Sleeping Like a Baby

We are getting a lot more sleep around here these days!! I completely forgot what 8 hours of good sleep will do for you. Kate is sleeping close to 12 hours which makes everyone very happy (including her)! She really sacks out at the end of the day so I wanted to include some pictures. There are so many good ones of her in her crib but I never want the flash from the camera to wake her up so we may have to keep those in our memories. She has become quite the diva while she sleeps. She usually has both arms folded behind her head like she is doing some serious thinking while she sleeps. By the looks of that little round tummy and chunky monkey thighs she is doing some serious growing! Sweet dreams baby girl!!

Back to the Beach

We had the most wonderful beach weekend! For the first time it was just our little family at the condo. Peyton and I felt like we were on a real family vacation. It's been a long time since we've had a getaway and Kate couldn't have been better. She loves the beach! Friday night we had so much fun cooking dinner, drinking wine and listening to music. Peyton and Kate even had their first dance! That was a special moment for me- she is officially a Daddy's girl. She slept for several hours on the beach Saturday but Sunday was just too hot. She made it for a little while but we decided to call it a day pretty early. Kate has had her first real laugh attack. She got so tickled on Saturday while I was talking to her and just couldn't quit giggling. It was priceless. She is "talking" up a storm now and keeps us quite entertained. We have really entered into such a fun time with her. I know there will be a lot more fun in our future!Thanks to GG (Great Granny) Kate has a precious new pink bathing suit. This one is a tankini and she loves to pull up the ruffle to show us her belly. Maybe she's ready for a bikini. Her daddy says she may never have one of those!!

Splish Splash

Kate is taking a bath!! Bath time has really become such a fun part of our day. When we first brought Kate home and tried to bath her on the sponge she absolutely hated it. I can imagine it was pretty cold and who wants to be naked on the kitchen counter getting water poured all over you. We started rushing through bath time just to get finished with it before she had a major melt down and usually during that time Peyton was no where to be found. Once we were able to move Kate to the bath tub things starting getting better and Kate really started to enjoy bath time. Peyton came back around and has really taken over this time with baby. I love to watch the two of them interact during bath time or just take a break for a few minutes. Since the lady at the grocery store told me I need to be pouring water over her face at bath time so she will be a good swimmer (don't you just love all the unsolicited advice you get when you have a baby) Peyton has made sure Kate gets at least one face full of water each bath. She just holds her breath and usually giggles when it's over. We are bound to have a little fish by next summer! I love seeing Kate wrapped up in her towel after her bath all squeaky clean and relaxed. Her favorite thing in the world is to have her hair brushed so she knows that is coming next! I snapped these pictures of Kate in the tub and just had to jot down some thoughts about this fun and special time in our day.

Beach Baby

We are so lucky to live very close to the beach. We get to go almost every weekend since Peyton's parents have a condo in Perdido Key. Kate was about 6 weeks old on her first beach trip and she absolutely loved it. We really enjoy the great family time we have while we are there. A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to get to spend an entire week with my family at Rosemary Beach. Thanks to Bebe and Poppy; Kate, Peyton, me, Will, Jill, Liza, GG (Great Granny) and the Ashwander clan all had two great condos and had so much fun together.The weather was perfect all week. Of course, long gone are the days of grabbing a beach chair and cooler and heading down to the beach for the day. I got so tickled at all the baby gear Jill and I hauled down to the beach each day I had my mom take a picture. Since the men were on the golf course, it was up to us to handle all our gear. Jill and I had very different objectives for our day at the beach. I wanted to make sure Kate would take her nap on the beach (she almost always falls asleep the minute we hit the sand: I even changed her noise maker to ocean waves since she found it so relaxing) and Jill needed to make sure she had enough toys to keep Liza occupied and happy on the beach. Here we are with all our stuff:

I realized after my mom took the picture that I didn't even have the baby. Obviously, I would have to take two trips. Needless to say the trip would not have been nearly as relaxing as it was without all the help from Bebe, Poppy, Will, Jill, GG, Barbara and Brother, Charlie and Ashley, and Bill and Caroline. Peyton and I were really able to relax and enjoy ourselves. After being with Liza and realizing how much energy an 11 month has we better relax now. Our beach trip next summer is going to be VERY different. In fact, Will and Jill were so exhausted they booked a vacation from their vacation. Next time they are going to Mexico: WITHOUT THE BABY! Here are some more pictures from our fun trip. Thanks Bebe and Poppy for making it all possible!

