Lots to catch up on

I have no excuses for not updating our blog other than first being busy packing and moving, and then becoming lazy in my updates. (again) So, here I am...attempting to keep you all updated on Kate's progress, and with a renewed hope that I will keep up with it better than the last time!

Kate has really been thriving here in Texas! We moved on January 3rd, and Kate took right to the new house. Her room is decorated similarly, so we think that helped her adjust to sleeping in a new place. She now has 5 teeth with the sixth one on it's way. Three on top, two on bottom. Her hair has gotten thicker and longer. In mid-March, she mastered crawling with her tummy off of the floor, and is now pulling up and walking along the furniture. Her favorite thing to do is take the pillows off of the couch. This week, she has begun the process of dropping her morning nap and transitioning to one nap a day. I'm not sure how I feel about this at all! It's an adjustment for both of us.

Kurt and I have joined First Baptist Burleson, and we love our new Sunday school class! There are several couples in there that have children close to Kate's age, and we have been on a play date already! Her nursery workers enjoy her so much, they won't promote her to the crawler room because they want to keep her with them!

We still miss all of our friends "back home" in Oklahoma, and we are really hoping the Lord will provide a way for us to return there after our two year adventure in seminary. For now, we settle for trips to visit. Most recently, we went up for Keli's wedding! Kate now has a new uncle Bryan. He's not real sure about her yet, but they seem to be curious about each other. We are so excited for them because they are living in North Dallas, so we get to see them more often.

Tiffany is about to leave to work overseas for a year and half, and we will miss her dearly. She has been a wonderful aunt to Kate, and she seems to be very influential on Kate's behavior! Anything Tiffany does, Kate will imitate. It's sweet until she starts sticking her tongue out because aunt Tiffany did it! We love you, Tiffany. Come home safe to us.

So, that's all for now. Hopefully the next update will be before Kate is 2 years old! :)

Rollin'

Kate is almost 5 months old, and she has discovered how to roll from her back to her tummy. This is backwards according to all the baby books, but we'll take it! She will roll onto her tummy, and then gets mad because she doesn't know how to flip back over. This is only the beginning of having a baby on the move.

We dressed Kate up for Halloween, she's got to be the sweetest lion ever! She didn't seem to mind the costume even though it had a head piece. She got a kick out of the door bell ringing all night and the kids that came to the door all wound up on sugar. She smiled all night long until it was time for bed. We can't wait for next year when she can walk!

Things are changing fast around here. Kurt was accepted into Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth. We will be moving around the first of the year hopefully. We put our house up for sale today. It's weird to think about coming home to some place other than here. It is were we brought our baby home! And for all but 8 months of our marriage have lived. I know we will find a new place to call home, and I hope it is as great at this one!

We are looking forward to Kate's first Thanksgiving and Christmas. She should be sitting up by Christmas time, so we hope to get lots of picture by the tree and with presents. She's growing way too fast, but hopefully we can keep up with her!

Lazy Blogger

I must be the world's worst updater! Sorry for the prolonged silence. Kate is doing great! She is 3 1/2 months old now, and she is "exploring" her vocal range. She squealed at the top of her lungs all morning, and she even shared her talents with everyone at Target today. Luckily...no one seemed to mind. She has also discovered her hands and fingers this week. She holds her hand up and stares at it like it's the most amazing thing ever. She should be rolling over any day now. She will almost do it, but she can't quite get her leg to push off hard enough.

In the last few weeks, Kate has developed pink eye and a sunburn. She recovered from both, but mom and dad had a few hard nights with an unhappy baby. Her next doctor appointment is October 12th...more shots are coming. Mom is already not looking forward to that.

Kate has been going to Mother's Day Out at Quail Springs Baptist church, and she seems to enjoy it! The picture of Lori and Kate was taken right before they left for the first day of MDO. There is another baby in her class that is only 5 days younger than her, and everytime Lori sees him, he is sleeping in the swing! He's never awake! It's bizarre.

Next week brings another trip to Texas to see Grandma and Grandpa. We'll be going to the Texas fair also. Kurt had his back surgery on August 28th, and has now been cleared to start picking up Kate again! This is good news for all 3 of us. Thanks for checking in...I'm really going to attempt to keep things more up to date, but I guess I shouldn't promise anything due to my track record.

