Hanging Out on Bayou Courtableau

After a long day of rocking, eating, sleeping, and pooping (for Kate) and a long day of eating and drinking (for Daddy), we made our way back to Pop Pop's for the night. Pop Pop had cooked supper and after we ate, Kate enjoyed some quiet time with her Pop Pop. After a bath, Kate went off to bed a slept through the whole night. Over the past few weeks, Kate has really settled into a routine that provides Mom and Dad with ample time to get some shut eye.

We woke up on Sunday and headed to Uncle Kev and Aunt Dana's to spend some time with cousins Karoline and Braxton and exchange Christmas gifts.

Before we show some pictures with our time with them, I want to share a quick story.

The week before Kate was born, I drove back home and picked up Dad to attend a funeral for a family friend. After the funeral, Dad and I went to Kevin and Dana's to eat some supper. I find it important to tell you that my brother and his wife can flat out cook. Nothing healthy about what they eat, but you can't question the taste. But that's not the point of the story. After eating, we sat around their living room and discussed my excitement/anxiousness/fear about becoming a Daddy. We all laughed about it and they reassured me I would do just fine. The next day, I received the following e-mail from Kevin and I will never forget the feeling I had as I read it...

_____

I enjoyed the visit last night it was good seeing u hope everything goes good w/ Kate . Don't be afraid it's better than anything you have ever exeperienced in your entire life. Even better than a LSU national championship. They are awsome and will change your life forever. Things that once mattered don't any longer. I would not change a thing if I could, to me it's perfect, meant to be, and I love them like nothing else in this world. Not even my perfect wife. It's a different kind of love you'll see when u hold her for the first time. Sorry I went on and on but I wanted to tell u this before she was born so u can tell me later I was right, u will see.

_____

But I'll never forget the feeling of holding Kate for the first time and thinking about to those words of wisdom I had received from my brother. He was right. He is right.

Abbie and I are blessed with great family and friends that we consider great parents and role models to us as we raise Kate. Kevin and Dana are high on that list. We've learned so much from them and we look forward to raising our kids alongside them.

Braxton playing with his train. Dude is obsessed with his trains. It is so cute to watch.

Karoline opening up her gift

Uncle Kev with Kate

Exchanging Gifts with Amelia and Ann Marie

After rapping up with Mama, we headed over to Uncle Stewart and Aunt Lori's house to exchange gifts with the cousins.

Amelia is quite photogenic. She is 4 years old and was Pop Pop's first girl. We've been on quite the roll since Amelia. After reeling off 7 straight boys (Marcus, Kevin, Stewart, Nick, Derrick, Caleb, Pierce), 4 out of the last 5 have been girls.

Cousin Ann Marie playing in her exersaucer. Ann Marie is 6 months older than Kate (she is 8 months old in this picture)

Amelia giving Kate some sugars

Christmas with Mama Speyrer

On Saturday (December 12, 2009), we celebrated Christmas with Mama Speyrer at her house in Point Claire (between Leonville and Arnaudville). Mama still lives in the house where Pop Pop and Aunt Fanny were raised.

Cousin Maria and her husband, Hunter, and new baby, Conner, were unable to join us because of a prior commitment with Hunter's family. First cousin Caleb wasn't able to make it either.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Nanny giving Kate a bottle

Pop Pop with grandchild #6 - Kate's cousin Ann Marie

Nanny/Godchild picture (Abbie/Karoline and Lori/Kate)

Kate's cousin and our sweet little godchild - Karoline Marie Sperer.

Parrain and Kate

Uncle Kev cuttin' up as always.

Aunt Fanny with Kate. She was looking for some nieces to rock since her grandson wasn't there for the day.

Mama Speyrer trying to quiet a crying Kate

Daddy with his godchild

Mama Speyrer with Pop Pop and her Great Grandchildren (Caleb was the only one missing). From L to R, Amelia, Ann Marie, Pierce, Kate, Karoline, and Braxton.

The 'Speyrer Krewe'

Pop Pop with his boys

A Couple More Firsts

Kate experienced snow for the first time this weekend. We would have thought that her best shot at seeing snow for the first time would be on a trip to North Alabama, but amazingly enough Baton Rouge received a little dusting of snow on Friday night. For those of you that don't live down here, I'm sure you can imagine that this is a rare sight down here so we stayed up to make sure that we got to experience it. It came after a long day of rain so we didn't want to get Kate out in the weather so she enjoyed it from the comfort of the recliner all snuggled up with her Daddy.

