Life With Kate... One Month Old!

Kate turned one month old yesterday! What a month it has been! Here is her one month picture! 

I tried to take one without the pacifier, but I didn't get very far! 

Our Kate is usually a very content girl, but she does in fact cry! (Can't forget to document that!)

The month her triggers were gas, during diaper changes and clothing changes, hungry, getting strapped into her car seat, and wanting to be held. She was easily soothed with a brief suck of the pacifier, getting fed, and being held and cuddled. 

Kate loves her tummy time! 

 She loves to sleep and play on her tummy. I realized that I don't have a good tummy time picture of her awake from this month! That'll be a goal for next month! 

Kate also loves to play on her back with her activity gym. She doesn't spend very much time on her back though because she likes to roll around to her sides. 

All of the experts recommend babies sleep on their back but this girl doesn't seem to agree with that. 

 So she sleeps in her rock and play to keep her from turning over. She loves how city she stays in it. I love how easy it is to check on her when I'm in bed!

She finds a lot of comfort in laying on her daddy like this with her arms spread wide. 

Makes my heart smile. :) 

Kate LOVES her bath time! We have a little cup with holes on the bottom that she loves having water dripped over her through. We enjoy getting her squeaky clean! :) 

Blake is so good with her. I love watching him be her daddy. He was made to be a daddy to a daughter(s). He's gentle and so caring with her. Love. 

 Last night by brother flew home from OC for his fall break and he got to meet Kate. :)

By the way... she now fits in the pumpkin outfit I've been anticipating. I have to roll up the pant legs a bit but thats ok. 

She loves to sleep. She sleeps almost always. I hear that I shook enjoy that while it lasts so I am! I love singing to her- everything from broadway tunes, childhood favorites, and worship songs. When I'm not singing to her I'm playing music for her. Her Mimi likes to come over and cuddle with her after school and read her books. Mimi also loves to bring her books! Kate will have a massive library having my mom for her Mimi! 

Blake is constantly amazed with how she is growing and developing. She holds her head up and has a lot more control over her head now. You can really tell when she's thinking. She moves herself during tummy time. Blake made a video of this and posted it to Facebook. She's doing great! Blake also takes over morning feedings on 

Kate has come so far this month. I've come far as a mom too. I'm learning to truly embrace this new role I play and I love it. There are some hard moments, but I've got such great support around me. There are fears I never knew about and tasks I never thought about before but God gifts us mothers with a super natural ability to get through it. I've had so much fun getting to know this sweet babe of mine, and I can't wait to see what else she teaches me! We are so blessed. 

Life With Kate: Photo Session Reflections

Thought I would share Kate's newborn pictures here on the blog as well as on Facebook because I know that not everyone is on FB! Also... I can add my own little sentiments and of course I'm always up for an opportunity to "talk". :)

My dad (AKA GPS or Dash or whatever he decides to be called because that has yet to be determined) took Kate's newborn pictures the Saturday before Kate was 2 weeks old. Apparently the window to take newborn photos is very short... they say like their first 9 or 10 days. This is so that the babe will stay asleep and happy no matter how much you move them around and put hats and bows on them! My dad had practiced a little bit with our friend's new baby, but this was really his first time to get all into it. I think he did an awesome job!! Here were some of the results from that Saturday session....


First are the pumpkin photos. I think these were the ones that I was most excited about. The second I found out our baby was due in October I referred to her as "our little pumpkin". She didn't quite make it to October, but it WAS socially acceptable to have fall decor and burn pumpkin candles. So of course, the name will stay. Just more time for me to enjoy this picture in our living room!

                  

Here is a picture of Kate on the quilt her Grandma Jesch made for her. We took a lot, but most of them didn't come out very good because we were not quite sure of the best setup and her eyes were opened and while that seems like something you want for newborn picture... it actually makes it quite difficult to capture a good shot. So anyways... this is really the only one of those pictures that I liked. We attempted some more later... and I will get to that in a bit! 

Ah... she went back to sleep! Next up Kate on top of a pile of my Grandma Lehman's quilts. Actually the bottom "quilt" is only a quilt top, but the other two are finished quilts. This was my dad's idea and it turned out so great that our birth announcement ended up coming from this set up! 

Now, on Monday my dad wanted to try to take some more pictures. Now that he'd gone through the process there were things he wanted to try differently. So I washed Kate up and took her over to my parents. Guess what... she was wide awake the entire time. She didn't really like the process AT ALL. This was literally the only workable picture we got. We laughed and said... well maybe the time of the day wasn't right. But I still like this sweet little picture!

