tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68576727083713927592024-03-13T11:18:06.713-05:00Our Little KingdomAndrew, Katie, and life with two babies!Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-63184120501265892772012-10-23T20:15:00.001-05:002012-10-23T20:15:36.865-05:00Bits of Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In spite of being sick most of the summer, we actually had a wonderful summer. This is the first year that both girls have enjoyed the beach, so we took full advantage and went to the beach <i>a lot</i>. Our favorite time of day to go is late afternoon, after nap time is over. We would pack a picnic dinner, some beach chairs, and head out to the beach.</div>
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Holly and Josie enjoying their sandwiches.</div>
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We went to the beach with cousins several times, and Andrew decided to give Holly a (rather tame) ride in a kayak. She was in love with the idea until she actually got in it.</div>
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When they made it back to shore, Andrew told me that Holly kept desperately trying to jump out of the kayak. What's not to love about a kayak ride where all you're required to do is sit and enjoy it?</div>
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We also made, and enjoyed, our fair share of treats. Josie is a junk food monster and will gladly sacrifice eating her dinner in hopes of dessert.</div>
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Lowe's continues to be our home-away-from-home and the girls accompany us often. They like going lots more if a fun car shopping cart is involved. It seems like the list of projects to be done on our house will never end!</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-46330962073005026582012-10-23T20:01:00.004-05:002012-10-23T20:01:48.496-05:00Swimming Lessons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This summer we decided to go for it and register Holly for swimming lessons. She had a blast and learned a lot (she is not an Olympic-level swimmer yet, but has gained much confidence in the water). She took a two-week session which consisted of four lessons per week.</div>
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Incidentally, this particular session happened to fall right when I found out I was pregnant and all the fun began. So needless to say, taking her to a 9:00 a.m. swimming lesson was about all I could handle every day.</div>
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Holly had just turned three and was the youngest child in her class, by far. I was so proud of her and thought she did so well! The only person who wasn't pleased with the arrangement was Josie, who was mad that she couldn't get in the pool and swim, too. We actually had a few close encounters with the water slide and, luckily, there were other moms more with it than I who saved her life. Although she certainly didn't see it that way, of course.</div>
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We are looking forward to swimming lessons again next summer!</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-53666565645086848662012-10-23T19:54:00.000-05:002012-10-23T19:54:03.881-05:00The REAL Reason I Haven't Blogged in 6 Months...<div style="text-align: center;">
Actually, make that the last 3 months. I really have no excuse from April through June. But from July to the present, I have been absent from blogging, Facebook, and all forms of socialization because of this.</div>
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A new baby bump! Hooray! This picture is seriously outdated because I'm about halfway through this beast of a pregnancy and much, much bigger. But I seriously spent all summer laying on my couch in various states of consciousness while the poor girls watched PBS Kids and did things like this.</div>
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That is Holly taking a bath in the bathroom sink. Which, actually, I would not have even known about had Josie not flushed the toilet approximately 35 times in a row and alerted me to the situation.</div>
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And this. Pushing each other around in the baby doll stroller, which is about to collapse after having been subjected to more than it can handle.</div>
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The good news is, I am not so horribly sick anymore. Just tired beyond belief and suffering from terrible migraines and other various ailments. Which leads me to my other piece of exciting (and related) news: this baby is a <span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">boy</span>!</div>
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We are still in shock, I think. We are so heavily into girl mode (even my precious husband Andrew) that we are still adjusting to the idea of having a baby brother. I'm actually just relieved that we had two girls first and I know we will absolutely adore him when he arrives.</div>
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So, I will do my best to combat fatigue and everything else and catch up on my blog. Let's just all forgive me and move forward from here, okay?</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-16245617222557962712012-09-17T20:17:00.001-05:002012-09-17T20:17:10.085-05:00Sleeping Arrangements<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Our sleeping arrangements for the girls have been sporadic at best. Theoretically, they both sleep in the same room. In practice, Josie sleeps in a pack-n-play in our extra bedroom 9 nights out of 10. It's just easier this way, somehow.</div>
