daddy's garden!!

crazy daddy!
his beautiful tomato plants and peppers

daddy has created our first garden! actually, he has pretty much re-landscaped our whole yard- front and back. it looks amazing, and we are very proud of his creativity and drive to succeed in gardening! in our veggie garden he planted tomatoes, multi-colored bell peppers, snap peas, and corn. (we attempted potatoes, but it didnt work out) :) he also has planted a grape vine, roses, and multi colored flowers. all of this is in the back yard. in the front he has planted different plants lining the front of our house and a mini japanese maple. we are very excited to see how it all comes out!! i didnt help with the planting, but i cant wait to go pick some fresh veggies to cook with this summer. and i DID help weed some areas this week. so i have contributed a tad-bit. haha.

Kastyn loves to get in my maya wrap and look outwards. she looks around until she falls asleep. it's precious. she loves to be outside! she just looks in wonder at everything! she is such a good baby. here's a few pics of our little gardening work in progress!

the veggie garden

a rose plant

my 1st mother's day

this mother's day was different. i was no longer only a daughter to my mom, now i am a momma myself. this was surreal to me. the most amazing, un-explainable feeling. it gives me butterflies and huge smiles on my face when i think about being Kastyn's momma. when i begin to nurse her, i feel...elated. that is my word for it. i am the only one in this world who will provide for her the natural, God-created food she needs to survive. it creates such a beautiful bond between us. this is amazing.

my mother's day flowers when i got home from work! one from daddy, kastyn, and demmy!

daddy talking to K

what i came home from work to on Mother's Day.


my Mother's Day beauty!

i am beyond blessed to be where i am in my life. my husband and my daughter love me unconditionally. and i love them. it's no longer just me...it's us.

our 1st Easter

we just celebrated our first Easter with kastyn! we went to church, ate a great lunch at aunt barb's, and K got to meet some more of her family members for the 1st time! she got some toys from jan, and a basket from grandi & grandaddy, aunt korri, and momma & daddy. she is so loved! it was fun putting her in her little Easter dress. she looked so cute!! next year it will be fun to join in on the easter egg hunts since kas will be old enough to understand a little bit about the game. thank you, Jesus, for dying for us and rising again!!!

our family of 3

easter "basket" from momma & daddy

sorry, it's too dark

HAPPY EASTER!!!

rub-a-dub-dub

one of our favorite things in our house is bathtime. in the beginning K was not so big on bathtime and screamed the majority of her bath. i was hoping this would change over time, and it did, thank goodness!! i think she hated it because she got cold when she couldn't yet be submerged into the warm water and had to hang in the hammock part. now she perks her head up when she hears me start the bath water and turn on the heat lite. she talks and grins the entire bath. when i pour water over her head to rinse, she catches her breath and then starts talking happily. i love bath time. its so cute to see her enjoy it! after her bath, we dry off in one of her cute towels(bunny,duck,and pink polka dot). she gets a good rub down with vaseline and baby lotion, dressed into her pjs and get ready for snuggle time! a clean baby smells so sweet. our bedtime routine is definentaly one of our favorite times of the day. daddy and i take turns on the bedtime bottle and rocking to sleep(when she doesnt fight it). she is so indescribably amazing. i love every minute of her. thank you, Lord, for such a perfect blessing.

Kastyn's 1st bottle (snuggle time)

in her duck towel! (newborn Kastyn)

i see you daddy!!(5/11)

close up!!

K's 1st bath..when she HATED them!!

Grandi & Grandaddy

we LOVE grandi and grandaddy. we are blessed to have loving grandparents on both sides of our family. now if we could only get the other side to move here and be with us too!! we're working on this, of course. we miss gran and granpa. kastyn would like to see them very soon! thank goodness grandi and grandaddy are here with us now. they help me with K all the time. i call mom on a daily basis with momma questions and she always comforts me regarding my concerns. Kastyn is really learning people so its fun to see her light up with big grins and start jabbering to them when she sees them. i dont know where we'd be without mom and dad! our parents set a great example of how we should raise our family in Christ. we pray for Kastyn's salvation to come at an early age, so that she can experience as much of the Jesus as possible. i want her to feel comfortable with coming to us with any questions she will have, and we want to have the appropriate answers for her. we need and want God to be the center of our family and im excited to see how we grow together in Him. it's comforting to know that He will be with us through every trial and every joy.

growing up we had all that we needed and more; spiritually, emotionally, and physically. i pray that i can provide this same love for kastyn. i want her to grow up and look at marc and i the same way we do our parents. we are trying to follow in their footsteps, and they have big shoes to fill!

silly grandaddy!!

3 months

Kastyn turns 3 months this saturday! it's going too fast, and i cant figure out how to slow her down!! i love the time we are in, as ive said before. but its kinda sad that it goes so fast bc next thing we know, we'll have a toddler/teenager(scary). we are working on tummy time, now that i found the tummy time mat from the rhea lana sale. i love it. and she is propped up on her chest a little so she can look around and not stare straight down at the ground. i set a few of her friends in front of her and she smiles and talks to them for a few minutes until shes over her tummy time. then we get up. K is wearing 0-3 month clothes. she can actually still wear some newborn stuff, too. the only 3 month stuff that fits is carters because they make their clothes more narrow. mom said she still looks 'twiggy'. thanks mom. lol. i guess she is pretty skinny still, but she's getting little rolls on her thighs. it's cute. her belly pokes out too. so we're working on fattening her up! im also trying to get her attached to her 'snugglies' that we got at her shower. they are so soft and i drape it beside her head at naptime. it's so sweet!

here are some things about Kastyn at 3 months:

~she likes to sit in her swing and sometimes sleep in it unless she fights her nap

~she likes her paci, but spits it out so she doesnt go to sleep, then cries b/c she doesnt have it! lol

~she's bearing weight on her legs. she loves to kick and stand herself up when we hold her on our chest. shes gonna be a soccer player!!(daddys dream)

~she has multiple bff's. Dean, Roman, and Remi!

~shes pinching and grabbing at whatever she feels with her hands

~shes smiling and talking more and more

~shes started to drool! im hoping it's not teeth yet.

~she drinks 4 oz per feeding

napping on daddy. so sweet. :)

K and momma

see the rolls on my arms?

strike a pose!

pro sleep fighter

Kastyn is a professional sleep fighter. this is the UFC in her life. and she's the best.

K will wake up, eat, then sit happily in her chair for up to an hour. then once she starts to 'gripe', i know it's time for her 1st nap. we swaddle her from under her arms down( she wont sleep if her arms are swaddled down) to keep her from wiggling so much. then we rock. she's ok until she starts to go to sleep. then the screams start. if i offer her a paci, that enrages her, how dare i think she wants to sleep! so she screams louder. we try laying her in her bed and checking in every 5 minutes until we think she may be sleepy enough to rock to sleep. she can cry for 45 mins plus if we would let her. but we wont. we try the swing, which she LOVED for 2 weeks until last week, now she screams in it. she screams in my or marcs arms. she screams in her chair. she can go all day on two 30 minute naps. but she is TIRED. it goes okay until afternoon. then she pretty much can scream on/off until evening. mom has come over and she falls to sleep for her and sleeps for 2 hours!! she's done this twice. i dont know what it is, but she's not hurting and she's not hungry. we even supplement 2-3 oz of formula after each nursing to ensure this. so we are rotating holding her and putting her down for short periods until she decides, in her OWN time, to give it up and rest.hmm..i may see some of her mommy's strong will and desire to be in control already. uh-oh!!*wince*

here is our angel sleeping, before her lovely non-sleep phase began...
praising Jesus in her sleep.