Darling Diva

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, but I just love it. Where in the world do her expressions come from!? She really is our darling little diva...

11 Months (A Little Late)

Well, at this point, it is really more like "11.5 Months"...better late than never, right?? I can hardly believe my teeny tiny baby girl is about to be ONE! I was just looking at pictures from Easter this year (a future post, don't worry) and then compared to me on Easter last year...WOW! I was enormous! After all, I did have a human being taking up residence in my belly! Every day is an adventure for Katie and I love being able to watch her grow and learn. She is so entertaining and precious. She has the best disposition - even when she gets made, her expressions and noises make me laugh. What a blessing she is to our whole family! Here are this month's stats...

Diaper size: We switched to Size 4 just a day or so after she was officially 11 months.
Clothes: She is very solidly in 12 months clothes and actually may begin the transition into 18 month clothes! Items from Old Navy or Gap tend to run smaller (at least they do to me), so she is already in 12-18 month clothes from those stores.
Food: She is eating 3 solid meals a day with an occasional snack. About a week into being 11 months old, we started the transition to milk. At this point, when she has a bottle, it is about 30% formula, 70% milk. Which brings me to yet another transition - the sippy cup. I introduced it to her at around 6 months so she could get comfortable with it and know that she can drink out of it. Just over the last few days have I noticed her actually drinking out of it whenever it is at her mouth. She is still getting the hang of the fact that you have to "turn it up" to get the liquid to come to the spout, but she will get it!
Talking: She is making more and more noise, for sure! I am not sure there are any new words in her vocabulary though she is starting to copy what we say. When we read books and point at different objects, she is beginning to mimic.
Crawling: She's a pro.
Pulling Up: Also a pro at this.
Walking: She will walk very quickly as long as she's holding on to our fingers. She cruises around very quickly too! She is wanting to walk because she will get up behind her little toy and try to go everywhere. She runs when she's in her walker. Actually, she took her FIRST STEP on Monday. It was just one, but you have to start somewhere! I think she will just take off anyday now!
Sleeping: Sleeps like a champ! I love that she entertains herself in the mornings - she will sit and play with her sleepsack or lovey until we come in there!
Teeth: She still has just those 2 teeth on the bottom with one cutting through. Another bottom one feels like it should cut through anyday now, and my Mom said that it feels like a top one is about to cut through! I love that you can see her bottom teeth in pictures now!
Other: She has figured out how to open drawers and cabinets (we already babyproofed the dangerous ones!) and loves to explore. She can now reach the doorknobs but hasn't figured out how to actually open then (thank goodness!). She loves books - whenever she's on the floor, she crawls over to the basket of her toys we have out and grabs all the books out and looks at you like, "Come on and read them to me!". When I get her out of the crib each morning, she is so excited. She slaps me (not too hard - more like a love pat) and jumps in my arms like she missed me through the night. She loves her daddy and lights up when he gets home from work! She loves to go outside and throw frisbee with Sadie. She gets so excited when Sadie runs back with the frisbee.

Here are some pictures of our sweet baby girl...

There are those teeth!

I love how her eyes twinkle when she smiles

"Mommy, stop taking pictures and get me outta here!"

She LOVES to swing - and I love that she will do it for hours if we'd let her!

Walking around with Daddy at a birthday party - she's so big!

Mixed Emotions

So...as I type this, I should really be in bed. You see, I am getting up at the crack of dawn - well, really BEFORE the crack of dawn. I am SO excited ... I am going to Florida to help one of my college roommates celebrate her wedding day! The only downside - I am leaving Brad and Sweet Pea at home. That's right...it turned into a Girl's Trip! Our other roommate and I are leaving on a plane at 8:15 and will land in The Sunshine State just before lunchtime - no husbands...no dogs...no baby (just mine - she doesn't have kids yet). While I am really looking forward to all of the festivities, I know I will miss my little girl more than words can begin to say. I will only be gone for about 76 hours...and I will be having fun (bachelorette party, yoga on the beach, nails, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, getting ready for the wedding, the wedding itself, and the reception). And this way, we save some money, too. And the headache of packing up half the house to travel with a baby. And I get to have fun with my girls. And Brad gets some Daddy-Daughter time :)

And a final note...Katie, please do not take your first steps until Mommy gets home. Thank you. :)

Stay tuned for more posts, including the 11 month post, Easter, and other fun times upon my return!

Now, I think it is bedtime - my alarm will be going off in less than 7 hours. Bring on the sun!

