5 Months

I remember when life crept along ever so slowly ... like my entire 5th grade year, or when I was waiting to marry Joe. It's just simply amazing how quickly things have been moving since Katie's arrival! Another month has passed, and she's well on her way to becoming the woman God made her to be. My daily prayer is just that I am up to the task of being the best Mommy, God made me to be. I know it seems a bit early to be talking of Katie becoming a woman, but that's the end goal right? She's certainly not going to stay a baby forever, and as quickly as babyhood is moving I am sure she won't be a little girl forever either. I can however slow things down just for a moment here ....

Katie took her first assisted steps this month. I held her hands and she began stepping - she is working hard to master this task. She can stand holding onto the back of the couch, or the small ottoman in our living room ... but she did try to let go and side-step the other day (I caught her). She has completely mastered rolling from back to belly, but she's still getting a bit stuck on her belly and can't quite get that arm out of the way to roll onto her back again. She pushes up on her arms really high now, and can crane her head back and look up at me at the same time. She tries to get her knees under her, but cannot quite figure out how to hold up her 19 pound body on her arms while resting on her knees - one or the other always gives way just as it seems about to happen. She's nearly sitting by herself too, but this also needs a bit more work. The problem is that once she leans to one side or the other there is no chance for recovery. She pulls forward and sits up in her stroller, and this practice is helping with real sitting - it shouldn't be too much longer.

Although she has always been a talker, lately Katie has become even louder in her talking. She laughs more often, smiles all the time, and talks over everything else around her ... when she wants to. It's hilarious, but we're working on volume control. Big surprise - she IS my daughter. Anyway, we have learned a lot, and Kate and I can communicate pretty effectively with each other now. I can distinguish clearly between tired cries and cries of pain. She is learning to identify words - she recognizes our word for food, Mama & Dada, and "uppy" our word for getting picked up ... she grabs my fingers and lifts her head.

We have established a nap schedule that is somewhat consistent, and my darling daughter sleeps for about 12 hours each night. Did I mention I totally LOVE her!!! She sits in her highchair at breakfast time (just to watch Joe eat), and recognizes Joe as Daddy - getting excited when he comes home at the end of the day. Everyday I fall more in love with her, and everyday life gets just a little bit easier. There is so much to see and explore - it's like living life all over again. She is so full of hope and promise - each day is new - and I am so thankful for this gift God has given me.

Prayers Answered

The year I became a Christian I was in my first year of teaching at a new school. I tried to begin each day by sitting in the parking lot and praying over the school, the kids, and the ability for others to see Christ through me. I failed a lot during that year; however, my heart was always drawn to my students. I watched as my 5th graders that year grew and matured into the 6th grade class I taught again the following year. Nothing momentous happened as a result of my prayers ... we just lived life, I grew to love teaching, and occasionally I got to see a few students at church.

In that class were a group of girls that were friends, but there were days it was hard to believe. Sometimes they wanted to be on the same team, and other days they drove me crazy with their tween-aged arguments. All in all I enjoyed the time I spent with them, but it wasn't always easy. Last night I watched as those 14 year old girls stood in a group and prayed over their friend as she got baptized. It was a beautiful moment!

After service concluded, Katelyn and I walked over to where they were all seated. I was amazed by the sea of unexpected yet familiar faces. The excitement, the support, and the expression of JOY on her face is something I will not soon forget. I hugged her, she held Katie, and I KNOW God answered my prayers.

LUVS Diapers

The great diaper quest has concluded ... about 2 diapers into a package ($6.99) of LUVS I decided that these were definitely the diapers for us! Katelyn smells GREAT - the Luvs diapers have that baby powder scent that the Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive have. Yes, Katie smells delightfully like baby powder all the time again. Also all signs of leakage have gone away - well, we do have the occasional blowout now and again but nothing like those horrible Pampers Cruisers. Katie's skin looks great, and I could not be happier with the price. I managed to purchase 216 size 3 diapers at Target this past week for $29 ... 2 CASES for the same price as 1 of Pampers. They were having a sale of $1 off per case and an extra $5 if you purchase 2 cases; however, this beats even the biggest coupon I have ever had from Pampers or Huggies. The normal price at Target is $18.99 per case containing 108 diapers. I am amazed just how comparable they are to the Swaddlers I loved when Kate was a newborn. Yay! I just finished signing up with the Luvs website so that I can get coupons and special offers sent to me. BTW: Joe commented that he also thinks the new diapers are great!

