While you wait...

Well, still no new baby here. The official due date is tomorrow, but after going into labor last Friday night, we were all sure this one would be early. Should have known better!!! So while you wait, here are a few pics of Kathryn Rose...

Nana, PawPaw, and Aunt Hannah came down for the "false alarm" last Friday. Somehow or another, even without a new baby, we still managed to have a little bit of fun while they were here :). PawPaw let Kathryn try out the new baby's bed. She thought that was the greatest!

Apples are the B-E-S-T teething remedy we've found so far. She eats them down to the core!

Practicing for next summer...

Thank you, Nana for the crayon purse! It is her new favorite thing! She loves to sit on the counter while I'm cooking and color.


Kate-e-bug with Claire Bear

UT's Biggest Fan?

Well, weighing in at 20 lbs, and 30" tall, I certainly hope not...

"Mom, PLEASE don't make me root for this team! I told you, orange is NOT my color!!!"

My little climber

"Before I get down, there's one more thing I want to say..."

Rough nap?

Obviously, we had to wake her and interrupt her "beauty" rest... This is the way I've been feeling lately too...

Gramma's been here....

And yes, now Kate is spoiled rotten :), but it was SO, SO worth it!!! Wow! I could not thank her enough!! She planted me a little Japanese Maple tree, scrubbed my bathrooms, kitchen floor, bathroom floors, and vacuumed everywhere! In addition to that, she took VERY good care of Kathryn while she was here. There was still plenty of time for them to play outside and eat some dirt. I'm not sure what Kathryn will do when she wakes to see "ma" gone. I think I had a taste of what it would be like to have a Nanny. So, does anyone know of a good one for hire ;o)?

I'm a big kid now!

Adam & Rosie brought over the biggest surprise ever the other night! Thanks to a few of our bestest friends (plus several that aren't blogging :), Kathryn now has a big girl car seat. She thinks it is really great that she can see Mom and Dad all the time. Mom thinks it's really great that it reclines at the pull of a handle so she can take naps like she used to in her old seat! They also got us monitors and a huge box of diapers for the new baby! We were absolutely ecstatic, and really could not have been more surprised! We are so blest with wonderful, wonderful friends to look out for us!

Long overdue post

Ashley spent the weekend with us last weekend while her parents were out of town. Kathryn fell in love with her... blanket? thingy? She wanted to wear it around her neck all weekend! She also learned to say "Ash" :o).
Not sure why, but she LOVES to get in the refrigerator. Every time I open the door, she runs over so she can see in. Lately she's learned that she can take a step up and reach more things. Of course that's such a help to Mom :).
Kate reading her story book while Mom fixes dinner. (No, my floor is not really clean enough for this)

Helping Dad open his birthday presents!

With Aunt Rosie and Cousin Claire


I had let her outside to play while I finished up the dishes. Obviously I was not watching closely enough (mainly because I didn't know she knew how to do this!), but peeked out to check on her and she had climbed into the pool with all of her clothes on.

What a handful! She is growing up so quickly! She can say pretty much any one syllable word, and she repeats whatever we say. Her favorite things to do are go "out"side, and "up"stairs. It's still hard to believe my baby is going to be a "big" sister soon! Time really does fly!

Nervous about flying?

Thanks for the laugh, Dad :o)

No way!!!

It doesn't matter what you ask Kathryn, her answer is almost always, "No way!" Usually she is profusely shaking her head the whole time she is saying it. Check it out...

"No Way"

Breakthrough: Of course, as soon as I posted that... I asked her if she wanted to go outside, and she started to shake her head no, then caught herself and got a huge grin on her face and said, "ses!!" What do I know! It's not like I've been practically her sole provider for 13 months!!!

'tis the season... for football, that is

I'm not a Titan's fan. In fact, I'm not a sports fan at all. If anything, I am a fair-weather Colts fan. In other words, after they've won half the season, I'll start paying attention. But, going to the first game (even if it is pre-season), sitting in an executive suite one down from Young's family, and getting free food and drinks, now that's for me! I'll cheer for any team under those conditions. After almost going into labor just walking up to the stadium, though, I did promise Brad if he won any more tickets, he could take Adam instead :).

So its been two weeks...

And here's what we've been up to in a nutshell...

Got new thread rack (an embroiderer's dream!!!)

Went up to Indiana for Angie's wedding. (Had a WONDERFUL time visiting with old friends, and Angie was a beautiful bride)

Got to spend lots of quality time with Aunt Heidi and cousins Taylor and Ella

Got to spend time with more old friends (plus Jon, who isn't blogging yet :)

Left Kathryn with Mom and Dad and celebrated our 4th anniversary at a bed & breakfast in Indy

Ummm... left the camera at Mom and Dad's and didn't take any pictures after Friday night at the wedding :o/

Saw these enormous tires on our way to Granpa & Gramma's house on Saturday. Anybody have a clue what they're for?

For those of you who have been asking, according to the midwife, I should only have about 7 more weeks to go! If this baby is anything like Kathryn, that translates into 9 :). Only time will tell...

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Finally starting on the "To Do" list

Not sure what finally ended up motivating me...
Maybe it was that my midwife called to tell me her daughter, who was due 2 days after me, safely delivered her baby boy.
Maybe it was the "nesting instinct" - Is there anyone out there that has ever experienced this that could explain it? I'm pretty sure I never felt that with Kathryn. I finally muster up the energy and motivation to get some housework done, and someone has the nerve to blow it off as the "nesting instinct"!
More than likely, it was the pregnancy ticker that is constantly telling me my time. is. running. OUT!!! I finally tied Brad down for the evening to paint the baby's room. Kathryn was a huge help, as always. Thankfully, bedtime was just around the corner :o).

