My Kate

I'm warning you... this kid CANNOT keep a straight face while taking a picture. This is what we get most of the time.

So cute!

Today is Kate's birthday, and man how time has flown by... She is such a beautiful, smart, DETERMINED, and passionate little girl. Though she tries my patience the most, I can't imagine life without her. She is such a little spit-fire! We love you Miss Kate! Have a great 7th birthday!

Cameron went to Katelyn's class today to read a book to her classmates and to bring doughnuts. She was so excited... He also brought her a chicken nugget kids meal from Wendy's. She is having a special day.

Ten things I love about Katelyn (in no particular order):
10) Her great big eyes... Her eyes really tell you a whole lot about her mood. They sparkle when she is excited, they are cross-eyed when she is being goofy, they are focused when she is determined, and they are puppyish when she is sad.

9) She runs EVERYWHERE she goes. Seriously, Cameron and I laugh out loud often. She has been doing this since she could walk. In the middle of the night, if she needs to go to the bathroom, we hear running.

8) She is very logical. She just "gets" things.

7) We call her the "baby whisperer." She loves to snuggle with and love babies. They seem to like her too.

6) She notices EVERYTHING. You cannot get away with anything with this one. She remembers everything you say and rationalizes the world around her. She's big into patterns
For example, yesterday, we had a conversation that went like this:
Kate: Mom, I think Owen might feel a little different than the rest of us.
Me: Why do you think that?
Kate: Well, he was born 5 weeks early, and all the rest of us were 2 weeks early.

5) She is so stinkin' smart. When you tell her something, she gets it fairly quickly. When you look at her, you can literally see her thinking.

4) She knows what she wants. This DETERMINATION can sometimes frustrate Cameron and I, but we also recognize that it is also a good thing. If she wants to go out to play, she'll get her chores done fast so she can get outta here. If she sees something she wants at the store, she will ask about it FOREVER.

3) She is adventurous. She is definitely our dare devil. She has taught herself to ride a bike, and learned basically by herself how to ski. She loves being outside getting down and dirty.

2) She is busy. This kid isn't content to just sit around. She is always on the move. Playing, learning, talking, etc.

1) She is mine. I remind her that even though she is going to grow up and move away someday, she will always be my Kate. She says "Ok, mom!" when I say that. Oh, I love my Kate.

Katelyn's Birthday Outing

Katelyn's big 7 is this week, and in keeping with our family tradition, she got to take one friend out to dinner with the family. She invited her friend Harriet from school. She decided that she wanted her ears pierced for her birthday present, so we went to the mall...

This is the before shot... see how she is all smiles.

Then she started getting nervous as the first one went in...
I told her once she had one in, she had to follow through. Here is the first one in...
And she managed to squeeze out another smile when she was done.
She just kept saying, "it stings... How long will it sting?"


Then it was off to the Spaghetti Factory, her favorite restaurant. This was our first outing with all the kids, and man, I felt like people were staring at me with all the kids I had.

Thank goodness for the crayons and activity books while we were waiting for food.

And then... off to Chuck E Cheese because Katelyn had free tokens coupons sent to her for her birthday. We played for about an hour. What fun?

And, just cause... this little guy is SO stinkin' cute. I love him so much!

Camille LOVES when he snuggles her like this.

Emmy still isn't so sweet and gentle with this guy, but she is getting better, and loves rubbing his head with her cheek.

The first thing this kid says when she gets home from school is "Mom, can I hold Owie... I haven't got to hold him ALL day!"

"Oh, so cute!"

Maybe...

So with my last few kids being closer in age than the rest, I've had to deal with more than 1 kid in diapers at a time. For those of you who have had to deal with this, you know it is NOT a fun thing. Multiple changes, and lots of money. Spence took his own sweet time to potty train, so I had Emmy and Spence in diapers at the same time for a year before Spencer finally got it. Knowing the Emmy and Owen are only 18 months apart, I've been gearing myself up for at least another year of two kids in diapers. But the last few weeks, Emmy has been fascinated with the potty and tells Cameron and I that she needs to go to the potty. She doesn't USUALLY go, though we stick her on the toilet, but today, she went to the potty, sat on it, and went #2!!! Wahoo! MAYBE... she'll decide that she wants to make life easier for her parents and potty train in the next few months. Cross your fingers...

