four mounths

today we went to dr. g's for the big, bad 4 month shots. i can't imagine poking tiny, fat legs with needles is the highlight of anyone's day, but cate and i did not care for the experience at all. but thank the good, sweet Lord, our little lamb is still packing on the pounds. yay!

weight: 14 lbs 12 ounces (75th percentile)
length: 25 inches (80th percentile)
head circumference: 16.4 inches (75th percentile)

since our last post, we've taken another trip to ruidoso with classy, pop, aunt stacey and uncle cam. we spent a lot of time on the back porch. the mornings were pretty cool, so cate needed a hoodie. and, of course, classy provided.

she also took a lovely bath in the huge cabin sink.

that little belly just kills me.
and daddy just kills her.

we celebrated margie's 80th birthday. what beautiful girls!
the past few weeks have been so much fun. i started my new 60% schedule at work on august 10th. i am so completely blessed to have the best of both worlds. on the 2.5 days i work, cate visits classyworld, which is a truly magical place where our little one is completely adored. knowing she is with mom makes it a little easier to drive away on those days. and my time at work flies since i am trying to pack a 5 day week into 2.5.

i also started boot the same week my new schedule kicked in. MWF i leave the house at 5 am to work out with 10 or so other women in a church parking lot. i am so very out of shape, but it feels really good to have the work out checked off of my list before the day ever begins. as he is with most everything in our lives, jared has been 1000% supportive. of course cate starts waking up the minute i walk out the door on those mornings. she senses the disturbance in the force. a very sleepy jared cheerfully corrals her until i get home.

speaking of sleepy, i had a total new mommy/space cadet moment the other day. as i was walking toward my car in the united parking lot, i noticed a massive scrape covered in burnt orange paint on my front passenger side bumper. i was thinking, "how in the &%$# did i hit a burnt orange car and not notice. jared is going to kill me!" i bent over and started rubbing the scrape to see if the orange paint would come off. i feel someone standing behind me and i turn to see a man looking at me, obviously puzzled by my actions. that's when i realize that this is not my car. what's even worse, it is not even the same make and model as my car. i think i said something along the lines of, "i'm a new mom and i'm not getting enough sleep," as i sprinted to the next white suv in the lot, which, thankfully, was my car.

cate spends a lot of her time smiling, except, of course, when mom is trying to take a picture. then she's all about the business of being serious.
if you hadn't picked up on it in the pictures, she spends a lot of time with her tongue outside of her mouth. i think it is another way for her to experience her surroundings. an "i must taste the air around me" kind of thing. that, or her tongue is way too big for her mouth to hold. only time will tell, i guess.
she's discovered her feet and is fascinated. and she talks really loudly sometimes. we wonder what it is she thinks she is saying. whatever it is, it is muy importante. we think her eyes may be changing colors. she is amazing.