Thursday, March 29, 2012

Crawling!

What a milestone week we've had.  First, Kate started saying "mamamama" and now she's crawling.  Wow.  Before she started saying mama, she would open and close her mouth but no sounds would come out.  It was so funny, and it almost looked like she was trying to practice what she wanted to say.  I had to take a video of it.  Here's what I got...


After "practicing" for about a week, she started actually saying Mama!  How exciting.  Everyone said she'd say Dada first, but nope!  Lucky me.

And I've posted before about how she is so close to crawling but she actually figured it out tonight.  She doesn't have it down pat, but she is definitely moving!  Her motivation?  My iPhone.  Of course.


Guess we better get on top of that baby proofing for real now!  My baby is definitely learning some new skills!

Here are a couple of other cute pictures from earlier tonight...






Kate's Talkin'

Glad Kevin's on top of this blogging thing, because this week I am not!  Check out his new post about Kate talking here!

http://kevininsc.blogspot.com/2012/03/kates-first-word.html

Monday, March 26, 2012

Saturday Afternoon

On Saturday afternoon, Kevin got home from the youth fundraiser about 10 minutes after my parents left.  He was pretty tired from getting up super early and working outside most of the day, so he ended up taking a nap.  It was just SO nice outside so when Kate woke up from her nap, I decided to take her on a walk. 


She is definitely an outside girl.  If she is ever unhappy (which isn't THAT often), we can just take her outside and she just quits crying.  She's bumped her head a few times lately trying to learn to crawl and just losing her balance.  She'll scream like she's about to die, so of course I pick her up as quickly as possible and try to comfort her.  Nothing works til she realizes I'm reaching for the door knob and realizes I'm about to take her outside.  Then the tears dry up quickly.  So, I said all of that to say, she's an outside girl. :)  This is how she felt about her walk.


Anyway, we didn't go on a long walk because it is REALLY hilly where we live and it's not that easy to push Kate + her stroller.  We were gone for probably 30-45 minutes and when we got home, I decided to cut through our back yard.  We've got a ton of azaleas blooming in our back yard so I pulled the stroller up closely for Kate to see.  She was pretty amazed. 




And that was what was left of Saturday.  What a great day!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Birthdays Part 2

My mom, dad and sister came up for a visit on Saturday afternoon to celebrate my mom and sister's birthdays.  Kristi babysat for us Saturday morning while I went to work and Kevin helped with a youth fundraiser at our church.  My parents got to our house before I made it home and they got to spend a little quality time with Kate.  Once I got off work, I met them at our house.

They'd gotten Kate an Easter basket and wanted to go ahead and give it to her in case they don't see her again before Easter.  Kate loved it!



She sat in my lap while we went through her basket (ie- I kept her from eating all of the paper grass inside the basket). 


Kate's goodies from Gigi and Papa Rick!  She especially loves her books, and I've enjoyed reading them to her the last few nights. 


After all of the Easter basket festivities, my Mom and Kristi opened their birthday presents.  Then it was time for Miss Kate to eat lunch.  In hindsight, we should have waited because when we went to lunch (Panera), Kate was NOT a happy camper. She does not enjoy watching other people eat when she doesn't have something.  Toys don't satisfy either.  She wants FOOD.  I ended up taking her outside to walk around while everyone else ate, and then my mom traded off with me so I could eat.  Anybody have the same problem with their kids right now?  

Here are a few more pictures from the rest of the visit.





We got back from lunch and most everybody ended up taking a nap!  We spent a little more time visiting and then it was time for my parents to head home.  I have to say that I really enjoy it when they come up our way for a visit.

