You can have your cake....

...and eat it too.

More birthday posts to come!

12 Month Stats

Went for Kate's 12 month/1 year appointment. She did great as usual. I had taken her in the week before for a cold thing - didn't want her to get the other kids sick at her party - just a cold, nothing big...but she had weighed in at 24 pounds! That would be 4 pounds in 3 months. Normal when a newborn - NOT normal at this age! I was shocked! I was pleased when I found out these were her stats:

Height: 30 inches (78%)

Weight: 22.6 lbs (74%) - much more on track!

She took her shots like a champ as usual! Doc said she looked great & was developing right along schedule. Was thrilled she had already dropped the bottle & had moved to whole milk without much fuss. We're supposed to drop a milk feeding - same amount just only 3 feedings. I'll do this someday :)

Happy 12 Months Kate!

Kate...how old are you??

This Month Kate...

--started taking steps (4 at a time)

--calls MaMa by name when wants something

--starting to say more things - repeating especially

--signs more - please, more, eat, & all done

--fake laughs when she hears someone else laughing

--dances EVEN MORE

--sleeping schedule is the same (wonder how long I can hang onto that!)

I'm sure I've forgotten some since it took me so long to write this...but this latest month has been very eventful, so look forward to Kate's 13 month post!

Today...

I'm sitting here, it's 12:48 at night, and I'm remembering that right at a year ago right now, I was about to get my epidural. I had labored through some serious hours of contractions & David finally convinced me that I just needed to get some sleep if I was going to be able to push in a few hours.

All day long, I've been thinking what was happening a year ago today.

12:30 pm - I went in for a 40+ week appointment
1:15 - they hooked me up to a monitor to check Kate's heart rate, and realized it wasn't changing with my contractions (this was from 3+ days of hard contractions that weren't close enough to call "active labor" pphh)
2:30 - Doc told me to go home, get my stuff, & go to the hospital. I was in labor & it was time to have this baby!
3:30 - checked into hospital
8ish - my parents got to town
10ish - contractions got REAL hard & I really started having to work through them. In some strange way I really enjoyed this. I loved knowing that my baby was coming & that my body was working to get her there.
1ish -got my epidural
lots of not sleeping, lots of beeping of machines
4ish - I begged for my epidural to be turned down. I hated the way it felt.
6:30 - Dr. Martin came in to explain that Kate's heartrate had now gone above the level it was supposed to & it wasn't coming down (again, too long with too many contractions). I thought we were just discussing that a c-section was possible, but by the end of the conversation, I was being prepped for surgery. I had to face the fear I had felt most of my pregnancy. But, it was ok, a healthy baby was all I wanted. I cried, but I was just so ready to meet her.
7:20 on Friday, December 12th, Kathryn Elizabeth Mitchell was born. All 8 lbs and 12 ounces of her (doesn't seem like much to the 24 pounds she is today!). She changed my world.

This year has been amazing. I have loved EVERY MINUTE of it. Some of it has been so hard. I cried more over this child (& I'm sure there's much more to come!) than I knew possible. In joy, in saddness, in frustration, and in love. So much of it has been so fun...both of us laughing so hard with each other, and playing as a family. And a lot of it has been so sweet - cuddling, reading books, kisses, & watching her with her daddy.

I just can't believe this day is here. Today, my baby is turning one. I plan on soaking as much of her up as I can. I know I'll blink & she'll be in college. But, today she's...

A year ago today...

...was my DUE DATE. That magical day they tell you your baby is SUPPOSED to come.

MINE. DIDN'T. Not for 3 more days.

Today, I've been thinking about what it was like a year ago today...

--I walked Wal-Mart trying desperately to get this baby to COME OUT!





--I started having hard contractions. Yes, every five minutes sometimes, but also every 20 sometimes.





--I looked like THIS:
Seriously. It's a good thing she was only 3 days late. I might have blown up.

A visit with Santa

We had a fairly sucessful first visit with Santa. Last year, Kate was way too little to visit Santa (just 2 weeks old at Christmas!), so this really feels like her first Christmas for me. She definitely cried at first with Santa. We have quite a humorous picture of the cousins (Connor & Kate) both screaming in Santa's lap, but Kate ended up pulling it together & I got suckered to buy the expensive pictures...

...but she sure is cute :)

Christmas Tree Farm

After a wonderful Thanksgiving at my parents house, we ended our time there by going to a christmas tree farm in Elgin, TX on our way out of town. Cole, Kristin & Connor were able to come, so it was a family affair!

Growing up, we did this every year, so it was fun to go back and do again. A little tougher with kids who just want to run around, but couldn't, but still a lot of fun.

When we first got there, we got to check out the animals at the little "farm".

Then, we headed out on the hayride to find a tree.

It was a little windy...

I don't think these two can get any cuter...

Of course we attempted some cute cousin pictures.

Connor showing some love to his cousin (or pushing her down...whatever!)

After lots of walking around & searching, we finally found the perfect tree.
Dad cut it down...

and Connor drug it in.

After all the tree hunting was done, mom & dad tried to get a picture for their christmas card...


...have I mentioned how hard it is to get a good picture of an 11 & 18 month old together?? At least dad was smiling :)

We got some decent ones individually...

And Cole's family got a good picture.

Us? It's ok...

After eating some yummy bar-b-que, we headed back to East Texas. It was so nice to be in Austin for over a week - a chance to relax, but it sure is good to be home.

Lots of changes happening around our house as Kate's 1-year birthday approaches. Hopefully I'll get to blog about all that soon!!! (this one only took me 3 days to finish!)