GOOD FRIENDS....

A good friend of mine from college, Laura Morgan (dare I say I have known her since 1995?! Wow I feel old!) stopped by today to meet Katelyn and bring Mexican food (from one of my favorite restaurants- Chuy's) For those of you that know me, you know how much I love Mexican food! Thanks Laura for all your parenting tips, Mexican food, good company, and gifts for Katelyn.  We look forward to seeing you again soon!

GO TEXAS TECH!

Today we decided to put Katelyn's Texas Tech outfit on to gear her up for football season early. I have a feeling we will be getting a cheerleader outfit for her in the fall to celebrate Ryan's alma mater. I know we are proud parents, but doesn't she look precious?!

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Ryan and I before we left for our "date night". We went to Fleming's and had the best steak either one of us had ever eaten and enjoyed walking around the Waterway in the Woodlands. We had such a great time and I can't imagine a more romantic night! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband!

Cheesecake we ate to celebrate! We decided it might be the best cheesecake we ever ate! Yum!

Saying goodbye to Katelyn before we head out for a night on the town...

Our view from our table at Flemings.... We felt like the set-up was an accident waiting to happen!

Not only did my parents babysit Katelyn, but they had this set up for us when we got home. Wasn't that sweet?!

It is hard to believe that just a year ago we were getting married in Maui. What a whirlwind year it has been, but filled with so many blessings! We got married in April, found out we were pregnant in July, moved to Conroe in September and had a beautiful healthy baby girl in March! Wow, I think we will slow down this year and enjoy God's abundant love and blessings!

HANGING WITH DADDY IN THE BABY BJORN

Today I had to run some errands and Ryan watched Katelyn. He realized he had some work to get done and Katelyn doesn't like you to put her down long, so he broke out the Baby Bjorn. When I came home I cracked up as I thought it was so creative of him. I have been using mine around the house too and it is so handy!

SPRING IS HERE!

This afternoon Ryan and I were headed out the door to take Katelyn on a walk and enjoy the beautiful weather..... BUT since our little angel is a newborn she made her classic "poo" face before we walk out the door, so we had to capture it! It always makes us laugh because she makes this face and we know very soon that it is time to change her diaper AGAIN!:)


Okay Mom.... I am finished and ready for you to change my diaper!!

Now she is ready for her walk, but we better get home soon because it will be time to eat again!! Isn't her bonnet adorable? Thanks Me-Maw!

Update: Katelyn turned 6 weeks yesterday and is starting to smile:) It makes Ryan and I so happy! She is going through a growth spurt so she is starting to eat every 2-2 1/2 hrs. during the day again! However, the good news is she is sleeping 5-6 hrs. at night now! What a blessing! She is such a good baby and we cherish each day! She is tolerating tummy time daily and starting to get strong neck extensors and doing well with visual tracking of an object.

Fun Visit with Susan and Caroline!!

Caroline is thinking about kissing the baby......

Caroline was precious when opening her gift we got her for turning 1, she decided to push it around and climb on in before she opened it...... Happy late birthday Caroline!!
Good times with old friends....

Today we were excited to have Susan and Caroline come to visit and meet Katelyn. I have known Susan for over 20 years and love her to pieces! We are so glad you got to come over today Susan and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Thank you Astra Tech!!

Ryan's company sent us a precious basket (we love the personal detail of her name and date she was born on the ribbon-so creative!) to celebrate the birth of Katelyn, so we took a picture of her with it. Thank you Astra Tech for being a wonderful company!

PRETTY IN PINK!

Our "beautiful little princess"

Okay, Mom no more dress up for today!!:)

Playing Dress Up for Aunt Katie

Today we are starting to progress out of "newborn" clothes to some 0-3 month clothes. This is a onesie Aunt Katie bought for Katelyn and since she didn't get to see her in it we wanted to show it off on the blog. Unfortunately she didn't get to wear it long as she spit up, but she will wear it again soon!

EASTER WEEKEND

Katelyn and Verlin (NiNi)

This weekend Ryan's parents (Nini & Papa) came to visit Katelyn for the weekend. They brought Katelyn lots of fun treats and had some loving time with her. We know they are proud grandparents of their beautiful granddaughter:)

One Month Old Today!

It is so hard to believe that Katelyn is already one month old! Ryan and I were talking today about how much our lives have changed in the past month and how we didn't realize HOW MUCH our lives would change.

