update!

Sorry for not updating for a while. Here are a few pictures from the last week or so.

My friend from high school, Chris Pecore, was able to stop by our house for a visit as he was traveling through with his family for the holidays. I was able to meet his beautiful wife and sweet baby girl. Here is Kathryn with Adrianna. Kathryn wanted so bad to attack her with hugs and kisses...it was hard to keep her from smothering her!
Here is Kathryn sporting a cute dress from her Grammy.

And here she is in her new favorite position, standing. She is pulling up on anything and everything, and loves that she can reach about anything she wants now. The paci is crooked because she put it in herself. :)

bath time

During Kathryn's bath the other night, she started "drinking" the water. I know no other way to put it, but she dips her face in the water and takes a swig. Note: we started taping her after she had already started doing it on her own. We did not teach her to do this. Safety Note: This is a good example of why you should NEVER leave your child unsupervised in a tub (or around any water)!!! With that being said, enjoy the video!

her special bear

Several weeks ago, I took this picture and meant to blog about it, but forgot. So, here is the long overdue picture and story.
Kathryn was playing in her room one day, and I got down a bear for her that my mom had gotten at the hospital the day she was born. (The bear you see in the corner of her crib.) It was the first time I really got it down for her to play with, because before that day it was just sitting on the shelf as a decoration. She loved playing with him, so when it was time for her nap, I laid her down in the crib and set the bear in the corner. When I went in to check on her a few minutes later, she had fallen asleep, but not before scooting herself all the way up into the corner so she could lay her head on her "new" bear and cuddle him while falling asleep. I thought it was too cute!!

Sweet friends

The other weekend when Kathryn and I went to Bridgewater for the weekend, we got the special blessing of hanging out with the Garcia family. Brooke and I have been friends since middle school! She is such a dear friend to me, and God has blessed us with such a special relationship over the years. She is such an example to me of trusting in God in the midst of anything, and it's so cool how we've remained so close to this day! I praise God for such a sweet sister in the Lord! It's been neat to see how we've grown up and changed over the years, too, to now having families of our own. Here are a few pictures of our time at the park.

Angel, Brooke's husband, was taking the picture. But this is the rest of us, Caleb and Nick in the back, Alisia, me, Kathryn, and Brooke in the front.




Kathryn loves to be upside down!!!

P.S. Thanks, Brooke, for letting me steal the pics off of your blog! :)

more fall photos

Sweet friends

Last weekend Kathryn and I (Cristen) were up in Bridgewater taking care of my 2 younger siblings while mom was away. On Sunday afternoon, on our way home, we got to stop by and spend some time with some good friends of ours, the Rogers. I babysat the kids when they were younger (the youngest had just been born) for several years while I was in college, and got to be good friends with their mom.

This is the 3 kids. It was Christopher's birthday party celebration that day, and they always celebrate with an annual football game.
Here's the best picture I could snap with the three of them and Kathryn. It was way past Kathryn's naptime, so she got a little fussy and didn't want to sit still for pictures!

Grace loved Kathryn, and was so good with her! She loved carrying her all around, feeding her Cheerios, and playing with her. It's hard to believe Grace was just 12 months old when I started watching the kids!

all before breakfast...

So, first thing in the morning, as soon as Kathryn wakes up I change her diaper. About half the time she's dirty, as well as wet. The other half of the time she is, of course, just wet. What happens on those times is I change her, give her the morning bottle, then let her play for a while. During that play time, she almost always dirties her diaper. So, about 15 minutes after I just changed her, I am changing her again. But it is better for her to have a dirty diaper in one that's less full because it's not so wet.

So this morning was a just-wet morning. So, I changed her, fed her, and let her play. Of course 15 minutes later she crawled into the room with a familiar scent. So, away we went into her room to change her. I will save you the lovely details, but let's just say the diaper didn't do its job in containing that which it was supposed to contain. Ok, so now the task is to change her without letting it get all over her. Quite a task, if you've never attempted changing a dirty diaper with poo everywhere and a wiggly baby who's very interested in and curious about just what's down there anyway. So I got her mostly cleaned on the changing table, then got her down on the floor to avoid said poo everywhere. There we finished the cleanup. So, now I have a naked baby crawling around while I try to figure out how to get all the poo off of everything and where to put it all. As I'm working on her clothes, changing pads, etc. I am conscious of the fact that I still have a naked baby crawling around. She, of course, was totally ok with it. What baby doesn't like to be naked? I was completely aware of the fact that nakedness means no diaper, and no diaper can mean a mess. But, she had just done both duties for the morning, so surely she didn't have anything left, right? Plus, she's had a little diaper rash (I think due to strawberries), so air is good for diaper rashes, as it helps them to heal better.

