The Last Specialist Visit (for now)

Today we went to see Cate's Orthopedic specialist for what we hope is the last time in a long time. She got a pelvic x-ray. That was NOT fun. Of course, you can't explain to a 6-month old that it won't hurt. All she knows is that she is scared and cold and being held down so she won't blur the images. But, after that traumatic moment, the rest of the visit was pretty great. Her Orthopedist confirmed that her hips are still developing normally, and that we don't have to go back for a visit until she is two years old.

On another happy note, my school ends for the semester today! So, I know Cate and I are looking forward to winter break! Chaz has three more working days after today, so I know he's counting down the days to Christmas too!

Christmas Parties

We've been to two Christmas parties at Chaz's work over the last week. Last weekend, we had the family Christmas party at the Lincoln Children's museum. Cate had a lot of fun dressing up as an elf (in the special tree hat her Aunt Deb sent her) and playing with all of the toys. Here is our baby elf sitting (by herself!) in the giant chair on the second floor.
Here is Cate playing in the toddler section. She was waving at herself in the mirror.

Here is Cate playing in the kids Vetrinary medicine area. She found a Wiener dog that looks just like hers at home.

Then, this past weekend Chaz & I had the adult Christmas party hosted by his work at the university's Alumni center. Here is a quick photo the babysitter snapped before we left.

We hope all is well for you all, and we can't wait to see many of you over holiday break.

6 month check-up

Cate had her 6 month check-up today. She is officially 15lbs 7 oz and 25" tall. She is still a bit smaller than average (20th-35th percentile), but as the doc points out, her mommy & daddy aren't too tall either. Otherwise, she is great - hitting all of her developmental milestones like a rockstar.

I had a bunch of cute pictures planned, but our camera's memory card died tonight. Booo. Good thing I had all but the most recent pictures backed up. I hope Cate buys me a new memory card for Christmas!

Cate has also continued her trek towards solid food. She is still eating cereal once a day, and tonight we added sweet potatos when she was done with her cereal. She LOVES sweet potatos. I'm afraid she'll never want cereal again now that she knows potatos are an option.

Oh, we have our first semi-annual parent-teacher conference at Cate's school on Dec 20th. I suspect this will start a long career of parent-teacher conferences.

I hope to have pictures to share soon.

Dah! An update!

Okay, so I've basically forgotton to update the blog in the last month! I'm sorry! We have had a crazy/busy/good/bad/stressful/joyful month.

Since my last update, Chaz, Cate & I took our first family trip on an airplane to California. I had conference for my work in San Francisco, and Chaz & Cate bummed along as tourists. Though I was quite busy, I enjoyed the presentations I gave and watched at my conference, and Chaz and Cate had a blast riding the street cars and touring all of the local parks, a few museums and other notable places in San Francisco. She was a doll on all of our flights. Minus a couple of min of fussing, she ate and slept better than I have the right to expect a 5 month old to do. Of course, we forgot our camera. We bought disposable cameras there, so as soon as we get those pictures developed, we will put them on the internet! Until then, here is an adorable set of pictures of her riding on daddy as we packed.

We returned from San Francisco on a Wednesday night at 11pm (we got home from the aiport at 12:30am) and Cate and I left for Michigan the next day (Thursday) at 8am! We met my mom (Cate's grandma) halfway (in Chicago) and went to Michigan to see our family and old friends. Cate got to meet her great-grandmother (grandma's mom) and her great grandfather (her grandpa's dad) for the first time. She also met a number of my aunts/uncles and cousins. I, of course, forgot my camera again! Jeez. I am not good at this parenting/pictures thing. We did have a chance to take a four-generations photo when I was in Michigan. Here is a Sears photo of great-grandma, grandma, mom and baby.

I got home on the Monday of Thanksgiving week. After working two days, Thanksgiving day arrived. We loaded up into the car and took off for Kansas. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Chaz's family, and Cate got to meet a number of his aunts/uncles/cousins for the first time.

