Heading to Naples

Justin, Kate and I are heading down to Naples this weekend with Mimi and Papa.  Please keep us in your prayers for a safe trip!  We will be celebrating Nene's 80th birthday and just spending some quality time with the Evers side of the family.  It's an ezhausting trip, but everytime we go I am so grateful to have had to opportunity to visist the grandparents and extended family.  Since my car is still in the shop (racking up a $1000+ repair bill, ouch!), my dad has graciously lended us his SUV.  I hope nothing happens to his car while it is in our hands because I will be mortified (and cursed).  Everytime I speak to the car repair guy I haven't gotten good news.  Apparently, ignoring a loud sound coming from the back of your car isn't a good idea.  I'm just thankful we didn't get stranded in my car on the way to Naples.  That would have been bad.

Meeting Miss Kendal Covan

Tonight, my mom, Katie and I were able to visit Miss Kendal in the hospital.  She is so tiny!!  Mr. David and Mrs. Brittany are going to be great parents.  I love that Justin, Raymond and David are such great friends and they all have beautiful baby girls.  Kendal was on her best behavior while we were there and already attached to the hospital pacifier.  Kate can't wait to meet you Kendal!

Thank You Mrs. Tracy

Last week, Kate had a great time spending the day with Audrey and Mrs. Tracy.  Since it was spring break, Mrs. Betsy was closed a couple days and I needed a babysitter.  Kate started squeeling when we pulled up at Audrey's house, where Audrey was waiting at the front door saying Kate's name.  I know the girls had a great day after reading Mrs. Tracy's blog and I just wanted to tell Mrs. Tracy and Audrey "THANK YOU" again.  It's such a blessing to have wonderful friends to lean on!

P.S.  We are going to put in a special request with the Easter Bunny to bring Kate a stroller for her baby dolls. Mrs. Tracy said it was one of her favorite things to do.

First Visit to Good Samaritan

Today was Kate's first visit to her new school - Good Samaritan Academy.  She was a little shy at first, but she warmed up and loved playing all around the room.  Kate and I attended the morning devotional, which is combined with the 2 year old class and the 3 year old class, so she was probably overwhelmed at first.  Immediately, several kids came up to us, asking what Kate's name was and how old she was.  They loved her hair bow and bracelet and some even wanted to sit on my lap with Kate.  I think she had a great time and it helped ease my nerves.  Katie gave me the sweetest card Tuesday night along with some candy (for me, ummm!) and hair bows (for Kate), which almost made me cry, but I managed to hold it together.  Thank you so much Katie - it really meant a lot to me!  I didn't realize how emotional I am about this transition.  I debated about going into work this afternoon since I will be out of the office Friday afternoon and Monday, but I decided I needed a girl's day with Kate.  

On the way to her new school. 

Please keep Kate in your prayers since she starts at her new school tomorrow.  I hope she has a great first day. 

Upcoming Events

March is almost over and April is approaching fast - along with several things we are looking forward to:


Friday, April 1st: Kate's first day at her new daycare. Unfortunately, this is our last week at Mrs. Betsy's. I went this afternoon to purchase Kate's school supplies - I feel like it's already time for Kindergarten since I had to purchase hand soap, hand sanitizer, and tissues.


Friday - Monday (April 1st-4th): Naples Trip. We are excited to see the family and to celebrate Nene's 80th birthday! We haven't been down there since August so it'll be good to see everyone and for Kate to show off how much she has grown.


Saturday, April 9th: Lots of events going on that day. We are going to Mrs. Betsy's Baby "Sprinkle" (instead of Baby Shower) that morning, an Easter Egg Hunt that afternoon and Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie's engagement party that night! It's going to be an exciting (and busy) weekend.


Sunday, April 24th: Easter! I hope the Easter bunny is as good to Kate this year as he was last year. Mimi and Papa already gave Kate an early Easter basket complete with bunny ears, hair bows, sunglasses and an Easter book.

Peyton's 2nd Birthday Party

 Saturday, Kate and I went to Peyton's 2nd Birthday Party at Tom Brown Park. Daddy was out of town with Papa (story about that at the end of this post) so it was just us girls. The theme was a Teddy Bear Party and it was "beary" cute. There were teddy bear cupcakes, teddy grahams, and a teddy bear as the centerpiece. This was the first birthday party Kate and I had been to at the "new" playground.

Audrey, Peyton (the Birthday Girl!) and Kate

I love the cupcakes - Mrs. Sarah made them herself.  Thankfully there were enough "bear" cupcakes because every kid wanted one.  Kate was gracious to take a "non-bear" cupcake, but secretly I wanted a bear cupcake too.  They looked so good!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday Peyton!