Back to Church

We finally made it to church. Except for Mother's Day we haven't been to church since Kate was born. We love our church and have missed being able to go but I wasn't quite ready to leave Kate in the nursery and you never know how a baby is going to handle sitting in one place for an hour. Of course, just as I suspected she was a perfect angel. Kate was just about to drift off to sleep when the organ blared and her eyes got as big as saucers. Thank goodness it didn't scare her to the point of tears. Kate will be baptized in about a month and we are really looking forward to that. We are so in awe that God has given us this perfect, beautiful, healthy baby girl to take care of while we are here on earth. We want her to grow up in the church just as we did so she can come to know how much He loves her. I pray often that He will give us the wisdom and patience to guide her down the correct path in life.

On another note, we had a wonderful dinner with Nonie, Ben, Annie and Aunt Lulu last night. If only we had recorded our attempt to have dinner all together about 6 weeks ago when the babies took turns screaming their heads off. This time, both girls just sat quiet and content. Annie has changed so much and it really makes me excited to think about what good friends our girls will be and how fun it will be to watch them grow up together. We picked up all our wedding presents from Peyton's parents house today (yes, we got married 2 years ago and they were still there). It was so much fun to open everything and it brought back such great memories of that happy time! Our dining room now looks like a china store so I have lots of work cut out for me figuring out where it is all going to go. That's a job for tomorrow. I hear Kate and Peyton having a conversation in the kitchen so I think I'll go join them. What a nice ending to a wonderful weekend!

Hallelujah!!

Kate slept through the night!! It only took 3 months, 1 week and two days... but who's counting. Of course, I know that she could wake up every hour tonight but at least we know it is possible for her to get 8 straight hours of sleep. Peyton thought I should feel very rested today as well but I woke up all night long waiting for her to wake up. My mom says I will do that for a long time. She slept from 10:00 to 5:37 and went back to sleep from 6:00 to 8:30. She's gotten great about waking up in her crib and just spending some time looking up at her mobile and talking/singing to herself. Peyton got her up to play but she probably would have stayed happy there for at least another 30 minutes.Since most people know how much I love my sleep these last few months have been hard to say the least. I knew if we hung in there she could do it. Next step- an earlier bed time.
On a similar note, I made it through my first movie last night without falling asleep. It was Rendition. The movie was just okay but it must have held my attention enough because I didn't conk out on the couch like I usually do. Maybe now Peyton will let me put some of my girlie movies back on Netflix. He was getting pretty tired of me insisting on watching something and then falling asleep. Elizabeth: The Golden Age was his final straw and it has been manly movies ever since.

Tonight Nonie and Ben are coming over with Annie! Annie is exactly one month older than Kate so it will be fun to see them together.

Making Up for Lost Time

I feel like I have so much to say about all that has taken place over the last three weeks. I'm sure that a lot of it has been lost since my brain doesn't function as well as it used to. Interrupted sleep will do that to you. Since there is no way for me to go back and document every moment I think I'll just post some of my favorite pictures of the last few months and then be up to date for the most part. Our first family outing to Bivona was a big day for everyone (especially me- I'd been cooped up inside for 2 weeks). Kate loved it and despite the angle of her head seemed very comfortable and really enjoyed herself. Kate loves her daddy and already has him wrapped around her precious tiny finger.

Getting Started

After months of stalking other people's blogs I've decided to start my own. Three months ago, Peyton and I welcomed beautiful Katherine Isabelle (Kate) into the world and since I am terrible at writing things down in a journal or her baby book but do love to snap pictures of her, I thought this would be the best way to keep up with everything. Peyton and I have been married for two great years and were so excited when baby made three on April 2, 2008. Kate came kicking and screaming (literally) into the world at 1:50 weighing 7 lbs., 12 oz. and she was 21 1/2 inches long. The nurses told us she had quite a temper and was very vocal about being out in the world. Being a feisty red head myself, I was thrilled to hear my little girl had some spunk! Speaking of hair: Wow, Kate has a full head of it. We were shocked to see all of that brown hair and I am still trying to figure out what to do with it. Since my own hair has taken over most of my life it is only fitting that my child's would do the same. I will never forget the way that Kate would look at me when the nurses would bring her in at night to nurse. She had the sweetest, most innocent look on her face and her eyes were open so wide. She was so patient with me as I learned how to feed her and just looked up at me as if to say "It's okay Mama, I'm new at this too so we can learn together". She took to it great and has been a good little eater ever since. At three months, we have turned such a corner- that probably explains why I have a chance for the first time since she was born to sit and write some of this down. She sleeps really well- FINALLY and is very content most of the time. She has started really "talking" to us and Daddy loves to have "conversations" with his little monkey. She drools more than any baby I have ever known and I think she is seriously trying to fit both fists into her mouth at one time. She's a precious girl and our lives have been forever changed for the best! I will try to keep this blog up to date with all of her changes and adventures! We love you Kater Tot!!