We can’t believe it’s July already!
Since our last post, we have turned ten months, and are now eleven months today! We can’t wait for our first birthday!
We continue to grow and learn so many new things! Katharine weighs sixteen pounds, and Christopher weighs twenty.
And we are on the move! Christopher is scooting, rolling, and inching his way to get to things. He is learning to bring his knees up, but is not yet ready to crawl. And Katharine has started crawling. Her curiosity is getting her into lots of new situations, and she is beginning to learn to get herself out of them as well. And during our recent vacation out West, she began pulling herself up on all kinds of things, including our fingers, and can now take a few steps while holding on. With a spotter, she can even do a pretty good job of climbing the stairs, so Mommy and Daddy Keep a close eye on her!
We have had a lot of exciting firsts this last month or so! We took our first trip on an airplane, on our way to visit Aunt Linda and Uncle Matt in California. We mostly slept on the plane, but it was a pretty exciting new experience to go to the airport and change time zones! We had lots of fun playing with our cousins Clara and Joseph while we were there. They showed us their pool, and we got a chance to try swimming for the first time. We were a little nervous, but Mommy and Daddy held us tight and we realized how much fun it was! We also got to try our first hike in backpacks with our cousins while we were there.
Then we went to Yosemite National Park for several days, where we saw lots of waterfalls, rock faces, and the giant sequoia trees. There were also lots of new people to see, and we got lots of practice riding in our backpacks everywhere. Mommy and Daddy even took us on an exciting hike down from Glacier Point and back up!
We both brought in several new teeth on our trip. For Christopher, they were his first teeth, and cumulatively, he’s gotten six new teeth in the last 2-3 weeks. And Katharine added four new teeth, so that both of us now have four teeth on the top and two on the bottom.
We are still learning to enjoy lots of foods! Yogurt is a favorite, and we also like fruits, vegetables, and meats. We are starting to enjoy chunkier foods and little pieces of whatever Mommy and Daddy are having. We love lentils, shredded chicken, minced peaches and sweet potatoes, and peanut butter crackers. And we continue to love to talk. Ba-ba-ba, Da-da-da and ma-ma-ma are some of our new favorites, and we still love Ah-Boof and some of our old favorites.
We are looking forward to seeing our Grandmas and Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles, and cousins when we visit Ohio later this month! Until then, here are some of our favorite photos of all the fun things we did last month! Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=1697533370105%3A768594777&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
Monday, July 11, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Here Comes Summer!
We are nine months old! Katharine weighs 15 pounds and Christopher is 18 and half pounds! We just keep growing and growing!
We have been on some walks and play dates with friends this month – we even walked up to Jammin’ Java in Vienna for lunch during a couple of morning concerts for kids. Seeing Rocknocerous was really fun on our birthday! Unfortunately we also got some really un-fun colds and haven’t seen our friends for about three weeks. We can’t wait to get better so we can get back to playing with our friends! But in the meantime, we’re having lots of fun together at home, playing, and learning lots of new things!
Both Katharine and Christopher are now sitting independently , and enjoy playing with our toys sitting for a while. We really like being able to see so much when we can sit up and look all around! At the end of the month, Katharine also started truly crawling, which prompted Mommy and Daddy to do some more safety proofing, including a gate across the playroom door. Mommy and Daddy also have to keep Katharine interested in her own toys, as she loves to play with Christopher and all of his toys. (Normally, we’d love to play together and share our toys, but we are also trying to get better from our colds by not sneezing and coughing all over each other ☺.)
We are still talking up a storm! Katharine’s characteristic Ah-Bah-Bah-Bwah filled our home for much of this month, and both of us still love Ah-Boofff. Our adventures in eating continue, as we have plowed through many vegetables and fruit and recently began proteins. So far we’ve tried lentils with rice (loved it!), chicken with brown rice (which Katharine found too runny), and beef/corn/carrot – which smells like beef stew – Yum! And we LOVE yogurt! We also love munching on an appetizer of teething biscuits or puffed cereal while waiting for our turn! Mommy finally figured out that Katharine just wants to feed herself. So as long as she can put her fingers in her food or help hold the spoon, she really thinks eating is fun!
On Sunday, May 15, we participated in the March of Dimes March For Babies. We had a beautiful day for the walk, and it was especially meaningful for us to walk amongst other families who have been blessed with little miracles. The hour-long walk was about four miles, from RestonTown Center, through the Lake Anne neighborhood and back. Along the route, there were corporate-sponsored "cheer stations", as well as signs honoring the brave fight faced at birth by so many other little ones in our community.
