Are We Ever Going to Crawl?

Yes, it seems we may have a lazy baby on our hands. I'm beginning to think Kate may be one of those babies who just by-passes crawling on goes straight to walking (God help us if that's the case). We've been getting her on the floor on her tummy a lot lately and she just doesn't seem interested in crawling to anything...rather she gives you this look like, "You're gonna get that for me, right?" and just starts fussing in frustration. Oh well...guess that just means our lives are a bit easier for the time being, without her being "mobile" that is. She will, however, stand on her own for a few seconds while holding onto something (like the couch or the ottoman). Still not pulling up on anything yet.

We moved into our "big girl" car seat this past week. Lugging her around in that infant carrier was just no longer practical nor good for my back. I've also gotten more brave recently about taking her out in public (lol). We have frequented Wal-Mart TWICE now with our little seat cover for the buggy and she does quite well if I do say so myself, and is doing great with eating out too. Ahhh....slowly easing back into a "not-so-tied-down" lifestyle again. Nice.

We went yesterday to visit Grandpa and Jean. I don't know what quite came over her, but she got this sudden burst of energy; she must have wore out poor Jean's "horsey" knee until it was black and blue. And laughing!! Everything was funny yesterday afternoon over there. Good entertainment for our visit.

Other pics from the weekend:

Look closely and you can see those 2 little teeth peeking their way through! Cute.

Memorial Day Weekend

Good day today....got up and went to get my hair done, made a cake, went to get diapers and formula, then met Kelly & Will and Mom & Dad for dinner at Carrabbas.

However...thinking tonight on this Memorial Day Weekend of my unbelievably amazing Grandaddy and his service to our country and what it means to me and to my own little family. What a privilege and a blessing in my life to have grown up with four truly AWESOME grandparents. I am 30 years old and am so blessed to still have three of those grandparents living close by. My precious Grandma passed away when I was 22 years old. I still miss her terribly and think of her all the time...how much she would have loved to have sat with my parents at our wedding, imagining the look on her face the moment she met her great-grandchildren, and how especially proud she would have been every time someone says they think Kate looks like my Dad.

Each year when Memorial Day rolls around, Grandaddy comes to mind along with the many stories and conversations through the years. When I was 13 years old Grandaddy took me to Fourmile, Kentucky, to visit his birthplace. A trip I have NEVER forgotten nor will I ever. We drove through the Cumberland Gap; saw the big Chain Rock which at one time was feared to crush the entire town of Pineville; rode past the entrance to Cudjo's Cave; found Grandaddy's old high school; rode through the town of Pineville; visited the old family cemetery; looked for the entrance to the mine that exploded and killed my great-grandfather, his father, when he was only 17 years old; visited with my great-aunt, Mabel (his sister); and even found some old friends of his (they still called him by his childhood nickname, "Buddy") still living "back up in the holler." At such a young age I probably didn't understand how special or meaningful of a trip it was for me, and for Grandaddy, for that matter. I am SO glad we went on that trip 17 years ago this summer.

My Grandaddy is one of the bravest, most intriguing men I know. Who else can I say that I know jumped out of a plane as a paratrooper with his fellow Green Berets some 1,132 logged times, knows what it feels like to be shot in the leg, can fly a plane, and probably will actually shed a tear while reading this?! T.O.U.G.H. And above all, he loves my Grandmama more than life itself and loves the Lord with all his heart. On this Memorial Day 2010, thank you Grandaddy, for your service to our country and to our family all these years. Thank you to all four of my Grandparents for the sleepovers, stories, and lessons learned. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are of summers in the pool, New Year's Eve sleepovers, fishing on the pontoon boat at midnight with the basket of snacks, trips to Tennessee, caramel cakes, Christmases, Sunday lunches after church, conversations, and the list goes on and on and on and on. What a blessing to have such warm, wonderful memories to share with Kate.

Can't wait for Kate to make her own memories with her grandparents!

Also thinking this Memorial Day Weekend of another who fought defending our country in World War II. My dear friend Mr. Durward Wright who I met while working at Barney's passed away May 10. I will miss seeing his sweet, smiling face coming into the store. Thank you to all those who died or fought defending our freedom, including those who are fighting now. Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Back from the Beach...and Teething!

