How Does She Breathe?

I have no idea how she can breathe when she puts her face straight down in the mattress - ?? She has always done this and it used to make me really nervous, but now there's nothing I can do since she rolls over on her tummy when she sleeps.

Kate has a tooth!

Kate's tooth finally broke through today!  It's just another sign that she is growing up faster than I realize.  I tried my best to take a picture but nothing really turned out. 

Still Sleeping

Sundays are always rough on Kate because it messes up her napping schedule.  Today, she only slept 20 minutes this morning on the way to church and 20 minutes while Justin and I were eating lunch so I was hoping she would take a couple hour nap this afternoon.  After we got home, I ran out to Verizon to swap my phone out for something low tech, was gone for 2 hours, and got back at 4pm to discover my little pea pod had still not taken a nap.  I got her down at 4:15 and she is still asleep now - at 9:45 pm.  I hope she's not getting sick.... 

Kate ended up sleeping from 4:15pm until 6 am (14 hours) - I guess she needed some extra beauty rest.

Here she is showing off the pretty bracelet Nancy made for her (Sterling's grandmother).  It's a stretch bracelet and a perfect fit for her tiny wrist. 

7 Months Old

Kate is now 7 months old - a little over half way to her first birthday.  We took our regular pictures with the Koala bear early Saturday morning before Kate went with Gigi and Grandaddy to spend the day with them.  

I was worn out after taking these pictures because this is how most of the pictures turned out:

Some of Kate's new things at 7 months old: she has tried green beans and carrots so far. Each time we try a new food it takes her a couple days to decide she likes it. She is sitting up great and prefers to sleep on her side now. There have been a couple nights she will wake me up because she has rolled over on her tummy - so I go downstairs and flip her over.  She is also starting to transition to formula at Mrs. Betsy's.  I wish I could have kept breastfeeding exclusively, but going back to work "full time" has made it difficult to maintain my supply.

  I can always get a big smile when I tell her to "shake it" or "boo". The teething ring has become her favorite toy right now and she still loves to look at books (they are great entertainment during church, especially the touch and feel ones). Speaking of teething - I'm thinking a tooth is going to break through any day. I don't think she is chewing or drooling any more than usual, but when you look at her bottom gum it looks like those teeth are just below the surface. That'll be fun trying to take a picture of that!

Saturday, Justin suggested we go fishing so I called my parents at the last minute to see if they would watch Kate.  When we were heading out of town, Justin's boss called to see if we wanted to take his boat out for the day but unfortunately we weren't able to take him up on the offer this time.  We didn't have any luck catching anything but I did get to see a porpoise feeding a couple feet away from us, which was neat.  Justin tried to tell me it was a shark but I wasn't that gullible. 

Grocery Shopping Just Got Easier

I'm not sure why I hadn't tried this before....

I usually avoid taking Kate with me to the grocery store.  Her car seat didn't fit in the upper part so I had to put the entire carrier in the cart, leaving no room for food, except underneath.  I also learned tonight that Kate doesn't need any toys to keep her entertained - just my shopping list.  I'm sure some people are gasping that I didn't use a shopping cart cover...I prefer not to mess with that, but I did wipe it down.

Sunday Afternoon at the Park

We just got back from Lake Lafayette Park in Piney Z...I never knew about it but Justin had checked it out after working in the area the last couple weeks.  We let Kate swing for a little bit and then headed to the lake so Justin could fish.

Although Justin didn't catch any fish (we weren't out there long), he did manage to save a turtle.  He noticed it had fishing line twisted around it's neck and worked several minutes to free the little guy.

He looks grateful, right?

New Phones and Dinner

Saturday, Justin and I became the proud owners of new phones (it was time for our 2 year renewal) after spending over TWO hours at the Verizon store. I never understand what takes so long - well part of it was my fault because I had no idea what to get.  Justin knew exactly what he wanted, the Casio "Rock" and I decided on the blackberry curve.  I looked at the Droid but decided it was too advanced for me - I need buttons instead of a touch screen.  The phone Justin picked out claims to be indestructible but I think it'll last 6 months at the most (and that would be a record for Justin who has had 11+ phones in the last couple of years).

After we left Verizon, we met Erik, Mary and Madelyn for dinner at Longhorn.  I was worried Kate would fall apart at dinner since she had done so good at Verizon, but she was wonderful, as usual.  

Catching Up on the Week

I can't believe it has almost been a week since I have posted anything!  Tuesday night, Kate and I had dinner with the girls (Jessica, Mailin and Rebekah) at Red Elephant, one of my favorites!

Sitting in the booth like a big girl...forget the highchair. 

