Special Mother's Day Post (secretly written about Kaitlin)

Today's blog post is a very special and unique one - different from what you'd normally be reading about here at Norris Lane. Today, I (Steven) have secretly logged into Kaitlin's Blogger account in order to brag to you all about her.

Typically you'd find all kinds of cute pictures and updates about our two lovely daughters and what we've been up to as a family. Instead today I'm sharing about the wonderful woman, wife, and mother that makes everything about our loving family possible. 

Recently, in a fit of selfishness, I shared with Kaitlin that staying home alone with and watching both girls is exhausting and not my favorite thing to do. She could have, any maybe even should have, laughed in my face at that remark. But she didn't. That's just not who she is.

For those of you who don't know, on top of all she does during the week, Kaitlin spends ALL day every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday taking care of our girls while I'm at work. And she doesn't just merely "take care" of the girls. She loves on them like you wouldn't believe. She wakes them up, feeds them healthy meals, she plays with them and talks to them, she teaches them, comforts them, reads to them, disciplines them, bathes them, changes and dresses them, prays with them, and puts them to sleep. She takes them on walks, takes them to the library, and takes them on play dates with friends. On top of all the kid stuff she shops for groceries, washes and folds laundry, cooks, cleans, plans baby showers for friends, gets gifts for extended family, works out 6 days a week, and the list just goes on... it truly does.

Now you can see why she could have laughed at me for my comment about watching the girls the other day.  

Beyond of all the kid stuff and normal house duties she takes on, she still manages to be a huge blessing to me at the end of my work days. She doesn't dump the kids on me or hand me a list of housekeeping to-dos the moment I get home from work each evening. She creates a space in the evenings where I can come home, relax and enjoy her company. We talk, we laugh, watch a favorite show, and sometimes even eat some ice cream (my favorite snack) together. That is as pleasant as any evening I can come up with after a long day at work.

How does she do it all?! I don't know. She has a super power that rivals that of Mary Poppins. Actually on second thought, it's not even right to call it a super power. That would imply she's miraculously received the ability to do all these things with ease. That wouldn't be exactly true. She works at it, she studies parenting and constantly looks for ways to improve. And while I do believe the good Lord has uniquely gifted her in the area of mothering and wiving (Did I just make up a word?), she still has hard days and sometimes gets exhausted by all the work. She takes it with grace, doesn't take it out on anyone, and never complains. Ultimately, her amazing ability comes from a place that reflects the heart of Christ - a heart that's rooted in serving, giving, humility, selflessness, and love. 

I couldn't have a better life partner, or mother to our children then the one our family has in Kaitlin. She's the heart behind so much of our family and the glue that unites us together and helps drive us to be better. She truly is extraordinary and I appreciate and love her beyond words. 

Happy Mother's Day, Kaitlin.

Love,

Steven, Ellie, and Paige

eleven months

Size: Pretty much all 9 month clothes don't fit. The clothes she does fit are 12-18 month! And wearing size 4 diaper still. When she lays down she looks soooo long. I am so curious what her weight and height are, but her next well check isn't until next month.

Eating: Altogether she still has a good appetite, but she's had a mild cold off and on, so that can affect how much she wants to eat - can be hard to breath while eating and swallowing. She's nursing 4 times still, has 3 meals, plus 1-2 snacks a day! Little by little we're giving her more bits of our food; experimenting with what she actually likes in solid form. Girl loves her blueberry/purple sweet potato puffs by the way.

Sleep: Paige is sleeping in a little longer...waking up at 6:30am on average - usually waking on the later side of 6:30. Plus, we won't let her sleep past 7, as to not affect the rest of the days routine. First nap is around 8:15am, lasting 1-1.5 hours (we won't let her sleep more than a hour and a half, so it doesn't affect the length of her second nap). Second nap is at 1pm, usually lasting 1.5-2 hours. And bedtime is 7pm. We love her predictability, how she falls asleep fast and her consistently sleeping through the night for months!!!

Milestones/Accomplishments:
- Has four teeth...two on top and two on the bottom
- Has taken up to 4 steps. Usually just does a step or two, often
- Walks confidently along furniture and one handed as well
- Claps
- Shakes head/body for 'yes'
- Points and babbles sometimes
- Waves hi
- Gives high fives...is however skeptical of doing it with people she doesn't know that well

Likes:
- Others' eyelashes and teeth. She'll use her pointer finger and kind of play with them
- The dishwasher...if she see it open, she'll instantly stop what she's doing and crawl over and check it out
- Patting your back/shoulder when being held
- When you say, "I'm going to get you!!!" She'll get all excited, laugh and either crawl or walk (along furniture) away
- Pages in books...she is always grabbing at them while she's being read to and sometimes she'll help turn them
- Climbing/mauling over cushions
- Taking books off the shelf

Dislikes:
We couldn't really think of any new things she doesn't like...
She still doesn't like her diaper changed sometimes...or things being taken away from her that she wants to, but shouldn't...or being put down - like if she just wants to be held, but you need to make food, etc...she'll fuss for a moment.

Additional things I want to remember:
We play chase with Ellie and Paige will crawl the same path (like around the kitchen island or the living room furniture), like she's playing as well. The way she smiles often with her teeth clenched together, tilts her head back, while squinting her eyes and scrunching her nose - it's sooo silly and cute! Her deep her stomach roll and thigh rolls are - cleaning those things takes some effort! Her olive skin tone...I had observed this several months ago, but now it seems even more noticeable when she's next to Steven and Ellie (who are more pale). How she is still so content in the ergo...I think she just loves that closeness...as do I!

April photo favorites

We had a wonderful Easter morning and afternoon!

(Ellie had this whole squinty smile thing going on for a few days by the way. Haha)

We had a little egg hunt in the living room (little too chilly outside). 

Ellie loved it (Paige was napping)!

^ Ellie wanted a picture next to the Target dog

^ Steven secretly snapped this photo while we were Facetiming him at work. 

Ellie gave us all a big a hug! 

^ Ellie made a little bed in her closet and she fell asleep before I could come in and put her in her actual bed for nap. 

^ She had chucked her pillow out of her bed and went to sleep the opposite direction. Whatever makes her comfortable I guess!

Took the girls to the Music & Movement class at the Library.

They enjoyed it, despite Paige crying for a moment (picture below), because I wouldn't let her crawl all over the place. But, Ellie was sweet and gave her a hug!

^ You can pretty much see those cute 4 teeth of hers! 

^ Note Paiges mauling over Steven and the pillow - she loves getting all up in there and playing. 

^ So prior to this picture, the girls had only bathed together once or twice since Paige was born. I don't really have a good reason why that was, but now it will be a consistent thing and it's cute seeing them in there together! (And Ellie decided to give me a crazy smile when I snapped this.)

It has been sooo nice out and we've been soaking it up with play time in our backyard and walks!