Mommy's birthday

You were a big part of mommy's birthday celebration this year!! Our small group meeting was cancelled so daddy was just going to take us out to eat. Turns our he had planned a little surprise dinner party with a few friends that were in town. We had a great time!! We ate a yummy dinner, and had an awesome sweet cake for dessert--even the waitress got to partake in the celebration.

I can pacify myself, and soon I'll be on the go (May 23)

Today you were able to put your paci in your mouth the correct way. You’ve been trying to do it for weeks now, but you would stick either the back side or the side of the pacifier in your mouth and suck on it. I saw you place it in your mouth correctly for the first time today.


Another thing that you started doing today is lifting your bottom up in the air when you are doing tummy time, as if to push off and move forward. I’ve only seen you lift your bottom up and get in that position, but I’m sure the crawling will come VERY soon. Daddy and I are going to need to get new carpet sooner than we thought!! You are growing so fast!

Watch out, I'm rolling over (May 19, 2006)

Today you rolled over from back to belly all on your own!! What an accomplishment, what a milestone!! You are growing so fast, and it’s so much fun to see it happen before my very eyes. I put you down for your afternoon nap in the pak and play, with your paci and a pink blanket. I walked away so as not to distract you and you stayed without complaining. I sat on the couch right on the other side of the pak and play where you couldn’t see me, but I could peek over to you. I looked over five mins after I laid you down and you were on your belly. I laid you down on your back!! I was so excited!! I went and got the video camera, but you would not do it for the camera!! Needless to say you DID not take a nap!

Plus it's become clear that you are a belly sleeper like your mommy. Tonight you rolled onto your belly to go to sleep. Daddy and I always put you down on your back at bedtime, and when daddy came to get you both in the middle of the night and early in the morning, he said that you were on your belly!! I knew that you would be a belly sleeper, you would position yourself in a weird side position when I would lay you down from the beginning. And when grandma and grandpa were here in February, grandma laid you down on your tummy for naptimes. You slept most comfortably on your tummy—when we rolled you over on your back you would immediately wake up. So, now that you can turn yourself on your tummy, you’ve got that freedom during night night time!!

First Set of Sunglasses

Today you got your first pair of sunglasses. After going to bank, we went shopping at the mall. Mrs Nunez sent a check for you, so I went to see what cute things I could buy for you. We walked around the mall, and saw so many cute things, but a little too pricey. Before leaving we went by Gymboree to see their sales, and ran into the cutest girl sunglasses. Before anything else, I had to make sure that they would, in addition to looking very cute, protect your beautiful eyes from harmful sun rays. They were labeled to be 100% UVA so we had a go to search for the “right ones”. I must have put on you about 12 different pairs before picking out the ones we would take. I was so impressed that you didn’t pull them off your face; instead you smiled and looked so content. On the way home, I put the sunglasses on you and you left them on the entire ride home. You fell asleep in the car, but woke up with sunglasses and a huge smile on your face. When you saw daddy, you smiled so big and got excited almost saying in your own way, “look daddy, look what I got today!!”


I’m so looking forward to going for our morning walks; the sunglasses will come in handy since it’s so sunny in the mornings. Your beautiful blue eyes need to be protected and now we’ve got the cutest sunglasses for that purpose

First major boo-boo!

Today you got your first major boo-boo. I was really afraid you were going to end up with a black eye, and I felt so horrible. Yesterday you started to stay in a sitting position when I put you down—of course you lasted no more than a minute, but you were still sitting. Miss Helen, from the school district came to visit us today and I was so excited to share with her that you were sitting!! She said you were doing great. She said normally babies start to sit up at about 8-9months, and here you are 5 ½ months and staying sitting without any support. So, I sat you up on your quilt and put a couple of toys in front of you. You sat for a little bit, before reaching over for a toy that was a wee bit too far in front of you, and you toppled over on your face and into Miss Helen’s shoe—she and I were sitting Indian style around you. You were so shaken up by the fall, and so was I. I grabbed you, held you close and tried to comfort you. I gave you your paci to try to get you to settle down so I could see where you had hurt yourself. I thought you had only hit your forehead, so I rubbed it and kissed it to make it feel better. After Miss Helen left, and you woke up from your nap I went to get you and changed you; when I realized that you were red all around the right eye. Oh, I felt so horrible. I put an ice pak on it hoping that it would prevent it from turning blue, and called your daddy. Daddy said, “she’ll be okay. Take a picture and send it to me, this is her first boo boo” Turns out you didn’t get a black eye, the ice must have helped!

