hi baby=)
in college daddy went on a trip with some of his friends. they drove from new haven, connecticut all the way down to brooklet, georgia to see mastine and big d on their farm. (those are very fun names for your great grandparents, don't you think?) they had tons of fun and i love hearing daddy and chad and dan and emily tell stories about it. anyway, they called this trip their "great leap south". so this post is to tell you about your first trip to georgia. i have dubbed it your great leap south=)
it was kind of last minute. we weren't sure if it was going to work out with mommy's work schedule for us to make the trip, but it did. we are so glad. we left friday afternoon and came back wednesday. we crammed in seeing as many people as possible but it didn't leave enough time to see half the people we wish we could've introduced to you. you met uncle matthew and uncle nathan's families and got lots of play time with cousins anna cate and jackson. little cousin hazel did not, however, decide it was yet time to enter the world, so we'll have to wait till august to meet her. what a bummer=( you saw your grandparents again and a few of your great grandparents. you got good snuggle time with your davis aunts and uncles and had great fun laughing at grand-e-pa when he would show you all his teeth. anna cate read to you (she learned to read this past year!) and helped you play with your piano toy. jackson would pat your head and say "heeey baby catherine" every time he saw you. you shared your gilly the nemo fish with him when he was needing a snuggle toy one night. and he was great at sharing his plastic jet ski with you. it must've been great to chew on because that's what you kept doing. it was really sweet to see how excited they were to finally meet you. you have wonderful big cousins who have so much to teach you. you'll have to learn quick, sweet girl, so you can teach hazel and whoever else is yet to come...
we spent saturday at gigi and grandaddy's house. lots of people we love came over to play with you. christi and major and miley were there for a bit. bearing gifts, of course;) miss christi is the one who makes you all your cute monogrammed dresses and chairs and burp cloths, etc, etc...the list goes on and on. ;) major and miley were precious and it was such fun getting to see their little personalities. brian and heather and little jack came over for a pseudo-family reunion. (brian was uncle matthew's friend in high school and he lived with us for a year when mommy was in 5th grade) mommy's friend emilie came over and got to see you again (she was here when you were born) and she brought her handsome little guy lee. he's 4 1/2 months old now and super handsome. you were incredibly sleepy by the time you met him but you would've been smitten for sure had you been awake enough to get a good look. some more family members came by as well, and i'll let the pictures tell those stories. it was a great day for sure. we were wishing we could spend more time with everyone we saw that day, but it was great to see them nonetheless. we'll take what we can get, won't we babe??
sunday was davis day. we went to church with all the davises at riverstone (i have decided to spell our last name plural like that, but i still have no idea what's right...) and you did GREAT! you liked the worship time and really just wanted to keep looking at the screen where the words were projected with the pretty pictures in the background. rita springer was leading worship that day so that was a special treat. during the message you sat in daddy's lap and i had my finger close to the silence button on your vent just in case you started making it beep, but it never happened! not even once! i was so proud of you. so down the row of seats with us were gigi and grandaddy, aunt nikki, grand-e-pa, aunt misty, uncle kelly, aunt elaine, uncle keith, and our sweet friend eddie=) it was so cute because everyone kept peeking down the line to see what you were doing. you'd tell us something here and there and we loved hearing your voice. you wanted to play with eddie's i-phone but you never got grumpy. you got to meet the terrell's after the service and you finally fell asleep in miss deanne's arms. off to lunch we went at grand-e-pa's house. it was such a sweet afternoon of lounging around with him and your aunts and uncles, and waiting to see if aunt misty would suddenly go into labor with little hazel. we watched old home videos. we haven't done that in a long time, but at one point it was a popular activity when we all got together. seeing uncle kelly give dating advice and keith play along for his video, and watching daddy be a little too cool for their antics at that point because he had graduated onto being a college freshman by that point. family camping trips are always fun to watch, but my favorite is seeing aunt nikki cut paper. it was like her therapy or something from having three big brothers. she's the greatest. i hope you grow up to be just like her. at one point daddy and i were on one side of the room and you were being passed around from lap to lap on the couch...and every time we would look over there somebody would have their mouth wide open making you laugh or they would be smiling at you or some camera would be snapping a picture of you doing something magnificent. you're a big hit for sure. surrounded by love-we are so thankful=) sunday night we got to squeeze in a visit with auntie robyn and john before heading off to the lakehouse. you were VERY excited to see robyn! after your bath, at least. something about that bath gives you your second wind and you seem ready to take on anything. she gave you your birthday present early and it's the cutest pink polka dot picture frame-i might like it better than you at this point (unless i let you chew on it) but i have a feeling that one day i'll have to hand it over, seeing that she gave it to you and all.
