When will I ever be on top of things around here?

Mowing wet grass... bad idea.

(But, when was it going to get done? It's been raining off and on, rain is in the forecast for the next couple days, and I had a dry moment this morning!)

Raking up wet grass in the rain... worse idea.

I have two blisters to prove it.

Will that get me out of housework today? I think not. I have a houseful of people coming over for dinner tonight.

Two Days, Two Play Dates

** Please ignore the fact that Blogger cuts off some of the right side of my pictures. I need to figure out how to fix that. **

Last week was a busy one, but a very fun one at that. Our first one back from vacation, lots of unpacking, a taco bar dinner with lots of friends at our house on Wednesday after I spent the day getting bargains at garage sales, a brunch/play date with girlfriends on Thursday, a play date with a friend on Friday, followed by a birthday and anniversary celebration that night with family. Crazy!!! These play date pictures were too cute not to post, so... enjoy!

Our monthly brunch/play date with some of my friends and their adorable kiddos

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Our first little play date with B, who is only two weeks younger than Kate

Eeek... all those primary colors... sensory overload, much??

Look how hard at work they are!

Big smiles... or at least, they are both looking at the camera

Geez Kate, doesn't your mother know how to brush your hair? I mean, look at your friend's hair. It's so nice and tame.

No, seriously, we are dealing with some major "sticking up" issues in the back there. We are working through it, though (i.e. I ordered a bunch of little bows to distract from it while it grows out. They should be here any day.)

A Day in the Life

Kate broke the Caps Lock key off of my laptop. When I say broke, what I really mean is tore it off with her crazy claw like fingers... those things will get ya! Daddy was none too happy.

Then, she ripped the rubber part off of the thing on the wall that keeps the door from hitting it(you know, the metal springy thing that is fun for an eight month old to play with- I don't know the technical term) and put it in her mouth.

Then, she played in her closet and found a little ball of what looked like hot glue and put that in her mouth.

Then, she pulled everything off of her bottom two shelves.

Then, she pulled on the strap of the changing pad causing it to fall down on top of her. Which, I might add, she thought was great and bounced all over it.

And this... this all happened before 9 a.m.

This girl is trouble, I tell ya.

I Need More Sleep...

We have one of these:

So, this morning as the coffee is brewing, I am making Kate's little bowl of rice cereal. As I go to mix it with water, I stick that little bowl under the coffee dispenser and fill it with coffee instead of water by mistake (what baby doesn't need a pick-me-up after 11 hours of sleep, anyway?) . If that wasn't bad enough, any normal (less sleep deprived) person would right away think, "Hey! I am filling my eight month old's bowl with coffee. Better stop." But, me with eyes barely open, just kept right on goin'. I even started stirring it up until I realized it was brown. Nice, huh? How's that for Mother of the Year?

On a side note, my precious baby is not the reason I am sleep deprived. She is the best little sleeper. She sleeps until at least 7 every morning, and this morning when this story occurred, she had slept until 8 a.m. The real culprit is my night- owlness that kicks in over the summertime. And due to the fact that we have people over, oh let's say, EVERY NIGHT! But, we love it and wouldn't change a thing. I love my house crawling with people. So, the lesson to be learned is... I better get to sleep earlier or I might burn the house down one day.

Baby Chub

Who can resist those rubber band wrists? I could smooch that baby chub all day long... I love it.

Way Overdue Letters

This girl... she's trouble with a capital "T". I can feel it already.

Kate officially turned eight months on the 15th, but with all the "just getting back from vacation" hoopla, they are just getting posted. Forgive us, little girl.

And, before you continue viewing these pictures, it should be known that yes, we do put clothes on our baby. It just a coincidence that she happens to be half naked in a lot of them (I'm justifying it for myself). But, you know, that's how we roll around here. I mean that's how Kate rolls... we are always clothed... never mind, I digress. Onto the letters!

