Kate & Molly

Kate and Molly had a play date at Wetlands Park today. They didn't particularly play with each other as much as they found ways to entertain themselves individually. Becca, Molly's mom, told her that they were going to the Park to see "Kate," and poor Molly thought she was going to the park to eat "Cake". But she soon realized who "Kate" was. Too cute. Molly seemed more interested in playing with Kate, but for those of you who know Kate, she wanted to look around and do her own thing. Regardless, the girls had fun. Parents were tired and looked forward to lunch then hopefully a LONG nap, for the kids and ourselves!


Typical Kate



Happy Kate

Yee-Haw!

Our wonderful neighbors, Dwight and Sarah Palmer, invited us to go watch Dwight (and others) rope. This was to determine who would rope at Hospice. Dwight is awesome I have to admit, it takes so much skill and coordination to ride that horse and aim with the rope to catch the cattle (Dwight did very well and will rope at Hospice). Anyhow, I have never paid much attention to a roping event in my whole life in Yuma and needless to say I was impressed with all the people roping. Kate had so much fun that day. We hung out in the back of Sarah's truck, which was great because it "corralled" her in. She also was on her daddy's shoulders so she had the best seat in the house to watch all of horses. At the end, Dwight came by with his horse and we just imagined Kate wondering, "what kind of dog is this?" She was very timid with the horse, even with her daddy and Dwight by her side. ( Just a little side note, Kate has the cutest baby crush on Dwight. When she sees him her face lights up, she has a huge smile, and starts waving and saying "hi" to him.) Kate didn't like being on the horse at all. No fits, but you could just tell she wanted off. Nevertheless, it was fun and a good experience for her. I can't to see how she reacts when we eventually take her to the camel farm!

All the necessities in Life

Man, are we role model parents or what? I went shopping Friday night for the necessities, beer, beer, and turkey. Beer for us. Turkey for Blake to give him his pills. I left the 6-pack cardboard containers out in case we decided to take them over to somebody's house. Typically, anybody who knows me knows that I throw out things immediately. Anyhow, Kate was walking around the house with her shopping cart and she decided to load up her cart with her necessities. Her monkey, a tennis ball(?) and container of beer. Gotta love this kid! Oh, and she now knows how to open the beer fridge...now I just have to train her to bring me one and take or twist off the bottle caps...

Cheese!

I swear I don't know where my brain is the half the time...but I saw a video of Grayson and when the video camera was on him he said, "CHEESE!". That's when it dawned on me that Ramsey probably teaches the kid to say that when a camera is on him. Then I thought to myself, duh, why haven't I been teaching Kate this? So now, when we put a camera in her face we are saying "cheese". At this point Kate has no idea but the word focuses her in on the camera and that is the point because she is the type of kid who is doing something cute but as soon as the camera/videocamera is on her she stops doing it. Kind of like that old cartoon where the entertaining frog stopped performing as soon as that guy brought an audience (remember the one, "hello my baby, hello my darling, hello my ragtime gal...").

Happy New Year!

We spent a quiet evening at home New Year's Eve. Nana and Nanalu offered to watch Kate so Chris and I could whoop it up but we opted to stay home. It was fun. We ordered Olive Garden and the family, along with Uncle Shawn and Rachael came over. None of us stayed up till midnight, but oh well. When I was a kid my parents either went out and partied the night away or we were included in the festivities. These past couple of years we have slowed down, especially with Kate in the mix. We want all the sleep we can get to have the energy to keep up with her! Maybe when she is older we can partake in the same traditions that we did when I was a kid for New Year's Eve.

New Year's Day is a big day for us because it is my mom's birthday. The past couple of years we have taken her out to a classy dinner at the Chinese Buffet; we like this and hope it becomes a tradition. I decided to make her a birthday cake this year, her favorite is carrot cake. But as you can see in the picture it kind of collapsed, but at least it was moist!




Uncle Shawn and Rachael nicely took care of Kate so we could go out and enjoy a quiet dinner; it was awesome. NO running after a toddler in a restaurant! Uncle Shawn is so great with kids, he is going to make a great dad one day! But I think Miss Kate wore him out and possibly made them rethink this whole having a kid thing.





Well we had a heck of a year and are hoping that this too is another great year for Kate!

Christmas Vacation

Chris and I have 3 weeks off during the Holidays ~ that is the one good thing about working in education. We opted to "keep" Kate for 2 out of the 3 weeks to spend some quality time with her. Next week she is back to the sitter's so we can get some things done around the house. Though it is very tiring dealing with a 21-month old we remind ourselves that she will only be this age one time and want to take advantage of this time with her. It is true what "they say", they do grow up way too fast! The good moments definitely supersede the difficult toddler-hood moments...here are a few:

Reading a wine catalog with daddy ~ awwww, how sweet!




Emulating mom at what I do best, shop and talk...



"so, like, I was telling you, she said that he said..."

Merry Christmas!

Kate enjoyed her 2nd Christmas. She still does not "get" what is going on, but she sure did have fun opening all of her gifts! Her grandparents went crazy and she got way too many toys and books, but that is their job and it saves Chris and I money! Nana and Papa got her an outdoor slide and golf clubs for their house. She also got clothes, shoes, and a baby (which is so cute to watch her feed and change her baby). Tata Tony gave her good ol' money! Bum Bum got her a slide and bunch of really cool and educational Melissa and Doug puzzles (which, of course I picked out). Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike went crazy with toys, books and her very own Pottery Barn Kids chair. Her great-grandma gave her a Pillow Pet, which I think I love more than Kate does.

I think next year we may be able to pull out Elf on the Shelf and she will understand it a bit more. Maybe she won't be as naughty and break stuff or hit the dog if she know the elf is watching her; ha, yeah right! Speaking of breaking stuff, she was messing with my bookshelf and all my picture frames, candlesticks and Christmas stuff came tumbling down on her head. Phew, thanks goodness she was not hurt. Can't say the same for Joseph and baby Jesus...even super glue can't help put them back together. Darn kid. She also broke Tata Tony's mug before he opened the gift. Kate also enjoys using her chalk to write on walls and furniture. What fun it is to stay home with Kate during our break! But seriously, we know she is a toddler and our grateful that she is happy, healthy and FULL OF ENERGY! We keep telling ourselves this, over, and over, and over...



Notice what is on in the background? "A Christmas Story"


Since this blog is dedicated to Kate I want to let her know that she is the BEST present I have ever received. Her laughs, smiles, and even her naughty toddler antics is what makes my life complete. Merry Christmas Kate! I love you so so so so much!