After the party, Kate and I took a nap, and we waited for Daddy to get back.  I was expecting a quiet night at home, but instead I had the pleasure of taking Justin to Urgent Care.  While he was at the coast, he jumped off a dock and onto an oyster bed and cut the bottom of his foot.  Two hours and five stitches later, I got him back home and in bed where he stayed the rest of the weekend.  Hopefully this will heal fast! 

18 Month Checkup

Kate received a good report at her 18 month checkup and the best part - no shots!!  I asked for her stats from her 15 month check up as well as her 18 month since Justin forgot to get them at her last appointment.

15 Month Checkup

Height: 29 3/4 inches (20th percentile)

Weight: 21 pounds, 1 ounce (20th percentile)

Head Circumference: 45.5 cm (40th percentile)

18 Month Checkup

Height: 31.5 inches (35th percentile)

Weight: 22 pounds, 15 ounces (20th percentile)

Head Circumference: 46 cm (35th percentile)

I think we cheated on the height - but it's hard when Kate is squirming all around.  Each time we go, the nurse writes her stats on a piece of paper labeled "Normal Development: XX Months Old".  I'm always interested in reading through the list to see what Kate has and hasn't mastered.

Here are some examples:

1. Begins to Eat with Fork.  Check!

2. Enjoys imitating parents.  Check!  She loves to brush her hair like Mommy.

We tried out a new hairstyle.  Justin doesn't like it, but I think it's cute?!

3.  May favor father.  No doubt.  Justin usually gets her out of bed in the mornings, so if I go in there, the first word out of her mouth is "Daddy?". 

4.  Walks backward a short distance.  Kate hasn't tried this yet, but it would probably be funny to watch.

5. Speaks 3 to 50 words.  Check, she's right on track with her language development. 

6.  May show strong attachment to a toy or blanket.  Check! We don't leave home without Kitty.

7. Responds to simple requests ("Bring me your book").  Yes, I will brag that Kate is a good listener and recently I have experienced three reactions to my request to "Come here".  1. She willing does it.  2. She looks at me and sits down and 3. She bows her heard and starts crying while walking towards me.

8. Uses a few two-word combinations.  Kate hasn't done this yet, but we've got something to work on before her 2nd birthday.

Trying to avoid a temper tantrum, I let her stand in the big girl chair at the doctor's office.  Some battles aren't worth fighting and this was one of them.  I was proud she said "Hi" and "Bye" to Dr. Elzie and behaved long enough for me to have a decent conversation.

I hope we don't have to go back until her next well checkup appointment in September!

Audrey's 2nd Birthday Party!

Today we went to Audrey’s “Berry Sweet” 2^nd Birthday Party!  Everything was fantastic – the decorations, the food, the homemade strawberry preserves (Kate’s party favor) and of course, the birthday girl and her adorable strawberry outfit.  The most exciting thing at the party was the bunny rabbit petting pen.  There were 8 white bunnies hopping all around the pen and Kate loved it. 

 The Birthday Girl

 Checking out the rabbit pen.

 

 It didn't take long for Kate to try to pick a bunny up by herself (unsuccessfully - they were too quick).  Poor bunnies.

 When she wasn't petting rabbits, Kate slid down every slide in the yard (three total).

After all the other party guests left, we had some time with the Reavis family to snap a few pictures.

From left to right: Audrey's Uncle Michael, Mr. Raymond and Audrey, Justin and Kate

Kate and I with Mrs. Tracy and Audrey

 All sweaty from running around.

 Audrey opening Kate's gift (sidewalk chalk and a scribble writing pad).

A "thank you" kiss from Audrey.

And to see how much the girls have grown...

My two favorite girls at Audrey's 1st Birthday!

and Today!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday Audrey - we had a great time celebrating with you!

18 Months Old!

Kate is 18 months old! She doesn’t have her 18 month checkup until Friday the 25th so I’ll have to share her height/weight after that appointment. She is wearing mostly 18 month clothes, size 4 shoes (about to move up to size 5) and she is in size 4 diapers. Kate has a mouth full of teeth – 16 to be exact. She is still going to bed at 7pm and getting up at 7am, although evening church and co-ed softball games can delay bedtime a couple times a week. She takes one early afternoon nap, lasting for up to two hours. The mornings can be hectic around our house, but fortunately for me, Justin doesn’t leave for work as early as he used to (was 6:45am, now it’s around 8:30am) so he’s here to help me get Kate up, dressed, fed and both of us out the door.