When we got home Thanksgiving night, we decided to give Cate her first Thanksgiving meal (actually her first meal ever). She "ate" rice cereal. Actually, she didn't eat anything, as I think she spit it all back out onto her bib. But, in the 5 days since, I think she's actually started swallowing whole spoonfuls before spitting the rest out onto her bib.

After our crazy month, I suppose it is no surprise that Cate is a bit under the weather. Cate has been making these awful gasping noises and has had this very sad-sounding cough for a few days. This morning, she was having some trouble breathing, so we went to the doc. So, according to our doc, she has laryngitis. It is bad enough when I lose my voice, but she sounds so sad because when she tries to cry, only a squeak comes out, and when she tries to babble at me ("talk") she just makes this gasping sound. As a result, I stayed home with her today, and she wanted to cuddle all day. Here is a picture of her cuddling with her dad and the dog on the couch.

Cate is 6 months old tomorrow!!! I can't believe it. According to the doc today, she weighs 15 pounds exactly! She is growing so fast.

For my Sister

My sister, Rachel, has been on a buy the baby "I love my aunt" propaganda mission since Cate was born. So, Rachel, here is the most recent purchase on the baby.

Cate says "Thank you Aunt Rachel". She also says the pens on the counter are a really fun toy.

Playing around the house

Okay, so here are a few photos of us playing around the house today. Here is one of Cate & I on the couch after school.
Here are some of Cate playing with her ball on the floor. She loves to roll over onto her tummy now (and will as soon as we lay her down on her back). You'll also see that she loves to eat her toys. Yummy.

Finally, Cate decided to try on her little cow Halloween costume tonight. It looks a bit odd in the photos, but it is super cute in person. You'll also see a picture of a "flying cow". It is her new favorite game.

It is very hard to believe, but Cate will be 5 months old this Saturday! Wow, how time has flown.

Go Cats!

Dad and Daughter K-State Watch Party.

I know she looks more concerned with pulling off her own socks in this photo, but she was smiling just seconds ago as Chaz was singing the K-State fight song to her.

Go Cats!

4 Month Check Up

Cate's 4 month check-up was today and it went great. She weighs 13lbs 1oz and she is 24" tall. This puts her in the 35% of both height and weight. Her head is 15.75", which the doc tells us means she is growing well. Today was a happy visit (baby laughed, cooed and enjoyed kicking the doc in the face!) We are going to do her shots on Wed, so that one will be a little less fun.

A few pictures - Concordia, KS

At the top - a picture of all of Chaz's sisters & I, each with our youngest children (of course, for Deb and I, also our oldest children). From left to right, Deb with her daughter Maggie (4 mo), Pam with son Simon (6 mo), Della in back with Keidra (7 years) in front and Cate (4 mo) and I on the right.
Cate playing on the floor at Grandpa's house.
All three baby cousins playing on the floor. Cate is wearing the purple K-State onesie and the bib (she always wears one now due to a drooling situation). Simon is in the middle and her "twin" cousin Maggie (they were born the same day!) is on the right in the white K-State onesie and the Notre Dame shorts. They were so cute all playing together!
Baby is stirring from her nap, so off I go.

Catherine - 4 months!

I have a bit of extra time at work today (yay Fridays!) so I decided to post a LONG overdue update - even though all of the pictures I've been taking for this update are on our camera at home. I promise more pictures soon.

Cate had her four month "birthday" yesterday. She has been a very busy girl this past week. Friday night we went out to dinner with most of my co-workers because the graduate students a year behind me in school all finished their big comprehensive exams. This is a huge right of passage for them, so we had to celebrate with yummy dinner (and beers for them). It was great to see them all so happy after weeks of comps-induced stress. Cate, unsurprisingly, was super popular, and she flirted with several people who agreed to hold her so that her daddy and I could eat. (Yes, she flirts now, with big smiles and coos and babbling!)

