Milestones

Kate is nearly four months now. Here we go with that time thing again. She is as beautiful as ever. (I will steal some pics from my sisters blog until I get some uploaded.) I think her third month has been by far my favorite! She is so full of personality, so sweet and lovable. She has really discovered her voice and "ha, ha, haaa" can be heard coming from her direction several times a day.
She melts me with her smiles; I really feel like the most important person in the world to her and let me tell you, that is an incredible feeling. Her laugh is very distinctive, very different from her other sounds. I was lucky enough to get it on video, and if I ever find the right cable, I will upload that as well.
She has always hated tummy time, so although she is very strong I thought she might fall "behind" (that silly notion that at really matters how old she is when she first rolls, crawls, and walks) in rolling and crawling. I had her on her tummy the other night, and she was really pushing up on her arms, more than usual. I called Mike in from the office to see and when he saw her he noticed a resemblance to one of his baby pictures, so he rushed into the office to grab the camera. Then, all of a sudden she just rolled over onto her back! It was so quick, and I wasn't prepared for it, and unfortunately the photo-op was over as she bonked her head on the wooden bottom of the ottoman! Poor girl. We worried she might not want to roll again, but that worry was in vain.

Things I miss already? She doesn't really cuddle right now. She is so preoccupied with whatever is going on in the room (read WORLD) around her. We worked so hard at helping her fall asleep on her own, in her bead, that she now prefers it. Don't get me wrong, this is the desired goal. It makes those times she falls asleep in my arms sweet treats. She has phased out of the newborn cry and has a bigger cry now. Still sweet, though; not annoying in the least. She grew out of the sink for bath time and we are still looking for a good new fit.

She has her four month well child visit on the 29th, so I am sure I will have more updates then. For now, enjoy some pictures from Nauvoo. (Thanks Mindy!)

And all of a sudden, I'm twenty-seven.

Would someone like to explain to me how time works? I know all the rules, but I can't fathom how it all really works. I was talking to Mike and Jenny and Sean over Sushi the other night about how old they feel, and we all agreed that there comes a point in life that you really don't feel much older. I still feel, oh, maybe 20. Although I was in better shape at 20 than I am right now, so for that I guess I feel older just because I always feel more attractive when I am in shape and our society links beauty and age. But as far as my personal development goes, I don't feel like I've got it all together like the 27 year olds who have come before me...and at the same time, I look at those young 20'sish kids and think, man they have a lot to learn.

So I am 27 now. I now realize that those that are older than me (namely my older siblings, all of whom I look up to and aspire to be like for one reason or another) will always seem like pros at their current respective ages, and when I get to be that age I will still feel like I am scrambling to figure it all out. Does that make sense? Ramblings...forgive me.

All the Kate pics you can handle

Kate is two months old already, can you believe it? We went to her 2 month well child visit yesterday and she is doing so great! She is 11 lbs. 7 oz. now and 23 1/2 inches long. That's big, as in 90th percentile for weight and 100th percentile for height. She and I shed a few tears together as she got her first shots (two in each thigh).

Kate is all smiles these days (as you will see in some of the pictures) and she is starting to coo which is a lot of fun. She likes to sit on our laps and look into our faces to have conversations. She loves her swing as of last week--hated it before that! Go figure. She likes to explore her surroundings--the window, the wall hangings, her clothes, toys, etc. She still loves to take baths, and hates to get out of them. She likes walks and hates tummy time. She had her first non-milk taste of food the other day...a lick of mommy's red Popsicle, and seemed to like it.

So I saw a slide show on another blog and decided to give it a go. I included pictures of Kate from birth through 2 months, so there may be some repeats. I chose a "gallery" format so that if you don't want to view all the repeats you can skip ahead. It's fun to see how much she has changed already! Enjoy!

Blessings

The following pictures were taken on August 5th at our house following Kate's blessing. Thank you to all of you who were able to make it out and support our little family! Special thanks to Natalie, Rhett, and Shanna for taking copious notes of the blessing so that Kate will be able to know how special this day was. Thank you also to all of those who brought food for all of us to feast on.

With that...Kate, Mommy, and Daddy. Kate's amazing dress was a gift from her Nana. The bottom of the dress--unfortunately not visible in any of the pictures--had about a three inch satin trim.

Kate hardly fussed through the blessing and then slept most of the rest of the meeting and gathering at home.

With most of the men who assisted in the blessing.

Kate with some of her most adoring fans...her older cousins Seth, Rachel, Julia, and Cameron.

I posted this one just for you Rachel!! I think Kate looks like a porcelain doll and seems perfectly content having you watch her!

Bath time: Who doesn't love a good bum scrubbin'?

Bath time has become one of Kate's favorite activities. And it's one of our favorite photo opps, and you will soon see why...

Emily gave us this spongy foam bath pad and I don't know what we would do without it! (Thanks, Em!) The first time we used it-at about 2 weeks old or less-we got to see how strong Kate is. When I flip her over to wash her backside she props herself up like this, holding her head up and standing in the sink! It's quite a sight...and then there's her adorable face. This is easily one of my favorite pictures to date!

The view from behind is equal in it's cuteness! I love the rim of bubbles around her bum and that amazing baby belly hanging out over her pelvis. "Oh my gosh, so CUTE." (Thanks to Maddie for the phrase that best describes Kate.)

Looks like she got her moms muscly arms and shoulders.

Family Pictures

I was looking through all of the pictures on the camera a couple of weeks ago and noticed that there weren't any pictures of me and Kate or of all of us since the day we got home from the hospital. I guess it makes sense, though, as most of the time that I am holding Kate I either look like I haven't showered all day (simply because I haven't) or I am nursing, and no one wants to see that. And we don't have pictures of the three of us because try as he may, Zeus still can't take a picture without having his ear flop down in the image.

Natalie helped us solve this problem, and Zeus was happy to be included in the picture.I think that working with babies AND animals is listed as a photographers worst nightmare. Lucky for us, they both did quite well.

I love this picture of Kate and me just chillin' in Mike's office. I love the way her little arm wraps around my not so little arm. ;)

Mike and Kate are naturals for the camera.

Can we be done now?? Please???Even when she's upset, she's just a doll.

What's your favorite childhood book?

So Mike and I really enjoy reading to Kate, and she seems to like it, too. But we have one small problem... We only have 2 books! We bought "Are You My Mother?" and "I Love You, Stinky Face" the last time we were at BabiesRUs, and then Mike just ordered "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and "Where the Wild Things Are" from Amazon, but I wanted to hear from all of you as to what your favorite (or your kids favorites) childhood books are, so that we can get all of the classics in our library. Thanks!