3 Reasons I Love Having a Girl...

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Kate's 3 Month Pictures

The only hard part is choosing which to buy!

(Also, if you hover your mouse over the lower right hand corner of the slide show you can activate the controls, pause, advance, and move back to get a better look at the pictures.)

Kate Video at 3 Months

The last week has brought tons of development for Kate. She continues to become more talkative and even more smiley, if that is possible. We caught some or her chattiness and one of her giggles on video below. Kate rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time on Thursday and surprised herself and me. She is developing hand eye coordination and now grabs and holds her toys, especially with her right hand. One of the cutest developments is that she has discovered her feet. When she doesn't have socks on she rubs her feet together and stares at them in amazement. I am starting to understand what it means to see the world through a child's eyes. The fact that toes can be so fascinating, and patty cake so fun quite certainly brings us back to the simple pleasures.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Giggling and Talking!

Not Found on Monster.com

It's now official. I have resigned my position at Roseville High School to move on to new opportunities. My new endeavor is quite the combination of skills. I will be care giver, personal assistant, chef, nutritionist, and housekeeper extraordinaire. The hours are much longer, I will be without lunch or prep, and I will have no days off. The compensation isn't monetary, but will be dirty diapers, fussy hours, and enormous smiles. It's not the most glamorous of positions, but I am looking forward to it more than anything.

All Smiles

This is how Kate manages to bring such joy to our lives!

Kate's smiles continue to light up our lives and grow in number and frequency. The other day she developed quite the giggle. A major task I have completed this week is the reorganization of our computer files. I have also revised and updated our side bar links for easier access to these files, so feel free to check them out and let me know what you think.

Kate is 3 Months Old

Yesterday Kate hit the three month mark. It is hard to believe it's already been three months of life with our little one. The first few weeks were certainly a whirlwind and sped by. These days things are much easier for us and much more enjoyable. Kate is really starting to develop some coordination and keeps bringing her hand to touch her face and mouth. It is pretty obvious at this point that she favors her right hand. She has also developed this cute fake pay-attention-to-me cough. She does this especially when she wants to eat. It's as if she thinks by acting pathetic enough we will run to her needs, and actually, she is exactly right. Her legs are getting very strong and she loves jumping in our laps. The three of us have also enjoyed going on daily walks as a family in the much nicer weather. Kate is becoming so attentive with large alert eyes and seems to love taking it all in. She is a little girl that certainly loves a lot of action and is not exactly the best napper. I wonder where she gets that from? Kate's smiles and chattiness continue to bring us such joy. We hope you enjoy our latest pictures below.

CLICK HERE for Kate's 3 Month Pictures!

Preaching and Pregnancy

The other day Brian, Kate, and I were on a lunch time walk. Brian was discussing some sermon and sermon series ideas. He very much enjoys preaching but was mentioning how never ending the task sometimes is. I do have some sympathy on this topic. I think it would be hard enough speaking in front of 1,300 people once. Doing this every weekend, preparing something relevant, interesting, and inspiring, I can't begin to imagine. On our walk that day, Brian mentioned how he read in one of his preaching books that giving sermons was like giving birth on Sunday, waking up on Monday, realizing your pregnant, and having to do it all over. I am generally a pretty empathetic wife but to that I responded, "A man must have definitely written that."

Mommy's Big Girl

One thing I am noticing about our little girl is that she likes to be right where the action is. She loves to watch me clean, fold laundry, cook, put on make-up. She especially likes to watch people eat and will follow the food with an intense gaze from the plate to the mouth. She has even started smacking her lips like she wants to try some. We can't wait untill we introduce her to solid foods. I know that will be fun. Kate pretty much likes to be a part of everything we do, and she likes to "talk" to us as we do it. I swear she is 3 months going on 13. We purchased a new baby seat for Kate that she really loves. It is called a Bumbo seat and assists her in sitting upright. I think she especially likes her new chair because it helps her feel like a big girl and makes her even more a part of the action.

She is growing so fast!

Sometimes I think too fast,

but then each new stage brings even more fun than the last.

Kate's 2nd Road Trip

One thing I find amazing as a new Mom is how one smile can bring such joy to your life! Our little Kate has been so smiley. If you pretty much look at her with a smile, she responds with her own toothless grin.

Last week Kate and I took our second road trip to Chicago. My Uncle Tom and his wife Alina are having a baby boy in May and we traveled to Chicago for the shower. Below is the cake my Mom and I made for the shower. We almost lost it in transport, but luckily it survived. You can check out their new blog for pictures of the event, www.tomaszekfamily.blogspot.com.


This road trip went even smoother than the first. Though we did have to leave our Daddy behind in Michigan, Kate and I talked to him quite a bit.

In Chicago we enjoyed the nicer weather with some walks around the lakes, Kate loved to watch her grandpa pack for e-bay, and we even went on a busy buying excursion with Grandma.

When we returned to Michigan Kate had lots of smiles for her Daddy. Kate's 12 week development has been "finding" her voice. She loves to listen to herself make noises and gets in quite the rhythm at times. I have yet to truly capture her chattiness on video, but I have some clips below that give the gist. We are also planning for Kate's 3-month pictures and trying on dresses. I like the pink dress we've picked, but I'm not sure about the headband. Big decisions I know!

Kate has slept through both the last two nights and life with a 3-month old is truly wonderful.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate at 12 Weeks!

Mommy's Sidekick

Kate and I have had great fun together this week. The 11 week old stage is much more fun (in most ways) than having a newborn. Our little girl is so much more content when awake and is much more of a pleasure to take out. We've gone to lunch dates, to the gym, shopping, for walks, made some pottery, and just played together. She is my little side-kick.

We enjoy each other very much and I certainly don't miss teaching. Kate is spacing out her feeding times to a consistent 4 hour interval, which makes our outings even easier. She is also becoming a more consistent night time sleeper. On Tuesday she slept from 10pm to 7:30am, which was heaven. Most nights she wakes up around 4 and then goes back to bed. Brian and I are much less tired! Physically, Kate's eyes are still a deep blue, her hairs seems to be getting lighter, she seems to be getting really long, and much chubbier. As Pop Pop says, "She is well nourished."

She continues to smile and attempt to talk, which is absolutely adorable and melts our hearts. Below is video of my little Kate talking with me, her mommy. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Talking to Mommy!

Visit from Gammy and Pop Pop

This past Weekend Linda and Wa came for a great visit. For Christmas Brian purchased Sweet 16 tickets for the Midwest regional being held here in Detroit. Brian and his Dad were able to see some good games and had a really good time together. Linda, Kate, and myself had a great time visiting. We went out to some nice lunches together, and Brian and I went out just the two of us Friday night while Gammy and Pop Pop babysat. Kate was adorable the whole weekend. She is really started to coo and babble and seems so badly to want to talk. It is too cute. She is also becoming much more content during her awake times. She will just sit on my lap, enjoys bouncing around, looking at lights, and smiling! She is really such a joy and a great child. We captured a little video of her talking to her Daddy and will have more to come later in the week.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Talking to Her Daddy!