Forward Motion Is Harder Than It Sounds...

For those of you who are familiar with that Relient K song, you’re welcome for getting it stuck in your head…

Well, it’s about time for an update post on Khloe. This soon-to-be 7-month-old girl (this Friday) is growing and growing up like crazy! She likes to spend a lot of time on her tummy, and if I put her down on her back she usually rolls herself over onto her tummy (like a pro). She wants to crawl SO badly, and just within the last day or so she has been successfully turning herself in circles and even creeping backwards a bit (which comes just before that forward motion!). I noticed last night that she was even getting her knees up under her a little bit, which is also a huge step towards crawling. Look out!

Based on the speed with which she rapidly flails her hands and knees, I’m guessing we’re going to have a real mover on our hands. And based on her affinity for grabbing and getting into everything in sight when she’s on my lap, I’m also guessing we’re going to have a real trouble-maker on our hands. She’ll be getting into everything! Hello, baby-proofing. And hello, the beginnings of discipline, as we teach her not to touch certain things because Mommy and Daddy said so.

She is “talking” more and more with lots of “ahhh’s” and other various sounds, including some very loud shrieks (she has discovered the ability to use those vocal cords!) and her usual delightful giggles. She is definitely one outgoing little girl, and I can see so much of her daddy’s personality in her. Such a little social butterfly! She continues to be completely aware of every little thing going on in the room, and she definitely keeps tabs on everyone she sees.

She’s sitting up these days without any assistance whatsoever, although every now and then she’ll have a rare tip-over. One of those times was at our small group Bible Study a couple of weeks ago, when she tipped over onto the hardwood floor she was sitting on. Ouch! I think it scared her more than anything…and I believe it was more painful for Mommy to see than for Khloe to experience. So we’ll often stick her in the boppy pillow just in case she starts to tip, but usually it’s due to her desire to fling herself back, as opposed to imbalance or wobbliness.

She is eating up a storm, back to 3 meals a day. In addition to nursing, her main diet includes oatmeal (homemade as well as some iron-fortified boxed organic), sweet potatoes, squash, pears, and prunes. This Friday when she turns 7 months we will get to start introducing a bunch of yummy new foods, so stay tuned!

I also started giving her some Cheerios today for some finger food practice. I’m sure it will be a while before she actually gets one in her mouth, but boy–was she fascinated by them! I put a few on her highchair tray, and she immediately did her Khloe-focused-stare and started attacking them with her fingers. It’ll be fun to watch her learn to develop the thumb/finger pincer fine motor skill, as well as learn to bring the little piece of food to her mouth.

We’ve started some baby sign language with her in the past week or so, which is a new adventure as well. It’s definitely frustrating right now when we feel like it’s almost pointless to do the signs for “more” and “all done” and “water” during mealtimes. But she will slowly begin to make associations, and it will be worth it in the long run.

She is LOVING books and being read to, which thrills Mommy greatly! We read out of one of her Story Book Bibles each day, and she also has an animal board book she likes to play with herself. The teacher nerd in me is SO excited about this early beginning literacy!

Bath time is getting to be more fun, as we have removed the infant sling so that she can sit up like a big girl in her tub! She loves to kick those legs in the water (of course) and enjoys the resulting splashes. And no matter what kind of mood she is in, she is always guaranteed to grin and kick when she sees herself in the bathroom mirror!

As for the other two Kayes (Mommy and Daddy), we are definitely keeping busy. Much of my busyness can be attributed to everything you just read–Khloe takes a lot of time, energy, and attention! I’m also watching Noah 3 days a week…but that is actually soon to change in another week when I will start watching him full time (40 plus hours a week). His mom has decided to go back to work 40 hours instead of part time, and I agreed to try watching him full time. If it gets to be too much I might cut back to 4 days or whatever I feel is doable. We’ll see. It’s certainly the Lord’s provision, but it is a tiny bit overwhelming to think about!

I have also started tutoring again, which is yet another provision of the Lord! I am tutoring a 5th grade girl in math 2 days a week, and she only lives about 5 minutes away from our apartment (score). I’m also tutoring the girl I was tutoring this summer in Spanish and Algebra again…even though she is back in Texas for the school year. We are utilizing the wonders of technology, and I am tutoring her via video Skype two days a week! Very cool.

Not to mention cooking, cleaning, meal planning, laundry….yes, life is VERY busy.

As for Kory, he left on Monday morning for another Grand Opening…this time only an hour away (phew!). He will be coming home on weekends, so it’s definitely a more doable time apart (although hard). He is one of the 3 supervisors for this GO, and he is completely in charge of training. He is actually the only trainer working this week, and he is meeting with employees to train them a bit before the store opens next Thursday. Other Chick-fil-A staff that he is interacting with this week have been quite surprised that this is only his first time as a supervisor. They thought he had been doing this for a long time! What a compliment. I’m so proud of him.

He has also been getting more requests from other Chick-fil-A GO’s coming up who want HIM to help open their store! Word is getting around how amazing and wonderful he is at his job (I know, I’m bragging on him a bit), which is really great for his CFA career and goal of getting his own store. So he will now be going straight from this current GO to another one in Virginia for 10 days, where he will be an Assistant Supervisor. He was also actually just contacted by CFA Corporate to be part of the first-ever GOS (Grand Opening Supervisor) Certification class that is being put together down there in December, and he will be one of 20 people to be GOS certified! Have I mentioned how seriously stinkin’ proud I am of my husband??

