Playtime and Cheesy TV

We have been working on Kate's eating lately, and I have figured out that she is really into puffs and cheerios these days! A week ago, she was not interested at all and would make a horrible face if you tried to give her one. Now, she cannot get them fast enough! I have also been trying to figure out if she is left or right handed- who knows?! She reaches once with the left, once with the right. These pictures were so funny because she knew I was taking her picture. She would reach out to grab a cheerio and then look at me, like she was saying, "Mmmm, this one looks good" and "That was the best one yet!" I guess she was hamming it up for the camera.

Uncle Derek came over to play with her today and Kate had a ball! She would jump up and down all over him and she would grab all over his face trying to get a hold of his nose. Here are some good pictures of her playing with Derek...

Ok- now onto the random point I want to bring up. There is a show on TV that I just happened to pass by called, "Pageant Moms Unleashed." It is RIDICULOUS! I cannot stop laughing at these moms that are paying upwards of $16,000 for a pageant training session for a 6 year old! They keep showing shots of the little girls wearing "customized" bathing suits and cowgirl hats holding fistfulls of dollar bills... what is up with that? They also mentioned that half of their husbands have no idea how much money they are spending on these pageants... Brandon would DIE! Actually, I think I would die if I ever thought about a) putting Kate through that or b) spending so much money on a childhood pageant training session! That is all I have to say about that, just had to let someone know what was making me laugh so hard this afternoon.

Some Standing Pictures

Who knew she would have this much fun playing outside of the exersaucer?

What a mess!

We go to a couples' Bible study every Monday night where childcare is provided- I know, a dream come true! But- the older kids are pretty wild and I am always nervous that Kate will get trampled if I leave her with the sitters... so I have never left her in their care, until now. She used to be just fine with us in the Bible study, but now she babbles and tries to talk to us the entire time, so I usually just walk out with her and play in the room next door. Brandon has been saying for a while that we just need to put her with the babysitters and enjoy the time we actually have with each other. Last night was the big night, so we found the babysitter and handed Kate over! We made it through the singing, through the prayer requests, and almost to the prayer, and then the babysitter walks in holding Kate and says, "I don't want to interrupt, but..." Kate was quiet so I didn't know why she needed me until I saw the brown all over Kate's pants and spilling out of the top of her diaper in the back. She was holding her hand out just in case it kept coming, and Kate was just as happy as she could be! Everyone laughed as I ran out in time to save the carpet.
When I got Kate stripped down in the bathroom, she was giggling and standing up holding the cabinet door just staring at me. She was COVERED! I was surprised she even had clean shoes! I had just been talking to Stephanie (whose home we use for Bible study) about going through her daughters' old clothes and taking some for Kate, and now we really needed the clothes more than ever! I got Kate into some fresh clothes (thank you Adcocks!) and back into the playroom just in time for the lesson to be ending. So much for our time together in the Bible study! We will try again next week! On a lighter note, she did great while she was playing with the big kids- no trampling (that I know of)!

It is in giving...

I am sure so many of you know about Rick Burgess's son, Bronner, who drowned in their family swimming pool this past weekend. It keeps running through my mind and making me physically sick thinking about what that must feel like. I watched pieces of the memorial service on You Tube so I could hear Rick's message, and it was great. He spent more time focusing on God's love and His will than about his own sorrow and pain. It was so neat to see Rick use this horrible situation as an opportunity to show others about what faith really is. He truly shows that faith is trusting that God even when it hurts or life does not make sense. He said that he felt at peace knowing that Bronner was with his Father in Heaven, the ONLY father who could ever love him more than Rick. What a testimony to God's love for us! He does care about each one of us, and He does long for us to be with Him! We are traveling tomorrow to the visitation of one of my best friend's mother, Becky Steeley. Their family has been another incredible witness to the love of God in such a trying time. I just pray that God could make me rest in Him and trust His plan more than ever if something ever happened to my family.
Kate has these "Praise Baby" dvds that she watches when I am getting things done around the house, and one of the songs is called "A Simple Prayer." It made me think about God's plan for eternal life to result from something so miserable as death.
The chorus says,
"It is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Make me an instrument of your peace
I want to know what it is like to follow you.
When men look at me, I want them to see
the light of the world inside."

Kate loves eating the ducks when she is in the bath. She dives for the small ducks and then puts their heads in her mouth. She has a duck family with a momma duck and three or four baby ducks. We like to line up the baby ducks on the side and watch her try to grab them and throw them in the water. The momma duck is still a little too big for her to move all by herself. Most people probably do bath time for hygeine reasons... we, on the other hand, do it because Kate LOVES it! It is her favorite time of the day, and I think it is because Daddy is usually around for bath time and she knows that he loves to play with the ducks too! I wanted to add a few funny pictures just because I see her everyday and she makes me laugh, but I forget to tell family and friends some of the little things she does.

Another funny thing she does is stand facing the couch and jump up and down and laugh really loud. The picture above is her when she stopped to make sure I was watching her.

We went to Greenville for Brandon to hunt one last time this season and for his family to see Kate. It is amazing that she changes so quickly. We have not seen them for 2 weeks or so, and they pointed out all of the things she is doing now that they had not seen. We had a blast being with Papa-G and JoJo and Kate's 3 uncles! I love watching young guys with a baby, it makes me laugh to see them get on the floor and play with her!

