January 2012

We have had a month of ups and downs. After family leaves, it is always sad. Then, about a week after everyone left Laura went through about two weeks of fussiness. Where she would just cry and cry and there was nothing we could do to calm her. One of our friends who had a very colicy baby gave me a book that our peditritian reccomended to her called The Happiest Baby on the Block. It was great! We were able to learn some tricks that helped to sooth her. By week 7, we had turned a corner and she is now a dream baby. :) She continues to be a fantastic sleeper, and this past week, she started to go down at a regular time - between 7:30 and 8:30 most nights, and waking up for good about 12 hours from when she goes down. When she wakes at night, she just eats and goes right back to sleep! She is a very smilely baby compared to her older sister, so we have all been enjoying her sweet smiles. She also started to make some cooing and gooing sounds, too. The bad thing about having an older sister that attends school is that she is exposed to more germs. She is now on her second cold. Poor little thing. Just a cough and a runny nose. No fever, so we are thankful. On Monday, we take her for her two month appointment and she will get her first shots. :( Hopefully all will go well with those. I am anxious to see how much she has grown. I am guessing she is about 10.5 lbs by now. It's amazing how fast they grow. It has taken some adjustment getting used to two children. It's like when you have your first you can't hardly remember what your life was like before and what you did with all your time. We feel like that now. What did we do with just one? It was so easy! But we are enjoying our new little blessing and are curious to see what she will be like as she grows.
We are looking forward to a trip to Texas in early February. The girls are coming and we will get to see both sets of great grandparents and aunt Nee Nee, too in addition to Papa and JeJe. :) I will have mom's help coming, as she will be in town for Aunt Elaine (LaLa's) birthday party, but I'll need lots of prayers on the return flight when it's just me! I will have to change planes in Houston. No direct flights to Texico this time of year.
We met with our sitter Ms. Edie this week. She also took care of Natalie when she was a baby. We are so thankful she is able to take care of Laura, too! After this summer, she will have all girls. Her two boys will be moving on to another day care, as she will not keep anyone past age 2. I will be returning to work on February 21st. I did not want to return on my birthday, so I postponed it another day. I can't believe I'm 30 this year. Doesn't seem possible. I am ready to go back to work, but at the same time, I am not. Sure wish I could work like 4-6 hours a day and get paid the same. Nick said me and everyone else in america. Oh well, I will enjoy all the times I am with the girls and cherish them.
Wishing everyone a great 2012.


Nana's birthday




We had some wiring done on our porch so we could put up some ceiling fans. The electrician had an audience! :)

Laura Kate is growing and is a JOY!









Natalie is still loving being a big sister! (The oranges on our tree are ripe and juicy and sweet right now!)







Lilly (the cat) is very protective of Laura. She always lets us know when she's crying and we need to tend to her. :)

Oh Natalie. When she finally does get to sleep at night (9-10, the naps at school kill us at night) she is like a little angel.

Her favorite thing to do right now is ride her bike. I don't know how many miles she's already put on that thing!

Laura Kate's Baptism 01.01.2012

We had the wonderful privilege of having my dad baptize Laura Kate. She was baptized in the same dress, hat, and shoes as her big sister and her mother (almost 30 years ago!).It was a very special day for all of us. We were so thankful to have so much of our family here to celebrate with us.

Christmas 2011

We all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. JeJe and NeeNee (Mom and Courtney) were here to celebrate with us, and Papa will come today (26th) since he had church duties to take care of yesterday. So, we will have second Christmas this afternoon, and third Christmas this weekend when the Moss' arrive. Oh my!
It has been nice having mom and Courtney here. JeJe has really enjoyed the time with her girls. :)

Earlier in the week, we all had fun baking and decorating Christmas cookies.







We had a lovely Christmas Eve service. Nick, Laura Kate and I played Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus. Unfortunately, Laura was hungry, and was fussy the whole time, but everyone enjoyed it anyway.






Natalie decided a week before Christmas to acknowledge Santa and then she was CONVINCED that we was going to bring her a pink big girl bike. Thankfully, Santa was aware of this earlier and had things taken care of already. ;)
Natalie loves her sleep, and we finally woke her up a little before 9. She did not want to wake up and get out of bed...just like her daddy! Once she woke up and got into it, though, we had so much fun.
After gifts, we loaded up and went over to Tampa to have Christmas dinner - pasta, salad, bread, and some wonderful desserts - with the Jones-Zach family. Natalie was about as excited to go to Dick and Lala's as she was about the gifts. (Do you think they spoil her just a little? ;)) We had a great time and it was a wonderful day - together with family and giving thanks for the greatest gift of all - Jesus Christ.






She already rides that bike like a pro!



Laura Kate is doing great! She grew almost a full pound and inch in two weeks! At her check up she weighed 8lbs 10oz (up from 7lb 12oz) and measured 21 1/4 inches. The doctor said she was filling out nicely and looked great! She is sleeping well at night - eats and goes right back to sleep most every night. She is a great eater and overall, another angel baby just as her big sister was. :) She was three weeks old on Christmas Eve.