day by day

it's amazing to me how much kai will be changing in the next few months! each day she gets better at sitting and closer to crawling! i'm actually excited about her 6 month birthday because we get to start solids for real and i think it'll be fun (although i hear the diapers are not so much!) we've had a busy week/weekend... we attended a pool party (check out carolyn's corner for pics) and a water slide party right afterwards for my nephew's 5th birthday... kai did extremely well until the very end (which is unfortunately when i busted out the camera)we still haven't thought of a name for kai to call my mom and dad... we might have to wait until kai starts talking to see what comes out... i do like papa G for my dad though...



sunday was a pretty low-key day, although we ventured to costco (not recommened on a sunday!) while we were waiting in line to check out, i put kai in the seat of the shopping cart to see how she would do... she loved her new vantage point!



here's our pro-sitter (she still weebles a little bit, but she's pretty much got it down and she's only knocked her head on the way down a couple times - so hard for me, but i guess that's why we have skulls!)




today my cousin and her girls came over - the girls hadn't seen kai (except when she was 2 weeks old) so it was fun...





and this evening we took my grandmother peach ice cream for her birthday ... but i left the camera at home, so we're going to have to go back and visit again..
we probably wouldn't have gotten a great picture any way because kai was super fussy... it was a long night for us!

that's all for now, folks... shawn is having a pretty invasive test done on monday so say a prayer for him... we still don't know exactly what's going on with him... thankfully he's got GREAT insurance with his current job... we've joked about having another baby right away because it's so much better than my insurance was through the school district.... but the key word is joked... :)

five months!

Today is Kai's five month birthday... we celebrated by going shopping with the girls at Northpark... she totally had a good time... especially in spite of the last couple of days... we've been having major moodiness for the past few days marked with eating every hour or so in the evenings... i think she was going through a growth spurt and making me up the milk production... because today was MUCH better and i think she drank more in one sitting than she has in a couple of months! so, hopefully the crankiness is over for now.... it was really, really beginning to wear on me... physically and psychologically!

In other news, Kai has almost mastered sitting up by herself... check out this video:


why are you sitting on my rug mr. octopus?



she also ate some rice cereal with mama's milk a few days ago (trying to help with the insatiable appetite!) she did really well and seemed to like it in spite of the face below:


she wanted to feed herself i think!


let's see... what else, we've been swimming a few times in our new pool - the one that sent shawn to the ER... i'll try to get some pictures later this week... thankfully she's a total water baby! i don't know what i'd do if i had a child that didn't like the water!

as far as shawn goes... we got word back that his vitamin levels are ok... so i guess that means they've ruled out a vitamin deficiency as the cause of the anemia... so that just means more tests.... he's feeling fine and spent all day yesterday cleaning up the backyard (it looks great by the way... we're ready for a bbq now) we'll keep everyone posted!

update on shawn

well, we went back to the doctor today... all of his abnormal counts were back to normal... but he's anemic... so she's doing more tests to pinpoint the cause... hopefully it's nothing serious! say a prayer if you think about it!

in the meantime, enjoy some adorable pics:

first "big girl" bath - she loved it!


our cute little family

new baby

shawn's that is...


yes, shawn has a new object of his affection, a 4x4 toyota 4runner... he took the top off and we went for a ride to my parent's for my brother's birthday


don't worry, there are no front airbags so it was "safe" - well at least as safe as it was in the 80's

we went down to shawn's dad's house for the 4th and kai went swimming


then we put her in an innertube, just her size... she crossed her feet at her ankles and is almost ready for a trip down the guadalupe!


after some swimming she hung out with peepaw and bentley II on the swing


i'm so bad about taking pictures of the little one!

in other news, we had to take shawn to the ER last night... we were clearing a spot for a pool in our backyard and he kept getting really tired... we thought it was just the heat... he got nauseous and threw up everything in his stomach and laid down... he got up with severe "flank" pain - the area in between your ribs and pelvis... it finally got so bad he was dry heaving, so we rushed to the hospital... they did a ct scan and chest x-ray and did blood work... they thought for sure it was a kidney stone, but ruled that out after the scan... his blood work came back a little abnormal, so we went to the regular doctor today to get it done again.. if it comes back abnormal again, he'll need to go see a kidney doctor most likely... say a prayer, it's a bit disconcerting not knowing what's going on! we'll keep everyone posted!

that's all for now.. kai will be 5 months old next week... more to come soon!

it's an anniversary!

well, our wedding anniversary was yesterday - i can't believe it's been a year already! we celebrated by taking our first date without the baby saturday night... i had a margarita (yum!) and got my nose pierced for the 5th time! i've always had to take it out for work and since i won't have that problem come august, i've done it for hopefully the last time! we didn't get any pictures, we're slackers... but it was fun to be out without kai, it kinda even felt like we were dating again!

