Late Night Musings

I know all moms give the advice of "make sure to sleep when the baby is sleeping,"  but tonight, I just wasn't tired.  I'm up right now in a quiet living room, with an asleep baby girl, asleep husband, a book I just finished, and a full heart.  I have had a lovely, quiet evening by myself, interrupted by a few moments of my laughter listening to Kate put her self asleep on the monitor (the girl loves to have conversations by herself).  In thinking of how nice this night was, my mind wandered to how extraordinarily blessed our little family is.  In high school, I had a xanga, and though I will save myself from embarrassment by allowing all you readers of my far more mature blog access to my high school thoughts by giving you the address, there was one thing I did on a fairly regular basis that I was thinking tonight about bringing it back.  The fad at the time was to list your one hundred favorite things.  When rereading that list, I had to laugh at how much that list has changed, but in alot of ways, how it has stayed the same.  So, due to my present insomnia, as well as my overwhelming blessings, I have decided to update that list, starting with 50 things.

My favorite things (Anyone else singing the song right now??) Disclaimer: these are in no particular order.
1.  smelling a newborn baby 2. falling asleep next to my husband 3. babies in sleepers 4. Road trips 5. playing guitar with Chelsea 6.  Talking baby strategies with Cassie 7. Sitting and having a beer with my mom 8.  Sitting in the man cave with my dad 9. Kate's smile 10. Old and beautiful hymns at mass 11. reading a good book 12. going to the library 13. going for a good run 14. cooking something new 15. playing mario kart with jake 16. giving Kate a bath 17.  throwing Abby up in the air 18.  girl's nights 19.  late night talks with Jake 20.  visiting with family and my wonderful in-laws. 21. Aggie football 22.  any football on tv 23.  playing settlers of Catan 24. playing volleyball at camp 25. writing in my journal 26. getting the laundry finished 27. changing Kate's diaper and seeing how small I can get the dirty one before I put it in the diaper genie...don't laugh moms, I know you do the same thing! 28. watching reruns of the office 29.  cooking with Jake 30. while I hate shopping, finding clothes I am really excited about 31.  teaching a fun lesson 32.  old country music on the radio 33. going in to Kate's room in the morning and seeing her smile when she sees me 34. a good conversation with old friends 35.  the friendship feature on facebook that allows you to see old pictures 36. drinking a cold beer on a hot night 37.  making it to daily mass with Kate in tow 38. 5:45, when Jake gets home from work 39.  the first day of school 40. the last day of school 41. skyping with Chelsea, and Jake's family 42. updated blog entries from friends 43. unexpected emails/facebook messages 44.  Extreme home makeover: Weight Loss addition 45.  maybe tmi here, but being able to store pumped milk.  It's such an accomplishing task. 46. Watching Kate smile/fall asleep in her daddy's arms. 47. visiting Castroville, TX 48. visits to Dallas from family, and friends 49. hand sanitizer 50. going to weddings.

Kate is 2 months old!

Kate- you were such a joy this second month.  Mommy and Daddy were talking about how we just can't believe how fast the time has gone since we were blessed with you!  It seems like I was pregnant forever, but now that we get to see you, play with you, cuddle with you, etc, everyday, the time sure has flown.  The following is a list of your many accomplishments this month.  I can't wait to see how much you grow in the next 4 weeks!

• You are a great sleeper- You started sleeping through the night about 2 weeks ago!  On average, you sleep 6-7 hours the first time we put you down, then usually another 2-3 after a feeding. 
• You are huge :).  You weight 13 lbs and 3 oz, and are in the the 95 percentile for both height and weight! You sure have come along way since your birth weight of 6 15!
• You eat almost every 3 hours, and are a great eater (clearly, just look at your weight :) ).  You did start, though, getting fussy at your late night feeding, but Mommy and Daddy figured out you just need to walk around a bit and be calm in a dark room, and then you will eat!
• You love your toys- especially your play mat and your crib aquarium.  
• You learned to wake Mommy and Daddy up at night when you were ready to eat by hitting your aquarium with your feet, instead of crying.  It really scared us the first time you did it...we had no idea how you got to the bottom of your crib!
• Along with the last accomplishment, you have learned to scooch in your crib.  It's so fun to see where you end up when you wake up!
• You smile all the time!!  It's so fun to play with you and see you react.  Your beautiful smile can melt our heart.  
• You were baptized on June 19, Daddy's first Father's day.  You looked beautiful in your gown, and Mommy's baptism cross.  
• You still roll over from tummy to back, and have gotten really close to rolling over from back to tummy
• You love watching your Daddy.  When he walks around the house, you love to watch him. 
• You got your first big round of shots.  You did great at the doctors office, but definitely didn't like it when you felt the needles.  Mommy was just upset as you were seeing you in pain :(.

Kate, you are such a beautiful, healthy girl, and we are so excited to watch you continue to grow!

Your joyful 2 month picture!

"All that America is!"

Anyone who knows me knows what a huge history buff I am, and how important I think today is :)  Some of my favorite July 4th memories include watching fireworks form our boat on the lake as a child, hilarious skits at camp including Betsy Ross on the dock, reciting the Gettysburg Address, setting off fireworks for campers, and the year fireworks were banned and we had to have a show only with sparklers in the meadow at The Pines.  We made it work.

This year, we loved our three day weekend celebration.  We watched a great fireworks show about a mile from our house (Frisco Freedom Fest) on Saturday, and had a blast introducing Kate to fireworks.  She didn't really get the concept, but Mommy and Daddy had a lot of fun relaxing and watching the show from the back of our explorer.  On Sunday, we continued an annual tradition since moving to Dallas and went to Kaboom town in Addison with a great group of friends.  Although our going was not a newsworthy event like in years past (see youtube video for proof), we still had a blast.  Jake and I were really worried Kate would get too hot, and although she was only in her diaper by the end of the night, she made it through with flying colors and even slept soundly through the 30 minute show.  I can't wait for future celebrations, when she can really enjoy a fun day with family and friends.