I'm sorry to say that I did have to remove the pregnancy ticker from the blog... It was a little too nerve racking for me...

One baby holds another

Kathryn LOVES her baby dolls! (Unfortunately, she also loves the camera, so as soon as I get it out to take a shot, she drops her baby and runs to the camera!) So far this is the best I've been able to get of her hugging and kissing on her babies. I told Brad last night, I must pat on her the whole time I'm holding her, because as soon as she picks up her baby doll she starts patting it and rocking it back and forth :).

Thank you, Taylor and Ella, for sharing your baby doll!! It's just her age :)!

A day full of submersions

It started at 7:15 in the morning, while I was in the shower. I heard what sounded like little hands in water. Sure enough, there were two hairbows and a floppy disk in the toilet. Great.

We went downstairs to make breakfast, and I noticed Kathryn had disappeared. I stopped to listen, and heard some very pleasant squeals coming from the guest bath. Sure enough, one of her favorite musical toys (which is no longer musical) had also been submerged.

But the worst one of all... Not even an hour later, my not-even-two-month-old-$300-cell-phone (which we got for free)... yes... in the bathtub. Only this time, it was my fault.

What did I learn today? Keep all toilet lids down when not in use, and NEVER talk on the cell phone while washing baby. Expensive day.

(Word just came from the money maker, and he says we will be replacing my very-cool-phone with a not-so-cool phone. Sad, sad)

New Favorite Food

Totally random... She has always hated raisins, but ever since Aunt Hannah let her eat them out of the box, they are her new favorite food.

Step 1. Dump out the entire box of raisins in various places in the living room (ie. floor, between the cushions of the couch, under the coffee table)

Step 2. Eat on them throughout the day

Exception: If Mom happens to clean them up before they are all gone, go back to Step 1 and start all over Obviously this one is a little dark, but I just thought that was the sweetest little smile!

More Pictures!

Hope you're not too overloaded with pictures :o). Here are just a few more...

Big Birthday Bash

We had Kathryn's 1st Birthday party yesterday! She had been sick from Thursday to about Saturday, so needless to say, having 30 people over to watch her tear into her birthday cake was a little overwhelming. Of course she did not "perform" like she was supposed to :), but she did pretty good considering. Much food and fun was had by all!

Dad took care of preparing the food

The Birthday Girl!She was not too sure about her cake, but cousin Cozy loved it :o). We actually forced her to eat a bite, and she started crying... Surely she is not related to me!

Brad was in charge of the cake for all of the guests, so of course he chose an ice cream cake from DQ

She wasn't too thrilled about her gifts at the time, but after everyone left, and she woke up from her nap, she played, and played, and played!

Thanks to all our friends and family for sharing in this very special day with us! A special thanks to Austin for being our videographer, and to Allen and Ashley for taking great pictures!

Home again!

Kathryn and I are back home again, and back to high speed internet :)! Here are a few memories from the day of her birth. Pretty hard to believe it has been a year since this! What a blessing she has been in our lives!

One year ago today...

Happy Birthday to Kate! Unfortunately, we are very sick with a fever virus at the moment. Ugh! Hopefully it will be over by Monday for the birthday party! We are reporting from White Cloud... visiting Aunt Hannah... and are working on dial up, so pictures to come later!!!

This is funny!

Of course she never performs for the camera like she does normally, but this is still pretty funny. This is her favorite toy right now. Just randomly throughout the day, I'll hear the little song playing and peek in the living room. She puts the ball through the hole, dances to the music, stops when the music stops, looks for the ball, and repeats. This time, the ball got stuck in the dinosaur, so she stops to look for it, and unfortunately the performance ends a little sooner than usual. Check it out...

Kathryn & the Dinosaur

Happy Father's Day

I am thankful to God that I married such a Godly man, who takes so seriously his role as a husband and a father. I could not have picked a better father for my children. I am also very thankful for my own father, who most importantly taught me to love the Lord.

Daddy with Kathryn in her special Father's Day dress that Mommy made!

Stories on Kathryn and Brad

Kathryn has played out in the pool everyday this week, so it really should not have surprised me when she brought me over two of her "pool toys", threw them in my lap, and grunted. I gave them back to her, and she proceeded to give them back to me, this time with a little bit more annoyed grunt. Finally I asked her if she wanted to go outside. She started jabbering and waving her arms hysterically, walked as fast as her little legs would carry her over to the back door, then turned around and looked at me like, "what's taking so long, Mom?!?" My little puppy dog!!! Of course, once she gets in the pool, her favorite thing to do is throw stuff out of the pool and see how far she can reach. If it is not enough of a challenge, she will throw it a little farther out until she can't reach it anymore, then grunts for me to get it for her. Her favorite pool toy is the nasal aspirator (a clean one, of course :o). She loves how I can fill it up with water and squirt her with it. Unfortunately, once I start this game, I have no choice but to do it for the rest of the time that we're in the pool.

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Kathryn's new hobby is re-arranging. She will pick up little things from all over the house and move them to "better" locations (mostly just putting small things in containers and such). I told Brad if she were a squirrel, and our floor were dirt, we would have oak trees growing all over the place. Anyway, I'm usually the one who finds her creations, mostly because she hides things in the pots and pans, tupperware containers, or baskets. Last night I asked Brad if he would empty out the rest of the twelve pack of Coke that was in the pantry into the fridge. When he got to the bottom, there was something rattling. The look on his face was priceless. His hands were moving fast, and he looked up at me and said, "Honey! I think we actually won something!!!" Then he pulled out a big Disney World collector's medallion. I know it's never as funny when you're not there, but it was a truly classic moment... Especially for those of you who know Brad :o).

Fun in the Sun

The expression on her face says it all. I think we have a new favorite afternoon activity. I couldn't get her out of the pool!