E is for Explore

E: Explore, 9/17/11

I know it's been a while on the ABC dating, but for good reason (well, bad reason, actually). I was sick the entire month of August and spent the first couple weeks in September recovering. But we are back in the game now, so onto the date!

It was Trey's turn to plan this date, and he did a great job! E stood for exploration, and we explored through pictures. I'll explain in a bit. We started our date off by going to Athens to eat at McAllister's Deli for dinner. I had a Greek salad, a French Dip sandwich, and some potato soup. Trey had the Southwest Cob salad and some broccoli cheese soup. Our meal was yummy!

We really enjoyed getting away from town and relaxing during dinner. Lately, whenever we go out to eat, we have to take turns passing little miss Kate back and forth, as she does not enjoy being in her carseat when there are arms there to hold her! Thus, eating out isn't typically relaxing or easier than eating at home.

After dinner we drove back to Canton's coffee shop, Come Together. As I've said before, our first "date" was to Starbucks after church. Trey was driving me home and wanted to prolong his time with me (I found out later), so he suggested we stop at Starbucks to look at pictures of his recent mission trip to Canada. On this, our "explore" date, Trey brought along our computer and some picture albums. Our task: explore all the fun pictures from when we first met! Oh my word how funny it was looking at some of those old pictures and remember what we were thinking and feeling during those times.

 It was open mic night at the coffee shop, and to start things off they introduced a special guest...a lady all the way from Uganda! Her name was Julianna. She told her testimony, then she had everyone in the coffee shop stand up and participate in a singing and dancing to a couple songs from Uganda.

To be honest, I was a little annoyed at first because this was interrupting our E date and we only had a little bit longer before we had to go home for the babysitter. But then Trey reminded me that hey, this was our explore date, and what better way to explore than to experience a little bit of another culture! Plus, it was pretty funny seeing Trey dance :)

One Smart Girl!

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day as far as schedule goes for Kate. I joined a women's Bible study at church, which goes from 9-10:30 on Tuesday mornings. Kate woke up at 7:30, ate, played, and was ready for her morning nap by 8:30. I kept her awake til the Bible study at 9, and when we got there she found herself snuggled up and sleeping good in the arms of a lady from church. She slept for about 45 minutes before waking up and wiggling around for the rest of the Bible study. We came home from the Bible study and I fed her and put her down. She was more than ready for a nap! But unfortunately, not too far into her nap I had to get her up because I had a doctor's appt (follow-up). So I woke her up, put her in the carseat, and off we went. Car sleep is never the best sleep. By the time we got home that afternoon (3ish), she was MORE than ready for a good nap. Unfortunately, she was so tired it proved difficult to fall asleep. She cried for about an hour or so in her crib (I would check on her, soothe her, put her back down...only for her to get worked up again within minutes). This is not my normal napper. Kate normally cries a little after I lay her down and then puts herself to sleep. Anyway, when I went to check on her again about an hour into her nap, my daughter must have decided that crying obviously wasn't working for her, so maybe if she changed tactics I would pick her up and not make her nap. She is awful smart for 3 months old. It almost worked. Almost.

3 Months!

Our baby girl is 3 months old today! What a joy sweet Kate is to Trey and me. As you can see in the pictures below, this little girl is smiling big time now. She knows how to win our hearts for sure. The other day when I picked her up from the church nursery, the workers showed me a video of her laughing so hard at the mobile they kept spinning. I can't believe I missed it!!! She has been chuckling some, but never has she laughed for us like she did the other day. We are being as silly as possible now trying to get her to laugh again. I'm hoping it will happen again soon. This baby has also mastered the art of rolling from her back to her tummy. Thankfully she enjoys her tummy quite a bit, but when she is done with her tummy time, she gets pretty upset trying to get back to her back. This has proved to be no fun at 1, 2, or 3 in the morning!! We are doing lots of tummy time in the day, now, to help encourage her to complete that roll!

2 1/2 Months!

WellI missed posting on the day Kate turned 2 months old. We were in the midst of her Aunt GG being here spending time, then I got sick and have been sick for the last 2 weeks. Misery. Anyway, I seem to be on the mend, which means I'm ready to blog again. Now onto the important subject of this blog post: Little Miss Kate. My how that baby has grown over the past month and a half!! Trey and I were commenting the other day that we have a baby now, no longer a tiny little newborn. Kate has been on the larger (well, longer) side since birth, and she's kept it up since then. She was in the 100th percentile, or "off the charts" as her pediatrician says, in length AND weight at her 2 month checkup, weighing in at 14 pounds 3 ounces and 24.25 inches long! We are still in some 0-3 month clothes but also fit in the next size up, too.

