Hanging in There

Remember the post several weeks back about how we were all on the mend and Don had escaped the yucky cold and so on and so forth? It was full of optimism. Then there was Kate's brief vomit-in-the-checkout-line episode that was just a freak accident, right? Boy were we wrong. My on-the-mend cold turned into an ear infection that never went away until a couple of Z-packs (hopefully) kicked it to the curb. Just in time for the stomach virus that has afflicted everyone in the house, including the cat. So. We are just waiting this out and hoping that we're back to our old selves and out and about again soon (and that we haven't passed it on to anyone else - sorry Nan and Pop). Until then, here are a few pictures from our beautiful Sunday downtown.

Out with a Bang! (Our weekend, that is)

We had a fun weekend overall and enjoyed the warm weather. We also had an unfortunate incident in the checkout line at Publix that sent it out with a bang. One mintue Don said to me: "I think you're right, Kate does feel warmer than usual." Moments later, she had covered him head to toe (literally) in toddler vomit. He didn't bat an eye and took great care of our little sicky. Never fear, she improved after some Tylenol and is sleeping soundly. Really... you haven't lived until you've experienced being the "cleanup on isle one" due to a sick 2-year-old.

Today we lunched at the Gourmet shop (pictures to follow b/c I'm too lazy to go find the camera and download pictures) and I made a visit to the nursery to get some plants to spruce up the porch (which I also cleaned while K was napping).

So Far Today...

We have taken a walk, played in the sandbox, fed the woodpeckers, planted zinnias, and eaten popsicles. The flip flops and sunblock are out, and we're hoping this lasts a few more days!

Potty Time!

Slowly but surely Kate is getting into the potty thing.

Did I say slowly?

I am certainly not above letting her have a binky for a few minutes while she goes to the potty. Lately, she has forgotten about that and we are "bribing" her with something else.


In other, non-potty related news, she's also letting us put a bow in her hair.


And she has enjoyed testing out her umbrella and froggy boots (on the wrong feet, of course).

Up for Air

Hi friends. Do you know what happens at 27 weeks when you've decided that you are absolutely, positively done and not going to be pregnant for one more day? That's right. Nothing. You're still just as huge and tired and stretchy and achy as you were the other 189 days. After much sniffling, "bless you-ing," and coughing, it appears that we are going to survive. Kate and I, that is. Don mysteriously escaped the current cold afflicting our house. After spending the entire weekend inside recovering, we are hopefully on our way to more adventures. In the mean time, since I know you've been missing Kate, I'll throw you a couple of pictures from our pre-plague days.

Bet you wouldn't have guessed that we could all fit into the little green turtle sandbox, eh? Squeezing one more in is going to be tight though.

A trip to the zoo because she "missed the merry-go-round." She's into sunglasses now. As a matter of fact, she woke us up crying one night at 2 am. Me: "What's wrong?" Kate: "I need my sunglasses." Me: "Um, really, you don't because it's time to be asleep and it's very dark."

She picked the peacock. It didn't move. I wasn't all that thankful for this until the ride started. Then I remembered something about how pregnant women weren't supposed to ride amusement rides.

Dinner at the Flying Saucer. It was nice and warm on the deck. When we're about to lose her, we whip out the iPhone for Mickey Mouse videos.

Pooped after a long day.

If you weren't convinced that this kid likes the park and the zoo, on the way home from the grocery today, Kate tells us from the back seat "We go to the park and the merry-go-round and the zoo! That sound like a good plan?" It sure does! Those never get old.

Pancake Day!

Not that I need an excuse to celebrate with pancakes, but yesterday was National Pancake Day at IHOP. I thought Kate might enjoy it, but little did I know what a HUGE hit pancakes would be. She started the day in a great mood....


We ordered the "Make-a-face" pancake. She wiggled from the moment it was placed in front of her until she had devoured (half of) it!


Oh, and the chocolate chip pancakes weren't too shabby either. She asked to go back to IHOP when I was buckling her in the carseat. We're going back on Saturday so Don can witness the excitement.

Sidewalk Chalk. And a bath.

Kate LOVES sidewalk chalk. Since the weather has been nice, we play almost every afternoon. Sometimes we play hopscotch like Ruby (of Max and Ruby). Sometimes we draw on the steps.


Sometimes Kate draws circles around her feet/body.


Don taught her to draw body outlines. There are several on our sidewalk. Who knows what visitors think.


And because there are only outlines of her and Daddy, she was determined to outline me today.


And totally unrelated to chalk (other than perhaps washing it all off) is a video of Kate in the tub.

Feels like Summer!

Let me first apologize to all of my friends who live in snow-covered cities for what I'm about to blog. It has been amazingly beautiful here for the past few days. We haven't been posting b/c we've been out....

Sunning and sliding...


Sanding....


Playing with stickers...


And enjoying a few summer days in February.


Never fear... it is going to be cool tomorrow.

And here's a picture of Foz.... just because.

Birthday Dog!

Guess who has a birthday today!? Foster turned 7! We all went to the PetSmart to buy a toy, some "biscuits" (Kate's choice of words), and dog food.

We love you Foster! Fozzit! Foz Man! Dog-a-log!

Here's the Birthday Boy with his Birthday Monkey:

Valentines Weekend

We've been celebrating all weekend.

Playing with Dad.

Enjoying spring weather on the porch.

Birthday Bash for B.

Pink pancakes for breakfast.

Happy Valentines Day!

Early Valentine

This is the one thing that is sure to improve a bad day once you get home:

This afternoon Kate and I went Valentine shopping at Target while Don worked late. We bought Valentines for her class and for Daddy.

Silly me. I forgot that NO secret is safe with Kate. When we got home, the conversation went something like this:

Don: Did you get Daddy a Valentine?

Kate: Yes!!

Don: What did you get?

Kate: Chocket and a Puzzle!

So much for the surprise. Daddy got his Valentine early. I think the puzzle might have been more for Kate than for him. The puzzle is of Mickey and Minnie, so I asked: Who is Minnie's Valentine?

Kate: Mickey!

Me: Who is Mommy's Valentine?

Kate: Daddy!

Me: Who is Kate's Valentine?

Kate: Foster!

Me: Did you ask Foster if he would be your Valentine?

Kate (runs off after Foster): Foster, will you be my Valentine?

Foster: No response

Kate: He not say yes.

We then assured her that it was only because he couldn't talk. She seemed satisfied.

Happy Early Valentine's Day!

Snack Time

Has it really been a week? I'd love to tell you that we've been off doing exciting things with our time, but if I told you what we'd been doing, you'd be thoroughly unimpressed. Instead, I will wow you with photos and video of today's snack time. This is one of the ways we get food into Kate.. tiny portions. How sneaky of us?


Multi-compartment snack tray. It's a pineapple - the leaves (which you don't see here) have places for dipping sauces.


And stuffy me (who caught Kate's cold) and Kate discussing snacktime.

And now I'm off to work out a little to make for all of the ice cream I just consumed before the princess wakes up from her nap. Then we'll be sure to squeeze in some park/library time to cap off the weekend.

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).