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When they do sleep in the same room, it is a party for at least an hour. There is much squealing and laughing and playing and not a whole lot of sleeping going on. Then, when I go in to check on them after all is quiet, I am confronted with the above and below images.</div>
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Sweet girls. How can your heart not melt at this sight? Both sleeping together in the crib like that. I'm always tempted to leave them that way, but end up moving them to avoid confusion and/or a fight at 3:00 in the morning.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-67128450302469494502012-09-17T20:11:00.003-05:002012-09-17T20:11:47.040-05:00Out At the Land<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This spring and summer, we've spent a good deal of time out at Andrew's parents' property. (That was complicated. My in-laws' property--that's better.) Anyway, the girls love it out there because there is a huge expanse of yard to run around in, gardens to trample, dogs to chase and be chased by, and a host of other things.</div>
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One of the more recent favorites is riding the lawnmower with Daddy. Andrew goes a bit stir crazy and spends most of his time outside while we are there, finding things to work on and to fix. The girls were pretty thrilled to take a ride on the mower.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-50518981030275876112012-09-17T20:05:00.001-05:002012-09-17T20:05:10.304-05:00Easter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We had a wonderful Easter this year. We kicked off our weekend with an Easter festival held at a church near our house. It started at 10:00 a.m., so we naively thought we shouldn't get there too early because it might be awkward to be early birds.</div>
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Little did we know, the entire south side of the city was there! There was face painting, a petting zoo, Easter egg hunts for all ages (we missed ours by a few minutes), pictures with the Easter bunny, snow cones, bounce houses, and anything else you can think of.</div>
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Holly had the time of her life and Josie...well, we found out that day that she doesn't like the sun. Or the heat. Or walking around outside. Oh, well.</div>
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On Easter Sunday, we went to my in-laws' ward and had Easter dinner with them. The girls were the only kids in Nursery, and Josie has a complex with my leaving her behind so I stayed in Nursery with them (which was not awkward at all, with a Nursery leader, a mother, and two children...). Whatever.</div>
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It ended up being a small crowd out at my in-laws' for Easter dinner, which was just fine with us. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed spending the day with Grandma and Grandpa.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-59877055168642266162012-03-15T05:58:00.000-05:002012-03-15T05:58:01.033-05:00Painting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Holly loves art projects. I used to be so good at doing them with her, back when Josie was still taking a morning nap. Since Josie dropped her morning nap though, I have gone into crisis mode and have barely resumed functioning as a normal human being again. Thus we have done almost no art projects for the past couple of months.</div>
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I finally bought a second set of watercolors so Josie could join in on the fun, and we pulled them out one afternoon last week. Holly was thrilled to be back in her natural element of creating and making a giant mess at the same time.</div>
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Josie had fun painting on the paper...until she discovered that painting on her face was fun, too. It was everywhere, including in her ears. Painting had to be cut short, and Holly was none too pleased. She let me know by dumping her painting water all over the floor. Fun times.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-48807431860552154612012-03-15T05:50:00.003-05:002012-03-15T05:50:36.809-05:00Carnivore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Our little Josie is still...well, little. She barely passed the 18 pound mark by her 15-month well baby check-up. However, she has a voracious appetite that is not to be messed with. She just has really good genes, I guess!</div>
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One of her problems is that at mealtime, she pokes at her food and fusses for most of the meal. Then when everyone else is finished, she finally starts eating. (Notice Holly's empty booster seat next to her.) She usually eats her meal while I'm doing the dishes or checking my e-mail.</div>
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This particular evening we had chicken drumsticks and I thoughtfully cut Josie's off the bone. She finished all of her own chicken, then grabbed Holly's drumstick off of her plate and started tearing into it. It was amazing.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-51753593049297618132012-03-15T05:43:00.000-05:002012-03-15T05:43:04.048-05:00Bathtub Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Holly's present from the Pacifier Fairy was a Belle Barbie doll that goes in the bathtub. Her skirt is a bath pouf, and she comes with a bath crayon. This has provided hours of fun both in and out of the bathtub. Holly is very much obsessed with princesses and fairies, and Belle is her favorite.</div>
