Play Date Update

You're dying to know what we did, aren't you?

Well, I was able to do a little playing of my own while Kate stayed with Nanna. At first the flower beds looked like no one loved them.


And now they look.. well, like they are loved at least a little bit.


In the afternoon, Kate and I went to Wingard's Nursery, where she picked up rocks. This is becoming one of her favorite past times. Picking up rocks is good because rocks trump flowers, which means she is left sniffing flowers instead of picking them. I think it is generally frowned upon when toddlers go around de-flowering all of the plants at the nursery.


When we got home, there was lots of fun to be had. First she got into the toilet while I wasn't looking and by the time I got to her, water was everywhere... except in the toilet. While I cleaned off the floor and walls, she found even more fun. She learned how to turn on the faucet.

Caught!


But Oh!

So fun!

Play Date

Today Kate and I have a play date. With each other.

The weather is warm. And that means more porch photos!!

Welcome Mom (and Dad)

We're so happy that my parents have finally gotten internet access at home! There is no such thing as too much Kate. So, even though they are the most awesome grandparents ever and they keep her every day while we're at work, there is always more Kate to be seen. So, welcome, and I hope this blog holds you over during the hours that she's in our care. :)

Kate is very active. Not in a bad way, but in a 15 month old way.


In an attempt to wear her down so that bedtime goes much more smoothly out of sheer exhaustion, we take her outside and let her run in the hot, sunny afternoons.

Here she is making sure Don has his baby doll before he takes off on his hot rod tricycle.


And while I cook, Don entertains. She is quite talented at knocking down the block tower.


I assure you that it only looks like Don is pushing the blocks onto her head. :) He is actually trying to save her noggin from getting whacked. What a nice Da!

Easter Day

Happy Easter Everyone!

I couldn't go to bed without a quick Easter post. You know, since tomorrow won't be Easter, and then all of this will be old news. So here is Kate in her Sunday best (even though she didn't actually make it to church this morning).


The day started with this:
*please notice the grabby hand at the bottom of the picture.


Turns out that that the Dora, Diego, and Boots figurines were a huge hit. She didn't put them down for hours.


We did a little egg hunting of our own. Although, I must tell you that she was MUCH more into picking up leaves and sticks than Easter eggs.


She helped Daddy tune up the hot-rod bike.


And after a little photo session in the front yard (in which she was uncharacteristically cooperative), we were off to Nanna and Pop Pop's for some Easter dinner.


Turns out that while the modest Easter Bunny came to our house, Nanna and Pop Pop were on the the rich Easter Bunny's route.


We tried to do some egg hunting, but she was so over it by 6:00. She made note of where they were, but picking them up? Not a priority.


Fred, however, was all about the egg hunt.


We dyed 2 eggs while at Nanna's. She preferred to walk around holding those. They were missing some shell by the time it was all said and done, but were so well loved.


My Dad has been off turkey hunting all week. Kate missed him. A LOT. "Pop, Pop... Pop, Pop..." She was glued to him from the moment we pulled in the driveway. She even cried when he left the room to take a phone call, and when he wasn't outside for the egg hunt.



It was a beautiful day and a beautiful occasion. It was also hot and sticky with lots of pollen. Look out summer! Here we come!

Saturday

How did we spend our Saturday?

At the Zoo with Grandma and Grandaddy!!


Later Don built Kate a house, which proved to be worth hours of fun.

Catch All

Let me go ahead and warn you that this is going to be a very random post, with a little of this and some of that and you will find yourself saying: wow... she had too much caffeine today! (Maybe it was the rare Pepsi that I allowed myself for pizza night). I also received a fun little blogosphere award from my friend Mandy. The catch is that I'm supposed to tell you Seven Random Truths about me. So I'll try to do that too...

Here goes. Today I took a half day to play with Don and Kate. We started at Harbison State Forest. Foster caught Frisbees. Kate picked up as many rocks as she could hold. Her record? 6

We took our baby to a "bar." Its really only a bar inside at night. Outside in the mid afternoon you can sit on the porch and have appetizers.


Like the hat? I tried to tell him that it wasn't his size.




We did some sliding.

Then we came home and had $5 Hot N Ready Pizza. I highly recommend it if there are days you don't want to cook! Kate even had some, and it was a HUGE hit.

Random truth #1 about me: My newest obsession is running the Lake Murray Dam. Its 3.4 miles across and back. You know how hard it is to find 3.4 miles of sidewalks in Lexington!? Getting better. Pushing a stroller with a 21.5 lb baby while running 3.4 miles kicks my behind! Here is Kate when we were taking a break. I like this shot because it looks like she's about to catch a sunbeam. :)


Random truth #2 about me: I love that Don does baby bath time because it gives me a few minutes to myself to do whatever I'd like... wash dishes, blog, exercise, read, etc. This week Don was gone to Kansas and I missed those few minutes. But! I did get to hang out with Kate in the bath. She likes to grab the water when it comes out of the faucet.


