gran has arrived!!

liz got here last nite around 8:30!! we decided it was worth keeping kas up late (her bedtime is usually 7:30 or 8:00) to take her with us to pick up her Gran from XNA. so we did her betime routine and put on her jammies and loaded up! they were supposed to land at 7:26 and didnt land until 8:30 or so!! i guess that is normal for flights. point is...she's here safe and sound, thank you Lord! today we have enjoyed being together. marc went to work so liz, kas, and i went to aldi to see daddy and buy a coffee maker, then to wal mart for some stuff. i have spoken more Creol today than i have in the last year, and i love it. i cant wait to be able to carry on full conversations in creol with liz. we do about half and half now. i understand most of what she is saying and when i speak in english, she teaches me the creol translation. we are teaching each other. it's awesome to have kastyn surrounded by BOTH of her languages now too. it's really important for us that she speak both. we have alot of family she needs to be able to communicate with! so liz is here now and we arent sure if or when she is going back to florida. we will see where God leads our family, i pray that we all stay together in the same place!

Labor Day 11'

This was our first Family Labor Day! it was a nice day. we did some deep cleaning in the house then marc and dad went to pick up our couch and loveseat from debby and steve. thanks so much guys, they match our living room perfectly and are amazingly comfortable!! so i rearranged the living room to fit in the new goodies. we had plans with some friends of ours but kas has her first "cold" and they have a baby the same age so we postponed until the snot is gone. we decided to go out to mom and dad's for some grilled ribs, carrots, and mashed sweet taters. YUM!! it was a very good lunch, thanks mom! all in all our first labor day was a relaxing, sweet, fun day with loved ones...the best way to spend a holiday.

Labor Day Pics:

this is our neighbors kitten that felt brave enough to trot into our house and sit up on our keyboard!

kas and grandaddy (note: grandaddy's awesome hat :) )

momma and sissy

first time to sit in grandi's high chair. her momma and uncle aron used this same high chair as babies!

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

eating a gummy wrapper

7 month pics

WEARING MOMMAS SOCKS!

COOKIN' WITH DADA WHILE MOMMAS AT WORK!


PLAYTIME WITH MOMMA AND DADA

ADORE MY DADA

HELLO!

STANDING ON MY OWN!!

STILL LOVE MY JENNY JUMP UP!

SITTING IN MY ROCKER

LOVE MY MOMMA

LOVE BIG BROTHER JERRY

7 months!!!

kas turned 7 months old yesterday! she is continuing to develop like crazy. she is sitting up pretty well on her own now, but she still topples after a bit. she is sleeping 12 good hours each nite, but still napping smaller during the day. she naps from 20 mins to and hour usually, with an occasional surprise 2 hour nap. she talks and jabbers and makes so many different sounds. she's figuring out her throat can make noises and that if she makes enough noise, she wont fall asleep! we've started laying her down at her naps so she can put herself to sleep, but at nite i still try to rock her to sleep. sometimes we are successful, sometimes i get my rock in then have to lay her down to put herself to sleep. she still has that amazing temper. when she gets angry she swings her left arm up and down and hits whatever happens to be in the way (food or faces). haha. im still praying for her temperament! she is SUCH a GOOD and HAPPY baby though! the only time she is angry is when she doesnt want to sleep or if she's super hungry and we're not movin it fast enough! we get compliments on how happy and content she is. as long as she is with momma and daddy, her world is complete...and so is ours.

her milestones and likes:
-getting up on her hands and knees to crawl, no movements yet!
-size 3 diapers
-3-6 or 6 month clothing; 2 shoe
-drooling EXCESSIVELY
-LOVES other children
-loves demmy and other dogs
-scares easily-she has become so aware of her surroundings that new sounds scare her more easily (her biggest fears: running the bath water, vaccuum, garbage disposal)
-some momma separation anxiety- if she can't see me she gets upset; if she wakes up and doesnt see me, she freaks out, terrified!
-eats 1 jar of veggies at lunch, and 1 jar of fruit at nite, cereal at nite
-takes about 31 oz formula/day; or five 5-7 oz. bottles/day
-flips around like an acrobat in her crib
-puts her paci in her mouth, usually upside down!
-loves to read, look at, and eat books
-still LOVES outside
-loves give very aggressive and wet kisses

