Trying to take a good picture

I tried so hard to get a cute picture of Kate smiling on Sunday, but she just did not want to cooperate!







Not even when taking pictures with her cousin Jaylee...




Cousin rivalry, already? She's half smiling after hitting Jaylee in the face. That can't be good...

I did manage to get these two cute pictures.


Adorable.


I just LOVE this picture. Daddies playing with their little girls. Priceless.

Kate's Determination

Kate loves to play in her ExerSaucer. She loves to stand and play with all the toys, but sometimes she gets stuck. Her arm will get stuck in the leg hole, and she can't get it back out. That doesn't deter her from trying to eat her toys though.

Four months old!

Kate turned 4 months old on friday. I can't believe how quickly these last four months have flown by!

Kate can now:

reach out and grab things
take her binky out of her mouth
laugh a little bit
grab her feet


switch an object from one hand to the other
chew on both of her hands at the same time


stand in her saucer


talk and yell loudly
almost roll over

(I found her sleeping like this the other night. We think she was dreaming of dancing to Thriler)

She is now in her 3-6 month clothes, and she'll be out of them very soon. She's growing so fast! I think I may have spoke too soon about her sleeping through the night, because she no longer does! She will go to sleep around 8:00 and then I'll feed her again when I go to bed around 12:00. She'll wake up around 4:00 to eat again, and then again around 8:00. I know that I can probably start feeding her some cereal, but I think I'm going to breastfeed exclusively for as long as I can. I don't mind this at all though. I don't work, so Kate and I sleep in until about 10:30 every day! She did sleep better last night, so maybe she was just going through a growth spurt.

She's a very happy baby most of the time, but she definitely gets into what we call "Queen Kate" moods. This is where she cries a very whiny cry and only wants to be held. It usually occurs when she needs a nap. When she is tired she wants to be left alone with peace and quiet to go to sleep. She does not sleep well in public. We learned this when we went to the Mills mall on Saturday. She was very angry with all the noise and was very tired. I've never heard her cry that angrily or for that long before. She finally went to sleep when Dustin was holding her very tightly and walking very swiftly to get her to calm down.



I have a lot more pictures to post, but I think that will do for now.

Over this past week, I have had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my little family. I love them so much, and I am SO GRATEFUL to have these people in my life. I never knew I could love someone so much, until my husband and baby Kate came along. I cannot describe the joy that I feel when I receive a hug from my husband, or a smile from my baby. I love that I am a member of the church, and that we have the awesome blessing of being sealed together FOREVER as a family.

In loving memory

Dustin here...this is an illustration I did for a fallen friend. Kameron was a good friend and an awesome husband and father. He will be missed by many and I hope everyone will donate at least a little something to the family that he left behind (for directions see Erin's previous post).

Kameron Haban

For those who don't already know, Kameron Haban lost his battle with Lupus yesterday morning. He has touched the lives of so many with his huge smile and genuine kindness, and will be missed by so many! Jami has also touched many with her amazing courage and faith throughout their ordeal. Whether you know them or not, please keep Jami and 2 1/2 year old son Kason in your prayers.

This sweet family is in need of emotional, spiritual and physical support. Kameron spent more than the last month of his life in the ICU. We are all blessed with an opportunity to help. Yesterday a bank account was opened for them. Anyone can go to any Bank of America and make a donation to the account under JamiLynn Haban for the benefit of Kameron Haban. You can also make an online donation at paypal.com by sending it to habanfundraiser@gmail.com

Jami did an amazing job of updating everyone on her blog kamandjami.blogspot.com if you would like to read more about their experience.

Please help us lend support to the Haban family during this time! Feel free to help spread the word of how to make a donation to those who you know will want to help.

(--originally posted by Lindsey Stokes. I couldn't have said it any better, so I didn't! Feel free to post on your own blogs. The more people that know the better!)

Kate loves her bunny!

Problem solved!

Thanks to everyone for your great advice! I will certainly try all those tricks later, but for now--I'm off the hook!

I called jury services yesterday because I had a couple questions regarding my postponement. After those questions were asked I said,

"So, my other questions is--I'm nursing a 3 month old daughter and she will not take a bottle. Do I just bring her with me and explain my case to the judge?"

She said, "No. Are you a stay-at-home mom?"

"Yes."

"Well, all you have to do is write a letter explaining why you can't come and fax it in"

It looks like being a SAHM is enough to get you out of Jury Duty. That's awesome America.

So I wrote a letter, Dustin faxed it for me this morning, and I just called to check on it's status, and I'm excused!

Whew! I was super stressed about that for awhile!

One day I'll fulfill my civic duty, but monday is not that day.