6 months old

Miss Kate is 6 months old and a little more lovable each day. Here are some pictures from the day of her half birthday. She has left the infant stage, which is a stage I love so very, very much, and I miss it already. She is entering baby stage which is a fun and rewarding stage I'm also crazy about. 

Katie is an easy baby in a lot of ways; she loves to be held and cuddled, is pretty patient, smiles quickly at anyone, is becoming very ticklish, laughs easily and is super easy to calm down if she becomes agitated. She loves to take tubs and to be kissed, hugged and massaged. She's a hard baby in that she doesn't sleep well on her own but, that it all my own fault because from day one I've enjoyed holding her as much as I can. I'm not complaining though, she sleeps so snug and warm with me and I love having such a special bond with her. 

She has always been an amazing eater and is now getting the hang of the solid foods. She has 2 meal sittings a day of whole wheat cereal with some vegetables or fruits. So far she's had carrots, green beans, squash, applesauce, prunes, and peaches. She most likes the wheat, carrots and prunes.

She has a darling smile that lights up her whole face but, I also love her stoic expressions and those blue eyes and soft skin. She still feels and smells like heaven. 

 Katie had her 6 month well visit and got her shots. She is doing well with using her hands, smiling, blowing bubbles, chatting, pushing weight on her legs and having a very strong neck, back and arms. She rolls over from her back to stomach all the time and fast. Her latest obsession is the double leg kick. It's pretty amazing how strong babies are. If she is lying on her back she loves to kick both of her legs up to the ceiling then quickly down, then up, again and again. What a workout!

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Katie's growth statistics make me laugh because she is so long! Her height is 26.97 inches, which is 87th%. Her weight is 13 lbs 9 oz, or 8th%. The doctor's notes say "Growing like a Price Girl". Look at those long legs, if she keeps growing like this she'll be one lucky lady. 

She is such a show stopper everywhere we go. Happy 6 months Katie, the cutest, sweetest baby I could ever ask for. 

The Baby Girls

I'm pretty sure that my 2 and a half year old Hailey could not possibly be an cuter.

My Sweet Baby Girls

Oh Katie how I love you. 

St. Patrick's Day

The night before St. Patrick's Day the kids set up a laundry basket trap for a leprechaun and wore green Christmas jammies to bed. They woke up to some green treats left behind; a little candy, sprite, grapes, pickles, salad, green milk, and a few dollars. For breakfast we had green toast (they hated it), cereal with green milk (Ashley hated that) and grapes. I definitely don't go all out for this holiday like a lot of moms but, we tried to make it fun.

 St. Patrick's Day was on Sunday this year so we all wore green to Church then had dinner at Nana and Papa's house. Nana never disappoints and the kids loved her fun scavenger hunt. They came home with some fun green prizes and were happy as can be. 

Random for the record

Ashley is in that amazing stage where I wish I could remember all the sweet, funny, honest or goofy things she says all day long. She is queen of one liners too. Here are a few I managed to write down. 

We are in the early stages of finishing our basement, so it's a wreck. Ashley came up and was so excited to tell me about how high she had just climbed.
Me: "What were you climbing"
Ash: "Those boxes you told us not to climb on. I was so high I could touch the ceiling!"
Me: speechless.

Ashley about to try a bite of dinner "Well, here goes nothin"

Ashley did a crazy jump off the Love Sac and should have been hurt and crying. Instead she smiled and said "I've gotta work on the landing"

Andrew's language has progressed out of the hilarious stage Ashley is in but, he still cracks me up. 
Andrew: "Watch how the professionals do it"

A few weeks ago I was released as 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency in our ward. It was absolutely the best calling in the Church. We'd served for 3 years, and I've only been in the ward for 4, so it's all I've really known, and it's all my kids have known too. I love primary, especially because it's been so wonderful to share that with my own kids. I loved feeling such a part of something too, and the friendships that came from it. I don't know why I want to remember this but, I do. I hope I always remember what a special experience it was.

Katie's first foods

Katie got her first taste of food on March 9th, a day or two shy of 5 and a half months old. 

 She started with plain rice cereal and didn't really care too much either way. Now, nearly 3 weeks later we've introduced carrots, squash, green beans and prunes. She is eating just teeny tiny portions and still doesn't care much, and I've completely skipped a handful of days. What she loves is to nurse. She has been an excellent nurser from minute one. She has taken a bottle less than a dozen times but, completely balks at formula. She's a mama's girl, and a pampered princess. 

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I hear mothers talk about their babies who are so interested in food and seem to gulp it down and then open their mouths wide in anticipation of the next bite but, that is definitely not how any of my kids have been. When it comes to the first foods, each of my babies could take it or leave it.

iPad photo dump #2

Katie at 5 months and a week. Katie was having such a smiley day that I just had to get some pictures. Sadly, our normal camera is on the fritz and is probably about done for so I used the iPad just for fun. 

 Look, no teeth!

Katie looks terrified in this picture with Ashley but, Ashley really is so good to her and loves her so. 

iPad pictures

One spazzy night in February the kids had a ball dressing up in mom and dad's snow clothes

Ashley learned all about love this Valentines and had fun getting big reactions by threatening to kiss on the lips. 

First of March

Ashley (4) and Hailey (2) had sisters Lily (5) and Violet (3) over to play. They were a darling quartet and I marveled at the difference between an all girls play date versus boys, which is what I've been used to until more recently. My girls are wild in comparison to other girls we meet but, the these four girls were sweet and funny and didn't cause nearly the wreckage I'm used to from Andrew and his crew. 

 We have lots of dress ups but, only 1 princess dress that Ashley refuses to wear. Ashley and Hailey always fight over the dog suits. It works out fine because the guests always want the dress and my girls never do. Violet was happy to be a bunny

 Our office is also the Price Family art gallery. All 4 walls are covered with art of all kinds and sizes. It reminds me of the movie "Beautiful Mind", where the schizophrenic man covers his walls. It really is beautiful though. 

Sweet Kate

 Hailey, Hailey, Hailey. She is in my favorite stage, and my least favorite stage too. She is 2 and a half now and has all the demands and lunacy of a 2 year old but, she also has me wrapped around her finger with her cute little voice, darling pronunciations, and sweetness. She is loving and funny and everything about her little personality and body is just cute.  

News for Hailey: 

Ear Infections: She's only had 3 ear infections ever but, all three have come on symptom free (except grumpiness) and resulted in a burst ear drum. 2 of the 3 infections have been in this past month. uugh. It was more grumpiness than I thought I could handle but, now that she is better we are all much happier. 

Climbing: She started climbing out of her crib about 3 or 4 weeks ago. She boycotted naps for a bit there, which is what I thought was causing all the grumpiness! It's gotten better now, she'll stay in when she needs to sleep for the most part. Now she will stay in her crib for a nap as long as I remind her to, but her naps have gone from 3 hours to 2.  And, each morning I hear a slight creak as her door opens, about 15 minutes before I used to go get her. Here she is conked out suffering from sleep deprivation and a burst ear drum. 

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Ashley's newest nickname in our house is Little Mama. She loves her baby sister and beams with pride to be such a big helper.