This will all serve to expedite the process of getting him his own store, Lord-willing, and all this traveling/time-apart stuff is just a season. The more he does, the more quickly it should be over (theoretically). We’ll see what God has!

Well, I will wrap up this marathon post for the sake of continued productivity on my day off today. The laundry is going, the baby is sleeping, and I have much baby food to make and freeze, not to mention dinner to make and errands to run. Phew. Life goes on!

Teething?

We are back from yet another adventure as a family. This weekend we spent in western PA at my parents’ house, and we also attended GCC Homecoming on Saturday. My grandparents were up from Florida to meet Khloe for the first time, as well, so it was definitely a packed weekend of fun and visiting.

Homecoming was exhausting and wonderful, as expected. Kory played in an alumni football game with his fraternity brothers in the morning, and the rest of the day we enjoyed the parade and football game, caught up and ate Chinese with Victor Lee (who still wants Kory to quit Chick-fil-A and work for him, ha), and saw many old friends who got to meet Khloe for the first time. We also went to Warriors, and I got to spend some time praying with the new members of the worship team before and after, which was really neat. Khloe did really well all day and even took a couple of naps in her stroller and on Mommy. She was definitely fading by the end of the day when we enjoyed a delightful dinner with my college roommate Rachael and her husband Andy, but she still made it until 9:30 to fall asleep when we got her back to my parents’ house. What a trooper. We wished we could have spent hours with each person we only got a few minutes with (if that), but we were thankful for all the fellowship and catching up we were able to do.

The rest of the weekend we spent at my parents’ house, and Khloe again got spoiled with lots of attention and lovin’! It was really neat for my grandparents to get to meet her, and everyone took turns holding and snuggling her when she wasn’t playing around on the floor.

Over the weekend we noticed an increase in drool and the fact that she was constantly sticking her hands and/or toys in her mouth. She was also a bit more fussy than usual and had a bit of digestive issues. This has continued since we’ve gotten back, and I’m definitely thinking she could be teething. Only time will tell. No sign of a tooth poking through yet, but we will keep you posted!

One other exciting bit of news…I successfully sold my Nikon D5000 (camera) on Ebay and then promptly won the bid on a Nikon D90! It should arrive within about a week. I cannot wait! I’ll actually be able to utilize Autofocus and not have to manually focus each shot any more, thus allowing me to develop my photography skills much more. I have felt so paralyzed by this handicap of not having autofocus, and I can’t wait to really let loose and have fun with this new camera. Yay!

Khloe's Tree

First of all…let me just take a moment to rejoice in the fact that…my husband is home, my husband is HOME, MY HUSBAND IS HOME!!! I was expecting him to get in after midnight Sunday night due to a flight mixup (mostly my fault) that resulted in his flight being into Pittsburgh instead of Philly. Thus he was going to have to drive a rental car back from Pittsburgh to get home to Reading. When he got to the airport in Phoenix to check in he asked about switching his flight to Philly, but they said it would be about $150 to do so. He continued to pray that something would work out (he had been doing so all day), and when he got to his gate….lo and behold, the flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to switch flights!! So Kory stepped up and said that he would be “willing” to switch (an understatement!) and gladly accepted the $350 voucher they presented him with for the “inconvenience.” My, how the tables can turn.

So Khloe and I drove and picked him up at the Philly airport at around 8pm Sunday evening, and it was inexplicably glorious just to feel his hand in mine again and to be back in the passenger seat of our Honda Pilot with our daughter asleep in the back. Everything back to the way it should be.

We are getting back into the normal swing of things now and getting ready for another short adventure to western PA this weekend for GCC’s Homecoming and to visit my parents. My grandparents will also be in from Florida for the weekend to meet Khloe for the first time, so that will be an exciting great-grandparent moment!

To close this entry I must comment on the delight that is “Khloe’s tree.” There is a large tree outside of her nursery window that is visible to Khloe just over my shoulder when I’m holding her in the rocking chair. Every morning after I have finished nursing her (after both of us have just awakened), that tree and its dancing leaves and the flickers of sunlight through it catch her eye over my shoulder, and she just “stands” on my lap staring at it wide-eyed in amazement. Then the excitement kicks in, and she starts jumping up and down, grinning wildly, and giggling like crazy. It is absolutely the most precious thing! And so each morning, no matter what kind of night we have had, no matter how much sleep we did or did not get, my heart is warmed and I melt in gratitude for this precious baby girl and these delightful moments the Lord blesses us with.

Aaaand We're Back!

Hello, dear ones. I’m here to apologize for our absence from the blog-o-sphere for the last few weeks and to share what’s been going on in the life of the Kaye family lately!

Kory has been gone since the beginning of September on his Chick-fil-A business trip. He spent the first week in St Louis, MO, helping to train new employees and help out with the Grand Opening there. Then he went straight to Arizona where he has been for the last 3 weeks working, training, helping, etc. with the new store out there. Life has been busy, crazy, and difficult without him here. Not only do I miss him — a LOT — but I am also trying to juggle ALL of the household responsibilities, chores, errands, and care for Khloe all by myself. It has actually made the days go by rather quickly with how busy I am! And I’m so worn out at the end of each day that after I put Khloe to bed, I pretty much head straight to bed myself. Sundays have probably been the most difficult, since it’s a day Kory is usually always home, and I am not busy working to distract myself from how much I miss him on that day. But the Lord has been gracious in strengthening me and sending people to encourage and spend time with me while he’s been gone. I’m very thankful!

