Southern Smiles

We have had a lovely trip to TN to visit the fam.

Kate met both her great grand mothers and we have gotten to visit with so many family and friends who came by the house to meet Kate.

It was good to see everyone- a special hello to the Anders! (Please see our pics HERE . You can also download them for yourself- as many of you are in them).

Kate was such a trooper, always social and never fussing when being picked up by a new person every 5 minutes! She crashed when we got home.

More to come...blessings everyone!

Let's Compare

It has been really fun to look back and compare this little girl's growth...and these are just a few pics that I found that might be a little fun to compare!

Look at our little chubs!!!!

Little weanie neck replaced by a strong neck that holds itself up!

Mom bringing Kate home for the first time, verses a curious little gal celebrating Valentines day!

And ahh...the beauty of the naked baby...what a cute little bod!

Look at those skinny arms, replaced by nice healthy chub chub....

How about a bouncy seat?
Looking a little big for ya there Kate..

but now...it's just great!

And dad loves to hold you skin to skin...

now you are fat, but once you were thin!

Kate is Talking (sort of)

Seriously, I never knew that being Kate's mom would be so fun and so rewarding! We are having a blast at home together and we count down the minutes to see daddy at 12 for lunch. Mostly our days consist of reading, singing, listening to music and talk radio, cooking and cleaning and playing with toys- typical. But my favorite time of day is when Kate wants to interact with me. She LOVES it when we talk to her and she is so very responsive at this point. Here is an example of her little social self.




And this one will leave you laughing...



Then, there is this squealy one....

Kate Laughs Out Loud!!

Kate is getting so much more fun every day! We are in shock and awe of what God is doing as He grows and develops our little preemie girl! She is a chuncker now!! She constantly laughs and smiles at us, she even talks to her toys... Maybe one day I will get the internet at home but for now these small posts will have to do! Enjoy the new video!

Kate Coos and Entertains Us

Kate is starting to interact and we are enamored... just be glad that it takes so long for a video to upload hee hee!


Here's a little clip of this morning- she loves to lay on her boppy in front of the Christmas tree (yes, we still have it up)so she can stare at the lights. It's a great baby sitting device so Michael says we'll just keep it up all year.




and here is a little Kate chat...



Dad was reading to Kate and she wasn't quite interested in the story- but was fixated on him. She loves to look at daddy as he can make her laugh the hardest.



Hope you enjoyed these! Love to all my viewers...especially Auntie Shelley!

7 year Anniversary

Today I have the wonderful priveledge of celebrating 7 years of sweet marriage to my darling hubby! Praise the Lord...and now off to a nice dinner.

Please see our Christmas pics at

http://www.sweetbabykate.spaces.live.com/

KATE IS HERE!!!

Kate came a little earlier than we expected, but just in God's perfect timing.

She was born at 32 weeks and was 3 lbs and 11 oz but she is very healthy!! Praise God! The miracle story will be blogged in the near future.

I hope this news is sufficient to explain my tardiness in the upkeep of my blog, I have much more important things to do now *tee hee*- like grow a human being...well, God is doing that, but I do have to feed. Speaking of, it's about that time again...

Tried video upload- I waited 15 minutes and it said there was an error- grr...will try again later.. sorry Shells.

for more pics go to : sweetbabykate.spaces.live.com

Our 2nd birthing class was insane! I loved it, but gees…it was torture… we had to hold ice in our hands for prolonged periods and focus on our breathing while our husbands put clothespins on our ears…self inflicted pain to learn how to breathe. I couldn’t believe it! As if I need one more thing to make me uncomfortable… =)

BUT all that to say…it really does work. I was able to sort of block out the achy hand and pinched ear lobe and think about my breathing. I just don’t want to go back next week because the lady seemed excited about another “breathing exercise” that I’m not sure I want to be a part of.

My back has continued to do well, and my swimming is amazing! I am walking 2 mornings a week and swimming 3 mornings and it is wonderful! I am so thankful for that. Saturday will be 2 days exactly since my spine surgery…who would’ve know that 2 years later I would be months away from expecting my first child? Such a blessing, God is faithful.

Kate hasn’t really been moving quite as much these past few days. I guess she is running out of room in there- but I’m calling the doc just in case. It’s weird how she’s gone from total 24/7 kick boxer to almost no movement over night. I have also been having some braxton hicks contractions, and those are quite fun. I'll keep you updated.

I have no new pics for this post, so I think I’ll add a funny…

Baby Shower!!

Yesterday was an amazing day and God has richly blessed us and provided for our little girl in such a fun way! Our shower was awesome, we enjoyed seeing all our Biola family in one spot!







Our friends came together and brought such great food and gifts for Kate. We were generously showered until our cup ran over... truly, God provides for the needs of His children, there is just no other way to describe the generosity of His people. It's amazing to think that 6 years ago we came here not knowing anyone and now we are surrounded with this loving Biola family.

For more pictures go to our photo webpage.
Click on the button....

Last night we got to catch up with some old friends we used to know from Talbot. We went to Downtown Disney to the Rainforest cafe to eat dinner and had a splendid time. Here's Lorna and I (she is about 5 1/2 months pregnant with her second child!!).

Here's her daughter Alaethia.




Lorna wanted a pictures of our babies touching...hee hee!


Right when we got back to their hotel, Michael and I felt an earthquake...it was so rolly....that's 2 in one month!

Today is our first baby shower and it's at work. We are so blessed to work here at Biola and to have such an awesome community of friends! I am so excited about it. I am sure I will have plenty of pics to post later on...

Until then, here's a story....
Sunday night, Michael and I were very tired and we still had 3 loads of laundry to fold. While folding the laundry, I saw something on the floor I needed to put away and walked into the other room. I came back and Michael was facedown on the bed (his arms underneath his body like he had fallen). Being a bit more jumpy than usual....I went into hysterics...screaming at him asking what was wrong. He looked up at me and said, "what is wrong with you?" I said, "I thought you were dead!!"

He was laughing until he saw that I was really crying...trying not to go into early labor. (I really thought I would!)

He never plays tricks on me and wasn't intending it to be a trick....needless to say it was NOT funny at the time, but now I am cracking up at how edgy I am these days...

Ahh..the joys =)