Heart Smiles

Tonight we went to dinner at Chili's with Brad's mom. It was really nice and quiet since it is Easter! (not to worry - there will be a separate post for Easter!) Katie has learned to "love on" her toys, the ottoman, and people she really loves. She will lean in and I say, "Awwww". After that first time, she will usually do it herself (both lean in and saw "Awwww"). Well tonight at dinner, she leaned over in her highchair, put her head on my knee, and said "Awwww". Moments like this make me remember what I love about being her mommy.

Playing Catch Up

I do realize I have been slacking to some degree when it comes to posting on here. Oddly enough, I have the posts in my head but don't have the time to sit down and actually make them public! I have been working a lot - this annual conference that I plan is coming up two weeks from tomorrow! I've also been trying to spend as much time outside as possible - the weather this week has been just fabulous. I am loving the sunshine and warmer temps!! Unfortunately, I think Katie has some allergies...her nose is runny, she's been sneezing, and her eyes have been watering. Hopefully she outgrows that! As I try to catch up on my posts, be looking for an 11 month old post (yes, I know...how is that even possible?!) and a few others....

As I mentioned in a previous post, Katie discovered Sadie's food and water bowls. I of course wanted to document this through photos (while making sure she was safe, of course), so here is the play by play....

"Oh wow! I've not noticed this before!"

"Look how convenient...it's just my height!"

"And there are even some neat treats in this bowl for me to test out!"

"I wonder what these feel like!" (and yes, she did pick one up and began to bring it to her mouth...there is no picture of that because I was scooping her up and grabbing that piece of dog food! I'm not as concerned with her eating it as I am with her choking on it!)

And here are some other pictures from mid-March (wow, I really am behind!). Hope you enjoy - and be sure to check back soon for more fun posts and pictures!

Is that not the sweetest picture? She loves sleeping with her 'lovey'...she isn't particular to any of them yet...I'm sure that will change soon!

I am oh-so-thrilled that she will sit in what Brad calls her "baby cage" and play with all of her toys! Since we use it as toy storage also, there is no way she could get bored in there!

Yes, she figured out how to pull up in the crib - now, when I go in to get her up from naptime, she is standing to greet me. She has been having issues with taking naps, and I am wondering if it has to do with the fact that she'd rather stand and play (and throw her binky on the floor and then get mad because she doesn't have it)!

So happy and sweet...playing with Cee Cee

Doesn't she look so grown up here?! Where has my teeny tiny baby gone?!

Heart Smiles

What a great day - we got up this morning and went to church. This is actually quite the accomplishment - the last time we were in church was for Katie's dedication in early November. I know it is awful that we have not gone, but I just hate waking her up (and she typically sleeps in on the weekends). If we go to late service, it gets in the way of her morning nap. Also, Brad is studying for the CPA right now and he typically does it late at night (which means he also likes to sleep in on the weekends, if possible). I know those may just seem like excuses, but at least we are trying to do better.

Anyway, this morning, we got up and went to church at 9:30. Our church has started a "South Campus" which is approximately 6 or 7 minutes from our house. This works out wonderfully because we can get back home for Katie's morning nap at 11! This morning was actually the first service in the new space - how cool that we got to be a part of that! We kept Katie in the service with us (we had decided that we wouldn't put her in a nursery at church, the gym, etc until she is one) and she did great! One hour is definitely her limit, but she did wonderfully. And what an amazing, special feeling to be sitting there as a family in church. Kind of surreal. When we stood to sing the hymns, I held Katie. Anytime the songs were slightly fast, she would dance in my arms. Oh how I have thought about the day I would have my family in church - kids and all. And she loved the music (my favorite part as well)! I had to just take a few moments and thank God for that time.

Swinging in the Springtime Sun

Now how's that for some alliteration! I am so excited to be able to play with Katie OUTSIDE!! She loves being outside (and an added bonus is that she sleeps even better after having some fresh air!) and it gets us out of the house. Recently, we met our friends at the park and got to play some. Katie played on a see-saw kind of thing and loved it. She got to sit in the mulch and play with it...which really meant that she tried to eat it to figure it out :) And she also got to swing in a "big girl swing" for the first time...as you can see, she absolutely loved it. Every time she would swing up towards me, she squealed and giggled with delight. I love seeing her so happy! And I can't wait to be outdoors more over the next few months!