Dear Kate,

If there is one word to describe you at eight months old, it is BUSY! You are constantly on the move, usually gravitating to anything except the toys so nicely laid out for you. Everything you touch still goes straight to your mouth. Perhaps due to the fact that your second tooth has made its way through. Those two little teeth that show whenever you flash that contagious smile are precious. All signs that you are getting to be a “big girl” too fast, though.

Hey, not naked!

You have the crawling thing down and have moved on to cruising along furniture and tables. On a rare occasion, you will let go, but not realize you are standing on your own. This lasts only a few seconds before you gracefully plop onto the floor. You have mastered the transition from standing to sitting and it is the cutest thing ever. You carefully lower your bottom down, while still holding onto your stabilizer of choice, and then your top half follows with a nice little thud. And then, you are off. Off to find something else you can destroy, I mean, explore.

But, here she goes showin' that skin again.

You had your first vacation this month.

Oops! Naked again. And ignore my crooked lampshade.

I was so nervous about how you would react to SIXTEEN HOURS in the car, but you were wonderful. You slept all through the night and didn’t mind being in your car seat. Now, the drive home was a different story. You still slept through the night, but by morning, you were done, and I do mean done with being trapped inside that thing. We had an amazing vacation with you. Your Great Gammy and Gampy fell madly in love with you. You with them, too. When we asked you, “Where’s Gampy?”, you quickly learned to turn your head to find him. It was adorable. They couldn’t believe what an easy baby you were. While Daddy and I were in Yellowstone by ourselves, you stayed with them and Mimi for four days. They took you all over the place, and you were just along for the ride. They said you were so well behaved and everyone they saw just made a big fuss over you.

You have started to eat more table food. With only one and a half teeth, it makes me nervous, so everything I give you is tiny. You enjoy vegetables, bread, Puffs, but most of all, fruit. We gave you a lemon on vacation and you made the funniest face with your eyes closed tightly and lips pursed all while shaking your head. I could never do it justice with words (too bad I didn’t have my video camera), but Gampy woke up in the middle of the night laughing out loud remembering it.

She's probably just so excited she actually has clothes on!

This has been my most favorite time in your little life so far (have I said that in past letters?). You are an absolute blessing to be around! You show your excitement by flapping your arms and making “Oooh, ahhh” sounds. You give high fives. You wave bye bye. You find Daddy when asked, “Where’s Daddy?”. You wrinkle your nose when you smile. You love being outside. You love swimming. You love bouncing. You could bounce in your doorway bouncer all day, I think. You get out of breath when you do it and it makes me laugh. Bouncing on Mommy and Daddy’s bed is the most fun, though, and makes you laugh that deep belly laugh. You make the funniest faces that make Daddy and I laugh harder than we have in a long time. We talk about you long after you have gone to bed. We always tell each other that we can’t believe how cute you are. Daddy says you get cuter every day. And, it’s true… you do.

Eight months ago, I held you for the first time and I fell in love with you, hard. I love you so much more than I ever thought possible. Just the other day, I was telling Daddy that these are the best times of my life. Being a mommy to you has brought me the greatest joy I have ever known. My heart explodes time and time again because of all the love you have created within me.

I love you, little girl.

Love, Mama

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Dearest Katers,

For your 8 month birthday I want to say that you get cuter every day. Not that you haven’t been adorable and precious the past seven months, but I can genuinely say that every day is better than the one before. I hope this doesn’t hurt your little baby psyche, but for a while you were a bit blobbish. You were sleeping 20 hours a day, crying, eating, bathrooming and a bit on the demanding side. But now, watch out, because Katers is a little baby girl with a big personality.

I can’t believe how adorable you are. Your squinty eyes, wrinkled nose, agape mouth-it makes my heart stop. I love making you laugh, when you crawl to me and use my leg hair as a hand hold for a pull up, and your “talking” that is a bit of grunting/growling/jabber-mouthing/ooohhhhing/ahhhhing.

