These days...

These days, life is so good. Kate is a perfect mix between affectionate and independent and I am really trying to appreciate the simplicity of now. I know life will only get busier, but right now is so good.

Here are a few pictures to show what Kate has been up to...

Oh this sock! It's one of my mom's (clean) slipper socks and Kate carries it everywhere, hangs it around her neck, and will walk up to us, hold it out, and stick out her foot for us to put it on her. We do, then she waddles around with one foot covered in a big ol' floppy sock. 

She LOVES jewelry right now. Everyday, she notices earrings we are wearing and gently pulls on them, "ahhh"ing. She also loves to carry these Mardi Gras beads around and put them on, take them off.

Remote controls are still a hot commodity, as are our phones because she LOVES when we play music from them. She'll walk up to me with my phone, hold it out to me, and start dancing. Get the tunes on Mama.

She does this all the time! She hasn't learned how to completely roll over, but she'll stand like this for a while and sometimes we'll roll her over.

 I don't know how I don't have a picture of it, but she can climb ANYTHING in 2 seconds flat. Well, I guess I don't have a picture because I tear across the house to catch her before she face plants off the couch while she's STANDING after she climbed up there. That happened.

She used to love being carried up and down the dock, but Pop Pop someone let her walk it herself, so now that's ALL she wants to do. It's fine though, she's good about letting us hold her hand :)

Sometimes I leave for work before Brett, so he'll take her on a "ride" as I leave so she doesn't fuss. If she cries, I pick her back up and snuggle her and I'll do this as many times as necessary :) 

Maybe I'm a wimp, but when she cries because her Mama leaves, it breaks my heart. I also don't believe in sneaking out of the house. Not good for her trust.

Dog bowls - as soon as the dogs finish eating, she immediately has to reach up and hand me the empty bowl. According to Kate, empty dog bowls can't stay on the floor.

And don't mind the outdated chair cushions - they are now recovered :)

I try to rotate her toys, storing some away for a while because I don't want to live in a daycare, and she gets so excited all over again about "new" toys. We opened this cabinet the other day, and she was THRILLED with all of her old new toys and actually sat and played for about 20 minutes!

Sometimes when we're walking around, she'll reach up and grab my hand. Sweet girl!

Loves to stand at the back door, watching Dada do yard work or the dogs running around. She sure loves Maggie, and they "talk" to each other through the door :)

And we've been watching some GATOR FOOTBALL!! Not the prettiest performances so far, but a win is a win so we'll take it!

I am really enjoying this stage - Kate learns things so quickly and it's amazing to watch her little mind go. Her personality is shining, and she definitely knows what she wants...and isn't afraid to let you know! I love that she can walk so well and has started showing some interest in her toys. Sometimes she'll even come climb in my lap for a book and lets me read her a couple of pages. She finally took a bottle from me for the first time at about 13 months. She loves going places in the car - kicks her legs and gets so excited when we walk towards the car. She also likes "face timing" with Brett when he worked late and sometimes even cried when we had to hang up. She cracks up when we stick our tongue out and loves being chased. She claps and gives high-fives and gets the hiccups whenever she laughs hard. I love her more than anything in this world.

She had her 1 year checkup (at 13 months) and her height was above the growth chart and her weight was about the 35th percentile. Long and lean!

Weekend away

Sometimes it's so nice to "get away," even when away is just 2 hours from home and you're just gone for one night. Last weekend we were in Orlando to celebrate Ella's 1st birthday and stayed at my favorite Disney hotel. Although we didn't do a theme park, it was Kate's first "Disney" experience and she's a fan :) Good thing, because I've already mentally planned many Disney trips for the future.

And by future, I mean about 8 years from now. We won't be staying overnight anywhere but home until then. 

Just kidding....kind of.

Kate has never been a great sleeper when not at home, but last weekend, she set a new record.