My cute Emmy girl. She is at a bit of an awkward stage with her hair. I have been able to manage a couple cute pigtails, unfortunately they don't stay in for too long, and the back of her head looks like a rat's nest.

In other news, my little Owen is still just that, LITTLE. He went to his 2 week appointment today, and weighs less than his birth weight after 2 weeks. All my other kids had gained around 2 lbs. by this point, so I'm a little nervous. He still isn't the greatest eater because is so sleepy. We need to keep watching him, and I have to MAKE him wake up to eat, so we can chunk him up a little more. Too bad I can't just turn over some of my extra pounds to help him AND me out.

His 2 week stats:
6 lbs. 8 oz. - 5 percentile
20 inches - 25 percentile
head - 35 percentile

And a little late, but over Christmas break the Richards cousins went skiing with the girls, and they had a great time. Katelyn is learning quick!

My latest LOVE

Isn't it amazing how when a new baby comes, and you wonder what you ever did without them? We ALL feel that way about our new little guy, Owen. So far, he has been a very sweet baby. He is still having a few jaundice issues, but for now he is not under lights. He has to get pricked every few days to see how he is doing. They keep reminding me that because of how early he was, he is a little sleepier and might have a few more issues than full term babies, but over-all he is looking pretty good. My other kids would be happy if they could just hold him all day long. He is a cuddler, and loves to be held. I told Cameron he has a bassinet radar... he'll be completely asleep on my bed or in our arms, and the MINUTE I set him down in the bassinet, he wakes up. Here's a few more pictures:

Spencer LOVES this little guy. He makes things for him, and holds him for a good hour a day, while I am folding laundry or things nearby. He loves to rub his head and hold his hand.

Smiling in his sleep. I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed this morning with this laying next to me. :)

He just looks so little in his carseat still.

He's not such a big fan of baths at the moment.

Some of his AWAKE moments. Still can't decide who he looks the most like... most people say Camille. I think he looks a little like all of them.

YAWN!!!

His legs and bum are still so skinny.

Don't know how we ever got along without this little guy. I've only been gone from work for 3 days, but am feeling sad that that is 3 days closer to leaving this cutie. :(

Tired

Because of this...

I am tired!!!

On Wednesday, Owen and I were released from the hospital. My blood pressure is still having issues (much to my frustration). So I have to take some extra meds for the next 6 weeks. Hopefully things will go well, and I'll be cleared soon. Baby Owen is surprisingly great since he was so early. His biliruben levels crept up during the day he had been home, so now he is under the lights. He does NOT like being in that hard bed, and did not sleep well during the night. I was up most of the night, reassuring him that I was indeed closeby. He looks so cute and tiny in there, but we are hoping that his levels are good today so that he doesn't have to go back to the hospital.

Our other kids are so happy and excited that Owen is home. Since he's been in his tanning bed, the kids haven't been able to snuggle and hold him, but they did get to do that for the whole day before...

Katelyn got up early, and literally RAN to my room to snuggle with this little guy. Kate loves his head, and has to rub his head with her cheek ALL the time.

This girl is so in LOVE with her new baby brother. She has been a great help, and LOVES to hold him any chance she can get.


This one isn't SO sure about having a new brother. She loves to "see" him, but hasn't been so gentle with this little guy. She is facinated with him, we just have to keep a close eye on these two. Emmy is a little "rough" with Owen. She is probably just trying to teach him the ropes as she was so carefully taught by her brother Spence.



Doesn't this look like a proud big brother? Spence told me that he is going to teach his brother all sorts of things like how to play Wii and throw a ball and play with batman.

This was his "going home" outfit. He was bundled up all warm and snuggly. So cute!

This is him "waking up" right before the ride home. He had been so sleepy with all the meds I was on before that, I had to quickly capture his "waking" up.

Camille insists on snuggling him like this. This kid is lucky to have such great older siblings. Though my kids are a little further apart in age than I would have liked, at this point, I love that I have older girls to help my little ones.

I am definitely happy to be home, hopefully things will slow down enough for me to enjoy the time I have home with this precious little guy.