Red Hot Chili Pepper

Mama Shirley must have been extra excited about Kayleigh's first Halloween, because she bought her two outfits! She wore the duck one to school today (see blog below), and we had to try this one on her. It's a little snug and warm, but she's definitely a cutie!

5 month pictures

Happy Halloween!

Kayleigh's school had their fall festival this morning. It started with a little "parade" of all of the kids in their costumes. The older kids had their tricycles out and were riding them around. After the parade, the kids were able to trick or treat with the parents that were there. Afterward, there were games and stories and snack time. Kayleigh's class can't really enjoy that stuff, but they seemed to like being outside, at least.
Tonight is "Trunk or Treat" at church, so Kayleigh will be at another Halloween party then!

5 months old already???

I can't believe how fast the time has gone! I really can't believe that Kayleigh has been living with us for almost half of a year! Kayleigh is at school right now, so I haven't taken any pictures today. I'll have to get them up later. I thought I would put up the facts from "What to Expect the First Year" again. It's interesting, I think!

By five months, Kayleigh should be able to...
--Hold head steady when upright (check)
--On stomach, raise chest, supported by arms. (check)
--Pay attention to an object as small as a raisin (I still haven't tried this yet)
--Squeal in delight (check)
--Reach for an object (check, and her teachers were surprised when she did that last week at school)
--Smile spontaneously. (check)
--Smile back when you smile (She usually needs you to give her a reason to smile, and smiling isn't always good enough)
--Grasp a little rattle held to the backs or tips of her fingers (check)
--Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting (check)

At five months, Kayleigh will probably be able to...
--Roll over (check)
--Bear some weight on legs (check)
--Say vowel-consonant combinations (not really, at least I don't think so)
--Blow raspberries (check)
--Turn in the direction of a voice (check)

At five months, Kayleigh may possibly be able to...
--Sit without support (She can kind of sit leaning forward, so that she's pretty much holding herself up with her hands. I'm not sure that that counts!)

At five months, Kayleigh may even be able to...
Let's just say that she's not able to do any of these things yet. I won't embarrass her by listing them!

Success!!!

Erik and I have tried a couple of times to feed rice cereal to Kayleigh. This time, I'm pretty sure that most of the food went down. Before, she would mostly spit it out. I only used a teaspoon this time, and she didn't eat it all, but that's okay. I figured that I didn't need to force feed her while she's still nursing. Notice how neat of an eater she is! The worst thing she did was try to stick her fingers in her mouth while the food was in there. We'll keep trying the cereal. I don't think she's allowed to try "real" food until she's 6 months old.
P.S. Yes, we have heard about the Bumbo recall. Erik and I have decided to only put her in it on the table when we are right there. She will never be put in the Bumbo on a high surface when we're not in arms length.

Holy cuteness!!!

School days...

I took Kayleigh to school for a couple of hours today. When I picked her up, her class was just getting finished taking a walk around campus. I had seen this big, red stroller before, but I didn't know that the babies were able to use it as well. Kayleigh was just too cute, so I had to get some pictures. Her teacher said that she loved the stroller ride. The stroller is really neat. It sits two kids across and has 3 or 4 rows. I was so glad that I was able to catch this fun time!

Happy to be home

These are a couple of cute pictures of Kayleigh that I got last night.

A weekend in Mobile

This weekend, we had a great time getting to know our youngest niece, Taylor. We enjoyed just hanging out at Nick and Robyn's house. I'd like to think that the girls had fun meeting each other, but I shouldn't speak for them. On Saturday, we took the girls to have some fall pictures taken. These are just a few of the many we took.

Four month check up

Today, I took Kayleigh to the doctor's office for a check up and shots. I asked the doctor about her lingering cough from the cold she got a couple of weeks ago, and the doctor said she was fine. Kayleigh would have done better at the appointment, but we cut into nap time, and let's face it, that would make anyone sad!! She did fine with her two shots, although I just gave her some more Tylenol because I think she has a little fever right now. I know that's one of the side effects, so I'm not worried about it.
I finally took her 4 month pictures. Sorry that they're late. She's starting to enjoy Mumble more and I think it shows!
Oh, Kayleigh's measurements today were:
length: 24 inches (or 2 feet if you prefer)
weight: 17 pounds 12 ounces. She gained almost 4 pounds in 2 months!!!

