SC State Fair 2013

It wouldn't be fall in Columbia without a trip the State Fair!  We took Brady last year, but obviously he was too little to really do anything.  This year he just missed the height cutoff to go on the rides by himself which meant we got to ride along, yippee.  I think he really enjoyed it though.  I would say he was cautiously excited to ride the few rides we did ride.  I like that he is not a dare devil, makes me feel a little bit more at ease!

Riding the cars with mommy!

The swings!

"Put your hands in the air!"

Riding the boat with daddy.

Walking through the fun house.

Riding the Farris Wheel.

Sharing an elephant ear, my personal favorite fair food :).

Love these 2!

Checking out the animals.

His first pony ride!  He loved it if you can't tell.

KVD 5 months old

Katelyn is 5 months old!  She is still the absolute sweetest baby in the world.  She hardly ever fusses unless she is really tired or hungry.  I wouldn't dare say any baby is "easy", but she is probably the closest thing to it.  She just always seems so content tagging along doing whatever we are doing.  She loves to watch her brother.  She has started squealing at the top of her lungs, and it is the funniest thing.  Brady will call her "silly baby!"  He likes to squeal back at her when she starts :).  She is starting to develop her own little personality, and I just love watching her mold into a little person right before my eyes.

I can officially say she is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!  And by that I mean GOOD sleeping, like 11 or 12 hours.  This makes for one happy momma.  She started in the nursery full time at the beginning of the month since I started back at work, and so far everything is going great.  The only downfall is she really doesn't sleep well there at all.  She only naps about 30 minutes- 1 hour the whole day, so by the time we pick her up she is exhausted.  She is still in a good mood in the afternoons though, and hopefully she will get adjusted soon and be able to nap better.  I know she is in good hands there, and it makes my transition back to work a little bit easier although I miss her SO MUCH!  I have yet to work a full day; just can't do it!  I am thankful for a flexible job that allows me to come home early sometimes.

I am sad to say that I have started to supplement with formula a little bit.  I was just not pumping enough at work and my freezer supply is quickly depleting, so as much as I hated to do it I had to introduce her to formula.  Thankfully she has taken to it just fine.  I just nurse her as much as I can.  Usually the first few sessions are fine, but by the afternoon we are both getting frustrated because she is just not getting satisfied.  I have been nursing her and then giving her about 3oz of formula afterwards when I can tell she didn't get enough.  I knew that this would happen when I went back to work which is one of the reasons that I put it off as long as possible.  I think making it to 5 months with no supplementing is pretty good though.  On another note, I tried rice cereal for about a week, but every night Katelyn was waking up around 11 or 12 fussy like she had a tummy ache, so I stopped feeding it to her.  Since then she has been fine.  I will try introducing it again soon, but I hate to mess with a good thing (sleep is key!). I would be more concerned if she was on the skinny side, but let's face it, she is not deprived over here :).

She has graduated from the miracle blanket to the sleep sack, and she sleeps with her pink bunny lovey.  Brady has the blue bunny, and it is still his favorite sleep time buddy.  No pacis or thumbs at our house, just loveys.  I'll take it!  They can sleep with them until they are 16 for all I care ;).

She loves bath time and starts getting excited when I take her clothes off.  She really likes her play mat and her bumbo chair.  She loves to grab her feet, and every toy goes directly in her mouth.  She is getting really good at tummy time and really doesn't mind it at all.  She has yet to roll over, but I know it will come in due time.

While it seems like she was just a tiny baby yesterday, it also feels like she has been a part of our family forever.  I don't know how we lived without her!