So, even later in the week Dad came over to our apartment. He brought all of his equipment over and moved our couch out of the way and got everything set up. Even though Kate was sleeping... she wasn't sleeping as hard. Every time we tried moving her she woke up and got cranky. When she wasn't in her light slumber she was awake! I really wanted to try to get some more pictures with the quilt Blake's mom made so we were able to get away with this simple pose without awaking Sleeping Beauty. All of the effort for one pose. It was so worth it though because I really really really wanted this picture!! 

Here is my take away from this experience.... she is growing up too fast!!! We had the perfect picture session when Kate was 12 days old. When Kate was 14 days old... she was too old for the perfect newborn photo session. Sigh. So I must treasure each and every day for what it brings no matter the challenges that come up. I wish she was big enough to fit into some of her clothes that a larger baby might fit into... because I'm so tired of the newborn onesies from Carter's but I'm not wishing away any of these days. Yes, I long for the time when I can sleep a 5 hour stretch, but I know my baby needs the comfort and nourishment that comes from nightly feedings (and she will for a while) and so I will not wish aways those nights.

When she is fussy I will put the laundry on hold and just hold her... no matter how many episodes of Gilmore Girls it takes for her to feel secure enough to lay down without me. She is my girl and I love her. I'm thankful for each and every day with her.  Speaking of which... now is one of those times she needs some love so I'm off to snuggle with my babes!

Later y'all :)

Life with Kate: The Perfect Response

Kate had her 2 week appointment yesterday and she did great! Everyone at the pediatrician's office is really nice about letting the compliments flood, and that makes mommies feel pretty good. :)

Kate has surpassed her birth weight and is up to 6 lb, 12 oz and has grown another inch from her birth making her 19.5 inches. Her weight had gone down to 5 lb 12 oz so we were really happy to hear that she is growing so well.

One of the best things about Kate surpassing her birth weight is that I no longer have to wake her up for her night feedings. I can truly feed on demand- which is really wonderful. In my "before motherhood" days I thought a schedule would be the way to go, but I was so wrong! Babies have a mind of their own and if they don't want to do something- it'll make you go mad trying to force it on them! I hated having to wake her from her slumber every couple of hours... but because she was so small I had no choice. She didn't have the energy to let us know when she was hungry.

For me, the night time is definitely the most challenging time of caring for my newborn. Some nights she wakes up every hour wanting food and other times she'll sleep for 4 hours. She hates getting her diaper changed and so she cries and cries. She pours out her dirty business all over the clean diapers and sometimes her clothes. Sometimes she won't shut her eyes and go to sleep. It's just draining! I can get by with little sleep- I've always been able to- but this is different!

But having said that... night time is also one of the sweetest times I have with my babe. I'm held captive by her sweet expressions once she realizes that everything will be OK. The other night the words to one of my favorite worship songs came to my mind when I was getting about 30 minutes of sleep between her feedings... all night long.

Lord I need you Oh I need you
Every hour I need you
My one defense My righteousness
Oh God how I need you

I started thinking about all the times I cry out to God unable to feel his presence because I'm too naive to realize it. I thought about the times I beg the Lord for his help over and over again like he's not giving it to me, when really he is.

God doesn't roll his eyes and say, "REALLY?!! AGAIN?!!!" He doesn't moan out in frustration.

No.

He comforts me.

I thought about the times when I felt like life's burdens were more than I could take on my own. I thought about the times I was desperate for the Lord to deliver me.

He comforts me.

I thought about the times when I was just longing to talk to God. Nothing was wrong, I just had so much gladness stored up inside and I wanted to praise Him for it.

He takes me in his arms and gives me all the company and love I need.

I truly need the Lord every hour... and every second of those hours! And God, being the one true perfect parent, always responds with love.

The realization of that truth has sunk into the depths of my soul these past few nights. One of the parenting books we read right before Kate was born talked about how important it is to look for the ways your relationship with your child relates to your relationship with God. What a difference it makes.

"Come close to God and God will come close to you." ~ James 4:8 

I might not have time for all of my bible studies these days, but these times with my sweet girl are a fabulous opportunity for me to come close to God and feel His presence in my life. Because He's there. His spirit has been in me every single day since that hot Oklahoma evening in July of 2000 when I received it, it's up to me to continually embrace it.

Our little Sleeping Beauty is my precious reminder.

(psss... here is a sample of our newborn pics my dad took... more to come!)