Finished!

YAY!  Tax day is officially here and over.  I'm sure you're all sick of reading about it, and I'm glad that it's over.  After this post there will be no more talk of busy season... until 2013.  What am I looking forward to now that the long hours are over? I think a bulleted list will be easiest.

• Spending time with my husband and daughter have got to be the #1 thing I'm looking forward to.
• More REAL dinners and less take out and skillet meals.  I'm so sick of chicken fingers and french fries.  No more fried foods, please!
• Saturdays. Enough said on that one!
• Getting to see Kate in the mornings.  Before busy season, I'd get up with her and give her a bottle before I went into work.  I LOVED that time.  But during busy season, I'd try to get to work by 6:30 or 7 am, and Kate doesn't wake up til 7:30. So, Kevin's been feeding her in the mornings.  I'm so looking forward to getting back to a normal morning schedule!
• I'm also looking forward to a long weekend in Savannah, GA this weekend!  Neither Kevin nor I have ever been so I'm sure we'll do some of the more touristy things. 
• Sunshine.  I've done a pretty good job of getting home before it's dark but I haven't exactly had a whole lot of daylight time in the evenings.  Actually having the time to take Kate on a walk instead of coming in from work and rushing through dinner, bath time, story and bed is going to be GREAT.  And maybe Kevin and I will get to eat dinner before 9pm. :)
• Sleeping in. I'm sure some of you think that is crazy talk with a 8 month old, but believe me, sleeping til 7 or 7:30 is going to be sleeping in for me!
• Reading.  One of my favorite hobbies, but I just haven't had time to do it lately!
• Using my Christmas/Birthday present from Kevin! I really want to learn to do embroidery with my new sewing machine.  I did have one attempt at it before busy season really began, but never got a chance to learn much before all my spare time was gone.  I'm so excited to give this another try!

 Okay there is so much more that I am thankful for now that busy season is over, but I'll stop with those. And if anybody thinks that I'm crazy for working in public accounting, maybe I am!  But I AM thankful for a job that I enjoy (even if there are long hours at times), and working with GREAT people who I also consider good friends.  If it weren't for the great people, I don't think anyone would survive in public accounting.  So with all that said, I'll share some more of Kate's 8 month OUTDOOR photo shoot!

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

I am behind on this post, but I blame it on my work schedule.  I am SO so excited that yesterday was my last working Saturday of busy season 2012.  I am pretty sure Kevin is just as excited.  He told me today there was no way he'd cut it as a stay at home mom, which is pretty good since the "Mom" part would be kind of difficult to pull off.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a post about Kate's 8 month birthday!  Kate turned 8 months old on April 8th.  She is growing like a weed and changing so much.  I feel like she's going through a big developmental growth spurt.

She's crawling so much better.  It's still a funny little crawl because she refuses to put her right knee on the ground.  She uses her right foot to kind of propel herself along.  It gets her where she wants to go though!

Kate's trying to pull up on everything.  While she crawls to get her where she wants to go, she would much rather be standing up.  She thinks she can stand by herself so after you stand her up, she pushes your hands away from her.  She's gotten to where she really can balance by herself for more than just a few seconds.  If you hold her hands, she tries to walk on her tip toes.

She's cutting her 3rd tooth.  We thought the 3rd would come in on the top since she already has her two bottom teeth, but it's another bottom tooth!  Just like last time, she's drooling like crazy. She REALLY wants our food.  She's definitely showing an interest in solid foods.

Around her 7 month birthday she got what we thought would be her first cold, but it didn't really turn into anything.  Just a pink nose and the sniffles.  Well, the week before Easter she really got her first cold.  She was miserable, we were miserable, and my mom had to come up to help us.  In the middle of my crazy work schedule, it was hard to deal with a baby who had a fever, could barely breathe, and was up all night.  Thank goodness for grandparents.  My mom was a huge help.  

I could probably write more, but I'll stop for now and share a few pictures.  Its getting harder and harder to get a few good pictures of her.  She's getting so mobile and into EVERYTHING!  This was what I was able to get of our indoor photo-shoot!

Since it was so difficult to get one decent picture inside, I took Kate outside to see if that helped.  It did, so I have a ton more pictures to share later.  Don't want to over load this post though, so I'll save them for tomorrow.  Here's a quick look back at Kate's first 8 months!  Is this even the same kid?  I can't get over how much shes' changed.

