Weekly photos - Week 21 outtakes

Katelyn's pictures have been really fun and easy the last couple months. At first, before she was attentive and smiling socially, it took a while to get one where she's looking cute and at the camera. But once she started smiling regularly, the hardest part has been picking our favorite picture out of the dozens that I take. 

I think it's about to get harder, though. 

I want to be able to photoshop a "__ weeks" decal onto her onesie, so I need to be able to see at least a little of it. Which rules out pictures where there are two feet in the way!

I can manage that, though. It's going to be REALLY tough when she no longer stays on her back where I put her. I didn't really think that through when I started this project. 

        

She looks awfully happy with herself!

I absolutely LOVE watching her grow and change and do new things, and if it's at the expense of my cute little photo project, that's ok. We think she is adorable no matter which way she is facing! :) 

Weekend visit from Nana and Pa-paw

My parents came to visit this weekend and we had a great time! Katelyn is changing so quickly that we are glad they aren't too far away and can see her often. She is so much fun to play with, so we had a great weekend just playing with her, mostly!

Here are a few pictures of them saying "Hi" shortly after arriving Thursday night. I love these rosy cheeks!

Katelyn is obviously the center of attention now, but Cooper misses being the baby and Mom is happy to make him feel special too!

Friday night, Justin and I took advantage of having babysitters and went to a work social function for the evening. As a paranoid mother, I texted Dad shortly after Katelyn's bedtime to make sure that she went to bed ok. He said she woke up, but assured me that Mom got her to go back to sleep.

When we walked in the door after 10:00 this is what we saw -

Dad said "Baby? What baby? Katelyn is asleep just like she is supposed to be!" Mom and Dad acknowledged that they might not ever get to babysit again! Even though it was 2 hours past bedtime, Katelyn was happy and smiling and showing few signs of being tired. I swear that baby doesn't need sleep like the rest of us!

Katelyn had recently started taking interest in the dogs. If they are within reach, she tries her best to get a fistful of fur. Unfortunately, the dogs don't enjoy it at all!

Katelyn's new favorite toy is her foot. She can get it all the way to her mouth now and loves it!

Oh Crafty Day

Yesterday I took advantage of the MLK Day holiday to do some craft projects! First, I finished knitting some adorable baby booties:

I love them and can't wait to knit more!

Then, I decided to introduce a "pop" of color to my den. I decided Sunday night that the den was drab and boring, so I started looking for ways to spruce it up. I picked out a couple pretty fabrics at Hancock's and made some pillow covers! Here is a "before" and "after" of the first pillow that I covered:

It's much more colorful, for sure!

Here is a picture showing both new pillow covers:

The paisley print one isn't quite finished (I need to sew up the side), but I love them!

2013 New Year's Resolutions

I realize January is half over, but it should say something about my resolve that I'm still committed enough about my resolutions to blog about them! I always have a lot of resolutions/goals for a new year, even though they are often the same goals that I had the previous year. This year I divided them into catchy categories - Faith, Family and Fitness. Here goes...

Faith:

• Complete the Highpoint Priority Time Challenge (Priority time 5 days/week or more) - I've been successful on this so far! It's a small amount of Bible reading each day, plus I'm keeping a journal to try to get something out of what I read. Past years I've tried resolving to read the Bible every day, or read the Bible in a year, but I just read without processing the scriptures or thinking about personal application, so it's just a "checking the box" activity. So far this is going well for me. 
• Join a Sunday School class or small group to develop friendships with other couples - haven't done this yet...
• Pray morning and night (first thing in the morning and last thing before bed) - I had actually forgotten about this one, since I really did write these goals out before the new year. Oops. 

Family:

• Eat a healthy, home-cooked dinner at least 3 times per week. Eat with Justin at the kitchen table. -  We're doing ok. Katelyn can sit in the highchair now, so that helps with the family dinner at the kitchen table. But we have a long way to go. It's SO tempting to eat in front of the TV!
• Read a bedtime story to Katelyn every night - This sounds easy, right? That's what I would have thought before I had a baby. But that means I have to start the bedtime story before she is so hungry and exhausted that she can't sit and happily listen to a story. But not so early that I don't get playtime with her. And that time changes. Every day. And the line between happy, playful baby and exhausted, crying baby is really fine and hard to identify until you've crossed it. We're not doing too well on this one either. 
• Maintain our finances in an organized way and follow a budget - Ha! We have some work to do here!

Fitness and Health:

• Run 20 miles/week - Believe it or not, I haven't come close to doing this. And 20 miles/week really isn't that much for me. 
• Lift weights twice/week - Oops. Haven't started this one yet. 
• Prioritize eating a real-food, plant based diet - I'm still prioritizing it. I REALLY want to do this. Really. But it's SO HARD!!! Maybe this will be my year. 

It sounds like I'm failing miserably, but I'm optimistic that I'll be able to make some of these resolutions into reality this year. I'm looking forward to trying, anyway!

4 Months Old!

Katelyn is 4 months old! I cannot believe she is already 4 months. I think the last 4 months I was pregnant felt like the longest 4 months of my adult life, and these past months have been the fastest. I cannot believe how much joy she has already brought into our lives.

We had her 4 month appointment yesterday and here are her stats:
Length: 25.75 inches (96 percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs, 14 oz (77 percentile)
Head circumference: 41 cm (65 percentile)

She already has an active and independent personality. She loves grabbing our fingers and using us to help her pull up into a sitting and, more often, standing position. She LOVES trying to stand and has a triumphant look on her face every time we pull her up. She rarely cries, but as the pediatrician was examining her she started crying. Rather than lying on the table, he suggested I hold her... still crying. Finally, Justin suggested I let her stand. I held her in a standing position and she happily let him finish the exam! She also enjoys the bouncer and Exersaucer, as well as sitting in the Bumbo. And we enjoy having so many places to put her!

Like most babies her age, she loves putting anything and everything in her mouth. Her favorite toys to chew are her hands, followed closely by my hands. She really doesn't care for a pacifier most of the time, and hasn't found her thumb, specifically, but sometimes I think she's going to fit her whole hand in her mouth! She'll chew on anything - fingers, toys, even clothes:

Katelyn doesn't love tummy time, but she's pretty good at it. She's rolling over from her back to her belly fairly regularly, but then she cries to be flipped back over. This happened 4 times one night. That was fun...

Here is her 4 month rocking chair picture: 

We love her more and more every day!