Powdered Donuts

I was all geared up to crank out a little Thanksgiving post but then I realized that, other than these pictures below, the only pictures I took over our holiday break were of the work we were doing in the mudroom.  So as far as a Thanksgiving wrap-up goes, um, well...it was good. :)

I wish I had thought to video tape (that phrase is not going to make any sense at all to KW's generation...I suppose I should say "record" instead) her eating these donuts.  She was SO funny as she shoved them in her mouth while "mmmmmm"-ing away.  Just so we're clear, no, we are not serving up sugary powdered donuts to our one-year-old on a regular basis.  Yes, I realize they aren't the healthiest thing ever for her to eat.  But she'd just finished eating some organic yogurt and drinking organic milk and everyone deserves a treat every now and again, right?  (Oh, ok.  Let's just call it what it was: this preggo mom really wanted some powdered donuts and I had to give her a couple to occupy her while I knocked out the rest of the bag.  Gotta do what you gotta do, right?)

The good news is that the powdered donuts really perfected her ability to sign the word "more."  Silly girl, there's not any more!  Momma ate them all...

Long Weekend Vacay

Last weekend (the weekend before Thanksgiving), we hit the road for a long weekend at our beach house.  I'd say it was a beach vacation, but we didn't actually lay eyes on the beach the whole time we were there!  We heard that would happen when we were building our house but I didn't believe it.  Sure enough, hitting the sandy beach just wasn't on our agenda this visit.

My parents left for the beach house a couple days before us so we met them there.  My dad only gets there once, maybe twice, a year and while there, all he does is home improvement stuff.  It's just in his blood, I guess.  He can't even enjoy our house without noticing a squeaky hinge or fried light socket or something that needs painting.  Whatever makes him happy, I guess!  My mom is very similar, but her work is in the flower beds.  She always spends her first day trimming plants and pulling weeds.  I'm just glad they had all that out of their systems before we got there, ha!

While we were there, our five days were focused on resting, relaxing, eating, and knocking out some Christmas shopping.  Oh, and a couple rounds of golf for the guys too.  My parents were nice enough to keep Katie Wynn so that Matt and I could go on an afternoon date to a movie.  We got to see the new Hunger Games movie...the last movie we'd seen was the first Hunger Games movie!

Rather than give you the play by play, here's a bunch of pics I took on my phone while there.  I'll include captions where necessary.

While Poppy napped, Katie Wynn "decorated" him.  You can't really tell, but he has five coasters and four twine balls stacked on top of him.  Oh, and the dog, of course.

Tiny speck in the middle = Katie Wynn

Holiday headgear at Target!

Target had holiday gear for pets too!  Henry got a new bow tie.  Isn't he just so dapper?

Lolli wasn't with us but she got to try on her holiday gear when we got home.  Doesn't she look thrilled to be Lolli Claus?

Probably my very favorite picture from the trip.  She was SO excited to get to carry my bag!

She played with our shopping bags ALL night long!

Christmas present was spotted...

...and purchased!

She had sweet kisses for her Daddy on our last night in Florida!

We had a wonderful five days away from home, but one of the best parts was that we had another five days off from work for Thanksgiving to come back home to!

My Girl

How is it possible that I've only posted one time during the month of November?  I think this is the worst I've ever done with blogging since I started back in 2006!

Since today my sweet girl turns 14 months old, I thought it'd be a good time to give a quick update on her.  I feel like she has learned SO much since her first birthday and my last update.  We're really starting to get to see her personality come out, and she keeps us laughing all day everyday!

She gets so excited every time she sees a cat.  And when she does see one - either in real life or in a book - she makes the funnies little back-of-throat growl sound.  Kinda like "kerrrrr." She does it so much that usually you can ask her, "What do you say to a kitty cat?" and she'll respond with "kerrrrr."  I'm sure anyone else thinks it's crazy and that it's the wrong answer since it's not "meow," but to us it's pretty hilarious.

Katie Wynn LOVES to steal drinks, especially if you're using a straw.  Last weekend we had Sonic for lunch after church and she pitched a FIT since she didn't have a Sonic cup like everyone else.  We finally gave in and filled one with water for her to have.  She was so pleased!  

It really is amazing to me how much she is able to comprehend these days.  She does a great job following simple instructions.  She can put things up that she's gotten out, or refill a box that she's emptied, or take something to Daddy, etc.  When did she become so grown up?

As far as tricks go, Katie Wynn definitely knows where her toes are.  She knows shoes go on her feet too, and will often try to help put them on.  We're working on learning where her nose is; she gets it right about 50% of the time.  Her babysitter, Mrs. Kim, has been teaching her how to blow kisses, which this mama loves (when she actually does it)!  If you ask where her belly is, not only will she know exactly where, she'll lift her shirt or dress to show you! 

My mom has taught Katie Wynn how to throw her hands on top of her hand if you say "Oh no!" We laugh every time, which makes her do it over and over again....and you know she expects us to do it too!  How is it that kids are able to get adults to do the silliest things?

While she does keep us in stitches and we do tend to think she's the cutest thing ever, it's not always roses and rainbows.  Part of that personality that's starting to come out is a cranky toddler heading into the terrible twos.  We don't see it much, but when it comes out, watch out!  She'll whine to be held or refuse to eat dinner.  One day I wouldn't pick her up so she sat down on the ground, laid down, and got ready to really throw a fit.  I started laughing so much that she laughed too, and that temper tantrum she was about to dive into got derailed.  I'm sure we'll get a real one in the future, though!

So that's a quick update on the fun we're having with our sweet little girl.  Why can't she just stay little like this forever?

I hope to be back soon with some info on a renovation that happened at our house this week.  Exciting things are happening!