Asleep at 9:30 pm, awake by 10:15, slept in bed with us until 12, then awake and miserable (cried when I put her down, cried when I held her) until 2:15 am when we went for a little car ride (which she thought was SO FUNNY!) and to Walgreens for a little Benadryl. She fell asleep after 45 minutes of driving, woke up as soon as we parked back at the room, but did go back to sleep in the room for 4 hours. Good thing she's cute :)

With her Mickey ears when we checked in

Happy Birthday Ella Bella! We love you so much! And thanks for these awesome spotted balls - they're my fave ;)

Ella LOVED her cake and ate and ate until it feel on the floor!

She even got to share Daddy's mickey mouse ice cream bar that night!

I LOVE this picture of my sweet Kate. 

It was the next morning (after very little sleep...hence her sleepy face) at breakfast. Of course, a Disney hotel restaurant is packed at 8 am with everyone heading to the parks, and Kate loved seeing all of the hats and fanny packs ;)

Then we swam for a little bit - her favorite part was climbing in and out of the kiddie pool over and over.

Excited for her sleep to get better so we can enjoy more fun weekends out of town!

Fishies!

This was my greeting, waiting at the front door for me when I got home from an errand. Daddy said "Mama's home" and she ran to meet me. 

This weekend we took Kate to the local oceanographic center which she loved! We met some friends there and Kate loved looking at the fish, trying to jump in the stingray tank, and running all over.

 

Not the best quality. They're from my iPhone because I brought my camera...with a dead battery.

 

We got caught in a thunderstorm under that little METAL pavilion in the background, so Brett rain back through the rain with Kate and she thought it was hilarious!

 

That's the stingray tank behind us - she could reach the side and really wanted to get in the water. Their barbs were cut so we almost let her ;)

Little buddies, Mason and Kate - 3 weeks apart.

Great friends

We had a good time despite the heat, and I'm sure we'll be back since it's only 5 minutes from the house!

Sleep

Precious angel during a nap. This picture melts my heart.

Speaking of sleep, it's getting better and better :)

She sleeps 8-9 hours most nights, and a few times she's even slept 9 - 7 (that's through the night)!

When she sleeps through, part of me misses that middle of the night cuddle and I knew that would be the case. 

I better get to sleep now! We're going to attempt church in the morning...

12 months

This blog is like a journal of all things Kate, so even though it is late, I need to have a 12 month post to wrap up the most amazing year of my life!

On July 22 at 8:19 a.m., my baby turned ONE and as I thought back over that year, I had goosebumps thinking about how wonderful our life is with her in it. She is perfect to us and I know how blessed we are with her health and happiness. This still a baby but trying to become a toddler is definitely one of my favorite stages. She is always smiling and laughing, talking, walking all by herself ALL over the place, and learning new things every single day but is still so dependent, looking to us for reassurance when she stumbles, pointing her way around the house, and watching our every move, soaking it in like a sponge. 

She LOVES sitting in any chair...or really anything that's her butt height :) She backs her little self up to it and then cautiously lowers herself onto the seat, sometimes missing and lowering herself all the way to the ground! 

Our little family - I don't know what we did with all of our time before Kate, but I think it's funny that we ever thought we were busy before :)

My little sunshine. She loves music and dancing - she bounces her knees and now bobs her head and it's hilarious. 

Wearing her new fancy bikini from my aunt, uncle and sweet cousins from Louisiana who came down for a summer visit. Kate LOVED their company!

4th of July with Holly, Scotty, me and Nannie (Daddy was working, PopPop doesn't do crowds ;) 

We went downtown and Kate liked the fireworks. She watched the whole time and wasn't afraid of the loud booms. We'll see if that's the case next year :)

She LOVED Breanna, who was so great with Kate. Breanna reminds me a lot of me when I was her age, and the age difference between me and Breanna is the same as that between Breanna and Kate. 

Evening at the beach where Kate loves playing in the sand and waves. 