And THEN…last Wednesday Khloe and I left for a 5-day trip to visit Kory’s family in Arizona and to see Kory himself! It was Khloe’s first trip on an airplane, and she did AMAZINGLY well. I know it’s because of all of our friends and family who were praying for that trip. She was so content sitting on my lap, and she even dozed off for a couple of cat naps. What a champ! It was a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa Kaye and the uncles and aunt out there. Khloe sure did get spoiled with lots of attention and lovin’! She also had an exciting milestone while we were out there — rolling from back to front! (She has been rolling front to back for a while, and she has been SO close to going the other way…she finally did it!).

We got to see Kory quite a bit when he wasn’t working, which was typically mornings and evenings. It was SO good to see him!! We drank up every moment. He also didn’t have to work on Sunday (of course – love Chick-fil-A!), so we got to spend the whole day with him then. I got to meet everyone at his church that I’ve heard so much about and had received so many notes and gifts from over the course of the past year. How wonderful to finally put faces with names!

So the trip was great and exhausting and too quick and so many things. We are glad to be home, but we miss our family out there already. I am SO thankful for that trip to break up the long 4 weeks Kory is gone. Now that we’re back, we only have one more week until Kory is home…and really, that week is already halfway over! I’ve been busy catching up on errands, chores, etc. that the days have been flying by.

I’m going to end this post here and write another entry tonight to update you on Khloe and her goings on. She just keeps growing up!

Sweet Potatoes: Cook, Purée, Freeze, Repeat.

Phew. I am sitting down and putting my feet up for the first time after a long day of taking care of babies, running errands, cleaning, cooking, laundry, and dishes. Did I already say “phew”? Phew. It’s a good kind of tired that I feel, and I am also glad that it was a busy day. Day 2 of being successfully distracted from the fact that my husband isn’t here. Until bedtime…that part stinks.

On a brighter note, Khloe tried sweet potatoes for the first time today…and LOVED it!! I mean, she isn’t quite “devouring” any of her food yet, but this was the closest I’ve seen. In her dainty way, she nibbles on each bite while gazing out the window and cooing and singing to herself. Haha, she is SO precious! By the end she was actually starting to take hold of the spoon a bit and bring it back into her mouth again and again. And she ate the whole serving I had prepared! YEAH!

On a slightly humbling/embarrassing/frustrating note, in the midst of the craziness of taking care of 2 babies today I accidentally left the ice cube trays that held the 26 servings of sweet potatoes I had cooked, puréed, and frozen last night out on the counter for too long…and they thawed. And since I’m not allowed to re-freeze them due to food safety issues, Brittany had some yummy puréed sweet potatoes for dinner. And the rest went down the drain. Boo. So Khloe and I made yet another trip to Giant (3rd time in 24 hours…don’t ask) to pick up some more sweet potatoes, and I cooked/puréed/froze some more. All with one hand tied behind my back! Well, close. With one hand holding a baby on my hip (thanks to bedtime fussiness–all she wanted was to be held by Mommy). Needless to say it took a bit longer with this handicap, but finally just before 9pm I was putting Khloe to bed after just placing the carefully filled sweet potato cubes in the freezer. And again I say, phew.

One more thing I must share before heading off to bed myself. Khloe is now officially a swaddle graduate!! She is no longer sleeping swaddled even overnight. This transition happened a couple of nights ago when she woke up in the middle of the night with the bottom of her swaddle kicked out and both arms freed, and her little body was flailing about. She’s a strong little girl! Instead of putting the swaddle back on her, I put her in her Halo sleep sack, and she went back to sleep. She’s been sleeping unswaddled ever since.

OH and since she sleeps unswaddled, she has discovered her favorite new sleeping position–curled up on her side. SO adorable! I often click on the video monitor just to watch her sleep, she is so precious.

Signing off on Day 2 of separation from Hubby. Only 14 more until Khloe and I fly out to see him in Arizona. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…

Please pray for my strength (or more accurately, Christ’s strength in me).

Gobble Gobble, Oink Oink

I can’t decide whether I have a turkey or a pig for a daughter…she gobbled her food right up like a pig!

This morning’s feeding was pretty typical. Khloe half-heartedly ate about half of the rice cereal I had prepared, wasn’t that into it. Later this afternoon I realized she was still acting hungry and unsatisfied from nursing, and after reflecting that today is the 5th day of solids and I could add another feeding if I wanted to, I did! And wow, what a champ. It probably helped that I made sure it was a bit warmer than usual (it tasted yummier as a result), AND anytime she started to act disinterested or upset, I started singing her favorite song…Take Me Out to the Ballgame. And it worked! She kept opening her mouth for more until I was scraping the bottom of the bowl. She ate all of it! I had even accidentally made a little more cereal than usual. I was so proud of her! I think we’ll be starting some sweet potatoes on Tuesday….solid foods, full speed ahead!

Kory finished his assignment training the employees of the Kutztown Chick-fil-A on Thursday, and he’s been back in his own Chick-fil-A yesterday and today. But that’s it before he leaves on Monday for his grand adventures elsewhere! He will fly to Missouri on Monday, be there for a week, and then fly straight to Phoenix for 3 weeks. Khloe and I will be joining him (and my in-laws) on Sept 22nd for about 5 days. So Khloe and I just have to make it 2 1/2 weeks before we see him again. That’s all, huh..?