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Andrew decided to take advantage of the bath crayon and teach Holly some skills. On the left Andrew wrote out Holly's name; on the right is her version. Not bad, huh?</div>
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(Sorry that this was basically a post just to brag about my kid. Bragging over.)</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-49631689653707872822012-03-15T05:38:00.000-05:002012-03-15T05:39:00.214-05:00Dress-Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Holly got a dress-up box for Christmas, and it has gotten the most use of any present <i>by far</i>. The girls play with, in, and around the dress-up box pretty much daily.</div>
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Josie loves her a pair of fairy wings.</div>
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This is Holly's favorite item, which is a skirt that I picked up from the thrift store. She would probably wear it all the time, in the house and out, if I let her. Pair this with a fancy purse, and you have this little girl's heaven.</div>
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Dress-up is pretty much a constant activity in our house. I honestly don't know why I even bother getting the two of them dressed in "real clothes" every morning.</div>
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Another favorite is to take all of the clothes out of the box and then use the box as a bathtub, car, airplane...anything. And don't forget "swimming" in the pile of clothes on the floor! Some days I can hardly stand the mess this creates, but they have so much fun with it, who cares?</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-30968137001571244862012-01-30T08:10:00.001-06:002012-01-30T08:10:56.672-06:00Bye-Bye, Binkie<img src="http://www.babyearth.com/images2/products/medium/10-0326-01.jpg" />
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We have officially been paci-free for a week.<br />
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And what a week it's been! It's been a little rough.<br />
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I use that word loosely. Very loosely.<br />
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Anyway, last Sunday night the Paci Fairy came and took both of the girls' pacis away to give to the new babies at the hospital. Then she very generously left them each a special toy and a note congratulating them on their rise to "big girl" status--you know, since they unwillingly gave up their beloved pacis.<br />
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And then the real fun began.<br />
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Josie had one bad night (like, <i>really</i> bad). But she has steadily gotten better and no longer wakes up every other night fussing for her paci! I'm sure she doesn't even remember it anymore. Complete success! The bottle, on the other hand, she is missing. Girlfriend won't drink milk anymore without it. She's going strong after <i>two</i> weeks without the bottle! In a moment of temporary insanity, I asked our pediatrician if I should reintroduce the bottle so our little Skinny Minnie could get some more calories. Her answer was a resounding <i>no</i>. At least one of us was in our right mind.<br />
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Holly, on the other hand, is having a tougher time. She was doing great the first night or two, but then she started showing all the signs of paci withdrawal: tantrums, sleeplessness, and general crankiness among other things. She told me a few days ago that the Paci Fairy was going to come back, give her the pacis, and take away her special toy. Sorry, but that's not how it works!<br />
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Last night Holly woke up around 3:15 a.m.--you know, just awake. She came into our room and I woke up to her standing next to the bed. Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it we were in the living room at 4:30 a.m. having a snack. I honestly don't know what happened. Then I made her a little bed at the foot of our bed and that is where she currently lies, fast asleep.<br />
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I, on the other hand, am awake with Josie. Bleary-eyed and not loving life. Anyone have any tips on how to get a two-year-old back to sleep without her beloved paci?</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-37172905277156000442012-01-14T21:54:00.001-06:002012-01-14T21:54:25.869-06:00My New Hobby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During the past few months, I have come to terms with the fact that I have the soul of an eighty-year-old woman. Or that I am, in fact, and eighty-year-old woman in a twenty-five-year-old's body. Don't believe me? Here are a few examples, my friends.</div>
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1. I drive like an old woman. I have since the day I got my driver's license. Driving over the speed limit? Never. Avoiding freeways and busy streets at all costs, even if I'm going out of my way? Check. Police officers swerving around me in anger so they don't have to drive behind me anymore? Oh, yeah.</div>