Wednesday night, daddy had to work late so he wasn't able to go with us to Georgia Bell for the monthly devotional.  The first Wednesday night of each month, some of our church members go to Georgia Bell for a 30 minute devotional with the residents there.  Justin and I started going a couple months before Kate was born and have gone each month since (she has perfect attendance so far).  Mrs. Edna Mary is one of our favorite people at Georgia Bell and I know she loves seeing Kate each month.  This past Wednesday night, I took Kate's picture with Mrs. Edna Mary and Hill and Cherri Raines (the organizers of the monthly devos). 

Thursday afternoon Kate and I went for a walk when we got home - I know that's not very eventful, but I thought she looked cute so I had to post a picture.  It's so wonderful getting off of work at a decent hour and still having time to do little things, like take a walk around the neighborhood.

Kate's First Easter - Part 2

Although the day is not over, our Easter celebration is (and I'm worn out already).  We got up as usual and went to church where Kate wore her adorable Easter outfit Nanny gave her.

After church, we ran home to feed Kate her lunch (cereal and a bottle) and opened her Easter bag from Gigi and Granddaddy.  She got a new stuffed kitty cat blanket with her name embroidered on it, an Easter Hello Ms. Kitty, two Easter Little People toys, a new teething ring, an outfit and a swimsuit cover.  A sweet lady at church, Mrs. Marilyn, also gave Kate some bibs.                           

We then quickly packed some of Kate's new toys and headed to the University Club for Easter lunch.  We were invited by Katie's family (Jordan's girlfriend) to join them and it was fabulous!  The food was excellent and Kate even got to see the Easter Bunny for the first time and loved him.  She immediately grabbed his face and wiskers and just grinned (I expected her to cry but was pleasently surprised).

Sitting in the high chair like a big girl.

Kate with Jordan and Katie.

Kate with the Easter Bunny for the first time (I completely forgot to take her to the mall to get her picture taken - thank goodness he was at lunch!)

Kate did great considering she only took a 20 minute nap the entire day...she immediately feel asleep in the car on the way home.  Once we got home, I remembered to check the mail (sometimes I'm terrible about that) and read her Easter card from Nene and Pa and opened the gift Uncle Even, Aunt Melanie, Erin and Ryan sent her - her first big girl bible with her name on it.  I love it!  

Thank you everyone for a WONDERFUL Easter!

Kate's First Easter - Part 1

Tonight we went over to Mimi and Papa's house (Justin's parents) for Easter dinner!  My parents, grandmother, brother and his girlfriend Katie were all there too.  We had a huge dinner - ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, green beans, squash casserole, potato casserole, rolls, strawberry pie AND peanut butter custard pie and it was all fantastic.  Justin even gave Kate a taste of whip cream although I was not in favor of, but I know I can overreact over some things.  After dinner Kate opened her Easter bag (a basket wouldn't have held everything) and she got some wonderful things.  Not one, but THREE beautiful dresses, a stuffed bunny, disposable bibs, disposable placemats (too cute - I've never seen these before) and a sweet book that Justin read out loud.  Tomorrow we have a couple more things to open (and two bags are for Mommy and Daddy - I love that we're not too old for the "Easter Bunny", thanks mom and dad). 

Kate with Mimi and Papa (all three were wearing their pink)

All she needed was a spoon to keep her happy, forget the toys!

Kate's checking out all the gifts from Mimi and Papa - thanks Mimi and Papa!

Some of the other items Kate received this year was an egg from Nanny (actually the "prize egg" with $20), Gaga sent Kate a card with $10 and Justin's Aunt Mollie and Uncle Bill sent Kate a stuffed rabbit, a mini bunny book, and $5.  Here's what we have for tomorrow....

Poop Nightmare

Tonight we had our first poop nightmare with Kate - there was only one other time I have had a similar experience but it was nothing I couldn't handle on my own (especially since Justin was at work at the time). Tonight was different. I had a rough ride home with Kate - she was shrieking and whining the entire way home but I didn't think anything about it since she doesn't like being strapped down in the car seat. Justin grab her car seat from car and took her inside and I was busy unloading the car. I walked in the house just in time to hear the dreaded words "oh no" and watched him take her to the bathtub. I looked at her in the tub and saw bright yellow poop all over her outfit. I looked at the car seat and there was a generous pool of poop in the crease. It was a NIGHTMARE to get everything cleaned up. I hope that doesn't happen again (or at least not anytime soon). Poor baby. The one silver lining is that we know how to take the car seat apart now. Also, I have to give credit to the Grease Lightning (my favorite cleaning product). If it gets all the poop out of her blue dress, it deserves an award because that outfit appears to be the first one that is ruined (and it looked so good on her!).

In case you have ever wondered what a car seat looks like without the padded cover...

Justin soaked everything down with cleaner and then left to get us dinner, so I ended up bathing and dressing Kate, getting her fed and in bed, scrubbing the entire car seat, and starting the poop clothes/towels in the wash- I'm exhausted just thinking about it.