Kory and I had a delightful date yesterday afternoon. Our dear friend Cindy from church agreed to take Khloe for an hour or so while we had some one-on-one husband/wife time. I was so excited, I was giddy as a teenager while I waited for Kory to get home from work. We planned to go to our regular ice cream place (cute, 50′s style, homemade ice cream–yum!) and then swing on the swings at the local park. However, when we got to our ice cream place we realized it didn’t open until 5pm (boo), so we went with plan B and got some frozen treats at the nearby gas station. Yeah, Turkey Hill! We then swang for a bit, but the rusty chains and distant spacing between the swings, not to mention the oppressive heat, drove us back to the Pilot where we hung out in the cool A/C. Not as we planned, but we enjoyed every minute.

Introducing: The Sippy Cup

Well, Khloe has had fantastic nights of sleep the last couple of nights. This has coincided with not one, but two new patterns that we have been implementing. Not the most genius thing I have ever done (didn’t we learn in 7th grade science only to change one variable at a time in an experiment?). But the same day I started Khloe with rice cereal I decided to try not swaddling her for nap time anymore either. So…is she sleeping better at night because her belly is more full (although she hasn’t consumed a HUGE amount of cereal yet…still getting the hang of it)? Or is she sleeping better because she isn’t in as deep of a sleep for a long time during naps? Or both? Or neither?

Either way, she is sleeping great…that’s all that matters to me! She slept for 8 hours straight Tuesday night (9 to 5), then I fed her and she slept until 8am. Similarly, last night she slept for 8 1/2 hours straight (9 to 5:30), I popped her pacifier back in, and she slept until almost 7am. It seems like she’s gearing up for a longer night of sleep (even longer than 8 1/2 hours!), because she used to be WIDE awake when I went in to feed her/get her at 5 or 6 in the morning. But now she’s still sleepy, and I put her back to sleep until 7 or 8. Eventually she will hopefully sleep straight through to 7 or 8…what a glorious day (night) that will be! But for now I am so, SO thankful and content with her 8 – 8 1/2 hour stretches. Thank You, Lord.

She is also continuing to do really well with naps unswaddled. She has done a couple of 1 – 2 hour naps during the day, which is quite impressive. She’s getting used to the feeling of not being tightly wrapped. I’m also becoming more of a stickler of implementing nap time, as opposed to being tossed to and fro by the waves of her fickleness — “I’m tired, I want to sleep….oh wait, just kidding, I want to be awake and play.” For example, just now she was being very fussy and acting really tired, and it was time for a nap. I put her in her crib and watched the monitor, and all of a sudden she was the most content, happy-go-lucky little girl. Ha, I know that trick. So I let her playfully kick her legs and pull at her sleep sack, thinking…if you were that fussy a minute ago, you are just going to have some rest time. And then, sure enough…a few minutes later she was out like a light. Sometimes things just need to be a little more parent-directed, I think.

So today was day 3 of rice cereal. Probably the most successful day yet! Yesterday did not go so well. I attempted to feed her at dinner time last night, and boy…was that a poor decision. Evenings are her more difficult times in terms of temperament and energy level, so it’s not really the best time to try to build a positive association with a new concept of eating. So today we went back to the morning feeding session, and it went a lot better. She’s slowly but surely getting the hang of it! And I’m also giving her a long grace period. A fellow new mother whose daughter is 3 months older than Khloe recently forewarned me that the first week or two of feeding your baby solids does not fulfill the purpose of nourishment. It’s more of a familiarizing and introductory time…so don’t get frustrated if more of it ends up on the bib than in her belly! That will come. I’m thankful for this heads up, and I’m just enjoying watching Khloe explore this new process, funny faces and all.

Today I decided to get her acquainted with another new concept. Enter, the Sippy Cup. We were given one that has a kind of elastic straw that is supposed to help bridge the gap between a bottle (or Mommy) and an actual sippy cup. Khloe actually got the hang of holding the handles and bringing it to her mouth, which I was very impressed by. She even started sucking on the straw! I’m not sure that she actually got much of the water inside, so I went ahead and just spoon fed her a bit of water. I had read that starting solids is a good time to start giving your baby some water, even just a teaspoon or tablespoon, to help the kidneys and other parts of the digestive system.

Well, Kory will be home soon, and I’m looking forward to enjoying the rest of the evening with him. By the way, I’m realizing how easy it is to overlook usual annoyances or pet peeves when I’m so thankful that he’s just around (Clothes on the floor? I’ll happily put them away and whistle while I do it…it means he’s here!). Hmm, sounds like a lesson for everyday life, even for times when he isn’t about to be gone for a month…. Lord, make me more thankful ALL the time!

Yummy Toes, Yummy Spoon

This weekend was a whirlwind of fun as we enjoyed hosting two of my dear friends from growing up, Lauren and Lauren. They got to meet Khloe for the first time, and we were able to go on several adventures. Saturday afternoon we introduced them to Kory’s Chick-fil-A with a delicious lunch, kitchen tour, and shmoozing with the cow. After that we headed up to one of the highest points in Reading to check out the famous Pagoda that sits on top of the hill with an amazing view of Reading and the surrounding region. It’s such a random sight in eastern PA…a Japanese structure with elaborate decor. It was also the shooting location for scenes from the recent M. Night movie, The Last Airbender. Pretty sweet! (Even though the movie was apparently a flop…?).

