First steps

That's right! Katrina took her first steps on Daddy's birthday! 10/26. :) She is still mostly crawling, but when coaxed, or, if she is excited and forgets to find something to hold onto, she is off and walking. Quite quickly, too.

Walking or crawling or creeping, she is ALWAYS on the move. And really starting to get into things. Definitely time to baby proof EVERYTHING!!! :)

No walking Pictures yet, But Katie wants to know if anyone's seen her Cheerio?

9 mos.

Today, Our Katie is 9 mos. old. WOW. It has been amazing having her. She has grown sooo much. I mean, I guess that's an obvious. But, From that little babe we first met in the hospital until now. All the milestones. All those gazes, rocking her to sleep, the first smiles to the screams of excitement now. The LOUD babbles when she was first finding her voice. LOL. And now, she understands so much of what we say. It is all so amazing. So MUCH has happened in just 9 mos. BUT, I HAVE really tried to take it all in. I really tried to heed the advice of all the moms out there and enjoy EVERY moment. And there have been countless moments that have just awed us as new parents. In this regard, 9 mos. has seemed like a long time.

I also keep thinking that we have had her now just as long as her birthmom, firstmom, lifemother carried and cared for her. I am so eternally grateful that she loved her during and beyond those 9 mos to give her life. I will never know what 9 mos of pregnancy will feel like, let alone 9 months of pregnancy while making an adoption plan, but I am pretty sure it was not a fast 9 mos. I am willing to bet she was very aware of K. And felt very deeply all of the changes caused by her presence. I can only imagine. That is her story of our daughter. For now, things remains a one-sided conversation between us. But I suppose we have a connection much stronger than words.

flu

An oldie, but a goodie. This picture always makes me smile. :) Today, I feel like I have the flu. I ache all over, head to- well, ankles. But, I don't have the flu. Its fibromyalgia, I am told. It stinks. I am sore. When Katie cries, I think, ugh, ow. And I feel guilty. I want to lift her high above my head and make her giggle, but instead I get her where she needs to be. I am just not as fun a mom during these spurts. I am really not quite settled with this. I have yet to say the words, "I have fibromyalgia." (That doesn't count). I have said, "I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. "Its the fibromyalgia", referring to pain and aches and forgetfulness. But, I'm still waiting for a better curable diagnosis, one that goes away. Granted, if I DID have fibromyalgia, it wouldn't be THAT bad! Its not a death sentence. I'm NOT really SICK. Its just sort of an invisible annoying condition? that i feel like i should just get over already. Half the time i try to convince myself its real while i'm educating those around me that really it makes sense that I have it. I couldn't believe it had a connection to endometriosis, an actual disease! Oh, well, yes, i recognize my issues. :) Julie

Katie's First Halloween Party

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Yesterday, Katie went to her first Halloween Party. It was sponsored by Sofia. Lets see if I can remember what Sofia stands for. Support something Families something Adoption. hmmmm. Its always nice to get together with other families formed through adoption. A lot of the people there were with me and my ups and downs to Katrina (The Yahoo support group). And now some of them are waiting for #2. Oh, the wait is SOOO hard! I think it is still so close because I know we want a bigger family and with that comes another wait or two or ..., and there is no telling what kind of Waits they will be. But, its sooo nice that we who have been through it and are waiting for our firsts all have each other. Well, here is Katie, the Pink Leapord.

The Transformation

It was a busy weekend with a lot of hair-doing involved. On Friday evening, I was sooo impressed with Katie as she let me wash, part, braid and bead her hair. With some cheerios, all the tightly closed ziploc bags of beads and snaps on the floor, a brush and toys piled high all around her, I only had to do a few braids to as she crawled or stood to get "on the go". Well, as I was finishing the maybe a bit early, but I thought quite cute, halloween-do, we got a phone call regarding a family death. Yeah, a funeral. (No one real close, so excuse my continuation of my obsession with my daughter's hair without another word of, I think, Katrina's Great Great Great Uncle who passed.)

I think I was so tickled with my work and my, umm, I mean, Katrina's, new beads that it wasn't until hours later that I realized, .... OH, I suppose the beaded words, "ghost" and "boo" probably aren't appropriate for the occasion. So, Katrina sat again. She was soooo good. Not, quite as still. We took 3 sittings to switch the beads and separate a few braids into two. I can't really blame her for being a bit annoyed. Its funny, I think she knows by now that if she lets me fix her hair, I shouldn't be allowed to fuss with it again for several days, (except for spraying it and a little tending). Within a short time was transformed from very scary Halloween Babe back into Princess Katrina. I really have to admire her for her amazing flexibility.

photos. Gotta run. Katie's up from her "Kit kat nap"

Just a couple photos. The first from August. Katie on this giant king size bed. She had so much fun rolling and rolling and rolling.

Second photo is at Daddy's work picnic. The kids all got pirate toys. Here's Katie. Pulls it off pretty well. Almost made her a pirate for Halloween!

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. - Elizabeth Stone

Katrina looks like such a big girl now. She's 8 1/2 months already. She is crawling fast! and then pulling herself up with anything (couch, leg, lamp). Then, walking along the couch and now, starting yesterday, letting go, and standing on her own for about 30 seconds. She is soooo happy. The squeals she can let loose are just amazing and contagious! Its impossible to be in a bad mood around her! She is my biggest fan! She squeals so loud just because I entered the room! Only thing is, sometimes she cries when I leave. :(

She is waving now too- to us, mom, dad, and her 2 puppy brothers across the room, and whenever we enter or leave the room. We go for walks and she waves at all the dogs and talks to them. And then she just stares at all the people waving to her. lol. Its quite funny.

Well, Cuddlebug wants some attention. Guess i should go. I'm sooooo glad she is still a cuddle bug and lets us hold her bottle and rock her to sleep! Its amazing the bond. How much she totally and completely trusts us. This whole mom thing. Will I EVER be able to wrap my heart around it?