Time Does Fly When You're Rolling Over

Kate rolled over from her belly to her back today for the first time! I've been conscientiously putting her on her tummy for a little bit during our play times. Typically she only tolerates it for a few minutes, but she has started making marked improvements in her strength just from these few minutes per day. She can do a pretty good push up, holding her head up to look in front of her. Yesterday and today, I tried to "teach" her how to roll over by modeling how it would feel for her to do it for herself. Then, tonight I put her down and "Voila!" (how do you spell that?) she twisted little body following her hip movement with the shoulders and then the arm swinging over. It was so cute to watch her face when she realized what Mommy was cheering about. I tried to get her to do it again, but she would have none of it. In fact, I'm sure that she learned how to turn over just so she won't have to be on her tummy. She turned 3 months on Saturday, and each week I can tell that she's adding some new skills to her repertoire!

The Girl Who Ate a Caribou

I see that you are all intrigued by this title. Well, it arises from a picture, which you will all enjoy. Apparently, Emma got the wrong memo about what to do with a finger puppet. She misunderstood, "Put it on your finger and talk it." as "Put in your mouth and soak it!"

The Murphys, the Johnsons, Sam, Megan, and Brittny were over on Friday night. It was a lot of fun. We tried to get a pic of all 3 of the girls, but it was impossible to coordinate a good looking pic of even two of them, really.



By the by, NiNi has graduated to Bitny. . still quite cute. I think I have even heard Lydia "try" to say Elizabeth. She is continually reforming some of her mispronunciations, although Mima has stuck. I suppose it's because we reinforce it by using the same name.


Josh recently acquired a "new to us" grill, which has inspired many grilled dinners. If anyone has any fabulous yet remarkably easy grill recipes we'd love to hear them. The really neat thing is that the gas grill does not intimidate me as the charcoal once did. Also, we have placed it up on the deck, so it's convenient and easy for me to get it going by myself. The grill is no longer just a man's world.

Miss Fancy Pants

Post wedding stress syndrome -- is there such a thing? Actually, I believe I had pre wedding stress syndrome (PWS), but am recovering quite nicely. I was "in charge" of decorating the church and reception hall. It was a lot of fun, but there is always that panic that overtakes you and says YOU WILL NOT FINISH IN TIME or YOU WILL NOT HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED. Thankfully, I had a whole army of friends and mostly family to iron tablecloths, drape lace, place centerpieces etc. The reception hall was so gorgeous it needed very little ornamentation. Because the Hall was more beautiful than Becky's home church, they decided to take pictures there. This seemed like a good idea, until 2 minutes before the ceremony when Becky realized she had left her bouquet there. Josh raced back to the Cornelia Community House and retrieved said bouquet. He later said that there was nothing legal about that drive. Twenty five minutes later, the ceremony was able to begin. That was the only real snafu, and it truly wasn't so terrible, except for possibly the pianist who had to replay all of his prelude music. . . several times. The girls looked great, but I didn't get that many pictures. I just decided not to complicate my life by trying to capture every moment. Many thanks to Brittny for taking care of my littlest girl during much of the afternoon and evening.

P.S. YOU CAN CHECK MY MOM'S BLOG FOR MORE STILL PICTURES OF THE WEDDING. YOU CAN SEE THE PRETTY BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES AND SOME CLOSER PICS OF BECKY & ELIAS.

Growing Up -- Hard To Do?

We hit another major milestone last week. Kate began to sleep through the entire night. Two weeks previous she had started to drop one of her nighttime feedings, but we were having trouble deciding which one. She would wake up at different times during the night, which would cause each day to begin slightly differently. Sometimes she would want her breakfast at 6, sometimes at 7, and sometimes at 8. This obviously made it challenging to keep up a 4 hour schedule during the day that was the same each day. Monday of last week, she surprised me by sleeping through TWO nighttime feedings and making it twelve hours from last evening snack until her breakfast time. I almost fell out of my bed. She has kept up the beautiful trend consistently now. If she wakes up, I get up and pop the paci back in her mouth, and away she goes to sleep again. It was perfect timing for Momma, who had so much to do for Auntie Becky's wedding. I think Josh must have been talking to her about it.


Along with her switch to sleeping so long through the night, we have decided to start a bedtime routine with Kate around the same time each evening. It's the sweetest part of my day. I lay her in the crib and sing "Immortal, Invisible" to her. Josh has decided this will be her favorite hymn. She lays on her back and just looks into my eyes. Sometimes she gets so relaxed and content that she forgets to suck on the paci that's in her mouth. I read her a little Bible story and we talk about what we're going to do tomorrow. I sing "Jesus Loves Me" which she loves even more and then the lights turn out and she goes to bed. The smiles and looks she gives me are so precious, and I'll store them up in my heart forever!


It's been wonderful to have Mom and Dad here for a little bit. They are preparing to leave now, and it's sad to think that Kate will be a year old before Dad sees her again, but we've just been spoiled by all of the recent events that have required them to stay up here for extended periods of time so close to one another. Thankfully, we do use SKYPE to keep in contact with them over video, so they'll be able to see her grow and change a bit.


Lydia and Kate have been doing some bonding. Lydia wants to do everything she can for Kate. Yesterday, Kate was resting in her infant carrier and I was just adoring her. Lydia came over and squatted next to us conversing in her sweet way with her cousin. She wanted to put Kate night night, so she gave her a kiss on her head and put up the "top" of the carseat. Then she saw that I had the changing pad out to change Kate's diaper. She proceeded to put her arms around Kate, trying to lift her out of the carseat for a "change." She really wants to be a good helper. The whole time Kate is smiling at her big cousin.

Prewedding Excitement

My sister Becky is getting married today. You may ask, WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU BLOGGING ON THE MORNING OF HER WEDDING? Well, I just needed a stress reliever and some "me" time, if that makes sense. Yesterday we had a bridal shower, bridesmaids luncheon, and lingerie shower all wrapped into one. It was a lot of fun. My m.i.l. hosted it at her lovely home. Jake arrived in the middle of the festivities and popped in and out during some hilarious moments. One of my favorite moments was gathering around the piano later and singing Be Thou My Vision with the six other girls (Becky's friends and bridesmaids). It sounded really great. Did I mention that Jake was playing surrounded by this bevy of bridal hoopla, and it fazed him not.
Well, we moved on the luncheon to the church in order to decorate and rehearse. Everything went fairly well, I believe. I'm including a link to my cousin Jim's YouTube site--I can't believe he's already uploaded. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=jimost There's a little video of Kate up there under Johnson grandbabies, for those of you who don't get to see her on Sundays. Feel free NOT to watch the entire proceedings. I think he's got 4 clips, one of them rather lengthy.
Thank you for helping destress before the big event today. I'm getting my hair cut/styled at 10 today -- YEAH! and then we jet up to the reception hall to decorate that.

Wowzer!

Kate has beefed up to a mighty 10 lbs 10 oz. and 22 1/4 in. Our eat/sleep/exercise regime must be working. (j/k) We had a good doctor's visit yesterday. I always love to hear how much she weighs and whatnot. Dr. M was very pleased with her progress and said she looks really good. She checked her again for any hip displaysia (thanks Kelley!). This happens in a high percentage to babies who are breech. One Dr. told me that it there is some thought that certain babies are breech because they have this thing with their hips. Anyhow, one of the ways they can tell she doesn't have it is by checking that the rolls on her hips and legs are the same on both sides. Who ever thought that the positioning of your chub would ever be a sign that your innards were normal. :-) Kate did really well at the office, and only cried as we were leaving, giving the appearance to those in the waiting room that she'd been tortured inside.