Gnat In My Lipgloss

I really wanted to have a butterfly theme, but I couldn't ever find a cake with butterflies that I liked. So, for now, that idea is scrapped. I may bring it back in some shape or form later. We'll see.

I'm enlisting the help of my mom in, well, every step pretty much! Mom and I have baked and decorated cakes for as long as I can remember. She's really good and I'm....enthusiastic. :) My skill level isn't quite there, but I LOVE trying. Or maybe I just like eating the icing.....

Anyway, Mom and I will make the cake. I'm hoping to produce something that looks like this:

I'm not a huge lover of hearts, so I'll probably make that polka dots (which, for those of you who are unaware, I LOVE). I think we can pull this off and I hope it ends up looking really good. We may have to do a trial run, which would, of course, be so unfortunate since I'd then have to eat it.

I haven't decided yet whether I'll have Katelyn dig into the top layer, or if we'll make her a small cake of her own. Probably a small one just for her because this party is gonna be pretty big and we'll need to feed quite a few people.

I think I'm most excited about Katelyn's outfit. Again, courtesy of Mom. I found this little tutu picture and I know Mom can easily make it. It's so freakin' cute. Here it is:

Well, I couldn't get it to show up any bigger, but it's super cute, believe me! I'm not putting the huge ugly flower on the shirt. I'm trying to get a onesie embroidered with Katelyn's name and something about her 1st birthday on it. I'm also making (okay, well, MOM and I are making) a huge bow with lots of frilly's on it to complete the outfit. I can't wait to see her in it.

Right now, I'm working on the invitations. We have a LOT of family and friends to invite, so they have to be perfect. I'll probably end up making them on shutterfly, because I like those best. I've spent several hours looking up quotes to put on them and I have ended up in tears (bittersweet, happy tears) over the fact that my baby will be turning one! Hopefully, I won't cry at the party.....no promises!

I'm also really excited about getting her pictures taken for her birthday. Ashley and I have discussed doing a cake smash session, and I'm really excited for it. I only wish it would be pretty and warm so we could do it outside, but that probably won't happen in early March!

Can't wait for Katelyn's big day!

Then the storm hit.

About two weeks after I started my job, we found that we could no longer have Cody stay at his job. The restaurant wasn't making money, and they weren't sure they could pay us anymore. We were welcome to continue working and see if it all came out okay, but that just wasn't an option for us. We decided to leave that job and find a new one.

This ushered in some of the scariest weeks of our lives. We weren't sure how we were going to take care of our baby girl. Our bills were starting to pile up and we had no way to pay them. It's times like these that you really find out how much people around you care. We had a lot of help from a lot of different (and unexpected) people. Though those weeks were scary and I never want to experience them again, I found myself closer to God then I had ever been. I also felt the love of everyone around us. I knew people were praying and I knew that God was in control. I had my moments of despair and worry; I had my little pity party one night. But, ultimately I knew I had to rely on God during these times, or why bother trusting Him in the good times? So I prayed, and every time I felt the panic start, I would try my hardest to trust.

It took about three weeks for us to find another job for Cody. In the meanwhile, I was able to pick up some extra days at work, and Cody watched Katelyn. We were very blessed to have a contact at Wil Fisher, who was able to recommend Cody for a Sales Rep position. He nailed every interview and impressed the crap out of the guys he talked with and got himself the job! I was SO FREAKING proud of my husband! I knew he was nervous, but I knew he could do it.

Cody was able to start the new job the day after he was hired, which was a huge blessing. Looking back on it, I'm absolutely amazed at what God did for us. He took us from a job where Cody was working 13-14 hours a day, on his feet, working every weekend, for good pay but no benefits, where he was stuck inside all day (which he hates) working with food (which he hates more) and he never got to spend time with Katelyn and I felt like a single parent to a job where his hours are much less, we have amazing benefits, he gets to be out and about (which is perfect for his personality) and he gets to spend so much more time with me and Katelyn. There isn't that much difference in pay either. I just feel like God picked him up, moved him right out of the restaurant and put him down at Wil Fisher. And I am so grateful. I love having him around more.

So, while things have definitely been rough and scary, they are much better now. And I'm thankful for the struggles we've been through, because now I know how blessed we are!

Today you turned 8 months old. You are such a happy, sweet little baby girl. You bring joy to our lives everyday. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it. I have loved every moment of mommyhood, but these last few weeks have been so fun. I love to watch you discover the world around you and figure out how to do new things. Daddy and I are always telling each other all your new accomplishments. We thank God every day for giving us our little girl.

At 8 months old, you are...

Sitting up like a pro. You rarely topple over now, though I still put a pillow behind you when you are on the wood floor.

You LOVE being in your walker. You zoom all over the house in it and can turn a complete circle. You can reverse and turn sharp corners too. Sometimes you run over the dogs; Daisy has had to learn to move out of your quickly, or be run over. She doesn't quite understand this new development. You get very upset if you get stuck on the rug or against furniture. You sit and scream until someone comes and gets you.

You are eating great these days as well. You take a 7 1/2 oz bottle 4 times a day. You eat bananas and oatmeal in the morning. You also like peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, apples, pears, peaches, avocados, and cheerios. I think you would continue to eat as long as I kept offering the food!

You are still in a size three diaper. I think you may be in these for awhile longer.

You can sleep through the night, and most nights you do. We still have some rough nights though. There are times when I put you in bed with me, especially if Daddy and I both have to work the next day. Bedtime is usually between 7-7:30pm. You are usually up by 6-7am.

You are wanting to be mobile soooo bad, but just haven't quite gotten it down yet. You think you should be walking, so you get mad if we try to get you to crawl. You can turn yourself in a complete circle while sitting and you try to pull yourself up on us. You haven't quite gotten this accomplished yet.

You are staying with Grandma Melanie and Aunt Sally on the days that I work. You do great with both of them. I hate leaving you, and get sad sometimes, but I'm so glad I can leave you with family.

You are discovering your voice these days. You lots of vowels and some consonants. We are trying to get you to say momma and dada, but nothing so far. You really enjoy screaming at the top of your lungs. Most mornings you lay in your crib for awhile just jabbering to yourself and playing with your nukky.

These pictures were taken at about 7 1/2 months old by Ashley. We were so happy with how they turned out. You are such a beautiful baby!

One of my very favorites

such a big girl sitting all by yourself!

Everybody loved this picture

Baby blues!

Your first Halloween costume~ you were so cute!

Going to bed around 7pm and waking up between 5:30 and 6:00am. I liked the 6:00am days better! Sometimes you still cried at night, but you mainly slept through each night without a problem.

You were sitting really well and hardly ever toppled over. You were really wanting to crawl, but didn't quite manage it. You were able to hold yourself up on your hands and knees, but couldn't quite figure out what to do from there.

You were eating great too. You really liked peas the best, but we started feeding you a lot of different fruits and you really enjoyed those. We finally got a good schedule down and you have done really well on it ever since. You took four bottles a day, about 4 hours apart. You would eat baby food between each bottle.

You still weren't napping real great at this point. Your naps were around half and hour and you were taking 3 to 4 a day. I was really hoping to stretch these out longer, but you resisted and unfortunately won!

You outgrew all 3-6 months clothing and I had to put away A LOT of outfits. I was a little sad and fought back tears with several of them. You were fitting into 6 month and 6-9 month clothing pretty well at this point.

As always, we loved watching you grow and you are the joy of our lives! We love you baby girl!