Mmmmm......Cereal!

Kamdyn went to the doctor yesterday (8/7) for her four month check-up. She is a healthy baby, says the doctor. She weighs 14 pounds, 10.5 ounces and she is 25 inches long. She got three shots, which was hard on Mommy and Daddy. :( Even so, we all survived! The doctor also said that we could start giving Kamdyn either rice or oatmeal cereal. Yes, I know, we are probably the ONLY parents in the world who actually waited on the doctor to tell us that she could have cereal. But, she is none the worse for it and has been a happy baby that sleeps 12 hours a night WITHOUT cereal. Surprise, surprise, it turns out that babies can sleep through the night without cereal contrary to popular belief! Trial and error and trusting our instincts got us through and bedtime is a breeze for Kamdyn and for us! :) So, I did give Kamdyn some rice cereal tonight and she really seemed to LOVE it after she got the hang of that spoon. She ate every bit of what I had made which was about 3 tablespoons of both cereal and formula. She did keep pushing that little tongue out trying to figure out what that stuff was. But, she was determined to figure the spoon and cereal out. And, she did! Hmmm....I wonder who she gets that persistence from??? So, here she is eating her first bowl of cereal. If she's like her Mommy it will be the first of many, many bowls of cereal. We will have to start buying two gallons of milk a week in a year or two....one gallon for her and one for me! :)

Kamdyn's First Day at Georgia's (babysitter)

How do you drop your baby off at the babysitter's house for the first time without falling completely apart? Well, I did manage to keep my composure today. But, it may have been one of the hardest things that I've had to do since being a Mommy. Staying up half the night, feeding every two hours, losing tons of sleep, listening to an unconsolable baby cry for five weeks.......none of that compared to how I felt this morning. And, even though I didn't fall completely apart, I couldn't quite get Miss Kamdyn out of my mind ALL day. I was imagining what she would be doing if we were at home together. Several times, I thought.....did I make the right decision about coming back to work? The reality of it is that she and I both will probably be better for this in the end. We were blessed to have found such a wonderful sitter to keep Kamdyn in her home. Georgia only keeps one other little boy who is two years old (Jacob). Kamdyn will probably learn more from watching and listening to him than she ever would from sitting with me all day long. While I know all of this in my head, my heart says keep her at home and savor every minute of her life as a baby. However, when I called to check on her today (which I only did twice!!!) she was "talking" away and having a great time. My mind was eased and I realized that I was going to be okay. Afterall, I'm the only one that needed comforting. Kamdyn was fine!! At 4:00, I was off to pick up my precious angel. She smiled when she first saw me and then began pitching a fit. I hope that the fit was because she missed me SO much! She did finally calm down with a bottle and she was fine the rest of the night. Now she is sleeping away and I get to go through these emotions all again tomorrow. I pray that it will get easier. Until then, I will take advantage of every minute that I have with her in the evening before she goes to bed.

Kamdyn Loves Shoes.....her Mommy does for sure!

Everyone knows how much I LOVE shoes. I think Kamdyn's going to love them, too. Check out these adorable little shoes. She hasn't quite got used to having something on her feet, but she doesn't seem to fuss when shoes are on. I think she just enjoys looking at them. If I have anything to do with it, she will have a closet full of shoes. Watch out Daddy, we may have to move your clothes to the coat closet in the hall! :)





My friend, Michelle, came over to visit yesterday. Kamdyn fell asleep while Michelle was holding her. We can't wait until Michelle visits us again!

Kamdyn Goes Swimming for the First Time

Our friend, Suzanne, invited us over tonight for dinner and for an evening in the pool. Actually, she felt sorry for Richard because he never gets a "good meal." I don't cook those good 'ole home cooked meals. He does look a little malnourished, doesn't he? :) Dinner was fabulous (Thanks, Swann!), but I have to admit that the highlight was Kamdyn in the pool. Not only was she absolutely adorable in her teeny green bikini, but she seemed to really like the water. She wasn't too sure about it when Richard first put her in the water. After being in there for a while, she really seemed to relax and enjoy it. She laughed, smiled, oohed and ahhed. She didn't start crying until we took her out. Then, she screamed to the top of her lungs. I assume it was because she was freezing. She also heard Suzanne's dog barking which kind of scared her, too. Needless to say, we missed her normal 8:00 bedtime. By the time we got her home and fed, she was pooped. She fell asleep before the mobile finished playing "Hush Little Baby."