Just the other day you were crawling around the living room, exploring this, exploring that, when you made a beeline for me and demanded my utmost attention. I looked down at a blue eyed, one toothed, baby girl and you stole my heart all over again.

Today was the best day with you, my precious girl, but I know tomorrow will be even better.

Lots of Love,
Daddy

We're Home!

We arrived home today around 3:00 after two great weeks of vacation. We had a blast, but are absolutely exhausted. Luckily, we did all of our laundry before we left Wyoming, so we walked into a clean house with suitcases full of clean clothes... the best homecoming. We got all unpacked right away.

Vacation photos coming soon. We are also overdue on Kate's eight month letters. We'll post those in the next couple days.

Kate crashed tonight at 7:30 and we are off to bed now, too... more to come when I am not delirious.

Today

Mark spent half the day at the local library here in Cheyenne editing pictures. It is the most gorgeous library I have ever seen (it was voted number one in the nation!). While he was doing that, my mom, Kate, and I went to a program there called Baby Lapsit. It is a little story/playtime for babies 0-18 months. Too cute! Kate loved listening to the stories. We were sitting in the second row, so she was leaning around the person in front of us to see the lady reading the book. She loved all the little songs and motions.

I don't think Kate has ever seen that many babies in one place before. She didn't know where to look! One particular baby caught her attention, though. She was this teensy tiny little seven month old with a big pink bow on her head. We were talking to the baby's mom and she told us that her baby was "very small for her age, like in the 3rd percentile". Well, imagine that little 3rd percentile baby's surprise when my "little" almost eight month old 93rd percentile baby went in for the kill. She grabbed the poor tiny baby's face. Luckily, Mimi and I were there to rescue the poor tiny baby from Kate, the beast (just kidding, Kate!). That didn't stop her from trying again and again.

After that, we left Mark at the library and went to pick up some diapers and other baby goodies before we leave for Estes Park, Colorado tomorrow morning. Kate was in quite a mood as it was way past naptime. She sat in the cart and whined her way through Wal-Mart, all the while gnawing on, licking, and making out with the icky cart handle. And it never fails that whenever my little girl does that, we always pass a germ free baby sitting happily in their cart with a big cloth cart cover that their Mother of the Year has so carefully placed on the cart. I never even bought one, and I always kick myself when I see the perfect, happy, germ free baby and then look down at my little one going to town on the filth. What am I gonna do? She eats grass and dirt... I guess a few nasty Wal-mart cart germs won't hurt her too much.

As far as vaction goes, we are heading to Estes Park tomorrow until Thursday. We won't have any Internet access, I'm sure, so I will catch up with everyone when we get back. We will leave Cheyenne Friday night and be back home Saturday. I was hoping to have some pictures posted before then, but I don't think it is going to happen. As soon as we get home from vacation, we'll get to work on that (not that anyone is sitting on pins and needles).

From the Road

Mark and I are sitting in our Super 8 motel room (I know, we're fancy like that) in Gardiner, Montana, which is the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We are having a blast, but missing our baby like crazy. I want to write all about what Mark and I have done at the Tetons and Yellowstone so far, but I want to wait to post with pictures. I will give you some tidbits to keep you on the edge of your seat for that future blog: 1.) I hated our bed at our cabin last night so much that I slept on the floor. 2.) We saw Old Faithful erupt twice today, along with a bunch of other geysers. 3.) We saw 3 bears today... one guarding it's kill- a dead (obviously, duh!) elk. I promise, more to come on all that later (maybe Sunday??)

So, I will leave you with some Fourth of July photos that Mark just edited the other day of our baby Kate. In a bucket. Wearing a silly bow that matched her dress. Enjoy!

Oh, and here are some ADORABLE ones from our first day at my grandparent's house. Kate was sitting on a blanket in the front yard while everyone sat on the front porch. I was cracking her up (she gets excited about anything!)

