Five Months!

Today Kara turns five months. She has changed and grown so much this month. Every day she is doing something new. Yesterday we tried rice cereal mixed with apple/prune juice. At first she tried sucking on the spoon but within a few bites she had it figured out that if she just opened her mouth the food went in. Of course we videoed it. I have this week and the next two off. It has been so much fun these last three days just doing what we want when we want to do it. If we stay in our pjs until noon playing with toys and reading in bed then so what?! :) We went to a bookstore yesterday for the first time. She did not want to be reclined in her stroller. She wanted to be carried so she could see everything. Her favorite song-by far- is Itsy Bitsy Spider. So of course when I found the book and realized the song has SIX verses I had to buy it for her. She is so much fun to hang out with. She has so much personality and just makes me smile. My friend gave Kara this toy and she absolutely loves it. It is awesome to see her learn how to make it 'go' all by herself.

Growing Up

We have decided that Kara is growing up WAY too fast. Everyone tells us to enjoy every stage and we definitely have. Every second--even when she is screaming for no reason or she has spit up all over our freshly cleaned sheets. She is truly our happiness and our miracle. She is not even 5 months yet and has 2 teeth, A LOT of hair, is ROLLING OVER by herself now and is past what all the books say a 'normal' 5 month old should be doing. We haven't read about 6 months yet but good grief! She is absolutely perfect. She has completed our lives in SO many ways it isn't even possible to explain or understand. We are so grateful for the opportunity to have her be our daughter.

We are SO grateful for her wonderful birthparents for taking such good care of her before she was born. We think about them daily and feel so blessed by them choosing us to be her parents. She has changed our lives more than either of us could have ever imagined.

All Better

Kara seems to be feeling much better. She took her medicine very well and we have been giving her Pedialyte mixed with water throughout the day to give her extra hydration. Here are pics of her teeth taken today and some cute pics with her cousins. She is so aware of things going on around her and is grabbing everything and trying to get it in her mouth.

Evening in the ER

Yesterday Kara felt warm when she woke up. I gave her a little Tylenol and we went on with our day. After Bible study we were out at lunch with a friend and Kara still felt hot. I took her temperature under her arm. I know it isn't very accurate but it was high. I took her home, fed her, gave her more Tylenol and she then took almost a two hour nap. That told me there was definitely something wrong. Her fever broke about 4 and she was smiley and happy. Hmmm...teething? Since she seemed all back to normal we went out to dinner with my parents at a nearby restaurant to celebrate the end of tax season. She was very lethargic during dinner and started feeling hot again. Right at the end of dinner she threw up A LOT all over herself in her carseat. I took her temp. again---1o2.7 under her arm!!! We immediately went to First Care. She threw up again SO much more on the way. The Dr. saw her pretty quickly and then told us to take her immediately to the ER. Her temp. at First Care was 103.4. After what seemed like forever Kara was seen by a very nice doctor. We slowly fed her formula through a tiny syringe and then some Pedialyte. They gave her a bunch of Motrin and a Tylenol suppository. Come to find out she has a urinary tract infection. They said since she is teething so early and drooling like a faucet for so many weeks she just isn't getting enough fluids with the formula. Poor little thing. I had been adding extra water once in a while for the past few weeks to her formula thinking she must be needing it from all the drooling but it wasn't enough. She is back to herself today amazingly enough. She is on an antibiotic for five days and we are giving her some pedialyte along with her formula to keep her hydrated while she teethes. We got into bed last night at midnight. I took today off. Poor Aaron must be a tired dad today while trying to keep 150 seventh graders under control. Phew. What an experience.

Cruise

A quick post as usual. We had an awesome time on our cruise. Kara was definitely the star of the ship. We got SO many compliments on how beautiful she is. She also now has 2 teeth. The bottom front right came in on Apr. 4 (4 months, 4 days) and the second bottom front tooth came in on Apr. 10 in Ensenada, Mexico. :) She just spit up all over herself so it is bath time...

My Grandma

This morning my grandma suddenly passed away. We are all still in shock since it is my grandpa who has the health issues and memory problems. So many things to take care of. This is Kara with her great-grandma.

Quick!

Right after her shots!

Playing with Daddy after work.
Getting used to sleeping in her travel bed again. We are leaving for our cruise on Monday and we want her to feel comfortable not sleeping in her crib.

Must post quickly while Kara takes her 30 minute cat nap. So much has been going on and Kara seems to do something new everyday. She continues to sleep through the night--from about 9:30pm to 8am. She is amazing. BUT she doesn't take a 'real' nap during the day. She takes about six half-hour (to the second) cat naps. It is fine with me since she will pretty much still nap anywhere. Unfortunately, I don't get any good naps until Aaron gets home though. :)

She got her 4-month shots last Friday and didn't even cry for the first two! She quickly recovered from the last two and smiled the whole way home! What a trooper.

She has been teething for about 2 months now but it has been her back bottom molars! They are white and bumpy but haven't cut through the gums yet. The doctor said, "Hey baby, what is your hurry?" Her birthmother said that her family teethes early but good grief. And today it happened! She got her first tooth--though not a molar! Her front right bottom tooth is there! It is barely able to be seen but boy, is it sharp! 4 months and 4 days and already has a tooth. She is growing up WAY too fast. She weighed in at 14 lbs. 7 oz. and is 24 1/2 inches tall.

Last Friday night she started making the funniest sounds. She purses her lips and makes 'raspberry' sounds usually accompanied with bubbles. At my bible study on Tues. we stared the lesson and the first question was something about the rapture. Kara proceeded to make a loud raspberry and then smile at her accomplishment. It was hysterical.

A couple of days later she learned how to use her lips and tongue to make different sounds. She concentrates so hard and the funniest sounds (usually very loud) come out. It is like she thinks she is talking to us.

Yesterday I had a fever all day. Nothing else, just a fever. I felt awful. Today I feel almost back to normal. Weird.