After dinner, we loaded up the car and took off for Concordia, KS. Chaz's sisters were home for fall fest/high school reunions, so we went to see everyone while they were in town. The drive was easy (she slept the whole way - yay for traveling at night). We didn't get in to KS until late, but we got to say "hi" to Grandpa Bob, Grandma Lorene, Aunts Deb & Pam, and Cousins Simon and Maggie before bed.

On Saturday, Chaz & his dad went to the K-State Football game in Manhattan, KS. (This was, in itself, a crazy adventure. Lightning storms caused the game to be delayed, and the stadium to be evacuated. Bob & Chaz got to sit in their car during a torrential downpour for part of the afternoon. But, the game resumed and KSU won!) While they were gone, Cate and I got to attend the Fall fest festivities. Saturday morning, Cate went to her first parade. She didn't mind watching the floats/people pass by until the fire-trucks arrived. As each fire truck passed us, they set off their sirens (to the cheers of lots of older kiddos). Cate was not so amused. After a bit of fussing, I rocked her to sleep, and she slept for the rest of the parade.

After the parade and a bit of walking around/enjoying the beautiful weather, Cate and I had a chance to watch her Cousin Keidra (who is in the 2nd grade) perform with her dance troup at fall fest. They danced to the song "hand jive", and Keidra was excellent.

After a quick lunch at Pizza hut, Cate & I went back to her grandparent's house so she could take a nap. That afternoon she got a chance to play with her "twin cousin" Maggie (born the same day as Cate) and her "older" cousin Simon (born a couple months before Cate). This produced adorable pictures. I promise to post soon.

On Sunday, after early (7:30am) church, we drove down to Salina so that Cate could see her great-Aunt (Chaz's Aunt) Pat and her great-Grandma Waneta. Lunch with them (and everyone else) was great, and at the end we got a few pictures of Cate with all her baby cousins (she has many older cousins, but they weren't all here this trip). Again, I promise to remember to post soon.

On Monday, Chaz had oral surgery at 9am to remove his 4 impacted (meaning sideways and twisted) wisdom-teeth. Thankfully, the surgery went as well as it could (the teeth were so askew the doc said his recovery would be more painful than normal), and Monday and Tuesday were spent helping Daddy recover (mostly by getting out of his way so he could nap. Cate came to school with me). Chaz only worked half a day Wednesday, so Cate got a special half-day at home with Daddy. She loves it.

By Thursday our baby was 4 months old! Chaz had mostly recovered, so we resumed our long family walks after work (us, baby and the dog). We took Cate in the baby carrier (a "backpack" looking carrier designed for long walks/hiking) and she loved it! She could see a lot more of the world than she can from in her stroller.

Today is Friday, and we are headed to a BBQ with Chaz's coworkers this evening. Then, there is much important football on TV tomorrow (OU v. Texas!), so we will hopefully have a fun, low-key weekend.

I head to New Jersey next weekend for a work conference. It will be my first trip sans-baby. I leave Fri morning and get back late Sun. This means I'll only be gone two nights (Fri, Sat), so I'm sure she'll survive. Hopefully daddy will survive too. I know I'm going to miss Cate & Chaz like crazy.

I promise to get our pictures posted before then.

Fall!

Fall is certainly here. So far the warmest it has been outside today was 58 degrees (we're already back down to 56 at 4:30pm). When we took Cate for her walk this morning, we had to bundle her up in her stroller with a hoodie and a blanket. But, she loves getting the chance to see the trees (and the dog LOVES the excuse to see the neighborhood), so we went anyway.

We also finally put together her baby exerciser/jumper today. She was playing in one at school Thursday when I went to pick her up, so we decided to break out ours too. So far, she likes the animals that light up and play music. She is less sure about the actual jumping, but she kicks her feet on the ground and bounces a bit. She was giving us some big smiles, so I think she accepts her new toy.




