Play (playmat, bumbo, or mommy's lap) until daddy gets home
5:45-6:30 - Time with daddy, then in swing while we eat
6:30-7:00 - Nap

7:00-7:30 - Bath, lotion, pajamas (every third night, otherwise time with mommy and daddy)
7:30-7:45 - Eat
7:45-8:00 - Cuddle and rock with daddy
8:00-8:30 - In bed, puts herself to sleep (sometimes we have to go in and give her paci back to her)

8:30-7:30 - Sleep before we start it all over again

Here's a video of my baby smiling (it's off-center because I had to sneakily turn the camera on, otherwise she just stares at it very seriously...as she does a couple times in this video anyway):

2 months old!

I cannot believe my baby is already 2 months old!! Where has the time gone? I just looked back at an old video of her from her first week at home and can't believe how calm and still she was. She looked almost lethargic. Fast forward to today and I have this kid who is constantly moving, flinging her arms, legs and head about. She grins, she frowns, she has a puppy dog face that will be a weapon against her daddy when she learns how to use it. She has been having some really great days with minimal fussing and I am enjoying her so much. I love my little girl!!

Moby, Moo, and Me

I got myself a Moby! Our Hotsling was great while Kate was itty bitty. Now that she's a true chunker, though, she doesn't fit in it very well and she looks (and probably feels) very uncomfortable. She also HATES being held in a cradle position - she likes to be up on people's chests. So I broke down and got us a Moby. It came in the mail yesterday and so far we both love it. It is a lot easier to put on than I thought it would be and it is so much easier to get her into and out of than the Hotsling. She has been sooooo crabby these past two days. I'm thinking maybe she's going through a growth spurt or something because her sleeping patterns have been all off-kilter, too. Sunday night she slept for 11.5 hours straight! (not that I'm complaining about that!)

Anyway, Moby is helping us keep our sanity. If she wants to be walked around for 6+ hours a day at least this way I have my hands free so I can read a book or something. :) Today we Moby'd to the post office and back.

Moby while awake - she can peek around and see what's going on:

Moby while asleep - I can tuck her little head in so she's not all floppy:
My little devil planning her next move to make me lose my marbles :)

Pictures, thoughts, and a video fail

Kate will be 7 weeks old tomorrow (holy moly, where has the time gone?!) and in that time I have realized a few things:

1. I was worried before having a baby about giving up so much of myself. Having to give my time to someone else was scary for me, especially knowing that I would be home alone with her during the week and would have nobody else to trade off with during the day. What I didn't realize was how completely I would WANT to devote all of my time to this new little person. I want to hold her, feed her, play with her, and meet her every need before she even knows she needs it. It is not a sacrifice that I make as a mother - it is something that I am lucky enough to get to do everyday.

2. I have always been afraid of doctors, needles, and pretty much anything medical. After pregnancy, getting blood drawn is old hat and I feel weird NOT going to the doctor every week. However, I now have a new fear - vaccinations. I am absolutely dreading taking Kate for her 2 month visit because she will be getting her first round of shots. I'd gladly take them all for her if I could and I have a feeling that I will cry more than she will.

3. I never realized I would be so excited over things like burping and pooping. But seriously...after a full 7 days without a poop out of your kid, you welcome it like a long-lost friend when it finally comes. :)

And now for some pictures of my little Moo, who, by the way, was switched to a different med for her reflux and we're still in the 'wait and see' phase to see if it will work.




My little cutie:

Big yawn:

Sleepy baby (she's only allowed to nap on her tummy when I can watch her, but she LOVES it):

Mommy and Moo:

Sweet baby:

Ok, this one needs a little explanation...Moo's favorite position is up on people's chest and when she falls asleep and you put her down, she promptly wakes up. Well one night I went out shopping and left her home with her daddy. She fell asleep on him and he needed to put her down, but didn't want her to wake up. So he invented the "shoulder substitute" and propped her up like this. He took a picture of her for me because he was very proud of himself. Looks like she enjoyed it.

Smiley girl:
Ok, lastly I have for you something I call "Video Fail". I tried to sneak up on Kate and get a video of her smiling at herself in a mirror. Instead I ended up surprising her and the video concludes with her spitting up on herself. Enjoy!

Snores and more

Moo fell asleep on K last night with her face smashed into his shoulder...that's her favorite position. Sometimes we worry about whether she can breathe ok like that, but last night she made it perfectly clear that she was breathing:




On another note, my baby is still cranky. She had two really awesome days (Sunday and Monday) when I thought we had made a breakthrough with the Zantac. Alas, Tuesday she went back to being cranky at night and by Wednesday she was back to being cranky during the day, too. I am starting to wonder if she is not having any serious issue at all and is just having normal baby fussies. I have read that the fuss peaks at around 6 weeks and then gets better from there. She will be 6 weeks on Monday, so if that is the case and this is as bad as it gets, I can definitely live with it. She is not inconsolable or miserable 100% of the time. I just wish I knew for sure that it wasn't something wrong - if I know that she is not uncomfortable or that something is really bothering her, then I am ok with consoling her when she just wants to grump at me.

I plan on giving her the weekend on the Zantac (it was a week yesterday since she's been on it) and then calling the doc on Monday to get their opinion. I don't want to keep her on the medicine if it isn't doing anything for her.

When she is not being cranky, she is really happy and able to show it. Her smiles are getting bigger, brighter, and more frequent. I can't get enough of it. :)

Professional pics

Well, we still don't have all of our professional pics back yet, but the photographer posted a couple on facebook for me. Enjoy!
This is just one my mom took of her that I thought was cute: