A Little Wobbly

Katherine will be 4 months old next week! She REALLY likes to stand up. She's a little wobbly, but that's certainly to be expected.

Feet

For those of you who don't like feet, you may not want to look at this one...

One of the first things we noticed about Katherine when she was born was that her feet look just like Andrew's feet - only a lot smaller. :-) She can grasp toys with her long toes just as well as she can with her hands right now. I can already imagine the fun she and her Daddy are going to have competing to see who can pick up what with their toes.

Three Month Pictures

Katherine had her picture taken on her three month birthday. She would NOT smile. There were entirely too many interesting props to look at on the shelves. Here is a full body shot.This is Katherine's curious face. She shows it most when riding in the stroller or at football games. Here is a tiny smile - the best we could get!

Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus

This is Katherine's new favorite position: standing. All she needs is a balancing hand, and her strong legs do all the work.

Let's Do Lunch

Katherine is ready for lunch whenever you are, Aunt Judy!

Minor Inconveniences

On Fridays, Katherine & I spend the day together while I run errands, clean the house, do laundry, etc. Yesterday, it was raining, so my mom offered to stay with Katherine while I did my chores to make it easier. I had gone to Target, dropped by the church to get my paycheck and was going from the bank to the grocery store. I was turning left, and someone ran a red light smack into the driver's side door. I never saw her until I heard the crunch and my side curtain airbags went off.

After I recovered from the shock of what just happened, I looked around the van. My glass of water had not even fallen out of the cup holder. I immediately thanked the Lord that Katherine was not with me as she usually is on Fridays. I climbed out the passenger door, the police & ambulance came, I unloaded my Target bags and the car seat & stroller onto the median, and my dad picked me up and took me home. I have minor scratches on my arm from the airbag, and where the seat belt dug into me, and I'm a little sore. The van is dented, but doesn't look too bad to me (we'll see what the insurance company says). I only saw the lady who hit me briefly, and I have no idea if she was taken to the hospital or not. Her car was crunched in pretty badly in the front, and there were pieces of her car lying all over the road.
Since it happened on a Friday, the police report won't be ready until Monday, and the insurance company can't start the claim. Andrew came home from work, we got a rental car, I went to the chiropractor, made dinner and watched a movie with my mom while Andrew went to work at the high school football game.

When I had a few minutes by myself to really think about what happened, I remembered what had taken place just the night before. I started a 12 week class at church called "Hearing From God." At the end of the night, we were to write down the question, "Lord, what do you want me to hear from You tonight?" and then write anything we felt like He was saying. I always have a song going through my head, even when I'm talking or reading or praying. It's distracting at times, but that night I wrote down "It's okay if you always have a song in your head. Just listen to the words - it's Me speaking to you." The song in my hand changed at that moment, and I wrote "You don't have to worry, and don't you be afraid...my life is in Your hands." I thought at the time, yes, that's a great song, but there's nothing difficult going on in our lives right now. Thanks, anyway, for the words. Then, Friday afternoon in the quiet moment, the song came back, and I said, "Thank you, Lord. My life is in Your hands."

Now, this takes me down a different road of thoughts...Andrew & I sang in the Chorale in college, and we were one of many couples who met in Chorale and got married. There are several couples from the time we were in the Choral that have experienced great loss in their lives just since we all graduated. One guy was in a swimming accident in January and is paralized from the next down (they have 3 children). Another couple got pregnant with triplets last year, lost one of the babies when they were born, and the other two are just now finishing up with surgeries from being premature. Another couple has had four miscarriages and will not ever be able to have children of their own. Just a few weeks ago, a different couple's four year old son got caught under a lawn mower and his leg had to be amputated. These are just the problems of our friends from Chorale. On Monday of this week, our District Superintendent and his wife were in a terrible car accident. His pelvis was broken, and she suffered extensive damage and is still in ICU. So, it makes me ask why God has chosen to let Andrew & I suffer so little in comparison. It's certainly not because we follow Him more than the others - they all have strong faith in God.

All I can do is thank the Lord that so far in our lives, the struggles we've had have only been minor inconveniences.

Aunt Gail

Here is Katherine having a civilized conversation with Aunt Gail.

Uncle Bob

I'm not so sure you can call the conversation with Uncle Bob civilized.

Chatty Katherine

Every morning and afternoon, Katherine visits with Uncle Bob & Aunt Gail on the way to and from school. This afternoon she was especially cheery and "chatty."

Bryant Football

Andrew is co-sponsor of the Earth Nerds club at Bryant. They are doing different recycling drives at all of the football games and cleaning up afterwards. Katherine and I joined him last night. She was totally fascinated with the bands during the halftime show and studied them the entire time. The team lost terribly, but the teachers and parents we were sitting with were fun. The ESPN song always seems to make people act a little crazy!

Fingers

This morning's activity...how many fingers can I get into my mouth?

Too Much Shopping

It was rainy here in the morning on Labor Day, so we could not work in the yard as planned. Instead we headed to Birmingham to shop. Parisians (our favorite store) was bought by Belk, so there were three floors of already 50% off clothes marked down another 50%. We got a lot of play clothes for Katherine for next spring and summer. Then we went over to the Summit for more looking around in the specialty shops (like Apple, Sharper Image, Pottery Barn). Katherine did great for the first 5 hours. Then she had a mild meltdown in the Hallmark store. She stopped fighting sleep after about 10 minutes and had a little nap. When we put her in the car to go over to PF Changs for dinner, she woke up and went hysterical. Andrew struggled with her for thirty minutes outside the restaurant while I ordered our food and waited for him. She finally fell asleep and didn't wake up until her bath at home. We were quite impressed with how long she lasted. If she can do 5 hours as a three month old, we might have quite a shopper on our hands!

Roll Tide!

For those of you who don't live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama football started yesterday (those who live here would have to live in a hole to not know it). Katherine wore her Bama gear and went to her first football party. She jumped a little when people screamed for (or at) the team, but otherwise did very well. Tailgating on the quad will come in a few weeks when it's a little cooler...

Breakfast In Bed

The Way Family has a tradition that goes something like this... Every month, on the first day, we compete to see who can wish everyone else in the family "Happy New Month" before the others remember. Then you laugh and gloat while the other person pretends s/he didn't hear what you just said. Andrew & I have carried on the fun into our little family. Yesterday, I got up early with Katherine and went back to bed for a little nap when she fell asleep again. Andrew got up with her when she woke later, and I stayed in bed. I was greeted a little later with the words, "Happy New Month, Mama!" and presented with breakfast in bed. Katherine was shocked to discover that all she would be feasting on was her pacifier.

Bath Time

Katherine has graduated to stage 2 in her bath tub. She enjoys being down in the water instead of in the sling. When she gets really excited, she splashes her feet. She is also holding her head up for longer and longer. Here is a little clip from last night's bath.