Eliza Kate's Dedication

What a blessing for our family to dedicate sweet Eliza Kate this past Sunday. We felt so honored to have our immediate family, our church family, and two of our best friends in attendance. It's such a special honor to commit yourselves to teaching your children Godly principles in hopes that they will follow the Lord when they're old enough to decide.

Landon was the hero of the morning. A sickness from our assistant teacher put a kink in our plans. Landon ended up teaching an impromptu Sunday School lesson, ushered our guests to their seats, escorted Miller to the potty and in the knick of time joined us in the holding room to walk across the stage. I was more than just a little relieved to have him join us! They announced baby girl's name as "Elizabeth Kate". I guess I should get use to complications with her double name. At least our last name wasn't butchered!

Landon wanted to present his baby girl, so I had the awesome responsibility of keeping up with "wild man". Miller was excited about walking across stage. Once he spotted our reserved seating of guests, he waved and wanted to traipse off stage to sit with his friends:) I finally just scooped him up on my hip with his restless fidgeting!

It does take home and church support to parent. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful church family to help us raise our kids.

Our friends Anthony & Amanda and Shane were in attendance. It was such a honor to have them with us.

Mom and Dad hosted us for a dedication brunch at their house following the service. The little miss couldn't have been more content and happy for her special day. I thought her production of a dress might make her fussy, but she was my little trooper baby. We put her in the swing and let her dress hang down. The sweet thing kept inching herself out of the swing with her dress blowing in the wind. It was really cute to watch!

Eliza Kate will just love her dedication dolly when she's old enough to appreciate it. What a wonderful keepsake to tell her about one day. It may just be a doll we look at behind glass:)We displayed her three month photos on the table that I had taken in her dress.

My friend Katie from Cakes on the Corner made the dedication cake for the little miss!

Miller is so proud of his baby sister. Seeing these two together warms this momma's heart. We are so grateful for our little blessings.

First Day Jitters

This little man of mine was not the least bit jittery about the start of preschool. He was jittering with excitement about his first day. In the carpool line he commented, "Mommy, I'm cited!"

All I could do was smile as I watched him walk off hand in hand with one of the teachers into the building. I must admit, there was a twinge of sadness thinking about just how big this little man of mine is getting. I also pinched myself thinking about the early summer days of potty training when I thought that Miller wouldn't be trained enough to wear underwear to school. But, we made it! He's ready...really ready to conquer the world of preschool in big boy Matchbox underwear. He'll learn so much this year, I just know it! His red, green and blue paint stained shirt was a great sign of a "busy bee" morning. He chatted all about painting a wiggly worm (I think it was a catepillar) but he insists worm. I also got details about the snack of the day and his purple carpet square for sitting. Miller informed me that he got a happy face for behavior. Great start little man!

And now a flashback of past first days:

August 2008

August 2009

Busy Bee

Miller is officially in three year old preschool! Ever since we found out his teacher's name, he's been curious to meet his teacher. We shined his shoes, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and rehearsed good manners before meeting Miller's teachers at Open House today. I think I was the most excited for all of us. There is something about the start of school that always gets me excited. New beginnings, bulletin boards, school supplies and the promise of wonderful memories. Seeing Miller's name by his hook and on the class bulletin board warmed this former teacher's heart. Visiting Miller's classroom today really made me miss teaching...I love it so much!

The only thing I'm nervous about is carpool. I've been studying the route in order to make it in the correct lane and remember to flip my visor down at the right time. Poor Miller thinks he's getting on the school bus on Monday morning like all the other school aged kids on our block. I keep trying to describe what a car pool is, but he hasn't quite grasped the concept yet!

I'm sure I already got marked on his initial paperwork "high maintenance" mommy. We had lots of questions and lingered around for awhile. Two of Miller buddies are in his class, so it was fun to let Miller play and get familiar with his "hive". I can't wait for the class parties to begin!

What a blessing it is this year to participate in preschool events and have three mornings a week to enjoy the little miss. It can't get better than that!

Ponte Vedra

Our family of four enjoyed our first vacay together at the end of July. It's no small feat traveling with a newborn in a car 6 plus hours south. Landon and I felt a sense of accomplishment taking a vacation with just our family. In the past, we've traveled with my parents for an extra set of hands! Eliza Kate proved to be quite the little road traveler....what a trooper baby. It helped that we stopped midway in South GA to tour a small farm and enjoy homemade peach ice cream. Big brother used it as an excuse to burn off some pent up energy and stretch his legs.



We really loved Ponte Vedra. Most mornings, we set up camp on the beach to splash in the surf. I hung out under the umbrella and watched the little miss snooze under the safety of her baby cabana. This was the life safer of our trip. Even though she was protected under her tent, she still managed to collect sand in every little fat fold of her body!

It was HOT by the shore. I took a portable fan to cool off our baby. I think she appreciated a little breeze blowing her way. She is the princess, after all. I don't think lycra and toole breathe very fell in the sweltering heat, so I finally just stripped her down to her diaper. She's learning young that beauty is painful:)



We enjoyed the early hours at the beach before it got too unbearably hot. Like clockwork, we would pack up all our beach parafanalia around 11:30 a.m.. I swear it took us half an hour to hose our toys and bodies off. It was quite the production.

