A VERY Merry Christmas

Well, our first Christmas as parents was an amazing experience! I LOVE this side of things!!! Sarah Katherine had not really "played" with her toys before Christmas, but she chose Christmas Eve to start having some fun (perfect timing). We first went to Christmas Eve service at church where David sang and we got to go up front as a family and take the Lord's Supper. It was a beautiful service and really helped get our focus in the right place before any presents began. We came home and had dinner, then David read the Christmas story from our family Bible. Now that he is the "dad" of the family he got to read the story, which was really neat. Then present time began and we passed out the gifts we gave each other. Not too long after that it was Sarah Katherine's bed time - and time for some karaoke excitement (I got David a karaoke game for Wii - SUPER fun!). In the morning David had to go into work for a little while, so Sarah Katherine didn't get to break out her Santa presents until that afternoon.

The day after Christmas we left to go to south Alabama to visit my grandparents. My grandmother is really weak and wasn't able to come up to us, so we took Christmas to her. She enjoyed seeing the baby and visiting with us. I even cooked a few things (and they got eaten totally up - my cooking is improving!).

All in all, a wonderful first Christmas with the kiddo. I look forward to many great memories to come and am so unbelievably thankful to have such a great family to share it with. Our family is making traditions and becoming a little family unit of our own - this is a such an exciting time!

Here are a few pictures from the big day...

Aren't these Santa's darn cute?!

He he he, I got goodies!!!

Granddaddy - buy me a pony

Yeah Gram - sing me another song!

I totally made my grandfather hold her - he is kinda leary of the little babies. I promise she won't break! :)

Hello Santa!

After one failed attempt (Santa went on dinner break right when we showed up), Sarah Katherine got to meet Santa. She was super smilely in line, but after a 30 minute wait in line she wasn't so giddy. Don't get me wrong - no crying happened (thank goodness!), but she just wasn't overly impressed by the big guy. At least the first Christmas pic with Santa is chronicled for posterity, and maybe next year we'll get a smile. :)

Also, she has found her thumb and LOVES it. Here she is sucking away and staring at the Christmas tree - another new found love!

Merry Christmas!

We went to get our Christmas pictures made, and here they are! I think she looks mighty cute, but then I am pretty biased. :) I promise I am going to work on getting Christmas cards out (especially since the whole birth announcement thing did not happen - sorry!). By next year I'll have this mommy thing down cold and I'll be able to get all this stuff done sooner than the week before Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and takes time to think about the amazing gift that was Jesus. Merry Christmas!

3 months old - already a drama queen!

This was my full week back at work, and I have been able to work with no worries about my kiddo because her Nanna came to stay with her. They have had a great time playing and smiling and just having fun. This morning my mom in law took some pic's of our newly 3 month old gal running the spectrum of expressions.

From Crying...

To Smiling...

To Pouting...

To Laughing - all in minutes!!!

Thanksgiving Pic's

Here are some group shots from Thanksgiving showing the whole clan. We had a great time hanging out with them and letting Sarah Katherine get to know her super duper cousins!

The whole fam - let me tell you it's tough getting this many kiddos to be cute at one time. They totally pulled it off though. :)

All the grandkids together posing for Nanna.

Special Homecoming

A few weeks before Thanksgiving we went up to Tennessee to see my brother in law come home from Iraq. It was such a wonderful time together with family, and such a JOY to see him come home safe and sound. He got to come home for 2 weeks when his son was born, but then had to go back. The coolest thing was to see my nephew just studying his daddy - he totally knew this guy was important. Needless to say, we all boo hoo'd and just had a great day together.

The happy family reunited!

Our kiddos are 3 months apart, so they ate slept, and coo'd together.


My sis made us all T-shirts so we could be SURE our soldier knew we were super excited to see him. Imagine a dozen family members in matching shirts and posters - he is loved!

Here's our cutie in her outfit.

My first day back at work

Well, time finally came for me to go back to work. My twelve weeks flew by, and while the beginning was pretty tough it was worth it all. As I have heard from many, many moms - by the time you go back to work they will finally start being predicable and super cute. Sure enough, Sarah Katherine has been extra precious this week and has been "talking" to me and smiling her huge smile at me all week. Luckily my first two days back happen to be days when her daddy is off work. Since he is keeping her I am totally not worried. She LOVES her daddy time and he is super good with her. I got a glowing report when I got home this afternoon. All in all, the first day back went completely smooth. Work is going to be busy but not too crazy, and I know my baby is being taken care of really well. I am so blessed to have this all work out so well!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

To start my last week at home, Sarah Katherine and I decorated for Christmas. I even dressed her up to get in the spirit! We are getting super excited to have our first Christmas with a kiddo. I am already having visions of Santa pictures with her crying profusely, late nights putting together complicated toys only to realize we forgot the batteries, and the ever popular statement "he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake"! Seriously though, I am thrilled to have a precious baby and to see her little eyes light up at me. That is the best thing ever!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, baby's first Thanksgiving went great! Sarah Katherine didn't quite get to chow down on turkey and dressing, but she had fun anyway. We went up to David's parent's house and got to see Nanna and Grandpa as well as her aunts, uncles, and cousins. All three of David's sisters and their families stayed at the house so we got lots of time to hang out and play with all the kiddos. We even took the doggies with us, so this was our first FULL family trip. Even though the car was smashed full of stuff, we made it in one piece and totally sane.

