Kitty & Kevin

Every year Kevin and I take a photo the month of our anniversary to capture the year. We always try to incorporate whatever the traditional "gift" is for that anniversary...this year was flowers! 
Often times we get another photographer to capture these moments for us, but since we are dealing with a new baby (and a postpartum mom who doesn't love how she looks in pictures at the moment) we decided to go with a tripod for our anniversary photos. 
For our 4th anniversary the traditional gift is flowers...so we tried to embrace some last-minute floral for these photos! Each year I try to think back on what this year of marriage has been like...and it has been wonderful. We were able to travel to Australia, New Zealand, and a babymoon in Europe not to mention various other weekend trips. We bought a house this year...found out we were pregnant and had a baby. It has been truly wonderful, and we are learning so much more about year other with each passing year. Kevin is embrac…

Our little girl is now 2 months old...and I can't believe it. This was the first week that I looked at her and though "wait a second...this girl looks like a little baby now...not just a squirmy newborn." I also captured a photo this weekend where it was the first time I thought she looked like me. It's amazing how much she is changing. 
She is holding her head up really well now, and she smiles like crazy (although not in these photos...I didn't catch her at a great time). We are still waiting for her to laugh, but we are hoping it is soon! She LOVES baths, I mean absolutely adores them, and laying out on her changing table by the window is where we get the most smiles from her. She is eating great (we will have her 2 month checkup later this week, and I'm certain she is gaining weight well). She doesn't cry quite so much getting into her car seat anymore, and has just found the mirror that we have in the car to keep and eye on her...and she loves watch…

I wrote a post earlier about making sure you are on top of your insurance and how to understand it when it comes to having your baby. Now to do your best to be financially responsible once your bills arrive, here are a few things you may want to know (again this is just my experience...so take it for what it's worth!):

First, I was told by many friends as well as providers that hospital bills can take a year to receive, insurance may take their sweet time on these. To date (9 weeks postpartum) we have received the below, but I've heard many friends don't receive all of these until a much later date: 
We received 4 bills from labor (not including any doctor visits prior to the hospital):
1. Hospital Bill for Me 2. Hospital Bill for Lorelai 3. Bill from the Doctor for the delivery 4. Bill from the Anesthesiaologist
Our bill from the hospital was the least detailed thing I'd ever received. My bill for labor, for example, had 9 things listed for my 4 days at the hospital …

During my maternity leave, I kept notes on things I wanted to go back and tell my 40 week pregnant self in preparation for leave...since I don't have a time machine (speaking of...I started watching "Timeless" while on leave...one of the many shows) I thought I'd share these. If you've been through it you can think back and laugh, if you haven't just remember you're not alone when you go through some of these things on maternity leave.


I'll be honest, I thought maternity leave would be a lot of relaxing, outings with Lorelai to the zoo or visiting family in Lincoln, and in reality it was a lot of sitting around in my P.J's with either a crying or feeding baby on my lap. 
Every attempt at going out or trying something new is terrifying, but once you do it once it becomes so much easier. In the past 8 weeks we went from sleeping in the recliner holding her at night...to sleeping in the guest room next to hers...to finally back in our own bed with t…

Whether you have a growing family or perhaps one spouse wants to try a new endeavor in the home...deciding to live on one income is a huge decision. I'm finding that as a Millennial the question on whether or not one spouse is going to quit his/her job is becoming increasingly common as I near my thirties. 
We started discussing this over a year ago, prior to getting pregnant because Kevin wanted to take a leap and begin to do graphic design at home full time. We didn't want to rely on his income at home for the first year in case it didn't end up being as profitable as we had planned. When we first discussed this, we decided it wasn't the right time. I was still working at a law firm without any benefits and a lower paycheck, photography wasn't quite as booming, and we really liked the benefits offered through Kevin's job. A little over a year ago we revisited when I changed jobs. Actually one of the big factors in my job hunt is that we wanted the OPTION to …

For a generation pretty much addicted to our smartphones, there are some pretty amazing apps out there that made planning for baby and being new parents so much easier (and more fun!) Here are a few that I used on a regular (most daily) basis over the last 10 months. 
Ovia fertility- This app is great at tracking your cycle, providing articles on conception, encouragement, and everything else you need when trying to have a baby. 
Ovia pregnancy- The next app to go to after you find out your pregnant. I was on this app daily, reading about how big Lorelai was at certain weeks pregnant, articles on things to be doing and not doing while pregnant, it tells you what body parts develop at certain times. We found out this app automatically changes to a baby app too once she is born, so we read it every now and then to find out what things are changing now (like how far she can see, when she will coordinate movements etc.)
Baby tracker- We could not function without this app. Baby tracker was …

Dear Lorelai,
Ever since we found out about you our biggest question was what attributes of each of us would you have. You've been in our life for a little while now so here's what we've learned: 
There is no question you have your daddy's eyes. And thankfully you got his beautiful long eyelashes.
You have my nose, and some days it appears you have your father's lips but I think we will be able to tell that more when you grow up.
You have my long fingers and unfortunately also your mother's thunder thighs. We love all your little rolls. 
Your father and I both have attached earlobes and you got those too. 
You have your father's laid-back demeanor when it comes to eating during the day, but at night when you get hungry you can really put it away just like your mother. 
I want to apologize but you also got my extra long second toe. It won't really affect your life until you start wearing peep toe high heels or flip flops where your toe hangs over the edge. 
You …