Kate's Baptism

Kate was Baptized Thanksgiving weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony and she was surrounded by all of her family members who love her.



Kate was on her best behavior during the ceremony, considering it was her nap time. We joked about the Baptism calling it the Exorcism (sacrilegious, I know) because, well, let's be honest, Kate isn't the most cooperative baby. Much to our surprise after the "Bean Dip" (I know, we are full of them, aren't we?) she was calm and smiling, so we all thought the Baptism "worked" and rid the evil out of this child. However, about a day later she returned to her normal self so we now joke that it didn't work.

All joking aside, it was really meaningful and we are proud of our Kate. We are so glad that we were all together as a family during this event. Her godparents are my cousin Eric, and his girlfriend, Bianca. We could not have picked two better people for this role. Kate is lucky to have them in her life, and so are we.

First things First

It has been a while since my last post, but come on people, I am busy, I have a baby. Sorry, but having Kate has been my excuse for everything; it’s awesome. But seriously we have been busy around here this past month. Kate experienced so many more “firsts” during the month of November. Let’s see, she had her ears pierced, which was so fun to watch. Not. Of course I knew that she would cry during this experience so I dragged my mom along to do the dirty work (as in holding her while she was stabbed in the ears). Poor baby was so upset, but like anything else she soon forgot about the whole ordeal and moved on.


(Kate after getting her ears pierced)

We had our first Christmas family photo taken downtown by Jennifer Blackwell. Since our last photo shoot didn’t go so well I decided to have my mom and step-dad come along to do the dancing in the background to get Kate to look in the direction of the camera and shed a smile. Well, it kind of worked, out of 100 or so photos there is one photo of Kate smiling. So that is the one that was chosen as our Christmas picture to send out to everyone. Seriously, I don’t know why I think things are going to be different and one day, POOF, she is going to look in the camera, smile, and cooperate during picture time. I thought she would be vain like me and love the camera, but nope, she would rather play with the camera and try to put it in her mouth.


(The Howard's first Christmas Family photo)

We also celebrated our first Thanksgiving with Kate. I wanted her first one to be special. I always try to make things really nice when I entertain but since having Kate, and while being pregnant, I slacked in that department and preferred the paper plates and cups. But this year I wanted it to be great, so I pulled out the nice dishes and flatware and even made a somewhat nice table setting for the family. It was rustic since it was outside and we had plastic chairs. But at least the dishes, flowers, and place settings looked nice. Kate even sat in her “big girl” high chair for the first time and tried my “famous” mashed potatoes. She loved them, and of course she got them all over the place (hair, floor – but at least Blake was around to gobble it up). So I would say her first Thanksgiving was a success, and best of all she was surrounded by all of her grandparents, including her great-grandmother.


(Kate trying her mom's famous mashed potatoes)


(my attempt at making a floral arrangement - they started to wilt the next day, but still looked good in my opinion)


(the table setting)


(Kate with her great-grandmother)

Kate was also Baptized Thanksgiving weekend. I don’t have any photos to share, yet. It went really well. I thought she was going to scream, cry, or fuss the entire time, but much to my surprise, she was pretty good. Thank goodness her cousin Bella brought a balloon to keep her entertained. However, the whole time we worried it was going to pop and scare the crap out of everybody in the church. During the “bean dip”, as we called it, Kate seemed to enjoy the priest pouring water over her head. Phew. She only fussed during the end when it was way past her naptime and it was, you guessed it, picture time! She wanted no part in picture taking, once again. However, overall, it was a success and thank everybody for pitching in to make it a beautiful ceremony and lovely reception!


(Kate with her godmother, Bianca, and her "sweat pea" sippy cup - that is what her godmother calls her)

Lastly, we decided to buy a real Christmas tree this year. Every year we have used a faux tree and Chris and I decided when we had kids we would start buying real trees. So Kate didn’t really pick out the tree and she will have no idea or memories about this event, but at least we have pictures to show her going to pick out our tree. She will have no memories about all of these firsts, but they sure are fun to watch her experience them!


(Kate and I at the Christmas tree lot)

Hey Hey it's the Monkey...

I finally caught Kate on video making those noises I described in my previous post. She is feeling better after her episode of the chicken pox but now we are dealing with the two top teeth coming in. If it isn't one thing it's another! She was kind of fussy this weekend but she did find time to crack herself up and give us some comic relief. In the videos you will see her crawling around the house; she is getting pretty quick and good at getting to where she wants to go! Kate is also "talking" as you will hear her screech and scream in delight. Happy viewing!