then yesterday i took kai to her 4 month exam (details coming soon)... and then picked up shawn from work (we're sharing the CR-V since we sold the Matrix) and we went to pappadeaux (shawn loved it, me, well, i'm not crazy about seafood, but the greek salad was great!)... we came home and looked at the top tier of our wedding cake,


took one whiff and decided that we didn't want diarrhea and put it in the garbage where it belonged... after shawn posed with the gooey mess


oh yeah and shawn sent flowers which upon delivery woke me up from a glorious nap, but it was worth it! i just went back to sleep after admiring them for a bit...


i also got my rings resized so i could wear them again (depressing and exciting at the same time)


it's been a pretty eventful year for us... new house, marriage and a baby all rolled into one! it's going to be hard to top it... but i'm sure we'll manage.

so... what you've all been waiting for... Kai stats:

weight: 15 lbs 14 oz - 90th percentile
height: 25 1/2 inches - 90th percentile
head: again not sure - 50th percentile

dr. says she's still a big baby... not sure where she gets it from... but i'm glad she's healthy and keeps growing... here's a run down of her sizes (they're all wonky)

shirt/top: 3-6 or 6-9 but some 12 month items fit
bottoms: without cloth diaper 6 months, with 9-12 months
feet: 0-3 months! i don't think they've grown since she was born! they're TINY!

what else... well dr. said don't start her on solids till 6 months, so i'm going to wait on that... she's doing well on breastmilk alone... while we were there i put kai on her belly and the dr. said she's already trying to crawl... won't be long! the only thing she mentioned for me to do was massage her back because she's still got quite the hairy butt crack - the doctor thinks massage will help it fall out... but i think it's kinda cute! she's recently rediscovered her feet (i'll try to get a picture for next time)... and has succeeded in putting her foot in her mouth at least once... she tries to put EVERYTHING in her mouth, even lucy's ears if they get close enough... oh well, they say dogs help build a baby's immunity!

go ahead and say it, cutest baby ever!


more pics of the little darlin' next time, promise!

Four Months Old... But Who's Counting?

Well, not much to say... we've added some decorations to the nursery... lots of monkeys because we like to call Kai our little monkey because she was born with lots of excess body hair (don't worry, most of it's gone now!)

As far as developmental milestones, she's rolled from her tummy to back on her own a handful of times... and can go the other way with just a bit of help... I've thought about introducing rice cereal, but i'm going to wait until our pediatrician visit next week... kai likes to watch us eat or at least the food that we're eating... i don't think she's made the connection between food and mouth just yet. She's laughing a ton and smiles lots, of course by the time we whip the camera out, she's done or becomes so fascinated with the camera that the smile is replaced by the open, drooly mouth of curiosity.

On other fronts, Shawn has finished working on the back bathroom and we sold the Matrix! So things are going well!

Kai's name in Anthropologiesque letters resting on her dresser:


Some of the awesome "Animalz" we got on clearance at Target:


Jumanji anyone?


They keep a watchful eye on us at night!


Beautiful (drooly) Baby:


See Shawn, there are benefits to me staying home - "gourmet" meals!


Stunning eyes eh?


Angry face in spite of Mr. Octopus - cutest thing ever!

somehow kai went from being a newborn to being nearly 4 months old! we have lots of updates because i was crazy busy wrapping up my 7th school year of teaching. on that note, i turned in my resignation and as shawn's grandmother says, am taking a sabbatical! that's right, we're going to wing it on one income so i can stay at home with precious kai!

so updates... well for memorial day we took our first family vacation to the stunning island of galveston (no sarcasm here folks).... we stayed at the hotel galvez which was very nice and spent alot of time walking around... we did spend one afternoon at the beach which was a bit more complicated with a baby, but decent... the family behind us lost their son and when the beach patrol guy found him, he dropped him off right in front of shawn's sand sea dragon... needless to say the excited family didn't really pay attention to what they were stepping on and crushed the dragon's hind tail...

since then we've been busy with shawn's side of the family - aunt deanne was in town and cousin judge graduated from booker t.... deanne cashed in a $12.50 savings bond from her grandmother and bought the family a chinese dinner friday night while we celebrated cousin brian's birthday and just spent time together at a family friend's gorgeous home on Swiss Ave... i wish i could say that Kai was the perfect house guest, but she was super cranky and screamed/cried much of the night... the only thing that seemed to console her was nursing or mama's arms... not sure what the deal is...

so about kai... i weighed her with me and we figured 16 pounds! we'll have a more accurate number in a few weeks when we take her for her 4 month check up (which happens to be on july 1st - shawn and mine's wedding anniversary!) she's been drooling A TON and is cranky so do we think teeth in the near future? who knows?

oh and even though i swore we wouldn't buy one, we bought an exersaucer thingy and kai loves it! see below!

enjoy some pics!