so onto the lake. it was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! more family came to visit and you got to spend some time on cousin grady and richard's laps (i'm convinced richard is one of your new boyfriends. you loved him so much!) and see more grandparents and meet more cousins-you and cousin emma grace happened to have the same dress on and we took full advantage of the photo-op that created. after a little debating, we took you on a boat ride. you loved it so much!!! we could tell that at first you were figuring it all out but once we started going you got the biggest smile on your face and you were flirting with daddy and we got some family pictures and finally you slept in gigi's lap. so i'm relieved to say you're a fan of boat rides, just like your mama. they are my favorite sweet girl, and i can't wait to take you on more of them. you also spent some time on the back porch looking at the lake and playing with mommy's water bottle. you met mrs gilmore and gigi made her laugh so hard by trying to make you laugh. funny how that works. what a precious lady mrs gilmore is. i used to walk over to her house when i was little girl and she would let me have cucumbers out of her garden. i loved it. you slept really well while we were there in your little pack-n-play, until the last night when you decided to work on getting yet another tooth! (your 5th tooth came in while we were there and your 6th one is now working its way out!) it's the month of teeth, apparently. gigi finally got some alone time with you=) mommy and daddy would go out on the boat or down to the dock and you and gigi would nap or read or learn what a nose is. all very important things sweet girl=) it was a little surreal being there with you. remember last july how i wrote you a letter about being there with you in my tummy? there's a picture of me and daddy sitting on the swing by the water and i remember we were talking about funerals and tombstones. it's so weird writing about that. it feels like a totally different world now compared to then. and i guess it really is. words don't express how thankful i am for where you are now. the word thankful doesn't come close. i love you baby.
this trip was so good for all three of us. just in general i think mine and daddy's spirits were lifted so much. feeling somewhat "normal" with our sweet baby and sharing you with family and showing you more of your world. and i'm not quite sure how scientific this is, but it really seems like it was physically good for you! you have progressed by leaps and bounds in terms of gross motor milestones. you started sitting up much more independently while you were there, and since we've been back you've started almost barrel-rolling when you roll over! it's like you're trying to flip 360 degrees. it's pretty cute. and you'll roll to your stomach and then scoot your bottom up in the air but you can't quite get that lower arm out from under you yet. so we'll help and get you up on your hands and knees and you'll start rocking back and forth (which actually is the official sign for "preparing to crawl") and we are so proud of you! i feel kind of ridiculous when people are over at our house and you start doing these things because i watch you with this huge grin on my face and i keep telling you how proud of you i am and how great you're doing. daddy will come in from seeing clients and i'll tell him about it and he'll try to get you to do it again, but you're much better at it when you have energy, like after your bath for instance=) my favorite thing since we've been back was thursday when i took you to the grocery store. it was your third trip there with me, but the first time you sat in the official kid seat on the cart with your legs through the holes, you know? you loved it! at one point we were by the potatoes and you had such a huge grin on your face and i leaned down to laugh with you and your mouth was wide open and we were attracting attention. people like seeing happy babies, and i like showing you off=) in the check-out line we met a lady with her 8 year old twins who were premature and while you played with the frozen pizza box the lady and i had a nice little talk about having babies with BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia-basically from being on a ventilator for a while and it's kind of like your lungs got beaten up a little). it's funny the things i talk about now with strangers=)
i really am so proud of you baby. it's the most fun watching you grow and develop and your little personality come out. we're preparing ourselves for some sass-you'll come by it honestly i guess. i find myself sitting at work off in my own world and i'll start smiling to myself and i realize i'm thinking about something you did that day. (lately it's been that wide-open mouth laugh in the produce section at kroger) being your mom is great fun=)
i love you baby-
mama
in college daddy went on a trip with some of his friends. they drove from new haven, connecticut all the way down to brooklet, georgia to see mastine and big d on their farm. (those are very fun names for your great grandparents, don't you think?) they had tons of fun and i love hearing daddy and chad and dan and emily tell stories about it. anyway, they called this trip their "great leap south". so this post is to tell you about your first trip to georgia. i have dubbed it your great leap south=)
