In loving memory...

Craig's Grandmother Laura Ellen (Kay's Great Grandmother who she was named after) passed away Saturday September 12th. We just returned from Kay's second road trip where we attended her visitation and funeral. We feel so fortunate that Kay was able to make the trip just five days before she passed away to meet her Great Grandmother. Grandmother was able to meet all five of her great-grandchildren (what a blessing!).

Craig and I were discussing during the trip some of our favorite memories of Grandmother. When we would ask how she was doing she would respond with "...I'm just plugging along..." (with the cutest heavy southern accent that no one in my family would ever be able to imitate!) If she ever talked to Craig and I was not able to be on the phone she would tell Craig "...send my love to Emily..." (again, with a wonderful heavy southern accent). She was so concerned about making everyone happy, comfortable, and knowing they were loved. The best was bending down to give her a big hug when we arrived. She truly was little lady full of love (she was just under five feet tall!) We love you Grandmother!

Kay did great on the three hour drive and during all the services. She slept at all the appropriate times. By late afternoon/evening each day she was wound up and incredibly fussy. We were just thankful that she behaved when she needed to. It is amazing how much joy a little baby can bring a retirement home. During the visitation for Grandmother all the grandmothers/great-grandmothers/grandfathers all wanted to peak in at the baby (I was wearing her in a sling). They all had love and well-wishes for Kay!

Kay's first road trip...

Kay took her first road trip to Spruce Pine over labor day weekend. Every year we rent out the "bunk house" and visit with family friends. On Saturday the guys went fishing while the ladies walked around downtown Spruce Pine. Overall it was a very relaxing weekend.



Kay did a great job the entire weekend. Because Kay is still not on any kind of organized sleep schedule it makes traveling easy. We however, are very tired. Craig and I joke that the beds there are so terrible we would be more comfortable pitching a tent. To give you an idea of what the "bunk house" is like... think of camp. There is a big building with an industrial kitchen. There are 16 rooms or "closets" that are only large enough for a bunk bed. One end of the hallway has a men's bathroom and the other a women's. You have to remember your room number or you might walk into someone else's room because they are all the same.

On the way home we decided to stop by and see Craig's grandmother. This was the first weekend we felt comfortable traveling with Kay and we wanted to make sure she got to meet her. Kay slept the entire time in the car despite the extra hours we added going to see Grandmother. Kay did not sleep much last night. I think it might have been the fact that she slept ALL day in the car on Monday.



I will post more pictures of the weekend when I get them from others on the trip...

Happy Kay is back...

Well, a week later after her shots and Kay is finally starting to act herself again. All last week and the early part of this week she was super fussy. She did not want to be put down and cried as if she was still hurting. I read on some of the vaccines and one said rarely the symptoms can last up to 7 days (usually after the later doses). I guess we were lucky enough to have the side effects on the first dosage. I just hope it doesn't get worse with more doses.

Kay had her first trip to Goodberry's. She went with her friend James who will be arriving in November. The man behind the counter asked if it was the first trip to Goodberry's. I told him it was her first "official" trip because she sampled it a lot while she was inside me :) Craig then promptly told the story about how he was such a nice husband and stood in the freezing cold weather late at night in January to get us Goodberry's to "share" which I promptly ate all of! Such a nice dad to take care of his laddies...



Kay has officially moved out of the bedroom! Although, I must admit, she did not make it far. She spent some time in the hallway right outside of our bedroom door and has now made it to the living room. I have been putting her some in her crib for naps. I am having a hard time wanting to move her to her nursery because it will mean walking up stairs when she wakes. It just does not sound fun to do that every two hours in the middle of the night. Maybe when she spreads out her feeds I will have more motivation. She still fits in her bassinet. She is starting to hit the sides when she spreads out her arms so that will probably be retired to the attic soon. I took this picture of Kay when she was napping the other day. I am not sure how that can be comfortable...

A special day...