On the up side, I think Cate has beat the worst of her cold/allergies. She still has a bit of a stuffy nose, but she is no longer up every hour at night! On the down side, despite being a very good bottle-taker at school for about a month, she has decided recently to no longer really like bottles. Some days she'll eat okay at school, but other days she will refuse all but a couple of one-ounce snacks. She's still eating great when she gets home, so no worries about her dropping weight. But, it does mean she is still waking up at night to eat. We have her four month check-up in a couple of weeks, so we'll have to see if the doc has any brilliant ideas to make her like bottles then.

We are enjoying a slow weekend at home this weekend, but next weekend we are headed to Chaz's hometown in Kansas to see his sisters who are home for Fall Fest/High School Reunions.

Okay, one more "getting ready in the morning" photo, because I think it shows how big she is getting (compared to her morning photo a month ago).

Cate - 15 weeks

So, our baby is already 15 weeks old! Hard to believe. I haven't updated in awhile because I haven't remembered to take any pictures (Dah! Terrible mommy!). So, Chaz staged this picture of Cate "sitting" next to me on the couch.



Life here is crazy, busy, but pretty wonderful. Cate is still loving daycare. She is happily playing most days when I get there to pick her up (on the few other days, she is eating or sleeping when I arrive). She has learned to nap at daycare the past week or so. Now that she sleeps a couple hours during the day, she is a much happier baby in the early evenings when we are all home as well.

Her newest fascination is with her hands. She had found her hands a week or two ago, but she now only wants her hands in her mouth all the time. She will remove her pacifier to shove her whole hand into her mouth! Actually, she has become more interested in her mouth in general. Virtually anything she can grab immediately goes towards her mouth (even though she's not quite coordinated enough to get the items in her mouth on the first try). So, her toys, burp rags, her shirt, etc. all spend time in her mouth daily.

Her newest struggle is that she no longer sleeps long stretches at night. She is fighting a stuffy nose, which I think is a big culprit, but she now only sleeps for 1-2 hours in a row before she wakes up. One of us will go in her room and comfort her (pat her belly, give her the pacifier, talk to her) and she'll fall back to sleep. I'm still feeding her about once every 3-4 hours at night, but she's up more frequently than that. Last night we used saline nose spray (no medicine, it is just salt water) and suctioned her nose out a couple of times when she woke up, and we got one four hour stretch out of her. But, this all has led to a very sleepy mommy. She used to sleep a 6 hour stretch for me, but I haven't slept more than 2 hours in a row now in more than a week! Any advice for beating this cold and promoting baby sleep would be welcomed!

We've had a pretty good weekend. Friday a good friend of mine was in town from Omaha. Cate had met Abbie when she was only a month old (when we were going to Omaha for those specialist visits), but Abbie was excited to see Cate now that she has more of a personality. Cate cooed and smiled at Abbie, and we were all able to get smoothies and go for a nice long walk around downtown. Have I mentioned that the temps here are now about 50 degrees at night and high 70s/low 80s during the day? We now go for lots of walks. It is awesome!

Okay, There are lots more stories to tell, but I'll have to update later. I don't want to spend her entire morning nap typing away on the computer!

College Football Saturday! (in KS)

We had a wonderful first day of college football. A little back story - I'm from Texas, my husband is from Kansas. Between us, we've been to school at the University of Oklahoma, Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. We really enjoy college football! My favorite school is still my first (OU), but my husband has been a KSU fan his whole life (his dad has had season tickets to the KSU games since 1978). So, when Chaz asked this summer if we could go to a KSU game sometime, I decided to get him tickets to the KSU game over Labor Day weekend.

