6 Months Old (a little late)!

Kaia turned 6 months old about three weeks ago but this is the first time I've been able to sit and write about it. I just can't believe how fast it has gone by. She is growing up like crazy and learning new things every day. Here are her stats:

Height: 25.5 inches, 50%
Weight: 15 lbs, 2.5 oz, 25%
Head: 43 cm, 75%

Some fun facts about Kaia at 6 months:

• Watch out world! She's mobile now and into EVERYTHING!!!
  
• She thinks her brother is HILARIOUS! Any time he even walks in the room, she laughs.
• She's fascinated by her hands - she studies them constantly, moving them from side to side and opening and closing them.
• She's ALWAYS happy, seriously the happiest baby I know.
• She loves giving kisses - big, open-mouthed, slobbery kisses!
• She's a total busybody. If she's not sleeping, she's moving! It's impossible for her to sit still.
• She loves attention. If you're not giving it to her, she'll fake cough or yell, "eh, eh"!
• She hasn't met a food she doesn't like, although she does seem to have some faves: bananas, pears and sweet potatoes.

We love her to death and can't imagine our world without her in it! Happy 6 months chiquita!!!

Summer Fun

So far our summer has been really fun. Keegan is a lot busier than we meant for him to be, but he's enjoying himself. He went to a basketball camp the first week of summer and really improved his game! The other teams finally realized that he was one of the stars on his team and starting sticking to him like glue - he still managed to get off a couple shots!!



He's also doing swim team at one of the local pools. I totally didn't prepare him for it though! They pretty much just get in the pool and do laps the entire hour. It's really tough but we're going to try to stick it out. We'll see how it goes. . .

Doug is helping to coach soccer again this summer. They only have one game a week with no practices, which is really nice. The World Cup is inspiring Keegan to try some new moves and last week he scored two goals :)

Some days, we decide to just chill out at home and take a break from all the busyness. It's nice for Kaia to be able to nap in her own bed! Today was one of those days, and we invited one of Keegan's best friends over. They play so great together! They played in the sprinklers, made a mud pool, had a picnic and then did some sidewalk art, (which is my FAVORITE kind since there's no clean-up involved!!) Yeah for fun summer days!




Also, we're pretty sure Keegan has a future in the long jump!

Memorial Day

soooooo sad that Triston had to go home!

3 out of 4 ain't bad!

the "mud pool"

Quinn and Dani came up to visit for Memorial Day weekend! We ate lots of yummy food and Keegan and Triston played non-stop. Kaia was just dying to keep up with the big kids. She wanted to be wherever the action was and thought little Bridgie was fascinating! It's so nice that Quinn and Dani are just 5 hours away and we loved having them. Thanks for coming guys - can't wait for your next visit!!

just threw this one it because this little dress just kills me - so cute!

From the time that Kaia started sitting up, she started trying to move around. It's so funny, because she'll be looking at something right in front of her and try to get at it, but scoot backwards instead. She's gets pretty frustrated, but we're pretty sure she'll be crawling soon enough.

Growing :)

What a busy week!

We've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks and I wanted to share some of the highlights -

1. Kaia got her ears pierced! I was totally nervous about taking her in and feeling like a cruel mommy, but she was a total trooper! She only cried for about 5 seconds, which made me feel better about my decision to do it. And I have to say that she looks adorable with her tiny little pink czs :)

2. Doug & his siblings ran the Ragnar Relay del Sol! I'm so impressed with the Gooch brothers, sisters & 2 cousins. They ran a 202 mile race over 24 hours. There were 12 runners on the team and each had to run 3 legs of the race. Everyone was exhausted by the time they finished, but it sounded like they all had a good time. Yeah for the Shufflers!

Doug kickin' it old school

attacking a hill

3. Grandpa Gary Gooch celebrated his 70th with all of his children. After the race, everyone got showered and headed to Garcia's in Phoenix for some yummy Mexican food. The family shared some memories of Gary over the years and some tears were shed, although most of them were from Kaia, who had had enough by that time! She screamed something fierce for the last half hour or more of the dinner :(

4. Kaia Rowan Gooch was blessed by her daddy. We figured it would be a great time to bless Kaia since most of Doug's brothers and sisters would be able to attend. Kaia was kind of touch and go all weekend. She was just a bit overwhelmed by all the people, so I was a little afraid that she was going to cry all the way through her blessing. By the time we got to church, she was okay, but then she heard everyone singing the opening hymn and it made her sad. I took her out thinking that I had until after the sacrament to get her calmed down. Turned out, though, that she was on right after the opening prayer. Doug came running down the hall and said that it was time. She still wasn't very happy, but there was nothing we could do. Doug took her up there, and she stopped fussing completely! She was a little angel throughout the blessing, which was a relief to both Doug and me. Doug still talked as fast as he could, but thanks to his sisters and niece, we have a record of her blessing. (Thanks to Mimi for the beautiful dress & Grandma for the darling blanket!)