it was kind of last minute. we weren't sure if it was going to work out with mommy's work schedule for us to make the trip, but it did. we are so glad. we left friday afternoon and came back wednesday. we crammed in seeing as many people as possible but it didn't leave enough time to see half the people we wish we could've introduced to you. you met uncle matthew and uncle nathan's families and got lots of play time with cousins anna cate and jackson. little cousin hazel did not, however, decide it was yet time to enter the world, so we'll have to wait till august to meet her. what a bummer=( you saw your grandparents again and a few of your great grandparents. you got good snuggle time with your davis aunts and uncles and had great fun laughing at grand-e-pa when he would show you all his teeth. anna cate read to you (she learned to read this past year!) and helped you play with your piano toy. jackson would pat your head and say "heeey baby catherine" every time he saw you. you shared your gilly the nemo fish with him when he was needing a snuggle toy one night. and he was great at sharing his plastic jet ski with you. it must've been great to chew on because that's what you kept doing. it was really sweet to see how excited they were to finally meet you. you have wonderful big cousins who have so much to teach you. you'll have to learn quick, sweet girl, so you can teach hazel and whoever else is yet to come...
we spent saturday at gigi and grandaddy's house. lots of people we love came over to play with you. christi and major and miley were there for a bit. bearing gifts, of course;) miss christi is the one who makes you all your cute monogrammed dresses and chairs and burp cloths, etc, etc...the list goes on and on. ;) major and miley were precious and it was such fun getting to see their little personalities. brian and heather and little jack came over for a pseudo-family reunion. (brian was uncle matthew's friend in high school and he lived with us for a year when mommy was in 5th grade) mommy's friend emilie came over and got to see you again (she was here when you were born) and she brought her handsome little guy lee. he's 4 1/2 months old now and super handsome. you were incredibly sleepy by the time you met him but you would've been smitten for sure had you been awake enough to get a good look. some more family members came by as well, and i'll let the pictures tell those stories. it was a great day for sure. we were wishing we could spend more time with everyone we saw that day, but it was great to see them nonetheless. we'll take what we can get, won't we babe??
sunday was davis day. we went to church with all the davises at riverstone (i have decided to spell our last name plural like that, but i still have no idea what's right...) and you did GREAT! you liked the worship time and really just wanted to keep looking at the screen where the words were projected with the pretty pictures in the background. rita springer was leading worship that day so that was a special treat. during the message you sat in daddy's lap and i had my finger close to the silence button on your vent just in case you started making it beep, but it never happened! not even once! i was so proud of you. so down the row of seats with us were gigi and grandaddy, aunt nikki, grand-e-pa, aunt misty, uncle kelly, aunt elaine, uncle keith, and our sweet friend eddie=) it was so cute because everyone kept peeking down the line to see what you were doing. you'd tell us something here and there and we loved hearing your voice. you wanted to play with eddie's i-phone but you never got grumpy. you got to meet the terrell's after the service and you finally fell asleep in miss deanne's arms. off to lunch we went at grand-e-pa's house. it was such a sweet afternoon of lounging around with him and your aunts and uncles, and waiting to see if aunt misty would suddenly go into labor with little hazel. we watched old home videos. we haven't done that in a long time, but at one point it was a popular activity when we all got together. seeing uncle kelly give dating advice and keith play along for his video, and watching daddy be a little too cool for their antics at that point because he had graduated onto being a college freshman by that point. family camping trips are always fun to watch, but my favorite is seeing aunt nikki cut paper. it was like her therapy or something from having three big brothers. she's the greatest. i hope you grow up to be just like her. at one point daddy and i were on one side of the room and you were being passed around from lap to lap on the couch...and every time we would look over there somebody would have their mouth wide open making you laugh or they would be smiling at you or some camera would be snapping a picture of you doing something magnificent. you're a big hit for sure. surrounded by love-we are so thankful=) sunday night we got to squeeze in a visit with auntie robyn and john before heading off to the lakehouse. you were VERY excited to see robyn! after your bath, at least. something about that bath gives you your second wind and you seem ready to take on anything. she gave you your birthday present early and it's the cutest pink polka dot picture frame-i might like it better than you at this point (unless i let you chew on it) but i have a feeling that one day i'll have to hand it over, seeing that she gave it to you and all.