Now that we are home I am starting to get Christmas things together since we are hosting this year. Also, I go back to work on Thursday, so the full time mom time is almost over. I'm getting all the smiles and kisses I possibly can before then. It's been wonderful being home with her, but I think I'll be ok going back - truth will be told in a couple of days though!

Baby Dedication

Sorry for the lag between posts. Since we are on the tail end of my time off from work, I've been trying to squeeze in as much baby time as possible. We have been really busy - travelling to see family, running around town places, and on and on. The biggest event of the past few weeks is this past Sunday was when we dedicated Sarah Katherine. My parents and grandparents were able to come, so we were truly blessed to have 4 generations present. The service was great - they put together a slide show, gave her a certificate and New Testament, and most importantly our pastor prayed over us as a family that we would raise our child so that one day she will make the decision to accept Jesus as her Savior. I pray we use the wisdom God has provided for us to be good, Godly parents to her.

Eight Weeks

I forgot to post her stats when we went to the doctor last week. She is 10lbs 9oz and 22 1/2" long (both are 50%) - so woo hoo!, she's gaining and growing like she's supposed to.

Big event of the week is Sarah Katherine started sleeping in her crib. Since her room is upstairs and ours downstairs, we had her in a bassinet next to our bed. I always said when she started sleeping through the night I would move her up. We are about 2 weeks late on that "plan" but I'm finally ready to move her up. We stayed in the guest room next to her room the first night, but she did great. She seemed to really like her bed because she zonked out the minute I layed her down and snoozed until 7 the next morning - I love my baby!!

Also, we have started tummy time this week, and little prissy is quite strong! This morning she even started doing some crawling motions - I'm not ready for her to be mobile yet, she's too young. :) Here are some pictures of her showing off her big muscles...

First Photo Shoot...

Sarah Katherine's first set of pictures are loaded! We are so excited!!! She is making some crazy faces since she was a fussy girl most of the time - we have to get her way more excited about the camera. I posted one of the pic's, but to see all 122 you can go to the following link and create a log in. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=573270

Seven Weeks

Another big week in the life of a little one! We took off for Anniston on Saturday so that Sarah Katherine could meet her other great grandmother (my mom's mom). We had a great day visiting with Gram and other relatives. Here's a picture of our girl snuggling with her Gram.

On Sunday afternoon we headed down to Dothan again to spend some more time with Grandmommy and Granddaddy. We got to see some good friends I grew up with, and the best part is Sarah Katherine kept to her schedule and slept super well (even in the car)! I never understood before I had her why this was such a big deal. :)

Then Thursday came the two month doctor's visit, which means big, bad shots. She got 4 shots and some drops in her mouth. She was NOT excited about any of this. Luckily neither mom or dad cried, so we were able to take care of our girl. She wasn't feeling well that evening, but she got back to normal by bedtime and was A-OK the next day!

Friday was Halloween, and she dressed up as a dalmation puppy. Of course I HAD to paint her face to give the full effect! We will post more pictures of her all dressed up later, I have more plans for her and her costume. We went to the fall festival at church and she snoozed the whole time. Thank goodness her costume was fleece, it kept her warm and snuggly while the rest of us froze!

And finally, she is really starting to do a number on us and give some cutie pie faces. Here's a good shot of her grinning at me after I put on her comfy clothes after church Sunday. I guess like all of us, that's quite a relief to be in her easy briches!

Six Weeks

It has been a VERY busy week! Sunday was Sarah Katherine's first stay in the nursery at church. All the ladies were itching to get her down there and squeeze her! :) She did super well and slept the whole time (through Sunday school AND church!). Let's hope she'll be just as sweet this weekend.

Monday we went and had lunch with some of my friends and then went up to my office to visit and finish her bottle. My friend Crystal had her camera and took some really cute pictures - Thanks Crys!

Then on Tuesday SK had her first outing to the zoo! Of course dumb mommy forgot the camera so we have zero pics. She didn't really take a whole lot in anyway, so maybe next time. After that I went in for my 6 week checkup and the doc said all was well. I was kind of hoping she would find something wrong so I could get some more sick time at work, but oh well!