So, yesterday we got up at 6:30am, loaded up the car by 8am and headed out to Manhattan, KS. The trip only took us 3 hours (including a stop to feed the baby), and she, other than when she was ready to eat, slept the whole way! At 11am, we arrived at some friends' home (Sarah and Justin and their kids Jackson and Levi) to have a football brunch. They had also invited some of our close friends (Kevin and Sarah) down from Topeka. Yes, if you are reading this you realize that all 3 of the adult women there were named Sarah. The two Sarahs that are not me had prepared the most impressive spread of food, including potato casserole, bacon, fruit pizza, scones, bread pudding, etc. Cate had a blast playing with Jackson & Levi's toys (they have a rocking bouncy seat and a shiny rattle!)

Then, at about 1pm, we headed over to a tailgate at the Church that Chaz used to play softball for (College Avenue United Methodist) to see our former bosses and friends Bobby, Erika and their daughter Sadie (plus a number of people from Chaz's softball team). Erika and Sadie took Cate back to their house to play, and Chaz and I got to go to the KSU football game. The game was hot (2:30p kick off), but it was a ton of fun. UCLA put up a fight, but KSU rushed for more than 300 yards and won 31-22.

After the game we picked up Cate (who had a blast with Sadie. Sadie, who is nearing 4 years old, brought out every toy she owned to show Cate, and made up songs to sing to Cate, and otherwise had a blast with our little girl). We then went to have dinner with Chaz's folks before heading out of town.

We left KS at about 8:30pm, and got home at 11:15 (no stop for baby to eat this time, as this is her nightime). All in all a wonderful day!

Of course, I carried my camera around the whole day and only remembered to take pictures at the very end of the day - which is why we look so tired and sunburned. But, Cate loved seeing her grandparents.



Cate, who slept just fine in the car, was up by 6am this morning ready to go. So, hopefully I can get a nap later! But, we couldn't be more happy that KSU, OU, and UNL all won their opening games and we had a chance to see so many dear friends.

Cate's visit to the Lincoln rose gardens

Cate is three months old! We had to run to her doc's office to get a copy of her shot records for her daycare, and they weighed her while we were there - she is now 11lbs 14 oz! We are so excited for our quickly growing girl.

Cate has also continued to show off her newfound rolling-over skills. She still only rolls one direction (tummy to back), but she now does it pretty much every time we put her on her tummy.

Tonight, we took Cate to visit the Lincoln rose gardens. Somehow all our pictures are in front of the fountains, but I promise there were beautiful roses there. She's enjoying looking at her surroundings more and more.

Cate rolls over!

Cate rolled over from her tummy to her back twice in a row tonight! We tried for a third time, but she was too mad that we kept putting her back on her tummy. She screamed pretty loud. But, I think she's getting close to being able to roll over whenever she wants, which is so exciting!

12 Weeks: Cate "Sits" Up (Sort-of)

Okay, so she can't really sit unassisted, but she can sit for very short periods of time in her bumbo chair. Plus, a pretty cute set of pictures of her "sitting" on daddy's tummy on the couch.

I can tell she is gaining more head control every day.








Today was my first day back in the classroom. It was a pretty average first day - filled with lost Freshman and students who were late to class. Actually, though, I think I have a really good set of students this semester (48 of them this time around). I look forward to getting to know them better over the next few weeks.

Cate is still doing well at daycare. In fact, today she took an hour and a half nap for them in her crib! If she will just keep up that napping, I think she will be a much happier baby. On the up side, she is still eating well for them, so I'm pretty sure she is growing fast.

When we do "tummy time", we often put her on a small pillow (so she can look around). Well, lately she has learned to roll over off her pillow! If we put her flat on the ground she can't roll over (so she can't really roll over yet), but she has learned to use the pillow as a ramp to avoid tummy time (which she still hates). So, no more pillow - because she has to learn to roll over all on her own.

She is still not sleeping as well at night as she used to. Last night she got up at midnight and 4am. I'm hoping the better napping at daycare might help us get back to our better nighttime sleep schedule.

Well, it is time for me to go pack our lunches (mine and hers) for school tomorrow!

