i ♥ faces: Sweet Dreams

This week's theme @ i ♥ faces is "Sweet Dreams." Having had my daughter in January of this year, I have many newborn sweet sleepy pictures, but I decided to do something a little different this time around.

She was fresh out of the bath and fell asleep in the chair. Oh how I miss her being this little already. I can't believe I am planning her very 1st birthday party. Where does the time go?

Be sure to check out the other "Sweet Dreams" photos for this week!

Photo Challenge - We ♥ Tooshies!

This week's theme @ i ♥ faces is "Tooshies." Who can resist a baby's tooshie? The only tough part about this week's theme is that it had to be a covered tooshie. I found this picture of Katelyn that I took a couple of weeks ago. Oh, how she loves to stand at that door. And she's at that age where getting her dressed ends in tears for everyone involved so the diaper cover was as far as we got. Check out that "rat-tail" she's been growing since before she was born. She's bringing the 80s back all on her own ;)



Go check out the other cute tooshies this week!

Pumpkins, Photo Shoots, Tantrums, Oh My!

Wow, how about an update? Katelyn turned 10 months this past weekend. She is no longer an infant and is moving right into toddler town.

Here's a recap of the past month:

• Katelyn had a great time carving pumpkins and dressing up for her FIRST Halloween.
  
• She made it into the top 20 of Central Florida's Most Huggable Baby Contest (like we needed a contest to know this...haha)
• She claps up a storm and knows when to "pat it" when we sing "Pat-a-Cake"
• She pulls up on anything and everything including the cat.
• She says kitty when she sees the cat. It sounds more like "Keeeeee-tea"
• She is finally saying Mama but still doesn't have a clue who the heck I am ;)
• She will stand on her own for 15 seconds before she falls on her butt.
• She only gives Mama kisses and not Dada. I secretly believe this is payback for Dada being so thrilled that she said "Dada" before "Mama." Oh, that karma. :)
• She had her first real photo shoot for the contest mentioned above. She was quite the professional. The magazine comes out on 12/2! Mama will be getting many copies :)
• She pushes her little Tonka push toy all around the house until she either runs into the wall or some other object.
• She waves like a champ. She moves her little fingers up and down, and it's completely adorable.
  
• She waved at the jello the other day at the grocery store. Guess we need to work on that ;)
• The tantrums have started early. She can easily turn on the waterworks when something is taken away from her. "No" is not her favorite word.
• I'm still amazed everyday that I get to be her Mom. She makes me want to have 3 more. Okay, so maybe just one more.
  

Katelyn @ 9 Months

Example of tantrum. She's still pretty cute though :)

Please vote for Katelyn!

Thanks for voting everyone! It looks like she is moving on to Round Two! YAYAYAYAY!

Photo Challenge - Excited!

This week's theme @ i ♥ faces is "Excited." I immediately thought of the following photo of Katelyn at her cousin's 4th birthday party. It was a princess themed event.

8 Months Today!

My Katie-bear turned 8 months today. She is such a joy, and I am amazed by her sweetness. Ok, she isn't perfect but who is? That's the beauty of nature - it makes you forget those late nights when they will not stop crying. Besides who wants to read about that? It's so much more fun to talk about her cute giggle or the sweet way she snuggles into your neck. Ah, sometimes at night I don't want her to go to sleep because I just want to snuggle and admire her cuteness.

People keep telling me what a great baby she is so I guess I must be doing something right. I am sure it has more to do with her than me. We got really lucky with her - and we know and appreciate it everyday.

There's a First Time for Everything

Katelyn went to the park for the first time today. It was just our community tot lot but it has baby swings, which aren't always so easy to come by. She absolutely L-O-V-E-D it! She didn't quit smiling the whole time we were there. We didn't stay for too long because it was hotter than hot, and I thought it was a good idea to dress the little one in jeans. Who knew it could be so hot @ 10:00 am? YUCK!

I have officially failed at posting everyday. I am at least posting more often so that has to count for something, right? School is going okay. I basically have until December 15th to complete my assignments which is pretty cool. I get to work as far as ahead as I want. Not sure if I will be taking any classes in the Spring. I don't feel I am on the right path. I need to feel that going back to school is the right thing for me. However, something feels a little off. Why is life so difficult?

Until next time...