Later in the afternoon when Kory left for work, we ladies decided to make the drive to King of Prussia for a little shopping excursion at the 2nd largest mall in the U.S. (or is it the 3rd?). It was Khloe’s first time shopping at a mall, and she seemed…less than thrilled much of the time. She got a bit fussy and tired of her stroller partway through our time there, so Mommy ended up carrying her with the Laurens helping out immensely with empty stroller pushing and diaper bag carrying. Just another reminder of how different life is now with a child…completely changed the shopping experience! But I was happy to snuggle my little girl, and we had a great time. We ended the day with an absolutely delicious dinner at California Cafe, where I had a chicken and spinach calzone with naturally sweetened raspberry black tea.

Back home that night, after I put Khloe to bed, the three of us watched a throw-back old high school favorite, Center Stage. Wow, did that take me back! We had a lot of good laughs and just therapeutic good times. What a great weekend with old friends.

Today it was back to the grind watching Noah and taking care of Khloe as usual. I am starting to think about beginning Khloe on some rice cereal, but I’m still debating in my mind. I would love for Kory to be here for the momentous milestone of starting solids, which would limit us to starting either this week or not until the beginning of October, a week after she turns 6 months…and I’m not sure we can wait that long. So we’ll see. I experimented with allowing her to explore a spoon today, and she actually did really well! I was afraid she would push it out with her tongue, what with her typical tongue playing that she usually does. But when I held the spoon up to her mouth she actually opened like she was taking a bite and took it into her mouth! She made a face when she actually tasted the flavor of the rubber spoon, but that didn’t stop her from being continually interested in this new little utensil. I gave it to her for her to hold, and she grasped it and brought it up to her mouth on her own, as well. What a champ!

This afternoon as I was changing her diaper, she was playing with her toes as she normally does…when all of a sudden she brought her left foot up to her mouth and stuck it in! It was a hilarious sight to see, and she again made a face at the taste of her toes. I guess that lint I always find between her toes doesn’t necessarily have the best flavor. Haha.

Kory is helping out at the new Chick-fil-A location at Kutztown University this week by training the food service staff there, which is a fun change of pace for him. Unfortunately it also means long hours, which is not ideal for his last week at home before he leaves for 4 weeks. But we will enjoy the time we do get together, especially this weekend when he will be back at his Chick-fil-A with normal hours. I do believe we’re planning a date night for Friday, which I am giddy as a school girl about.

A Sleeping Champ

Khloe has entered a new realm in her baby wardrobe–the 3-6 month size clothes! The last few days she has been wearing some of these new outfits people had given us that I had stored away in bins. She was finally starting to look a little snug in her 0-3 month onesies (although they still fit, and she’s wearing one today with no problem), so I decided to start exploring the next size up. It’s so fun to pull out the new outfits and try them on here…reminiscent of the fun I had when I was little dressing up my dolls (except WAY cooler with an actual, real-life, ADORABLE baby girl!). A lot of the 3-6 month stuff is still pretty loose on her, but it’s amazing to see how much she has grown into them. I remember looking at these when she was first born, doubting whether she’d EVER be big enough for them to fit–they seemed huge compared to her tiny 5 pound body! She has grown SO much to catch up to this point–we sure have worked hard to get her here!

The last few nights of sleep have continued to go well. Although not quite as impressive as that very first night of 9:30 to 6:30, she has come pretty close and is still consistently sleeping through that middle-of-the-night feeding. Her sleep accomplishments the last few nights have been:

9:30 to 6:30 (can’t celebrate that one enough!)
9:00 to 4:30
9:00 to 2:00, 2:00 to 6:45 (woke up with a very wet diaper–so close to beating that first long night!)
9:00 to 5:00
9:00 to 4:30

The mornings that she has awakened before 6 she has fallen back asleep after I fed her for about 15 mins, and we’ve slept until about 7 or 7:15. Not too shabby! Ever since she’s hit that 13 pound mark several days ago, she’s been sleeping like a champ (thus solidifying that theory in my own mind). Many babies hit that weight by around 3 months or so. Our little peanut just had some catching up to do, and that’s ok. It just makes it that much sweeter now that she’s made it!

By the way, many of you could probably care less about her sleep patterns, and that’s ok. You can skip that part if you’d like. I write about this for two reasons:

1) It’s a place for me to document it so I can look back down the road when I want to recall when she started sleeping longer.
2) I cannot tell you what a HUGE relief and victory this is after almost 5 months of being sleep deprived and not getting longer than maybe 4 hours of sleep in one stretch. For those of you who have yet to experience the joys of up-through-the-night care for a little one, mark my words…one day you too will want to shout from the rooftops and share with every stranger in the grocery store when your baby starts giving you more sleep!

Last night Elizabeth and Joel came over for dinner and fellowship, and it was great to see them after almost 2 weeks of busyness and not seeing each other at all. They had just finished registering at Babies’R'Us, which is SO fun, and they will have their big ultrasound this Tuesday! So exciting! This January, Lord-willing, Khloe will have a little cousin–boy or girl?? Either way it will be exciting and fun for them to play together…either with dolls and dress-up clothes or soccer ball and legos (or all of the above)! Only being about 9 months apart, they will practically be the same age and grow up together. It’s so crazy to think back to playing with my own cousins growing up and to realize that this is the next generation already. Wow!

Looking forward to a weekend with two of my best friends from high school who are coming out to visit, arriving tonight! They will get to meet Khloe, and I will hopefully succeed in showing them what a wicked-sweet place Reading, PA, is to live in and explore. Either way, it’ll be great to see them!

