Traxel Time: 2014

December 26, 2014

Year in Review 2014

January:

CST continued (NT1 and Basic Evangelism)
Continued with discipleship, connection, missions and family groups.
Trip to Missouri with Mike for work
Baby started kicking (for sure) 1/18
Ultrasound on the 29th - Baby Traxel is a GIRL!!

February:

I looked "actually pregnant" on the 1st
Mike could feel Baby Girl kick on the 17th
Mike spent a week in Arizona with work leading up to Valentine's Day
Mike started teaching Theology of the Gospel with our CST class
Finished the major projects in the bathroom.

March:

Finished NT1 and started NT2 for CST
First respite placement - 11 y.o. boy "J" for a week
Meals from the Heartland with CG
Leaky pipe! Dining room reno part 1. (Part 2 may be blogged someday...)

Sunderland and Waid weddings - Hosted the Youngs and Woodses

April:

"Babymoon" trip to Chicago over Mike's 24th birthday
Nic and Mike hung the ceiling drywall

Baby shower with the DeWaards on the 26th
Baby shower with CG on the 27th

May:

Mike to NC for work
Baby shower with Grunders on the 3rd in Bettendorf

Finished classes for CST
Birthing class and Hospital Tour
Amanda's high school graduation!
Mike's surprise work shower

Extra ultrasounds for Baby Girl (you can read why in our Pregnancy Story)
Memorial Day weekend - Sunderland house warming, time with Meyers and maternity pictures with Jenny and Tyler

June:

June 7 - Lillian Kay Traxel is here! Here's her Birth Story

Baby Basics class at Cornerstone
Lots of time at home as a family of three (Plus Grandma Sherry for a while - woot!)

July:

Lily's One Month Old! (These posts have lots of pictures and events in Lily's month)

Megan's 5 Year Reunion
Cousin Madeline born on 7/23

Surprise ER trip when Mike got his appendix out

August:

Lily is Two Months Old!

Papa's 80th birthday celebration

Family time with Jennifer and Todd

Megan's 24th birthday

September:

Lily is Three Months Old!

Trip to St. Joseph MO for Mike's work

Grandma Hilarion's funeral in MN
Started leading a community Connection Group with Nic and Kassia
Cornerstone's 20th Birthday Celebration

October:

Lily is Four Months Old!

Birthday parties for Ellie K. and cousin Ben
Visit from Grandma and Papa Halupnik

Met with Paxton's parents about doing daycare
Lily's first Halloween

November:

Lily is Five Months Old!

Papa Halupnik's funeral services
Jennifer and Todd's wedding in Nashville - Lily stayed in Ames with Nana and Papa Grunder (and everyone else in the family!)
Parent Child Dedication at Cornerstone
Thanksgivings at Grunder's and Goodman's houses

December:

Lily is Six Months Old!

Mike had lots of time off work - we love having long weekends!
Megan started doing daycare for Paxton (2 months younger than Lily)
Lily's first Christmas!

Happy New Year!

December 7, 2014

Lily is 6 Months Old!

Big Events:

11/9 - Mom and Dad came home from Nashville
11/15 - Karasch Gender Reveal party - it's a boy!
11/20 - Ice Cream with Nana at Seasons
11/23 - Parent Child Dedication at Cornerstone
11/27 - Thanksgiving with the Grunders
11/29 - Thanksgiving with the Goodmans
12/1 - Sit up unsupported!
12/5 - Nic and Kassia watched me for Dad's company Christmas party
12/6 - MaryLou's family Christmas party
12/7 - 6 Months old!

Size/Percentile: As of 12/16/14

Weight: 14 lbs 9 oz (17%)
Height: 25.25 inches (18%)
Head: 17.3 inches (89%)

Typical Daily Schedule:
11:30 pm OR 5:30 am - wake for a quick bottle and fall back asleep.
9:00 am - awake for the day. Play with Mom and a bottle at about 10.

11:30 am - nap until 1:30 or so and then more play time.

2:00 pm - bottle and snuggles with Mom.
3:30 pm - nap for about 2 hours.

5:30 pm - Bottle and exersaucer time so Mom and Dad can eat dinner

7:30 pm - bath, pjs, another bottle and bedtime.

Things I Love:

Kiki the Elephant
Taggie Blanket
The Exersaucer
Mirrors!
Chewing anything and everything

This Month's Milestones:

I blow bubbles/ spit
I sit up all by myself
I can hold my own bottle but usually choose not to
Roll very efficiently and can roll over pillows etc.