And that was MOST of our day on Saturday.  This post is already pretty long so I'll just have to do another one for the rest of our weekend.  Weekends go by so fast, don't they?  Only 3 more working-weekends left of busy season.  Counting them down!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Birthdays and Bathtime

Yesterday was my sister (Kristi's) 25th birthday and TODAY is my mom's birthday.  We're doing the whole family celebration thing tomorrow when my mom and dad come up for a visit, but Kristi just HAD to do something on her actual birthday.  So Kevin, Kate and I met Kristi and one of her friends (Julie) for dinner last night.  The weather was great, so we sat outside and my pesto chicken pita was oh-so-good.  Fun times.  Here is a picture of Kate with the birthday girl, and one with Julie! :)



We stayed in tonight and just did some housework, etc but I had to share a few pictures from bath time. This is another one of my favorite parts of the day.  I LOVE giving Kate her baths, and I think she LOVES it just as much.








Sorry for the lack of words and LOTS of pictures.  It's late, I'm tired, and I've got to get to work early in the morning.  Happy weekending!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

My Husband's New Blog

I made Kevin get his own blog.  :)  Well I didn't really MAKE him, but he did get his own blog.  I think I've said this before, but when I started this blog, I had every intention of this being OUR blog.  I thought I'd write some, and Kevin would write some, and together we would keep everybody up to date on our adoption.  Well, that didn't quite happen.  Kevin never posted anything, and that's fine because I've come to enjoy it.  I never expected that I would actually enjoy writing, but somehow I do.

Here lately, Kevin has written a few things and I told him that it was time for him to get his own blog.  So he did.  Coming up with the NAME was a little difficult.  The first one that he got had his first and last name in the address.  I wasn't a fan of that.  I don't really want to publicly tell people what our last name is.  For the same reason, I try not to make direct references to where we live on this blog either.  Other than the fact that we live in SC, I don't just TELL people where we live.  Now, I'm sure people can put "clues" together from all of my posts and comments and make a pretty accurate educated guess as to where we live, but I'm not going to make it easy.  So, I vetoed Kevin's first blog address and we came up with a pretty generic new one:  www.kevininsc.blogspot.com

So, go check it out and maybe even "follow" him.  I have to say that my blog is much prettier than his, but I'll cut him some slack since it's only about a week old and he's still playing around with everything.  He just wrote a new post today, so if you'd like to read it click here!

Sorry for a post with no pictures.  I'll be sure to remedy that tonight! :)

Oh and PS... Happy quarter-century birthday to my little sister, Kristi!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sad, Sad Day

It was a sad, sad day in our household tonight.  Why you ask?  Here's a hint.  Bet you can't guess....


I'm willing to bed that 99.9999% of people reading this won't guess what's different.  Well, I'll tell you. We had to lower Kate's crib tonight.  My baby is already growing up. Boo.

The past 2 days, when I've walked in her room to get her up from her naps, she's been sitting up in her crib just looking back at me.  And since she's so close to crawling, I know it's just a matter of time before she's pulling up, so I figured it's better to be safe than sorry.

Like I said, very sad day.  Just one of the many steps of growing up.





'Night, y'all!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Catching Up... Again!

Kate wore her hair in pigtails for the first time on Sunday, and this was the only picture that I got.  So, sorry for the blurriness, but since this whole blog is sort of like an online journal for me, I wanted to remember this day.  Not a big deal to anybody but me, but oh well. It was so cute!


And the reason that this is the only picture that I got was because of this...


After church we went to eat lunch with some family and friends, and Kate fell asleep on the ride home. She pretty much destroyed her cute hair-do so that was that.  This is actually the first time she's fallen asleep in this car seat and she didn't even wake up when I picked her up to carry her inside.  I have to say I enjoyed carrying my sleepy baby.


I'm up to 60+ hours at work but I'm trying my best to make it home by 6:30ish each day so I have about an hour and a half to spend with Kate.  We spent a good 30 minutes outside today when I got home.  I've said it once before and I'll say it again- Kate LOVES the outdoors.  She also LOVES our dogs Max and Cooper.  She will stare at them for the longest time.  When they run up to her she does what we call "hulking out".  She'll hold her arms up and just shake back and forth and smile really big.  So funny.

Then we came inside and it was dinner time.  I do have one disclaimer.  My child does wear clothes 99% of the time.  The last two blog posts (including this one) have just had pictures of a diaper-clad baby.  This is a coincidence.  Tonight, I changed her diaper and since it was about to be dinner time (ie-messy), I decided to forgo the clothes.  The crawling pictures in Saturday's post were taken right before we put on her pajamas.



