Come Meet Baby Kate!

While I was in Austin, my mom hosted a "Come Meet Baby Kate" party. It would've been impossible for us to get around to everyone, so was really nice to be able to stay home and have everyone come meet her! We had about 25 visitors, & of course all of them thought she was fantastic.

My Uncle Coleman "Bubba" & Aunt Jeanne

One of my mom's close friends - Kathy Spade

Nana & Connor

Kate smiling at Carla

My cousin - John

Grandmommy with all of her great-grandchildren

There were a few people who weren't able to make it to the party, but still wanted to meet Kate, so we met up with them throughout the week.

Susan Cox & Liz Wilson came over to Cole & Kristin's to meet Kate on Wednesday.

Pop & Saundra - my mom's Dad & his wife
Kristin & Connor joined us on Friday afternoon to visit.

Pop & Connor playing on the floor

On Friday night, we stopped by Grandmommy's to say goodbye, and Betty stopped by with Richard & Cara.

My Aunt Betty - mom's sister-in-law

2 of my cousins - Richard & Cara

Cousins

One of my favorite parts of this trip was that I got to hang out with my brother, sister-in-law, & ADORABLE nephew Connor a lot! Last time I saw Connor was when Kate was born, and I wasn't allowed to pick him up/play with him then, so I was really looking forward to playing! He is getting so big & doing so many fun things. I am so thankful that I had the time to spend with him.

Connor was sweet enough to stay out past his bed time & skip naps to hang out with us!

Connor just got 2 new teeth & he loves to lay his tongue on them! I love it!

One of the things we did while we were there was to have the cousins' picture made. They did GREAT! Kristin and I fully expected to walk out with a picture of us with the kids, because we didn't know how they were going to pose a 1 1/2 month old and a 7 1/2 month old together. The lady who took their pictures did a great job, and we ended up with a lot of cute ones. Kate wasn't her usual smiley self - I think the flash scared her. Connor was fantastic - and didn't even try to grab Kate once! We're looking forward to continuing to have their pictures made together as they get older. Here are some of the pictures from their photo shoot!

Road Trip!

This past week, Kate had her first road trip. David got to go to Las Vegas for a business trip (the National Builder's Conference), which he asked my Dad to join him on, so Kate and I made the trip to Austin.

We left Longview on Tuesday morning, she slept all the way to Dallas, where we dropped David at the airport. I fed her in Dallas, then headed down I-35. She made it all the way to Temple before she decided she was both hungry and done with the car. This worked out well, since my grandmother was bringing my mom to meet me in Temple, so that I would have someone to ride with me the rest of the way. (And, let's just be honest she couldn't stand not coming as soon as she could to see Kate!)

Our trip to Austin was crazy - but fun - everyone was dying to meet baby Kate. We hung out at my parents house, had a "Come Meet Kate" party, visited Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, shopped, etc. We also had Kate & Connor's pictures made, but all those things will have to wait for another post - we're headed to the doctor for my six-week check up.

Kate and her cousin Connor

For now, I'll leave you with some pictures from our trip.

4 generations - My mom, my grandfather (her dad), Me, & Kate

Kristin, Cole, Me & our kids

4 generations - My grandmother (mom's mom), me, Kate & my Mom

Girl's got some hair!

Not that we're suprised, considering both of her parents have got a serious head of hair. When we were both born, neither one of us had any hair though. Kate's hair is much thicker in the back than it is in the front...and it is some CRAZY hair. She has David's double cowlicks (yes i googled how to spell that word!). They spin in opposite directions on the top of her head - leaving her with hair like this after a bath. It takes at least 24 hours and lots of smoothing out by Mom to get that hair to lay down.

We've also started noticing a reddish tint to her hair. If you just look at her, you wouldn't see it - it just looks light brown - but check out this picture with her hair next to mine. Who knows if this will be the hair she ends up with - or if it'll fall out - but it's pretty for now :)

*please excuse the double-chin. not so cute ;)*

Stats

We just got home from the doctor's office. Our little Kate is a growing girl!

Here are her stats:
Birth: 8lbs 12oz 21 in
5 days: 7lbs 13 oz
2 weeks: 8lbs 6 oz

Today, at a month old, she weighed exactly 9 pounds. That is only in the 42nd percentile. She is 22 1/2 inches long though - in the 92nd percentile! A long and skinny little girl! (she gets that from her dad, too!) I hope for her that it'll last :)

Happy One Month Kate!

Our baby girl is already a month old. I can't believe it. This month has gone oh so much faster than that last month of waiting for her to get here! I stole the idea from the top from my sister-in-law. She takes a picture of my nephew each month sitting in the chair to show how much he's grown. Kate looks so tiny in it - but it won't be long til she's filling it up like he is!

In the last few days Kate has continued to become even more interactive. We love trying to get her to smile!

She is also "talking" more and more - especially to her Daddy! Each day when he comes home she is ready to smile and talk to him.

She is becoming a much better sleeper. She is going down much easier & staying asleep longer - usually 4 hours at a time - which is making for a happy mommy :)! Hopefully it'll last!!

During the day she loves to kick, stretch, and move her arms all around. She will still play by herself - just isn't interested in doing anything for too long - always needing something new to do (she gets that from her dad!).

I think we've finally mastered the bath time! No more screams :) I'm convinced it's because it's warmer now that she can sit down in the water.

Tomorrow, we go for her 4 week check up, so I'll let you know her new stats!

All around, she is a wonderful baby. We can't imagine life without her.

Three Weeks

We can't believe that Kate is more than 3 weeks old. She's quickly getting to the one month mark. This past week has been great.

Here are some new facts from the week:

--Kate had gotten into a little habit of not wanting to sleep in her bed, but with my mom & David's help, we got her back in there!

--She loves to cuddle, but is also comfortable "playing" by herself after eating.

--Kate is lifting her head more and more. She seems to have great control.

--She's smiling at us more and more. I know some people think it's too early - but I promise - it really happens. Even a lady in the store saw her do it!

--We've had more fun visitors!

Connor & Kristin Wilson

--She loves to coo & "talk" to us - especially in the mornings.

--She is not a fan of bath time. Today was her first real bath, instead of a sponge bath, and that seemed to be better - but she's still not sure. I think it goes with her hating to be cold.

I'll finish up with a couple pictures from this week...

As this fourth week starts, we're starting to settle into our real life. Ever since Kate's been born, it's been a whirlwind of company, Christmas, New Year's, etc. so it seems like we're just now getting to real life - whatever that may look like!

They told me...

...that being a mom would be the most selfless job I'd ever had.

I am sure I haven't even had a small taste of what this will be in my life, but I am so thankful for the example I have been given. I am 27 years old, and mom is still an amazing example of what it means to sacrifice for her children.

She has let me sleep until it was time to feed Kate, and sacrificed sleep herself.

She has kept her while I ran to the store.

She has sat with me while I nursed at 4:14 in the morning.

She brought me water in the middle of the night while I nursed.

She babysat so David and I could go on a date.

She stayed up in the night, even though she had to go back to work.

I didn't do the dishes once while she was here.

She changed MANY dirty diapers!

She dressed Kate.

She assured me I was doing a good job when I wasn't sure.

She cleaned up after dinner.

She took down all my Christmas stuff - AND put it away!

She reminded me to take naps.

She loved Kate as much as I do (almost!)

She laughed with me when no one else would've.

She prays for Kate and for me.

The list goes on and on, but I am sure you can already see how amazing my mom has been. Thank you Nana for loving us so much! See you in 16 days!

P.S. For those of you demanding more pictures - I've returned from my blogging break - so check back soon!!