sweetie pie

totally relieved!

our little fam

everyone at the blessing

see those cute earrings?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Me & my sweet little valentines

Keegan made me the valentine necklace that I'm sporting in the pic - he did such a great job! He even gave me a dime, (you can see it taped to the middle of the valentine), which he thinks is pretty much the best present you can get! Actually, he told me he wanted to give me a dollar but he couldn't find one, so he gave me a dime instead. He's such a sweetie :)

I just had to throw this picture in, because she's so stinkin' adorable! It really is so much more fun to dress little girls than little boys.

Growing so Fast!

Kaia's growing so fast - I can't believe it! She's starting to smile and coo & she has the sweetest little voice :)

Work that Poo Out!

When I woke up this morning, Keegan was at Kaia's bedside singing her a little song. It went like this, "Work it out, work that poo out. It's just a tiny poo, so don't you cry. Just work it out, work that poo out." How nice for Kaia to have a cheerleader for the difficult times in life! :)

Catch Up

Things have been hectic around here since Kaia's arrival, but now that we've settled in a little bit I figured I would update the blog. I always love the Christmas season, but this year it was even more special since we had Kaia. Keegan got some really great stuff and a visit from Mimi, which is a special treat! My mom, "Mimi", came out on Christmas day and left on New Year's Day. It was really nice to have her here to help out with Kaia and play Wii Sports with Keegan! We even got to take a trip to Old Town, where Mom got some great deals on southwestern jewelry. We were all sad to see her go.

Gary and Sharee also made the trip out from Tucson in early January. They could only stay a couple of days, but we loved having them. (Except for the time when Grandpa beat Keegan at Wii bowling - then Keegan was a little bit upset, but decided to forgive him with a peace offering of some Junior Caramels!)

Now that Keegan is back in school, we've settled into a groove. I'm back to playing volleyball and am slowly getting back into working out. I went to my first salsa class this week, which I've missed like crazy! Kaia is such a good baby - she sleeps for 6 hours at a time at night and takes formula from Doug when I'm at my volleyball games. She's up to 9 lbs 8 oz and can almost fit into the 0-3 month clothes that I've been dying to put her in!

happy New Year!

Mimi with the kids

daddy & daughter

Keegs with his loot

ready for combat

Pics of Kaia

My friend, Holly Randall, took some newborn pics a couple of weeks ago. Kaia was NOT cooperating! But thanks to lots of patience from Holly, she got some really cute shots. I think Kaia pooped on 4 blankets by the time we were through :) Check out the pics here.

Our New Addition

so tiny

precious!

he loves to hold her

doesn't she look like a cute, grumpy old man?

sweet, sleepy smiles

Kaia Rowan Gooch arrived in this world at 5:42am on December 16th, 2009. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. and was a little beaten up when she got here. Even with a slightly black eye and swollen nose, we could tell from the start that she was a cutie pie! She's absolutely perfect now and we all adore her. She already has Keegan and Doug completely wrapped around her tee-tiny little finger and I'm not too far behind. She's proven to be a better sleeper than her older brother, which helps me to be a happy mom! We all love to just watch her. I swear I spend hours every day just staring at her! I love to see the cute, fleeting expressions on her face as she sleeps. She also has a trademark horsey noise that she makes all the time which cracks us up. She's such a sweet little girl and is a great blessing in our lives :)

Merry Christmas from the Gooches!

Keegan has been going around singing this song like crazy, so I figured I'd share it with everyone! Merry Christmas :)

A New Era

As I prepare for the arrival of our new baby girl, I can't help but think of the chapter that is now closing in my life. I've been the mom of just Keegan for the last 6 1/2 years. It's been so amazing having him all to myself! It's such a privilege to be his mom. He's so sweet and loving and has pretty much always been a "momma's boy." Even though I know that's bound to change, (which will break my heart!), I've loved every minute of it. We never planned to have such a gap between kids, but now I feel so lucky for the time that we have been able to enjoy little Keegan. When he was a newborn, I told Doug that it wouldn't be fair for us to have any more kids because there was no way that I could love anyone else as much as I love Keegan. I really believed that then. I know now that's not true because I already love our new little girl a ton and I haven't even met her yet. I'm sure that the old saying that the only thing that grows when divided is love will prove to be true. But before litte Kaia enters our lives, I want Keegan to know how much I love him and how I will always treasure the years that we've had just the 2 of us.

I Accept Defeat!!!

