Kate is 1 today!!!

Wow! Kate's first year just flew by! I can't believe my baby girl is already 1 year old! The past year has been filled with so many joyous and challenging moments. People weren't kidding when they told us having a baby is hard, but boy is it rewarding! Kate has been learning so many new things in the past few weeks.



Below are a few of Kate's new things:

~Stand on her own for several seconds and then sit gracefully back down
~Walk with only holding onto one hand
~Wave "bye-bye"
~Blow kisses
~Give a "high-five"
~Say "dog!" and sometimes "kitty"
~Point out noses, eyes, tongues, ears, and feet
~Eat an entire nectarine or watermelon wedge on her own
~Pretend talk on the phone
~Hold my purse over her shoulder
~Throw tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants (I am not too thrilled about this one but I guess it was going to happen at some point)
~Sit in her new forward facing car seat (this has been a huge lifesaver on longer trips...she is so much happier in her new car seat since she can see us and the passing cars)
~Get so clingy when we are home that I can't get anything done around the house or even make dinner when Will is home. For some reason if she is around other people or kids she is familiar with she doesn't need me to be around...it is only at home or in new situations when she wants to be in my arms all the time.
~Her obsession with Elmo has grown deeper. She loves to watch Elmo on You Tube while I get ready in the morning. Her favorite clip is Elmo's Ducks...so cute, you should check it out.


I am sure there are things I am missing, but that is just a small glimpse into the things she is currently doing.


Kate has been such a true joy. The best way to sum her up is just a happy, goofy baby with a mind of her own. Her smiles melt my heart and her silly nature always makes me laugh. God has truly blessed us!


Here are some pictures from this past year:

3 months

6 months

9 months

Our 1-year old!

Happy birthday Kate!!!!

Our soon-to-be 1 year old!

As mentioned in our previous post, we just had some professional pictures taken of our family for Kate's first birthday. Below are some of our favorites. (Pictures taken by Kellie Valdez)

I had to include this one in here since Kate really enjoyed feeling the bark on the tree.

What a difference 7 years makes

We had some professional pictures taken at the UC Davis Arboretum for Kate's 1st birthday, and by sheer coincidence we have a nearly identical pose from the same location! The older picture is from our engagement sitting before our wedding, and we are coming up on our 6 year anniversary in just a few weeks!

Splashy Baby!

Here is a cute picture of our girl from Friday.

Here is a cute video of Kate having a fun and splashy time in the bath last night.

Such a cutie!

Yesterday I was putting away some groceries and Kate kept asking to hold one of the nectarines I had just bought. She would hold it for a few seconds then ask me to put in back in the basket and then she would ask to hold it again. This went on for several minutes until she decided to give the nectarine a little bite to see what would happen. She bit through the skin so I figured I would cut a few pieces for her to try. She ended up loving the flavor of it so she wanted to hold onto the whole thing. She sucked and chewed on it for about 20 minutes and got nice and dirty.
"All done!"

Two of Kate's new things are to hug and cuddle her stuffed animals and to turn her palms up as if she is inquiring about where somthing has gone. Yesterday we were playing this game with her monkey, Valentine. It was so cute!

"Where did he go?"

"This is fun!"

Here is some video of her playing.

Fourth of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July holiday filled with lots of family and friends. Kate's Dedushka (Will's dad) stopped by from Fresno to visit us for lunch. He and Kate had a wonderful time playing together. After a little play, we went out for a yummy Thai lunch. It was such a delight to have his company. We wish he could have stayed longer but he had to get back to Fresno.

Kate was showing Dedushka how close she is to walking. She was getting so excited she started to do some silly high-steps that looked a lot like a marching band walk.

Kate is showing off how cool she is wearing Daddy's sunglasses.

In the evening, our friends came over for some BBQ and fireworks. Kate enjoyed showing Hazel her new toy.

All the girls are getting so big!

(From the left: Hazel (almost 2), Kate (almost 1), Abby (9 months), Zoey (7.5 months)

Daddys and their girls!

Kate and Hazel enjoyed watching Will BBQ. He made some amazing bratwurst, hamburgers and hot dogs. Yummy!

Zoey got a little messy eating her green beans.

Everyone hanging out before fireworks.

We walked to our favorite spot on a nearby greenbelt to watch the Davis fireworks. Kate seemed to enjoy the fireworks at the beginning but then she got a little bored by them and turned restless. She actually fell fast asleep on the walk home and slept from 10:00pm -8:00am (only waking up at 5:30am to nurse). It was a great Fourth of July!

Kate's first trip to the zoo

Yesterday we took a family trip to the Sacramento Zoo. We had a wonderful time looking at all the animals. Kate was quite amazed by it all! She especially enjoyed watching the howler monkeys, giraffes, fish, otters, and the tiger with her baby cub. At the end of our trip Kate was treated to a ride on the carousel. It was a great day!

Kate was very fascinated by this statue. She kept grabbing for it and smiling.

Will and Kate are watching the tiger and her cub play in this picture. The mommy would hide behind a bush and pounce on her cub...it looked like a game of hide and seek. It was very cute!

Kate enjoyed getting up close with the large fish. She would bang on the glass and laugh.My favorite part was the giraffes. They are such a cool looking creature!

We bought Kate a stuffed tiger from the gift shop. She wouldn't stop hugging it, even when we got home.