Kate's other first this weekend was that of a victory in the SEC Championship football game. Much to Daddy's disappointment and Mommy's excitement it was Alabama rather than LSU who made it to the big game and was victorious. We watched the game with good friends Scott, Candace and Adi Levy. Kate and Adi enjoyed getting to know one another and the parents all enjoyed the chance to catch up and visit.

Kate and Daddy enjoying the snow from the recliner. As I was taking the picture I thought you were able to see the snow through the door.

Our house in the snow

The big accumulation on the back deck

Adi and Kate playing on the floor while the parents watched the football game

The Daddies with their little girls

And the Mommies enjoying each other's little girls

Here's Kate showing her excitement for the Alabama victory. She's saying "Roll Tide!!"

One Month Old!

Kate is one month old today. In many ways it's hard for us to believe that Kate is already one month old, but it's also hard to imagine what things were like before she was here. It almost feels as if we have known her forever. We have been having a ton of fun watching her grow and getting to know her. We have learned that she loves anything that moves...riding in the car, sitting in her vibrating bouncy seat or rocking in her swing. She's also starting to come around to Mom and Dad's favorite part of the day--bath time. We love to see her kick and squirm when we take her out of her harness that keeps her a little more confined during the day. We can't wait to see what the next month will bring! Enjoy some of the most recent pictures of our growing girl.

Friends Ben Landry and his girlfriend Natalie stopped by to meet Kate on Sunday

Checking out her "friends" on the mobile in her swing

Napping in the bouncy seat

After bath time

Daddy misses her terribly while he is at work everyday. He and Kate get in some good snuggle time each evening after he gets home from work.

Kate is definitely getting more and more alert each day but still spends a good part of her day napping.

The following pictures are some that Mommy took yesterday in honor of her one month birthday

Showing off her dimples

Much To Be Thankful For

Kate spent her first Thanksgiving with the Speyrer's in Port Barre and Eunice. She had a great first overnight trip away from home. We learned that she loves to ride in the car, we just hope it stays that way after our next big car trip to Florence. Eight hours is a little bit more to handle than the one hour trip to Port Barre. We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Kate's Great Aunt Fanny, Great Mama Speyrer and cousins Maria, Hunter and their newest addition Connor, Vincent, Christy and Tanner and Dixie. Lunch was wonderful and visiting with family was even better. After we had our fill at Aunt Fanny's we returned to Pop Pop's house where Nanny and Parrain stopped by so that Kate could finally formally meet her Nanny. Nanny came to the hospital when Kate was born but hadn't been able to hold her yet since she was sick for the baptism. Kate also got to visit with Uncle D, Aunt B (and Aunt B's family), Uncle Sherb and Aunt T, and Great Mama LaHaye as well. We returned to Baton Rouge on Friday so that Kate could meet a few close friends who were in town for the weekend. She had a great time meeting Stewart and Amy Jolly, Tosh and Suzanne Wolfe, and Allen and Jenny Richey. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends and most of all for our precious little girl. We hope everyone had a great holiday!!

Mama Speyrer and Kate and Nick with Connor

Some quality time with Pop Pop

The proud grandparents had a rock off while Mama Speyrer looked on

Pop Pop wouldn't give Kate up long enough to carve the turkey so the electric knife was passed on to Nick. He dove right in with a little instruction from Mama

Cousins Maria, Hunter and Connor

We know Kate and Connor will be great friends in the future.

Nanny and Parrain with Kate in Port Barre

Kate loved meeting Jenny and Allen Richey. Also thanks to the Richeys for our great dinner on Friday!!

Life Without Nonna

Kate is 3 weeks old today, November 23 and I'm sure that many of you have noticed that we have not been making blog posts with the same frequency as the first couple of weeks. This is a result of our little family trying to settle into some resemblance of a routine on our own. We were lucky enough to have the full time help of Kate's Nonna (Abbie's Mom) the first 2 weeks of Kate's life. This allowed us extra time to do all sorts of things...sleep, work on blog posts, update Facebook, return phone calls and emails. The past week has left us without our dear Nonna. While we are trying to devise plans daily to coax Nonna back down to Louisiana to help out Mom and Dad again, we are just extremely thankful for the time that we had with her and for all of the help and guidance she provided in our first few days as new parents. Kate has been missing Nonna badly and can't wait for some more good quality time with Nonna and the rest of the Johnsons around Christmas.