Never Again

While it did seem to fly by, it was a big relief to no longer be a metal mouth. I had braces for the SECOND time - that's right, I had them for 2.5 years in high school the first time. And then I got them June 25, 2008. Well, I got to celebrate this past Thanksgiving braces-free!! Here I am my last night with braces, and then just hours after getting them off. I will never ever have them again. Ever. Period. The only bad part is I really liked all the ladies in my orthodontist office, and my orthodontist was fabulous. Our bank account thanks me for being finished though :)

BFFs

Over Thanksgiving, I got together with some of my bestest friends from high school. We caught up on what's happening in each of our lives, ate some delicious brunch, and reminisced the old days. I am truly blessed to have such great friends from throughout the years. And I know no matter where we are, whenever we come together, it's like we haven't missed a beat. I am definitely one lucky girl.

Squeaky Clean

Bathing Baby K in her baby bathtub has become quite the challenge, so we decided it was time to just fill the big tub up a little bit and let her kick around in there. Needless to say, she absolutely loved it! She loves to kick and splash - it makes her even happier when she splashes mommy and daddy! I need to get a non-skid liner for the tub, as well as a guard to put over the water spout for when she starts sitting in the tub...I don't want her to hit her head on it! Another item I know exists and may look for is a chair to put in the bathtub so she can sit and play and not worry about slipping and falling. I wonder if her Bumbo seat would work in the tub - is worth a shot for sure! It might float though, which would make it a bit more difficult. Anyway, Baby K loves bathtime! It will be so fun to go swimming with her next summer!

Friends & Fun: My Birthday

The weekend after my birthday we got together with some of our friends to celebrate...a night out baby-free!! While I love spending time with Baby K, I do also love some time as a couple socializing with friends! We had a great time for sure...thanks to everyone that came!

After eating dinner

Me & the hubster

Hooray for great friends!

Happy Birthday to Me!

In playing catch up, the next big day was my birthday! The big 2-6. I was able to start the day by sleeping in - Brad worked from home and got up with Baby K, so that was great. That evening, we went to dinner with family at the the same restaurant Brad and I went to for our celebration last year! Brad got me the yummiest cake (it is always a must for each of our birthdays). I got the cutest apron, a gift card for a massage, and money to reimburse my account for clothes I had bought. I am such a lucky girl to be surrounded by such loving family!

Birthday celebration 2009

Birthday celebration 2008 - with Baby K in my belly!

I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

...I think I can! Catch up, that is! I have a lot to post about, including Baby K's first Turkey Day, visit with Santa, and modeling in front of the tree. For now, here are some oh-so-cute pictures. And stay tuned to read my "catch up" posts and keep up with us during the holidays!

It's hard to believe these pictures were taken almost a month ago! Where in the world does the time go!

Mommy Instinct

Well over the past couple of weeks, Baby K has experienced a stuffy nose, pain in her bottom gums (I only know this because sometimes when I would try to touch them to check for teeth, she would scream), unusual whininess, pulling at her ears, and sometimes refusing to eat her normal amount. The very first day she also had a low-grade fever, but it was gone within a couple hours and never returned. The stuffiness and ear-pulling was on and off. Some days she would eat perfectly and others she would eat about half the normal amount. I kept thinking she was just teething, but there are still no teeth. She would also switch which ear she would pull on, so I didn't think it was an infection or anything.

Well over the last couple of days she gets whinier in the afternoons and was more consistently messing with her right ear. This morning she didn't want anything to do with eating. So I called the pediatrician and they suggested we come in...our first "sick baby appointment". We left with a prescription for Amoxicillin - that's right - that yummy, bubble gum tasting gooey stuff. I absolutely love it - and I really hope Baby K does too! She has an ear infection in her right ear. I am so glad I trusted my mommy instincts!

Also, an added bonus...I wanted to see how much Baby K weighs now - at 7 months - a whopping 18 pounds!!!! Growing way too quickly...

Unbelievably Fast

As I was sitting there feeding Baby K her last bottle of the day before she went to bed, I was thinking. Where in the world did the time go - she turned 7 months old today. She is now army crawling all over the place. She loves baby food. She has developed even more sass and spunk. She does not want to lay down anymore - she tried to sit up all the time. She has the cutest laugh. I am anticipating the first tooth any day now. She is growing way too fast. So my thought was this: how do you balance savoring every moment while looking forward to each milestone and new experience. I remember thinking how much fun Baby K would have on her first Christmas. Here we are less than a month away from just that. It seems just like yesterday I was heading to the hospital to have her. It seems like just yesterday that I was completely worn out from being up every 2 hours at night. It seems just like yesterday we had to be careful with her head when carrying her because she couldn't hold it up on her own. She has blossomed right before our very eyes. I can't wait to see her explore and learn and grow, but I also want her to stay this sweet, snuggly baby girl. I can't wait for her to say, "I love you, Mommy," and begin walking. While this is true, I love that she relies on me and needs me. I know she will continue needing me forever, but it is just different right now.

I have loved every single second of being Sweet Pea's mommy and am trying my best to soak up every toothless grin, giggle, and even cry. When I am frustrated, I tell myself, "You're gonna miss this." I can't wait to see wake up each day and see what new discovery Baby K will have. I love watching her and seeing the expressions that tell me she is really trying to figure things out. We are so blessed and love her so much. We are so lucky to be able to have such a sweet baby girl. :) These first 7 months have been amazing and I can't wait to see what the next days and weeks and months hold for our family.