Catherine Rose @ 11 Weeks

Another early-morning getting ready for school picture. But, she's pretty awesome.

Quick Update

This is my first full week of work (with full days of daycare for Cate). So far, it is going pretty well. In exactly a day and a half I've learned:
1. That getting ready in the morning takes 1000 hours longer than I will expect that it should (aka, I did not get to the office early like I had hoped Monday). Kids have SO MUCH STUFF to pack. Not to mention that getting myself showered is not easy when she's awake. Good thing I didn't have a meeting scheduled until 11:30am.
2. The kiddo can be cajoled to eat at daycare (yay!). We had to buy her different bottle nipples, but Monday she ate normally for them. Lets hope she keeps this up.
3. The kiddo cannot (so far) be cajoled to take a nap at daycare. It is too much fun playing instead. This means I have a sleepy/cranky baby when we get home.
4. The axiom that overtired kids sleep less is true. She is back to getting up twice a night and she got up at 5am this morning and refused to go back to sleep. So I got up at 5am this morning. Boo.
5. The kiddo does love playing at daycare. Yesterday she was playing so happily that she got annoyed when I removed her from the toys to take her home. She also loves her teachers, which is such a blessing.
6. I am tempted to update my blog about the kiddo during my lunch break rather than grade papers like I should be doing.

Well, I think that despite being a very sleepy mommy, we'll survive.

BBQ!

Last night we went to Capitol City RibFest - a BBQ street fair. They bring in BBQ vendors from all over the country (and a few from international spots). Several of the BBQ stands boasted having been featured on the Food Network and the Travel Channel. I had some pretty awesome Ribs and Chaz had Aussie BBQ Shrimp. The weather was beautiful - mid 80s - and quite windy (hence my hair flying all over the place in the pictures). Cate loved people watching, and lots of people stopped to talk to her when we were eating. I think she very much enjoyed her first fair.

We also got to enjoy a funnel cake while listening to an outdoor band. We couldn't have asked for a better family Saturday night.

Back to school...

10 weeks old - As the new semester is quickly approaching (I start inservice this Monday), Cate started daycare half-days this past week so that we could both adjust to it (and so I could get my office and syllabi in order) before she starts full time this next week. Here is a picture of her before her first day of school. She's still pretty sleepy because it is 6am.

She attends the University's child care center, which is about a 20 min walk from my office. Her teachers, Jennifer and Tiffany, are wonderful women and the student workers who help out in her room seem really engaged too. Every day when I went to pick her up she was playing happily. She is quite popular at the center, as several of the teachers from other classes and both center directors stop us to talk to her every time we leave (getting out of there takes us quite a while). The only down side is that she doesn't like eating there. I'm not sure why she resists taking a bottle from them, as she doesn't mind taking one from Chaz at home. But, she won't eat more than 2 oz every three hours (and often less than that). I'm hoping that she gets more comfortable eating from them as she gets more used to all the excitement.

Cate has also been consistently sleeping better at night. She's been sleeping from around 9pm to 3:30am and then until 6:00-6:30am. This means I'm now only getting up once at night, since I get up at 6:00 for work anyway. It also means that I'm getting 5 hours of sleep in a row pretty much every night, which makes me a happy mommy.

Life at home has been as exciting as ever. Our air conditioner died Wednesday night, and I spent most of the day Thursday trying to get it fixed. It was only 24 hours, but geesh it was hot.

In other news, school and work start in full force next week, so life will get even busier (is that possible?)

Vaccination Day

Yesterday went pretty well. Cate and I made it to my mom's group in the morning. The women there are great, so it always makes our day go better. We then went with Chaz to meet Cate's daycare teachers. They both seem great and I'm feeling pretty good about Cate starting daycare on Monday. She'll only have to do part-days next week, so it will be a good transition for us (I hope). We then went up to my office and moved about 3/4 of my belongings to my new office down the hall. Cate had a meltdown before I could finish... in all fairness we had been out and about too long. So, I'll have to finish that project next week.

