Happy Halloween Continued

October 31, 2011 has to be one of Kathryn's favorite days so far. She squealed and squealed. First, we went shopping after her morning nap. Shopping could possibly be her middle name - she LOVES it! She already has a strong opinions and wants everything. We "ran" into Kohl's looking for a birthday present for my niece, something I had tried to buy FIVE times. Every time I would go and be ready to buy it, they would be out. So...quick trip in - no stroller. (Bad idea). She bucked and wanted down and had a great time running from me. When on the toy aisle, she immediately got her little eyes on a pink computer and would not let go of it. In the box it was as big as her and she carried it all around. We put it in the buggy, so she ran back and got another one. Finally we let her carry it all the way to the front to check out and sweet Mammy (of course) got it for her. Mom figured if she carried it that far, we should probably buy it. Little does Kathryn know though, it has already been returned. (She doesn't need it and it is for 3 year olds. She has plenty of time for computers.)

After her afternoon nap, we worked on carving our pumpkins. Mom would cut and then let her pull the pieces out. She smiled and giggled. The lights were her favorite and she beamed as she saw the finished product.


We carved another pumpkin as we waited on our friends to come and trick-or-treat.



Smiling by our pumpkins.




Here she is at her first house.



Our friends down the street joined us and they were sweet to let her ride in the wagon. She thought she was just as big as they were. She would jump out of the wagon just like them and walk to the door and hold out her bag.


After a few houses we headed home to help hand out candy. We probably had several hundred trick-or-treaters. She would squeal at the kids when they would come to the door and then run after them when they left. She truly had a wonderful night...full of tears when it had to finally end at 8:30 - an hour and a half after her bedtime!
`

Happy Halloween!

We've been celebrating Halloween for a week now! Last Sunday we were invited to our neighbor's Halloween Birthday carnival. Kathryn had a BLAST! We both left the party amazed at how BIG she acted.

She bounced in the bouncy house.


She rode the rollercoaster.


The highlight of the event was the Barbie Jeep. She would run up to the girls riding, wave her arms and squeel as if to say, "Please let me ride with you." One little girl FINALLY gave her a ride.



Saturday night we went to the Eastwood Fall Festival and again, she had such a wonderful time.

She played in the bouncy house again.


Got her face painted.



Played in the duck water instead of actually picking a duck.


And had a some really good cotton candy.


More about Halloween Day to come!

15 Months

Kathryn turned 15 months last week. I have no official stats (those to come on Wednesday), but she has grown tremendously. Four new teeth came through this month bringing lots of fussy days, but overall this was one of my favorite months of her life. She smiles all of the time, runs around the house, and loves to give lots of hugs and kisses. More than ever she longs to be rocked and held (almost as if she knows someone else is coming). Music class continues to be a highlight in her week and she can even ask for her favorite song to be played as we get in the car - EVERY TIME! McDonald's has to be at the top of her favorites list. Speaking of food, her taste buds are broadening. She now eats several kinds of chicken, has had a hot dog, and quite a few other various other foods for the first time. Most days she only takes one nap, but lately she has started wanting a morning nap again. The last two weeks she started sleeping until 8:00 am - a blessing for a weary mom! She resembles a "little girl" more than ever. You'll find her most days wearing some kind of jewelry, pushing her stroller, and carrying her purse. Outside is her favorite room in the house and where she would stay all day if I would let her.

Science Lesson

Mammy and Papa came all last week to help unpack, get settled, and play a little golf. While working in the yard we found quite a few lizards and this cute little frog.

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday we visisted the Pumpkin Patch. Kathryn had a wonderful time playing on the jumpers, petting the animals, and picking her pumpkin. She ran all around the pumpkin patch picking up every pumpkin she could and trying to pick up many more!

The Blue Jean Ball

Last Friday night Tyler and drove to Auburn to the Blue Jean Ball at Pat Dye's house. This is a picture of Tyler and I before we left.


This is a picture of Kathryn as we were leaving. (Taken by Papa.) She was really sad to see us go!!


Here is Tyler and the ole' coach. A fun time was had by ALL...especially Coach.

Home Sweet Home!

We've officially moved into OUR HOUSE in Montgomery! We are so happy to be getting settled after a week of construction. The moving trucks came Monday, October 10th and we have been unboxing for a week and a half now. Things are almost settled, but here is a sneak peek at our front door.

Birmingham Zoo

Recently, we visited the zoo again with a few of our friends. All the kids had a fun time. We tried to get a picture, but they all three weren't looking in any of them. I did capture one with two looking!!

14 Months and 16 weeks

Kathryn turned 14 months a couple of weeks ago, but due to all of our travel and busy life, I am just getting around to documenting it!She continues to be SUCH A JOY! I wake up most mornings to her singing or talking in the bed. And lots of mornings when I go get her, she is hanging on her rails "jumping like a monkey." I don't know how tall she is or how much she weighs, but I KNOW she is tall and she weighs close to 30 pounds (or that's what it feels like). She probably is closer to 25 pounds though. Her hair is really starting to grow! I actually gave her a trim on Sunday, because it looked so shaggy. She has this precious little cloth pocket given to us by one of my friends parents that I saved the hair in. A LITTLE curl at the bottom of her hair can been seen at times, but I think it will be straight like mine. Tyler's is curly (he keeps it so short you wouldn't know), but I keep hoping she'll have a little more body than mine. She eats like a HORSE! Literally! For breakfast she eats an entire bowl of oatmeal plus a banana and sometimes Pop's or Mammy's bread. (Yes - all of that!) For lunch and dinner she usually eats a NICE size portion of mac and cheese or green beans plus two kinds of fruit. She will eat just about any fruit. She ALSO eats a snack about 9:00 and 3:00 which is usually a WHOLE pack of peanut butter crackers or LOTS of goldfish or sometimes fruit. She is starting to like more foods we eat. She recently ate some carrots dipped in ranch, lasagna, and a few bites of chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a. Yesterday she had her FIRST happy meal. Really it was milk, apples, and chicken nuggets, but she did LOVE dipping her nuggets in the sauce. The first nugget I cup up, but she wouldn't eat that. She wanted to eat the whole nugget and dip. Every time she dipped she would say "dip dip" and have the biggest smile. She now has 9 teeth (a back tooth came in last month) and I think the other back tooth is not far behind. She rarely cries or fusses unless she is hungry or tired (a lot like me)!
Her vocabulary is really big. She tries to say everything I say. Some words I understand and others I don't. Most recently she said book, but truly she says something new every day. She has said all of her grandparents names this month. Pop and Papa have been in the vocabulary for awhile, but she can now say Mammy and Gran and she even said Zaisie once. She has discovered coloring this month and asks for the colors at the table and often when we go out to eat.

Her favorite toy is a Bo Jackson Bobble Head that "miraculously" appeared at our rental. It was discovered in our move and I thought we (Tyler and me) had decided to trash it, BUT it somehow got here and was discovered by Kathryn. She loves carrying it around and making it's head bobble. She also loves to carry her purse. She can stack the blocks, pour tea for us, match some of the pieces of her puzzle. She loves the lion in it and regularly comes and makes it "roar" at me. She has discovered just recently how to make her pony ride forward and HATES the vacuum. She used to like it and for some reason is now deathly afraid of it.





Fall has been a delight for her with the leaves amazing her. Grass is a new discovery and she loves to run around in our new grassy front yard. Each day she smiles with glee when Daddy walks in the door. Though she won't call him daddy. Mama and Papa have been used and every once in awhile we hear dada, but mostly she just glows when she sees him. They laugh and play after supper and he always gives her a great bath. Sometimes accompainied with a song on his guitar.






She continues to like Music class and Mothers Day Out. I enjoy watching her at music. We've only been four times, but she is learning the routine and she recognizes the songs.

Last week when I dropped her off at Mother's Day Out she clapped and went right in! Here is a picture of her two sweet teachers. Mrs. Laura and Mrs. Amanda.



Baby #2 is 16 weeks in the womb. He or she is growing at a rapid rate according to my stomach!! I am definately showing and all sickness is gone! I go to the doctor next week, so I'll post again with updates. We'll find out at 20 weeks if it is a boy or a girl.

New City, New House, and a New BABY!

Well, every time I have seen someone they have mentioned I haven't updated the blog! I do have good reasons though. The weekend before July 1st, Tyler and I packed a small Uhaul and moved necessities to Montgomery, AL. AUM (Auburn Montgomery) was so gracious to allow us to live in a home they own for awhile until we could sell our house and get settled. It is a rather large house set on a huge piece of land. We have a barn, a green house and even a cat!








After months of searching, we finally found a NEW HOUSE! Our house search was very different here than in Birmingham. We really didn't know where we wanted to be and EVERYONE had different opinions. We finally found a house Tyler and I both liked and it happens to be the neighborhood where I search started, and we thought we didn't want to be, but....McGehee Estates it is! It's an older neighborhood closer to downtown - not out East (the newer area). Here are some pics. Yes, it looks a lot like our old house.

The front

Foyer

Formal Living room

Formal Dining


Kitchen

Den


Screened Porch/Playroom

Bedrooms



Backyard


Now, the new baby...there isn't much to say except I have been sick since the day I found out and in some ways even before I found out. I am finally to week 13, so I am HOPING I feel better soon! Tyler and I are thrilled and we can't wait to see if it is a boy or a girl. Only seven weeks to go! We should be moved in and ready to paint - pink or blue!

Kathryn is growing and changing daily. She is fully walking. I haven't seen her crawl in over a week. She continues to be so social. Every time I take her to the grocery store she says hey to EVERYONE! She loves to say buy as well. Her new favorite word is cookie. She crawls to the cabinet and points to the top and says "cookie" as clear as I do. We've joined a Kindermusic class and it fun to see her with the other kids. She is very active, more so than any other child (or it seems to me) and the place she wants to be the most is in the CENTER of the circle. I'm not sure what that says about her future! Her favorite game is to play chase with her daddy. He'll pound on the floor and she starts running and laughing as fast as she can!

Here are some recent pictures at the zoo. Montgomery has a nice zoo. It is much smaller than Birmingham, but the animals are REALLY close. She can see them all. One day the rhino came so close it felt like we could reach out and touch it. She was motioning it to "come here" with her hand and as it started coming closer she turned around and grabbed onto my neck. It really scared her. Now for me...the scariest is the tiger. It is inside a huge piece of glass, but it literally came and stared into her little eyes and I just about died.





Last weekend was the Auburn/Mississippi State game. She was all dressed in her MSU smocked dress and her Auburn bloomers ready for the game.




Unfortunately, Chris Relf fell short of the goal line and so did she...


Aubie prevails once again! There's always next year???




Many of you have asked if I like staying home and if I miss school and the answer to both of those is yes and no!

I love being home with Kathryn, however I am an extreme extravert and have a real problem getting anything done. I do better the busier I am, but when I feel like I have all the time in the world - I get NOTHING done. Truly, I have felt bad and have slept literally whenever Kathryn is asleep. We have found things to keep us busy though. Monday we go to Kindermusic. Tuesday she goes to Mothers Day Out. Wednesday to BSF and to Wednesday night church. Thursday and Friday we are open for playdates and friends to come over (whenever we have a house).

Here is a picture of her going to her first Mothers Day Out.



Good-bye for now! Hopefully it won't take me two months to find time to blog!