Monday, March 31, 2008

Kate Hudson, Cuteness Factor 5000%

The funny thing about this picture is that just 5 seconds before this picture was taken Kate was crying. I put her right next to Hudson in his bouncy seat and she immediately became quiet and cuddled up right next to him. Too cute!

Friday, March 28, 2008

What a difference 5 Weeks can make!

2 weeks old
7 weeks old

2 weeks old


7 weeks old




Thursday, March 27, 2008

6 Weeks Old and Kate's First Easter

All dressed up in my Easter dress!
Love those big beautiful blue eyes!

Cousin Toby palming Kate's head. He tries so hard to be gentle!


This was the best of the bunch!



Caden did such a good job of holding Kate



Her first Easter egg





Nana and Pops






Nana and Pops with all of their grandchildren








Good to meet you Reece!







Giving the adoring gaze to Uncle Benj




















Auntie Care was so happy to finally meet and hold Kate











Chase was so gentle with Kate. Everytime she would cry he would pat her face and say , "It's ok baby Kate."












Just one year older, cousin Piersen.














Here's looking at you Reecer!





























Kate before church in her Easter dress.
















Coloring easter eggs with the boys and Mimi
















Kate loved meeting her cousins from Mexico









Surrounded by protection. Won't Kate be a lucky girl to have these boys looking out for her?




This was a really big week for Kate. It was her first Easter and she finally got to meet her 3 cousins from Mexico City. On Saturday we spent the evening with Jared's family to celebrate Easter. I have a wonderful Mother in Law who didn't mind moving her Easter dinner to Saturday night so that we could spend Sunday with my family. Thanks Eletia! We had a great time with Jared's family and Kate got some good quality holding time. She also received some goodies from the Easter bunny! I was also glad that we finally got some pictures with Kate's cousins, Caden and Toby.
On Saturday my brother, Benjy and his wife Carolyn and their 3 boys Reece, Chase and Piersen arrived at our house. It was great to see all 3 boys interact with Kate. Normal rough and tumble boys turned very gentle when they were around her. It was a very sweet thing to watch. I was so glad my sister in law finally got to hold Kate. Kate was an angel when they were here, however right now she is not being an angel and I am having to type this one handed while she is working herself into quite the little dither, so I will close for now. Enjoy the pictures everyone!















Monday, March 17, 2008

Kate at 5 Weeks Old







Don't you just want to reach out and pinch or kiss these wonderfully chubby cheeks?

Major accomplishments this week! Kate's neck is getting stronger as you can tell by these pictures. I was amazed that she could sit up like that with out her head flopping over. When we hold her so that she can look over our shoulder she picks her head up to move it around so that she can see everything around her. She takes her naps in her crib now. Wonderful step for both of us! She sleeps for 5-6 hour stretches at night. She moved up to the next size of diaper also (Yeah! No more frequent blowouts!). She still loves to be sung to. I have started to sing "You are my Sunshine" when she wakes up from naps. She seems to really like it. And dare I say it ???I think we are noticing just the faintest hint of some smiles coming our way. I have the feeling she will be a very smiley girl so we are in for some major sunshine in our lives! Thank you God for all of these blessings!!

New Perspective

You know, I used to measure my success by how many files I could underwrite per day or how many miles I could run but now I have a whole other definition of success. My major accomplishment last week was getting Kate to nap in her crib. I was starting to see that I was having trouble putting her down and she had never spent any time in her crib. So last Thursday I tried it. With some helpful advice from fellow Mommies Randi and Courtney I had the confidence to do it. I put her down...held my breath and she slept like a baby. I really prayed about this and I remembered my "Just Slide" post that I posted coincidentally right before she was born. I have come to rely on God more than I ever have in my life. Sometimes I cry out to him in frustration, sometimes it is out of pure joy that my precious little girl has accomplished another small milestone like sleeping in her crib for the first time. I know that every other parent relaizes this but I can't raise this little girl with out God taking the lead. I have tears in my eyes as I type that sentence. This is not a church pleasing statement. I literally CAN'T do it. I need him to lead me as a Mommy as I make decisions everyday about her life. Being a parent is a major undertaking as anyone will tell you. I guess I just didn't really understand. I found myself debating on whether I should move her up to the next size diaper last week (I did...so much better :) ) Even seemingly trivial things like that are so important now. I look at her sleeping, or playing or crying and I find myself so thankful that it's not just me. She has a wonderful Daddy here on earth that is so instinctual with her I am amazed everyday. But she has a heavenly Father that loves her and cares about her as an individual little girl. Everyone remarks about how much hair Kate has. And every time they do I think of that verse in the Bible that says He knows the number of hairs on her head. I am humbled by being a Mommy...especially a new Mommy. But it comforts me to know that when I rock her to sleep, God is rocking her with me, when I pray about a decision I need to make for her He is directing me, when she is crying and I don't know what she wants He is calming me and helping me figure it out. I have a confession to make...Motherhood did not come natural to me at all. I have had to grow into it and I am still growing into that role everyday. I was a lot more selfish than I thought. God has shown me a lot about myself in these 5 weeks. He has shed light on my insecurities, my perfectionism, and my selfishness. He has really helped me to gain a new perspective on life. With out Him none of this is possible. With out Jesus dying on the cross for my sins I wouldn't even be here. He knew that I would have Kate Elizabeth in my life. He holds our future in His hands. Isn't that a relief that we don't have to do this alone?

She's so Vain....She probably thinks this blog is about her...Wait... it is!

Kate's favorite thing about life so far?????....Herself!!!
She will lay there and look at herself forever. She loves to move her hands in the mirror. I don't think she has made the connection that those are her hands.

"I'm falling head over heels in love with MYSELF!" Isn't it appropriate that her shirt says Future Supermodel??


Actually, if I were this beautiful I'd look at myself all day in the mirror to!




Monday, March 10, 2008

Kate at 4 Weeks Old

These are my favorite pictures of Kate and her Daddy so far.


































































Sunday, March 9, 2008

Kate in Real Life

I tried forever........ to get a cute Mommy daughter pose....
but in the end I just gave up and joined in!











We get a lot of this face.....it's either Wow or cooing or uh oh or I'm hungry!





Kate loves to use her hands and look at her hands. And there is not a bit of Italian in either of us!






We like to call this look "the calm before the storm" especially between 6-8 PM








My New Friend Blake




Our friends Ryan and Meredith came over to meet Kate on Sunday night. They brought their little girl Blake who is 11 weeks old. It's amazing what a difference 7 weeks can make (as you can see in the pictures) Blake is 24 inches to Kate's 20.5 inches. We joked that Blake was holding Kate. Actually Kate really was sitting on Blake's lap. Blake, anytime you want to come over and babysit Kate please let us know! It was good to talk to Ryan and Meredith and trade poop stories and talk about how our lives have changed. It helps to have good friends to go through life changes together.

God has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6