How is it that SO MANY of my friends have their babies EARLY? It's like their bodies can't wait to get the LITTLE SUCKERS out! I've heard so many stories of just doing THIS or THAT and going into labor shortly thereafter. I totally BELIEVED that I could do it. After all, I'm not asking for MUCH - I just wanted to have her a little early. And it's as much to benefit HER as me - who wants a birthday so CLOSE to Christmas? There's no way she's COMFY in there - I know I'm definitely not comfy out here! ANYWAY, I've decided to accept DEFEAT. There doesn't seem to be ANYTHING that I can do to persuade her to come out a little bit early. BELIEVE ME - I've tried it all, from spicy foods to evening primrose oil to red raspberry leaf tea to sex to pumping. I even tried sprinting and squats and lunges the other day! This man in the park looked at me like he was afraid she was going to just FALL OUT and he would have to come to my aid. I have to ADMIT that I'm conceding more EASILY than I usually would. The REASON for that? On Tuesday my midwife told me she'll induce me on my due date - BLESSED WOMAN!!!

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Thanksgiving with Friends

the feast

our little family

Andrea, Karen, me & Jamie

fun in the pool

Jamie with the kids

This year we couldn't travel to Tucson for Thanksgiving because I'm too close to my due date, so we decided to spend the day with friends. Scott and Andrea got this club house up in the mountains for us to use for the feast. It was beautiful! There was an indoor pool, a gym, racquetball, big screen tvs, a game room, and Andrea and I even found a massage room (where she enjoyed a much-needed massage at the end of a wonderful but exhausting day)! Several families came up and everyone contributed to the delicious meal. Jamie entertained the kids while we got things ready and then the eating began. Afterward, everyone played games and swam. It was so nice to have such a great time even though we weren't able to be with family this year! Thanks to everyone for such a nice holiday :)

P.S. For those of you requesting pics of the belly, there it is! Large and in charge at 37 weeks!

3rd Place - Not Too Shabby!

Keegan had to decorate a turkey to be judged by the other first grade classes a couple of weeks ago. He had all kinds of ways that he wanted to do it, and then my friend suggested that we use candy, and he loved the idea. He figured out what candy to use and then arranged it all, but he couldn't use the glue gun, so I was the one who ended up with the tedious job of gluing each M&M into place. He won 3rd place and $2 worth of snacks at school. Now - what's my prize?? :)

our masterpiece

Ah. . .A Good Night's Rest

It's been a little while since I've gotten a decent night's rest because baby girl has decided that her most comfortable position at night is the most uncomfortable for her momma. When I'm on my left side, my ribs hurt and when I turn over to my right side, she's all up in my back. I've gotten pretty used to it by now, so I just expect not to sleep much. So the other day when Keegan had a 7:00 dental appointment I didn't even think to set my alarm because I'm up way earlier than that normally. Well, what do you know but the little chica decided to let me sleep! I slept right through that 7:00 appointment and is was lovely!!!! It was the first night of really restful sleep that I've had in a while. Here's to hoping that she's out of my ribs for good ;)

Funny Kid

When I picked Keegan up from school yesterday, his teacher told me that he really cracks her up. She said that when they were finishing up their Science chapter on the different states of matter, she asked all the kids to draw a picture of their favorite liquid. Most kids put down soda or juice or Kool-Aid, but Keegan drew a perfect picture of a bottle of WINE! She said that he spelled it perfectly and everything. When she asked him why wine was his favorite liquid, he said, " because it comes in such a pretty bottle!" I'm pretty sure she knows us well enough to believe him :)

Also, I guess Keegan has been thinking lately about how he can save up some money. He came up with a great idea the other day. The conversation went like this:

K: Mom, I think we should have a money sale today.
M: Okay, what exactly is a money sale?
K: It's when you get all your instruments and go outside on the street and play them.
M: Hmm, so what instrument are you going to play?
K: The guitar.
M: Oh, and what about Mommy and Daddy?
K: You guys are going to play the piano and the guitar. Oh yeah, and we have to have a hat.
M: Why do we have to have a hat?
K: Cause that's where all the people put the MONEY!!!

I have no idea where he came up with that idea - but he still thinks it's a good one. He's been after me to pin down a date for the "money sale" for the past week or so :)

Flashback - October Ultrasound

I just can't resist putting this little clip up. You can see her opening her mouth - so stinkin' cute!

Flashback - Labor Day in Spar

love this one of my boys

the girls

Beautiful Spar

He loves his Camelback :)

Little hikers

Hanging out with Oliver

We spent Labor Day weekend with our good friends in Spar this year. It's so peaceful and beautiful up there, we really feel lucky to be able to take a little time off every year to be with great friends. The kids had lots of fun and it was a wonderful break from real life for the adults, (especially since Travis had to head home early to be put in our ward bishopric :) Thanks to Scott and Andrea for making it happen!

the whole gang

"Best Friends Cabin"

taking a rest

the boys