Well, as I was in the bathroom washing out her clothes and other articles that she decided to include in this poo escapade, it happened. She was crawling through the hallway, and stopped with this funny look on her face. Yep, she peed on the floor. When she was done, of course, she was back on the move, which meant crawling through it and dragging it through the hallway. So, back to the bedroom to wipe her down completely. This time I put a diaper on her... Then on to the hallway to clean up the pee and wipe the floor. Then back to the bathroom to finish washing out her clothes. And now, I must go, so that I can start the laundry since, of course, I have lots of wet clothes that need to go in the wash. And all this before breakfast....

10 months old!!!

Today marks Kathryn's 10 month birthday! So, of course, that merits a post on the blog and some cute pictures!
This picture was taken during a fall photo shoot session I had with her the other day. Believe it or not, it was taken in our front yard (and the tree that those leaves came from isn't even halfway bare yet!).
Some of what Kathryn's life now looks like:
-She crawls everywhere now! She's very inquisitive, and loves to explore all around the house. Her favorite things are trashcans, toilets, and dirty laundry. Noticing a trend? Lots of baths!!
-She continues to wave bye-bye, although has stopped saying it as much. Every once in a while she'll say it, usually when there's no one around, just to entertain herself. Most of the time she waves with both hands.
-She loves to praise God by lifting up one or both hands high into the air. Whenever we say, "Praise Him!" she'll do it right along with us. I remind her that if we don't praise Him, the rocks are gonna start singin'! "From the mouths (or hands) of little babes..."
-She's learned her first sign language sign. She'll sign "more" for when she wants more food (or just wants to eat in general). Even though she doesn't sign it perfectly, she's got the idea! It's so cool to see her be able to communicate her needs to us without having to cry to tell us something. We hope that she'll continue to pick up more signs (if we can be faithful to sign to her!).
-She sings and talks all the time now. She also will randomly laugh out loud. Her sounds (which she repeats over and over again, if you can imagine it) include ba, ga, da, ma, la, ya, bwa, and the newest, schlash!
-She's just started showing an acknowledgment of music, and will dance by rocking back and forth or bouncing up and down when she hears it.
-She now tries to blow kisses. It usually consists of her putting her fist up to her mouth, but it only sometimes makes the blowing kisses motion. Other times, she gets distracted by it being there and chews on it instead!
-She constantly says a sorta "huh" sound to us whenever we say something to her. She'll go back and forth with you saying it over and over again. I'm not sure if she's doing it just to make noise or if she's trying to communicate back. Either way, it's funny.
-Last month I had finally decided to release trying to breastfeed and let her have formula instead of pumped milk. She's done much better with the formula and with the bottles. Thanks for the prayers in that whole ordeal!

Finally, here's a video I took of her this morning while eating breakfast. In it you can see some of her latest tricks, including bye-bye, dancing, and signing more. Enjoy!

our little panda bear

We weren't sure if we were going to dress Kathryn up for Halloween, but finally decided to. I found this cute little panda bear costume, and think she makes the cutest panda ever! Since pandas are my favorite animal (and her Uncle Randy's, too), I was very excited to find it! I found my panda bears from when I was little, and the one my roomies gave me in college in an attempt to replace "roadkill", so I took her picture with it, too.






Pandas play hard. She was very tired by the end of the night, and enjoyed hugging onto the panda on the way home.

baby shower fun

This past weekend, we had lots of friends in town to celebrate the soon-to-come little baby girl of Naomi and Andrew. Although I didn't get any pictures of the actual shower, I did manage to snap a few before everyone left. This is part of the group on Sunday at lunch after church.


Dr. Uncle Francey-poo with Kathryn. Yes, ladies, he's single!

some classic pictures

I took these of Nick at Washington & Lee in Lexington. I thought they looked like classic pictures of a little boy with his scooter. The chapel is the Lee Chapel on the campus.

Lexington visit

A week and a half ago, Kathryn and I met my mom and Nick and Ali in Lexington for a few hours of hang out time. Lexington is halfway between Roanoke and Bridgewater, so it's a perfect place to meet. And it's a beautiful place, too, filled with history. (Yes, I am my husband's wife!) Here are a few pictures from our day.

Kathryn loved spending time with her aunt and uncle. She liked it when Nick blew bubbles for her.
A sweet picture!

Nick enjoyed riding his scooter through the campus of Washington and Lee.

pearly whites...

another UVA game

Here are a few pictures from the last UVA game we went to 2 weeks ago. Kathryn was sporting her hair bow once again, and this time did much better since we brought her stroller for her to nap in as we walked around the stadium.

Daddy's girl!!!
Before the game we enjoyed tailgating at Sal and Virginia's once again. (They are relatives of Johnny's.) The people that live in the house beside them were out riding their horses in the yard, so we took Kathryn out to see them. She loved them, and giggled as she pet them. This picture is of her giving the horse a hug.

she crawls...

Finally, a video! We've had troubles connecting our video camera to our computer, so it occurred to me the other day that I can take short videos with our digital camera. I had to post this one first, because it is just too cute. I love the way she crawls. It's a classic baby crawl. Hope you enjoy the video!!