Does anyone else see the awkwardness of the photo below? Landon snapped 5-6 shots with this hovering man coming out of EK's hat. Most people would have ducked down. I can't even crop him out...ugh!

Miller wore himself out with Landon jumping waves. They created their own rating system to evaluate each wave as puney, medium, and Big Kahuna. You could hear Miller's shrills up and down the beach. He had a big time in the water. The Atlantic waves are rowdier than what we've been accustomed to in the Gulf.

After lunch and naps in the condo, we wrapped up the afternoons at the pool before dinner. Miller and Landon played flipping games on the raft. Between jumping, dunking and splashing you'd think this boy would exhaust himself, but he's our little energizer bunny.

Eliza Kate enjoyed her first little swim in the pool on this trip. We christened the floaty to let her enjoy all the fun of the water. She pumped her chubby legs in excitement. It's still a little too big for her, but it still was a big hit!

We took a side trip to St. Augustine for the day to see the lighthouse and the Fountain of Youth. While we were there, Landon surprised Miller with tickets to tour the Alligator Farm. Landon took on the persona of Steve Erwin the Crocodile Hunter the whole time we were at the swamp. He had us all in stitches almost to the point of embarassment with his accent and all of his "Oh Crikey" comments. I don't think Miller knows how lucky he is to have such a dramatic daddy!

Miller's favorite part was feeding the alligators at the swamp with special food. It created quite the feeding frenzy! Miller kept begging his daddy for more quarters to turn the slot for more food. I preferred viewing the alligators from behind the safety of glass.

Our junior croc hunter showed no fear putting his head inside this alligators chompers..wink wink!

Our favorite dinner spot was in St. Augustine at Santa Maria's on the water. A friend recommended this restaurant on FB while we were searching for a place to eat. Gotta love social networking sites!! The novelty of the restaurant is their special trap doors at each table. They bring bread for kids to feed the fishies while you eat. Miller was so intrigued opening and closing his special compartment to feed the teeming fish in the ocean below.

Here's to many happy memories of Ponte Vedra. So long beach, we hope to see you again soon!

Three Months Old

She's no longer a newborn..sniff, sniff! We've moved on to the infancy stage with Eliza Kate and the little miss is really coming into her personality. My sweet sweet baby girl could not be more of a joy to raise. I can't get over just how easy she is to please, and I hope this is a good sign of a happy countenance. Her full faced, dimpled, gummy smile melts this momma's heart. Can't we just freeze frame this stage?

Baby girl's chunky monkey thighs are evidence that she loves to eat. From her fat padded hands and feet to her dimpled bottom and double chin.... she's a big girl. She's eating 6 times a day about 5 ounces each session. It plays out like this...7:30, 10:00, 1:00, 3:30, 6:00. We haven't been able to drop the last cluster feeding at 8:00 right before bed. Eliza Kate was SSTN (sleeping through the night) before our beach trip last week, but our out of whack schedule messed her up and we're working on getting back into shape. If I deviate more than 30 minutes from our feeding routine, the little miss responds with an early morning awake time! As of last night, she gave me her usual SSTN...hallelujah!
I have to give Eliza Kate at least one pumped bottle a day to prevent her from turning up her nose at the idea of anything other than nursing. If I skip a day, she's so cranky with plastic in her mouth.

Eliza Kate is still taking four naps throughout the day. 9:00 a.m., cat nap at 11:30, 2:00, and a cat nap at 5:00. Once she drops her 11:30ish nap, I'm confident that I'll get a longer afternoon stretch out of her. It's so nice to have EK and Miller napping each afternoon together at the same time. I need that break!

The biggest change this month is her vocal ability. Eliza Kate is cooing, gurgling and laughing up a storm. Happy sounds fill our house! She makes so many cutesy baby sounds that Miller tries to imitate. You can tell that she likes hearing herself talk. Miller and EK form a mini choir in the backseat with their echoing sounds back and forth.

Baby girl absolutely despises her pacifier. I've tried everything to get her to take this self soother with no such luck. She decided this week that she'd rather be a finger sucker. After searching and searching for the perfect finger, EK decided on her thumb as her favorite self soother. When I awaken her in the morning, she's smacking away on her left thumb...so cute!
Landon's excited with high hopes that she'll come through and be his lefty child.

Eliza Kate is wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. She seems to have a long torso, so she grows out of things fast. I love to dress her in bubbles, but her legs are a little too fat for the snaps to work. Poor baby ends up having elastic marks on her legs from the fat constriction..oh no!

Her favorite activity is still swinging and staring at her mirrored mobile overhead. EK likes her play gym as long as the music is not playing. She kicks and pumps her legs in excitement at the hanging animals. She loves to stare and coo at her colorful flower rattle.

Is it birth order, personality, or mommy confidence the second go around? I don't think we'll ever know! But, I'm thankful that our baby is relaxed and go with the flow so far. We're absolutely loving our "sweet little bundle" as Miller likes to refer to his sister. I never knew I could enjoy the infancy stage with our happy girl so much! God is so good.