We took her to the Taco Stand this weekend with our neighbors, the Palmer's. Kate tried a homemade tortilla and she LOVED it! No more bland cheerios, crackers, and toast for this kid, she wants the good stuff! She also tried to drink from my beer, damn lush starting early. I was two when I tried my first beer...haha...! She is part Mexican so of course she loves tortillas and beer, nothing better than that!

Typhoid Mary and Scream 4

For those of you who may not have heard (and how could you not unless you are Ramsey and don’t have a Facebook account?!) Kate had the Chicken Pox. We affectionately called her Typhoid Mary because she was contagious and she could not be around children or people who had not had the "pox." So, Kate and mommy hung out for one whole week together. Poor baby broke out badly and she had so many spots on her. We don’t think she caught it at the sitter’s house since all the kids were and are fine. The only place we could think of is the Pumpkin Patch since “they” say a child is contagious or has the “pox” 2-3 days before the spots appear. We took her to the Pumpkin Patch on a Friday night and two days later several red spots appeared.

She is doing fantastic now. Kate enjoys her baths again, whereas during the peak of her Chicken Pox she HATED bath time; screaming at the top of her lungs was common and very heartbreaking for her parents. But, I seem to think this little baby is becoming a master manipulator because screaming is her new thing. She doesn’t babble. She SCREAMS. Yes. Screams. For instance I was driving today and she screamed at the top of her lungs. Nothing was wrong but it scared the S@!# out of me! I knew nothing was wrong because before the screaming she was “talking” (babbling is stretching it) and then came a scream and more babbling. When I say babbling, Kate grunts, growls, screeches and screams. I feel badly because Blake, her doggy, is her model. When people come to the house he wags his tail, and he kind of sings, growls, and whines all in one. Is this who she is modeling? I am serious! I think she is learning from him because the other day her shoe came undone and she picked it up, put it in her mouth and started crawling towards us with the shoe still in her mouth; Blake walks towards us with his tail wagging with slippers or socks in his mouth. Pretty soon when people come over Kate is going to shake her rump and start singing, growling, and whining!

Another new thing for Miss Kate is her new sleeping schedule. I wish she never spoiled us with sleeping 12 hours straight. She is such a tease. Now she wakes up 2 to 3 times per night and she doesn’t whimper or cry softly to indicate to us that she needs a diaper change or a feeding, she SCREAMS. At the TOP of her LUNGS! It’s like getting that dreaded phone call at 2 am. She SCREAMS bloody murder and there go Chris and I running to her rescue only to have that goofy smile looking at us, at 2 am. Did I mention 2 am? She is way too smart for a 7 month old. Nothing is wrong with this child, most of the time. She may need a diaper change, but she is not THAT hungry as she only eats 2 ounces, Kate wants to hang out with mommy and daddy at 2 am. Did I mention 2 am? Augh. Kate has regressed to the newborn stage that everybody wants to forget. Except at least now you can actually talk to them and put them back down to sleep instantly, whereas the newborn stage was rocking, swinging and singing to them for hours one end. I shouldn’t complain. This too shall pass right?!

On to other updates for Miss Kate; she is around 19+ pounds, crawls everywhere, and pulls herself up on everything. We have slowly baby-proofed our house but baby-proofing would really be padding the house and that is not going to happen. She always has supervised play because Kate gets into EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. Kate LOVES laptops, computers, remote controls, cell phones, cords, and mirrors. All the dangerous and expensive stuff, awww, just like mommy and daddy. You know when you read those baby books and they talk about what a certain month old should be doing. There is the part when they talk about a 7 month old crying if you take a preferable toy away. Kate gets mad, and I mean MAD, when she is not allowed to play with the laptop, computer, cell phone, etc. Was this kid born in the digital age or what?! How do they know this stuff? I guess she sees mommy and daddy ALWAYS on this stuff and she wants to be in on it too, right?!

Another thing Miss independent wants to do is stand up, ALL THE TIME. Kate pulls herself up on everything. My legs. Baby gates. Coffee table. Bed. Chairs. In the bathtub. On the toilet. You name it, she has tried it. It’s so cute to see her crawl around the house and make that next developmental step and pull herself up. It is so cool when they try something new, but then you have to deal with the fact that they have tried something new and they are going to keep trying that new thing. Augh, the joys of parenthood. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch!

We went to visit the Pumpkin Patch on Friday evening with Kate. Once again, it was a new experience for her and she was taking it all in. Therefore, this kid does not seem to take any interest in picture taking when she is in a new environment; who am I kidding? She is like her dad and has no interest in sitting pretty for a picture. Doesn't she know she has to do this stuff for me? I stay awake at night and think about the perfect outfits and poses for her and then it's picture taking time and, of course, it does not come out the way I imagined at all. Oh well, that is part of my neurosis that Kate and Chris will have to endure for their entire lives. I will continue to find the perfect outfits and take all the pictures I want, because I am a mom, and that is what we, or at least I do!