Aunt Valerie and uncle Matt should be here any minute. We're leaving tomorrow to meet Taylor and see Nick and Robyn.

One year ago today

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't help but think about everything that's happened in the last year. It was on this day last year that I became 100% sure that I was pregnant. On or around September 28th, I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. On Monday of this week last year, I went to the girly doctor and they confirmed the pregnancy. I was still nervous about it and asked to have blood work done. I went to the blood place on Monday and Wednesday afternoons to have blood drawn. On Thursday morning, while I was having fiestas with my students, the nurse called with my results. (I should probably tell you that we were having fiestas to celebrate the end of the first quarter, and I was leaving at lunch to fly to NYC with the Eikelands and probably didn't feel like doing too much!!) When the nurse called, she said that she would still like for me to come in for an ultrasound. I was scared to death. I told my friend, Drew, about what was going on, and called Erik to see if he could get off work extra early to go to the ultrasound. I don't know how the doctor's office was able to get me in so quickly, but I had told them that I was getting ready to leave town and wanted to get it done before I left.
As we all know now, the ultrasound showed us Kayleigh for the first time. What an amazing year it has been!

Jelly Belly Factory

One of the things that we did in Chicago was go to the Jelly Belly factory. Well, it's actually in Wisconsin, but we went while up there. We got a tour of the warehouse and a free sample of jelly beans. They had a sample bar with some new, gross flavors. Erik was brave enough to try rotten eggs and grass. Matt tried the pickle and something else. Neither of them liked it, and I'm not sure that they were even able to keep them down!
ONe thing that they sell at the store is bags of "belly flops". These are jelly beans that aren't perfectly formed and can't be sold in the regular stores. They sell them at an awesome discount. Yes, Jonathan, there's a bag waiting for you!!

First flight

You would have thought that Kayleigh was a veteran flyer by how well she did on her first flight to Chicago! Even with an HOUR (!!) delay on the runway, Kayleigh slept the entire way. Thank goodness she was so good. I'm not sure what I would have done if she freaked out. The flight wasn't full, so she got to stay in her carseat, rather than having to sit on my lap.
On our way back from Chicago, Kayleigh decided to stay awake a little longer. She still did great. She made her tired noise a few times (it's really cute if you haven't heard it yet), but I think the noise from the plane was louder than her, so it didn't bother people. Plus, there was another baby that was crying, so I'm sure he drowned out any small noise that Kayleigh made!

Oh boy!

Today is going to be Kayleigh's first plane ride. We are leaving from Tampa to go to Chicago for the weekend. Matt Giunipero and his girlfriend, Karina, have been wanting us to go up there. I think they really just wanted a break from traveling to Florida! Since Erik is already up that way (he's been in Detroit all week) we're going to meet in Chicago. Luckily, Kayleigh and I have a straight shot up there, and Erik is going to get there first, so he can meet us at our gate. I have a couple of bottles for Kayleigh to suck on while we take off and land. I think this should be an okay experience. Mom is going to take us to the airport, and she can go as far as security with me. I'm taking the stroller and car seat. The car seat is FAA approved, so if it isn't a full flight, she'll be able to sit in her car seat next to me, rather than on my lap. I can also check the stroller at the gate, so I won't have to carry her far.
I need to get a few last minute things done while Kayleigh's sleeping and I wait for mom to get home from work. We'll let you know how it goes.

You're not going to believe this, but...

Okay, so I know that the last time I was here in St Pete, I wrote and said that Kayleigh rolled over, and no one really seemed to believe me. That's why this post may seem a little unbelievable. Yes, again I was by myself. Kayleigh and I went to a play date with my friends from high school (the same group that met the last time I was here). When we got home to my parents' house, I put her on her stomach on a blanket on the floor. The next thing I know, she's made it to her side. Just a little bit after that, she was on her back! Amazing. I have also noticed that the past couple of mornings when I've gone to get her out of her crib, she's facing a different direction than when I put her down. She's really starting to move some more.
After my mom got home from school today, she had Kayleigh on the bed while she checked email. She called me into the room, because this time she had Kayleigh on her back, and she rolled to her stomach. No one was sitting on the bed to make it slant. I've seen that before, though. I'll lay her down to nurse her, and the first thing she'll do is roll over to her side.
Believe what you want, but my baby is growing up!!!