Kate's first date

Last week, our dear friends Brian and Jill were in town for Brian's job.  They had a son, Lincoln, almost exactly 10 weeks before Kate was born.  Jill and I are very similar and it has been so amazing to have a friend go through the exact same things as you, just a few months earlier, to talk to about baby stuff.  We are so excited to be on the parenting journey with some of our closest friends! Anyway, while Brian was working, Jill and Lincoln spent the day with Kate and I.  The kids didn't interact too much, but they did hold hands and play together a little in the late afternoon.  We have all kinds of plans for these two, and jokingly called it their first date:)

Baptism

February 19 was a very special day for our family...Kate was baptized! I was a little nervous about how she would handle getting wet and being up in front of the whole church, but she was a peach:) We were so blessed to have all of our family there (except Bryan) and a few friends as well.  Kate was able to wear my baptism dress from when I was a baby and that was very special for me too.

We can't wait to see how this covenant unfolds in Kate's life.

Special thanks to my mom for having everyone over for lunch afterwards and to Andy for taking all the pictures.  I appreciate you!

loving my uncles

Brian and Paul were in town for a Young Farmers Conference and stopped by to see us on their way home.  Kate loves them!

snuggle bear

I'm a little biased, but I'm pretty sure she's the cutest kid in the world!

February birthdays!

My mom and I get to celebrate our birthdays two days apart each year, and this year was especially fun because we have Kate around.  We went to the Outback for a family dinner this year and had a great time together.  We missed Adam and Bryan, though!

loving the conversation

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

loving uncle Andy

Valentines Day (a week late)

In honor of the day of love, Kate wore all pink.  Happy Valentines Day from the Pridgeons to you!

Sunday afternoon

A few Sundays ago, when Kate was just starting to really smile, we got her going and took a TON of pictures.  She has so many hilarious faces.  Here are a few favorites:)

a day with the grandparents

A few weekends ago, Matt's parents came to spend a day with Kate (and us).  Kate was happy to get lots of snuggles in...

tuckered out!

Kate LOVES to kick around and grab at all the animals on her activity mat.  She played a little too hard today and fell asleep right on it:)

making the switch

Before Kate was born, we went back and forth on whether we wanted to use disposable or cloth diapers.  I had heard arguments for and against both and, in the end, it didn't seem like there would be a huge financial difference until we used cloth for more than one baby.  But, about a month before she was born, we found a great deal on BumGenius 4.0's (buy 5, get 1 free) and finally bit the bullet.  We ordered 18 diapers - but only paid for 15 - and I got super excited by how cute they were.  Then, they went into a drawer in Kate's room...and stayed there...for a long time.  At first, Kate wasn't big enough to use them, then we had a huge box of disposables from Costco, then I didn't know what type of detergent to use...the list of excuses went on and on.  I just wasn't ready to commit.

Last week, we FINALLY washed the diapers and started using them.  So far, so good! They are definitely more bulky than disposables, but I can't tell you how much I love not having to buy diapers at the store all the time.  The laundry hasn't seemed bad yet and Kate seems happy in them too:) Next stop...cloth wipes!

What's in a Name?

Matt and I have never been big on nicknames or pet names with each other.  Sometimes we call each other lover and once in a while, he'll throw in a 'bride of my youth', but usually we stick with Matt and Laura.  Kate, however, is a completely different story! This girl has more nicknames than anyone I know. Here's what we've been calling her these days...

Peanut
Kates
Sweet Girl
Love
Sweetheart
Kater-Tater Tot
Pumpkin
Honey
Pretty Girl
Pickle (my dad's favorite)
Pee Wee (my mom's favorite)

3 Months!

Happy Valentines Day and Happy 3 Month birthday to our little lady! Here are her three month pictures...

she loves to smile at her daddy:)

look at those thighs:)

so pretty! 

she loves to kick her legs up

I love those eyes:)

Things I want to remember:

• your smiles (especially when we wake you up in the morning)
• all the teeny, tiny blood vessels on your eyelids
• your growing eyelashes
• your facial expressions
• how much you love your activity mat
• how you're starting to grab onto things
• how good you smell
• all of your "talking"
• that you recognize us
• the way you play after a diaper change
• how you hate getting dressed
• your skinny, little butt and chunky thighs
• how much you don't like getting boogers sucked out of your nose
• how curly your hair is after a bath (and how crazy it dries!)
• you're getting hiccups less often
• your thumper legs during diaper changes
• how fast your fingernails keep growing!
• the little dimples on the backs of your hands where knuckles will someday be
• how much you like to be around people
• how beautiful and precious and amazing you are