 

Last Saturday of Busy Season

The end of busy season is in sight!  YAY!  If only Monday wasn't some Washington DC holiday, we'd be finished a day sooner.  But, tax day will be here April 17th and then busy season will be officially O-V-E-R.  :) 

I had to work all day while Kevin was home with Kate.  I'm pretty sure that Kevin is just as ready for busy season to be over as I am!  After I got home, we went to Five Guys for a quick dinner.  The puffs kept Kate happy again.  We've found the secret to eating dinner out... for now! 

I ran into Old Navy since it is right near Five Guys and I had a coupon.  Tried on a bathing suit, but didn't have any luck so I got Kate a few things for really cheap.  We had plans to go to Walmart to look for a cushion/pad for our fireplace because right now it looks like this...

But we just went home because it was getting close to Kate's bedtime, she was starting to get fussy, and we'd already woken her up from her nap a little early anyway.  After her bath, we had a little play time in her room before bed. Here's my happy baby.  She is getting into EVERYTHING!

Happy weekend!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I am terrible at doing this every week, but I'm going to go for it anyway.  The first thing that I'm loving today is the fact that April 17th is less than a week away!  Just a few more days, and I'll have a life outside of work again!   

I'm taking next Thursday and Friday off.  Kevin and I are taking Kate and heading to Savannah, GA for a few days of relaxation and fun.  I can't wait!  My first full weekend in about 3 months, and I get to spend it in such a pretty place.  We're planning on getting in the pool at our hotel, and it will be Kate's first pool encounter.  Since she enjoys her baths so much, we THINK she'll like it but I guess we will have to see!  I think I will be the happiest person alive to see April 17th get here.  Well, at least as happy as all of those other CPA's out there doing taxes.  

I'm also loving these puffs by Happy Baby.  We just let Kate try them a few days ago and she LOVED them.  I know she eventually has to start eating more solid foods and less purees, but I'm a little nervous about it.  The great thing about these things is that they melt in her mouth, but they're sold enough to teach her to chew.  She's tried the banana flavored ones so far, and I even tried one myself.  I have to say, I didn't taste any bananas at all.  Kate didn't seem to mind.  

The past few months, we've had a hard time going out to eat with Kate.  I know that's pretty normal but the problem was, Kate wanted to eat if we were eating.  So we'd usually have to bring a jar of baby food and feed her as we were eating, otherwise it was not pretty.  Last night we went to a local pizza place with my sister and a friend, and brought these along for Kate.  They were great.  They kept her occupied and happy, and we got to eat in peace.  Success.

I love (and hate) the fact that Kate is crawling better and better every day, starting to pull up by herself, and almost standing on her own.  It's so much fun to watch her learn, grow and accomplish things on her own.  She gets so proud of herself and I love to see her face when she's realized what she's done all by herself (like standing).   At the same time, it's also sad to watch her pass right through each stage of development.  Kate was 8 months old yesterday, and I am a little behind on my monthly update.  I'll try to have that posted within the next few days.  Here are a few pictures from tonight of her standing. 

And there is so much more that I am thankful for, including sleep.  So on that note, I think that's what I'll go be thankful for in this moment.  Happy Wednesday!

Kevin's Blog on "Kate & the Boys"

Kevin wrote a cute post about Kate and our "boys", Max & Cooper.  He also got a GREAT video of Kate playing with them, but I'll have to upload it tomorrow since it's just about my bed time.  Go check out his post!

http://kevininsc.blogspot.com/2012/04/kate-and-boys.html

Easter

Happy Easter! I am SO behind on going through pictures, but here are a few from Kate's first Easter.  We had a great day.   We went to church Sunday morning and then came home after church.  We had planned to go over to Kevin's brother's house for lunch, but Kate fell asleep in the car on the way home and then took a 3 hr nap.  Since she hadn't been feeling well, we just let her sleep and ate leftovers for lunch.  

We let her sleep in her car seat Saturday night because her cold is still causing her to have trouble breathing.  We let her take her nap in her car seat too.  

Due to Kate's increasing mobility, it's getting harder and harder to get pictures. :) If she can move, she will move.  I tried to get a few of her in her cute Easter outfit that my grandmother sent.  I do have a few other pictures, but haven't had a chance to go through them, so these will have to do for now.  

When she FINALLY woke up, we gave her her Easter basket.  Just to see what she'd do, I put Kate in the middle of the rug and then put the Easter basket on the outside of the rug.  It was probably 8 feet away from her.  She crawled all the way over.