so onto the lake. it was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! more family came to visit and you got to spend some time on cousin grady and richard's laps (i'm convinced richard is one of your new boyfriends. you loved him so much!) and see more grandparents and meet more cousins-you and cousin emma grace happened to have the same dress on and we took full advantage of the photo-op that created. after a little debating, we took you on a boat ride. you loved it so much!!! we could tell that at first you were figuring it all out but once we started going you got the biggest smile on your face and you were flirting with daddy and we got some family pictures and finally you slept in gigi's lap. so i'm relieved to say you're a fan of boat rides, just like your mama. they are my favorite sweet girl, and i can't wait to take you on more of them. you also spent some time on the back porch looking at the lake and playing with mommy's water bottle. you met mrs gilmore and gigi made her laugh so hard by trying to make you laugh. funny how that works. what a precious lady mrs gilmore is. i used to walk over to her house when i was little girl and she would let me have cucumbers out of her garden. i loved it. you slept really well while we were there in your little pack-n-play, until the last night when you decided to work on getting yet another tooth! (your 5th tooth came in while we were there and your 6th one is now working its way out!) it's the month of teeth, apparently. gigi finally got some alone time with you=) mommy and daddy would go out on the boat or down to the dock and you and gigi would nap or read or learn what a nose is. all very important things sweet girl=) it was a little surreal being there with you. remember last july how i wrote you a letter about being there with you in my tummy? there's a picture of me and daddy sitting on the swing by the water and i remember we were talking about funerals and tombstones. it's so weird writing about that. it feels like a totally different world now compared to then. and i guess it really is. words don't express how thankful i am for where you are now. the word thankful doesn't come close. i love you baby.
this trip was so good for all three of us. just in general i think mine and daddy's spirits were lifted so much. feeling somewhat "normal" with our sweet baby and sharing you with family and showing you more of your world. and i'm not quite sure how scientific this is, but it really seems like it was physically good for you! you have progressed by leaps and bounds in terms of gross motor milestones. you started sitting up much more independently while you were there, and since we've been back you've started almost barrel-rolling when you roll over! it's like you're trying to flip 360 degrees. it's pretty cute. and you'll roll to your stomach and then scoot your bottom up in the air but you can't quite get that lower arm out from under you yet. so we'll help and get you up on your hands and knees and you'll start rocking back and forth (which actually is the official sign for "preparing to crawl") and we are so proud of you! i feel kind of ridiculous when people are over at our house and you start doing these things because i watch you with this huge grin on my face and i keep telling you how proud of you i am and how great you're doing. daddy will come in from seeing clients and i'll tell him about it and he'll try to get you to do it again, but you're much better at it when you have energy, like after your bath for instance=) my favorite thing since we've been back was thursday when i took you to the grocery store. it was your third trip there with me, but the first time you sat in the official kid seat on the cart with your legs through the holes, you know? you loved it! at one point we were by the potatoes and you had such a huge grin on your face and i leaned down to laugh with you and your mouth was wide open and we were attracting attention. people like seeing happy babies, and i like showing you off=) in the check-out line we met a lady with her 8 year old twins who were premature and while you played with the frozen pizza box the lady and i had a nice little talk about having babies with BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia-basically from being on a ventilator for a while and it's kind of like your lungs got beaten up a little). it's funny the things i talk about now with strangers=)
i really am so proud of you baby. it's the most fun watching you grow and develop and your little personality come out. we're preparing ourselves for some sass-you'll come by it honestly i guess. i find myself sitting at work off in my own world and i'll start smiling to myself and i realize i'm thinking about something you did that day. (lately it's been that wide-open mouth laugh in the produce section at kroger) being your mom is great fun=)
i love you baby-
mama
she really does like him, no matter what she says;)
grandmother giving her sweet baby kisses
family photo on the boat ride
mrs gilmore laughing at gigi
you laughing with gigi after bathtime
beautiful anna cate holding you
gigi said this is typical: uncle matthew and me laughing at uncle nathan...
playing with your piano toy
anna cate and her fish!