Puffs & Sippy Cups

About a week I decided to let Baby K try Gerber Puffs. She is able to do the pincer grasp with her binky, so I thought she may like trying to feed these snacks to herself. She did pretty well figuring it out and after a few of them, she really enjoyed the taste. I do not give them to her everyday...that will begin once she can really feed them to herself. Here she is showing me her new treat :)


That same day, she also got to try something else new - a sippy cup! At her 6 month appointment, her pediatrician suggested we put a little water in it and just let her play with it a little before actually trying to use it at all. I have only let her play with it a few times since then, but she automatically knows what to do with it - straight to the mouth! Granted at this point, everything goes to the mouth to chew on it and slobber on it, so I don't know whether she knew it was a cup or that is just her way of checking it out. When she played with it, she loved banging it on the tray of the highchair and chewing on the spout. Whenever I set it on her tray, she gets so excited and tries to drink the water. I'm hoping that this sippy cup play will help her be more inclined to actually use a sippy cup down the road and ease the transition from the bottle. Luckily, we have a little time before that needs to happen!!

Baby K's Dedication

So, I am still playing catch up on my posts, but I will get there! On November 8, 2009, Baby K was dedicated at our church. Since we belong to a large church, they have a parent-child dedication service on a Sunday afternoon. This particular day there were seventeen babies being dedicated! I certainly wondered how peaceful the service would be, and to my surprise, it was great. Baby K only cried a little because she got too hot in her dress. Brad had to take her out of the sanctuary and fluff her dress to get her some fresh air. It was a great afternoon and Baby K was surrounded by so many who love her. I look forward to watching her grow in her faith. Now for some pictures from the day....

Family picture

Sweet Pea with her great-grandparents...she is truly blessed to have 4 great-grandparents!

Baby K with Papa and Nanny

Four generations - I think this is the best one yet (I have one from the day Sweet Pea was born and Mother's Day also)

Baby K with her grandmothers - CeeCee and Grandma

Sitting with Uncle Will

Such a sweetheart - and she is wearing the dress I wore when I was baptised as a baby. So special.

6 Month Pictures

We had Baby K's 6 month pics taken the first weekend of November. There are some really cute ones!! We are using the same photographer for her 3, 6, 9, and 12 month pictures so that we can get a panel of one at each age. If you go HERE, you will see the post on the photographer's blog of some of her favorites. Also, if you are wanting to see how much she has grown, go HERE for her 3 month pictures. Now for making the decision of which 6 month pics to order. Hopefully I will decide in a timely fashion....I ordered her 3 month pics just about 3 weeks before her 6 month ones. OOPS!! :) Better late than never, right??

Our Little Spook

Well this was Baby K's first Halloween. While she is clearly too young to go trick or treating, she did dress up and help me hand candy out to all the little kiddos. She is so cute in her little costume - it even had a stinger sewn into the butt area! So cute. And she was such a good sport - I had her in that costume 3 different times!!! And what a lucky baby - Cee Cee, Uncle Will, Papa, Grandma, Great-Grandmother, Meme, Ruth, and Owen all got to see her dressed up! How special :) Enjoy a few of the many pictures I took (who is surprised??) of her!! :)

Absolutely bee-autiful :)

Sitting cute with the perfect size bag!

Isn't she so festive (and the cutest baby ever??)

Happy Half Birthday!

Well - this time 6 months ago I was exhausted and on cloud 9. That's right - Baby K was born just 6 months ago....and it seems like it was just yesterday. I remember it all so vividly. Now she is a whopping 16 pounds, 6 ounces (thank you formula and cereal!) and 25.25 inches in length. I am quite thankful she was nowhere near this weight or length when she was born :) She loves playing with her toes, smiles and giggles all the time, rolls both ways, tripod sits and is very close to independently sitting, and wants to hold her bottle. She is about to embark on the adventure that is baby food. She loves Elmo and her little cow toy. She has such a unique, precious personality. And she is so unbelievably loved.

We also need to locate a flu shot for Baby K, as well as H1N1 shots for all 3 of us. That is definitely moving to the top of my to-do list come Monday morning: call the local health department and ask how we can get these shots stat!! Stay tuned for up to date pictures...including Baby K dressed as the cutest bumble bee there ever was on Halloween :)

Gangsta Girl, Cooking, and Extra Smiles

Before going on a walk

I was breaking the ritz crackers for Poppyseed Chicken and she wanted to help

My sweet baby girl with a giant bow on

Oh So Girly

Since Baby K has lost most of her hair on top over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying different sized bows. I was able to use little hair clippies for a while, but she doesn't even have enough hair for those anymore!! Here are some examples of a smaller bow...and then a bigger bow! All of my friends I grew up with give me a hard time because my mom used to put bows on me that were as big as my head. Well, looks like I am passing it down to the next generation :) It is rather cute though!! And doesn't she look like a big girl sitting in the corners of chairs?? Wow...she needs to slow it down! I can hardly believe she is already 5 1/2 months old - my, how time flies!! I snuggle with her and hug her and kiss her as much as I can now because I know the time will come where she doesn't want to be held and definitely won't want to be hugged or kissed - in public at least :) She is so very loved and we are so very blessed!!