Check out those chunky thighs. :)  Oh, and is this a common baby thing?  Kate is obsessed with our cell phones and laptops.  Not sure what it is but if there were 15 of the most awesome toys right in front of her and my cell phone was sitting there, she would go for my cell phone.  Same thing with the computer.  I was holding her and walked into the living room.  Kevin was sitting on the couch and his laptop was on a table near him.  Kate leaned over and we THOUGHT she was leaning toward him until we realized she wasn't.  She was leaning over toward the computer.  Maybe it was the screensaver that had her so enthralled.  Who knows.  By the way, there is actually NOTHING entertaining on the screen in any of these pictures.  No video or anything actually meant to keep her entertained.  Like I said, who knows what she likes about it.




And when Kate asks for her own iPhone, this is what Kevin's going to say... (Just listen to the first minute.)


And that's what we've been up to.  Happy Monday, everyone!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Almost Mobile

My girl is this close to crawling, and I know once she figures it out we'll enter a whole new world of parenting.  She can push up and get into the crawling position.  For the past few days she's just been doing the whole rocking back and forth thing, but last night and today she's been moving her knees back and forth and even TRYING to put her hands forward.  She's a little more adventuresome when she's on our bed.  After a few bumps on the floor, I think she realizes that the softness of the bed will cushion any falls.  Regardless, I think we'll have ourselves a full-fledged crawler on our hands within the next few weeks!


And of course, Happy St. Patrick's day!  I bought a cute little St. Patty's onesie for Kate to wear a few months ago.  At the time I was thinking the weather would require a long sleeved shirt and really didn't forsee it being 80+ degrees in mid-March.  But since it WAS 80+ degrees in mid-March, the long sleeved St. Patrick's day onesie stayed in the closet, and the summery stuff came out.  It's definitely lime green, even though the pictures look a little yellow.






Practicing her push ups!  Her Daddy is so proud. :) 


Happy weekend, everyone!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Kevin's "Guest" Post

I joke with Kevin about this being set up as our blog, and then it really became my blog because he never ended up posting anything to it.  Honestly, I don't think he even knows the password to get in to post anything if he even wanted to.  Anyway, he told me tonight that if he had a blog, this is what he'd write.  So I told him to email it to me and I'd post it on mine.  So here goes...

As you attempt to spread the Gospel, don’t promise people STUFF for following Jesus – health, wealth, vanishing problems, or, actual STUFF! Don’t lure people with STUFF to follow Jesus. He never did. He never did. In the Gospels you never see Jesus promising ANYTHING to ANYBODY to get them to follow Him. For following Him, He promised us TROUBLE and DEATH. The trouble comes from others. The death has to be self-inflicted.

Luke 9:23-24 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. (NLT)

A cross is an instrument of DEATH, and when we take up our cross daily, we DIE TO SELF DAILY.

It’s wisely been said, “What you win them with, you win them to.” So, win them with Jesus - Jesus as revealed in the Bible, not some “Jesus” that a human has concocted. We have a simple job as Christians when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission. (Notice that I didn’t say fulfilling it is simple.) Our job is SIMPLY to present Jesus and to let people make their own decision. We are not to beg or coerce anyone to surrender to Jesus. Anything we can talk a person into, someone else can talk them out of.

Don’t try to get people to surrender to Jesus out of FEAR OF HELL, or for BLESSINGS IN THIS LIFE, or for anything else other than LOVE for Jesus. A person might THINK about Jesus because she’s scared of the alternative, but her fear has to result in LOVE FOR JESUS. A person might THINK about Jesus because he’s got mountains of problems and he’s tried everything else, but his desperation has to result in LOVE FOR JESUS. Otherwise, people just come to Jesus for what they can get. They don’t die to self.