We are so thankful for the research that has been funded by previous walks, because it has contributed to the successful start our little ones have had. Thank you so much for your donations to support our family's walk in the March of Dimes this year! Thanks to you, our family exceeded our goal, raising $585 for the Fairfax NICU team, whose fundraising total was $30,378. There were more than 1,700 registered walkers (and estimate that there were about 3,000 who came out to walk), and raised more than $510,000 (This is $120,000 more than last year!).
And we were glad to end the month with a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Keller of Memorial Day weekend! We had lots of fun playing with them at home, and enjoying adventures out for dinner and brunch!
Here is the link for our May photo gallery on Kodak Gallery. You can paste this address into your browser to see them:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=1450703650105%3A1712894232&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
Have a beautiful start to summer!
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
We have been on some walks and play dates with friends this month – we even walked up to Jammin’ Java in Vienna for lunch during a couple of morning concerts for kids. Seeing Rocknocerous was really fun on our birthday! Unfortunately we also got some really un-fun colds and haven’t seen our friends for about three weeks. We can’t wait to get better so we can get back to playing with our friends! But in the meantime, we’re having lots of fun together at home, playing, and learning lots of new things!
Both Katharine and Christopher are now sitting independently , and enjoy playing with our toys sitting for a while. We really like being able to see so much when we can sit up and look all around! At the end of the month, Katharine also started truly crawling, which prompted Mommy and Daddy to do some more safety proofing, including a gate across the playroom door. Mommy and Daddy also have to keep Katharine interested in her own toys, as she loves to play with Christopher and all of his toys. (Normally, we’d love to play together and share our toys, but we are also trying to get better from our colds by not sneezing and coughing all over each other ☺.)
We are still talking up a storm! Katharine’s characteristic Ah-Bah-Bah-Bwah filled our home for much of this month, and both of us still love Ah-Boofff. Our adventures in eating continue, as we have plowed through many vegetables and fruit and recently began proteins. So far we’ve tried lentils with rice (loved it!), chicken with brown rice (which Katharine found too runny), and beef/corn/carrot – which smells like beef stew – Yum! And we LOVE yogurt! We also love munching on an appetizer of teething biscuits or puffed cereal while waiting for our turn! Mommy finally figured out that Katharine just wants to feed herself. So as long as she can put her fingers in her food or help hold the spoon, she really thinks eating is fun!
On Sunday, May 15, we participated in the March of Dimes March For Babies. We had a beautiful day for the walk, and it was especially meaningful for us to walk amongst other families who have been blessed with little miracles. The hour-long walk was about four miles, from RestonTown Center, through the Lake Anne neighborhood and back. Along the route, there were corporate-sponsored "cheer stations", as well as signs honoring the brave fight faced at birth by so many other little ones in our community.
We are so thankful for the research that has been funded by previous walks, because it has contributed to the successful start our little ones have had. Thank you so much for your donations to support our family's walk in the March of Dimes this year! Thanks to you, our family exceeded our goal, raising $585 for the Fairfax NICU team, whose fundraising total was $30,378. There were more than 1,700 registered walkers (and estimate that there were about 3,000 who came out to walk), and raised more than $510,000 (This is $120,000 more than last year!).
And we were glad to end the month with a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Keller of Memorial Day weekend! We had lots of fun playing with them at home, and enjoying adventures out for dinner and brunch!
Here is the link for our May photo gallery on Kodak Gallery. You can paste this address into your browser to see them:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=1450703650105%3A1712894232&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
Have a beautiful start to summer!
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
Sunday, May 1, 2011
April 2011
Happy Spring!
We are eight and a half months old! Katharine weighs 14 pounds and 4 ounces, and Christopher weighs 17 pounds and 12 ounces!
We have been growing and learning so much this month! We started trying lots of different kinds of foods. We started with rice cereal, which we didn’t like very much. After that we loved pear puree, and have now tried carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, and green beans, and peas.
We’re both talking in syllables. Katharine says things like Lah and Aah, and Ah-Boofff. Christopher says things like Ehy, Ehr, Ayee, Ma, Da, Pthhff, and La La.
And we still love playtime! We are both moving around on our tummies during playtime, and using our legs to maneuver ourselves into new positions. And Katharine is turning all the way around to reach things, and using her legs to move a few feet away. Mommy and Daddy have to be more careful about what we leave nearby, because she is reaching for lots of unexpected things now. And we continue to work on learning to sit up. Katharine likes the boppy pillow, and Christopher likes the bumbo seat with a tray to bang toys against.