Happening too fast

Everything is happening way too fast. I turn around and Katelyn is doing something new. She says Dada like a champ even though she doesn't really know what she is saying. Yes, that's what I tell myself so that I feel better. ;) She recently learned to clap which I find to be AAAA-mazing! I know, I'm THAT Mom! The mom that finds every little thing to be such an accomplishment. It is neat to see her watching us do things and try to do them too. Then when she finally "gets it" it is just the best feeling. :) Oh, now when I break out the camera to take pictures she tries to peek around the camera to look at me. AWW! It may be the cutest damn thing I have ever seen. Or if the laptop is between her and I she does the same thing. It really is sweet. And I officially have the baby fever. I sooo want another child. Not anytime soon or anything but definitely would like to add to the family in the next few years.

Is it possible that perfection could be duplicated? One can only hope :)

Happy? Labor Day

Or is it Merry Labor Day? HA! I had hopes of getting to the gym but that didn't happen. I haven't been feeling well so working out has been a challenge. Lukas, Katelyn, my mom, and I went to lunch at my favorite place - Chilis! This marked Katelyn's first time sitting in a restaurant high chair! I think she enjoyed it much more than sitting in her silly old car seat. After lunch Katelyn went home for a nap, and my mom and I headed to Jo-Ann's to look around for materials to make Katelyn's Halloween costume. I spent a good 40 minutes wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles of Jo-Ann's picking up random things and putting them back on the shelf. It was fun, really. So in the end, I have decided to BUY Katelyn's costume this year. I know, I am a horrible mom! After it was all said and done, it was going to cost more to make it then to buy it and honestly, I was too overwhelmed. I am also too much of a perfectionist to just throw a costume together so the project was a disaster in the making. Perhaps, I will know how to sew by next Halloween. Yeah, probably not but it was a nice thought. Now that Halloween is settled, I need to start planning her 1st birthday party! I think I want to have it somewhere but have no idea where. Any ideas? Is it too cold to have it outside? Maybe. Dang, the next baby will be born in April!

The loveliness that is an extended weekend.

Lukas took Friday off so we had a 4-day weekend and it was quite nice to have the extra help with the little monkey. We headed down to West Palm to see Luke's family on Friday. Katelyn did really well this time around with her naps and sleeping at night. We didn't even bother bringing the pack n play this time since she will NEVER sleep in it. So we skipped the middle man and just put her in bed with us and it worked out well aside from the numerous times I was hit in the head or she needed her binky. Katelyn had so much fun spending time with her Aunt Natalie, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Dave, Me-Ma, and Grandpa. It is obvious how much she is loved. We headed home Saturday evening in hopes of getting some projects done around the house the next 2 days. Yeah, right! Oh well, guess there is always next weekend. Oh, we were almost home when we had a minor incident involving road rage and the Target parking lot. Oh, boys will be boys.

The white flag is waving

Okay, I missed posting last night. I really am okay with that. Katelyn started getting a runny nose on Sunday night (as I posted about) and it just kept getting worse. To the point that she had a fever over 100 on Monday morning. I really wanted to wait it out and see how she did on Monday but thought maybe I should at least call the doctor. Well, I was fully expecting them to just tell me to give her some tylenol and watch her and to call back if she got worse. WRONG! The nurse said the magic words, "well, you might want to bring her in with everything going around...you know, swine flu." What the hell was I supposed to say to that? So off to the doctor we went. The nurse made it seem like I should bring her in, then the doctor is looking at me and his eyes are saying "Aw, first time mom." ARGH! To top it all off, Katelyn didn't even have a fever when we got there. I have heard that children will take every opportunity to make their parents look stupid and so it begins. I loved spending $25 on absolutely nothing! I know, I know, better to be safe than sorry. I should've just listened to my mommy instinct.

The day went from bad to worse rather quickly. Daddy went to put Katelyn to bed and all I could hear upstairs was my poor baby screaming her head off. She was crying the "Mama, please help me. Something is wrong" cry. I wanted to cry too. The problem was that she was so completely stuffed up that she could no longer breathe through her nose. Not such a big deal but to a baby who loves to go to sleep with her binky it spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. It was freaking her out that she couldn't breathe and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. So, I sat with her in the steamed up bathroom while Daddy went to get some Vick's Baby Rub. Amazing stuff! I wish I would have known, I could have had some on-hand for situations like this.

The only positive to all this is that she has been taking 2 hour naps during the day. ah, I sometimes miss the newborn stage. I'm hoping this will get her on some type of napping schedule. Eh, I know, pipe dreams!