NOT looking forward to the month of September, when Kory will be gone for 4 weeks doing Grand Openings for Chick-fil-A in other states. He will be in Missouri for a week, then will head out to Phoenix, AZ, for 3 weeks. Lord, give me strength! We just might revert back to our old skyping routine from when we were long distance dating between PA and Tennessee. Can’t say I ever wanted to go back to that form of communication with him, but I will choose to be grateful for technology that makes it possible for us to see each other even when we’re hundreds of miles apart.

Not to end on a Debbie Downer note like that, but I must go tend to a crying baby. Happy Friday, all!

Joy + Poverty = Generosity

Last night Kory and I had the pleasure of hosting one of Kory’s employees, Lidia, and her husband Steve for dinner in our home. Lidia is the delightful little Guatemalan lady who hosted/planned/went-over-the-top-for my Chick-fil-A baby shower. When they arrived at our apartment, Lidia of course was armed with all sorts of goodies to share: homemade tacos (some spicy for Kory, some not for me), a new pink sweater and sippy cup for Khloe, and a pan of homemade Italian Cheesecake made by Steve. We had a delightful time eating, talking, and laughing, and of course Lidia wasn’t bashful in taking Khloe off my hands (at least until bedtime fussiness when she only wanted Mommy). When we were done eating Lidia headed straight for the kitchen to wash the dishes. We protested greatly, and Kory even went in after her to stop her. But with her stubborn, persistent kindness she got her way, and in a matter of several minutes all of the dishes were washed and leftovers put away.

One thing I am convicted of time and time again when I interact with Lidia is her extreme generosity (especially out of not having much, I’m sure) and my lack thereof in comparison. She gives with every resource she has–food she makes, gifts for Khloe that she buys, and hard work and service with her hands. She gives and gives until there is nothing left to give.

I was also convicted of this throughout my entire pregnancy and during that whole difficult time of transition when the Lord poured out such abundant blessing on us through others’ generosity. Shouldn’t we as Believers be characterized by such giving? Consider the following:

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints….But as you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you–see that you excel in this act of grace also.

I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

–2 Corinthians 8:1-9

God admonishes us in this passage to give, give, give generously, in a Biblical way–motivated by the Gospel (v. 9), authenticating the love that we have from God (v. 8). I absolutely LOVE the language in v. 2, that their “abundance of joy” and “extreme poverty” “overflowed in a wealth of generosity.” I love that joy + poverty can = generosity.

I realize that this passage is in the context of providing for other believers (v. 4–”the relief of the saints”), but I believe our entire lives should be characterized by this generosity toward others–believers and nonbelievers alike. We are called to be generous in helping our brothers and sisters, but wouldn’t generosity toward the nonbelievers around us also authenticate our love, be Christ to them, and bring glory to God?

In short, I think we just need to loosen our grip on “our” money and resources (I say “our” loosely, since all that we have really belongs to the Lord, and we are called to be good stewards of it) and to be open and sensitive to the Spirit’s leading to give to those in need. Also remembering that:

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
–1 Corinthians 13:3

May we be driven by the Gospel and by Christ’s love in us, that our actions will never become empty deeds by which we strive to achieve others’ approval or affection. Neither should we strive to earn the Lord’s favor or love, whether consciously or subconsciously, since it is impossible to do so. Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). And God saved us when we were DEAD in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:5), alienated from him and enemies to him with nothing to offer except our evil behavior (Colossians 1:21). He has done ALL the work in saving us, reconciling us, making us alive.

Praise be to God!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I am finally getting around to writing another blog post now after the craziness of the last couple of weeks. We have moved into a new apartment, just across the street from our old one, enjoying 200 more square feet (including a larger living room and dining room, an additional den, and a full-sized bedroom for Khloe!) for only $2 more a month! We were blessed to have about 25 friends from our church show up to help us move, and we had everything moved across the street in about an hour and a half (thanks to multiple family vans and SUV’s, as well as a couple of large trucks). When we went to turn our old keys in to the office, the ladies who work there were shocked that we were already moved in. When we told them about the huge turnout from our church, one lady said “I want to know what church you go to!” Great opportunity to share about our church…praise the Lord!

We then enjoyed a great visit with my parents and with Kory’s brother Kevin, and it’s just been a whirlwind since. This past weekend was the first opportunity Kory and I had just to slow down, hang out, and enjoy our new apartment. It was a very restful weekend, which I particularly needed since I’ve come down with a sinus infection. Hopefully between continued rest and the antibiotics I got we’ll kick this thing soon.

As for Khloe these days…I cannot believe she’ll be 5 months old this Sunday! She is definitely growing up, though, and just last night and this morning she’s discovered her toes and her ability to play with them. She’s also just becoming more interested in interacting with things, like her washcloth during bath time and the hanger her outfit is hanging on. She’s becoming more and more active in her play gym and LOVES the mirror! She can make herself laugh really hard just by interacting with her own face.

She continues to roll from front to back sporadically, and she rocks onto her side from her back quite a bit. We recently introduced a new little book to her (“God Made Me”–a cute little book we found at a discount store before she was born)…and she absolutely LOVES it! It has lots of bright colors and illustrations, and she just loves looking at it, turning the pages, and hearing mommy and daddy read to her.

We have discovered that her favorite song is “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” which we find amusing. It all started one Friday evening when we were on the way to one of Kory’s softball games, and she started fussing in her carseat because she couldn’t hear or see Mommy and Daddy. So Kory started loudly singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and she immediately got quiet. The second he stopped singing, she started fussing again, and again when he started singing–she stopped fussing. Ever since then, when she has been fussing or discontent, if one of us just starts singing that song (especially when Kory sings it), she gets really quiet and content again. We have tried other songs, but that one in particular for whatever reason is the magical tune that she loves. Perhaps a future baseball fan?