Highlights of the Month:

I still wear mostly 3 month clothes and a few 3-6 month. The onesies fit perfectly except for the length. I'm too tall for my weight! Mom thinks I'm hitting a growth spurt right now though, so I'll at least start wearing the 6 month ones soon.
I love to kick my feet on the floor when I lay on my belly.
I have long conversations and make out with myself in the mirror.
I am amazing at going to sleep by myself now - so long as I'm sleepy I can fall asleep by myself in the crib.
We took lots of pictures for our first family-of-three Christmas card. They will get their own post later.
I had my first bites of real food with Nana - ice cream. Not my favorite - too cold!
I had my dedication with Mom and Dad at Cornerstone this month. Mom, Dad and the Church all promised to raise me to know God and to trust God to do His will with my life.
Mom and Dad realized how hard the holidays are with a small child - sorry friends and family who have already learned that and we didn't recognize it!
Nana Sherry finished my beautiful quilt. Great Grandma Marty did the stitching over Nana's handwriting for my name patch - Mom can't get over how cool that is.
I sit up all by myself now. I can kind of roll out if I tip sideways, but just crash if I go over backwards. It makes bath time so much more fun though! I am super interested in the drain.
I am really good at finding my thumb to suck now - I hook my pointer finger around my nose to make it easier.

My practice pictures were some of the cutest!

Dressed up to find out if Baby Karasch is a boy or a girl - BOY!

Boo snow. I don't like having to be wrapped up to go outside

Starting to hold my own bottle

First "real" food - ice cream at Seasons

Parent Child Dedication - I really wanted that boy's hat!

"Helping" Mom and Dad decorate for Christmas

Great Grandpa Grunder

Snuggling with Nana

and playing with Papa

My quilt from Nana

Christmas pictures with my cousins

Daddy loves me... too much

Baths are so much more fun now!

Snuggles with Grandma at Christmas #1

6 months old!

November 10, 2014

Lily is 5 Months Old

Big Events

10/12 - Cousin Ben's 2nd birthday party
10/14 - 4 month appointment and vaccines - everything looks good!
10/18 - 4 month pictures with Katharyne Dunn AND I roll over.
10/21 - Coffee and a walk with Vanessa and Paxton
10/25 - Celebrated Uncle Tyler's birthday.
10/30 - Last breastfeeding - all on formula now
10/31 - My first Halloween
11/1-11/4 - To Cedar Falls for Great-Papa's funeral
11/6-9 - Mom and Dad left me with Grandma and Grandpa Grunder for Aunt Jennifer's wedding in Tennessee.
11/7 - Five Months Old!

Typical Daily Schedule:
Midnight* - wake for a quick bottle and fall back asleep.
6:00 am* - bottle and new diaper with Dad, back to sleep.
9:30 am - awake for the day. Play with Mom and a bottle at about 10.

11:30 am - nap for about an hour then more play time.

2:00 pm - bottle and snuggles with Mom.
3:00 pm - nap for about 2 hours.

5:30 pm - Bottle with Dad while Mom gets some alone time

8:00 pm - bath, pjs, another bottle and bedtime.

*about half the time I combine these into one feeding at 3:30 am making who ever feeds me significantly more tired for the day.

Things I Love:

Mortimer the Moose
The Exersaucer
"Flying"
Chewing anything and everything

This Month's Milestones:

I roll all over the place!
I spend all night in the crib and usually only fuss a few minutes before falling asleep by myself
I self soothe (!) by sucking my thumb.
I sit and stand with only fingers for support.
I almost exactly doubled my birth weight by my 4 month appointment (on the 14th) and am over 2 feet tall!

Highlights of the Month:

My bedtime moved from 9 to 8 since I have a bottle instead of breastfeeding.
I have to use size 3 diapers at night, even though I'm more than 3 pounds too light for the weight range.
I weaned to formula this month and am so much fuller and happier after eating.
When I have my bottle with Mom I hold her hand on the bottle and use the other hand to hold her face/mouth. When Dad feeds me I pet his beard.
I can laugh without the screech now. I still squeal when I'm excited but they're separate noises.
I wear mostly 3 month clothes. The onesies fit perfectly except for the length. I'm too tall for my weight!
I let M&D go on a date in DM - Grandma and Grandpa D we're able to do my bedtime routine and put me to sleep in the pack n play just fine. Then when M&D we're done, they buckled me in and I kept sleeping all the way home.
I figured out how to suck my thumb without poking myself in the eye. I still suck other fingers too, but I prefer my thumb.
I really want to crawl but so far I just get up on my toes and drive my face into the blanket.
I had a horrible cold starting on Halloween that lasted a week. During that week, the furnace went out, Great-Papa Halupnik passed away, I had 2 foster "siblings" for a day and Mom got a sinus infection.
I had a really great time with Nana and Papa Grunder while M&D were at Aunt Jennifer's wedding in Nashville. I got to see Great-Grandma, Great-Aunts Vicky and Penny, Aunts Melissa and Amanda and lots of cousins while they were gone too. And (most importantly) I didn't snub Mom when they got home!