Catching Up

Let's see, let's see... I've been neglecting my blog a bit to keep from neglecting everything else in my life: husband, daughter, job, friends, hobbies... life is full of things that need to be done!

I'll try to recap since my last post. Where to begin?
We celebrated Father's day a day early, since our friend's planned their wedding on the actual day (which turned out to be pretty nice... very sweet moment for the proud father-of-the-bride). We spent Saturday at Matt's parents' house, hanging out and BBQ'ing. For Matt's gift, I set up all of his fly-fishing gear on a backdrop and tried to get a shot of Kate... didn't work. She screamed the whole time. Then, I took her to a lovely park to get some great pics for Matt... unfortunately, they didn't turn out, either. Parks + running toddler = no good.

Finally, I re-attempted the fishing gear on the backdrop and came up with a set of three pretty adorable shots... here is one we ended up with...


I can't think of anything else particularly eventful, so we'll fast forward to July. On the 3rd we celebrated with another pair of friends at their wedding in Malibu. We decided to book a hotel, to avoid a long drive home... glad we did! Kate was such a trooper, and proved how resilient she is by falling face first off of a chair. I know... mom of the year let her fall... way to go.

We spent the 4th up at my mom's place... Matt spent a lot of time these past few months totally redoing the front yard and patio and it is awesome! My mom's place has fantastic, 180 degree views of the ocean, so we spend our time in that front yard. Then, on the 4th of July, a woman in Palos Verdes pays for her own firework show (rumor has it that it is in memory of her son). Conveniently for us, those fireworks position themselves perfectly in front of the front yard. Woohoo! Here are some pics from the day!









I had my first go at trying to photograph fireworks... I learned a thing or two, and hopefully they'll turn out better next time!

All in all, good times for the C fam!

I heart fingerpaint.

While at the store a few weeks ago, I had the genius idea to buy some finger paints for K, thinking what fun it would be since she loves to color. Realizing what a disaster it could be, I'd hesitated to bust it out. So the other day, I taped some trash bags to the floor, pulled out the big paper and let her have at it. Oh how this girl loves a mess...





Lessons learned:
1) Taping bags to the floor = good plan (because the paper practically disintegrated because of that wet paint).
2) Use clippies in her hair... the paint on her face is due to her desperately trying to sweep her hair out of her eyes.
3) Have the bathtime stuff READY. Oops. Thought I had this nailed- cleared the path to the bathtub, had her in just a diaper... aaaand: forgot a towel. She was covered in paint, I was covered in paint and we didn't have a towel for post-bath needs. Good thing she is small- a hand towel did the job. I just prayed we'd make it back to her room before she peed on the floor. We made it- phew!

Last week we took a trip down to SeaWorld for some fun with family and fish. Matt's parents, aunt, sister and her two girls were in for the fun, too. It was a lot of fun and Kate was awesome (but definitely tired, since napping wasn't even on her agenda). I appreciate that she keeps life simple: every animal was either a fish or a dog (minus the penguins- they're boops [Kate speak for "bird"]). Dolphin? Fish. Whale? Fish. Sealion? Dog. Yep.











Lots of fun! It's been a busy month, and it probably won't calm down much until... well, maybe August?? But probably not. I feel like our calendar is always so full of stuff... church stuff, family stuff, friend stuff- which I guess is a good thing, but I get exhausted even looking at my calendar anymore. Phew! I guess I could just go ahead and get to bed now for some rest (since everyone else in this house has been asleep for at least 3 hours), but I'm sure I could figure something else out that needs to get done!

Piggies!!!

Okay, okay. So the very moment the ultrasound tech said, "Looks like it's a girl!", I began the dreaming. Dreaming of pink. Dreaming of tea parties. And of course, dreaming of pigtails. Who doesn't love seeing a little girl with two, precious tufts of hair poking out the side of her little head? I know I'm a sucker for them.

But months went by and my beautiful daughter had little hair. Very little. Not really even enough for a little clippie.

Then came yesterday. Oh, yesterday! I was admiring our amazing little creation while she was watching Sesame Street and thought, "Hmm... I bet I can..." So I grabbed the hair bands, a comb and crossed my fingers that she wouldn't fight me...
AND IT WORKED! PIGGIES!!!





Too stinkin' cute. It really is a big milestone ;-) She also had her 18-month well check yesterday. Her stats, you ask?
Weight: 27.5 pounds (80th percentile: chubba-roo!!)
Height: 32.5 inches (75th percentile)
Head: Big. Yeah... 95th percentile. "Lots of brains" is a nice spin the Doc puts on that one.

Doc said she looks great, is ahead with vocabulary and the best thing: we're done with shots until she is 4-years-old! Woohoo! I hate seeing her cry when she gets shots- it is so sad. Glad that is behind us for a while!

The other day, we came home from my mom's house in the South Bay and she fell asleep in the car. She was still beat when we walked in the door, so I laid her down on the couch for a little bit. I couldn't believe how long she looked! My baby, who used to not even stretch from one side of the cushion to the other, is getting so big!