Another exciting milestone we discovered when we got home from our trip to Ohio… Katharine has two sharp little points coming in on the bottom of her mouth – her first teeth! Christopher is chewing and drooling on everything and drooling, so we expect to see his first teeth soon too.
We are very active and love the games and routines in our day. We both love to fly and be tossed into the air. We love bath time, and stories, and looking all around at things and smiling at people when we go out of the house. We recently joined a weekly playgroup, and invited our new friends over to play at our house. And we enjoy going on walks with Mommy and Daddy, and visiting with friends.
Just in the last couple of weeks, we are really enjoying playing together. We love to look at, smile, and laugh with one another. We are interested in touching each other’s faces and hands, and even chew on each other. Some of the pictures we took at Meadowlark show us looking at each other as Katharine holds on to Christopher’s collar or puts her fingers into his mouth while he chews happily.
Recently we had our first family photos taken at Meadowlark Gardens (see the "Spring Photo Session" post for a link to our print gallery). And we went to visit the Easter bunny for photos.
And we especially had fun going to Ohio to see our Grandmas and Grandpas, because we miss them so much! We had a very special first Easter, with our baptism ceremony and visiting with Grandmas and Grandpas afterward. We can't wait to see our Grandmas and Grandpas again!
Here is a link for the photos we took this month…
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=3697342050105%3A524775194&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
With Love,
Katharine and Christopher
We are eight and a half months old! Katharine weighs 14 pounds and 4 ounces, and Christopher weighs 17 pounds and 12 ounces!
We have been growing and learning so much this month! We started trying lots of different kinds of foods. We started with rice cereal, which we didn’t like very much. After that we loved pear puree, and have now tried carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, and green beans, and peas.
We’re both talking in syllables. Katharine says things like Lah and Aah, and Ah-Boofff. Christopher says things like Ehy, Ehr, Ayee, Ma, Da, Pthhff, and La La.
And we still love playtime! We are both moving around on our tummies during playtime, and using our legs to maneuver ourselves into new positions. And Katharine is turning all the way around to reach things, and using her legs to move a few feet away. Mommy and Daddy have to be more careful about what we leave nearby, because she is reaching for lots of unexpected things now. And we continue to work on learning to sit up. Katharine likes the boppy pillow, and Christopher likes the bumbo seat with a tray to bang toys against.
Another exciting milestone we discovered when we got home from our trip to Ohio… Katharine has two sharp little points coming in on the bottom of her mouth – her first teeth! Christopher is chewing and drooling on everything and drooling, so we expect to see his first teeth soon too.
We are very active and love the games and routines in our day. We both love to fly and be tossed into the air. We love bath time, and stories, and looking all around at things and smiling at people when we go out of the house. We recently joined a weekly playgroup, and invited our new friends over to play at our house. And we enjoy going on walks with Mommy and Daddy, and visiting with friends.
Just in the last couple of weeks, we are really enjoying playing together. We love to look at, smile, and laugh with one another. We are interested in touching each other’s faces and hands, and even chew on each other. Some of the pictures we took at Meadowlark show us looking at each other as Katharine holds on to Christopher’s collar or puts her fingers into his mouth while he chews happily.
Recently we had our first family photos taken at Meadowlark Gardens (see the "Spring Photo Session" post for a link to our print gallery). And we went to visit the Easter bunny for photos.
And we especially had fun going to Ohio to see our Grandmas and Grandpas, because we miss them so much! We had a very special first Easter, with our baptism ceremony and visiting with Grandmas and Grandpas afterward. We can't wait to see our Grandmas and Grandpas again!
Here is a link for the photos we took this month…
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=3697342050105%3A524775194&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
With Love,
Katharine and Christopher
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Spring Photo Session!
Hello all,
We recently took the kids to Meadowlark Gardens for their first photo session with a photographer.
We were hoping to get some cute photos with the kids and with the pretty spring flowers and cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Lessons learned! Beyond the challenges of getting two babies to be content, looking, and/or smiling at the same time; the kids had so many pretty things to look at, including the feel of their first shoes, Katharine chewing on the ribbons and layers of her dress, Christopher pulling up his "big boy" shirt, etc.
Fortunately it was not too sunny or hot, and only got chilly when the breeze picked up.
