Fun Pictures

You can tell that we have been neglecting poor Dixie a little bit. She got groomed yesterday and they had to cut her hair really short due to lots of tangles. We just have not gotten to brush her as much. I don't think she is very happy with it. Below you see how long her hair was beforehand. She is much cuter with her hair longer, but it will be lower maintenance for awhile.
Dixie wearing one of Kate's hats
Kate reading with her Daddy. I think she is going to be a reader!
Kate hanging out on her Boppy. Look at how big she is getting!


Look at that smile!

Getting warm after bath time
This is Kate with Aubrey and one of our childhood friends, Lani's baby who is one day older then Kate. Her name is Brooklyn. I like how their arms are all interlocked.
I love this picture of Kate sleeping. She always sticks her bottom up in the air. It is precious!

What did I eat?

Well, last night was quite an adventure! Just as soon as you tell people "Oh yeah, my baby is great, " and "Yeah, she is sleeping at night really well" something happens! I have heard people tell me stories before about how they couldn't get their baby to sleep and they had to put the car seat on the dryer or go for a drive in order for their baby to sleep. Well, even though Kate had her days and nights confused for awhile, we were never this desperate. That is, until last night.
I have tried to be sensitive about what I eat since I am nursing. I realized that Kate's stomach seemed to be sensitive to peanut butter and cow's milk, so I cut those things out. I now have soymilk with my cereal, which actually isn't so bad. Well, a couple of nights ago I made this teriyaki chicken in the crockpot. The first night after eating this she seemed a little fussy, but not to out of the ordinary. Then last night after eating it again, she was crying non-stop for a couple of hours. Nothing was working, you name it, we did it. I have tried to give Zack the nights off during the week so he can get sleep. Kate seems to like to stay up late anyway, but this was beyond late. She was pretty fussy after her dinner feeding, but it temporarily went away. That was until after her 10:00 feeding. She was fussy and crying from then till about 1:30 am when Zack stepped in. He could hear her crying and came in the living room to see what was wrong. I told him I had tried everything and I was about to go for a drive out of desperation. We had already used gripe water, which a couple of people had recommended to me. However, this was not working. So we tried to put her in her carseat and put her on the dryer. She cried harder! So Zack grabbed his car keys and wallet and looked at me and said " Let's go!" Zack gets in the car with his boxer shots and me in my skimpy tank top and pajama bottoms and we start the drive. I kept on thinking, "Oh please let us not get pulled over, and if we do let it be from an understanding police officer who is hopefully a parent." For the first 5-7 minutes she is still crying. Finally, she calmed down and fell asleep after about 20 minutes of driving. We drove back home and oh so carefully put her in crib. Also, saying a prayer pleading to God that she will sleep for awhile. We put her in bed at 2:30 am and she slept till 7:30 am. God answered our prayer! So the question is what did I eat? Was it the chicken or something else? I am not sure. I am just hoping that tonight is different then last night. Zack and I can laugh about it today, but it was not fun and games last night. It is difficult when you are at this stage of a crying baby because you know that the more things that you try the more they are getting frustrated and overstimulated. However, you have to try to figure out what is wrong and try new things. This is why it was good for us to get her out of the home environment temporarily. I will say kudos to Zack and me for not losing our cool with each other or at all. We were very tired but we were able to make light of it, despite that. I am sure that if you are a parent you can understand where I am coming from, but it was very draining. I have been praying all day that this will not happen again tonight. I will keep you posted.

Kate Stats

Well, let's give it up for Kate! We went to the doctor on Monday and got her percentages. She also got her first shot, besides her initial newborn screening heel prick. She is up to 11 pounds and 24 inches long. That puts her at 75 percent for her length, 50-75 percent for her weight, and her head measurement is considered 25 percent. I think her little head is what allows her to already practically hold her head up. The shot part was not fun! I had Zack go and be the brave one for us. It is hard on the Mom, at least it was for me. You just feel bad because she was in a relaxed, sleepy state in her Dad's arms and then we lay her down and give her a shot out of nowhere. I know I wouldn't like somebody giving me a shot without warning. She did cry out in a painful, shocking way that I had not really heard before. It made me feel bad for the poor thing. In my years of teaching Kindergarten, we would always tell the parents " The first day of school is going to be harder on you then it is on your child." This is speaking from an emotional stand point. Well, I think the same is true for shots. Good grief!
Kate has also started recently smiling really big and cooing. It is so great and rewarding! It makes our day to see her smile. Zack is really good at getting her to smile. She loves her Daddy. Sometimes, I feel like there are angels playing with her. Just today I had her sitting on the Boppy on the bed while I could see her as I was getting ready. She was just turning her head and smiling really big, and it was not at me. I tried to get footage of her smiling earlier this week. It isn't the best footage, but it gives you an idea. My hand looks enormous on her body and I am kind of trying to tickle her to get her to laugh. Unfortunately, it looks like I am torturing her with my big hand, and you see her body shake as I am trying to tickle her. Enjoy anyway!