Katie, me, & Kara...Kara and I have been the bestest of friends for almost TWENTY years...wow!!

"Mom, what IS this stuff??"

Had to post this one even though Katie doesn't look too thrilled in it...I still like it!

LOVE this one!! A look of pure joy...

And I love how her hair is flying in the wind in this one...

You can see her 2 little teeth on the bottom! There is another one working its way in on the bottom, and another about to cut through..on the bottom! That means she will have 4 teeth on the bottom and none on the top!

In Need of Craft Time

I recently organized all my ribbon and just seeing it made me want to drop everything and do something crafty - something...anything. I have all these ideas bouncing in my brain but no time to execute them. I need to do some scrapbooking. And the big project I want to try is making a bow/hair clip holder for Baby K. I have a frame. I have ribbon. I have spray paint. I have cute paper. Now, time to find the time to actually make it! For now, I guess just looking at my ribbon will have to do.

Playing at Cee Cee's House

A few weeks ago, we went and hung out at Cee Cee's house for a morning. I am so glad that K wore her Elmo shirt - it barely fit her!! I'd definitely say that shirt ran a bit small - it fit her like spandex! But isn't it oh so cute?? She loved the fact that everytime she looked down, she saw her favorite, furry friend (other than Sadie of course). Here are a few pictures of the day...she is quite active now - no more laying there with one toy and being content!

I absolutely love this picture. It shows her happy disposition.

This expression cracks me up! It's as if she is saying "OK, Mom, ENOUGH pictures!"

Going to discover what's in this room over here

The latest "Cheerio face" - and she found the fridge!

Action shot - she is always on the move these days!

What's New Today?

Well this morning we walked in to get Baby K up and she has discovered the fact that she can pull up in her crib! She had just pulled up onto her knees - I think being in the sleep sack makes it more difficult to stand all the way up. She also imitated when I said "uh oh" after she dropped something. She goes to the door and says "out". I just love this stage and all the new discoveries and experiences each day holds! Here are some pictures from fairly recently. I know I am biased, but isn't she just adorable?!

It Finally Happened...

I wondered when it would happen. I know it was just a matter of time. Well, today is the big day. That's right...just a few minutes ago, Katie crawled to the back door and I swear she said "out" when she was at that door - and she went to the front door in her walker earlier this morning and said "out" then too!....anyway, I digress....Katie crawled to the door to the deck and got a little sidetracked. She saw this neat thing sitting nearby that was the perfect height to pull up onto. So she did. And what did she find?? Sadie's food and water bowls!

Poor dog - guess we will have to move that now...

Getting the PBK Look for Less

So this is what I was wanting from PBK. We got Katie's stocking there and it is so cute. But I was having a hard time knowing we would be spending more than $50 on an Easter basket.

Lucky for me, the next day I was out shopping for other things and came across a cute basket at Michael's for $15. I had a 40% off coupon also, which brought it down to $9. The next step was the $5 personalization thanks to Leigh at Sew For You Embroidery. And so, for $14 instead of $54, I got this. And I love it! And I hope Katie will love it for many years to come. We can't wait to dye eggs and see if the Easter Bunny comes!

Fabulous February

As promised, here is the update from the month of February. Now I remember why I usually post more frequently...this is a lot of pictures!! Anyways, I'm glad to have caught up with last month - now only about a week into March. And I have other posts I want to do. So...here we go...

"Who IS that cute baby???"

I went to a Predators game with Tanja

Celebrating Will's birthday - he wouldn't keep his eyes open, so this will have to do!

Baby K celebrating Uncle Will's birthday

Looking cute

I went to Sips n Strokes and this was my painting! So much fun!

She's got boots with the fur!

Looking so big and grown up

Yes, that is Fergie. Yes, I went to the Black Eyed Peas concert...SO much fun!!

Baby K's Valentine's goodies

Having fun with her new stuff!

Mine & Brad's Valentine's feast (Prosciutto & Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Asparagus, Pasta, my favorite wine, and a cake I made!)

We got dressed up for the occasion :)

She looks so big standing there!

Looking oh-so-cute and actually being still for a split second

She started trying to sit forward when she was in her swing - and she learned how to grab the bar and stop it. Needless to say, we are returning it to its owner.

Love this outfit - and she looks so big again! I'm still getting used to the standing up thing.

Her "Sporty Spice" look...

"Mom, come on. This cup is as big as I am!!"

Love this one...once again, I'm amazed she sat still and smiled and I was able to capture it :)