Kathryn's stats

Kathryn had a good doctor's visit on Monday. She is a healthy little girl, praise God! Her 9 month stats: head circumference is 17.8 in (83rd percentile); length 27.8 in (58th percentile); and weight 18lbs 14oz (52nd percentile). So, she has slimmed down a bit in her weight and is about average for both weight and height, but continues to have a big head! Hopefully that means she's pretty smart! She's doing well with her crawling, and is now consistently getting herself to all the things she hasn't played with yet, which includes the trashcan, the fireplace screen and tools, and shoes on the floor. She's gonna keep me on my toes, I can tell! She is such a joy for a daughter!

On another note, check out my mom's blog. After a hiatus from blogging, she's back and has some cute pictures and stories to share!

9 months old!

Kathryn turned 9 months yesterday! I can hardly believe it! She's growing up so fast, and is getting sweeter by the day. She goes to the doctor for her checkup on Monday, so I will post her latest stats then. But for now, here are her day-to-day doings.
The biggest news is that she can now crawl! She started just yesterday! We assume she decided that since she was 9 months old, it was time to get moving. We've been waiting for this day, as she's been so close to crawling for about a month now! She's still really slow and tentative with it, and only does it occasionally when she really wants something (like a piece of paper), but I'm sure as she catches on the next few days, she's really gonna take off.

This picture was taken of her last night around 9:00. It was after her bedtime, of course, but she can't resist when she sees the camera to smile! Prior to her crawling feat yesterday, she had gotten quite proficient at scooting all around the floor. In fact, she often cries if she's being held too much because she wants to be down and moving. This picture is from the other day. She was in the kitchen, and scooted herself until she was laying on her belly under this chair. Then she sat back up, and this was the result. I promise this was not staged at all...we just watched her, and then grabbed the camera to capture the moment. (After she smiled for the camera, she of course started crying because she had no idea how to get herself out of the mess she was in. Even if I walk out of a room for a moment, I often come back in to her fussing to discover she's gotten herself stuck under a chair, bed, or sofa, and can't get out.)
Me with my baby, getting so big now. We had spent the evening with our friends the Minters, and that's why we were out so late for Kathryn. The Minters have a daughter who turned 2 in August, and her and Kathryn love each other so much. They love exchanging hugs and kisses, and did so all night long. It's fun to spend time with them and see a friendship develop between the girls.
Our last picture from last night. She was just being too cute, we couldn't stop taking pictures (our camera was full, though, so we only got a few).
Some of the other things Kathryn's been up to:
-she now waves bye bye all the time, and we think she can say it too (her first word), in that she'll sometimes accompany the waving with "Baaaa baaaaa, Baaaa baaaaa." She never says anything else when waving, although she babbles other stuff all the time at different times. What do you think? Is it her first word?
-she continues to give kisses and hugs all the time, to people (even random people she's never met), to stuffed animals, to babies in books... She is quite loving.
-she cried again last weekend when we were visiting the Lookabills and their new baby, Jude, because he started crying. She looked up at me and started a pitiful little cry. I do think God is growing a compassionate heart in our little girl.
-she has stopped nursing on her own accord. About 3 1/2 weeks ago, she suddenly refused to nurse one day. I had planned on breastfeeding her for 12 months at least, so I called all around to anybody and everybody I could think of for help and advice. After realizing I was trying everything they told me to do, I continued trying for the past 3 1/2 weeks. Finally, yesterday, with much sadness and tears, I conceded to the fact that it looks like Kathryn will not return to nursing, and I finally released it to God. It has been quite the emotional time for me, but I trust God to take care of my little girl and do what's best for her and our family.

In the interest of keeping this from getting too long, and because that's all I can think of off the top of my head, I'll stop here. Thanks for keeping up with our family, especially this little one, and for all the prayers that I know get prayed to God on her behalf. We truly are blessed with such a wonderful family, and wonderful friends and extended family.

18 years from now...

I wonder if we'll have another picture like this 18 years from now, when we're dropping her off....

finally...

Well, after not posting much the past month or so, here are a few recent pictures of the little one.

In a cute outfit, sticking out her tongue! At Aunt Judy's house, petting her little baby goat. While we were in Maryland, Kathryn got really into animals, because my grandma has a dog (a sweet Boxer). So Kathryn of course loved the goat, too, who is only 3 weeks old. In the picture are Grandma, Ali (holding Kathryn), and Willow (holding the goat).
While trying to find picture albums, my Grandma came across this little stuffed tiger that my Pop-pop had put away to give to Kathryn. It was very special for her to have something from him, and she loved it immediately. She fell asleep with it one afternoon, and when I went to check on her, I just had to snap this picture. She put it right on top of her to go to sleep. How cute! :)
Finally, this is Kathryn's second cousin Joey. Since Joey is deaf, he is very concerned that Kathryn learn sign language. He gave me a very helpful note on how to get to a good American Sign Language website. It's called ASL Pro. Thanks, Joey!