Until next time...

So it begins..

Tomorrow starts another semester of college. Yeah, you heard me right, I'm going back to college because the tens of thousands that I am already paying back isn't nearly enough. I am thinking about becoming a nurse. I say "thinking" because...well, I'm not sure. I do feel like accounting isn't for me though. I knew it about halfway through my graduate program, but I'm not a quitter so I wasted more money just so I could say "I didn't quit." What? Yeah, don't try to figure me out. I originally wanted to be a nurse but fell into the accounting thing because I LOVE numbers and it seemed easy enough. Both are still true but wow, it is boooooring! I am only taking one class this semester just to feel things out. I hope to discover what I really want to do with my life. I may end up having to suck it up and stick with the accounting gig. We shall see.

In other news, Katelyn is teething up a storm, and I noticed she started having a runny nose today. It's possible it is from the teething. Oh, I sure do hope so. With all the piggy flu craziness, I really would rather her avoid any sort of sickness. She seems to have a pretty awesome immune system since she has only had one cold in the 7 months she's been on the outside. Guess I'll see how she is tomorrow. My worst fear is that I won't know she is sick. Hopefully, that mommy intuition will let me know when it is something serious :)

Night folks!

Day 4...I think.

Gosh, this is only Day 4 of posting, and I am already struggling. I try to think of something throughout the day to write about but by the time I get the time I am either too tired or have nothing to write about.

Nothing too eventful going on this weekend, and I like it! Today was spent doing the usual errands and grocery shopping. Now I am off to read some more of my book before I fall asleep.

Night!

Then and Now

I thought it might be fun to compare pictures of Katelyn when she was first born to now at 7 months. I recently came across the pictures that were taken in the hospital and couldn't believe just how MUCH my little baby had changed. Oh and apparently, I had a tanning bed in my belly.

Here she is at 3 days old - her first "professional" photo. I apologize for the photo quality but I had to actually take a picture of the picture since I do not have a scanner:





And here she is today - a diva in training. Oh, and pasty white just like her mom:

I almost forgot!

Well, I did forget but with modern technology I can back date this entry. Is that cheating? Yeah, but I can't break the streak on Day 3. That would make me the biggest loser of all time.

Not only is Katelyn getting her first tooth but there is another one coming in right next to it. She's been pretty fussy and sleep?? What's that? In another cruel twist that is life, I have discovered that babies, who have all the time in the world, refuse to sleep most often because they are afraid they will miss out on something. The cruel twist comes in because as we get older sleep is something that we covet and wish for and never get enough of because who has the time?. As children, we want to hurry and grow up and as adults we long for the carefree days of youth. Why can't we just live in the moment and BE HAPPY? People who can do this amaze me. I have my moments, but I often find myself looking into the past or trying to plan my future. I hardly ever just live in the present. We need to do all three, but life is all about balance. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

Until tomorrow...

Lookie, Lookie

I am sure most of you have already seen this on Facebook, but it's official, Miss Katelyn has her first tooth! It's the beginning of the end. My little girl is growing up. She isn't quite crawling yet, but she does the scooting backwards and likes to dive bomb on things from a sitting position. We have been frequenting the local library once a week for story time. I really can't say enough about the library and their programs. I only hope that the county doesn't do too much damage with all these budget cuts they are proposing. Moving on - Katelyn seems to really enjoy our weekly visits. I think she is in awe of the story teller because she sits pretty still and stares at him or her. It isn't until story time is over that she starts talking up a storm and waving her arms around like a crazy person. Oh, and I think she definitely prefers women to men, but who can blame her? ;)


Day 2 post - done!

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

So, apparently August was NaBlaPoMo. I can't believe I missed it! Oh, you don't know what NaBlaPoMo is?? National Blog Posting Month, of course. Yeah, I had no idea either so don't feel bad. The idea is that you post everyday for a month so that blogging becomes more of a habit. Wow, that sounds like something I should give a try since my posts happen on average once a quarter. In theory, posting everyday seems like a cool idea but in actuality probably not so cool and more on the boring side. My days are pretty much the same - make bottle, feed Katelyn, change Katelyn, fight with Katelyn to take a nap - wash, lather, rinse, repeat. Yeah, the stay at home gig is not nearly as glamorous as I dreamed it in my head as I sat in my little cubicle at my job with my swollen feet trying to get through year-end closing of the books without going into labor. Okay, my point is that who would want to read about my life EVERYDAY for 30 days in a row?? Hmmm, it might be fun. I'll never know unless I try, right? Yep!