We're off again!

Mark and I are heading out in about 6 hours to go to the Grand Tetons. We will spend the night there in a little cabin. Then, we are heading to Yellowstone National Park until Saturday. We are staying one night in Gardiner, Montana (at the North Entrance to the park) and then the next night in a little cabin at the Northeast entrance to the park. We are so excited! We are leaving Little Miss Kate here with my mom and grandparents. We are sad to leave her, but we know she is in good hands. And, it will be good for us, we know.

We have had a great time so far! Lots of relaxing and eating too much food. We have taken long walks in their amazing park. I even escaped this morning all by myself (that doesn't happen too often) for a nice 3 or 4 mile power walk with my ipod. It was fabulous!

All of our pictures are on Mark's laptop, so as soon as we get to a wifi connection, we will post them to flickr and then try to get a good vacation update with pictures.

We made it!

We made it to Wyoming! We are all settled at my grandparent's house and are just relaxing for the evening. We ended up leaving my parent's house around 9:00 last night.

This little beauty fell asleep in the driveway and didn't wake up until we stopped for breakfast at 7 a.m. in Nebraska. Hallelujah! I am so glad we left at night. Mark drove until 4:30 a.m. while I slept and then I drove the rest of the trip. Little Miss Kate did wonderfully. We stopped for breakfast, she ate, and then she fell asleep in her carseat at her normal nap time... how crazy is that?? The girl knows her routine (and for that, I am forever grateful!). We arrived here around 11:00 (noon on Central time), and that was with a long breakfast, a long pull over by the mean policeman (I got a speeding ticket), and a drive through Sidney, Nebraska where my mom got to see her grandparent's old house. All in all, it wasn't a bad trip at all. We took a little nap when we got here and are about to have dinner. We may sit it the hot tub later, and then call it an early night. I'll try to keep updating... hopefully, with some pictures soon.

Leavin' on a jet plane...

... or a 14 hour car ride with a 7 month old. Whatever, we're gettin' the heck out of dodge for a couple of weeks. We are leaving tonight at Kate's bedtime (my mom is going too) and driving through the night to Cheyenne, Wyoming to see my grandparents. Hopefully, she will sleep through most of the drive (our reason for leaving at night). While there, Mark and I are taking a few days to visit the Tetons and Yellowstone sans baby. When we get back, we will all go to my grandparent's cabin in beautiful Estes Park, CO. All in all, we will be gone for about 2 weeks, the longest vacation we've ever had. We are so ready!

Meanwhile, Kate is getting introduced to "Gammy & Gampy" (they haven't seen her since she was a month old).

I will try to post some pictures while we are gone, but ya know, the "people taking care of my baby, no cooking or cleaning, & just relaxing" vibe might get the best of me.

Happy 4th of July!

Behold the wonder that is my Fourth of July cake. It is the result of at least a TWO HOUR process and I just realized that it looks crooked. Oh well, it will be yummy anyway. The recipe is courtesy of The Pioneer Woman. But, if you see hers, it looks way better than mine (I'm a newbie at this). I'm sure fresh raspberries are the reason for that, but the store was out, so I had to use frozen... and now my cake is dripping raspberry juice everywhere. Happy 4th everybody!

I HATE PACKING!!!

It's 11:36 p.m. and this is the scene. We are packing for vacation and I HATE packing! I always take way too many clothes (my side is the one with clothes piled way high if you didn't notice) and it just seems to take me forever. With a late night tonight, it WILL get done... I am determined.

Dinner

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... for dinner tonight. Can you tell things are kinda crazy around here right now?

Just because I wanted to share some pictures...

No reason for this post, just to "ooh and ahh" over cute little Kate!

Eating dinner on Great Uncle Scott's kitchen table

Sleeping with her teddy bear

Waiting for food

Watching the vacuum cleaner... and playing with the remote control

Our Little Family

As I was cleaning today, this little scene made me smile.