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2. I did not learn to text until I was about twenty-two. A friend of mine from college had to sit down and teach me how to do it. I type all of my text messages like I type an English paper: correct grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. I can't help myself.</div>
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3. I have been dying for a pressure canner for a few years now, and Andrew finally caved in and bought me one for Christmas. I literally jumped up and down when I opened it! I canned my first batch of applesauce today. I don't think other young people aspire to such things.</div>
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Which leads me to my newest hobby: knitting. I just discovered it a month or two ago and picked it up again today and felt I needed to blog about it! I love knitting. It's crafty, but not too involved. I can do it while watching TV and it doesn't take up too much space. Don't get me wrong, I am still in the very beginning stages and haven't made a "real" project yet. As soon as I am brave enough, I am going to get some real yarn and knit something...real. I was talking to Andrew awhile back about knitting and he said, "Are you sure you like knitting? It just seems like an old lady thing to do." And what is the problem with that? It appears he has no idea who he married.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-63651119597536504672012-01-14T21:40:00.001-06:002012-01-14T21:40:23.538-06:00Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We had such a fun Christmas this year! <a href="http://joshilymassey.blogspot.com/">Emily and Josh</a> came for a visit, we saw lots of family, and oh yeah...we all got sick. Coughs, congestion, fevers all around. Bummer. But we managed to have a great time anyway!</div>
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On Christmas Eve there were new jammies all around. Holly and Josie opened them before Andrew's aunt and uncle's annual Christmas Eve party. They wore them to the party, of course, and were the cutest kids there! Oh wait, they were the <i>only</i> kids there. Whatever. If only I hadn't been sick and had gotten a picture of them in their cute new jammies...</div>
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Christmas morning. They were far too busy to look at the camera.</div>
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Josie does not do well when she's sick. She fusses day and night and needs to make her misery known. She wasn't into opening presents at all and, in fact, went back to bed before I even made our eggnog french toast. She had probably been up for 45 minutes, and slept for another few hours.</div>
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Holly got some dress-up clothes and was thrilled with the "princesses."</div>
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Playing in their new house that Santa brought. Again, they were far too busy to actually look at the camera... Holly asks to play in her house every day. They love it!</div>
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We truly had a wonderful Christmas and loved seeing our families. We especially loved celebrating our Savior's birth and remembering all that He has done for us.</div>
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A couple of weeks ago, we did a little activity together that Andrew and I have come to love: decorating gingerbread (graham cracker) houses! Andrew and I have done this in years past with some dear friends of ours who have since moved away, so I took it upon myself to stop wallowing in self-pity about our far-away friends and get to work!</div>
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It was the girls' first gingerbread house experience. Mostly they were excited to eat the candy. Josie was a little confused at first.</div>
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Holly got to work right away eating her fill of the assortment I laid out.</div>
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But then I showed her how to pipe frosting onto the candy and she enjoyed that quite a bit.</div>
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Here's how it went with Josie. I put a piece of candy on her house, and she ate it. I put another piece of candy on her house, and she ate it. Then she tore the roof off and ate that. Holly was upset that Josie destroyed her house, but to each his own. (And it was literally destroyed. She had a great time doing it.)</div>
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My completed house.</div>
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Holly's finished product. Not bad for her first time!</div>
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Andrew's house.</div>
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I have to say, this was my first time engineering and constructing the houses themselves; I did this ahead of time so we could just concentrate on decorating. The slope for the roofs on my and Andrew's houses are off; a grave error that I learned from and will be sure to correct next year.</div>
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We have had so much fun with our little Christmastime traditions this year! Holly is finally old enough to really get involved in Christmas and start to understand what it's all about.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-33841852693424698412011-11-15T21:31:00.001-06:002011-11-15T21:44:05.311-06:00Big Girl Bed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The day has come! Holly has been fixated on a "big girl bed" for about a week or so now, and yesterday afternoon she was insistent that she get one. So today after work, Andrew demolished her crib and put her mattress on the floor.</div>