By the way, those Huggies Swimmers worked wonderfully! I guess maybe I should ask Ms. Suzanne if her pool is green before making that assumption, huh?

Kamdyn's Weekend without Mommy and Daddy

Kamdyn enjoyed a weekend away at Nanny and Poppy's house while we enjoyed time with friends at "The River." We missed her dearly and could not wait to get back home to see her. Kamdyn, however, looks like she was way too busy to miss us. She enjoyed her stay with Nanny and Poppy and we are grateful to them for giving us a grown-up weekend away.

Kamdyn gets a denim hat to match her bloomers. This must have been Poppy's idea!

Kamdyn goes to work with Nanny.

Nanny and Poppy's friends, Bob and Hope, come to visit with Kamdyn.

Aunt Kathy visits with Kamdyn at Mama Lucy's house.

Mama Lucy feeds Kamdyn a bottle. Kamdyn adores her Mama Lucy, of course, we all do!

Poppy poses with sweet Kamdyn.

Kamdyn goes to visit "Aunt Pete." Pete was our neighbor when I was growing up. She was the first to see me when I was born and she helped raise me!

Kamdyn visits Aunt Tina. I bet she was so surprised when Kamdyn came to see her.

Kamdyn visits Great Grandmother Jo and Papa Buck.

Kamdyn looks at the light on Nanny and Poppy's breakfast table.

Nanny talks to Baby Kamdyn.

Kamdyn talks to Mommy on the phone. Mommy was missing her and had to hear her voice! That's Kamdyn's friend Lily in the background. She is teaching Kamdyn to count! :)

Kamdyn talks to Nanny on the phone.

We don't officially have a nickname for my Mom because she continues to tell us that she wants Kamdyn to give her a nickname. For now, I will continue to call her Nanny. Since we don't get to see her nearly as often as any of us would like, we have to rely on the good 'ole telephone. My Mom insists that as long as Kamdyn hears her voice everyday that Kamdyn will not forget her. This was one of our telephone sessions with Nanny. Kamdyn LOVES to talk to her and actually "talks" back. She does, however, look around like she is trying to figure out where the voice is coming from. We're starting her early with this telephone thing. I foresee her Daddy pulling the phone out of the wall when she becomes a teenager and the phone rings all of the time. He hates to hear the phone ring! Even the two or three phone calls that we get a week aggravate him. Boy, do I have a lot to look forward to! :) I better go ahead and buy my black and white striped jersey and whistle. I'm sure I'll have to referee quite a bit! :)

Kamdyn tries to hold her bottle

Kamdyn starts screaming her head off. And when she gets mad, she insists on rubbing her face and her head. As you can see she already has one scratch on her head. She actually drew blood on this scratch. And, yes, her Mommy keeps her nails clipped frequently. However, she still manages to scratch and rub her face with her hands. During this particular picture she was waiting patiently on me to warm a bottle for her. Obviously, I was WAY too slow. When she actually got the bottle she wouldn't put her hands down for Richard to give it to her. So, he moved his hands. Surprise!!! She can hold her own bottle. Of course, she doesn't quite understand that she must hold it up so that the milk will come out of it. We will continue to work on that. Afterall, practice does make perfect. Whew.....come to think of it, we have lots of things to work on! Holding a bottle seems to be the least of those things! :)

July 4th

Since Richard was off of work the entire week of the 4th, we decided to take the boat to Anderson and spend some time with family. Boating is much easier when there are babysitters. However, have I mentioned how much "stuff" you must carry for a baby on road trips? Diapers, wipes, Pack N Play, Bouncy Chair, Stroller, Car Seat, clothes, toys......the list goes on and on. Needless to say, Kamdyn had a busy week visiting family. While we all enjoyed our visit it was very tiring. We had to come home to get some rest!

Check out her adorable 4th of July outfit. It's a halter top with red stars and a blue skirt. I just can't get over all of the cute little clothes that they make for babies. A baby halter top....who would have thought? Enough about the outfit.
We enjoyed our visit and we can't wait to do it again!

Kamdyn's Granddaddy Larry and Aunt Kathy come by to visit at Mama Lucy's.


Aunt Kathy looks at Baby Kamdyn. I think she's ready for her turn to hold Kamdyn! :)

Kamdyn talks to Uncle Matthew. She is really starting to "coo" and "ahh".
Her voice is so precious!

Grand holds Kamdyn. Kamdyn is getting all tired out from all of the visiting. She's wondering how many more people she has to be passed around to. Little does she know that she still has Mommy's entire side of the family left to withstand!