6 months

there goes another month, big girl! she was officially HALF a year old on July 31st!! just like i say each time, cant believe she's this big already. i can still see myself in our hospital room, and feel what it felt like to be there for our first 3 days. thats how close it seems. but its not, she is already a big baby, not a newborn anymore. so crazy. kas is doing all kinds of new things each day, each week. it is so much fun to be a part of every step. we love spending time with family, having playtime on her butterfly mat, 1 on 1 time in the blue rocking chair, laughing at simple things, reading/looking at/eating books, and taking occasional naps together now that she's big enough to roll around. she still doesnt nap much. we usually get her to take 3 to 4 thirty to forty-five minute naps a day. but she still sleeps 11-12 hours each nite!! cant complain about this!! her routine gives mommy enough sleep and enough alone time with marc each nite where we get to sit in the living room and enjoy being together, just us. kastyn is such a good baby. when we go somewhere, she sits or stands in our lap, talks and looks around. she is very content as long as she is in our arms, therefore, we can go everywhere! she still loves to be outside. we havent done much swimming lately because of the intense heat, but im hoping to get a few more swims out of this year. as i write this, im reminded to also write about the continuance of kastyn's temper(since she is laying in her bed screaming due to not wanting to fall asleep) lol. i pray for her temperament each nite. i continue to pray that God would calm her temper and when she gets old enough, that He would give us wisdom and patience in dealing with her temper. this will be a challenge for me since i fight with the same struggle as she does. i hope it also helps me to relate to her and remember that i know how she is feeling when she gets so frustrated. i guess ill stop here for now and give you her list of developments!! after those there are pics from her 6 month 'photo shoot' i did at mom and dad's on her big day. she is modeling her precious lime green dress from aunt cherline!

*weight: 15.10 (38%) height: 25" (19%)

*size 2 diapers

*3-6 month clothing

*size 2 shoe

*sitting up alone

*sits in her highchair and loves it!

*eating baby veggies once a day at lunch and rice cereal with cinnamin before bedtime bottle

*favorite veggie is green beans, just like daddy!!

*drinks water from sippy cup

*learning to hold bottle and sippy cup

*grabs/holds toys, switches toy from hand to hand

*takes a few steps towards you when i hold her hands

*rolls from back to front, chooses not to roll from front to back unless sleeping in her crib

*in push-up position, turns a complete 360 to see the whole world

*ticklish on her belly and back

*loves her saucer and jenny jump up

*loves to watch demmy play fetch and smiles

*huge when she brings the toy back to us

*makes "talking" noises and hilarious sounds

*has started to have a little bit of separation anxiety

*loves to have momma and daddy sitting by her at all times

*loves people but plays hard to get to crack a smile for them

such a happy girl

happy to be with grandaddy

see my pretty dress?

love my momma

what??

precious mermaid

kas loves the water, thank goodness! i was hoping she would like it, and she is just a little fish, or frog, depending on her kicks! she sits in the baby floaty and mellows. then ill take her out and turn in circles with her and she gets so excited with loud yells and screaches. i love it. i even braved the "blow on their face and dunk them while they hold their breath for a second". it was pretty scary, but she came right back up and started screaching again. i was scared i would traumatize her, but mom said they did that with us and they still do that in baby lessons. marc has gone swimming with us once. i used to swim with my dad and he'd let us ride on his back while he went all over the pool. it was always something i looked forward to during the summer. i cant wait to have fun adventures as a family. here are some cute pics of our little mermaid/frog. haha! at hollys pool

watching daddy while drying off

sittin in the shade under the diving board

swimmin with daddy

so much fun!!

5 month pics

daddy & k
kas typing ( her favorite key is the space bar!)

i sit up on my own!! (only on the bed tho)

my new pj's (size 3-6 mo)

playing on my butterfly mat

i like it!!

eating cereal for the first time!