Whew! So much has happened lately it's exhausting to even sit down and think about it! We had a GREAT week in Hilton Head on vacation (wish we were still there!!!!!) and have been back home for almost a week now. The week started off rather interesting. If you know me and anything about our family vacations, then you know something out of the ordinary was going to happen. The night before we were supposed to leave for the beach, Billy went in to the ER with stomach pains and just general 'ickiness.' After a few tests they determined he would need an appendectomy. Luckily, he recovered quickly and was able to head on down to the beach on Sunday, just one day later than our anticipated arrival date. The weather was gorgeous this year (as opposed to last year!!!) and the house was fabulous, with one minor exception. On Friday (the day before we were leaving to head home), we got up and fed the babies breakfast and were getting ourselves ready for the day when we heard a bit of an 'explosion' followed by gushing, rushing water coming from the upstairs attic space. The hot water heater had a busted pipe and water was gushing EVERYWHERE in this house. Within minutes, water was coming out of the light fixtures downstairs, running down the walls on the first floor, and pooling a couple inches on the first floor. UGH!!!!!! Water extraction crew and all the works came and got all the water out for us so we were able to enjoy one last night in the house. Wow. Like I said, if you know our family, then you know that our vacations are RARELY without 'excitement.' Here's some more pics from our otherwise wonderful week!

ALSO while we were at the beach....Kate got TEETH!!!!!!!! Yep, we have 2 teeth peeking their way through her little gums! We are lucky. Teething hasn't been too had....YET! Tylenol has been a good friend. She also loves the little rubber teethers that go in the refrigerator. Can't believe how fast she's growing!!!!

This morning we had a follow-up appointment with the pediatric orthopedist about torticollis again. Dr. B says Kate is doing well and looking better, hips in good shape. We'll go for another checkup in September, just after her 1st birthday (wow! weird saying that!).

She is sitting up great on her own and acting like she's getting ready to crawl. She's already so busy and isn't really even 'mobile' yet! I can only imagine how much things will change once she is. Kate will be 8 months old on Saturday!!!

BEACH!!!!

Not much time to post seeing that we are still on vacation, but had to go ahead and add these pics since they were just so darn cute. Having a great week, but miss Caseydog terribly!!! Praise the Lord she's safe and happy with Grammy and Papaw for the week in Perry. More to come on our great week later!

1st Mother's Day

We had a fabulous Mother's Day, celebrating with almost all the special mothers in my life. The only ones missing were Kelly (she and Billy took Will down to Edisto to spend the weekend with friends), Grammy (my sweet mother-in-law), and my precious Grandma (my dad's mom) who we lost 8 years ago.

We had planned on heading to church but Kate has unfortunately been a little under the weather all week with a snotty nose again, so we decided instead of sharing her germs with the other babies at church, we might better stay home. Oh...and the weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS today. Our little family headed out shortly after breakfast for a nice walk around the neighborhood, then headed in to get ready to go over to Bobby, Margaret, and Maggie's for Lori's fabulous shrimp boil lunch...mmmmmm. Lori and Brian were there, along with Nana and Papa, and Grandmama and Grandaddy, and of course Bobby, Margaret, and Maggie. After Kate had her nap, we fed her her bottle and took her outside to dip her feet into the pool. Boy, does our little girl seem to love the water already!! She started kicking her feet and laughing and getting all excited! When I ran inside to grab my camera, I came back outside and they, per the instruction of my Grandmother (of all people!!!) had totally stripped her down to her little water-logged diaper and she was sitting in the water and just a-kickin' away! I'm so happy she seems to like the water already and hope it continues...it was such a big part of both Joe's and

my life growing up!

I had a wonderful First Mother's Day. Here are some more pictures from our day:

Finally Friday...

Another good, busy week. Yesterday was Wednesday...a good day! Kate was in a great mood all day and very lovey. So nice to be able to enjoy the mix of being home with her some days and working the others. I got the opportunity to watch Will yesterday morning while Kelly did a little extra work at the hospital. So fun, because I really don't get to hold him or play with him very often, seeing as whenever we all get together someone else is itching to get their hands on him. He is so fun...really into everything these days. I'm looking forward to Kate getting there, although I know that's when things are going to get C.R.A.Z.Y. What a privilege and a blessing and what fun to be able to watch them grow every step of the way and see the little ways they change with each new day. Ahh....going to miss these days :)

We ran by Mom's office yesterday on the way to Target to pick up some baby food, and boy was Kate in a good mood! She was eating up seeing all the ladies in the office and getting to be the center of attention for a bit! She even hung in there for me at Target, letting me look around for a bit and pick up some baby food. It was a good day.

I'm pretty tired after working today, but coming home and seeing her smiling face is worth every minute! We went out for a short walk with Casey while Joe went to hit some golf balls for a little bit, ate some supper, had a bath, a bottle, then hit the sack!

We are headed for the beach next Saturday for a full week!!! I am soooo excited!!! Can't wait to take our little girl to see the ocean for the first time and put her little toes in the sand and get her chubby little hiney in a swimsuit! Also looking forward to some rest and relaxation away from home. Praying for good weather!

Signing off with some of Kate's new 6 month shots, courtesy of the great Katie Hardy!!