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!

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!

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! 

Happy Seven Month Birthday!

Kate is 7 months old!  Yesterday, to be exact.  I'm just a day late in posting this.  It seems like I was writing her 6 month post just 2 minutes ago and now here we are, one month later!  A lot of the reason I'm writing these monthly posts is for ME to be able to remember what she's doing developmentally, and of course so that I can remember how much of her personality is starting to come out.  And let me tell you, it is definitely starting to come out!  Kate went to the doctor for her 6 month well-check just this week (we're a little behind) so I've got the most up to date stats!  Here they are...

As of this past Tuesday, Kate was:
29 inches long (which puts her in the 100th percentile!)
19 lbs 7.5 oz (which puts her in the 89th percentile)
17 1/2 inch head circumference (90th percentile)

Yeah, she's big.  I'm thinking there is a high definite possibility that Kate's gonna be taller than me.  It doesn't take much to beat 5' 1/2" tall!

So far she's tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, yellow squash, carrots, peas, bananas, green beans, peaches, and apple sauce.  She wasn't a fan of the carrots, peas or green beans at first but if you mix in a bit of apple sauce, she'll eat anything!  Her daddy has also given her "tastes" of some non-mommy approved foods- a starburst, chocolate chip pizza, and a tiny bite of a baked potato (mashed up of course).

Her first tooth popped through while Kevin and I were sick with food poisoning.  The second tooth was only about a week behind.  Both teeth are on the bottom.  No top teeth yet but I'm sure they're not far off.

Kate's still sleeping like a champ.  Luckily the whole teething thing has not thrown her sleeping schedule off (yet).  Her normal bedtime is around 8 pm and definitely by 8:30.  She usually sleeps until about 7 or 7:30 am and wakes up HUNGRY.  She doesn't have much patience for her morning bottle!  I love sneaking into her room to check on her before we go to bed.  She looks so sweet sleeping on her tummy, with her knees tucked under her and her little bottom stuck up in the air.

She's still wearing 9 month clothing and even some 12 month clothing.  I'm really having to learn how different clothing brands run.  In the Carter's brand, 9 months clothing fit her PERFECTLY.  In Circo (Target's brand), 12 months fit her perfectly.  I feel like the head opening on Circo clothes are kinda small.  Forget Gerber.  They run WAY small.  She probably wears a 24m in their clothing!  Children's Place clothing runs a little small, in my opinion.  I hate it when people say "true to size" about certain baby clothes brands.  I mean, there isn't such a thing.  

She is definitely a laid back, easy going baby, and for that Kevin and I are TRULY thankful.  We often get comments from people at church, or family, who say they've never even heard her cry.  Honestly, she doesn't cry that often.  I'm not saying she never cries, because when she's unhappy she definitely lets us know.  Here lately, she's figured out what crying gets her so she uses it to her advantage.  She's a very social baby.  If she's not getting your attention, she'll probably let you know.

She was in a good mood for her 7 month pictures, so we got some cute smiles.  Here they are....

Did you catch those two little teeth in that last picture?  I definitely do realize how much she's changed in the past 7 months when I think back on it, but it is fun/shocking to look back at a picture from each month.  My memories don't do the changes justice.  I think about her as the size and look that she is NOW.  It is hard to remember how little she was in picture #1.  That was 10+ pounds ago. Wow!

Happy 7 month birthday, little girl! You are such a blessing and we love you so much!

Best Part of the Day

Bedtime!  To be more exact, right BEFORE bedtime.  It is such a great part of my day.  Not because Kate's going to sleep though.  It's such a great time because usually she's so relaxed, usually still in a good mood, and we get to snuggle just a little. :)  And of course, there's story time.  10 points for anyone who can name this book!  I think the 4th picture really gives it away.

My FAVORITE part of bedtime stories, besides the snuggling, is that Kate loves to look at the pictures and then turn all the way around and look up at me while I'm reading.  Yep, definitely the best part of this day.

A Cutie & A Recipe

I FINALLY tried out a new recipe.  I actually did this one last week, but I'm just getting around to putting it on here.  Has anybody ever heard of Chex Dog Food or Rice Krispie Puppy Chow?  Well, this is a similar but different recipe.  It was really easy and a fun snack or treat.  I'm posting it here, and on my recipe blog.  If you don't care to read the recipe (and I wouldn't unless I was going to MAKE it), scroll all the way to the bottom for a cute video of Kate!

Here's what you'll need: 

5 cups Chex cereal (I used Rice Chex, but Corn Chex would work great!)

10 oz (5 squares) vanilla flavored Almond Bark

1 1/2 cups Funfetti cake mix (any kind of cake mix would work)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vegetable shortening (not pictured)

How to make it: 

1. Melt Almond Bark according to the package directions, adding vegetable shortening to thin (I heard that you can make it without the shortening, but it worked great for me to use it).

2. Place your chex mix in one large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix the cake mix and the powdered sugar. 

3. Pour the cereal into a large bowl and drizzle the melted Almond Bark over the cereal. Mix gently with a large spoon or spatula.

4. Dump the cake mix and powdered sugar onto the cereal and mix gently with large spoon until all the cereal is evenly coated.  It just looks like a big messy blob at this point.

 

5.  But it's a big TASTY messy blob.  Enjoy!

Just because I wanted to share this, here is a video of Kate from this past Sunday.  She is SUCH a happy baby, and I love seeing her smile and laugh every day!  

Weekending!

Wow. What a week.  My hours at work have been pushed up to 60+ so I've been trying to get into the office each day earlier and earlier.  Even so, I had to work most of the day on Saturday, so I feel like I have to guard every moment of Kate-time that I get. Here's a little re-cap of the past few days...

On Friday, Kevin and I went to Bertolo's for dinner.  We fed Kate when we got there, before our food came out.  Apparently that wasn't enough for her because she was reaching for my Chicken Parmesan, with her mouth wide open, for the entire dinner.  We ordered a small chocolate chip pizza for dessert, as we do every time we go to Bertolo's.  Kevin decided to let Kate "try" a little bit and gave her the tiniest taste of a chocolate chip.  Somehow it ended up more on her face than in her mouth.  Don't let this picture fool you.  You'd think she didn't like the chocolate chip, but she's actually just upset that we wouldn't give her more!

I spent most of the day Saturday at work, but definitely got to spend some quality family time once I got home.  I also spent some time doing this...

Have I mentioned that I love our Baby Bullet? Haha. I stocked up the freezer on some sweet potatoes, and my intentions were to make a batch of green beans tonight but that didn't quite work out.

Kate's gotten pretty good at holding her bottle herself, but she likes to be lazy.  If she can get YOU to hold her bottle for her, she'd rather do that.  She's also been quite inventive on finding ways to prop her bottle.  While I was cooking and pureeing the sweet potatoes, she was doing this with her bottle...

And here are some more cute pictures from this weekend....