Cate's First Christmas

Cate's first Christmas was so much fun.  By the time we got to Grammy and Pop's house to open presents, Cate was already worn out, so she went right upstairs for a nap.  So while we all ate breakfast and opened gifts, Cate rested up for her Christmas debut.  She was, of course, primarily interested in the paper and bows and tried to eat any paper she could reach.  It's funny how the best part of Christmas is already watching her open her gifts and she doesn't even know what's going on!  I can't wait for the next few Christmases when  she starts to understand all of the excitement!

Her first presents with Daddy

A glowworm from Grammy and Pop!  

I'm not sure if anyone will believe me, but Tim put all of those bows on her head.

A new winter hat, made by Mrs. Benesh.  I love her brown knit hat so much and now she has a pink one!

Hanging out with Pop

Playing with Daddy

Sitting down for dinner

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I completely copied this from my friend Becky's blog, but it cracks me up...especially the Tim elf.

Reindeer Games

My friend Mandi, and Cate's boyfriend, Johnny were at our house for a pre-Christmas visit.  We dressed them up in the matching reindeer pajamas that I found a few weeks ago and they were so adorable!  

Long time no see!

I'll race you to the presents!

No fair!  You can roll!

It Just Makes Me Laugh....

...whenever I look at this picture.  It's hard to get a good picture of a 6 mo old who is not quite able to sit up on her own.  This was one of about a million that we took in an attempt to get a good, official, 6 month shot with our new camera.  Oh well.

Cate's week with Grandma

Cate's Grandma Diane came to spend the week with Cate this past week before Christmas break.  Cate got to hang out and play with her all day while Tim and I were at work.  On Saturday, it was Uncle Rusty's birthday, so we went out for lunch.  Cate was an angel, just sitting in her carseat, looking around and ultimately, falling asleep.  After lunch, we opened Christmas presents with Diane and Rusty.  Cate loved all of the paper, of course and is very excited about all of her new warm pajamas!

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we took Cate to her first "Breakfast" with Santa.  Really we just snuck in and took a bunch of pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Cate is probably not old enough to be afraid, but as you can see below, she definitely checked this Santa character out!  Santa's belly may shake like a bowl full of jelly, but I think Cate has him beat in the chubby cheek department!

She did give us a few smiles after that, but she wasn't in the best mood.  Of course, it was her first time wearing tights and that can make even the happiest girl a bit cranky.

We took a few pictures of the three of us and then a bunch of Cate in front of the tree at home, but those are going on the Christmas cards, so I don't want to post them here yet.  If I do, I won't have the motivation to address the cards!  Cate has also been getting into the Christmas spirit by lounging around in her new reindeer pajamas.

Thanksgiving

Cate enjoyed her first Thanksgiving today at Grammy and Pop's house.  We didn't get too many pictures, but here are just a few.  Cate really didn't sleep much at all while we were there; I think there was too much going on.  She was really content to sit and observe everyone and being the little angel that she is, she took her only 30 minute nap right at dinner time!  I think she's looking forward to next year when she can fully celebrate by eating too much just like all of the rest of us! 

We thought we'd try to get a nice picture of the three of us, but this was way past nap time and Cate was not interested...oh well. 

Milestones

Cate finally has enough hair to wear a bow!  Here she is hanging out with her Pop this afternoon in her pajamas.  

Five Months Old

Cate is five months old today!  She is changing so much every day and just keeps getting more and more fun.  I think that we spend half of our day trying to get her to laugh...and it's worth the effort because it is so funny when she really cracks up.  Here are a few pictures of her on her five month birthday, taken right after her bath which is one of her favorite activities.

Cate's First Halloween

I had hoped to get a few more pictures of Cate in her Peapod costume, but she was not in the mood after having been to the doctor the day before for her four month shots.  She did wear her halloween outfit from Grammy to celebrate last Friday.  

She has also started playing in her exersaucer which she LOVES.  It makes a ton of noise, but keeps her happy for quite a long time.

Sweet Pea

Last Friday we took Cate to the Trick or Treat Path at the community center.  She looked so cute in her sweet pea costume, but I don't think that she was all that happy to be in it!  

Baby Love

My friend Mandi is in town again (yay!) with baby John.  We hung out with the babies all day today and after getting over the shock of realizing that we've known each other for 18 years (we are old!), we took some adorable pictures of the babies together.  In case you haven't figured this out already, this blog is simply a shameless way for me to show off Cate being adorable with her adorable baby friends!

Gansta Babies!

Telling Secrets?

But mommy, I want to hold his hand!

Mandi and I worked hard for these smiles!

Photo Shoot Take Two

When we had Cate's picture taken about a month ago, we got some great shots, but Cate was just starting to smile back then so the photographer wanted to come back a few weeks later to get the rest of the pictures.  It was such a beautiful day last Friday that we got Cate dressed up in a Fall-ish outfit (again, compliments of Mrs. Benesh!) and took her out to the park behind our house.  We got so many great pictures that I don't know how I'm going to choose, but here are a few of the ones I really like!

Fall is Here

I'm still hoping for a few more warm sunny days, but the temperature has seriously dropped this past week.  The good news is that Cate can now wear her adorable winter hats.  Mrs. Benesh has knit her two hats (and a sweater) and they are SO cute!  She reminded me of a little Russian girl sitting in her stroller wearing this on Friday.