Random truth #3 about me: I absolutely cannot get enough of this face... This is what you get when you ask her to smile. Love it!!


Random truth #4 about me: I hate panty hose. Despise them. I don't wear them when I probably should.

Random truth #5 about me: I'll pretty much eat any leftovers out of the fridge unless they smell bad or are growing things.

Random truth #6 about me: I think we should start shooting rubber bullets at rubberneckers on the interstate or anywhere else for that matter. When I'm driving, I never look at an accident, just on principle.

Random truth #7 about me: I should have been in real estate. I use my breaks at work to shop for houses. If I could only remember facts about bacteria and viruses like I can about price per square foot and features!

Bonus random truth #8 about me: I usually stay up past my bedtime and regret it in the morning. I'm doing it right now!

Ok, so now I'm supposed to give 7 awards to blogger friends of mine. Instead, I'll just say this. See all those posts over there to the right? They're there b/c they're my favorites. So visit, if you like, and if you feel so inclined, you can post your own 7 random things.

My Unbiased Opinion

She's the cutest baby girl ever. Ok, maybe I'm a little biased. I told my grandmother this today, and she said: "You should be biased! She's your baby!" Right on Gramma!

Kate was pretty psyched about the bunny ears I found upstairs.

Not Me! Is Back!

It has been SOooo long since I've posted a Not Me! Monday, that perhaps I should re-cap for anyone who's new to this fun little exercise in laughing at ourselves. Monday is a day to confess all of the completely nutty things that you could not have possibly done over the past week. Like the time I did not try to scare my child out of a cabinet, or drop her out of the car. I would never do such things! Please remember to check out MckMama's website for more fabulous not me fun. She did start this whole thing. She has a better track record at posting Not Me! and she is the (pregnant) mother of 4 kids. Holy Moses. Can you imagine if I had that many children!?! No, me neither.

I had the opportunity to take a Starbucks break downtown last week after teaching a class. I did not leave my keys in the restroom, only to go back 30 minutes later and find them hanging on the back of the stall door. Not Me!

Don't you know that I'm always productive at work? I never have days where I have to fight my own brain to stay on task. Like today. I did not Google for foods that increase your concentration. Because then I wouldn't be concentrating on my work, right? I also did not blame it on the Dog, who was so completely freaked out by tornadoes last night, that he kept waking me up... over and over... at about 1:30. He's a dog. He has no control over his 6th sense. It's his blue eye.


And I most certainly did not answer my work phone "Hey" the other day because I thought I recognized the caller ID number as a friend. It was so not a friend. Ooops!

See? Another perfect week. And now, what you've all been waiting for... the girl whose Heart Belongs to Daddy:

Another Weekend Down

Fun Weekend.

Don and I ran 6.1 miles over a large bridge. 57 minutes and change for me. Not my best time. Not my worst. Here we are post-race and feeling good.


We got to Charleston on Friday night and ate Thai with Courtney and her boyfriend David. I just love Courtney. And not just because she's my cousin, and she's a cool girl, and she's a Clemson grad. She went to the Guillard Auditorium and picked up our race packets!! Last year I waited in line for 2 hours while Don soothed a screaming baby. Thanks Court! You rock! :) We also got to visit her apartment out on Sullivans Island. I tried to convince her that I could fit a single bed in her room next to the super awesome fireplace. I don't think she took me seriously. The visit brought back great memories of being out on my own after college. What an exciting time that taught me so much about myself. Although it may not seem like it now, there's plenty of time to get married, buy a house and have babies. Live it up, girl! You won't regret a minute.

Back at the homestead, we had to explain to Kate that ice cubes didn't always come out of the door to the fridge. I don't think she got it, but she liked the trays.


Kate and I went to a baby shower. I took her along. Against my better judgement. It worked out fine.

There was cake!


There was a pregnant lady - my "cousin", Julie. She's my cousins' cousin. But I love her like she was my own. :)


Did you know that Kate's a flirt? This is her and Nanna.


She hugged the dog... a lot. She climbed the stairs... a lot. She enjoyed Aurie's bathtub... a lot.


Aurie got a lot of cool presents that Kate wanted. At least she was polite about it. She did say "Da Doo" (Thank you) when she took off with Aurie's cute kitty cat lovey.

She smiles on command now.


What a great group of cousins. Love them.


When we came home she ran around the house like a WILD woman. I think it wore her out. I know it wore me out. And now I'm going to bed. I'm going to try my best to post a Not Me! tomorrow. If you know me at all, you won't be holding your breath.