Smiles and Shots

Kate is doing so well! We went to the lake last week, and she was so impressed with her life jacket that she fell asleep on the boat! She has started to smile all of the time at us now, and she is babbling and cooing in an effort to "talk" to us. Her personality is really starting to develop as time goes on.

We all survived the first round of shots. Kate was stuck 3 times...twice in the left leg, once in the right leg, and she got one shot orally. She was definately not happy about that at all. Once we got home, Kate slept for 3 hours, only waking up to eat and be changed. She developed a low grade fever that afternoon, but it was gone by the time we woke up today. Thank goodness we don't need anymore shots until her 4 month check up.

Nothing major is coming up for us right now, but we will keep posting pictures when we get the chance.

Living Large

Alot has happened since the last post! Kate made her first road trip to Texas successfully, and she has had her first experience in the swimming pool! She loves the water, and we hope she will be an accomplished swimmer like her daddy. She is beginning to smile at us several times a day. It's so cute when she opens her mouth wide and her eyes crinkle. Every once in a while we hear a little giggle out of her, but those are still happening at random times. Kate still loves to wake up a few times each night, but she usually goes back to sleep after we have met her needs. (eating, changing diapers, cuddling)

Today was Kate's baby dedication at our church. It was important to us to stand in front of our church and family and promise to raise Kate in a home that serves the Lord. We have been so blessed by Him with our baby girl. We can not fathom taking on parenthood without the strong foundation of our faith in Jesus. Only through God's grace can we face each new day as we try to learn how to care for Kate.

The coming weeks bring more new experiences. This Saturday is our childbirth class reunion. It will be great to see the other babies! We will also be returning to Texas...this time to the lake. Kate will get her first boat ride while dad rides the tube. She also has a check up with the pediatrician, as well as her first immunizations.

We are excited to report that Hannah Grace Gomez joined us on July 19th! We took Kate to the hospital to meet her, but she was more interested in eating than socializing at that point. Hopefully, one day soon they will be able to play with each other. We will try to update more often! Thanks again for checking on our girl!

Kate is four and half weeks old now, and she is starting to do a few more things than sleeping, eating, and pooping. She's starting to smile at Kurt and I, and she holds her head up much more than she used to. She's also fascinated by any type of lighting! We went to Texas last week, and when we stopped at a Starbucks to feed/change her, Kate could not stop staring at the lighting! Kurt thinks she's going to be a lighting expert when she grows up. She's gaining weight, and filling out like crazy! I'm not sure how much she weighs, but she doesn't look like a newborn to me anymore.

Texas was lots of fun! Kate got to spend some quality time with Lori's family, but she didn't get to swim because the water was a little bit too cold. Maybe in August she will get to swim. Now we are just waiting on Kate's friend, Hannah to be born! She's due on the 14th of July, so we hope she will come soon! Kate's baby dedication will be on Sunday, July 29th, and we can't wait to celebrate with our family. We will probably have a party at the house afterwards for people to come by and see her. Thanks for checking on Kate! She's doing well, and we'll keep you posted on her progress!

Life's good when you're 18 days old!

Life with Kate has been one new adventure after another. She loves to sleep all day and be up all night long, which makes for two very sleepy parents! Kurt is great with her, especially at 2am when it's party time. She has been to church for the first time, and she was a huge hit! We are having pictures taken today for a birth announcement. We'll try to post some of those pictures here for your viewing pleasure. Next week will be Kate's first road trip to Texas. We are going to visit Lori's cousin from Chicago, and we are looking forward to seeing how Kate does in the car for 3 1/2 hours. She loves her car seat, so we are thinking optimistically.

For every hard night that we have with Kate, she seems to provide us with a "worth it" moment. Today, she giggled out loud 3 times in a row with the sweetest smile on her face! Right now, she is asleep on Lori's stomach as this is being typed. She takes such little breathes and smells so good! Parenthood is the hardest job anyone can have, and we both definately appreciate the jobs our parents did a million times more now.

Her 2 week check up went very well. The doctor said that her length is average (20 inches...up 1 1/2 since birth!), but her weight and head circumference are "petite". Who would have guessed that Kurt and I could make a petite baby? She has an umbilical hernia, but the doctor said those usually heal on their own with time. We just need to watch it for a while. We get a break from doctor visits until she is 2 months old as long as all is well. So, on August 10th,(her aunt jenny's birthday) we will head back for the first round of shots, which won't be much fun for Kate or Mom to watch! Thanks for checking in on our girl. Check back for more updates as she keeps growing!