Fun day with Nanny!

Thursday, Kate had a very special play date at Nanny's house.  Nanny had asked me earlier that week if Kate would want to come over and play and I knew Kate would love it - she adores Nanny. I dropped her off around 9 that morning and she stayed until 4:30 that afternoon.  I hope Nanny wasn't too exhausted because I know Miss Priss kept her busy.  Since it was a beautiful day, they had a picnic lunch outside and spent most of the day either outside (Nanny's house backs up to a community park) or inside playing with puzzles, dressing up, and reading books.

 Meanwhile, Mommy got some errands done with this handsome boy.  It was my first time taking him grocery shopping and he did great in the carrier (although my back was sore from toting him around).

Thank you so much Nanny for planning such a special date with Kate!

Cute Outfit + Extra Time = Mini Photo Shoot

Wednesday night, Kate and I got ready for church earlier than expected so I took advantage of the time and her playful disposition and we went out in the yard to a take a couple quick pictures. I took a bunch, but these were the best ones. 

 She looks so grown up!

 One of mommy's favorites.

Another one of mommy's favorites!

Celebrating Nanny's Birthday!

Today is Nanny's birthday!  Since Monday was a holiday, we all went over to my parent's house to celebrate early.  I always love family dinner nights, whatever the occasion may be. 

 

Happy Birthday Nanny!  We love you!

A new cousin on the way!

Although I previously mentioned in an earlier post that Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie were expecting, I hadn't made it "official".  Last night I asked Katie if I could take a couple pictures to go along with this exciting post.  I can't wait to find out (February 5th) if Kate and Mason are going to have a boy or girl cousin.  I know Aunt Katie doesn't want to hear this, but my guess is a boy.  It's going to be great that they will have cousins close in age to grow up with.

Miss Priss and Berkley wanted to join in on the photo fun.

There are lots of new babies on my side of the family and I can't wait until we all get together in June for a family beach trip to meet my cousin's two new little ones.  Kayla and her husband (in Boston) just had their first, a little girl named Betty, and my other cousin Tiffany (in Atlanta) is having her third boy this week!

Congrats Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie! 

Kate's Favorite Toys

Last night, we were over at my parent's house celebrating Nanny's birthday and Kate was playing with several toys I had as a child.  It's been fun going down memory lane seeing all these toys I had forgotten about.  Last night, Kate was attached to a mini glow worm.  It has a pink pouch with a yellow string and she wore that glow worm around her neck the entire night.  

I decided this morning to take a few pictures of Kate's favorite toys here at our house.  Some of them aren't new and others she just at Christmas but all of them get a lot of attention.  I usually try to take a picture of everything she gets at Christmas and her birthday, but I forgot to do that this year.  It's a great reference when I need to buy a gift for a friend that is younger than Kate - I just look at things she has gotten in the past.  

 This is her "Bunny in a Box" that she got at Christmas from Mrs. Carol.  The mini bunny comes with a mini pillow, mini blanket and the box that is decorated like a bed.  It is so cute and yet so simple.

 The shopping cart (usually filled with plastic food).

 Kate's new kitchen.  Santa brought her this kitchen to put in her room and her old, round kitchen now stays outside under her swing set.  This girl loves to cook!

Cash register - it has a working microphone and working belt to move the food down, the drawer opens to reveal money and credit cards, it has a food scanner and comes complete with a shopping basket.  

Too cool!

 I would venture to say this is Kate's favorite gift from Christmas - a wooden cookie set.  She "bakes" a batch of cookies at least once a day. 

Her Rapunzel dress and shoes.  I never realized how loud princess shoes could be on hard wood floors!

 A previous Christmas gift from my sister-in-law, a vintage suitcase decorated with scrapbook paper and filled to the brim with dress up clothes.  She also had the creative idea to keep the pictures of each costume so we can refer to them (which we have often done to know what items goes with what costumes). 

Love this gift idea!

