She loves Mickey...

6 months

This is a really long post full of pics, but that's because ...

1. I didn't have a chance to do a 5 month post (holidays were busy!)

and

2. This past month has been SO much fun! 

You've been warned :)

    

Dear Kate,

Happy "half birthday" sweet girl!! I cannot believe that in as much time has passed, you will be 1. I cherish every single minute with you, but our days are just going too quickly! You are ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL and I could not be more thankful for your precious life. I feel too blessed and I don't think you will ever understand how much I love you until you are a mama yourself one day.

Still no teeth, but you chew on everything and especially love ice water out of your sippy cup.

 

We have a pretty good routine down. You wake up between 6:30-7:15 each day, then take 3 naps (which vary in length from 30 min. to 1.5 hour) and we start your bath/nurse/bedtime routine between 7 and 7:30, which puts you to sleep in your crib between 7:30 and 8. The time between 8 pm and 6 am is still....inconsistent. You are nowhere near sleeping through the night. We'll leave it at that :)

You can sit up supported now

Smiling at your favorite, Mickey Mouse 

You are wearing size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes, although some of those are getting too short. You are so tall! You haven't had your 6 month checkup and shots yet, but a few weeks ago, Daddy brought you to visit me at work and you weighed 17.5 pounds.

You LOVE your toes, and usually you pull your socks off and have your toes in your mouth!

You always have your hands on our faces and necks too, especially when you're taking milk (or when you want to show Uncle Scotty who's boss!)

You are incredibly strong and active and I can tell you just want to go. You are almost sitting by yourself, which I am excited about because then I think you'll have a whole new view of the world (and your toys) because you aren't a fan of just laying or sitting still. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still your favorite, and you love your Sophie teether and any toy that lights up/makes sound! I try my hardest to read to you, but you aren't really patient for a "whole story" and you just try to shove the book in your mouth the whole time! You roll all over the place, and you push with your little heels to scoot backwards! Next will be crawling and then walking, but I am really not ready for that.
Stay my baby forever...

You LOVE going on walks too! 

Well, anything outside but riding down the sidewalk makes you so happy!

You are still nursing when I'm home and taking breastmilk when you stay with Nannie and PopPop while I'm at work. You have accepted the bottle, but you don't love it so you pretty much top out at 3-4 ounces per feed (which may be why we still hang out quite a bit through the night...) Also, you are on stage 1 baby foods. You have tried all of the organic jarred fruits and veggies, but recently I bought a Baby Brezza and so now I'm making lots of your food and you seem to like that much better. Peas are still your favorite, but you will at least eat other things now without it all having to be dipped in peas :)

Peas and sweet potatoes. And this pic makes our floor look dirty...I promise it's not.

Your smile is THE best thing in the world, and you usually smile pretty easily at our faces and silly noises we make. When I get home from work, I go get you from Nannie and PopPop's. Usually at that time of day, PopPop has you out on the end of the dock. He's in his chair, you're in your umbrella stroller and I think he's teaching you all about Jimmy Buffett ;) You already have PopPop wrapped around your little finger. No doubt. You light up when you see me, and then you do it again when Daddy gets home from work. You make everything perfect!

You absolutely LOVE this swing that Santa brought you. It's in a  perfect spot in the yard, and you could swing allll day. You watch the dogs runs all over the yard and you love them so much! Nothing makes you laugh more than Maggie jumping around :)

Uncle Jeremy is just smitten with you too!

Nannie takes such good care of you while I work

Every day just gets better with you babydoll! You learn things so quickly, and definitely show a preference for being held ;) There's a song mama always sings to you, and every time, when I start singing it, you start "singing" coos with the sweetest little voice in the world. We think you are just perfect, and your Daddy and I stare at you and wonder how we got so lucky! I love you so much it makes my heart hurt.

Being your mama is just the best thing in the entire world!

We went to the beach...

...and Kate loved it so much!

In the car, so excited to be going to the real beach for the first time!

Even though the water was so cold (almost too cold for this Mama), she LOVED kicking her feet in it. She wanted to get down so badly!

She's thinking "How can I get myself down into that water..."

This beach is called Bathtub Beach because there's a rock/reef wall a bit offshore (you can kind of see it in the background of this picture) where the waves break. Water gets "trapped" between the rocks and the shore, so in the summer, it sits there and gets pretty warm, which is so great. However, in the winter, cold is cold :)

She LOVED the sound of the wind and waves, the water, and rubbing her toes in the sand. I know where we'll spend lots of time this summer!

Hello 2012

Happy New Year! Oh my gosh, where did 2011 go? I feel like it was just November 2010, finding out I was pregnant...so much has changed in 1 year and I couldn't be more thankful for our amazing life.

This was our New Years Eve, and there was no place in the world I'd rather be!

At 11:50, Mom, Dad, Jeremy & Haley came over with a bottle of champagne to watch the ball drop with us. Miss Kate woke up at 11:58...she knew there was a party and didn't want to miss it :)

So, I rang in 2012 with a glass of champagne in one hand and my baby girl in the other arm, with people I love (Scotty and Holly were in Tampa partying on a rooftop... ;)

New Years Day we took a boat ride (Kate's first) before the obligate pork, cabbage, and black-eyed peas "good luck for the new year" dinner. You better bet I had a bite of everything!

Kate LOVED the boat (but not her lifejacket).

Kate never lays like this, but with her all bundled in a blanket, the wind and the hum of the motor, she was more than content...and so was this momma :)

Precious angel

If 2012 is half as wonderful as 2011 was, then I'm ready. I know this will be an amazing year watching our babydoll grow. But 2013? That year can just stay away... I want to freeze time.