Last night was a MAJOR accomplishment, as Khloe slept from about 9:30pm to 6:30am without waking up or fussing once! She has done stretches from about 9:30 to 4 or 4:30 before, but even then she has fussed for a bit in between. And recently she has been waking up for the 2-2:30am feeding pretty regularly. So last night when I kept waking up from time to time to check the monitor and make sure she was ok, I was shocked to see that she was just sleeping soundly (without her pacifier in her mouth even!). Even when Kory got up for work around 5:15 she didn’t stir. I was absolutely amazed. I weighed her this morning, and our not-so-precise scale said that she is around 13 pounds now…which I have heard can be the weight that they really are able to sleep through the night well. So…we’ll see if this was just a one-night fluke, or whether this will be a new trend for Khloe. Let’s pray for the latter!

Permalink 1 Comment · Edit

August 10, 2010

Eskimo Kisses

Posted in Family Happenings, Khloe, Sleep at 10:41 am by kayefam

Last night as I was changing Khloe’s diaper I decided to give her some eskimo kisses (you know, the kind where you rub noses?)…and she absolutely loved it! She started giggling like crazy each time I gave her one. It was so adorable!

The last several days she has been sleeping better through the night. She has been going to bed around 9:00 or 9:30 and getting up around 6am or so. She usually does wake up around 4:45am, but I’ll sneak in and put her pacifier in her mouth, and that’ll usually put her back to sleep for another hour or so. She’s getting there! And she’s definitely getting bigger, which makes such a difference. I know I say this all the time, but even in just the last week, she seems to have grown SO much…

T-minus 2 days until we move! And I’m afraid I’ve come down with some sort of sore throat/cough yesterday and today. Blah. It’s the first time since Khloe’s been born that I have gotten sick, and it’s really interesting to realize….life can’t just stop for me to get better. Khloe continues to need me, I have to keep caring for her, doing her laundry, etc. If it were bad enough I’m sure Kory could stay home from work….but in these just feeling-lousy sorts of days, I just have to tough it out. The life of a mom!

Permalink Leave a Comment · Edit

August 7, 2010

New Haircut?

Posted in Just for Fun at 7:23 am by kayefam

My friend Melissa sent me a link to this little comic, and I had to share…

Taken from www.thedoghousediaries.com

Permalink Leave a Comment · Edit

August 5, 2010

Mom Sites

Posted in Links at 1:30 pm by kayefam

Some new favorite websites under the “mom” category. So helpful in the business of being a homemaker/mom!

http://www.momsbyheart.net/

http://moneysavingmom.com/

http://lifeasmom.com/

Permalink Leave a Comment · Edit

August 2, 2010

Life Lately

Posted in Family Happenings, Khloe, Sleep at 1:14 pm by kayefam

Hello, all! We’ve decided to move our blog over to WordPress for a new, fresh look and some nicer features. Hopefully we will become more diligent in updating this now that we are out of the brand-new-newborn stage of life and can actually find a spare moment here and there to write entries.

As I write this, both Khloe and Noah are sound asleep (after much tag-teaming this morning with alternating diaper changes, feedings, and fusses), and I am catching my breath over a bowl of cereal.

Khloe is just becoming more and more delightful these days with smiles, giggles, and the beginnings of ticklishness. She began rolling over (front to back) a couple of weeks ago, but she still has yet to do so consistently. She likes playing in her little gym, but she only lasts so long before she wants mommy or daddy to be close by to talk and play along. Definitely a little social butterfly!

She has astounded us recently with her ability to fall asleep unswaddled here and there, but for the most part she still requires being swaddled in order to fall asleep (especially for longer naps and overnight). In the last several days she has also impressed us with no longer needing to be rocked or held to fall asleep for naps or bedtime. We can just put her in her crib with her eyes open, and she will put herself to sleep. Such an accomplishment! Depending on the night she will either sleep through (from around 9:30pm to 4 or 5am) or wake up for a feeding around 1 or 2am. But we are approaching the 13-pound mark (she is currently weighing in at 12 pounds), which supposedly is when their bodies are most able to start sleeping through the night. Beginning her life as such a tiny peanut has definitely presented challenges along the way, but we are thankful that she continues to grow and be healthy with each passing week. She has now jumped into the 20th percentile in size for her age, which is much improved from her first weeks of life when she was only in the 3rd percentile!

She turned 4 months old on Thursday, and Kory and I just cannot figure out where the last 4 months have gone. In another couple of months she will be starting solids, sitting up, and becoming more and more mobile! However, we are constantly treasuring and loving the here-and-now, not wishing a moment away for the future milestones of crawling, talking, or walking. We know that one day we will be wishing she were little again like she is now, so we are just content with each day in each stage the Lord gives us with our precious little girl.

We are currently getting ready to move across the street to another apartment within the same complex. We are slowly outgrowing our 1-bedroom, and when we found out we could upgrade to a 2-bedroom with 200 more sq ft for only $2 more in rent per month…how could we say no?? We will be moving on the 12th of August, and we have yet to start packing boxes. I think the close proximity is making it seem less of an ordeal than it really is. I’m hoping to start packing things up in the next day or so. Of course, my best laid plans for the day are always being adapted or just completely thrown out to care for Khloe (and Noah). I don’t think there has been a day in a long time that turned out the way I originally planned. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

The student that I have been tutoring in Algebra and Spanish will be leaving this week to go back to Texas where she spends the school year. It has been such a blessing and example of the Lord’s provision in our lives being able to tutor her this summer 3 times a week. I will now be looking for a replacement tutoring situation, and I’m considering going through the local school districts to get connected to families in need of a tutor. We’ll see what pans out…but I know the Lord will absolutely continue to provide for our little family.