 Meet Diva.  I think her name is hilarious and Kate named her. Knowing her past naming decisions, I'm surprised her name wasn't Lovebug.  Mimi gave this to Kate last valentine's day and Diva sleeps in Kate's bed every night.  If you press her belly, she sings "Be My Baby" and chirps in between lyrics. 

 Minnie Mouse is still one of Kate's favorite things 

Her little Minnies and their accessories are great to take out to church and to restaurants.

 You might recognize this contraption - it's a dishwasher basket to wash bottle accessories.  However, Kate discovered this over a year ago and decided she needed it for her princess toys.  We call it the "princess cage".  It's an odd holder, but strangely enough it works great to keep all her mini princess dolls and their dresses in. 

 Kate received her first mini princess in August while we were out of town at the conference as a bribe to behave while we were eating out.  Her collection has slowly grown and now her latest request is a princess carriage to drive all the princesses around.  It was $20 at Target so I told her we would have to pass - she was devastated.  But now I'm thinking if it will motivate her to go number two on the potty all by herself I might get it and display it for her...

Last, but not least, are her litter of Kitties.  Currently, she sleeps with all three of them and will not go to sleep until all three of them are present and accounted for. 

It won't be too much longer when Mason will start having his favorite toys.  For now, Kate is happy to help Mason play with his toys.

Rolling Over

Tonight, we watched Mason roll over for the first time from his tummy to his back! The other morning I went in after he kept crying and discovered he was on his back. I thought it was a fluke then, but this afternoon he rolled over in his crib while he was at my parent's house.  Once we got home, I put Mason on his surf mat and he rolled over from his tummy to his back three different times for us!

 

Go Mason!

Sunday Funday at the Circus!

This afternoon, Justin and I took Kate to the circus and had a fantastic time.  I had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be really enjoyable!  I owe Gigi and Granddaddy a big thank you for keeping Mason!

 My little man at church - he looks so handsome (and grown up) in his polo shirt!

 We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken before heading to the circus.  When we pulled into the parking lot, Kate told us she wasn't hungry and only wanted to go to the circus so she was going to stay in the car.  Needless to say we told her there were chicken nuggets at KFC and quickly decided to join us for lunch.

 Kate was talking all morning about going to the circus, but her demeanor quickly changed once we got inside the civic center and the show hadn't even started yet.  She clung to Justin and refused to open her eyes.  She kept shouting she didn't want to see the circus and didn't want to see the lions.  FYI - there weren't any lions.

 I finally pried her off of Justin and made her turn around and this is what she did...kept her eyes covered.  If I forced her to put her hands down, she just kept her eyes closed.  This continued for the first ten minutes of the show.  I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew she was acting ridiculous.

 So...I'm not proud of my next move and I certainly won't win the "mom of the year" award, but it was something I felt necessary (especially since we had paid a pretty penny for this event and I didn't want Kate to miss it).  We kept narrating to Kate what was going on and nothing was convincing her to open her eyes - even the camels and the horses.  I knew she would love it if she would give it a try so I took two fingers, placed one above and one below her eyelids, and forced her to open her eyes.  And guess what - ?!  I worked.  Surprise, surprise.  She can be so stubborn!

 Then she was glued to every minute of the circus.

 We had a great view!

 Having fun at intermission!  I'm glad I grabbed Kate and high tailed it to the bathroom as soon as the intermission started.  I forget how long the line in the women's bathroom can get at a big event like that and you don't want to be at the end of that line when you have a potty training three year old.  Plus the civic center bathrooms are some of the worst public bathrooms I have ever been in.  I feel germy just walking in there.  Kate did great holding it until it was our turn - next time I'm going to get Justin to take her.  There's never a line in the men's bathroom!

Some of my favorite things - the motorcycles in the sphere of death, the tight rope walkers and the elephants!  Kate's favorite things were the camels and the miniature ponies.  Good thing I forced her to open her eyes!

 Poor Kate crashed in the car after the circus and had a mini nap on our way to pick up Mason.

Before leaving, Granddaddy read Mason and Kate a couple stories.  So sweet!