One of my good friends came over the other day and took pictures of Kay and I. Hannah has an amazing talent at photography. She just finished photography school and is now starting to do photos for people on the side. There were so many good ones I had a hard time choosing...

Kay at two months old...



Tiny fingers and toes...



Super fan!



Time with mom...

2 month Dr. apt...

Poor Kay... Yesterday was Kay's two month doctor appointment. She had to get the standard immunizations plus Hep B and a blood draw. She screamed during the shots, but seemed to recover quickly. I thought everything was 'OK' until we got home and she woke up. I was unable to get her to eat or sleep, her left leg was swollen, and she screamed in pain for the next 5 hours. My dad came over so he could hold her in one room and I could call the nurse in the other so she could hear me. I finally decided something was not right and took her back to the doctor. The doctor confirmed she was having some kind of reaction to the shot. Her recommendation was to split up the shots next time (one of the shots had 3 immunizations in one). This means she will get three additional pricks next time :( The doctor gave us the instructions of keeping a very close eye on her leg. If there was ANY more signs of redness, swelling, fever, or did not start eating to call them immediately. After about 8 hours we finally got her to calm down, eat, and get some rest. Poor little thing. I hope the next round go smoother...

On a happier note... Kay is now 5% in weight (8 lbs 11 oz), 20% in height (21.5 inches), and 8% in head circumference. Craig and I feel like she is HUGE now compared to when we brought her home. We are reminded at how much growing she still has to do when we think about how 3 of her 4 cousins on Craig's side were all born larger than she is now. The doctor gave her a well check-up and told us to keep having her eat, sleep, and grow! Is anyone surprised that she had the biggest growth in height??

Kay also learned a new trick. Craig says I am not allowed to say "learned" because it was clearly an accident. So... Kay "accidentally" accomplished a new trick. My friend Anna and I were watching Kay and she was on her tummy clearly struggling with some gas. All of a sudden she rolled over! I think we were as surprised as she was. She clearly did not know what just happened, but was happy with the outcome! I am sure it will be awhile before she "learns" to roll over :)

Two months old...

Kay is two months old today! We are amazed everyday at how far she has come from her days in the hospital. We are proud of our little girl and how strong she is. She has outgrown all preemie outfits. She can still wear the newborn outfits, but I imagine those will be outgrown soon too.

My friend who went to photography school is coming over tomorrow. Hopefully after her visit I will have some much better "two month" pictures of Kay.




Kay is wearing a dress I wore as a baby. Grandma made her the "Kay" bloomers.

A quiet week...

We have had a pretty quiet week. Kay has slept for a couple 3 hour stretches at night. This makes a big difference on how tired I am! She still wants to eat every two hours during the day, meaning I get very little done around the house! I even woke up one night during her longer stretches in a panic because I had not heard her. I imagine it will be awhile until she goes longer than a couple hours without food since she is just now the size of a newborn and still has a lot of growing to do. Kay is really starting to take interest in her toys. She really likes looking at herself in the mirror. I have even caught her sticking her tongue out at herself in it- very cute!

Craig's parents (Nana and Pops) gave us a jogging stroller for Kay. We have taken it for several spins around the neighborhood. It is a great stroller and we are enjoying being able to take her out!

Kay went out to lunch with Grandma and mom this week. We went to a restaurant that we knew would not be very busy and didn't go during "prime lunch hour". She did great and slept the entire time. It was such a treat to be out of the house and at a restaurant!

Because we are a little "home bound" these days we have been trying to have friends over to keep up with everyone. Last weekend was the first time we went over our friend's house. The ladies ran some errands while the guys watched Kay. As you can see, Kay had her own personal concert while she napped.



Craig and I used to have "date nights" at home instead of going out. We both really enjoy cooking together. We attempted our first "date night" last weekend. We had big plans of cooking a nice meal at the same time (we have not been able to do much at the same time - I wonder why??). Kay decided she didn't want to miss out on the fun so I ended up wearing her while I chopped veggies for the dinner. I think it will be awhile before we can truely cook a meal "together" again- at least we all had fun as a family!