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‘Baby’ Category

  1. Arizona Babies

    April 2, 2012 by Katie

    One thing us kiddos wanted to do while in Phoenix was to take advantage of the great hiking opportunities, so when Lindsay recommended we try Pinnacle Peak, we slathered the babies up with sunscreen and brought them along.

    It seems weird to me that some people think that once you have a baby, you’re no longer able to enjoy the things you used to enjoy doing. We’ve always wanted to include Elise in our lives (within reason); not have our lives constantly revolve around her and risk losing sight of who we were as individuals/husband & wife before she came along. {I realize those sentences alone could warrant an entire blogpost some other time.} I only bring this up because I had numerous people and other hikers say how they were impressed the babies were hiking with us—and it kinda took me by surprise.

    But, I digress.

    This was a great hike to do with the babies—not too strenuous or steep—but I think we could’ve hiked longer if we’d gone earlier in the morning or later in the evening since there really wasn’t any shade out there {I blame it on Elise for actually taking a long morning nap before we left to hike}.

    Nonetheless, it was fun. Plus, I did not see a single rattlesnake, so that alone makes it a good time.

    Bonus was getting to spend some time with my supercool brother.

    Sometimes I think Kim & Todd just don’t understand us. :) {Todd moreso than Kim…she’s been around us for 20 years by now}

    But that’s okay. It’s valid. We are a bit weird. And when we’re together the weirdness just amplifies itself tenfold.

    Every good trip needs a jumping picture, right?

    Challenge accepted.

    Ben captured this in one take. And then we rolled on down the mountain.

    The last time I took a jumping picture was a little over a year before, also on a hike…..in Hawaii. I wasn’t quite as limber then. Plus, somebody was weighing me down a bit.

    After we sweated it up on the hike {and stopped for lunch at In-n-Out, then lattes at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf}, it was time for the babies to don their swimwear.

    {Please excuse the grotesque-looking arm. She moves way too fast for my phone camera.}

    This was Elise’s first time ‘swimming’, and for the most part, she loved it—loved kicking her legs, splashing, and just floating around.

    {Thanks for bringing the float plane, Grandma! It was a hit with the babies.}

    Category Baby, Fun, Travel | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Eight.

    March 3, 2012 by Katie

    {Eight Months}

    Everything. Goes. In. The. Mouth.

    Height & Weight…no clue. Next appointment isn’t until 9 months, but if I had to throw out a guess, I’d say 19 pounds. She’s definitely a healthy girl.

    Sleep….pretty consistently from 7:30pm to 7-7:30am. No complaining about lack of sleep in this house {except when her parents stay up too late, but they only have themselves to blame for that}.

    Naps….still 2 naps a day. Morning nap is the longer one, usually 90 minutes or so. Afternoon nap varies from about the same, or a shorter 40 minutes {which will sometimes get her a 3rd short nap in her stroller during an evening walk}.

    Eating….Her two bottom teeth came in at about 6 1/2 months but no sign of any upper teeth yet. Recent new favorite foods are Strawberry Pear Oatmeal, MumMums, Garden Vegetables w/ Pasta pureé. She is still getting most of her nutrition from breastfeeding four times a day, but we have started getting the smelly, more solid poop recently. {PEE-YOO! What a shock to the olfactory system after being spoiled these past almost eight months}.

    Mobility…she’s 95% okay to leave sitting up by herself {which we need to do better about telling the church nursery helpers each week, because she’s had head bonks the past two Sundays}. Crawling is still off on the distant horizon, which is nice for me in that she’s not mobile and will still be in (relatively) the same spot I left her. She’ll kind of prop herself up on her hands and knees, then give up, lay down on her tummy, and manage to turn herself 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

    Chatter…gagaga bablaba pfft. That’s about the extent of her vocabulary {although the other day, I’m pretty sure she grabbed her sock off her foot and said “i got it”—just one of those times where I wish somebody else would’ve been there to verify it}. Enjoys sticking her tongue out, which we’ve decided is a hereditary trait passed down from Todd’s mom to him and now to Elise.

    Favorite things…anything she can grab to put in her mouth. Primarily, her feet, which she LOVES sucking on {sometimes both at the same time}. Enjoys chewing on spoons, cups & lids of all shapes and sizes {thanks to friendly Starbucks baristas, we have a stash of mini sample cups in the glove box for her to gnaw on in the car}.

    She actually enjoys having her teeth ‘brushed’. Loves jumping/bouncing/’flying’—any motion like that is sure to get giggles and is a good distraction if she cries. Laughs when knocking on windows and looking at faces in the mirrors. And sometimes, she’ll just laugh at absolutely nothing {or maybe the babbles in her head}.

