Kate's First Meal

Today Kate got her first taste of semi-solid food, some brown rice gruel prepped by her loving Mom. We thought you'd all get a kick out of seeing her reaction to this new experience. Can't say as I blame her ... it's not like processed lukewarm brown rice is high on my list of favorites.

Disclaimer: No babies were (permanently) harmed in the making of this film

To Great-Grandma's house we go

Earlier this month, Kate and I were able to go visit my Grandma Doris. It was great to see some family and celebrate the soon-to-be new baby for my cousin Clay and his wife Amber. Another fun part was most people hadn't met Kate yet, so she was inundated with family members and was even able to spend some good time with her Nana. Unfortunately, my mom took some of the best pictures, so these are some of the best from the few that I took. Enjoy!

Great Grandma Doris

Cousin Kelsey and Aunt June (great face, Kate)

Cousin Nate and his fiancee, Molly.

Four generations
Kate, Grandma Doris, mom, and two of my aunts: Cindy and Dawn

Fun February Pictures

By popular demand, here are some updated pictures of Jon, me and--the person you really want to see--Kathryn!

The birthday pie. Congrats, Jon! (Sadly, it's not as pretty as the Thanksgiving pie, but it's made with love.)

Kate with a death grip on her ring. No teeth yet but we like to keep saying they're on the way. Technically, aren't baby teeth always on the way?

I'm happy, but she's rather unimpressed. :)

Here's a great one that Daddy took. Happy baby!

Had to laugh

I was driving home from Starbucks today and noticed the license plate of the car in front of me. I guess here in VA it's pretty cheap to get your own personalized plate, so there are plenty of them on the road. Well, the little SUV in front of me has a personalized plate that says "2balive." I thought, oh, isn't that nice. Then I looked closer and realized it said "2blaive." Of course, I immediately realized the movie reference and had to sit at the red light, chuckling, repeating the phrase aloud to myself and Kate. Then I remembered Caitlin's posting on her Oil of Olay and laughed out loud all the way home.

P.S. "True love is the greatest thing in the woild. Except for a nice MLT where the mutton is nice and lean --kiss-kiss--ohh, it's so perky. I love that. But that's not what he said! He distinctly said to blaaiiiveee...."

Movie + Baby

Many awesome things have come my way since Kate's birth. But one thing I am particularly fond of is where I get to go on Thursday mornings. One of the theaters in our area has a program called "Baby Pictures." Yes, you get to BRING YOUR BABY to the movies. What a fabulous idea! They keep the lights on really low and set up changing areas up in the front. Moms with babies who are a little older can spread out blankets near the handicapped seating areas and let their babies play on the floor while the movie plays. Those of us with smaller babies can either hold them or let them hang out in their carseats on the floor next to us. It's a great time for moms to connect--and we get to see movies in the theater! I would certainly like to hug whoever thought up such a great idea. And hey, when a baby cries, no one cares because we've all been there. I think there are other theaters that do something like this, and let me say, I seriously look forward to Thursday morning. It almost doesn't even matter what movie is showing--I'll be there. Oh, and another plus? They even have a military discount on top of the matinee price. SOLD.

And let me share a little of my first-time-mom-naivety. Every other week before the movie starts Gymboree comes in and does a little mommy and me time. This doesn't cost extra--it's included in your ticket price. Well, for those of us who don't know what Gymboree is (yes, I do now, thank you) I thought, how in the heck does a clothing store do mommy and me time? I was so confused. oops. Now I get it.