Baby Dry

It has now been 3 consecutive days using Pampers Baby Dry diapers for Katelyn. I am not overly impressed with them; however, we have had less leakage than with the Swaddlers Sensitive I actually loved using. They are not "blankie soft" and do not smell all baby powdery, but they seem to be doing their job. I also discovered under Katie's crib some additional Size 3 diapers I had received as part of a shower gift. We have no idea what brand they are, but since we are in the test phase of this size they are a true contender. Hopefully, we will have a final decision within the next 2 weeks.

Soaking Wet

This was my adventure for the day with Pampers ... Here is what I posted on their site.

Thank you for your feedback!

I used one of these new Cruisers for the 1st time today since my daughter just started size 3. I was really disappointed that the Swaddlers Sensitive are not available in size 3, but since all the advertising pointed toward Cruisers I figured it would be a seamless transition. I was WRONG! The very first Cruiser I put her in leaked through the diaper NOT out of the diaper - right through the center of it! She had not had it on long and she was sitting on my lap when the whole thing happened - needless to say we both had to change clothes. What a disappointment! I cannot believe this is a Pampers product!!!

So, as I posted this on the Pampers website I sent Joe out to Wal-Mart to go exchange 30 of the package of 31 diapers for Pampers Baby Dry ... update on this product soon.

Here's Milk in Your Eye

On Saturday, Katelyn's morning began by me rubbing crusty stuff out of her eye. As the day went on her eye gradually became more reddened ... I truly became concerned when Joe noticed the redness at dinner time. I had thought it could be conjunctivitis; however, I figured maybe I was being overly concerned and it would get better with time. Before bed I saw that her left eye was puffy and bloodshot, but the right one looked normal. I called the pediatrician's office just to see what the suggested method was for contacting our doctor over the weekend. Just as I figured - if I called the hospital they would page him, and he could call me back. I was not ready to bother him, and I certainly did not want to put antibiotic drops in her eye if she did not actually need them.

I remembered something I had heard about the benefits of breast milk. One possible use for this amazing fluid (other than feeding the very hungry Katerpillar) is treatment of conjunctivitis. Katie regularly causes milk to spray across her face and into her eye during meals, so I figured what could it hurt? I looked on the web for additional information and contacted my mother to make sure I wasn't completely crazy. After confirming this would definitely not hurt my baby I began the process of dropping 2-3 drops into her eye 3 times a day.

FYI it is best to use something sterile to hold the milk so that it does not pick up any bacteria from the container ... the best milk holder - well, is straight from the source. So here I am leaning over Katie trying to get my aim just right so as not to drown her in milk. She smiled as she figured it was mealtime and looked right at me. Perfectly the milk dropped into her eye - without as much as a whimper she looked right up at me again for the second drop. Of course, the promise of food was so present that I NEEDED to give her milky immediately!

We continued this process 3 times a day for the next 2 days. Her eye looked better within 24 hours, and although I felt a little crazy telling our pediatrician today (at Katelyn's already scheduled 4 month check-up)... he said "whatever it was, one way or another it looks fine now". So in conclusion - Katie's eye is just fine, she did not need antibiotics, our doctor does NOT think I'm crazy*, and I say the breast milk works! It's a beautiful thing just how God made us.

*Our pediatrician said that he had heard about people doing this before, and that "there must be a reason someone started doing it".

Rolling Over

Today was a monumental day for our family ... just before 2pm Katelyn rolled over for the very 1st time all by herself! She rolled from her back to her front - stopping halfway (on her side) for a bit, thus holding us all in suspense. We cheered, she took a moment to smile and then began focusing on her next challenge ... crawling.

By 6pm Katie had demonstrated her newest skill for a 2nd time. Shortly thereafter she managed to move herself backward across the floor on her tummy. It seems our little girl will be mobile sooner than we thought!

She worked so hard today that by 6:15pm she was done ... sound asleep for the night. Exhausted she fell asleep in my arms almost 2 hours before her scheduled bedtime.

Sweet Dreams Precious Baby - Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!