Christmas '09

We had a wonderful Christmas with the Wells' this year. Kate didn't quite get it this year, but next year will be so fun for her. Here's a few pictures from our day. I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas and we are looking forward to 2010!

\

Happy 1st Birthday Kate!!!

Happy 1st Birthday to our Sweet Kate!! We celebrated her birthday last Saturday with friends and family (her actual birthday was Thursday 12-17). I'm now realizing how busy and stressful December is going to be for me every year! I didn't even think about Christmas until after her party was over. Well, this year we made a big deal out of it. But I think the next one we will keep low key. (I couldn't get the pictures to go in the order I wanted to they're kind of out of order).



I made this birthday banner showing her growth each month. I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Birthday table goodies


Kate's favorite part of the whole day-choclolate frosting! Yummm.

Guy talk

Kate enjoying her gifts

Kate with her grandparents. We all had so much fun together this weekend.

Kate in her birthday outfit!



We all had such a wonderful fun weekend. I can't believe my baby is now a toddler! We are so richly blessed. Kate, thank you for a wonderful year. Your daddy and I can not imagine life without you and we are so glad the Lord gave us the privledge to be your parents! You have been such a joy in our lives and we look forward to many more years of watching you grow into this little person.

Kate's 12 month stats:

weight: 20.8 lbs. (50th %)

length: 30 inches (75th%)

Kate and Santa 2009

Classic!

Dedication to the Lord

Sunday was a special day for us. We had Kate's baby dedication at church. This is our Pastor Bruce at Hope Bible Church. My parents and Leland's parents were both there to be a part of it. It was an emotional day for me for some reason because it really hit me that she is growing up and being shaped into this little person and that Leland and I are responsible for every little part of her upbringing. Before I was even married I would always pray that if the Lord blessed me with children someday that He would teach me and guide me how to raise them in a godly home and teach them God's Word always so that they will carry it with them through their lives and not depart from it......and that I would be a living example to them. I am realizing how tough that is in today's world. I just worry that I will mess it up.
I was emotional because I realized how happy I am that I am married to Leland, a godly man who has a strong desire to follow and please the Lord and who wants to raise children who will love Jesus and not the world. I was emotional because I was feeling this overwhelming weight of responsibility on my shoulders. It's been so easy up to this point. Kate never really knew any different but now she is at the age where everything is starting to become so impressionable. I know we won't be perfect parents, but I have to depend on the Lord to guide us each way....."Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him......but he who does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17. I will have to work on this because I worry too much about what other people are doing or trying to fit in, or what others will think. So, Sunday, December 13th 2009 we and our church prayed together that we would raise Kate up in the ways of the Lord and teach her His Word from a young age in the hopes that she will choose to follow Jesus and become saved at a young age! Amen!

Random

This was a Kate's playgroup. Kate and her buddy Braeden were having fun playing peek-a-boo. It was really cute!

Kate has no pants on here because she leaked her diaper while we were there and I had no back up clothes for her. Good thing their too young to care.

These next pictures are Kate having fun cruising around the pews at church. We usually get busy talking to people after the church service and this is what Kate enjoys doing while we're talking.

That's all for now. We are just getting ready for her big birthday party next weekend!!!

11 Months!

Kate is 11 months old today!!! Now all of those people who told me time goes by so fast when you have kids were so right! I love this stage but I am sad that she is entering the toddler stage and is not so much a baby anymore. It's funny because the other day I was noticing that she is starting to lose her baby fat and is thinning out. We are so proud of our sweet loveable girl!
So here are some things that Kate has been up to this month: She FINALLY started crawling. Actually, it's been nice because we haven't had to baby proof up until now. One day she just figured it out. I keep thinking any day now she'll start walking. She'll take a few steps by herself but then falls into your arms...she's not quite there yet. She claps her hands, she gives you a hug and kiss when you ask for one or when you tell her to give her doll a hug and kiss..her kisses are very slobbery! She gives hi-fives. She's definitely a momma's girl right now. She has a cow when I get up to do something and am not by her side every second! I guess that's natural since she's with me all day everyday. Kate is still taking 2 naps and sleeping 12 hours at night (thank you Lord)! She is a happy girl about 95% of the time and we are so in love with our sweet baby girl!

Mommy snuck a picture of me getting ready for my bath

crawling

I love spaghetti!

Family Wedding

We have been so busy lately I have neglected our blog. We were in Texas a few weeks ago for Ellen and David's wedding (Leland's sister). Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Frost! Ellen was a beautiful glowing bride. I cried more at her wedding than I did at my own. I was too nervous to cry at mine. The wedding was beautiful and we had so much fun at the reception. David is originally from Alabama and was in a band there so he and his old bandmate (and best man) got up on stage and gave us quite a show for a couple of songs! It was awesome! We are happy to have him as part of the family! Here's a few pictures from the weekend.

.

