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New Videos of Kate

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Check out some new videos of Kate:

http://www.youtube.com/user/taylormadefamily3

My Baby Teenager

Kate has what I think is Baby acne. She has gone from 1 1/2 months to fifteen over the last week. I feel so bad, but supposedly they don't even notice it. Hopefully it clears up by her next doctor's appointment, but if not John will have to ask the doctor what it really is.



An Uncomfortable Situation

This past weekend on Sunday my family had scheduled our family photos to be taken in Duluth. Since we were both heading the same direction, we decided to car pool with my parents. Being a mother of an infant who eats breast milk, I was going to need to pump in the car throughout the day. Thankfully I have a cover up and besides the noise of the pump I can be quite discreet (I have already had to pump on other road trips). Though I knew I could handle it, I was pretty uncomfortable knowing I would have to pump with my parents in the car!

When we got to the location where we were picking my parents up, they hadn't arrived yet so I decided to pump then and get at least one out of the way. To my surprise the battery pack to power the pump did not work, and this was with 8 brand new batteries. At this point John and I were trying to figure out which locations had private restrooms that would also have outlet plugs in them (we still have no clue thank goodness).

Since I didn't need to pump yet, I decided to wait. John started telling us of this thing you can plug into your car lighter and then it creates a normal plug in that you can plug anything into. We decided to purchase one of these once we got to Duluth. By the time that we did buy it, I had gotten quite uncomfortable and needed to pump asap. Needless to say I did have to pump in the car filled with four adults and one baby, but only once, and by that point I could have cared less!

P.S. I was able to exchange my pump for one that did work correctly the other day, thank goodness!

We Have Daycare!

Friday, September 25, 2009
Well we think we may have found the perfect daycare mom, Joyce. We are both really excited for Kate to go to her house every day, which is amazing since we thought we would be nervous. I am dropping off all of her supplies a week from Monday and then the next Tuesday will be Kate's first day.

From the cuddling attention that Joyce gave her during the interview I just know that she will feel loved while she is there. Plus, her references were all very positive about how much both they and their kids loved her.

The funny part is that one of her vacation days is the Monday that we were going to start, but it is okay because Grandma Taylor is more than happy to fill in!

Losing the Pregnancy Weight

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Of course the focus of losing the pregnancy weight (and then some) is pretty common with women after having a baby. I am no different, especially since we have a couple of family photos coming up soon.

I was able to find a great resource online that calculates how many calories you should be eating each day. It tells you how many to maintain, lose, and (gasp) gain.

http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm

I found this really helpful and am using the calorie tracker that this website also offers for free. I have used the Weight Watchers online tools in the past and I think that I like this alternative better, plus it is easier on my wallet!

http://caloriecount.about.com/

Please let me know if there are any resources you have found helpful that I may have missed!

Tip for Interviewing Daycare Moms

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
When you are a daycare mom and are having an interview, show interest in the couple's children. Yes, it is important to make sure they get all of the important information about your service, but you should also be interested in the child.

We have only been to two places, out of five so far, where the providers actually even ask to hold Kate. One lady, who we didn't like right away, looked at her for like five seconds and that was it.

(Our favorite so far waited about two minutes before asking, then held her the entire interview, cuddling and talking to her. She is definitely a baby lover!)

As soon as the two did ask to hold her it was great to see how they would interact with her. I know that they are on their best behavior since it is an interview, but it still does help. A lot of this decision has to be based on gut feelings and reactions, this type of activity really helps!

Child Care Snafu

We at one point had found who we thought would be the perfect daycare mom for Kate. She lived in Hugo, was super nice, seemed to have it all together, was on the same page as us in raising kids, and even her rates were reasonable. Due to our procrastination though we have missed our chance with her and she has filled her open infant spot, actually both of them.

A first time parent is never aware of how tough it can be to find infant care. Since the county only lets the providors care for two infants at a time, the spots fill up quick. I think this is especially true in a town like Hugo where there are a lot of younger families because of all the new developments.

We realized this snafu on Thursday night around 6:30pm. Of course once we knew this we both scrambled to call as many providers that we could find. I think that we called every single providor for Hugo, Centerville, Lino Lakes, and Circle Pines that were listed on the State of Minnesota website. At first it seemed like every person that we called had just filled their infant openings. This of course made me really nervous, I think John was just happy I didn't start hyperventilating!

Thankfully we were able to set up quite a few interviews which started on Saturday and go through to Thursday. At this point we have our one favorite, who is slightly more expensive than the rest, but we both believe it will be worth it. We have appointments every night until Thursday and hopefully will then be able to make our decision.

The hardest part for me may be calling the ones that we did not choose to let them know. What do you say, especially to the ones that you did actually like just not as much?

She Sure is Growing!

Friday, September 18, 2009
We had Kate's 1 month wellness check up this morning with her doctor. She weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. That is an increase of 2 pounds 10 ounces and 2.5 inches in less than a month!

We thought she was feeling a bit heavier! : )

Kate at 1 Month

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

One Month Old

Kate is one month old today!

Our little baby is growing like crazy right before our eyes. It is amazing how much she has changed over the past month, but is still so much the same. Some of her mannerisms and faces are so funny that I hope she carries them as she grows up.

At one month Kate:
  • eats between 4 and 4.5 ounces of milk at each feeding.
  • only wakes up for one feeding during the night, on average.
  • can track with her eyes and likes to watch lights, toys, hanging things, etc.
  • recognizes both her daddy and her mommy's faces and voices.
  • recognizes the beagles' barking/howling.
  • recognizes her bottle and likes to flirt with it at times.
  • can lift her head past 45 degrees and hold it while on her belly.
  • can turn her head from side to side when on her belly.
  • can hold her head pretty well when sitting up.
  • squeaks a lot.
  • is awake a lot more and alert.
  • still loves to cuddle, especially with daddy.
  • is beginning to grow out of her newborn clothes and is beginning to fit into her 0-3 month clothes.
  • smiles at daddy and sometimes mommy.
  • still has all of her hair, which may even be getting longer.
  • (she has her Dr. appointment on Friday which is when we will find out her length and weight.)

Happy 1st month Kate!

Check out our family's channel on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/taylormadefamily3

Daddy's Girl

Friday, September 11, 2009
Kate has become quite the little Daddy's girl. It doesn't hurt that she has John wrapped around her tiny but long finger. : )

A couple of days ago she smiled spontaneously for the first time, which basically means the smile had nothing to do with gas or a bowel movement. What made her smile do you ask, well her Daddy of course!

We figured it wasn't a fluke because it has now happened multiple times. John was happy and surprised the first time that he saw it, and I'm sure the strong hold she already had on him just got stronger.

She also is memorized by his voice, especially when he comes home from work at night. Most of the time whenever he starts talking she will wake up just to see that he is home.

She even enjoys watching sports with him, as she watched football with him last night and seemed to enjoy it.

In our house we have a little girl that loves her Daddy just as much as he loves her.

Birth Announcement

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Kate's First Slide Show

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Use the link below to watch a slide show of a bunch of pictures from our quickly growing collection:
Enjoy!