For now, I'll leave you with this last picture of Katie Wynn.  She's been super busy checking things off her To Do list!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We've been having a lot of "best" weekends lately.  This past one was no exception.  The weather fantastic and we really enjoyed being outside! 

Thursday

Since I don't work on Fridays, my weekends always start on Thursday evenings.  You will never hear me complain about this.  :)  This particular Thursday evening started just like most evenings do...with Katie Wynn pulling my cookbooks off the shelf.  I really can't count how many times I've picked these up.

Dinner that night was spaghetti.  This was Katie Wynn's first time to have it.  I stripped her down, put some on her tray, and really prepared myself for the huge mess she was about to make.  What really happened, though, is that she didn't want to touch it at all.  Nope.  No messy hands for my girl.  Instead, she insisted that her daddy feed it to her with a fork.  And she did not understand how it could be "all gone" at the end of dinner.

Friday

Mid-morning on Friday, I put Katie bug into her crib for a nap.  I listened while she played awhile before going silent.  When I went in to check on her and make sure she was asleep, this is how I found her.  At least I think she's in there somewhere.  

We had big plans for a zoo trip that day.  My mom had both Bren and Parker (both age 5) with her so we figured it would be a good outing for everyone.  We had SUCH a good time!  Those two five-year-olds are a hoot to listen to when they're just talking to each other.  Excuse the tons of pictures I took of them - these are mostly for their parents to see! 

We had water ice for a treat.  Can you tell what color Bren's was??

KW had cherry red lips thanks to her Mimi feeding her some bites.

They begged to get in the fountains at the end of our visit, so we finally gave in and told them they could get their FEET wet.  Don't you know they were completely soaked by the time we left?!  Katie Wynn was not feeling it...I wonder if the loud fountain reminded her of the loud ocean??  After such a fun afternoon, she crashed hard on the car ride home! 

Saturday

I think I mentioned in my last post that, in addition to pulling cookbooks off my shelf, KW is also a big fan of emptying my bathroom cabinets.  Every morning, while I'm trying to get ready, she helps herself to whatever's in my drawers and throws them out everywhere.  This past Saturday it was the leftover nursing pads from back when she was first born. 

The Fighting Irish had an early afternoon game on Saturday so I dressed Katie Wynn in her Notre Dame gear.  She spent some time that morning playing in her chair and getting ready to yell "Go Irish!"

Since the weather was SO incredibly nice outside, we loaded up and went to the Farmer's Market.  I know most people at the market are there to buy fresh vegetables and other food, but my favorite part is getting to pet the puppies!  We really wanted to take this long-haired dachshund mix home with us. 

After the ND game (and a sad loss), we had to switch to Razorback gear so we could call the Hogs!  Sadly, they weren't able to pull out the W either. 

After dinner, Katie Wynn entertained herself with her cars.  Crashing cars isn't just for boys, you know. 

Sunday

Sunday was pretty uneventful.  It started with a skeleton in my closet and ended with crazy hair in the bathtub!  

Now, tell me about your weekend.  Was it good? 

One Year

I just got back the photos from Katie Wynn's first birthday party and they are so precious!! I can't wait to show them to you all, but there are tons so I've gotta go through them all.  Be expecting that post soon.

I know there have been a lot of posts centered on our Katie bug lately.  I apologize for those of you that aren't here to read about her 24/7, but she pretty much is our 24/7 these days.  I do have a few project-related posts coming soon, but I really wanted to jot down a few things about our girl at this age so that I don't forget.   

• We haven't had our official 1 year checkup yet, but I'm hoping she weighs 20 pounds (was 19.9lbs about 2 weeks ago) and I'm guessing she's around 28 inches tall.  I'll update this after the appointment.
• KW has two bottom teeth and the front two on top have finally broken through the gums.  They are taking their sweet time dropping down though. 
• She wears size 3 diapers, size 12M clothes, and we're currently transitioning to a size 4 shoe. 
• Technically, Katie Wynn can say lots of words, she just may not really know that she's saying them.  She consistently says "Mama" and "Uh-oh."  I would probably say "uh-oh" was her first word.
• KW took her first step around 11 months but didn't start really walking all over the place until about 1 week before her first birthday. 
• Her "tricks" include waving bye-bye, clapping, giving kisses, and blowing bubbles in the bath.
• She loves all things dog: dog toys, dog food, dog water bowls, and pulling the dog's hair!  This is why she's going to be a puppy dog for Halloween.  :) 
• Generally, she is still an excellent sleeper.  We are currently in the middle of a sleep regression where she is waking up twice every night, but I'm hoping it's just a phase.  She still sleeps in her Zipadee-Zip every night. 
• Our girl still loves to eat!  We have started introducing a lot more finger foods, and some things she loves and others she does not!  Current faves are bananas, meat, macaroni and cheese, and string cheese.  She LOVES the sweet tea her Mimi gives her and also really enjoys bites of any dessert - ice cream, water ice, cake, whatever.
• We are working on transitioning to cow's milk.  She hated it at first but we are now mixing it with formula and that's going well.  We hope to be formula-free within the next week.  KW is using a sippy cup some as well.  Hopefully the bottles can go away with the formula! 
• Katie Wynn is most talkative in the mornings.  When we hang out in bed, she jibber-jabbers away.  She also loves bath time and being outside.
• Her favorite hobby is pulling cookbooks off the shelf and emptying the cabinets in our bathroom.  She does both of these every. single. day. 
• Katie bug favors men over women.  Her Papa was her clear favorite last weekend and every Sunday, she flirts with the men but won't have anything to do with the women.   
• She is such a joy to be around!  She is in a good mood most of the time, though we sometimes call 5:00-6:00pm her witching hour.  She keeps us smiling and makes us laugh every single day.  I can't imagine our lives without her!