Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Katie with no training wheels!

Today I took the kids outside to play and randomly asked Katie if she wanted to take the training wheels off her bike. She said, "yes!" And she pretty much took off!! Well, okay, went up and down the street for about 30 minutes. She wobbled along and I held her bike or shirt and ran right next to her. At first I thought maybe it was too soon- she kept looking all over the place and not in front of her, haha! But she kept trying, asking me to let go, let go! She was so eager to do it and so optimistic. There were only a handful of hiccups but no big falls. Very quickly she was riding on her own, her little legs going round and round pushing the little wheels (12" bike?) I will always remember that beaming smile and Katie's voice, "Mom, I'm so proud of myself!!!"

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Emily is READING!

Okay, I'm going to toot Emily's horn a little here, so bear with me... but I am so proud of this girl! She just turned 3.5 and she is beginning to read. Woohoo!

I had heard about the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons so I checked it out from the library. I thought Emily might be ready for reading lessons because she is always playing with sounds, rhyming, telling me what sounds different words start with, etc. Even then, I presented the lessons casually/no pressure and didn't make a big deal if she didn't want to do them. At first Emily didn't really love the lessons, so we would only do them every few days. We're only on lesson 5 or 6 now, but things magically "clicked" the other night and it was SO fun to see! She sounded out "at" and then "sam" and her eyes lit up, like, "I got it!!" For a parent, watching your child read their first word is like hearing them say "mama" for the first time, or watching them take their first step. Oh boy, we laughed and cheered and celebrated and made a big deal about it!! She was beaming and then told me, "Mom, I have a great idea! We should go buy some candy and treats and eat them in the bed to have a celebration!!" Cheers to reading and three big cheers for Emily!



Thursday, March 7, 2013

Katie at ONE

Both girls are napping! I guess I should update the blog.

Katie turned one well over a month ago- January 23rd. We were travelling back from Washington on her birthday, so the night before Momma Kemp threw a little party for her. Sadly all four of us were recovering from the stomach flu. Poor Katie had no appetite and didn't really know what to do with her cake.






We had "re-do" birthday cupcakes in Baton Rouge in February when she was well again enough to enjoy them.

Speaking of sick, Katie finished off her first year with a bang, that's for sure! Here's the recount: Stomach flu, a cold, 3 day fever (after shots), chipped tooth, 40+ fire ant stings (she fisted a pile at the park adn tried to eat it- those fire ants are horrible!!), buckle fracture in her tibia (ER trip with x-rays), another cold, and an ear infection-- all in a matter of one month! It all could have been worse, her buckle fracture was minor enough that she was walking okay again by the 3rd day. But still, I hope we're done with injuries and sickness for a while!

Katie is a climber and so I have to keep an extra close eye on her. The other day she had climbed on the diaper box and up into her booster chair and I looked over and she was just sitting there like a bird on a perch. She loves when Jeff swings and tosses her in the air or when I let her climb on the stairs out front.


She started walking about 3 weeks after her birthday. One day it just clicked.

 Her facial expressions are becoming her trademark. Such expressive eyebrows and big blue eyes. The furrowed brow seems to be a family trait- Emily did the same thing.




Things I want to remember about you at one- 

The way your tight hugs feel around my neck. 
How you nuzzle up into my hair when I rock you before bed. 
The sound of your baby cackles when you climb or get into something.
Your morning bed-head rooster hair that waves back and forth.
The way you walk and wobble and fall and get back up. 
The way you grab my pant legs and won't let me move until I pick you up.
The way you point and say, "Oh!" with bright eyes
Your open mouthed drooly kisses. 

Oh Katie, we love you!!! Thank you for a year filled with JOY!

Some stats for my own record- since I can't remember these things-
Not sure on her height. Seems as tall or taller than other babies her age.
At 12 months- 21 lbs (no gain from 9 months- probably from the stomach bug)
At 13 months- 22lb 8oz- back on track
8 teeth now- 4 on top and 4 on bottom. 
Has a molar or two about to pop through. +-
Says Dada- Dada is definitely her favorite word. Smacks her lips for food when she's hungry.
Says, "Hi." Loves to wave and say hi, hi, hi to people when we're in the car and stopped in traffic
Babbles all the time.
Says, "ussat?" and points to something. Sounds just like "What's that?"
Says "doddy" for dog and does this "bvuh, bvuh" barking sound. Loves to imitate other animal sounds like the elephant, cow, chicken, etc.
Signs please, more, food when prompted. 
Says I love you- sounds like "I-doo" and does her own version of "i love you" sign- so cute to see when we drop off Jeff at work.
She'll come walking up to us, smacking her lips to give kisses.
Sometimes goes #2 on the potty if I can catch her at the right time. Twice now she's "told me" she had to go by grunting and trying to climb on the pot. Elimination communication success!
Speaking of potty, we gotta keep the bathroom doors closed or she beelines it to go splash in the toilet! Yuck! 
No more binky! "Mr Binks" as we called it went missing one evening and we couldn't find it. We were tired of looking for it at all hours of the night when it would fall out, so Katie went cold turkey a few weeks ago. It took a few rough days/nights of "detox" but she's fine without it now.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Two momentous occasions

Yes, I'm a dork, but in my mind the following events totally deserve a blog post:

1) This is the first night since Katie's birth that these cute girls have gone to bed
in the SAME room and at the SAME time... and by 7:15pm!!!
A quiet house is so good for the mama sometimes.



2) The other momentous occasion is that I found 2 pairs of perfect size, like new, long enough jeans at Goodwill. I have never found jeans at the thrift store. Paid $10 for what would have cost me at least 5 to 8 to 10 times that much. I love finding bargains at the thrift store- what about you?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

We had a good Christmas here in Baton Rouge!
It is hard to be so far from our families on Christmas, but I know I can't complain.
We are safe, healthy, happy and have two adorable girls.
We are extremely blessed.

Since it's late, I'll spare the rest of the commentary for now 
but here's a little photo dump mostly for our families to enjoy- we missed you today!

 Twas the night before Christmas...

 Christmas morning- I love Emily's face in this one!

 The obligatory no-peaking-at-the-tree-until-we-get-a-picture-in-the-hallway photo.



The girls dug into their stockings- Emily just knew Santa would put a candy cane in hers.
Katie chewed on her orange- even through the bitter peel.

 Emily's Santa present- building blocks!


 Emily was proud to give Daddy a back scratcher



Lots of presents for the little girls! They were spoiled by Santa and their grandparents.




And Jeff had to go outside and check on the wind since there was a tornado watch most of the day. Don't worry, we were completely safe!