Today started on the best note ever. Cate ate last night at 9:30pm and slept from 10pm-5am! That is 7 hours for those of you that are counting. This means that I got 6 hours of sleep in a row for the first time since a couple months before she was born. I have no doubt that she will not sleep so well every night yet, but I'm feeling much better today.

Finally, today was Cate's two month vaccination day. We went and got her shots around noon. She of course screamed the second the shots began. I shed a couple of tears while she screamed and screamed. Thankfully, however, I took the advice of the women in my mom's group who encouraged me to feed her immediately afterwards. She screamed right until we started breastfeeding. She ate quietly for 10 min and then fell asleep and slept the way home. Since we've been home, she's been sleepy but too fussy to fall asleep. In fact, I'm holding & bouncing the grumpy bear right now. I think we may have a grumpy afternoon/evening, but otherwise we seem to be dong fine. I hope this is the worst of it.

Two months - I cannot how believe how fast she's growing. Where does the time go?

2 Month Update

Cate had her 2 month check-up at the doc office today, and it went great. She is 22 3/8 inches long (45th percentile) and she weighs 10lbs 12 oz (45th percentile). Basically, the doc says she is just about average in height/weight. So far, she seems to be hitting her developmental milestones as well. She smiles, coos, grabs things, and loves making eye contact.

We had to make a seperate appointment for her 2-month vaccinations, so we aren't doing that until Thur. Wish us luck!

I am also thrilled to announce that since Cate's actual two month birthday (Friday) she has been sleeping in her crib in her room (she spent the first two months in the Pack-N-Play in our room). Actually, I think the transition was only hard on me. I sleep so lightly that every squeak/kick/sigh from the baby monitor woke me up. She slept fine (still getting up twice a night at 2am and 5am just like she has been for the past month... Boy I hope she drops to one getting up time soon!). On Sat night then, I turned the monitor down to half volume so at least I don't hear the tiny sighs and squeaks. I still hear her babble in her sleep, but at least I sleep a bit better now too.

Baby Gym - 9 weeks old

Cate has recently (in the last week) discovered her baby gym. She had been in it before, but never seemed to notice/care. But, now she loves watching her toys and she likes to hit them so they swing and make noise above her head. She smiles and coos at them too. You will also notice that she is not smiling in her "tummy time" photo. She no longer acts like she is dying when we make her lie on her tummy, but she still hates it. However, as you can see, she has even started to grab onto the toys (though she's never quite sure what to do once she has ahold of them)! She and I now play baby gym a couple of times a day.

Photos from Texas

Our Crazy Life

The last week and a half has been especially crazy for us - filled with some awesome highs and some frustrating lows. Thankfully, Chaz, Cate and I are all (mostly) happy, certainly healthy, and a bit wiser (we hope) given all of the week's events.

It all started last Monday when our water heater quit working. I called the repair person, who came out and basically left a note making fun of me because the pilot light had gone out. I had asked about the water all over the floor, and he said in his note that I had mis-installed our air conditioner drain hose (note that the water on the floor is not near the hose). He re-lit the pilot light and left. Over the next 24 hours, our pilot light goes out 5 more times (we keep relighting it ourselves). I resolve to call and argue with the repair people when we get home from vacation.

Tuesday, we head out early in the AM to Omaha for Cate's orthopedist appointment, which goes great (see my previous blog). We're so thrilled.

We then head back home to Lincoln where we pack up our car (who knew traveling with a kid required so much stuff) and we head out to vacation in Texas via Kansas. Tuesday evening we have the chance to have dinner with my husband's sister and her family (who are living in Alabama) since they are visiting Kansas for the week. It is fantastic to see them. We then continue our drive to Wichita for the night.

