Daddy's Girl

Kate's Favorite Pillow-

Gina "The Great"

Kate's Great Aunt Gina came to visit this past weekend. She is a great cook and made lobster stuffed filet mignon for us while she was here. As Jeff said-it was probably the finest meal that has ever been served in our home. She also gave Kate a new video camera, so hopefully we will figure out how to post videos very soon. Kate loved meeting Gina, although she slept most of the time!

Heather Flythe and her son Drew also came to visit this past week. Luckily they have been in town for a couple of weeks, so they were able to meet baby Kate. Drew is only three months older than Kate! I can't believe that they grow so quickly!

Kate's Visitors

I'm sorry it has been over a week since we've updated. Our daughter has kept us very busy! Kate is two weeks old as of Wednesday. Some of her clothes now actually fit her instead of swallowing her! Over the last couple of weeks she has had lots of visitors and she has thoroughly enjoyed being held and cuddled and loved by everyone! Here are a few of her favorite people!

Grandaddy:
Grandma:
Nana:
Aunt Heather:
Uncle Dan and Aunt Jennifer:
Kate is very lucky to have four great grandmothers still with us. Three of them have had the opportunity to see her. Hopefully Great Grandma Costa will be able to visit soon.
Great Grandma Mary:
Great Grandma Hurtarte:
Great Grannie:

Happy Valentine's Day-Kate is a week old!

We had a great time celebrating Kate's one week birthday and Valentine's Day at the same time. Jeff is still on paternity leave and it was wonderful to celebrate the whole day together. We send our love to all our family and friends!

Daddy surprised Mommy with a beautiful amethyst necklace and matching earings (Kate's birthstone) that one day will be passed on to Kate.

Kate and Jeff had a date that evening watching the Duke basketball game. Seems like she was more interested in watching her Daddy.

First Bath and First Outing

Kate has had a lot of firsts the last few days. She didn't exactly love her first bath, but she liked when Dad held her on her stomach to get her back washed.












To the doctor we go!


Kate had her first doctor's appointment on Monday. She did so well, we were so proud. No crying and she passed everything with flying colors-Kate has gained two and a half ounces since leaving the hospital on Saturday, which is a pretty good jump from weighing 5 lbs. 10 oz. She also looked so darn cute! Thanks for the outfit Grandma and Grandaddy!
Can you see Jeff's scowl above?




Jeff loves this picture because, as you can see, she is practicing her kicking. She kept holding her legs up in the air for several seconds, maybe she was getting some ab work in too!

Meeting the puppies!

I didn't get a chance to post pictures of Kate meeting Precious and Max yesterday, which really should be the other way around since she didn't seem too impressed with them, but the dogs sure noticed her. The dogs have been very good even though they have been kicked out of their usual sleeping place which is our bedroom.














Does Precious look confused or what?

Kate's Homecoming!

We brought Kate home yesterday-finally! Although Maria has a lot of healing left to do, she was very ready to come home. It gave her a lot more energy to be in her own house. Kate loved her nursery and adjusted pretty well. Precious and Max also met the new addition-they are still a little confused and very concerned any time she cries. Thankfully both grandmothers, granddaddy, great grandmother Mary, and even Aunt Heather were around to help.

Introducing Katherine Grace Costa

Kate Costa finally made her appearance into the world on February 7th, 2007 at 11:23 am! She weighed a whopping 6 pounds and is 19 and 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful and we are so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with this miracle. As I'm writing this, she is cuddled up with her Dad, both of whom are asleep. She came via c-section, so we are still in the hospital, we'll be released on Saturday, but Jeff brought our laptop to the hospital so we could update the blog. Enjoy the pictures!

Baby Update-Week 40

We have a date set to induce, if needed. We will be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday evening-Feb. 6th-and hopefully baby Costa will be born sometime on Wednesday. We are hopeful that she will arrive sooner than that, maybe this snowy weather will help encourage her. If not, we will see if she makes it in time to see her first UNC vs. Duke basketball game-a heated time in our home! We are hopeful that the next post will include a picture of a new and healthy baby! Thanks for everyone's encouragement and prayers!

Baby Update-Week 39

We're still waiting...If Baby Costa doesn't come by Wednesday, then we will probably be induced sometime the next week. As my doctor put it, 95% of mothers who are still pregnant at 39 weeks go into labor this week, but if we are in the 5%-then this little girl might have to be evicted. Either way, Jeff and I can't wait to see our daughter and although I have loved being pregnant, I am ready to meet her face to face! My last day of work was this past Tuesday, so I have enjoyed being home to accomplish some things I usually don't have time to do. However, I'm pretty sure I will be ready to have someone to take care of after a few more days of this not working thing. The final touches on the crib have been added and Jeff and I have had fun taking a few last weeks of pregnancy pictures.



We also celebrated Jennifer's birthday on Saturday in Greenville. Dan gave her a lovely party and we were able to see the new house they are in the process of building. It is going to be beautiful and ready just in time for their new arrival. IT'S A GIRL! Jennifer and I are sure our daughters are going to have fun growing up together. Jennifer is doing great, she looks great, is handling the stress of building a new house very well, and is working out several times a week.

Baby Update-Week 38

Nothing new to report from the doctor's visit yesterday. Her heartbeat was racing along at 145 beats per minute, but no signs of the approaching day. Maybe she'll be like both her parents and arrive fashionably late, but she still has a couple of weeks to go. I feel so huge! We had a snow day today, but they didn't close school until Jeff and I were almost to school. So we spent over an hour in the car driving to and from school at a very slow pace in snow and ice-thanks Wake County! For the most part we have been total bums today. Students are in the middle of semester exams, so everything has been pushed back a day-this just means that my last day of work will now be Tuesday instead of Monday. The snow lasted about half the day and has all but vanished.

Baby Update-Week 37

We are still waiting on Baby Costa's arrival. Her mama can tell she is definitely getting bigger and stronger. I'm a little behind this week, on Wednesday it will actually be 38 weeks-I'll update after that doctor's visit. All her clothes, sheets, blankets, etc. have been washed and folded, diapers have been bought and the nursery is finished. Now we just have to figure out what to pack for the hospital. I have one more week of work left-exam week. Hopefully she will wait until I have all my students' grades submitted before she makes her appearance. That way all the loose ends at work will be done. I said goodbye to my IB (International baccalaureate) students-they took their exams early since they are on a different schedule than the rest of the school. I taught most of them when they were freshmen and had the joy of teaching them again as juniors. They are a great group and I'm going to miss them next semester-they'll have a new teacher to get used to (it is a year long course). Hopefully, they will make me proud. Here are a few nursery pictures for your viewing pleasure!

The dust ruffle and bumper pads haven't been put on the crib yet-hopefully this week!



The pack and play is in our bedroom right now. We are actually going to use a cradle that my sisters and I used when we were born. Dad (Grandpa) has re-painted it and it will soon be put in our house.

Baby Update-Week 36

We received great news at this week's doctor's visit-she has turned to the right position! The ultrasound was really neat-she looks so big. You could see her profile very clearly-little nose,lips, etc. The computer estimated that she weighs 5 pounds 7 ounces. I can definitely tell that she is getting stronger-she is working on those soccer kicks!