Some of Kate’s favorite activities include reading books, playing with Legos, riding in her pink car, bath time, bible class, swinging, being outside, strolling around the block, looking at family pictures, laughing at herself in the mirror, and shopping! She has recently discovered the wonderful chocolate chip cookies at Publix so as soon as we get in the store, we head to the bakery for a treat (or “tweet” as Kate says).

Kate is still a picky eater – but there are several things she loves to eat: Publix chocolate chip cookies, cheese, muffins, bacon, yogurt, Gerber fruit strips, Gerber cheese puffs, Cheerios, puffs, Doritos, M&Ms, strawberries, grapes, Craisins, goldfish, animal crackers, turkey, marshmallows, Moe’s chicken quesadilla, Chick-fil-a, French fries, and pizza just to name a few.

Kate is learning more words every day – today her new word was “diaper”. She can say Mommy, Daddy, baby, kitty, duck, balloon, baby, bunny, Papa (Justin’s dad), Mimi (Justin’s mom), Gigi (my mom), Nanny (my grandmother), green, Kate, bye bye, yes, no, yea, Ho-Ho-Ho (Santa), cheese, more, please, and thank you. We are still working on Granddaddy, Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie, but those will probably take a while. There’s probably more, but I can’t remember them all and the list keeps growing. She can also say several animal sounds – dog, cat, horse (that one is hilarious), owl and cow. Every afternoon I ask Kate is she had a great day and the answer is always “yea”. I cringe hearing that, but I know she’s going to be a little bit older before she learns to respond with a “yes m’am”.

There are several parenting techniques I have been trying lately because I really want to have a well behaved child (as impossible as that might seem some days). I try to regularly praise Kate when she is being a good listener and obeying me, because I don’t want to be a parent that only criticizes. I’m also trying to limit the number of times I ask her to do something (once, maybe twice) and I’ve learned it helps to have her look at me when I’m asking her to do something.

Raising our little eighteen month old princess can be challenging, but it is the best thing I have ever done.

Happy Half-Birthday Kate!

If there are a pair of sunglasses, Kate wants to try them on.

This is the sign for "All Done" but if you don't act quickly, she puts her hands in her hair and then it just gets messy.

 "Smiling" for the camera.

 Kate loves every book she has, but these are some of her favorites.  Daddy and I have them memorized.

One of Kate's favorite toys - Legos.

Kate's Kitty

Kitty is Kate’s best friend. Her full name is “Night Night Kitty”, which Justin came up with, but we have since shortened it to Kitty. Especially since Kate can now say “KIT-ty”. To date, we are now the proud owners of not one, not two, but three Kitties. For a while, we just had one Kitty, which Gigi gave Kate last Easter. Once I realized Kate was so attached to it, I went to purchase a backup and they no longer carried them. I did some searching on the internet (what did we ever do without it?) and finally found the exact same kitty. I ordered my backup several months ago which I started calling “Pretty Kitty”. I started out only letting her take it to church, but then it started coming in handy when the first Kitty (aka “Daycare Kitty” or “Ugly Kitty”) was nowhere to be found or being washed.

Well, pretty kitty is no longer pretty, so I have recently purchased a third. I think I’m going to call her “Special Occasion” Kitty. I’m going to do my best to limit Kate’s use of the third one because I am determined this is the last one we are going to buy. I don’t realize how dingy the first two kitties have become until I see the third one. I have heard stories about some children that only want the original one, but thankfully Kate doesn’t seem to have a kitty preference. I never let her hold on to more than one at a time, but every now and then she finds two kitties and runs around squealing because she’s hit the baby jackpot.

All three kitties - oldest on the left and newest on the right.

Before Kate "loves" on them

After. 

It's their nose that gets so bad, she loves to bite it.

Everything is better with Kitty.

Quoting Kate

Saturday was one of those days there was a noticeable improvement in Kate’s ability to talk. She said “bunny”, “Nanny”, and “Toot” (guess who taught her that word?). This conversation between Kate and I was too cute not to share.

Me: “Can you say, Kate?”

K: “Kate!” (Pointing to herself)

Me: “What is your name?”

K: “Name!” (Pointing again)

Me: “No, you say my name is Kate. Let’s try again. What is your name?”

K: “My name!” (Pointing again and laughing)

Another new talent she was sharing with us Saturday, her dancing skills. Every so often she would stop playing and just start bobbing up and down, moving her arms and laughing. No music needed.