Kate playing on the couch... semi-crawling!

Days Fly By!

Kate is getting big so fast that I cannot believe she is mine! I seriously look at her and think that it cannot be the same baby as the tiny 7 pound, 1 ounce baby I had in May! She is pulling up on everything and standing behind her toys. I used to let her sit up on her changing table while I picked out her clothes, but now she can pull up and stand by holding the back side of the table... so not anymore!

Kate loves bathtime! She sits in her bath seat that Papa-G and JoJo gave her for Christmas and chases her duckies! She has started picking up the ducks and putting their heads all the way in her mouth and then splashes the water while she holds the duck with her mouth. This picture was Kate playing in her bathrobe and matching slippers. She was standing on Brandon's lap and jumping up and down and squealing. She loves her daddy!

I am amazed at how Kate has no interest in crawling, but she wants to stand up all the time. When she is sitting up, she just leans and reaches for things and she ends up on her tummy, but just scoots... no crawling yet! I guess not every baby does the same things at the same time! She will crawl when she wants to crawl.

I am going to dinner with my friend LeeAnn for her birthday tonight, and Kate is having a daddy night! Brandon got home early and took his ladies (me and Kate) out for a lunch date, and he is keeping Kate tonight and she is going to have so much fun.

Plans Change... Move On

I realize more every day that once a child comes into your world, you have to be flexible. Some people let children rock their entire world and they will not go out to dinner because of bedtime, or they will not go shopping during the day because of feeding times or nap times. I have tried very hard since having Kate to keep going with my life and just take her with me! For instance, when we want to go to dinner, we just put Kate in her P.J.s and bring a bottle with us. I know that she probably won't go to sleep right away, but I know that she will always fall asleep in the car on the way home. I have found that Kate is a pretty easy-going baby, and I would like to think that it is because she goes with the flow wherever she is. For example, when we went to the Auburn vs. Alabama game, we took Kate to the tailgate and she napped in her carseat for over an hour and a half with everything going on around her. I am so glad that she does go with the flow, because I know I would feel a little trapped if I never got out.
Another example of the need for flexibility... We went to church yesterday and we were planning on meeting my family for lunch at 12:30. Brandon and I even left right after the sermon because (as usual) Pastor Reeder went a little over. But, once we got to the nursery to pick Kate up, she wasn't even in the room. They had her strolling the halls because she was done with all of the other kids in the nursery. So we waited for them to bring her back and then we got stuck talking to people once the real crowd let out. Plans change! I had to call my mom because we didn't even leave the church until 12:30, and they just ordered for us and our food was ready when we got there. Whenever people ask me if I have any advice, it is BE FLEXIBLE!
I was thinking about that just this weekend as I was at Wal-Mart with Kate and it was way past time for a nap. I have a grocery cart cover that she sits in because those carts are disgusting, and it is a little padded. She was so tired that she leaned forward and grabbed the front of the cart and put her head on the padded part and fell asleep! People were walking by and laughing as they saw her passed out strolling along in Wal-Mart. That was just another time that I was glad that she is used to being on the go!
By the way, this picture has nothing to do with this story, I just wanted to post it on here.

Sweet Kate

This is Kathryn Phyllis Slagley, "Kate." This picture is about the best picture to describe her personality... funny. She is a busy-body, even though she can't walk yet. She sits and reaches for whatever she wants, and she doesn't care if she has to fall off of the couch to get it. She also plays in her crib while I do things in her room, and now she can pull up, stand and jump in her crib... time to lower the mattress!

Some days I think I cannot handle another minute of carrying her everywhere or trying to entertain her so I can do something around the house, but then she smiles like in this picture and makes me realize that this is my life now, and I am thankful that I get to play with her on the floor. I have always heard people talk about "seasons" of life, and I have never really changed seasons quite like this! Marriage was a huge change, but at least I could talk to Brandon about it and get a response. This season is the busiest, most sleepless, and most rewarding season of my life yet. The only thing Kate says when I want to chat about how much my life has changed is, "babababa" or "mamamama." By the way, that was her Christmas present to me... she said "mama" on Christmas Eve for the first time! We are working on "dada" for Brandon- she will get it soon! If only his name was Bob!

We're going to give it a try...

Okay... I keep reading all of these blogs of friends who faithfully write all about their day-to-day activities, and I think I will give it a try and see if there is really anything "blogworthy" going on in my life. I have little windows of time throughout the day, so I will try and use them to write about our life as the Slagley family!
Brandon and I met in the Spring of 2002 and we got married in December of 2004. Then, our whole world changed in May of 2007 when we had our sweet Baby Kate! We have had the best time watching her grow and form her own personality. This blog will hopefully let you see pictures of her and let you read stories about what she is doing.
In case you need some more background info...
I am and have been a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Brookwood Medical Center since June, 2004. I still work part-time (flexi) whenever I can, but it is not all that often. Brandon is in his third year of Medical School at UAB, but he is doing most rotations in Tuscaloosa. We have a dog named Bailey, who has sadly been shafted since we had a REAL child! She used to be the baby of the house.