you were pretty content on the back porch with gigi
jackson is surely learning something profound from your daddy, while you are pretty happy in your own world=)
happy in your exersaucer
this is pretty much what jackson did the whole time he was around you-sweet boy=)
the boys being goofy...and you are blissfully unaware focusing on jenny the dragonfly=)
sweet baby hand on a big boy's arm
having fun with frances and grady
you're trying to get grandmother's medallion necklace...i always chewed on it and you do too!!!
laughing with uncle nae-nae
sleeping in the boat on gigi's lap
you're getting very sleepy!
sitting like a big girl in the back of the boat
i'm pretty sure you were trying to get my sunglasses
you were loving the boat ride!
lots of fun on the boat=)
talking to grandaddy
morning-time fun with jackson!
water-ready with your bathing suit on! you had it on for about 15 minutes because we had to get to your g-tube, but it was cute while it lasted=)
so happy your first morning waking up at the lake!
fun times with auntie robyn=) 
playing with gilly your nemo fish
pretty pretty girl=)
snugglin with uncle keith
anna cate teaching you about the dinosaur!
sweet puffy face right after you woke up=)
telling grandy-pa what's going on.
laughing with aunt nikki and uncle kelly
i love this picture=) uncle kelly is gonna be a great daddy for sure!
dancing with gigi
snugglin with grandy-pa. he likes you. 
reaching for the penguin aunt misty gave you.
more dancing with uncle matthew. you were having lots of fun!
torrance family photo
sweet major finally warmed up to me! now we're buddies. he loves you so much and told his mommy they needed to make you bows so you wouldn't look like a boy. and then he picked out blue ribbon and football ribbon to make them=)
miley, miss christi, you, and major. bff for sure.
jackson meeting you for the first time=)
laughing with gigi and grandaddy
gigi making you giggle
getting sleepy in cousin richard's lap 
emma and me watching people swim
cousins sarah and caleb
talking to grandmama and papa
catherine and emma grace, the twins=)
you were digging uncle bill's mustache
12 comments:
I am so glad you all had an awesome trip to the south=) I love the family picture with Catherine's feet on your shoulders. It is truly amazing to see what God has done in this last year with your sweet family!
Oh honey, I love you, I love Catherine, I love your family, I love Jenny the Dragonfly!!! I think the South needs you in it! :) So happy Catherine is doing so well. She looks amazing! As do you my sweet friend!!
How Beautiful this is. I'm so glad Catherine is going so well and that the three of you were able to talk this trip. I know how much it was needed by all. Catherine is truly loved. I love every pic. Love and prayers as always. And I can just picture the grocery store scence!
Oh Katie-HOW WONDERFUL that you guys got to come down for a refreshing trip!!! So glad to herar it went so well! I'm sure your families were in heaven!!! She is SUCH a precious doll!!!
She has GROWN UP so much, and you're still beautiful as ever. Love you and miss you. Will you really be back in Aug? When? I will be there until the 11th of Aug!
I just was wishing the stories and pictures would never end. love it all. especially that she went on a boat ride!!
This was so exciting to see all the pictures of this sweet little girl. What a doll she is and her smile melts one's heart! I check your blog often to make sure you and your family are doing well.
Love and prayers to you,
Debbie - Erin West's aunt
So..... I'm so sad that I missed seeing yall. But these pictures are amazing and now I feel like I was a part of it all. She is just the most happy baby! Always all smiles and just SO SUPER CUTE! I'm sure it was an awesome time with family and friends!!
LOVE YALL!
I'm so glad y'all had such a good trip! As soon as you started talking about going to the lake I instantly thought of last year's post from when y'all were at the lake. This post is much more joyful and happy!!! She looks great and so do y'all!
Catherine Marie!!! I haven't looked at your blog since you were in the NICU at UVA and I was taking care of you! I have seen you lots since then, during your hospital stays, but now that I have seen these pictures, I just want to cry! You and your mommy are so beautiful!!! What a miracle baby you are...I never would have believed you would be where you are now, given where you were then...
You are so blessed to have such a big, big loving family. What fun the lake in GA must have been (did you know I went to nursing school in Atlanta? I love it there!) Keep up the good work and you and your mommy come see me and my chickens soon out in the country :)
Love you, Your fairy godmother, Elizabeth
P.S. How do you like my profile picture??? You are the star of it!!! (It was taken in February 09at your house...)
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