As far as a Halloween costume, Kate does not have one. She is just going to be her fabulous self and wear what you see her in. I was going to get her a monkey costume, because that is what we call her, but they are so thick and heavy that I decided against it. Oh well, we have many more Halloween's ahead and I am sure we will come up with some good costumes in the future!

After the pumpkin patch we took Kate to a secret hideaway...a taco stand. This place far out and I couldn't tell you how to get there but the food is delicious. It seems like the who's who of Yuma goes there. So of course, lil Miss Kate was there! I figured she needed to get down to her roots and experience an illegal, no business license, type of establishment. Only fine dining for the Howard's! As you can see from the picture she was trying to reach for the plate of cabbage and bottles of salsa. Last week was bacon, this week tacos...we shall see what next week brings.

My name's Kate and I love BACON!

So we took Kate to Brownies for breakfast; yes, fine dining for the Howard's as always. Well I should say we went to eat and Kate had to watch us eat. She sat in the highchair like a big girl and was pretty well behaved. She loved the attention from the waitresses and looked around this new place she had never been to before. Then, it happened...she saw bacon. As soon as my plate was put down in front of me her hand grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate and she put it in her mouth. No more rice cereal s@#% for her! I thought it was cute and immediately began snapping pictures of it while her dad took it from her hand and pushed the plate from her. Lil Miss Kate was not please as she started grunting and kinda growling wanting her bacon. If I can get her to eat more of that yummy rice cereal (haha) and jars of baby food, then maybe we can talk bacon kid.

"hmmm, what's that smell coming towards me?"

"mmmm, bacon..."

"just one more taste...must have bacon"

"dad you are so mean...just one more bite pleeeeaaasssssssse"

"Look at my grill..."

Back in Business!

So, we were temporarily out of the blogging business. We had SPAM sent to our old email address and we had to create a new one. Little did we know it would wipe out our blogspot account! Sadly, we did not print our posts and there seems to be no way of recovering that information. Luckily, we have all the photos on our computer and I have been keeping a journal of Kate's highlights so at least we have that.

On to new happenings in Miss Kate's life. She cut her first tooth last Tuesday, October 6th. I do not have a picture of it but when it really "pops" out I will try to get one. It looks like the other bottom tooth, right next to the one that has popped out, is trying to make an appearance as well. She has been pretty good considering the horror stories we have heard about the teething process. OR, we are just used to our cranky baby so any signs of teething were probably overlooked.

Also new this week is Kate standing in her crib. Now when we walk in her room there she is in standing position. She tries to pull herself up when she is on the floor but she usually grabs onto something that is not too steady so she falls on her butt. She is also very curious and grabs at anything that looks interesting to her; usually things I do not want her getting into, NO, we have not baby-proofed our home yet! In fact, I am going to have to put everything away in her room, decorative items that is. She is crawling and reaching for everything so playtime is supervised! I can't even leave the room to make a bottle because she gets into something which results in a cry. She banged her head on a small tin toy container yesterday. Kate saw it on her bookshelf, crawled towards it, pulled the box and all of the toys out, and of course was more interested in the tin box itself than the toys in it. Next thing I know I hear a cry and see a red mark on her forehead! Needless to say, she is fine.

Kate is also "talking" more. Yelping and screeching is more what it sounds like. The noises are so funny I need to record them so you can hear what we hear. She is starting to entertain herself, which gives us little breaks to get some housework or other tasks done.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Kate. She has always LOVED bathtime and her hair is now long enough to make "pineapple" head or other silly things out of it.

Another cute picture of Kate and her BFF, Blake. Poor Blake, we have now resorted to calling him "Lenny," from the book "Of Mice and Men." I never read it so forgive me if I mis-titled the book or misspelled the name. Anyhow, I know the premise and Blake is like this big dumb dog that does not know his own strength and I fear that he is going to "paw" at her or roll on her. However, on this day he was very sweet and gentle and wanted to "play" with Kate. He still does not know what to make of her!

We also took family pictures at Gateway Park on October 3rd. As you can see from the picture, that is exactly how Kate felt about the whole thing. She and her dad HATE taking pictures. Luckily Chris cooperated, but Miss Kate did not. We did not get one picture of her smiling, but I still think we got some cute pictures. Chris is not going to want to hear or read this, but we are going to take more in November!

So all in all, that is what happened this week. Exciting stuff people! Keep posted for new and exciting adventures in Kate's world.