4 Months!

Caylee is 4 months today!!  She is doing so well sleeping, even slept from 8pm-6:30am 3 times this week!  We're hoping she learns to do that every night, but so far we're back to waking once at 4am.  She still takes a good 2 1/2 to 3 hr nap a day, and usually we can get her to doze for about an hour in the evening- Matt likes this because he's tired when he comes home and they nap together.  She can roll to her side, but not completely over.  She can sit up with some support.  She loves standing on her feet when we hold her- she's so curious and loves to see what is going on around her.  She is becoming more vocal and will play for almost 30 minutes by herself on her mat at a time.  She still isn't too interested in toys, unless they are held above her and she can pull at them- that's why the mat works great!  She'll sit contently in her chair while I make dinner and we listen to music.  Anything Caylee can put into her mouth makes her happy... we had thought maybe she was starting to get teeth, but it doesn't appear that way anymore (I think she and I both just had a cold and we over-read her symptoms). Caylee is just about out of her 0-3 month clothes and we're starting to add in the 3-6 month clothes.  (Matt said the 0-3 pants still fit, they are just capri's... um... no, I know the difference :) ).She loves when Daddy makes funny noises or faces and is starting to try to imitate some of those sounds.  Caylee is very attached to me, I'm ok with that!  She will get her 4 month shots on Monday and hopefully not develop too much of a temperature this time. 




Caylee,
You are getting so big and have been such a joy to watch grow!  We love you and keep looking forward to all your new tricks!

Morning

I am a morning person,always have been.  This doesn't mean I want to talk to people in the morning, it just means I enjoy the peace and quiet that morning brings.  I like getting up and getting ready for a new day!
Luckily, Caylee seems to be a morning person too.  She is always SO happy in the morning.  I don't get my quiet mornings to myself anymore, but I'd say this is better.  We get all of our errands and chores done in the morning, so that when afternoon comes we can rest.  Even though Caylee takes a long afternoon nap, she still is never as happy as she is in the morning.  Here are some morning smiles...

 

"...joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5

Willing to Yield

I've been doing Beth Moore's new study on James for the past 5 weeks now. 
**Sidenote: Don't do this study if you aren't ready to be convicted about something!

              Anyways, today she talked about yielding.  She posed the question... "When you see a yield sign, what do you do?"  Everyone on the video and in the room said "slow down so the other person can go".  Well, clearly I needed this lesson more than they did because my response was "speed up so you can beat the other guy and not get stuck behind a slow driver!"  Oops.. :)
                Yielding is hard for me. Obviously.  I feel like I am giving in or giving up if I yield to a person or situation where there are two conflicting ideas or where I have been previously hurt.  I feel justified in my way of thinking... especially if the other person in the situation has caused harm or been unkind to me, I do not want to yield to that type of person for sure!  Trust me, I know people like that too.  And it's especially hard to yield in a situation where I feel I am right-- which of course, is often.  :) 
              But she explained yielding differently.  She explained that yielding to something or someone is not giving in.  She said "we yield out of wisdom from above, not out of fear below".  We have to be looking towards God to know when to yield to a situation or person- even if we might be right, there are times when we must extend mercy and yield.  She explains this a lot better than I will so I recommend doing her James study.  Nonetheless, I still wasn't sold on this idea of yielding.  Several situations/people popped up in my mind during this lesson and I was not sure I could yield.
               So...When I came home, I put Caylee down for her nap and started in on my normal quiet time.  Guess what?  There was that word again... yield...  ugh!  A situation has continued to come to my mind throughout this entire study.  In this situation I have been hurt numerous times and my guard is constantly up and yet here I am with the clear knowledge that God is asking me to yield- not to give in and, as Beth says, not to allow myself "to be trampled on in a situation", but to receive wisdom from above and yield-to extend mercy and basically, in my own terms "to be the bigger person".  Thankfully, this time I saw the word, God softened the idea in my head (I'm still wrapping my heart around it), and what I read this afternoon compared yielding to that of a palm tree.
                I figure God must have a sense of humor in all these lessons we learn because of course He would use a palm tree!  I LOVE palm trees, to me they symbolize the beach, peace and calmness- how could I refuse to listen to something that involved palm trees!?!
                Anyways, did you know, a palm tree bends during storms?  Did you also know that it's root systems exceed the height of the tree?  Basically, during a storm a palm tree has the ability to "yield" or "bend" and amazingly after the storm they can stand straight again and come out stronger than before.  Also, the root systems are super deep in palm trees, which gives them solid anchor during the storm.  Do you see what I see yet?  Yielding isn't about giving in or letting people walk over you.  Yielding does not mean you will break.  There are times when God asks you to bend a little or a lot, but don't worry- you'll come out stronger in the end.  And the roots?  Obviously, it's a great reminder that we need to be so deep into God's words that we cannot be uprooted by even the strongest storm.  Pretty cool, I thought!
               So... to wrap things up.... yielding is not weakness or breakage, in fact, it's just the opposite- it's strength and adaptability.  Yielding is wisdom from above and yielding is merciful.  Now that I know this, I know the areas I need to yield in my life (driving is probably one- haha) and I'm not saying it will be easy or that I'll get it on the first try, but I love having the palm tree as a constant reminder.  (Maybe I need another trip to FL for an up-close visual?!)   :) 
 

Love Bug 2012!

