Kate's Baby Blessing

We traveled to Utah for a two week vacation to visit family and friends. While we were there, Kate received her baby blessing along with her cousin Lily who was also in town. It's so fun to have two little ones so close in age. I'm excited to see them grow up together...as together as you can grow up with one living in Alaska...

I learned something at Kate's baby blessing: Ask someone to care for your other children during your child's blessing or you probably won't hear any of it. James was very interested in what was going on during the baby blessing, so interested that he wanted to talk to me about it while the blessing was being said. So, as I was silently trying to keep him quiet in such a way that would keep him from getting upset, my listening skills failed me. Thankfully, Jordan remembered the blessing he gave and wrote it down for me.

I'm grateful for a wonderful husband and two wonderful kids. Here are some pictures of Kate on her blessing day.

Kate: 2 Months Old

Our Sweet Baby Kate is now 2 months old! We love having this little girl around! She is so smiley. If you so much as look in her direction she'll break into a big 'ol grin. Then if you hold eye contact, she'll give you all sorts of coos and squeals and maybe even a little giggle if you talk to her. At her 2 month check up she measured 22 inches and weighed in at 9 lbs. 15 oz. She's growing well. She's also sleeping well. I am very grateful for that. Her longest sleep stretch at night was 13 hours, but she usually sleeps 8-10 hours a night. Without further ado, here are pictures of Sweet Baby Kate at 2 months old.

Our Two Cute Kids

Our friend took pictures of James and Kate on a couple of occasions. She does a great job. She took all of the pictures below except for Kate's 1 month picture. All of these pictures were basically spur-of-the-moment. Let me tell you, it's hard to coordinate the hands of a toddler and newborn. The hand picture is a little fuzzy, since we weren't using the flash, but I still love it.

Kate at 1 month old.
We sure think she's cute!

James at 2 years old.
We sure think he's cute too!

Definitely Related

Here are some pictures of James and Kate from their 1st week of life. Every now and then, Jordan and I find ourselves calling Kate James. Although, they are obviously not identical, there is definitely a resemblance.

Week 1: Sweet Baby Kate

Our Sweet Baby Kate doing what she did best her first days with us...sleeping.
She could go through a whole feeding and diaper changes without opening her eyes a single time. Very impressive.

James meeting his sister for the first time.
He said she was "so cute" and "so tiny." He loved holding her and rubbing her head. He also thought he would love touching her eyes, but we intervened before he could test his theory.

Our first family photo with our new addition.
Can you see how much James loves his baby sister?
Can you see how much Kate just loves sleeping?

James proudly sporting his "I Am A Big Brother" badge that was given to him by our nurse.

James stayed with our good friends, the Hanbergs, while we were in the hospital. They helped him make a cute birthday card for Kate.

Kate sleeping and viewing her brother's card through osmosis.

Kate all dressed up to go home.
She wasn't a fan of getting dressed at first. She fussed a bit as I put her clothes on, but once I got to the accessories, she stopped fussing. I think this little girl is going to like getting dressed up.

A mother-daughter bonding moment.

Our precious baby girl.

I just like this picture. It looks like Kate is trying to inform me of something very important.

Our attempt at a family picture...I include it here because I think Jordan looks really cute. I just love the dimples.

Our burrito baby.

Our Sweet Baby Kate at 1 week old.

At Kate's 2 week appointment, she weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and measured 20 inches long. You may be thinking, "Wow. She grew 1 inch in just a week. Impressive." I thought so too for about 20 seconds before the nurse at the doctor's office informed me that the hospital does not use a very accurate method for measuring baby length at birth. So who knows how long she actually was at birth? I sure don't. Some of the doctor's comments about her at her appointment include: "She's very strong." "She has good muscle tone." "She's a very calm baby." At one month, she still spends most of the day swaddled and sleeping, but she is becoming increasingly alert and awake. Every now and then we get a big smile and a coo (started at about 2-3 weeks). We love it. We love her! I can't imagine life without her.

Baby Sister Has Arrived!!!

Baby Kate Eva joined the Cullimore family on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 10:50 pm (Central Time). Momma Natasha and Baby Kate both performed admirably. Around 4:00 pm Natasha started feeling "pressure like she felt with James." She continued with her daily activities including, but not limited to, cutting fabric for baby blankets, giving James a bath, and showering/preparing for an evening of happy breathing and baby birthing! At 8:30 we called our friend Sean over to sleep on the couch (shout out to Sean and Kate - not the plus 8 ones - for caring for James last night and today...and possibly tomorrow. We are EXTREMELY grateful for your help!). When Sean arrived we packed the car, and headed off to the hospital!

Natasha had time to convey her severe elation between her every-three-to-five-minute "surges" aka contractions.

We arrived at the hospital between 9:15 and 9:30ish and the nurse hooked her up to the contraction reading machine. She then "checked" Natasha, only to discover that she was fully effaced and dilated to an 8 or 9! (For those of us who are not hip to the labor lingo this means "SHE WAS LOCKED AND LOADED AND READY TO HAVE THE BABY!!!")

Consequently, she was directed to her room where she laid down and continued her baby birthing magic. After a few more contractions she felt like she was ready to push, so the nurses called the doctor. The doctor arrived and after a couple pushes and some strategic breathing Baby Kate emerged triumphant from the womb at 10:50 pm! Both she and Natasha performed wonderfully and are happy, healthy, and safely recovering. I was extremely impressed that Natasha conducted herself so calmly and without an epidural. Woah. I'm sure that when things calm down Natasha will share her thoughts and reflections regarding the experience in a subsequent post, but until then, and without further ado, I present - Baby Kate Eva Cullimore.

Dr. Broome cleaning up Kate. Thank you Doctor, and well done.

Kate with Mom and Dad; don't Mom and Little Kate look great!?!

Mommy and the baby..how precious.

The weigh in. Official Stats: 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 inches long. The umbilical cord was not measured.

Sweet Baby Kate.

The Second Annual James Jordan Cullimore Birthday Bash

We went to a nice little park. It was warm all day until the time the party started. The wind picked up and it became quite chilly. James was a little icicle. But, we still had fun. James enjoyed watching his friends run around and play on the playground equipment. He loves to watch and run after other children. He's not too interested in playing on the playground equipment yet. He does love the swings though. He was also quite entertained by our friend Sean's kite flying and a stray cat that came to visit. He was super excited for presents and wanted to play with them all right when he opened them. Thanks for the sweet gifts, friends!

We ate pizza, chips, and veggies and enjoyed some dino-themed Texas sheet cake and rainbow-chip cupcakes. It took a couple of tries, but James eventually blew out his candle. This was after the paper plates had been removed that had been shielding the flame from the wind. I may have also blown a tad...but who knows...I think he got it all by himself.

We sure love our sweet big boy James! He brings joy to each day of our lives. We feel so blessed to have him. We love you James!