Fish?

Kara's is learning new words all the time. The video shows just how 'sharp' our little girl is! The picture shows the fish a little better.

Camping in Gettysburg

We just got back from a 3-night camping trip in Gettysburg, PA at the Granite Hill Campground. The weather was wonderful--couldn't have asked for anything better! We really enjoyed our trip, even though the campground was on the older side. The sites were big and shady, with lots of nice, mature trees. We are so happy with our new travel trailer, and hope to enjoy many more camping trips in the future!

Pictures:
Kathy & Kara enjoying the nice weather.
Kara knows how to give kisses now. :-)
Kara crawling around in the camper.

Kara's 12-month check-up

Kara's appointment was re-scheduled for today after being sick last week. She weighs 17 lbs and 15 oz--so close to that 18 lb mark! That's what Kathy weighed at 1 yr old, says Kara's Nana. Kara is also 28 3/4 inches tall. So, she is definitely getting longer, but still lean. The pediatrician said it is okay to start weening her off the bottle and give her whole milk in the sippy cup, and also feed her snacks in between the three meals. We were given samples of PediaSure, which will help supplement on days when Kara doesn't feel like eating as much--gotta get those calories in there somehow. Kara's a pretty good eater, but she doesn't seem to be interested in that many kinds of table food. She is still liking jar food, but has at least ventured on to stage 3, which is much chunkier. She has four teeth--two on top and two on the bottom. Kara has a very cute, toothy smile! She received two immunizations today, and no fever has occurred yet. We're checking her often, though!

Kara likes Elmo!

We took video of Kara watching an Elmo DVD. You can tell Elmo gets her very excited!

Kara in her frog pool!

On yet another 90+ degree day, it seemed like the perfect time for Kara to try out her new frog pool. She loved it! The water coming out of the hose was ice cold, and Kara kept nice and cool while splashing her arms and legs!

Kara is feeling much better!

Kara hasn't had a fever in almost 24 hours! She is getting back to her 'normal', sweet self, and we couldn't be happier. We definitely feel like we are on the 'other side' of this stressful time. The first picture is when Kara was still not feeling her best, but really liked playing with her butterfly balloon. :-) The last pictures were taken today while Kara was playing with her new birthday toys and feeling much better!

Kara holding her own bottle....

We've told several friends and family members that Kara uses her feet almost as much as her hands. We've also said that she can hold her bottle with just her feet. The proof is in the picture!

Birthday cake video!

Tim took a short video of Kara enjoying her birthday cake. She loves purple frosting!

Happy 1st Birthday Kara!!!!

Kara had a wonderful 1st birthday party at our house! We were thrilled that she seemed happy and enjoyed all that was going on, considering that she's been fighting fevers since late afternoon yesterday. Kara had a febrile seizure at Martins grocery store while Tim was picking up formula yesterday afternoon. It scared him to death, as I'm sure you can imagine! Kathy was in DC at the Women of Faith conference, and felt completely helpless for the 2 1/2 hours that it took her to get from DC to the hospital where Kara was taken by ambulance. The good news is that the blood and urine tests and x-rays came back normal, and her fever dropped from 104 to 99.5 degrees after being given Tylenol and Motrin in the ER. The fever has been up and down since we've returned home, but not as high as it was when Kara had the seizure. The ER doctor told us that Kara would be fighting the fevers for the next few days, so Tim and Kathy will both be staying home with her.

Kara's grandparents, Nana & Papa, her two Aunts and Uncles, and her three cousins came up to celebrate her 1st birthday with her. Kara also had friends, Tristan, Kyra, Chase, Alyssa, Rebecca, Megan and Kaitlyn (as well as their parents) come celebrate with her too! We had a house-full to say the least. The young kids had a great time playing in the bubblegum ball pit and on the bouncy house trampoline! Kara really seemed to like her birthday cake, especially the purple frosting--as the picture shows. :-) Everyone else chowed down on burgers and hotdogs, salads, chips and dips before eating the delicious 'fish in the aquarium' cake that Kara's babysitter, Dawn, made. It was a beautiful cake and it tasted great! Kara received many fun, cute, and age-appropriate gifts from all of her family and friends. Her baby toys just weren't stimulating enough anymore! :-) Enjoy the pictures!

Camping at Rocky Gap for 4th of July Weekend

Well, the weather definitely didn't cooperate during our camping trip at Rocky Gap. We left a little before 2 pm on July 3rd and arrived at the campground at 3:15. We set up quickly and enjoyed about 3 hours of rain-free weather. Then it rained pretty much non-stop until about 7:30 pm on July 4th. Hopefully most of the fireworks shows still took place since the rain stopped for around 3 hours. Because everything was still soaking wet, we decided to pass on the fireworks.

