Spring Fever!

A day like today would give anyone Spring Fever. Too bad this weather won't stick around. Don even unplugged his side of the electric blanket. I told him I thought that was a bit too optimistic. Anyway, we had a great weekend and a great day today to play! You know that there was no keeping us inside with temperatures in the 7os! Don went to ride the sheep. Kate and I did some damage shopping at the Orient Expressed show. Then we all met up for some play time in the park! LOVED IT!

And, we'll leave you with our favorite Kate quote of the weekend. She has started to tell us when we're doing great at something. "As in - Mommy, you a great reader." At Little Gym on Saturday she told Don: "Daddy you great at funner!" It's always good to know your kid thinks you're great at having fun. :)

Happy Birthday Don!

We're into themed cakes around here. Kate wanted to get Don a Dora cake, but that was quickly vetoed. Her second choice? A sheep cake! She was almost as excited about his sheep cake as she was about her Dora cake. It's good to see that she is clearly my child. Loves cake and eats the icing first!

You Can't Call It “It”

Baby naming is hard. Since I'm not one of those gals who sat around dreaming of what she was going to name her children, 9 months doesn't seem like nearly enough time to decide what name our sweet boy is going to have to carry with him for the next 70 plus (hopefully) years. On top of that, I think most boy names are incredibly boring. And, having looked at what has to be more than a few thousand, we've still only settled on a handful that I like (4 to be exact). Sometimes I'm jealous of those people that hit 20 weeks, find out if they're having and boy or girl, and viola! A name. Granted, if this was a girl, we almost already had a name picked out, but I still probably wouldn't commit until close to the end. The thing is, my friends all pick fabulous names for their kids. Names I would probably read right by when browsing, so I've tried to be really impartial, considering every name out there.

I've spent a lot of time trying to find interesting names for boys. Turns out many of the great naturalists/environmentalists have pretty dull names. Same for most literary names or names of great men in US history. Biblical names? They're alright. One made our top 4. And great mountain bikers? I don't think we'll be having a Tinker or a Gary either. I ran across some great blogs, including Nameberry and You Can't Call It “It”, which are good for names that probably aren't in the top 100 of the Social Security Index. But I'm still am not convinced that Atticus, while an up-and-coming Nameberry name, is any good for our boy.

My mom pointed out the other day that we needed to find a name so we would have something to call him.. other than him (or it). So, I guess it's the least we can do to give him a pre-birth name, much like our sweet Fiona.

So, please everyone, meet little Hank.

Little Gym!

As an active family who loves to be outside running, riding, jumping, sliding, the winter is particularly hard on us. There are only so many visits to the mall for coffee that one can do without going crazy (or spending money). Additionally, Kate has started to do "flips" on her Pottery Barn chair... on the hardwood floor... which makes me cringe a little every time she does it. SO... we decided to give Little Gym a shot. You know, a giant padded room where she can run crazy for an hour and perhaps hone her motor skills at the same time. Needless to say, it was a HUGE hit. Kate smiles a lot, but the sheer joy in her face was fantastic!!


We started out on a big red mat, where we sang a song and played with bells. The idea is that you warm up as a group and then you get to explore the gym. Parents are asked to stay on the mat if their kids wander off and explore to set a good example.

Yeah, after bells, Don and I pretty much warmed up on our own. Of course going in I was sure that MY child would stay with us and not wander the gym. WRONG!




When they broke out the parachute she came running back! Can you sense the chaos in this photo. It's a lot like herding cats.


After group time it was free play... so she continued her exploration.

Balance beam.


They teach 3 skills per class. Today it was forward rolls, swinging from bars and jumping off of a stack of mats and landing on their feet. Kate was pretty confused. This is certainly not the way Mom and Dad taught her to get down off of high places!


Bars. She does this in her closet, so nothing new.


We end back on the big mat with balls, bells and bubbles. "I pop them with my finger!!" she says.


Happy, Happy girl.


It was a blast and we promptly joined the gym before we left. A few things that we learned about Kate today: 1. She isn't afraid to explore on her own. 2. She's certainly not much of a follower, but does listen and follow the teacher's directions quite well. 3. Can you say free spirit? 4. The thrill of turning/running in circles has not been lost. 5. She is no longer intimidated by groups or other kids. 6. She's such a fun girl to spend a Saturday with. (ok, we might have already known that).

Strawberry Shortcake

She's a little Strawberry girl....


Who loves to play with sidewalk chalk.

Hopscotch

Way


too


COLD


for Hopscotch!


But we hopscotched anyway on our day off!

Iced In

Well... we got a good 1/4 inch of ice Monday night, which iced us in for Tuesday (or Don for a 1/2 day). Ice is yucky because it's slippery and it renders the fluffy snow totally un-playable. It didn't stop Kate from begging to go outside, unfortunately.

Here are more pics of us enjoying our walk in the snow and playing with pots and pans and "tools" and snow inside, where it was nice and toasty!

Snow walk.

Blizzard of 2011

It has been snowing for quite some time now and the flakes are still coming down. Unfortunately the ice is supposed to start soon, which will make for a huge mess. Until then, we're enjoying the fluffy stuff.

Vintage Snoopy mittens.

Snow Angel. Not sure how she knows how to do this, we certainly didn't teach her.

Snow dog.

Proof that Don does own some sort of leg coverings. Not pants, mind you. More like leg warmers.

Lexington Blizzard.

And now? Milk and bananas and a cozy spot on the couch watching Mickey Mouse.

Ready!

Best way to get ready for snow?

Break out the snow boots and fire hat.

And some banana yogurt in a chair.

One of Us

The indoctrination is almost complete.
Clemson girl? Check!
Bike girl? Check!
Bagel eater? Check!
Coffee House junkie? Check! Check!

Not only will Kate tell you that Santa is at the coffee house (aka Starbucks) when you ask, but now she loves to go there for a hot chocolate. I promised a trip after our mall errands and she kept asking me: "Where is coffee shop? I not see it? Where is it, Mommy?" We got there, ordered, and I thought she was going to shake the screws out of the stroller she was wiggling so much with anticipation. "I getting hot chocket Mommy! I so cited!"


And then. She sat like a little lady and enjoyed her very first Starbucks hot chocolate. It was a fun time. I'm hoping for many more of these dates!

Zoo Day

The sun finally came out this afternoon and it was beautiful! We decided to head to the zoo, which was a good plan. It was almost empty. We had the entire bird house to ourselves for almost 2o minutes!

Posing with the orangutan.


And the tiger.


In a cave with Mommy and the penguins.


Feeding a goat (no kisses on the mouth, thankfully....).


Elephants with Daddy.


And to top it all off we had doughnuts for dinner. Ok, not really, but kind of. She didn't have much to do with the fried rice at our actual dinner, but was all about this snowman doughnut from Krispy Kreme.

Happy New Year!

Isn't it hard to believe that last weekend we were doing this:



And today we were doing this:


Started off the New Year right... Tweety Bird waffles. We got this waffle maker as a wedding present, believe it or not, from our jeweler.


What a hit! Ate the whole thing in record time.


Then Don went to ride the sheep and we went to the park for.....

Sliding...

Walking....


Hiding...


And making new friends... (they are comparing shirts)


Kate said: "I want to go meet her." And, much to my chagrin, she did! She also met a little boy and didn't run from him. What progress!

We went to take Nanna a pot that we had borrowed, and Kate wanted to stay and play. So she did... play and eat and nap. Thanks Mom!! What a fun afternoon of cleaning and organizing I had!!

We finished the evening with some pot roast, collards and black-eyed peas. I might turn into a black-eyed pea, I tell ya!