silly face on the car ride down to galveston


mr. catepillar was a life saver in the car


born to be a beach princess


shawn's handiwork before it got trampled by the reunited family


hanging out with aunt deanne


her favorite ADHD maker

3 months old!

her favorite show!


classic cars and bluebell ice cream at first irving:


self portrait time while daddy babysits:


kai and pepaw on mother's day:


you lookin' at me?


can you believe my mommy put a bow on me??



get off my mat!!!



i guess you can stay - but if that arms goes up in my face one more time...


i think i'll just chill after all



that's some good milk



i will say this - the past three months have gone by SO much faster than the three before Kai was born... something about that last trimester...

my first mother's day was swell... shawn put some photos in frames for me and gave me some little thoughtful things and spent the afternoon with me instead of working on the house... we also hung out with our families.

we're headed to galveston tomorrow for our first family trip! i'm so excited... check back next week for some photos (and hopefully some fun stories)

oh yeah, we took kai to her first concert, but the pictures are on the other computer... i'll post those next week too... it was awesome!

Many people have asked what the baby's middle name is, or maybe given us a strange look when they hear what it is. It is not a common name but it is a living memorial to Shawn's mother, Candy, who passed away when Shawn was 7. His aunt Deanne wrote this poem about her after her death, and his Grandma shared it with us a few weeks ago. Some of you undoubtedly know the story of Shawn's mother, and I still learn new details daily. I love visiting with Shawn's grandmother because she tells us stories about Candy. The poem below talks about her life after a major accident in which she was run over by a car. She survived and as you will read recovered beyond any doctor's prognosis. As my first mother's day approaches, I find myself thinking about how our life would be different if Candy was still with us, if I had ever met her. I wanted to post this as a tribute to Kairi's paternal grandmother, and namesake, who is only able to be with us in spirit.

CANDY


They said she would never be able to walk again...
but she did.
They said she would never be able to hold down a job or live on her own…
but she did.
They even said this 27-year old should be put in a nursing home…
but she did not go.

This young woman of conquest was not overly athletic,
overly ambitious, or
overly educated.
She might even appear to be quite average,
but she was not.
She had atremendous will to live,
to thrive,
to be made whole again.
Her spirit is an inspiration to me daily.

I saw her just 12 hours after the accident.
Was this the same girl I had known my entire life?
I wasn’t even sure at first.
It was not the body I had known.
This one was hopelessly damaged.
It hurt to look at her.
My honest hope was that the good Lord
would take her quickly
and not let her suffer...
not let me suffer.

She had a different hope, however, and she did live.
She came out of the coma
and was with us once more.
Her will to live was so strong and sure
…a miracle to me…
pure determination to her.

The machines that pushed air into her lungs were at last unplugged.
The tubes that fed her were disconnected sometime later.
She was truly on her own.

Her legs,
useless for so long,
were urged on by her deeply committed will not only to live,
but to thrive.
Month after month of painful therapy and her perseverance made
that pair of misshapen legs move once again.

She left the hospital after nine long months.
She found a place to live that met her special needs.

A large department store even allowed her to work with the public.
She would greet her customers
with the throaty rasp of one with a tracheotomy,
and would walk in her own special way
towards the cash register to ring up their purchases.

She had made it!
She had accomplished her goal!
She was thriving.

Without warning, the Lord took her away.
He took her away from me
and you who never had a chance to know this person with so much life.

Her enthusiasm was infectious.
Her love of life well documented.
I am so proud to call this
woman of determination my sister.

nearly 10 weeks

here are her stats from our 2 month exam:

height: 22 3/4 inches - 75th percentile

weight: 12 lbs 8 oz - 97th percentile

head: not sure, but 50th percentile (must not take after her big-headed mama!)

other highlights of parenthood to infant kai:
-increased interest in things that make noise (fishtank, tummytime mat, people)
-lots of smiling - she's a pretty happy baby which is a total blessing!
-occasional laughter - doc says most babies don't start till 4 months, so we feel pretty proud (she assured me breast is best!)
-sitting up - she's gone from laying in my lap to practically sitting up a couple of times - talk about strong abs!

here are some adorable pics of her in her bumbo seat (on loan from the schweers - thanks so much!) check out those cheeks!

totally two months

we've had a busy couple of weeks!

we visited with my side of the family the weekend before last for my nephew's birthday - kai hung out with her cousin ryan for a while:



then mid-week we visited with shawn's grandmother:



this last weekend kai got to hang out with her cousin aj:



and tonight, in honor of earth day - i tried to catch her smiling - but it didn't work out and the flash is so bright you can't really read her onesie - but it says "lil tree hugger"



we have our 2 month check up tomorrow - and the first batch of cloth diapers should be arriving any day! i returned to work (not too happy about that one) last thursday and shawn's been working so hard on tiling the kitchen and hallway and back bathroom... it's nearly finished, we'll post pictures when it's done! hope everyone's well... leave us a comment or drop us a line anytime!