Kara had the worst night's sleep of her little life on the 4th, and woke up crying continuously throughout the night. That is so unlike Kara--who has been sleeping wonderfully through the night since she was around 10 weeks old. Although Kara is an early riser, she goes to bed at 8 pm and wakes up usually at 6 am, and sleeps well for 10 straight hours. When Kara woke up at 6:15 this morning she had a fever of 102.1. And...it was still raining! Needless to say, it was time to pack up and go home. We arrived home at around 10 am, and with the help of an extra long nap and two doses of Tylenol, Kara's fever is down to 99 this evening. We think the fever is a result of teething. Kara has at least four teeth coming in at the same time--could be more that we are not aware of yet. This is obviously causing her a lot of discomfort, which makes her cranky, whiny, and not all that interested in drinking or eating. Thankfully, for Kara and us, we know it's a temporary thing.

The picture of Kara in her tent was taken before the rain started at the beginning of the camping trip. She has on her 'fireworks' shirt that was made at her babysitter Dawn's house earlier in the week. Isn't it cute? The second picture was to document how wet and soggy our campsite was the majority of the time. Kathy took the picture this morning as we were packing up to leave.

We're hoping the next camping trip at the end of July is much drier, and we experience sunshine instead of rain! We bet Aunt Karen and Aidan who will be joining us are wishing for that too!

More pictures from Capon Springs

Trip to Capon Springs & Farm in WV

Our family of four joined all of Kathy's family in Capon Springs for a mini reunion. It was nice to be able to get together and spend time with everyone for more than a few hours. The family resort has awesome food, a nice golf course (Tim enjoyed) and lots of outdoor activities for the kids. We had five rooms with private baths in the West Virginia House. We even had a family room for storing the coolers, with a small fridge, table and chairs, and two couches. The covered porch was used quite a bit during the stay b/c the weather was very nice--especially in the evenings.

1 year ago today....

It was one year ago today that we got the call from American Adoptions letting us know that a birth mother had chosen our family to raise and love her child! That phone call and that day was one of the most exciting for our family. And...just 24 days later, our baby girl was born! What an amazing day that was for all of us! We are so thankful for our little blessing.

Leaving Florida

On our last morning in Florida, Kara was practicing some of the skills she has learned this week. :-) One of them is pulling herself up on things! She gets on her knees and pulls herself up on whatever she can manage. This week she has used the exersaucer a lot for this trick! I just had to document her efforts.

We are leaving around lunch time to head back to the Pensacola airport. If you read this post before 3 pm, please pray that we have no complications with our flights today! We fly to Atlanta, and then have just enough time to get on our connection to Dulles. We really hope to be home in WV no later than 10 pm tonight! It's been a wonderful week!

Last day of vacation

Today, our last day of vacation, was pretty low-key. The girls, Samantha and Sophie, got tattoos (temporary of course), and all of us did a little shopping. It was a pretty relaxing day--as the whole week has been. A BIG thanks to Ben and Anne for letting us use all of the baby equipment this week. As you can see from the picture, Kara had a grand time playing in the Baby Einstein exersaucer! The Pack n' Play and high chair were well-used also. When Samantha and Sophie weren't outside soaking up the sun by the pool, they were inside watching TV, laughing and just generally acting silly. :-)

Our Boat Trip

Today we rented a pontoon boat and went out on the bay for half the day. We had so much fun, and Kara loved her first boat ride! Kara enjoyed helping Tim drive the boat, and then they cooled off in the water. She even relaxed enough to take a nap, as you can tell from one of the pictures. Samantha and Sophie worked on their tans and then jumped off the boat into the clear, green water. The weather said 80% chance of rain, but we didn't have any problems, and it was absolutely beautiful day!

Kara's Getting Teeth!

We were finally able to get a picture of Kara so you can see that she has two teeth coming in on the bottom. One is a little bigger than the other, but maybe they'll both be completely in by the time she's one year old!

Kara & the Frog

In the video, Tim is playing with Kara and the frog we got for her at Fudpucker's Restaurant the other night. She loves it when Tim throws the frog up in the air--we just LOVE that laugh!!

Crazy Tim & Samantha!!

Tim and Samantha decided to be wild n' crazy today, and do something neither of them had ever done before. They went BUNGEE JUMPING!!! A place called The Track has a 65 foot tower/platform just for insane people who find pleasure jumping off of it--and two of those people are in my family--go figure. :-) Video was taken of both jumps, just so we could prove that they actually did it! There are two videos of Samantha, because Kathy accidentally hit the button right after the jump, which made it stop recording for a second. :-( The two pictures above are taken prior to the jump--one getting 'strapped up', and the other climbing the HUGE platform. PS. The lady talking during the video is NOT Kathy--just some stranger nearby.

Kara is 11 months old today!!

Kara turned 11 months old today--Friday, June 13th! The time has really flown by, but it feels as if Kara has always been a part of our family. I cannot believe she will be one year old in one short month! We plan to have a big party for our sweet, one year old on Sunday, July 13th. So, friends and family better mark your calendars! The picture was taken at The Track today. Kara and Kathy were watching all the people and enjoying the outdoors. :-)