Wednesday night we went down to Dothan so that we could get her baby pictures taken Thursday afternoon with a photographer friend of the family. Of course, she was super cute and smiley ALL day - except when we were at the studio! One highlight was when she was about 5 seconds away from pooping on her daddy's hand - it was HILARIOUS!!! The proofs should be online next week, so I'll add the link to the blog when he sends it to us.

While we were in Dothan my grandparents came to town to see the baby (and us, but mostly the baby). We also took Sarah Katherine over to meet her Grandmother Margie (David's step grandmother). Here are some pic's of her winning over her great-grandmom's!

And finally, I just have to show this off - I got some fun shoes for Sarah Katherine at this huge consignment sale here in town. Imagine that, me buying my daughter shoes!!!!

More Pic's

Here are a few more pictures of the girly.

Here she is with her cousins on our way to church this past weekend. Aren't they the cutest girls ever?! I have a feeling they are going to cause serious mischief together very soon. :)

These are some pictures my awesome friend Leigh took when she came to meet the baby. She actually caught something close to a smile!!! I LOVE IT!

One Month

I can't believe it, but little missy is now a month old! Where has the time gone?!?!?! We have been kind of busy, so I am behind in updating (sorry!). Things are still going pretty well. Sarah Katherine must have heard all the bragging on her for sleeping through the night and said "ha, ha!" because she has started waking up. Just one time a night, so it's really not that bad. We were spoiled for a while, so I'll just be appreciative for that. :)

She got to meet several people this week. First, my friend Emily and her son Joshua came to town. Joshua is just 4 weeks older than Sarah Katherine so Emily and I have some overlapping time off of work we took advantage of to get together. He's a Bama baby and SK is definitely and Auburn girl, so we had to get them gussied up in their gear for a pic!

This weekend David's sister and her family came to visit, so Sarah Katherine got to meet her aunt, uncle, and cousins! We had a great time visiting with them, and seeing their girls makes me SOO excited for Sarah Katherine to start chatting with me and doing fun, prissy girl things!

Also, big milestone - her umbilical stump FINALLY fell off. Here is a picture of her after bath time - she really likes bath time. If she's fussy it calms her right down, so you can be sure this girl definitely gets clean everyday! ;)

Three Weeks

Well, I can't believe it's been another week already!!! We went to the doctor this week for Sarah Katherine's check up and the doctor said all was looking good. She's up to 21 1/2" long and 7lbs 14 oz - the 90th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight! She's a tall skinny one.



We also had a big weekend last weekend, David's mom, sister, and her son came to visit. Sarah Katherine was so excited to see her Nanna and Aunt Nicole that she stayed away almost all day Saturday and was super cuddly. We took the two kiddos to a nursery in town that had some festive fall decorations out and took some pictures. Sarah Katherine was much less excited to take pic's than Luke - she slept or fussed most of the time, but I still think she's a cutie.

"Mommy why are you making me lay in pumpkins?!?!?!"
She's much happier lounging with squash.
Here is Sarah Katherine with her cousin Luke. They are about 3 months apart. We are excited because David's other sister Rachael will be having another new cousin in January. Three cousins within 7 months - big year for Nanna and Grandpa!

Sarah Katherine also made her first appearance at church. We sat with her in the balcony just in case any fussies happened, but she did SUPER. She slept most of the time, the only time she woke up was during prayer time. I guess it got too quiet for her - it also was time to eat though. :) It will be a little while before we send her to the nursery, but I am super excited about being able to get back to church.

Getting ready for church. She's wondering - what is Dad doing?! (It was his first time flying solo at bath time.)

All gussied up for church. We didn't try too hard to wake her up for pictures since we knew how nice it would be for her to snooze during church.

Week Two

We have made it to the second week already! Time is flying, Sarah Katherine will be driving before we know it. :) So far, Sarah Katherine is continuing to be a GREAT baby. She is still sleeping about 5 - 6 hours a night (with just one or two nights as an exception, but she got right back in her schedule). We were sad to see Grandmom go home earlier this week, but Sarah Katherine and I are having fun together during the day while Dad is at work. We have gone on a stroll - which she loves - and we sit out on the back porch and read (Mom) / nap (Sarah Katherine). We haven't been able to venture far from home yet because I wasn't allowed to drive for two weeks after the birth, and the Pilot is in the shop. Maybe we'll get the car back next week and we can see how well Mom and baby do with field trips. We did get out and about today though for Sarah Katherine's first trip since David was off work. We went up to church and met people, then to McAlister's for lunch, then to Michael's for some craft projects for mom, and finally to Oak Mountain State Park for some pictures. I am pretty sure the car lulls her off to sleep because she slept for most of the outing. Luckily we did get some awake time for the pictures!