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Okay, okay. So it's not exactly a bed. More like a mattress on the floor. But you know what? I'm alright with that. We'll get her a bed sometime in the future, when the price is right on Craigslist. Anyway, I had a whole lot of fun setting up her bed while Andrew was giving the girls their bath after dinner. The quilt is the one I (and my mom) made for her before she was born. It is the perfect size!</div>
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As you can see, Holly was thrilled with her new "big girl bed." Josie was thrilled with it too, but Holly is very possessive over it. And as I type this, she is sleeping soundly in her new bed. She did not get up once and fell asleep rather quickly, considering the excitement.</div>
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Which means that I am experiencing all of those complicated motherly emotions over this moment: excitement and pride, but lots of sadness too. Because my baby is one step closer to not being a baby, and it makes me sad. But happy. And so proud of her. And nervous, too. Because soon she's going to be a teenager and give me attitude and say I'm ruining her life. Ahh! I can't stand it.</div>
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And now I need to get off this darn computer, because there is a sour milk smell emanating from heaven knows where and I need to find it. And I cleaned my kitchen today, so surely I did not overlook some old sippy cup full of milk. That certainly never happens around here.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-60053921683756524992011-11-15T21:23:00.001-06:002011-11-15T21:31:18.500-06:00Quick Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I realized I forgot to write about Josie and all her weights and measurements now that she's one! (You know, because all of you care so much...) So here they are.</div>
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Weight: 17.5 lbs (3rd percentile)</div>
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Height: 29 inches (50th percentile)</div>
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Head Circumference: Unknown, but in the 75th percentile</div>
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I never realized that her head is huge in comparison to the rest of her body until the pediatrician told me that little tidbit of information. Interesting.</div>
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Josie is walking a little bit now, which is exciting and she is very proud of her accomplishments. She wants to do whatever Holly is doing. She also wants to be wherever her mama is, climbing and cuddling, which is very sweet but makes it hard to keep a clean house. She still fits inside her Boppy, as seen above, and is the world's biggest couch potato. So she fits right in! I also saw her reaching with all her might toward the bathroom doorknob; when she is tall enough to reach it, we are in deep trouble.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-12255253542153558972011-10-27T20:15:00.003-05:002011-10-27T20:15:57.110-05:00Another One...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Holly had another laser treatment today. It was, I believe, number six. We had to be at the hospital at 7:30 am, so we had to leave home at 4:30 am.</div>
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Luckily, the girls did beautifully in the car both ways. And my mom tagged along to take care of Josie, which was a <i>huge</i> help. And the wonderful anesthesiologist and nurses let me go back into the operating room and hold Holly until they put her to sleep. Which made the entire process a lot easier for her, but a whole lot <i>harder</i> for me.</div>
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And the best thing of all was, Holly woke up happy. I love this little girl! She is the best patient and holds still and does just as instructed. She has rolled with the punches so well since the start of these laser treatments. I don't know how she handles things so well, because I'm a nervous wreck. She's pretty fantastic.</div>
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She's not all sweet, though. About forty-five minutes after these photos were taken, she had an epic tantrum at a restaurant filled with old people...as we ate lunch at 11:00 am. It was awesome.</div>
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For more pictures of Holly's latest adventures (and some cute pics of Josie too), check out my sister-in-law's blog post <a href="http://julie-kins.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post.html">here</a>.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-4507146367073931362011-10-26T15:09:00.001-05:002011-10-26T15:09:37.961-05:00Pumpkins!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We had not carved pumpkins in several years, so we decided it was high time to change that! Plus, we thought it would be fun for the girls. So a few weeks ago, we passed by a pumpkin patch and decided to stop. The girls each picked out a pumpkin.</div>
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Holly was not amused. I think it's because they had signs everywhere warning of the dangers of picking up pumpkins by their stems. We were cramping her style.</div>
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Josie loved her pumpkin so much that she ate it.</div>