Crazy. I wish time would slow the heck down.

One and a Half!

While I was pregnant with Kathryn, we received so many generous gifts from people... it was unreal. Among all of the amazing things, we received quite a bit of 18-month sized clothing- for her to "grow into". I thought it would be impossibly long before she could wear those- after all, 18-months seemed like such a long time; so far away.

And here we are. Kate turned 18 months old yesterday. 6 months away from being a 2-year-old. Even her 1st birthday had seemed so far away, and now the 2nd birthday is coming. Fast. It is very strange for me... I have to admit. I'm really not sure how time has slipped by so quickly.

We spent yesterday afternoon playing in her $5.99 kiddie pool in the backyard. It was hot and sunny- perfect day for a dip. It makes me laugh that the smell of water from the hose takes me back to when I was little, playing in the front yard and drinking from the hose (which we ALL did when we were kids, but as it turns out, modern science and medicine say is a poor choice; how did my generation and those before me ever live...).

She loves the water- definitely a little fish. Guess we'll need to sign up for some swimming lessons for the summer!







This last one kills me... she is a classy girl.



I sometimes catch myself staring and smiling at her like a total goober. She really just amazes me! She is so curious and wants to explore everything. She talks so much now- and it's often hilarious. The other day, when she woke up from her nap, I walked in to her room and she immediately popped up and said, "I pooped!" Sure enough. Nice. She is a dancing machine, too. She is so fun... I think I still have to pinch myself every now and again to make sure this is all for real!

Happy one-and-a-half, baby!

Mother's Day

Since Sunday is technically a work day for me, we have little time to celebrate Sunday holidays- namely, Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Much to my surprise this morning, I was awakened by my littlest love standing by my bedside in her sweetest set of pajamas saying, "Moooooommy! Moooooomy!" I opened my eyes to see Matt carrying in a delicious breakfast in bed, complete with coffee, juice, french toast sticks, eggs and bacon; with a vase of red roses to go with it! It doesn't get much better than that! I ate up, snuggled with my loves for a while, then got up for the day.

After I got out of the shower, I could hear Matt milling around in the kitchen. When I came out to investigate, he was packing up our picnic set for a lunch on the beach. We grabbed the blanket, food, beach umbrella and the kiddo and headed down to Laguna Beach, right below the Montage Resort (fabulous, not crowded, beautiful landscaping on the walk-way above the beach). What a great day!

Zoo Day

Today we made a trip over to the Orange County Zoo. Matt and I had gone once before- before Kathryn was a part of our lives. It is a perfect zoo for a younger toddler- it's small, free admission for under 2 and only $2 for adults. There's a petting zoo-ish type area, which was where Kate clearly had the most fun.

I didn't really notice it while we were there, but now looking at the pictures, I have to laugh at her "bodyguard" of a father. Please observe.

All seems well here. Daddy and daughter are smiling and happy.


Still visiting the sheep. Daddy's hand making sure fingers aren't jabbed within biting distance. Note, daughter's other arm is also restrained.


Carefully approaching tiny goat in petting area. Note daddy's eye contact with mom, warning her to speed up picture taking process before tiny goat turns on daughter. For future reference, I believe we may see this look again when I am taking photos of Kate and her prom date...


Ahh... daughter is finally allowed to walk around on her own. Kind of. Note "hand-of-safety" attached to back of dress.


This is so typical Matt... but I love it. He cares so tenderly for Kate and it is apparent in every way. We had a fun day walking around the little zoo, checking out animals and hearing Kate refer to every animal as a dog (coyotes, peccaries), a kitty (bobcat, raccoons, fox) or a bird (well... yeah, she got those right).

Life is Busy.

March and April are crazy months for us. Between all the family birthdays, Lent and Easter (when you work at a church, its ridiculous), I feel like there is little time to do so much as breathe! So... yeah, a month has passed since I last updated here. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, really.

Kate had her first gig as a flower girl at Carly & Chris' wedding on April 3rd. They got married up in Lodi at this fantastic winery called Wine & Roses. Everything was beautiful and Kate was a super star! She does love the spotlight :)





So far, I have to say that this is my favorite age. I know- I've said it probably every month since Kate has been born, but seriously. She's this little walking, talking, curious ball of fun now days. She's discovering so much and is such a little sponge. My current favorite things about my [baby] little girl:
* Dragging her blankie around, laying in the middle of the floor and saying "Niiiigh-niiiiigh".
* Giving big ol' kisses over and over again, complete with "MUAH!" sound.
* Dropping her blankie & lovies out of the crib and exclaiming, "Ohhh NO!" as they hit the floor.
* Touching her nose and saying, "Beep".
* Uncontrollable giggles when we chase after her (extra giggles if we crawl on our hands and knees).
* Her undying passion to use a spoon all by herself (always followed by bathtime).

Yeah. I could go on forever. She's fantastic.