The Bedtime Giggles

The Slacker Update

Yep, that's me, the slacker. I can't believe that I have let this much time pass without updating. I'm guessing it has to do with that I keep everyone pretty updated through Facebook. I know that there are some of you who are not regulars of Facebook so I will try harder to post more often.

Katelyn turned 5 months on 6/21 and her 6th month birthday is quickly approaching on 7/21. Can anyone believe that she is almost 6 months old? I look forward to getting her 6 month photos taken. Since professional photos are so darn expensive, we decided to only do them at 6 months and then maybe once a year after that. My sweet little baby is almost half a year old! There are still some days I can't believe that she is mine. After everything I went through health-wise in 2007, it is an absolute miracle that Katelyn is here and completely healthy. Or maybe it is more of a miracle that as I sit here today my biggest complaint is doing the laundry or figuring out what to make for dinner. I feel so fortunate and try to remind myself of these things when some days life seems just a little too much.

Katelyn is reaching all of her milestones. She can now roll over both ways (tummy to back and back to tummy). It seems though once she accomplishes something she isn't too interested in doing it anymore. She just moves on to the next thing. She also is sitting up like a champ. If I sit her on a blanket, she will sit there for quite awhile before she topples over, which will sometimes get a chuckle from her and Mama. She can even give kisses now! If you open your mouth, she will open hers up wide and slobber all over you. It is a little gross but completely adorable at the same time.

I am posting a video of Katelyn in one of her "crazy" moods which seem to happen much more frequently these days. The title "When Wild Monkeys Attack" says it all, trust me!

Until next time...

And here's the happy baby....

An update and then some...

Sorry to the few of you that keep up with this thing. I've been slacking on the weekly updates. Officially, Katelyn turned 2 months on Saturday the 21st, but she turned 8 weeks last Wednesday. Yeah, it's about as confusing as the whole 9 month pregnancy that really lasts for about 10 months.

I have started to pack up little monkey's newborn clothes as she is getting entirely too long for them. Katie is growing so fast - too fast! I get overwhelmed sometimes because I don't want to miss a single moment of her sweet life. She had her 2 month check up on Thursday and received her first set of vaccines. Poor baby had to have 5 shots, but she took it like a champ. She gets that from me, of course. haha. She weighed in at a healthy 10 lbs. 10 oz and was 21 inches long. Katie is still a little peanut according to all the charts but absolutely perfect to me.



I took this one on the way to her first garage sale at Nana's. She doesn't care much for Mama, I guess. I don't know what it is about that finger.

Katelyn loves her swing!

Katelyn rolls over @ 7 weeks!

Katelyn's Birthday - Our first video

Finally, I am posting the video of Katelyn taken the day she was born. I tried to do this once before on my old PC laptop - did not work at all. On my new MacBook it was easy :) Enjoy!

Target + coffee + sleeping baby = a happy Mama!

Today Katie turned 6 weeks. After her morning ba-ba, Katie and I headed off to Target. I needed some supplies to ship out my eBay auctions, and monkey needed a dress to wear to Aunt Stephanie's wedding in April. Oh, have I mentioned how much I love eBay? I sold a maternity shirt for more than I paid for it! Back to my story, Katie was on her best baby behavior and dozed for most of the trip. Some random lady chatted with me about babies. The weirdest part is that she only came down the aisle when she saw Katie. Not sure that I would do that. No, I KNOW I wouldn't do that.

Here is monkey's 6-week pictures...

Another week...

Another week has gone by and Katie will be 5 weeks tomorrow. I know I keep repeating myself but time is just flying by. She seems to be changing by the minute. Now when she looks at me, I can tell that she's starting to put it all together. It is so amazing to watch her grow, but I keep telling her to slow down just a little for Mama. She is not listening.

Katie may have some visitors this weekend other than the usual suspects. Hopefully, Luke's family will make it up for a long overdue visit. They haven't seen the little monkey since we got home from the hospital. Here are some pictures from today. Everyone says that she looks a lot like me in the second picture. I am still having a hard time seeing it. You be the judge.

Katie turns 4 weeks old!

Katelyn is 4 weeks old today.