Isn't she the cutest love bug ever?

This is her Valentine's dress... we will continue to wear it, but it was perfect for V-day! (Yes, she ALWAYS has her hands in her mouth now... kinda cute, but kinda annoying for pictures!)

Matt was lucky this year to have 2 valentine's!  Me and Caylee of course!!  

Matt was so sweet to get a card for me and Caylee.  The card he bought Caylee is precious and when she's old enough to read what he wrote she will really appreciate it!  The cupcake was for me :)  And it was DELICIOUS!  No, I didn't eat all the icing (and I should have taken a pic before eating the top part, but oh well). 

Happy Valentine's Day!! 

Daddy Time

Matt's time is very limited these days.  He leaves for work by 6:30 or 7 (although I think it's about to be earlier) and he doesn't come home until 6:30 or 7 (although, that might also be getting later).  Since Caylee goes to bed by 8, their time is extra limited!  He's such a great dad though and when she gets older I want her to know that the time he did have with her he loved.  This is how they spend their time....


Changing diapers and standing up...

Reading vet articles... (I force the reading so she'll know his voice, but think how many big words she'll learn!)

Flying... (what kid doesn't like to fly?!)

I am very grateful for the time Matt does spend with Caylee.  It's sooo important and I know he's exhausted after a long day, but he loves his little girl and it's so neat to see her smile at him!

We love you! 

Florida Part 3- The Beach!

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”

--Isak Dinesen

I don't go to Florida without seeing sand and water at some point.  Unfortunately, this trip to the beach was very short because it rained every day and was VERY windy.  Still... it was warm and Caylee had her first trip to the beach and dipped her toes in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!!  She's my daughter, so I'm sure she'll grow up to be a beach/sun lover... there is nothing better! 

Here is her first trip!

 Love this picture!!!

 My mom

 My aunt

 It was super windy! Yet, somehow my hair ended up going everywhere while everyone else's looks cute! Oh well.. still a great pic of all of us :)

Maybe next time we go back it will be warm and Caylee can build her first sand castle!  Hopefully, Matt can go with us then too!

Florida Part 2- Family!

Of course I took pics of family while in Florida!  Like I said previously, we went to stay with my mom and my grandparents live just down the road.  My aunt flew in from Seattle too.  It was great for them to see Caylee (for the first time!). 
Here are some pics....(I'll say who everyone is from Caylee's perspective)


4 Generations!  Great Aunt Debbie, Grandma, Great Grandfather, Caylee, Mom

Grandma playing with Caylee, she's so happy!

Great Grandpa playing with Caylee... due to the rainy weather we spent a lot of time indoors.  Caylee watched tons of tv with her Great Grandpa!  I know, it's terrible that she likes tv so much!  On the other hand, I used to watch tv with grandpa and we'd always watch the Food Network, so it was fun seeing he and Caylee watching together. 

4 Generations... That is Caylee's Great Grandma.  We gave Caylee her middle name, Ann, after her.  Unfortunately, she has Parkinson's Disease and probably isn't quite sure who we are- or at least who Caylee is.  But she did get to see her and she did say how cute Caylee was!!  Caylee smiled at her a bunch and then laid next to her- not still though, and my grandma did feel her moving around next to her :)

Great Aunt Debbie and Grandma (sisters) with Caylee... again, Caylee won't stay still for anyone, so pictures are getting harder to capture!

Great Grandpa and Caylee (she loves her great grandfather!)... Mom and Great Aunt Debbie in the background.  

Florida-Part 1- Airplanes & Sleeping!

This past week Caylee and I headed down south to Florida!  We were spending the week with my mom and grandparents (Caylee's Grandma and Great Grandfather and Great Grandma), my aunt (Caylee's Great Aunt) joined us from Seattle too!  I was pretty nervous about getting down there because this would be Caylee's first plane ride.  I just didn't want her little ears to hurt with the pressure changes because mine always do.  She had no problem at all!! On the way from Lexington to Orlando she slept the entire way.  On the way from Orlando back to Lexington she slept going up and coming down and woke up a little in the middle, but she didn't fuss or anything. 
I tried to get a few pics from the traveling part....Since she slept the entire first flight, I only have a few pics from the return flight... 

Sitting in her own seat... no, this wasn't really her own seat, but we had the whole row to ourselves, so I let her play a little and showed her the clouds through the window.

She was more interested in the man's head in front of us

Waiting for flights... it's so easy to take a stroller through security and nice because I don't have to carry her for hours and hours since she already has to sit on my lap for the entire flight.

I was also worried about Caylee sleeping well once we got to Florida.  My mom had a pack n play set up in the bedroom.  For one thing, she has never slept in a pack n play.  For another, she has never slept multiple nights in the same room as me.  (We started her early in her room because I didn't want her waking up everytime Matt had to get up early or come in late or take a phone call).  Anyways... this trip we were in the same room and she slept GREAT!  (Even with all of my coughing and sneezing... I'm not sick, just allergies I think).  I was so happy with how well she did sleeping!  She was always very happy in the morning too.....

So... those were my 2 biggest fears going into this trip and God took care of them both!  Caylee did amazing traveling, which is exciting because we have many more trips planned!!