Stay Home Mommy--the BIG decision

Growing up, I always thought that I would be a working mom--that's what my mom did and I thought I would follow in the same footsteps. I grew up hearing from my parents that I needed to go to school and make something of myself so that I could take care of myself and not have to depend on anyone, so I studied engineering. After 4 years of engineering school, I was still convinced that I would continue to work once I had kids, but God had other desires that he planted in my heart as I really began thinking about motherhood. As you may know, from my previous posts, I was in the hospital 7 weeks 1 day prior to Kateli's birth. Add to that another 8 weeks for maternity leave, and you end up with 15 weeks out of work--I couldn't imagine going back--it was such a remote idea to me by now. On top of that, I had this beautiful little girl that I was going to have to leave home day after day if I decided to go back full time--it was a tough call. I was very strongly against putting her in childcare. I wanted to be part of my child's life as she grew up. I admire moms that can juggle both a full time job in the workforce and the full time job at home with the kids--I couldn't do it. In the end, hubby and I decided that we could handle me staying home with our baby, rather than working and paying for childcare. So, grandma and grandpa came to stay with Kateli for the 2 weeks that I went back. I put in my resignation and said goodbye to what had been my identity for the last 5 1/2 years. I had a new identity now, "Kateli's mommy" and I loved that! My last day at work was very hard and emotional--I enjoyed so much working with everyone, and I knew I was going to miss the camaraderie! I still go back every once in a while to say hi!

APNEA Monitor be gone!

Today was a big day!! We have happily parted with the apnea monitor. We are so glad that the doctor has deemed it no longer necessary. No more worries about annoying false alarms going off in the middle of the night. No more chest belt and no more having to carry a monitor alongside baby everywhere we go. I was so relieved to hear that the monitor was going to be picked up this afternoon that I immediately went to grab the camera and take the last pictures of baby with monitor just for the memory.

Monitor still on...

Monitor be gone!

First Christmas/New Years '05

From the day that we found out we were expecting, daddy had been hoping the baby would arrive before Christmas--even though our due date was not after the New Year! He got his wish!! We were celebrating this christmas with our little girl. Grandma and Grandpa Salazar came to visit, making the holidays even more special. They came filled with the excitement of sharing Christmas with their first born grand-child. Katherine was only a little under a month old, but we had lots of fun taking pictures of her under the christmas tree, with mom and dad, and with mommy. Grandma and grandpa had come bearing lots of gifts for baby, but we didn't open those until two days later. Seemed that our focus this Christmas was more on the joy and blessing that we felt to have our beautiful little girl, healthy and at home with us. We even got to bed early that night--of course mommy and daddy were up with Kateli every 2 hours for feeding--as it had been the rest of the time since she had come home!




New Year's was another fun holiday this year! This time though, as it is tradition in my family, we stayed up until midnight to welcome the new year with a big hug! Right after that, we hit the sack! These are pictures taken on New Year's Eve!

Grandma Sue comes to visit

Grandma Sue arrived in town on the 13th, just a day before Kateli was released for the hospital. We were so excited to have her here with us, and joyous that she was able to come meet little Katherine. We had no idea that Katherine would be released while she was here, so our thought was that grandma and I would be travelling to the hospital daily to go spend time with baby. Since I had had a C-section and was advised not to drive for at least 2 weeks post partum, Grandma was going to be the lucky driver of our 5 speed vehicle. According to daddy, she had not driven a stick shift in years. Grandma was such a good sport about it, and she got to practice a little bit on the drive home from the airport with daddy. They finally arrived at the hospital and grandma Sue got to meet little Katherine.


Grandma was here for about 10 days and it was so wonderful having her here with us during that time. Grandma did everything from go out to get fresh bread almost daily to washing baby's clothes, to cleaning the entire house. She also got to spend quality time with Katherine, rocking her, feeding her bottles, cradling her as she napped, and talking and singing to her when she was awake. We were all sad to see her go.