In the last couple of weeks she's become more aware of what's going on and she is getting bigger (also eating more). She also likes to give Dad a hard time about going to sleep - something that she doesn't do so much for Mom. Don't ask me why.

I love the time I get to spend with her each night when I come from work - she always wakes up around dinner time for her evening bottle and says hi to Dad. Yes, life has changed and it's definitely for the better.

Here are a couple of cute pictures that Steph took of her today.

We did it!

So I survived my first week alone with Katelyn. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as I had made it out in my mind. More importantly though, Katelyn survived her first week alone with me. I can't believe she is already 3 weeks old. Where does the time go? Today we baked a cake for Lukas for Valentine's Day. Well, I baked the cake and Katie-poo sat in her bouncer seat and watched. I love that she is awake more during the day. She just hangs out and takes everything in. I am such a lucky girl - I have two Valentines this year.



Katelyn - 3 weeks old

First Day ALONE...

So, tomorrow will be my first day completely on my own with Katelyn, and I am terrified! I am sure it will be fine because she really is the most perfect baby. Not that I am biased at all. I just find it scary and a little overwhelming that I am 100% responsible for another human life! We will see how it goes.

In other news, Katelyn had her first real bath this morning in her awesome bath tub. It is perfect because the water is constantly flowing through it so she never gets cold. She actually slept through the whole thing. She only got upset as I took her out of the water but calmed down once she was wrapped up in a towel. I love that little monkey.

Here are some pictures that I took of her and I.

Katelyn - Two weeks old

Katie going nighty night with her wild monkey hair. Mommy is so happy to be home with her baby.

Katelyn - One week old

The beautiful baby has arrived

On January 21 @ 1:53 pm, Katelyn Grace entered the world and she was not shy about telling us how unhappy that made her. The doctor held her up over the curtain so I could get my first peek at my beautiful daughter. As they were pulling her back, she grabbed onto that curtain - almost taking it down. The operating room erupted with laughter as they had never seen a baby do something like that. She is a fiesty little thing, and I am sure Luke would say she gets that from me. She has a full head of dark brown hair and is the most precious thing I have ever seen. Mommy and Daddy are completely in love with her. Recovery from the c-section has been more difficult than I had anticipated. However, I have the most amazing husband in the world (for today - haha), and he has been taking great care of his girls.

Latest preggo pics....

This picture was taken at approximately 30 weeks - still not looking very pregnant.

Here I am @ exactly 38 weeks - looking much more pregnant finally.

Wow, I'm going to be a dad...

I'm sitting on my couch on the last Saturday over the last weekend that my wife and I will spend not being parents (feeling a mix of emotions combined with a slight head cold - wonderful time it picked to show up). In just 4 short days, our lives will change forever and a little girl will soon know us as Mom and Dad.

It's hard to believe - seems like not too long ago I was a kid myself. It's amazing how much your perspective on life and how you as a person can change in 10 years. 10 years ago I was 18 - and even though I thought I wasn't a kid anymore - I still kind of was. All I cared about was music and cars - going out with my friends - and my biggest concern was what I was going to do on a Friday or Saturday night. I lived with my parents - didn't have to worry about things like mortgages, power bills, cable bills, life insurance, and a 401K.

Now, I'm 28 - married to my lovely wife - own a home - work for a great company (I love what I do even though there are days my head hurts and wonder why I ever wanted to own the responsibility of an entire software product). And to that list of grown up things I do now - I am about to add parenting.

To say I'm not nervous - I would be lying to you. Sure, I'm not anywhere near as nervous as I was 9 months ago - but there's still many things for me to learn. There's also many new things for me to think about. All of the sudden - the lessons of life taught to me by parents seem more real than ever. Also, all the concerns they had that I never understood as a child and teenager - seem much more real and much more valid than I once thought.

Yes - all I can think as I sit on my couch is wow, I'm going to be a dad...

5 days and counting...

At my regularly scheduled doctor's appointment on Monday I was informed that a c-section was in order for me. I hadn't even considered that this might happen. The doctor told me that my pelvis is entirely too small for the baby to have any hope of making it out that way. So, I am scheduled to be sliced open on Wednesday (1/21) @ 12 pm. I am hoping that the recovery is not as horrible as I am imagining. I am trying to focus on the fact that I get to meet my daughter on Wednesday. I am beyond excited and pretty scared at the same time.