Tuesday Afternoon

When Cate came home yesterday, she was unusually snuggly.  She almost never just rests her head on us and cuddles.  So I took these pictures of Tim and Cate after work yesterday b/c I thought they were cute.  Cate ended up falling asleep on Tim and when she woke up, she seemed kind of perked up, so I thought that she just had a big day of playing at daycare.  Unfortunately right before I put her to bed, she threw up for the first time.  Poor baby.  She didn't even know what was going on...she just sat there, stunned while we cleaned her up.  She slept well all night and her fever (which was 103) was lower before we went to bed.  Hopefully she'll be on the mend today.  Poor little Cate!!!

Happy Easter!

We had a quiet Easter weekend which was nice.  We went to church on Saturday and went out for dinner with Grammy and Pop.  Cate did great in church (we haven't braved the nursery yet...it's just hard when she's in daycare all week) and did great at the restaurant afterwards.  The nice thing about her starting to eat table food is that you can entertain her by giving her cereal, pieces of cheese, pieces of turkey etc. for quite awhile.  Of course the only downside of this is that now whenever she sees a little piece of lint on my clothes or on the floor, she thinks it's a Rice Krispy and tries to put it in her mouth.

I had all these great plans to take pictures of Cate in her Easter dress, propped next to her Easter basket, but she has a really bad cold and just wasn't really in the mood.  We did get a few shots, but I think I'm going to have to go and have her picture  taken in this dress because I really love it and I think it will probably be one of the last really "baby" style dresses that she gets to wear.  When we were shopping for her dress, all of the styles in the next size up looked like such big girl dresses.  Here are a few of the pictures; I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Tim thought that we should get a picture of her in her new basket since this is the only year she'll be able to fit in it.  The basket was already creaking and groaning with her in it.  Actually, come to think of it, this will be the only Easter that she will be having her picture taken by herself since by next Easter she will have a little brother or sister!  I know that the word is pretty much out, but if I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you yet, baby number two is due Oct. 8th 2009!  We are hoping to find out in about 5 weeks if we are having another girl or if it's a boy this time.  We'll keep you posted!

Getting Ready for Easter

We are very excited about Cate's very first Easter.  Her dress and new Easter basket are all ready to go and Grammy has been singing, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" every chance she gets.  I would sing it too, but like most children's songs, I only know about 3 words.  I need to work on that.  I did think that I was very organized this morning to get the eggs hard boiled for Cate's basket until Tim pointed out that I boiled brown eggs and that the color probably won't take.  Too bad I already boiled 12 of them.  Here are a few pictures of Cate coming out of the tub last night.  I look like I'm ready for bed in them, but Cate looks so cute that I had to post them anyway!

After uploading the pictures, I see that these are from 2 different nights as she has 2 different towels.  By the way, these are my favorite towels.  Once Cate was past the newborn stage, those Carter's towels were really not big enough or thick enough.  I kept looking at the hooded towels in the Pottery Barn Catalog but couldn't quite bring myself to spend the big bucks on a towel.  My friend Jamie told me about these towels from Kohl's.  They have tons of cute designs, have matching washcloths and are about $12.  

Grandma Came to Visit

This past weekend, Tim's mom and Aunt Lori came to visit.  It was a really cold, rainy weekend, but we did manage to sneak out once or twice to get Cate to her favorite place, the playground.  This was also a big weekend because Tim and I had our first night away from Cate.  We decided to take a mini (very mini) vacation and stay in the city for the night.  It was nice to be able to sleep without wondering when that little voice was going to drag us from our bed, but we talked about her the whole time we were gone.  We even got sucked into the Disney store on Michigan Avenue and bought her a bunch of disney pajamas.  Here are a few pictures from our time outside!

Spring Break!

Spring Break is finally here!  That means I actually have time to update Cate's blog, take some pictures and hang out all day with Cate!  She had her 9 month check up today and was 21lbs 8oz.  Now she's only in the 9oth percentile instead of off the charts!  Here are a few pictures of her in her St. Patrick's day outfit from Grammy and Pop.  You'll have to excuse the drool, her top teeth must be about to appear and she's a constant drool machine.  This past weekend we picked out her Easter dress and her Easter basket, so hopefully I'll get those pictures up in a somewhat timely fashion.  Oh well, summer's around the corner, then I can blog again without pesky things like a job taking up my time!

Eight Months Old and First Time on the Swings!

Cate's 8 month birthday was Tuesday.  Here's a picture I took of her in her exersaucer.  We call this her "office" because she will stay in there forever and just goes from one task to the next.  Her tongue seems to be permanently stuck out; I think she might be getting a tooth.

Then today, Wednesday, we took Cate to the playground that is right outside our back gate for her first ride on the swings.  She LOVED it!  When Tim pushed her for the first time, she got this huge smile on her face and laughed.  I think she's going to like roller coasters.  She loves it when Tim throws her up in the air and is wild with her.  Here are some pictures from the unseasonably warm afternoon...and by that I mean that it might have been above 35 degrees.

My Big Girl

Cate is getting so big!  She has finally started to roll her chubby little self over.  She just did it for the first time (from back to front) this past Thursday.  She is getting really good at sitting and is making all kinds of new noises.  She is so much fun and is starting to be a better sleeper.  She just started at a new daycare this week because, although we really liked her former provider, she spent some of the morning in the car and just wasn't napping at all.  So, now she goes to a woman's home right by my school.  She home schools her two daughters and one of them in particular just loves Cate.  She told me that she doesn't like it when I come to pick her up because that means that Cate is leaving.  She also knows (she's 9) that sleep is a big priority in this transition and she's been lying in the pack n' play with Cate and singing to her until she falls asleep.  So cute.  Here are a few recent pics!

Doing Chores

Cate has finally started to pull her own weight around here!  She was helping Daddy with the laundry the other day.  This picture is a little bit blurry, but her expression cracks me up.  After all of that helping, she needed a nap (Daddy did too!)  At the end of the day, she took a nice relaxing bath and cozied up with her duckie towel.

I love Auntie Jenn!

Cate got to hang out with Auntie Jenn this weekend and actually, this week too because she couldn't go to her regular daycare because one of the kids was sick.  I love this picture.  It's the first one where you can see her two little teeth!

Does Cate Like Carrots?

It's looking good, right?  

Hmmm...second bite doesn't taste so good...

What was I thinking?!!!! I hate these!

Oh, I REALLY hate these!

As you can see, so far, Cate is not a fan of her veggies.  I have some sweet potato pictures that tell just about the same tale.  She really doesn't like her cereal either.  I think that she would like to stick to a liquid diet for now.  I guess we'll keep trying.  It's kind of funny because in all of the pictures where she has orange carrots or sweet potatoes on her face, her hair looks kind of red.  The jury's still out on her hair.  I think it's going to be kind of light though.

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!