And she LOVED everything in her basket.  I wish I'd taken a picture of it before she'd demolished it.  I recycled the basket that my Mom and Dad gave her a few weeks ago.  I had another basket, but everything just fit in this one a little better.  We gave her a stuffed labrador retriever (in honor of Max and Cooper), a few bath squirters, a couple of Easter board books, and because she loves our iPhones so much, we gave her an iPhone cover that's made especially for babies.  It's by Fisher Price and locks the home screen so that Kate can't make any phone calls and it's completely slobber-proof!  First Easter basket = success!

I've especially loved reading the Easter books to Kate the past few nights.  I pray that Kevin and I will do a good job of teaching her what it means to love and trust Jesus with your life, and that one day she will make that decision for herself.  I hope that Easter will be a celebration of eternal life and thanksgiving, and not a candy, toys, and bunnies kind of holiday.

I think her little book says it best:

Easter means much more than that. It's all about God's son.
See, God sent Jesus down to earth to die for everyone.
He had to die upon a tree to save us from our sin.
But he was only dead three days, and then he rose again.
Now, that's what Easter really means!
It's quite a special day.
Jesus our Savior rose again.
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
Today, he sits right next to God in Heaven up above.
He wants to live inside you too, and fill you up with love!

Hope you all had a happy Easter celebrating God's love!

Sick Baby = Sleepy Mommy

Kate caught her first cold right around her 7 month birthday.  It really wasn't bad at all- just a red little nose and a little bit of the sniffles.  In 4 days she'll turn 8 months old and she's really gotten sick for the first time, with what we think is a cold.  Let me just say, it's not fun.  Here is the littlest patient. 

She was fine all day Wednesday but I decided to stay home from church with her Wednesday evening. She hadn't slept well all day (but didn't show signs of a cold) and was just a bit fussy.  By the time Kevin got home from church, you could tell she was sick.  It hit her all at once.  For the first time since she was 11-12 weeks old, she did NOT sleep through the night.  Not even close.  We lost count of how many times she woke up.  She pretty much sleeps with a paci, and since she was so stuffy she couldn't suck on the paci and breathe through her nose.  She just couldn't get comfortable.  So she didn't sleep.  We checked her temperature and it was normal. 

 She woke up for good on Thursday about 5am and I took her temperature. 101 degrees.  Great.  I figured it can't be a cold because normally you don't get fevers with colds.  So instead of heading into work early, I stuck around to call the doctor's office when they opened. 

Just a little bit of venting here, but why don't doctor's offices open until 8:30 am?  That seems late to me.  8am would have been MUCH more convenient, especially since I called AT 8:30 and got a receptionist who then said I would have to wait to let the nurse call me back.  

Anyway, Kate's never been to the doctor for a sick visit, but they didn't want me to bring her in.  Apparently for a baby, having a fever with a cold isn't that uncommon.  Guess I'll remember that for next time. 

I still had to go to work, but left a little bit early to come home and take care of Kate.  We also had some grandma-help, so that's been great.  Dealing with a sick baby is tough.  Dealing with a sick baby, plus trying to get in enough hours at work (me), plus trying to get everything ready for the Easter service at church (Kevin), plus all the NORMAL day to day stuff (laundry, meals, etc) is craziness.  So we're thankful for help.  

Kate has cried more in the past 2 nights than she has in a LONG time.  Last night she slept in her car seat because she can breathe so much better when she's sitting up instead of laying down.  Also, her appetite is almost completely gone.  I had trouble getting her to eat any solids, but she'll still take her bottle.  That's how you KNOWN she's sick.  She has never declined food before.  

That's not to say my happy baby is completely gone though.  When she's awake, she's pretty happy.  It's the going to sleep part that she's so uncomfortable with.   Here are a few pictures of my HAPPY sick baby. 

Baby Kate, please feel better tomorrow.  Here's to hoping you (and your Daddy and I) will get a little more sleep tonight.  

 

'Night, y'all!

Oh wait... I almost forgot.  I wanted to post this earlier today, but obviously didn't have time.  There really is no segue into this, so sorry about the total change in subjects.  Every year I think about this video/sermon on this day (Good Friday).  Last year I posted the words to this on my Facebook account, and now that I have a blog, I can share the actual video.  So good and so meaningful.  I hope this day is just as important to you as it is to me!  It's Friday, but Sunday's coming and oh how special is Sunday.