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February 28, 2011

Sweet Dimple!

I always dreamed about having dimples when I was younger.  I would spend time in the mirror trying to figure out if I could smile differently to make dimples magically appear.

Obviously, I failed at that one...

But, I have been blessed with a beautiful daughter who has the sweetest dimple.  And I am pretty sure it is here to stay since she was born with it and it has just become more and more prominent over the past 6 months!



And because this is just too sweet to me - Kate and Ollie ignoring me and the camera as they watch birds outside!

February 27, 2011

Welcoming the Trail Riders!!

The Houston Rodeo officially kicked off Saturday with the Rodeo parade Downtown!  We didn't make it to the parade.  However, we did load Kate up in her stroller and walk to Memorial Drive and watch the Trail Riders make their official ride into town to line up for the parade.

Every year, hundreds of trail riders load their wagons and mount their horses to make the journey to Houston.  Some ride 400+ miles, on horseback, to kick off the Rodeo!  All of the riders camp at Memorial Park the night before the parade and then ride down Memorial Drive to the staging area for the parade! 

We enjoyed welcoming the Cowboys (and girls) to town!!  Kate waved to everyone (with my help) and loved all of the horses.



Hanging out with daddy!!


Focused on the horses!


The line of riders heading downtown!


We hope to take Kate back next year!  And we will be sure to dress her like a cute little cowgirl - and not a preppy little city girl in her polo dress and cardi!

February 25, 2011

A Day at the Park!!!

This week has been crazy.  Danielle, our nanny, started Tuesday so we could transition into Kate being alone with her for extended periods of time.  Tuesday & Wednesday were horrible. Kate's separation anxiety is insane and she would scream if she couldn't see me. 

We turned a corner Thursday and Kate started to enjoy her time with Danielle.  This morning went well also!

I think Tuesday will be just fine when I head into the office!

Today has been absolutely beautiful so I decided to load Kate up in her stroller and walk to a little park right near our house.  She loved the swings so much!!

Seriously, who stole my petite little baby and replaced her with this chub monster?  I am loving all of her new rolls and her chubby arms and legs are too cute sticking out of all of her summer bubbles and dresses!



After we got done swinging, I put Kate on a blanket in the grass in hopes of getting some cute pictures.  She had other ideas and was totally enamored by the grass!!  She kept touching it and pulling it out!  It was super cute!


Her hair is getting lighter!

This grass stuff is pretty neat!

I am so thankful that we live in a warm weather climate and can enjoy the park in February!  I think we are going to go back tomorrow so Alex can come with us!

February 21, 2011

Butterfly Garden Fun!

We took a little family outting on Sunday to the Butterfly Garden at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Alex and I have been before and we thought Kate would enjoy it.  And, she had a cute smocked butterfly dress that was perfect for the day!

We spent about an hour there which was the perfect amount of time for Kate.

The exhibit starts with an indoor area that is geared towards teaching kids all about insects. 

Another amazing face!  We had to pose her by this big plastic spider - and she made the perfect expression!


Kate was impressed with the bee hive.  Good thing it was enclosed in glass because she tried to grab the bees!


Kate really wanted to break the rules and touch this moth!


And this one too!


She was too busy looking at the butterflies to look at my camera!


We had so much fun and will definitely be back!  We are officially members of the Museum of Natural Science so I'm sure we will visit many of the other exhitibs!

February 19, 2011

Happy Half Birthday, Kate!!!

I simply cannot believe that half of Kate's first year of life is over. 

Where has the time gone?

How is it possible that my little baby is growing up so quickly?

Kate enjoyed playing a rattle while I was taking her picture today.  I'm learning to pick my battles with my strong willed child as no rattle = screaming baby!


As you can tell, Kate is finally putting on some chub!  Six month stats are as follows:

Weight: 14 pounds 6 ounces
Length: 25.5 inches
Head Circumference: 17 inches

She is finally moving up on the growth chart for weight!!  She has packed on almost 1.5 pounds in a month!  Way to go baby girl!!!

Kate is also exceeding her milestones!  We have quite the overachiever on our hands (just like her momma and daddy)!