And there was only one significant tearful moment, with a quick five minute catnap for both kids, wrapped up in their decorative quilts.
But all in all, we think we got some really nice photos.
We were SO excited to receive the proof gallery with slideshow to preview. So we had to share. Here's the information...
Our online proof gallery can be viewed at:
http://www.veralana.com//proofs/2011/041011proofs/slideshow/
user: client
pwd: myportraits
We recently took the kids to Meadowlark Gardens for their first photo session with a photographer.
We were hoping to get some cute photos with the kids and with the pretty spring flowers and cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Lessons learned! Beyond the challenges of getting two babies to be content, looking, and/or smiling at the same time; the kids had so many pretty things to look at, including the feel of their first shoes, Katharine chewing on the ribbons and layers of her dress, Christopher pulling up his "big boy" shirt, etc.
Fortunately it was not too sunny or hot, and only got chilly when the breeze picked up.
And there was only one significant tearful moment, with a quick five minute catnap for both kids, wrapped up in their decorative quilts.
But all in all, we think we got some really nice photos.
We were SO excited to receive the proof gallery with slideshow to preview. So we had to share. Here's the information...
Our online proof gallery can be viewed at:
http://www.veralana.com//proofs/2011/041011proofs/slideshow/
user: client
pwd: myportraits
Sunday, March 27, 2011
March 2011
Hi, We're seven months old!
We've been doing a lot of growing and getting stronger this month! Christopher is now sixteen and a half pounds, and Katharine is thirteen pounds! We've had lots of fun playing in our gyms and exercising with Mommy and Daddy and spending time on our tummies.
We can push all the way up on our arms and look all around the room, which is a pretty neat perspective for us! We like to hold and touch things and move them around to see what they do. We can reach lots of things, and love to see how things feel by sticking them in our mouths. Christopher has even learned to do this with his feet!
We can roll from our backs to our tummies, and sometimes from our tummies to our backs. And we are starting to learn to roll over and over toward something we want to see closer.
And we love to play games with Mommy and Daddy! We like tickling games for our tummies, chins, and noses. And we like to practice sitting up and standing while Mommy and Daddy hold our hands. We're not quite ready to sit up yet, but love practicing it in our bumbo seats.
We've also been learning a lot about sleep! When we started turning over this month, we had to start to learn to sleep without our cozy sleepsacks. This has been challenging sometimes, but it is getting easier. Mommy and Daddy are great about helping us get back to sleep when we have trouble, and we're remembering to take naps during the day so we can be happy and have fun.
What a busy month we've had! And when we're not napping or exercising, we've been going on walks with Mommy and Daddy, on outings to the store or to playgroups, and just hanging out together. We're starting to really enjoy looking at each other and playing together. And sometimes it makes us sad when our brother or sister is sad!
You can see new photos of all our fun by copying and pasting this link into your browser
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=8433993930105%3A1772796618&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
And if you didn't hear already, we are in training to walk in the March of Dimes March For Babies this May! Check out our information and video, and find a link to donate or walk with us in our "March For Babies" post.
Thanks for checking in!
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
We've been doing a lot of growing and getting stronger this month! Christopher is now sixteen and a half pounds, and Katharine is thirteen pounds! We've had lots of fun playing in our gyms and exercising with Mommy and Daddy and spending time on our tummies.
We can push all the way up on our arms and look all around the room, which is a pretty neat perspective for us! We like to hold and touch things and move them around to see what they do. We can reach lots of things, and love to see how things feel by sticking them in our mouths. Christopher has even learned to do this with his feet!
We can roll from our backs to our tummies, and sometimes from our tummies to our backs. And we are starting to learn to roll over and over toward something we want to see closer.
And we love to play games with Mommy and Daddy! We like tickling games for our tummies, chins, and noses. And we like to practice sitting up and standing while Mommy and Daddy hold our hands. We're not quite ready to sit up yet, but love practicing it in our bumbo seats.
We've also been learning a lot about sleep! When we started turning over this month, we had to start to learn to sleep without our cozy sleepsacks. This has been challenging sometimes, but it is getting easier. Mommy and Daddy are great about helping us get back to sleep when we have trouble, and we're remembering to take naps during the day so we can be happy and have fun.
What a busy month we've had! And when we're not napping or exercising, we've been going on walks with Mommy and Daddy, on outings to the store or to playgroups, and just hanging out together. We're starting to really enjoy looking at each other and playing together. And sometimes it makes us sad when our brother or sister is sad!