New Things

Just a picture of Kate and Mommy to throw in here

Kate discovering all the hidden treasures in the kitchen

Kate sporting her new chair that her mommy painted for her

Kate took her first real steps Saturday, Oct 24th. Leland was holding her standing up on our kitchen island and I had her bottle ready and she wanted it so she just let go of Leland and took about 3 steps towards me! I don't think she even knew what she did, but Leland and I were in shock. We just weren't expecting it. So later that day we tried to get video of it. This is where you really need a 3rd person to help take video. I can't believe how fast she is growing up! We still haven't even really babyproofed yet. I haven't made a decision about what to do about the stairs yet. We don't want to drill into the banisters so we need to figure something out .....and quick. So here she goes!

10 Months

Kate is 10 months old (2 months shy of being a one-year old!!!!) It's so neat to watch her grow but sad at the same time because I love the baby phase and it's going by way too fast! Kate is such a happy baby. She rarely ever fusses and is always smiling and having a good time. We feel really blessed that she is such a happy little one and she brings so much joy to our lives. Some things Kate is doing at 10 months: she is sleeping until 7am and will play in her crib for a while until we come get her. Leland is really good about going to get her up in the mornings while he's getting ready for work and lets me sleep in a little. And she always has a little present for him in the morning...hehee. She is eating table food for the most part now, with some pureed foods mixed in here and there. She looooves bluberries and any kind of bread. She naps at 9am and again at 1:30pm. Her bedtime is normally around 7:30pm. She takes a pacifier but only at naptimes and bedtime....something we're going to start weening here soon..not looking forward that! Any tips are welcomed :) Kate dances when she hears music playing (she just bounces up and down right now). She's babbling all the time and sounds like she's just having her own conversation.....cute. She's very very ticklish. She's motoring around the furniture but not quite confident enough to let go and take off on her own. Kate will give you a high-five and kisses. She still doesn't want to wave bye-bye yet or clap her hands. We're working on it... She's just now starting to babble ma-ma but doesn't associate it with me.....that's what she's been up too....sorry so long....I'm tired and sort of rambling and my brain is ready for bed. I may have been born in Missouri but I'm a Texan by heart!

Kate gets so excited when she sees her Daddy come home from work.

My little bug-a-boo

We had some major cabin fever and had to get outside even though it was cold...burr! Kate loves the outdoors.

Cruisin'

Kate is all over the place these days. She's is weeks from walking....I'm not ready! She just loves to be standing all the time. She can't get enough of it. Here's a few pictures of what we've been up to. We just got back from a trip to Texas. Leland had to be in Dallas for work so Kate and I tagged along. We first went to Clifton to see Leland's family and then to Dallas for his work week. Kate and I headed to Wichita Falls to see my family while he was working...we ended up staying longer than planned. Leland got sick (we thought he had the flu but it turned out to be a head cold) so Kate and I steered clear for a few days. But then I ended up getting it and Kate already had a bad cough, so I think she was the one to give it to us afterall! We were bummed because it ruined all the plans we had to see friends. I was going to go up to my old dentist office in Carrollton to see my friends up there and surprise them, but we didn't get to make it to Dallas in time. Oh well, next time! We did get to spend some time with my brother and his family. We're turning around in 2 more weeks to go back for Leland's sister's wedding! We're looking forward to it....this time we're flying thank goodness!

Happy girl!

She just wanted to play with the hay

Kate wasn't a fan of being plopped down by a bunch of huge pumpkins for a picture.

the cousins with Aunt Lindsey

Here is Kate cruisin'. She is getting way to fast! It's so fun to see her grow up but it's so sad too. She already squirms to get out to my lap so she can get down and move around. Oh well, I'm glad she's having fun!

Stats

Kate went to the doctor today. here's her stats
19 lbs. (60th %)
28 1/4 inches (75th %)
head-17 1/8 inches (5oth %)

The doctor said she looks great! We are so happy!

9 Months!

Our sweet Kate is 9 months old! I know neither Leland and I cannot imagine life without her and we thank the Lord for her daily and for her good health and happy personality! She is truly a precious gift. I didn't take too many pictures this month for some reason. But here's just a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.

At 9 months:
-Kate is still not crawling-she scoots around on her hiney or tummy. But she loves to stand and walk when holding our hands. She's starting to cruise around furniture some but is a little timid. -New foods Kate likes are watermelon, rotesserie chicken, mac-n-cheese, any kind of bread, green beans
-Kate is babbling a lot-says da da da all the time but we're still working on ma-ma.
-She claps with her arms straight out and palms down and slaps them together-silly girl!
-drinking with her staw cup now.
-growing so big and healthy! We go to the doctor Friday so I'll know her stats and post them by then.

Happy after a good nap

Everything looks really funny sideways
(Kate does this a lot..It's so cute!)

Hanging out at the park

Hanging with my friend Bailey.

If you want to see Kate's 9 month Photo shoot you can go to http://www.essenciaphotography.com/ and under Proofing enter "KATE" They turned out really good!