*Kate has mastered the art of sitting unassisted and loves to sit on the floor and play with her toys!
*She is rolling and/ or army crawling everywhere.  She definitely gets what she wants, when she wants it now that she is more mobile.
*Crawling is days away as she rocks on all fours multiple times a day!
*She is eating solids twice a day and loves veggies!  She hates fruits but will eat green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and sweet peas all day long!
*We have a very vocal little girl on our hands!  Kate "talks" all.day.long. 
*Kate is turning a corner on the sleep front and is giving up much longer stretches in her crib these days.  Her 6 month shots have set us back a bit but, I have a feeling that she will be consistently sleeping through the night very, very soon!

Here are a few more pictures from our 6 month photo shoot today!


We have lots of changes happening in the next few weeks!  Kate's nanny starts on Tuesday and I go back to work (part time) on March 1.  I am very nervous, anxious, and sad to return to work but I know Kate will be in good hands!

February 18, 2011

So Blessed!

Today I am feeling extra blessed.

How did I get so lucky so be chosen as Kate's mom? 

Every time I look at her I cannot get over how perfect and amazing she is.

Her chubby little cheeks and her little pout are sheer perfection!

And how could I forget about her eyes?  I just love her big, curious eyes!
She is obsessed with smacking her lips these days!  I tell myself she is giving momma kisses!

Seriously, I am blessed!

February 17, 2011

What we've been up to!

We've had a lot going on around here and I just haven't found the time to blog!  Kate is little miss busy britches and is at the phase where she wants me on the floor playing with her all day long!  I love it but it definitely means less time to do things like blog!

So, here's what we've been up to!

We had a little family outting to the zoo on Valentine's day!  Alex took off for the afternoon so we could all hang out!  Crappy iPhone picture because I forgot my camera at the house.



Kate sat in a high chair at dinner!  Such a big girl!  We are learning this parenting thing as we go - and we learned that we need to hold her while waiting on our food and put her in the high chair when our food comes.  She lasted about 15 minutes in the highchair before she wanted to do something else - which meant my arms were free while we waited for food and I ate with a baby in my arms!  First time mom fail - but, I did learn my lesson!!

Kate and I hung out on the front porch because the weather was AMAZING!

We introduced a lovie at bedtime and it has been wonderful!  I got the muslin Aden + Anias security blankets as they are very breatheable and Kate loves them.  She goes down with one in each hand and rubs the satin on her cheeks as she falls asleep!  I need to order another pack so we have back up lovies!

Kate practiced her wheel spin in hopes of "coming on down" at the Price is Right.  Girl can spin!  She is sure to win us a Showcase Showdown! 

She is playing with her Leap Frog Spin and Sing Alphabet Zoo.


We had a little photo shoot today!  Kate is totally over looking at the camera!
 
She also enjoyed her teething toy!  Drool is totally out of control these days and her gums are swollen.  I really think a tooth is close to popping through!
 
Kate's 6 month well baby is tomorrow and she will get her shots.  Poor baby also has to have a blood draw at Children's after her appointment with the Pediatrician.  I'm sure we will get in lots of snuggle time tomorrow afternoon!
 
On a very happy note, our dear friend Andy and Amy welcomed sweet Cooper into this world yesterday!  We are thrilled for them and cannot wait to meet Kate's newest friend!

February 15, 2011

My Life is About to Change!

Kate is officially rocking on all fours.

She's been army crawling and rolling everywhere for a few weeks.  But this new development has me freaking out a bit.

She's not even 6 months.  Slow down baby girl!

I guess I will be baby proofing this weekend!

February 14, 2011

Hoppy Vaentines Day!!!

We used this picture for Kate's Valentine's Day cards she sent to her friends and family this year! 


We will be spending the day at an appointment at Texas Children's then we are heading to the zoo as a family!  We are planning to finish off Kate's first Valentine's Day with an early dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant in town!

I hope everyone has a great day!

Thanks to my friend Maxine of Grace Photography for editing this picture - it was not so pretty when I sent it her way!

February 10, 2011

Rubber Ducky!!

After the flood of 2011 (AKA my child) splashed through our bathroom last night we decided that it was time to put up our beloved whale tub and put Kate in the big girl bath tub!

Of course, we weren't completely ready for the big bath just yet so we blew up Kate's duck tub, pulled out some bath toys, and cried celebrated that my baby girl is almost 6 months old and growing up!

Kate absolutely loved the new tub!  She splashed, sat up, relaxed, played with her toys, and had a big time!

What Mom?  Why are you bothering me with that camera?

These toys are so fun!

Chillin in my duck!

I cannot believe how big my baby is getting!  How is it possible that she will be 6 months old next week?

