Growing up

Kate is growing so fast and learning new things all the time. It's amazing how from one day to the next she can suddenly do new things.She has started grabbing things (including my hair!) and reaches out for things now. Everything goes into her mouth, so I have to be careful what I let her have.

Kate loves to stand! She can hold all of her weight and just needs someone to hold her for balance. It's so funny to see her standing there because she's still so little!


And here is her latest trick...

...almost sitting on her own!


She still topples over but she can balance there for a bit. Amazing! Just yesterday she was falling over every which way. Today she can balance and catch herself as she starts to lean.

Babies are so cool.

5 years

Happy 5 year anniversary to us! (Yesterday)July 24, 2004

(I was too lazy to hook up our scanner, so I took a picture of this picture on my desk. It looks like it's a really old photograph or something! haha!)

It has been a good - and busy - five years. Josh and I were thinking about all that has gone on in these years. Here are some things we came up with:

In 5 years:
- we have lived in 4 different cities with 5 different home addresses
- we have traveled to 5 countries, 1 of them several times
- we have visited about 30 cities (domestic and international)
- between the two of us we have had 7 jobs and 3 non-paying internships
- and we have made two additions to our family: one wonder-dog and one amazing baby!

What an adventure it's been so far!

Can't wait to see what the next 5 years hold.

A Fortnight of Weddings

Okay, so it was not literally two weeks full of weddings. But we did have back-to-back wedding weekends, both of which Josh was in and one of which I was also in. And both were out of town. So it's been a bit of a whirlwind.

Wedding #1 was in College Station and was of a good friend of Josh's from architecture school at A&M. What I saw of the wedding was lovely. Kate decided she was not in the mood for a wedding that day, so we spent half of the ceremony in the church's nursery. She enjoyed the reception a bit more but eventually konked out on daddy's chest.

Wedding #2 was Josh's sister's wedding in San Antonio. We were both in this wedding, but Kate was not. So my parents came for the wedding and to take care of their granddaughter. Everything went well. The wedding went off without a hitch and I think the couple had a great time at the ceremony and reception. We stayed in a hotel with Kate for the first time, with mixed results. Josh and I enjoyed seeing my parents and they LOVED getting to take care of Kate.This is how Kate spent much of the wedding and reception. I don't think my dad minded very much. =)Mother and Father of the Bride!


Smiling bride! Laurie was happy and unruffled!

We are happy to be a part of these happy occasions and happy to be home for the weekend. Of course, this weekend is another big occasion...

Stroller workout

Whew! Kate got tired out from her workout riding in the stroller while mommy walked with her friend.

(Please note that Kate is wearing appropriate workout attire)

Book Corner

Recently I read The Bookseller of Kabul. It is written by a journalist who lived with an bookseller and his family for a month in order to write this book. She gives a very candid depiction of life in Afghanistan for this family and those similar to them. I found it very intriguing. I am often amazed by what seems to be contrasts to me in the nature of the culture there in Afghanistan. As I see these pictures of the lives of the people there, I realize more and more how Jesus Christ is the only answer or way of change for them, as with any of us.

I also read In Praise of Stay at Home Moms. Dr. Laura acts like a cheerleader for moms and families who value having the mother in the house to raise the children, even if that means monetary sacrifices or juggling schedules for mom to work while the children are with dad or asleep. She encourages moms to cherish the time they have with their children, to support and appreciate their husbands for working, and to take care of themselves to be able to be good moms. It's great to hear a voice shouting loudly that being a mom at home is of more value than any successful career could be.

Seeing myself

Have you ever caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and thought "Is that really what I look like?" This happened to me yesterday as I was getting ready. Trying to manipulate my short hair into a ponytail, I caught a view of my profile and thought "Is that really me? I didn't know I looked like that on that side." It's kind of like hearing yourself on a recording and realizing your voice sounds different on the outside than the one you hear when you speak. It's weird.

And that just got me thinking. While it might be true that we know ourselves better than most everyone else, we don't always see ourselves as well as other people. We can't always see ourselves from other angles or hear ourselves without the internal reverberations. And those few moments when we do, sometimes we realize "That's not at all what I meant to be like."

Just as the hairstylist uses an extra mirror to show us all angles of our haircut, just as the fancy dressing rooms have the three mirrors instead of just one, and just as we need someone to tell us if those pants make our butts look big, I think we need someone to help us see how we are looking in other areas. Maybe those comments from a spouse about relaxing and slowing down aren't criticism but just a view from that side mirror. Maybe the suggestions to take something a bit more seriously or to not be so serious are just the help we need to see the whole picture.

Maybe if I stop taking myself so seriously I'd be able to accept the other viewpoints more gracefully. And then I can look at those viewpoints and say "Weird. I didn't see myself that way," and decide what I want to do about it. Just like you can't fix your hair when you can't see it, you can't fix yourself if you don't see it.

So, friends, how ya lookin'?

Today's Murphy's Law calendar page

Kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.

Where does the time go?

I really will update soon. I mean it. I have every intention of doing so.

We were out of town (AGAIN!) this past weekend for a wedding in College Station. I have a few fun stories from the weekend. I have been exhausted from our adventures and trying to prepare for this coming weekend when Josh's sister gets married.

So...I'll tell my stories when I have a chance to download some pictures from the camera.

In the meantime, get excited because today I went to the grocery store with Kate by myself for the first time! We did great! That was probably the quickest grocery trip I've made at HEB. I did not want to risk an overtired-baby-meltdown. The hardest part was watching where I was going instead of making faces and playing with Kate. She's so fun!

Diaper Talk

With Kate we've been using gDiapers. So far we've really liked them. (www.gdiapers.com) They are environmentally friendly because you just flush the inside liner and reuse the cloth outer pant. They are not necessarily wallet friendly, though not a lot more expensive than disposibles. I've heard that cloth diapers are more economical. So I've been looking into cloth diapers. I know you might be saying - "That's gross and a lot of work." That's kind of what I thought before I started looking at what's out there. I met a mom here who is all about cloth diapers. (That's what her blog is: allaboutclothdiapers.com) She showed me some of her favorites and how the different all in one cloth diaper systems work.

One that she recommended was Gro Baby. This diaper is supposed to fit your baby from newborn to whenever you stop using diapers. That would be so great to not have to buy different sizes as baby grows. So I'm really interested in trying Gro Baby. It looks like it's easy to use, trim fitting, and the covers are really cute colors!

Here's the link if you want to check them out:
Natural Baby Co. - Gro Baby

Feel free to pass on any suggestions or comments!

Daddy Time

This is what happens when Daddy dresses me:
Don't you love the look on Kate's face? Help me, Mommy, this bow is not right!

Yes, that is a coffee filter on my baby's head!

Although Josh has his moments of "creative genius" when it comes to Kate's fashion, he did do a great job putting her bow on this past weekend. I can't find a picture of it, but it was a fabulously large bow and he got it just right! There's hope!

What a Difference...

...three months makes in the life of our baby girl.

In the beginning...Little taco babycoming home from the hospital

Now...sitting pretty dressed up for Daddy

chilling with Raffi on a road trip

Kate is now 14 weeks old. She is pushing up on her tummy, rolling over (when she remembers that she can!), "standing" with balance support, and making all kinds of adorable squeals and conversations. She likes to share her opinion when she knows you are listening. Kate sleeps through the night, usually 8-9 hours, and is not a fan of naps. She is very social and enjoys being around people, even if she is not the center of attention (but she often is!). She enjoys watching her Sammy and likes it when Raffi the giraffe sings to her.

I don't think it's possible to be more smitten than I am about this girl.