Weighing In... Month 18

We went to the doctor yesterday for Kate's 18 month appointment. She is a healthy, happy, growing girl. Here are the stats:

Height.......... 33.7" 93rd percentile

Weight......... 28 lbs. 8 oz. 92nd percentile

Head circumference......... 19" 89th percentile

She was such a good little girl at her appointment. The nurse that she is deathly afraid of was not there that day, so she did great with all of the measurements, etc. Normally, she cries huge tears during that part because she is so afraid of the nurse.

Kate is enamored with her doctor. She lets him listen to her heart, leans her ears towards him when he needs to look in them, and opens her mouth when he needs to shine his little light in there. She follows his every command and he is so impressed with her. He said that part is normally rough because kids squirm around and aren't very cooperative. Kate just stares at him the whole time!

It was a good visit and she doesn't have to go back until she is TWO!!! Which seems far away, but I know it'll be here before we know it!

Memorial Day Parade

We've been watching the Memorial Day Parade here in Union from our friends' Megan and Greg's front porch for the past three years now (I think I have apostrophes all in the wrong place in that sentence!).

The first year we watched from their house, I was pregnant and brought McDonald's breakfast with me. :)

Last year, Kate had chubby cheeks and very little hair. But, she was awfully cute holding her little flag and chewing on her stroller strap.

This year, our "baby" girl was an all out parade expert!! She knew just what to do . At one point, I looked at her and she had a sucker in her mouth, a balloon in one hand, and was waving her flag with the other hand.

She danced and clapped and collected candy.

The crazy girl had sucker juice running all down her chin!!

All of a sudden, it started POURING. Lucky for us, Megan and Greg are right on the parade route, so we could still watch from the porch.

I love that picture. All the conversation and community that's going on. And, you gotta love Ryan with a video camera. And the fact that Greg is the only one who knows a picture was being taken. And Megan and Greg's cute house.

I think she was waiting for the "ok" to go back out to the sidewalk.

And this... well, this will basically sum up Kate Rileigh Roskowske for you right here. After the rain stopped, Mark took her back out to the sidewalk and she knelt down and stinkin' drank water from a PUDDLE IN THE ROAD! Like a dog!

This was the aftermath.


I told ya she was crazy!

Pigtailed Princess

We've discovered pigtails...

...and we may never turn back again!

It's Been Awhile!

I haven't blogged in forever, it seems like. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.

Mark and I were in a wedding together, which seemed to take a lot of our time. It was a blast, though.

Kate came to the rehearsal and the wedding (we've NEVER taken her to a wedding and may never again. ha!).

She was fine at the rehearsal... she and the ring bearer fell in love.

The wedding was a different story. My parents were invited to the wedding, so they brought her. I knew the minute she saw us, she would probably freak out. And, that she did. Luckily, it was before the wedding, so we kinda knew how she would react. I think she spent most of the wedding watching through a window. :)

She had a ball at the reception (despite the fact that she broke a plate right after the best man gave his speech, when the room was silent!). Kate is a dancin' fool! She was boogy-ing on the dance floor long before the lights even dimmed.

It was a late night for her, but well worth it. She was asleep after about 10 minutes on the car ride home.

Other than the wedding, I'm not really sure what else has been occupying our time. It just seems that the weeks are always busy and they just fly by. For some good news, though... SCHOOL'S OUT!!! I am teaching summer school from June 1-26, though. It's not terrible, although it does kinda cut into your summer a bit. The money is too good to pass up right now, though.

That's pretty much all that is going on in our world right now. I'll blog more often, I swear.

Redneck Woman

Sitting on the counter, half naked, with hair that looks very mullet-like, eating red beans and rice...

Not sure what that says about us.

Mother's Day 2009

We had a fabulous Mother's Day last weekend. Mark and Kate gave me my gift a day early. It was a digital picture frame. I've been wanting one for awhile now, but just never really think to get one or ask for one. I have yet to mess around with it, but it's Kate's new favorite thing around here.

Sunday morning, we woke up early, got ready, and made the 45 minute drive to our old church home. It was great to see everyone again and feel "at home".

After church, we went to Mark's grandparent's house and ate pizza. We then headed out to Grant's Farm.

We were really excited to take Kate there, knowing she would love all of the animals. She did such a good job waiting in the long line to get in.

Once through the line, we got on a train that took us through the park, past lots of animals. Kate was so cute... she would let out a little scream every now and then like she was SO excited.

The first thing you come to after the train ride is the baby goats. You can feed them a little bottle of milk and brush them. Let me tell you, Kate just walked right in there like she feeds goats everyday!

Lots of them weren't interested in what she had to offer, but that didn't sway our determined little girl. She stuck her bottle in all of their faces, waiting for one to take it.

She would go up to the goats that were laying down and give them hugs...

... or brush their fur.

She didn't even care when they nibbled her shirt.

I think she even kinda liked it.

Kate walked the whole time. No stroller for her. It ended up just hauling all of our stuff around.

She was enthralled with the animals.

She fed ducks...

... and llamas.

She had a blast with her Gran, Paps, Nanny, and Poppy.

She even got to take a ride on Poppy's lap.

She was tuckered out when we were finished with that place!! We were on the road for about five minutes before she conked out in her car seat. We headed to my family's house for the second half of the day.

As soon as we pulled up into Mimi and Papa's driveway, Kate's eyes opened and she knew exactly where we were.

She headed to the back, where Papa was working on a motorcycle he and Uncle Brad are trying to get to work. Of course, our little daredevil wanted right up on it.

Papa sat on there with her and showed her how to "rev" it up!!

We ate dinner, played, and played some more. Mark and I relaxed and locked ourselves in my parent's bedroom to watch the season finale of The Amazing Race while everyone else entertained our baby. Always a nice break!

It was such a great day... a LONG, busy day... but a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!!

Hope yours was just as good!!

First Grade Tales

This is a note I received from one of my first graders this week:

You are the best teacher I ever had. You're pretty and wonderful. You know a lot. You are the smartest teacher I ever met. You are like rain that makes the flowers grow like violets and roses. You are so beautiful. Like a daisy you make all the children smart. Like me. I have a poem for you. Roses are red. Violets are blue. Just like a daisy too.

How's that for dramatic?

That is why I love first graders.

Happy Mother's Day!!

This picture was taken with an overtired, cranky pants little girl...

Isn't that the way it always goes, though?

At any rate, the Roskowske Family would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to the wonderful ladies in our lives (Mom/Mimi, Mom/Gran, Grandma/Nanny, & Gammy).

We love you gals!!

Girly Girl

Guess what we did last night?

Kate got her nails painted for the very first time.

I was painting my toes when she was in the bathtub and she was VERY interested. So, I asked her if she wanted hers painted, and she wanted to get out of the tub right away.

So, after brushing teeth and getting jammies on, we sat on the couch and she got her nails AND toes painted.

She sat so still and was very careful after they were done. I showed her how to blow on them and how to lay them flat so they wouldn't get smudged.

She pranced around the rest of the evening showing off her nails. She kept stooping down to look at her toes.

We may have started something... I guess I need to go invest in some fun polish for my girl!