    I think last month I said that 6 months old was my favorite age so far, but I’ve enjoyed the 7th month even moreso. And…yeah, we are 2/3 of the way through her first year, people! CAH-RAZY!

    I even started brainstorming for her 1st birthday party. Just a little bit though, because you know me, I’m a pretty good procrastinator.

    Somebody please make time slow down, mmmkay?

     

    Category Baby, Milestones | Tags: | 1 Comment

  3. Achievement

    February 28, 2012 by Katie

    If parenting were a video game, there would be many achievement awards that you earn along the way as you successfully navigate through certain experiences. {Sigh. This is what happens when your husband plays video games….you start thinking like him.}

    Some examples of the Parental Achievement Awards would be:

    The Rookie (100 points): Changed first diaper.

    The Circus Seal (75 points): Clapped and cheered like crazy when baby first rolled over.

    The Loner (150 points): Finally went to the bathroom without an audience.

    The Vacuum (150 points): Eaten an entire meal in under a minute because your hands were finally free.

    The Sponge (200 points): Been peed on in public without a change of clothes.

    The Supersoaker (500 points): Been projectile vomited on.

    The Siren (500 points): Survived an hour of screaming that is almost the frequency only dogs can hear.

    The Backseat McGyver (1,000 points): Cleaned a massive diaper blowout in the backseat of a car in the middle of Wyoming….and ran out of baby wipes (bonus 500 points).

    Well, today, I tallied up one more significant achievement.

    Let me set the scene for you:

    I’m changing Elise out of her pajamas and realize I have to very urgently go to the bathroom {this is what happens when you had to push for 3 hours in labor}. Knowing it’s not safe to leave her squirmy body on the changing pad, I put a blanket in the middle of the nursery floor and place her naked body on it. As I come back from the bathroom, I see her with a look of serious concentration on her face and her knees start to raise up to her chest.

    Uh oh. I know what’s going to happen in about 2 milliseconds.

    I look around the room, in search of anything within arms reach that is substantial enough {and okay to get messy} to put under her little butt.

    Nothing.

    Thoughts like, ‘‘Noooo! Not on my beloved Aden + Anais blanket!” and “This is gonna be epic.” race through my head.

    And that, my friends, is when I earned my most recent Parental Achievement Award.

    Let’s just call it …..

    ‘The Bare-Handed Catcher’.

    Yep. That just happened.

    50,000 points for me.

    Category Baby | Tags: | 5 Comments

  4. Grandma Kathy

    February 13, 2012 by Katie

    20120213-114446.jpg

    {hope it’s wonderful!}

    Category Baby | Tags: | 1 Comment

  5. Tea Parties

    February 10, 2012 by Katie

    I vividly remember this day, exactly one year ago.

    We had our 20 week ultrasound scheduled—you know, the one where you can hopefully find out the gender of your child, if you choose to do so.

    Obviously, we just wanted a healthy baby and weren’t partial to having a boy or a girl. But, in the weeks prior to this appointment, Todd and I both had really strong feelings that we were going to have a daughter.

    I can’t pinpoint exactly why I felt that way, but I was 99.3% certain we were having a girl. Mother’s intuition, maybe? Something inside me just felt strongly ‘girl’ versus ‘boy’.

    We still had a boy name as backup in the .7% chance we were wrong—we had first-middle-last {duh} names picked out for both genders before we were even 3 months along. {Actually, we had decided on ‘Elise’ many years ago, and after going to Europe in 2009, ‘Arosa’ was solidified too.}

    So, basically we just needed someone legit to tell us the baby was a girl, and we were set.

    It seemed to take forever for the ultrasound tech to do her required measurements of the baby, and then I specifically remember her saying “okay, dad, you better get ready for tea parties and lots of pink…”, and then I stopped listening to her and I looked at Todd, who only had a tiny look of terror on his face.

    We both smiled and he gave me a kiss.

    A girl.

    That announcement immediately weighed heavily on my shoulders. I felt there were so many things I/we could do to mess this up, so I started praying every day for God to help us raise her to know Him. To be a strong woman and make good choices. To love and respect herself and others. For her future husband. For her future children. For her health, happiness, and protection. Etc. Etc. Etc……

    I mean, I turned out pretty well, but not without mess-ups along the way. I greatly desire my daughter to be better than myself, so every day for the past year, we’ve been working on making that happen.

    I know we have a long road ahead of us too, but there is no road I’d rather go down and nobody I’d rather go down it with.

    And if you have any advice for raising a daughter, pleasepleaseplease, do share.

    Category Baby | Tags: | No Comments

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