You can see new photos of all our fun by copying and pasting this link into your browser
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=8433993930105%3A1772796618&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
And if you didn't hear already, we are in training to walk in the March of Dimes March For Babies this May! Check out our information and video, and find a link to donate or walk with us in our "March For Babies" post.
Thanks for checking in!
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
Sunday, March 13, 2011
March For Babies
Friends and Family,
We would like to share with you our plans to walk in the March of Dimes "March For Babies" this May.
If you are a regular visitor to our blog, then you are probably familiar with the story of how our family grew this year, with much time spent at Fairfax Hospital. If you are a new visitor, please feel free to read our early posts, beginning last summer, when Andrea was admitted to the hospital.
Our family is so grateful for the doctors and nurses at INOVA Fairfax and Fair Oaks, who cared for our family before and after our kids were born. We feel blessed to be able to say that our little ones are healthy and happy at home with us! We walk in gratitude for their work and for the emotional support we received from the March of Dimes, and we walk in honor of all families touched by a baby in need of miracles. Thank you for helping these miracles happen!
We are signed up with the Inova Fairfax Hospital Center NICU Team. You can visit our pages to get more information or make a donation if you would like to contribute. Here is their site...
http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1480669
We are signed up as "David and Christopher Keller" and "Andrea and Katharine Keller", so we have two pages.
Also, the kids are included in a photo tribute created by a nurse to kickoff this event. Here's a link to paste in your browser:
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=d6f464f3add9f6576587df&skin_id=1602&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=email
And finally, here is some additional information about the organization and the event:
Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I'm walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.
Please support my walk. Making a secure donation is easy: just click the 'donate now' button on this page. Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!
The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.
Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
Thank you, with love,
Katharine, Christopher, David, and Andrea
We would like to share with you our plans to walk in the March of Dimes "March For Babies" this May.
If you are a regular visitor to our blog, then you are probably familiar with the story of how our family grew this year, with much time spent at Fairfax Hospital. If you are a new visitor, please feel free to read our early posts, beginning last summer, when Andrea was admitted to the hospital.
Our family is so grateful for the doctors and nurses at INOVA Fairfax and Fair Oaks, who cared for our family before and after our kids were born. We feel blessed to be able to say that our little ones are healthy and happy at home with us! We walk in gratitude for their work and for the emotional support we received from the March of Dimes, and we walk in honor of all families touched by a baby in need of miracles. Thank you for helping these miracles happen!
We are signed up with the Inova Fairfax Hospital Center NICU Team. You can visit our pages to get more information or make a donation if you would like to contribute. Here is their site...
http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1480669
We are signed up as "David and Christopher Keller" and "Andrea and Katharine Keller", so we have two pages.
Also, the kids are included in a photo tribute created by a nurse to kickoff this event. Here's a link to paste in your browser:
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=d6f464f3add9f6576587df&skin_id=1602&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=email
And finally, here is some additional information about the organization and the event:
Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I'm walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.
Please support my walk. Making a secure donation is easy: just click the 'donate now' button on this page. Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!
The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.
Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
Thank you, with love,
Katharine, Christopher, David, and Andrea
Thursday, February 17, 2011
February 2011
Hello everyone! We hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!
We are just beginning February, but Mommy and Daddy have new pictures to share already because they've been playing with their camera!
We're six months old now, and we went out to dinner with Mommy and Daddy to celebrate our birthday! And how we're growing!! Christopher is 15 pounds, and 26 inches, and Katharine is 12 pounds and 24 inches!
So far this month, we've been having lots of fun playing in our gym, playing in the snow, practicing sitting and standing, and hanging out together!
Here's the link to our gallery of some of our favorite fun pictures so far this month!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=7821790720105%3A185759887&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
Keep checking back later this month for new pictures!
Love to everyone,
Katharine and Christopher
We are just beginning February, but Mommy and Daddy have new pictures to share already because they've been playing with their camera!
We're six months old now, and we went out to dinner with Mommy and Daddy to celebrate our birthday! And how we're growing!! Christopher is 15 pounds, and 26 inches, and Katharine is 12 pounds and 24 inches!
So far this month, we've been having lots of fun playing in our gym, playing in the snow, practicing sitting and standing, and hanging out together!
Here's the link to our gallery of some of our favorite fun pictures so far this month!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=7821790720105%3A185759887&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
Keep checking back later this month for new pictures!
Love to everyone,
Katharine and Christopher
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