Wednesday we drive the rest of the way to Texas. Minus some moderate fussing, Cate travels like a champ, as long as one of us sits in the back seat. Unsurprising, perhaps, but she doesn't love staring at the back of the car seat for 10 hours a day (which she let us know by screaming), so one of us has to be back there for her to see. As soon as we figure this out, traveling became easier.

Thursday-Sunday we have a wonderful time visiting my parents in Texas. My sister also was home with her significant other, Sean, and it was really nice to meet him. My mom threw a small party for some of our old Church friends Saturday night, and it was especially nice for Cate to meet some of the people who were really important in my life when I was growing up. We also got to go to the mall, go bowling and go to Half Price Books (my favorite!) where we got Cate a number of books for storytime. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone.

Monday (of this week) we headed out for our return trip to Nebraska. The first leg of the trip went well, and we settled into our hotel in Wichita that evening only to get an unhappy call from Chaz's sister letting us know that Chaz's father has been hospitalized with Congestive Heart Failure. Obviously, Monday was a long evening as Chaz's sister kept him updated.

Tuesday (yesterday) we drove to Chaz's hometown in Kansas so that Chaz could see his father at the hospital (I didn't want to take Cate to the hospital, so she and I hung out with her Grandma Lorene). Thankfully, Chaz's dad seems to be doing well. The way I understand it, he will spend a few days in the hospital for observation as they drain the fluid from around his heart/lungs, and then he will be sent to a bigger hospital for more tests in a week or two. We may well be headed back to Kansas then...

Tuesday (yesterday) evening, then, we drove the rest of the way back to Nebraska. We had just finished hauling in all the junk from the car when Chaz went to grab something from the basement...which was flooded. 3 inches of standing water all over, and more pouring out from, you guessed it, the hot water heater. Turns out I was right, it was broken. I called the repair people, who had the gaul to ask if it was an emergency! They came out after I explained that yes, the pouring water was in fact not a "wait until the morning" sort of thing, and they shut off our water. Great.

Wednesday (today) they came back around 10am (despite promising to be here at 8am) and replaced our water heater. I am now spending all of Cate's nap times hauling stuff from the basement to be washed/dried or thrown away. Thankfully, Chaz did most of the hard work sorting and hauling heavy stuff out to the trash, so mostly I'm working on curtains and boxes of maternity clothes I had just moved down to the basement. Some of it can't be saved, but I think most of it can. In addition to this crazy, our coffee pot broke this morning, so this is all being done sans-caffeine!

Enough whining. Despite the less than stellar homecoming, we had a wonderful trip and can't wait to see both our Texas and Kansas families again. I am going to go grocery shopping after Cate's next feeding, so we will soon have food and a Coffee maker in the house, and life will begin to return to normal.

Good News

Just back from the meeting with Cate's orthopedic specialist. Her hips now look fine (yay, no brace!). After 3 weeks of Omaha trips, we don't have to see him again until she is 6 months old. Thank you to those of you who prayed for us/sent positive thoughts our way

Now we're headed to Kansas to visit Chaz's family (including meeting Catherine's cousin Simon and seeing the rest of his sister Pam's family). Then, we head tomorrow to Texas to see my family. Exciting days ahead...

6 weeks

So, I cannot believe that Catherine is already 6 weeks old (and really creeping closer to 7 weeks). She is getting huge!! In these photos she is awkwardly hunched over and very sleepy - but you get a good sense of how quickly she is growing. She is 10 lbs now! (Up from a birth weight of 7lbs 8oz)


She has been on the fussy side this week, but with heat indexes around 110 degrees, I can't blame her (since I'm fussy too!) Next week will be exciting. We are headed back to Omaha (yes, third time) to see the Orthopedist to hear what he thinks about the hip-sonograms she got last Tue. Then, we are headed out to Texas to visit my family for about a week. Driving those 700ish miles each direction with a (less than) 2 month old will be exciting, but we are sure looking forward to seeing everyone. Wish us luck!