Kate loves her Nannie so much and has been saying "Nan." She also knows her weekday morning routine so well...she is happy having breakfast and playing at home, then when she hears the front door open, she knows it's my mom coming to get her and she stops whatever she's doing to run to her. Then, that's it...we can hardly hold her anymore because she knows it time to go play at their house.  She knows to hold her lunchbox and head out the front door for the day to see the dogs, and then when I get there after work to get her, she smiles so big and runs to me and I just can't hug her tight enough. 

My little buddy. I have so many hopes and dreams for her and in the letter I wrote to her for her birthday that's in her baby book, I told her that she may not understand this love I have for her until she has her own baby one day, but to just take my word for it. My love multiplies every day and she is my favorite thing in the world. 

And if she wasn't perfect enough, she gives kisses. Big, open mouth, full of drool kisses that are the best thing in the entire world. She gives them when we ask for a kiss and sometimes just on her own, and both ways, it is precious. 

She has several words. "Mama, Dada, Nan, hi, dog, hot, bubble, no-no-no"

She also follows simple commands, can blow her nose, and puts clothes in the dryer when I hand them to her. Training her early ;)

She loves her PopPop, especially getting to share his popsicle some nights after dinner and fresh coconut milk with a straw right out of the coconut each day. My Dad has always been a great dad but my God, Kate has him wrapped like you wouldn't believe. He is head over heels for his first grandbaby  and I'm sure if she asked for her own island in Bali tomorrow, he'd make it happen. 

My sweet angel right after she woke up on her first birthday. She wakes up so happy, leaning and pointing towards the dog crates saying "dog, dog, dog" because she knows it's time to let them outside and play :) Breakfast is probably her best meal, most mornings having homemade oatmeal with strawberries and then a mound of blueberries. She will eat blueberries any time of any day. In the past month or so, she has actually started playing with her toys. We've always had fun things for her, but she was so focused on walking that she just didn't care about the toys. But now, she's a pro at walking and so will move all over from toy to toy, checking each one out. I know I mentioned that this stage is so fun, but I think it's also easier too. Now that she's sturdy on her feet, I can put her down and get some things done. We keep a close eye on her because she climbs everything like a monkey and tries to eat the dog's food every day, but she loves exploring!

Happy 12 months Kate Elizabeth. This has been the best year of our lives and we are so lucky you made us parents. We love you so much and can't wait to show you the world!

Kate's 1st birthday party

Our precious babydoll turned ONE July 22!! What a wonderful day it was! We had a little lunch at our house with family and some of Kate's baby friends and she was so good - loved all the attention :)

12 month post will come soon, but suffice it to say that this little girl is the most amazing thing to ever happen to us. Our life is so wonderful with her!

I've always sang "You are my sunshine" to my sweet girl, so this party was sunshine themed - so perfect for the little one who lights up every room!

I'm not super crafty but was pretty proud of myself for the 2 banners I made! (Ideas from interest and here). May be hard to see, but the banner in the bottom picture has a photo from each of Kate's months. Talk about growing up before your eyes!

Kate and her grandmothers

Birthday lunch! Chicken fingers, pineapple, strawberries, watermelon, meatballs.

Kate and her good friend Tilloo :)

So cute - she gave Landon a kiss as soon as he got there!

She was so tickled with Uncle Rick and Aunt Beth. Wish I was able to get pictures of Kate with everyone, but then a horrible storm rolled in (as in, lightning struck our house. Literally. No TV, phone, internet, AC for a bit sure makes you appreciate modern luxuries your parents living across the street ;) and then once there was a little calm in the weather, everyone pretty much darted before more storm came. 

My sweet, amazing friend Patti (who JUST got back from her family wedding in Spain and honeymoon in Greece) came all the way from Orlando - she loves Kate so much and Kate loves her!

Not a big fan of her cake. This was the one swipe she made but took no more bites. So, she enjoyed her bowl of ice cream... If she isn't her mother's baby ;)

Mom was so helpful cooking, setting up and cleaning up. Kate sure loves her "Nan"

Loves her new ride on toys! Thanks for this one Scotty!

Happy 1st birthday sweet girl!