1st time in my highchair

by the sunflowers

in daddys garden

wearing uncle B's outfit he picked out!

watching her friend demmy

sitting on the couch with momma

5 months

kastyn turned 5 months on the last day of june. i continue to be amazed everyday by what she is learning and doing. her personality is blooming, and i must say, she is quite a firecracker! this is good/cute/funny at times, and other times, i have prayed for her not to get my temper because i can testify, it is not something that is fun to deal with on a daily basis. i have struggled in this category since i can remember, and what i cant remember, my amazing parents who got to deal with it can testify! it's not just hard for a parent to deal with, but it's hard to feel your anger get ahold of you before you can even tell yourself that it's not worth boiling over. anywho, we will see where God takes us with this. and we will continue praying!
kastyn is so funny. as i am typing this, she is in her saucer (that she loves) talking and spitting all over the place. her voice and noises are adorable and her spitting is hilarious because whoever is holding her at the time she decides to perform this talent, she blesses them in a complete shower of spit-drops. she doesnt actually giggle quite yet, but when is happy and excited, she pants loudly and screams/squeals even louder. this means even if we are in church, praying, weddings, and walking down aisles in stores. she definitely draws attention wherever we go! only God can take credit for her indescribable cuteness and funny personality! well, i guess on the cuteness area, marc can take quite a bit of credit, since she's a spitting image of daddy! haha! mom and i did figure out that she for sure has our cheeks and mouth. mom found a pic of her a toddler and her mouth looks just like kas! woohoo! we can claim a bit of this credit now!!
here is the list of kastyn facts, i gotta make it quick, she's tired of being in the saucer!!

~size 1 diapers, she will easily be in a 2 once we are thru with this box of 1's
~size 3-6 month clothes, 3 is perfect in onesies, 6 months is a little baggy
~size 1 shoe
~we guess her weight around 14 lbs. i will put the for sure weight after her 6 month appt.
~length around 23-24 inches we are guessing??
~her hair is still short but growing and getting thicker
~she has sat in her highchair and had cereal 3 times
~she LOVES fruit! she has had mango, watermelon, strawberry, cantaloupe, pineapple. she sucks them dry when we put a piece in her little net fruit holder.
~ she can roll over, but when im in the room with her, she won't very often. once i leave to go to the bathroom and come back, she's always on her back!
~she's very close to sitting up on her own
~she still loves to be outside. the world is well when she is outside.
~i still think her favorite person is grandaddy. she loves all of us, but he can get the quickest light up and smile from her
~she loves to watch demmy and fritz. they make her very happy!
~she drinks 6-8 oz per feeding
~she likes to drink water from someones cup
~she loves loves swimming
~she loves music, she gets upset until i turn in up in the car
~she reaches for everything and holds things with both hands
~she can put things to her mouth and take her paci out of her mouth(cant quite get it back in just yet)
~she loves to give big wet kisses. she holds both sides of my face and pulls it to her mouth
~she doesnt wake up crying, she lays in her bed and talks for about 15 mins before calling us in there
~she still doesnt take long naps. we get about 3 or 4 thirty min naps a day.
~she sleeps 9-12 hrs each nite!

girls just wanna have fun

kastyn and i had our first girls' playdate! it was with marie and remi, and trisha and carly. it was so fun to watch how similar yet different each baby girl is and it was interesting to compare and see different developments in each sister. example, kas holds her upper torso up off the ground completely in the mini push-up position, yet she wont roll over except of special occasion. however, carly wouldnt hold herself up but can easily roll over. not only can she roll over, but she can roll from back to front which is not the typical direction young ones learn first! they usually go from front to back first. carly and kastyn are 5 days apart. kas was 4 days early and carly was born the day after kastyn's due date. what good timing! lets not forget about miss remi, she was there too!! she is 9 weeks behind the girls, but she is doing quite well herself, smiling and talking! i loved every minute of it!! these playdates are gonna be a blast!!

she was getting a little upset at this point.


left to right: carly, remi, kastyn

here carly, eat my hand.

kastyn is showing off her new spitting abilities and carly is actin gangsta!

holding myself up so big!!