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Fast forward to last night: we finally got around to carving and decorating our pumpkins! I did not plan ahead so the girls had neon pink and green paint to decorate their pumpkins, and q-tips for paintbrushes. Holly worked very hard on hers for about 45 seconds.</div>
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And for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to give a one-year-old a q-tip covered in paint, thinking that she would surely know what to do with it. Right? It turns out she knew exactly what to do with it...put that pink paint right in her mouth.</div>
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Josie's baby pumpkin.</div>
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It took Andrew less than five minutes to pull out a power tool to help him carve his pumpkin. Let me just point out that we finished our carvings at the same time: he with his drill, and me with my old-fashioned knife. Just sayin'.</div>
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Our little pumpkin family. It has been many, many years since I carved a pumpkin so this was just to get me warmed up. Just wait until next year! Prepare to be impressed.</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-26602107180525315032011-10-24T10:57:00.001-05:002011-10-24T10:57:10.302-05:00Happy Happy Birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Josie turned one last week, which leads me to wonder how on earth an entire year has passed since she was born. I have no idea what happened! I missed several months' worth of sleep, changed a few diapers, and now she's a toddler. Kind of.</div>
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To celebrate, I started off the day by vacuuming. The girls are both deathly afraid of our vacuum cleaner, so here they are protecting each other from it on the couch.</div>
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We had a party that evening when both sets of grandparents joined us for dinner and birthday cake. When the girls were napping, I transformed the living room into the party room by putting up a little birthday banner and blowing up some balloons to spread out on the floor. Holly ran around shrieking, "It's a party! It's a party!" and Josie was more subtle but equally thrilled. It was <i>so much fun</i> to see them play with the balloons and have a blast.</div>
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Josie's little baby cake. That lone sprinkle in the middle of the cake is driving me crazy!</div>
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The big cake for the rest of us. In case you cannot tell, the cake itself is pale pink. It's a vanilla cake with vanilla bean buttercream, heavy on the butter. It was actually quite delicious. I'm not entirely pleased with the non-smoothness of the frosting, but my only tool was a butterknife. So I think I did rather well, no? (Help! I need an offset spatula but I'm too cheap to go out and buy one.)</div>
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Josie not eating her birthday cake. She was incredibly skeptical of the entire thing.</div>
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The rest of us dug right in. Holly particularly enjoyed her cake, although she still insists on having everything cut into bite-sized pieces for her. I may have to visit her middle school daily to prepare her lunch for her.</div>
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After several minutes of skirting around the issue, Josie finally dug in. Once. Then she made a game out of handing me miniscule pieces of cake and frosting.</div>
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Opening presents is serious business! She got right to work and Holly was happy to help. We had a wonderful evening, thanks to our party guests. We are all enthralled by Josie. We love her so much and are so happy she's a part of our family!</div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-79426916954113183412011-10-03T20:14:00.004-05:002011-10-03T20:14:54.886-05:00It Has Happened<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The day has come. The time is now. Josie pushed her big sister in their toy stroller today! And I laughed and laughed. And then I took this picture.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-68601544901373354432011-10-01T22:40:00.003-05:002011-10-01T22:40:41.195-05:00M-I-L-K<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Whenever Josie drinks a bottle, Holly thinks it's great fun to lay down next to her and drink her milk or water out of her cup. They lay like this and giggle at each other and it warms my heart and makes me want ten more babies.</div>
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And then Josie reaches over and yanks on Holly's hair so hard a chunk of it comes right out.</div>
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But she is cute, isn't she? I cannot believe she's so small that she still fits inside the nursing pillow. We love our Josie so much that we even forgive her for pulling our hair and throwing all her toys and food on the floor. Especially when she smiles and says, "uh-oh!" It's adorable.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-8160012425395517392011-10-01T22:33:00.001-05:002011-10-01T22:33:36.800-05:00The Days of Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We have really enjoyed summer around here. Until it never went away. Seriously, it's October now and last week we had temperatures in the triple digits. That is disturbing and disgusting. Especially when you are me and have to run errands with two sweaty kids hanging off of you. We'll be happy when fall finally arrives.</div>
