Visitors from New Orleans...

Great Aunt Rose and Great Uncle Ferdinand

Kaitlyn and I, Ferdinand Jr. and Kim

Errol with his mother and father.

Kim with Sarah and of course Cosimo!

Candid Family

This past Sunday our home was graced with a few visitors from New Orleans...Sarah's brother (my Mother-in-Law), Ferdinand, his wife Rose, their two sons, Ferdinand Jr. and Errol, and Errol's girlfriend, Kim. During their visit, Ferdinand Jr. took this snap shot of our crew. Cosimo was on such good behavior! These relatives are Kaitlyn's Great Uncle/Great Aunt and cousins! While I did not get a great deal of time to visit with them, the few interactions with each of them will be cherished as we don't get to cross paths with this part of the family often enough. In fact the last time Steve saw any of them was when he was in high school...now, let me think, how long ago was that? If I recall, he has his 20 year reunion coming up...you do the math!

Staging

There's not much more this little one should need beyond milk and TV. I have such fun staging her with props, even if the photos don't turn out, the process of placing her inbetween silly items to create a statement generates enough afternoon glee for me!

Just today I was given the best compliment. Kaitlyn was passed out in her sling while shopping at Michaels--a customer came up to us and said, 'Your little girl looks like those babies that are placed in those flower pots' (referring to Anne Geddes work). My heart skipped and my face lit up with joy. That is my girl--she is quite adorable and people notice that I think, at times, they will trip over their own feet due to their ahhhing and oooohhing over her! It's comical.

Today Kaitlyn is 10 weeks old and ready to bypass crawling and aim straight for walking! She's grown so much that her muscles are working favorably and she finds herself more interested in sitting up than lying down. Place her on her tummy and she takes off, kicking and grunting, trying so hard to move...and move she does. She has already flipped herself over her boppy pillow twice (once which landed her face down and legs kicking freely in the air followed by intense screaming--I was just as shocked as her).

Her latest and greatest discovery is her fist. Yes folks, the fist must be covered in chocolate or some sugary syrup as this little girl has an appetite for fingers, knuckles and the whole fist. She can't get enough. While I've tried distracting her with pacifiers and toys, nothing is as good as her fist. This causes a great deal of drool as you can imagine resulting in officially starting the bib wearing days!

Her curls are delightful and continue to grow framing her face and her eyes...well, you've already seen those eyes. Can they get any bigger? Probably! We've discovered sleeping longer is something I really enjoy. She's now managing a consistent four hour interval sleep time sometimes venturing into five hours. A new developing trend, Kaitlyn driven, is to begin a slumber around the 9pm hour. This was unheard of just a week ago. She must be discovering the importance of beauty rest...

MAC Madness

Could this really be happening?
Kaitlyn is demonstrating some of her fancy finger work on our MAC. I don't think she's satisfied with her project, but daddy is certainly in shock by her brilliance at such a young age!

Time Goes On...

What big eyes you have Kaitlyn!
'The better to see you with Mommy'
Hours can pass by and all I've done productive is stimulate my baby's learning. Some days laundry piles up, dishes get stacked and dinner is beyond late but Kaitlyn continues to laugh, coo and expand her vocabulary. She doesn't know the house she lives in gets messy, needs mopping and dusting. Nope, she's just happy as a clam perched upon her boppy pillow looking right back at me. Actually she's probably laughing back at me for if any hidden camera showed up in this house I'm sure we would win some money with the footage. I am determined to not become one of those frumpy moms but some days it can take me a while to transform my slumber attire into a presentable daytime appeal. It is when I'm still in that slumber attire and my hair is disheveled, spit up is on my shirt and most likely I'm not matching, that the video footage of me cooing back at my baby girl would be the most marketable! It's priceless really. Today I say 'who cares'. This little girl is so incredibly darling and adorable she makes me look good despite the hour of the day or condition of the house.
I will get better at it all. I hear that when you have your second child you'll be doing dishes with one hand while nursing your baby and carrying your toddler on your back. Yeah... We'll see.

Nana Bliss

Does life get any better for this woman? Nana, my Mother-in-Law, was enjoying a little slice of Heaven yesterday as she had not only these two lovely new grandbabies in her arms, but all five of her grandchildren were around! Natalia, the other baby next to Kaitlyn, is the daughter of Steve's twin, Stan and his wife, Sandra. Natalia was baptized yesterday so festivities were high and Nana was in complete bliss.
Kaitlyn enjoyed her first visit with her cousin Natalia. Natalia was born on February 16th, so the age difference is just a few months. These two I think will be causing the dads some trouble in no time. They are just darling! Kaitlyn found Natalia's toys to be amusing and quite comfortable. The other grandchildren, too, were in bliss as they each were able to get some carrying time with dear Kaitlyn. Talia is the oldest followed by Maya and then Myles. The three of them are Darren's children, Steve's oldest brother. They were out for the weekend from Denver--a wonderful trip for them and for us!

Burning Truth

I'm being honest. I almost burnt our home down yesterday. Here is the recipe for flames:

1. Boil pot of water with four bottle nipples and one pacifier.
2. Make sure it's a small pot of water, afterall you aren't boiling too many items.
3. Get distracted.
4. Get on the phone with a girlfriend.
5. Start nursing your baby.
6. 45 minutes remember what you are doing and tend to the flames, smoke, soot, ... chaos.

This was yesterday. Eventful? Yes. Will I ever do it again? No.