Just because you see some METHOD in a book or from a church, it doesn’t mean it’s BIBLICAL. Go to the only true source – the Bible - for your method, not some man. Don’t let a MAN, no matter how honored, praised, quoted, admired, watched, listened to, read . . . by people be your SOURCE. See, humans are very influenced by numbers, popularity, charisma, “results,” etc., but the presence of ANY OF THOSE THINGS doesn’t automatically signify that it’s a work of God. God can use anything for His glory, GOOD or BAD. And unfortunately, God has to use a lot BAD 21ST CENTURY CHURCH STUFF for His glory. It’s scary to think about the state of Christianity in America today, but it’s EVEN SCARIER to think about the state of Christianity in America a couple generations from now. Can it GET any more SELF-FOCUSED (instead of, uh, JESUS FOCUSED!!!)? Yes. Just watch.

You may ask, “How can you say that? You’re JUDGING!” Read Matthew 7 and not just verse 1. Read the entire New Testament. Christians, are CALLED to Judge. Judging isn’t the same thing as JUDGMENTALISM. We’re supposed to call right right and wrong wrong. We’re supposed to defend truth and oppose sin. That requires judgment.

And here’s a bit of wisdom for anyone feeling called to some type of pastoral ministry:

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV)

That’s right. Pastoral ministry requires PREPARATION. From people who are smarter than you. From people wiser than you. From people you may have a hard time understanding – at first. Jesus trained His disciples for 3 years. Paul spent several years in training before he became history’s greatest missionary – and he already had more education than any of us will ever sniff at. I spent most of the years from 1993-2010 in formal Bible education – 4 years full-time, the rest part-time. I was single all but 3 of those years, so I used my time and money for education. That’s not to say that everyone has to have FORMAL EDUCATION for ministry, BUT PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T DISCOUNT IT. If you don’t have the money for formal education, do a little research and find out the curriculum of a Bible college degree and start reading those books on your own. Ask older, wiser ministers for help and seek one out to mentor you. Christian ministry isn’t reading the latest book and implementing what it says. Christian ministry depends on a correct understanding of Biblical BASICS, as well as DEEPER BIBLICAL TRUTHS.

If a person attempts to serve in a pastoral position without training, they’ll likely depend on human ideas, experiences, and opinions instead of Biblical truth – simply because they don’t have a good grasp of Biblical truth. And they’ll be prone to major errors. Teachers are held to a higher standard than other Christians (James 3:1). We’re accountable for what we teach – now and in eternity.

Notice, I didn’t say a Christian pastor has to get a FORMAL Bible education. BUT HE BETTER GET A BIBLE EDUCATION. Just because I play church softball, it doesn’t mean I’m qualified to go manage the Braves.


One Down, One to Go!

I'm sure most of you have NO idea what that title is all about, but us tax accountants, we know.  While individuals and partnerships have until April 15th (which for this year is actually April 17th), the due date for corporations and s-corporations is March 15th.  Thankfully, we're now past the FIRST due date of this busy season. :)

I'm counting down the days til my busy season is OVER.  After working the last 8 Saturdays, we're down to just 5 more.  You can count that on one hand, people.  There are only 27 days left and then I'll get to spend so much more time with this sweet little face.


I'm loving the time change.  I got home and it was still light outside, so I took Kate out to the back porch. This is the first time I've let her sit in our chair all by herself and she LOVED it.  It's a glider, and she figured out if she rocked back and forth, it would move.  That kept her entertained for a while!


And I moved around to the outside of the chair and showed her how to look through the cracks and THAT kept her entertained for a while more. :)




Yes, I am so ready for busy season to be over.  I'm so ready for a vacation.  Maybe, the beach?  I bought Kate a bathing suit a while back and all of this thinking about vacation made me wonder if I even bought the right size.  So what's a girl to do?  Of course we had to play a little dress up.  


It fits perfectly, and definitely has some room for her to grow over the summer.  One thing my girl is good at is growing! 


27 more days.... 27 more days... 27 more days! 


tmb

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Follow on Bloglovin
Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

tmb banner





 




 
Designed by Munchkin Land Designs • Copyright 2014 • All Rights Reserved