We are heading back to the pediatrician tomorrow as Kate just can't seem to kick this respiratory virus she's had for almost 10 days.  She is still so snotty and has a bit of a cough.  I'm hoping she starts feeling better soon!

February 7, 2011

I think we've found her!!!

Kate's nanny that is. 

Hopefully she will accept our offer tomorrow. 

More details as soon as we have her signature on the dotted line.

And, can I just say how incredibly excited I am to be done with the nanny search.  It was awful.

Sweet Ruffle Butt!!

Back in June, during my first baby shower, I got the cutest ruffle bloomers from one of my best friends ever.  I have been dying to put Kate in them since then.  And, yesterday she was finally big enough to wear them! 

So, we had a photo shoot.

And Alex call me a horrible mom for making our sick, snotty baby be dressed up in "frilly clothes" as he likes to call them.

I told him to hush and that I was just an opportunist that was capitalizing on the few moments of happy we had.

I obviously won.

Now, back to pictures.

How cute is this?


And her ruffle butt!  Oh the ruffle butt!


And look at those thighs!  She is finally getting some chub!



And those lashes!


But, all good things must come to and end.


I'm just glad I got some good pictures of my sweet ruffle butt today.  Love this girl so, so much!!

February 5, 2011

Momarazzi, ER Visits, and Baby Showers!

We have been busy - and stressed out!

I spent the first half of the week playing paparazzi and taking a million pictures of Kate.  I'm trying to learn a bit more about my camera and a few easy editing techniques.  I think I've gotten a few decent pictures!




Wednesday night Kate did not sleep at all.  Like, not even an hour.  I thought it was teething so I made sure to put some baby Orajel on Kate's gums after her bath on Thursday.

Well, it wasn't teething.  By 8pm Thursday, Kate could barely breathe due to coughing and congestion.  I freaked out due to all of Kate's blood issues.  She lacks the ability to fight off infection and I was so nervous seeing as she has never been sick with any type of infection before. 

By 9 she was awake and screaming bloody murder so I decided to call the after hours line at our Pediatrician's office.  The doctor on call thought it would be best to take Kate to the Texas Children's ER to test her for the flu and RSV.  So, we packed a bag and off we went.

In an ice storm.  Houstonians don't do ice.

We were taken back almost immediately and given a private room suw to Kate's issues.  Of course she didn't sound the least bit congested by the time the ER doctor came in. 

I totally felt like *that* mom.  Oh well.  Better safe than sorry.

I could not stop laughing at the sight of Kate in a hospital bed laying on a pillow.  Not sure why but I found it hysterical.



They decided to do a deep suction.  Kate was not a fan of having a tube shoved down both nostrils and her throat to suck out mucous.  They cleaned her out and sent the mucous off to be tested.

RSV and flu tests came back negative thankfully.  They also ran a CBC to check her platelets and neutraphils but the results didn't come back within an hour so they sent us home because Kate didn't have a fever.

We got home around 4am and didn't sleep much because surprise, surprise Kate was totally congested and couldn't breathe yet again.

After a little bit of sleep, Kate woke up feeling very warm.  I took her temp and realized that she had a fever.  We had several conversations with her Pediatrician and Hematologist and the decision was made to keep her home for a few hours since her CBC results from the night before were low, but not as low as they could have been.  Thankfully her fever broke around 11am.

We've been fever free since then but Kate is miserable.  She is just so, so snotty.  I am suctioning her nose every 15-20 minutes.  You would not believe the amount of snot that is in this child right now. 

She also will only sleep while being held by me while I sit straight up.  So, I'm not sleeping much.

Needless to say, it's been a rough few days!  We follow up with both doctors next week and hopefully this virus passes quickly.

I got a break from the sickness this afternoon when I hosted a shower for one of my best friends here in Houston! We had a great time and Susannah racked up and got some great loot for no name baby boy!  I'll post pictures tomorrow!

I'm hoping to get a bit more sleep tonight but, I'm thinking that won't happen.  I can sleep when she's grown right?

February 2, 2011

The beginning of an eye roll?

Quite possibly!

While playing last night I had the nerve to bother Kate for pictures.  She promptly gave me this look and proceeded to return to playing and not look at the camera again.


I'm afraid that this is the start of a little attitude and the beginning of eye rolling. 

I am also confident that my mother is laughing right now as this is my payback for all of the attitude and eye rolls I gave her while growing up...
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