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But we really did enjoy summer! In July.</div>
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One of our favorite activities is to go outside and play in the sprinkler...or just play with the hose. Josie drinks the water in massive quantities.</div>
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Holly is always very busy filling containers with water and emptying them all over the yard. She doesn't have time for pictures. (P.S. See her <a href="http://blog.andrewkatie.com/2011/03/laser-treatments.html">birthmark</a> in this picture? Didn't think so. Cool, huh?)</div>
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And this is my ever-faithful basil plant. I had a container garden in the back yard which died a horrible death in the South Texas heat (or maybe I neglected it...the truth remains to be seen). This plant, the seeds of which I got inside a Triscuit box, is invincible. It has survived both the extreme heat and my neglect and refuses to give up. I love it! And I always forget that I have fresh basil at my disposal.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-22630358467508536272011-09-23T07:07:00.003-05:002011-09-23T07:09:15.388-05:00Babies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Holly is really into taking care of her dolls and stuffed animals.</div>
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She changes their poopy diapers, gives them bottles or nurses them, and yesterday she even fed her teddy bear some pretend baby food.</div>
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But I love it when she has me fashion a baby wrap for her little baby.</div>
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Can you tell how I carried Josie around for the first six months of her life?</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-47618957227373784382011-09-21T14:52:00.000-05:002011-09-21T14:58:10.020-05:00A Bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(This is a re-post as I accidentally deleted the original one. Oops!)</div>
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My parents bought Holly a tricycle as a belated birthday present. Don't let this picture fool you! She was thrilled when it arrived by mail. Here she is waiting for it to be put together by the ever-hardworking<br />
Andrew.</div>
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The fact that she had (and still has) no idea how to ride it does not matter. This girl loves her bike! She rings the bell over and over again and scoots around with her feet along the ground like Fred Flintstone.</div>
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We are still working on important skills like steering and pedaling, but no matter. She will learn how to ride it soon enough, and then we will actually have to keep up with her!</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6857672708371392759.post-54921385911428562922011-09-21T14:50:00.000-05:002011-09-21T14:50:13.353-05:00Family Home EveningOur church has a wonderful program called Family Home Evening. Every Monday night, families are asked to set aside time to spend together as a family--whether it be for a lesson, to play games, or go someplace a little special together. We have been sporadic at best with our Family Home Evenings but last Monday I decided we were having FHE no matter what. Who's with me?<br />
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Well. Last Monday was kind of a nightmare. My two beautiful children were replaced with savage beasts who spent the greater part of the afternoon shrieking and howling and pulling each other's hair and otherwise making me want to kick them out of the house. I spent the greater part of that afternoon shouting at the two of them because, remember, <i>all your problems will be solved if you just yell loud enough.</i> Right?<br />
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Uh...yeah. Needless to say, by the time we all finished dinner I was barely hanging on and while the girls were bathing I had an internal battle. I knew I should still go ahead with FHE. But still...what kind of message am I sending to my kids? <i>Alright, I know I've been shouting at you all afternoon, but let's have a spiritual moment together, shall we?</i> I felt like such a hypocrite. I decided to push through and have our lesson as planned anyway, despite my internal struggles.<br />
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When I told Holly what we were going to do, she immediately perked up. "Daddy, daddy! Come here! It's Family Home Evening!" She then proceeded to sit down right in front of me and listen fervently to every last word of my 3-minute lesson. This has never happened before, friends. Then we made a picture together and she proudly displayed it on the fridge so we all could see it every day. What started out as a pretty crummy day ended with warm, fuzzy feelings for each other.<br />
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This is a lesson for me that my children do pay attention at my feeble attempts to do the right thing for them, and are excited about and appreciate my efforts. And I guess I should make more of an effort to hold FHE every week, because they are listening, even when I think all order has gone out the window.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17488136144688873720noreply@blogger.com0