Well, Noah has awakened and is requiring my attention. Look for more posts (and probably pictures) in the near future!

BK

Permalink Leave a Comment · Edit

• 

• Pages

  • About
  • Photography

• Search Blog

  Search for:

• Blog Topics

  Select Category Blog Feedback (1) Book Recommendations (3) Family Happenings (43) Habit of Gratitude (3) Just for Fun (2) Khloe (40) Growth (4) Milestones (12) Sleep (11) Solid Foods (12) Links (6) Motherhood (1) Music (2) Photography (4) Photos (11) Pregnancy (6) Recipes (1) Reflections on Scripture (8) Resources for Children (1) Uncategorized (3) Worship (3)

• Archives

  Select Month April 2011 (13) March 2011 (8) February 2011 (6) January 2011 (20) December 2010 (3) November 2010 (13) October 2010 (12) September 2010 (8) August 2010 (9)

• Email Subscription

  Click to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Eskimo Kisses

Last night as I was changing Khloe’s diaper I decided to give her some eskimo kisses (you know, the kind where you rub noses?)…and she absolutely loved it! She started giggling like crazy each time I gave her one. It was so adorable!

The last several days she has been sleeping better through the night. She has been going to bed around 9:00 or 9:30 and getting up around 6am or so. She usually does wake up around 4:45am, but I’ll sneak in and put her pacifier in her mouth, and that’ll usually put her back to sleep for another hour or so. She’s getting there! And she’s definitely getting bigger, which makes such a difference. I know I say this all the time, but even in just the last week, she seems to have grown SO much…

T-minus 2 days until we move! And I’m afraid I’ve come down with some sort of sore throat/cough yesterday and today. Blah. It’s the first time since Khloe’s been born that I have gotten sick, and it’s really interesting to realize….life can’t just stop for me to get better. Khloe continues to need me, I have to keep caring for her, doing her laundry, etc. If it were bad enough I’m sure Kory could stay home from work….but in these just feeling-lousy sorts of days, I just have to tough it out. The life of a mom!

Life Lately

Hello, all! We’ve decided to move our blog over to WordPress for a new, fresh look and some nicer features. Hopefully we will become more diligent in updating this now that we are out of the brand-new-newborn stage of life and can actually find a spare moment here and there to write entries.

As I write this, both Khloe and Noah are sound asleep (after much tag-teaming this morning with alternating diaper changes, feedings, and fusses), and I am catching my breath over a bowl of cereal.

Khloe is just becoming more and more delightful these days with smiles, giggles, and the beginnings of ticklishness. She began rolling over (front to back) a couple of weeks ago, but she still has yet to do so consistently. She likes playing in her little gym, but she only lasts so long before she wants mommy or daddy to be close by to talk and play along. Definitely a little social butterfly!

She has astounded us recently with her ability to fall asleep unswaddled here and there, but for the most part she still requires being swaddled in order to fall asleep (especially for longer naps and overnight). In the last several days she has also impressed us with no longer needing to be rocked or held to fall asleep for naps or bedtime. We can just put her in her crib with her eyes open, and she will put herself to sleep. Such an accomplishment! Depending on the night she will either sleep through (from around 9:30pm to 4 or 5am) or wake up for a feeding around 1 or 2am. But we are approaching the 13-pound mark (she is currently weighing in at 12 pounds), which supposedly is when their bodies are most able to start sleeping through the night. Beginning her life as such a tiny peanut has definitely presented challenges along the way, but we are thankful that she continues to grow and be healthy with each passing week. She has now jumped into the 20th percentile in size for her age, which is much improved from her first weeks of life when she was only in the 3rd percentile!

She turned 4 months old on Thursday, and Kory and I just cannot figure out where the last 4 months have gone. In another couple of months she will be starting solids, sitting up, and becoming more and more mobile! However, we are constantly treasuring and loving the here-and-now, not wishing a moment away for the future milestones of crawling, talking, or walking. We know that one day we will be wishing she were little again like she is now, so we are just content with each day in each stage the Lord gives us with our precious little girl.

We are currently getting ready to move across the street to another apartment within the same complex. We are slowly outgrowing our 1-bedroom, and when we found out we could upgrade to a 2-bedroom with 200 more sq ft for only $2 more in rent per month…how could we say no?? We will be moving on the 12th of August, and we have yet to start packing boxes. I think the close proximity is making it seem less of an ordeal than it really is. I’m hoping to start packing things up in the next day or so. Of course, my best laid plans for the day are always being adapted or just completely thrown out to care for Khloe (and Noah). I don’t think there has been a day in a long time that turned out the way I originally planned. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

The student that I have been tutoring in Algebra and Spanish will be leaving this week to go back to Texas where she spends the school year. It has been such a blessing and example of the Lord’s provision in our lives being able to tutor her this summer 3 times a week. I will now be looking for a replacement tutoring situation, and I’m considering going through the local school districts to get connected to families in need of a tutor. We’ll see what pans out…but I know the Lord will absolutely continue to provide for our little family.

Well, Noah has awakened and is requiring my attention. Look for more posts (and probably pictures) in the near future!

BK