Ways our lives have changed since Katelyn was born:
1. How awesome our God is that he blessed us with this beautiful, healthy baby girl and we thank God every day for bringing this "angel" into our lives
2. We never knew that an 8 pound 4 ounce baby could truly keep us running and busy 24/7! That is why God makes it a team. I truly don't know how single parents do it!
3. Lack of sleep... People say your body adjusts and it has to some degree, but it is funny that I now get excited if I get a 2 hour stretch of sleep at a time.
4. I really am trying to learn to nap in the day. It is not easy! We are go getters and we are used to staying busy in the day, so it is hard to nap.
5. I never knew HOW OFTEN babies pee and poop and how many times you change their diapers. Wow, I change her and then 10 seconds later sometimes she cries and we change her again! Katelyn doesn't like to be wet for one second:)
6. How exhausting motherhood is, but also the most rewarding job in the world
7. How much love I could have for a human being... It is such a deep love that you can't imagine it until you meet her
8. How upsetting it is to hear your baby cry and you don't know what to do
9. Having a child has made our marriage even stronger and closer than we knew possible, it is been a very emotional time for us
10. Breastfeeding isn't easy, but I know it took both of us for me to be successful with it as I recovered from surgery
11. How blessed we are to have supportive family that lives close and we couldn't have made it this last month without them. We didn't realize how much help we would need. Raising a baby takes a village!
12. How long it takes to not only get myself ready, but how much preparation it takes to just walk out the door (car seat, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, extra outfit, etc.)
13. I am learning to become a really fast eater and do things one handed:)
14. How good it makes you feel when you are the only one who can calm your child because "you are the momma"
15. How thankful we are for all our parents sacrificed for us. I guess you don't realize it as much until you are a parent yourself

BLESSINGS!!!

Ryan and I took Katelyn to the pediatrician today to use their scale as they told us to try to keep track of her weight every couple of weeks. Some of you may not know that in the hospital Katelyn dropped to 10% below her birth weight and it concerned us to say the least. We had to supplement formula for about 4 days and then she was able to leave the hospital (Sat.) without jaundice. By the following Tuesday (3/17/09), she was back up to her birth weight of 8 lbs. 4 oz. just on breast milk. By 03/26/09, she was 9 lbs. 2 oz. The doctor told us to expect her to gain about an ounce a day, so today has been 14 days. Therefore we expected her to weigh around 10 lbs. We were ecstatic to find out that our baby girl weighs in at 10 lbs 14 ounces!!:) We were so pleased! It is so hard to tell with breastfeeding how much they are eating, so we are so happy to know she is healthy & growing well. Another progress this week is she is out of Newborn diapers and progressed to Stage 1. Our little girl is already growing up, we are just enjoying every minute of this special time.....

HAPPY EASTER

Me-Maw came over today and surprised Katelyn with the most beautiful Easter basket. It was very special because it had a stuffed bunny in it that I had all growing up in my Easter basket. The Easter basket was full of goodies and fun books. Unfortunately Katelyn wasn't a big fan of taking pictures by her basket as she didn't like her hat. Of course she was calm once I held her.... Ryan and I can't get enough of having that sweet snuggle time with her.

Ballerina Girl

We had to share this picture of Katelyn before she went to bed the other night, We LOVED the ballerina slippers. Thank you Aimee for letting us borrow Abby's clothes. Katelyn can't wait to meet Abby soon:)

BATHTIME!!

Katelyn and Ryan

She loves to be all nice and cozy in her towel......

Katelyn in her "big girl" bath

Fun Weekend

Ryan and I decided on Sunday to take Katelyn to take pictures in the bluebonnets. We found an absolutely beautiful field of bluebonnets, but it was freezing.!We couldn't take many pictures as we felt like horrible new parents bringing her out in the cold weather. Here are a couple shots that we took, we will post more soon!

This is a picture of Katelyn before we went to take pictures in the bluebonnets, doesn't she look precious?!

This weekend I was so excited to have one of my best friends visit and meet Katelyn. Unfortunately she was only able to stay one night, but we loved having her here. Gwen was able to give wonderful parenting tips as she has Jacob (19 months) and due with baby Samuel in May. We can't wait to meet him! Thanks Gwen for giving us tips on trying to get Katelyn on a schedule. We are looking forward to having some sleep soon:)