What are some Kate milestones of this past month? Well let me tell you! She now smiles socially (not just those precious sleep grins), and my favorite time of day is when I get her out of the crib first thing in the morning. That baby girl couldn't be any happier in the mornings. She has even giggled a time or two, and we love it. She has started cooing some, and I melt when I hear that precious little voice! Kate has rolled over from her tummy to her back 4 times. The first time was an accident, then she did it again, and I think she's starting to learn. I'm in no hurry on any of that, because I know once she gets it all down and starts crawling, we are really in for it!! This little girl is active. She hardly slows down from kicking and moving until you rock and sing to her and help her slow down for sleep. Kate is also sleeping through the night! I am proud of my baby girl, and I'm also thankful...those long nights sure do get to ya after a while! She is no longer sleeping in the bassinet in our room, which kinda makes us sad, but she is doing great in her crib. She is so aware of the world around her and is very curious. When she is on her playmat on the floor, she loves staring at things that are colorful and bright. She holds on to something if she gets ahold of it.

Here are a few pics of my little sweetie. Enjoy!!

Before immunizations

After :(

Three Years!!!

Today is a special day for Trey and I - we celebrate 3 years of marriage! This third year of marriage has been quite an eventful one for us. We adopted our two furry little humans, Pete and Dapple, and we got pregnant and gave birth to our firstborn precious daughter, Kate. We paid off our 4Runner and sold Trey's truck. I quit my job to be a stay-at-home mom. Trey celebrated his 1 year anniversary as Student Minister at FBC back in March. Lots of decisions, lots of life change. It's been a wonderful year, and the Lord has truly blessed our family. I fall more and more in love with Trey Holmes with each passing day. I love watching him be daddy to Kate...and Pete and Dapple :) I could not have imagined 3 years ago where we would be now, but I am so thankful to the Lord for where he has us. Happy anniversary, Trey!

Answered Prayer

Last November I began praying for God to provide the $5000 deductible for our baby (before I even knew it was Kate I was carrying) before the baby's birth. As Kate's due date drew near and we were no where near having the money to meet this deductible, I continued to labor in prayer with this specific request, hoping the Lord would come through. Kate's due date came, she was born a few days later, and we still did not have the money to meet this deductible. Then the hospital bills began rolling in.
One thing I realized as our bills kept piling up was that we don't just have one $5000 deductible...we have a $5000 deductible for each person in our family. Meaning we didn't just owe 5 grand for Kate's birth. We'd owe 5 grand for me and 5 grand for her before insurance would even start helping. I was overwhelmed. We would be paying on this forever!!

Trey and I kept laboring in prayer over it all, but I just couldn't understand why God was silent. I doubted and was distraught. We strive to honor the Lord by being good stewards of our finances, and this is how He answers? I didn't get it. I was ungrateful.

Then a week and a half ago, after all our bills were in and I had called each place to set up payment plans, a church member asked to see all our hospital bills. Trey swung by the house and I handed off the almost $9 grand worth of bills. The church member took the bills that morning and brought them back that afternoon to Trey, having paid them all. Yes, you read that right. One minute we owe 9 grand and don't know how we will ever pay that off, and the next it's gone. Wiped clean. Just like that. I still can't wrap my mind around it.

As I was going through my prayer journal this morning, I came across that prayer need I wrote in last November: "Please provide the 5 grand we need to pay off Baby Holmes before he/she is born." And all along God was silent, but He knew what He was doing. He was silent because He was saying, "I'll do you one better. I'll pay off everything you'll owe on your daughter, even what you aren't aware of at this time." Had He answered my prayer exactly how I prayed it, we'd still owe $4000 more on hospital bills.

I know this isn't how every need, especially financial, will be answered by the Lord. He is too creative to always answer each need the same way. But it's been such a huge lesson to me and reminder that God's timing is perfect and His provision for our needs is always more abundant than we could ever imagine. He also knows our needs in full. I prayed for that specific financial need as I knew it to be, but God answered and provided for that need in full.

Thank You, Lord, for Your provision. May we be faithful stewards of what You give us!

Newborn Pics

Here are some of Kate's newborn pics, for your viewing pleasure. She was 3 days old when we had these made. She was wide awake through the whole session! And she pooped all over EVERYTHING. Enjoy :)