Two Common Faces

We had another relaxing weekend at home. Brandon was off Friday, so we just had a lazy day at home, and we enjoyed the opening ceremonies Friday night. I was supposed to work all day Saturday, but I got put on call, so we had a fun lunch with friends at Zoe's and a fun dinner with friends/family at Tortugas. We started the new members class at church yesterday, so we were there from 8 until 11, so Kate was exhausted. That was about it for our weekend, which was perfect!
We have a couple of faces around here lately that I wanted to share with you. One is funny and one is NOT so funny...

This face is driving me nuts! I know it is not driving me half as nuts as the teeth are driving her though. Hands are in the mouth all the time! She has been drooling like crazy, and she has never been a drooler. I thought we had made it through the bad parts of teething, considering she has a mouthful of teeth... but, apparently these "stomach" teeth (the bottom I-teeth) are killing her! They keep her from sleeping well too, which just adds to her whiny-ness. I really feel so bad for her because there is just not much I can do. I give Motrin at night, but the nurse in me does not want to tear up her stomach by giving her Motrin all the time, so I try not to give it to her during the day too. Tylenol doesn't seem to cut it lately, but it doesn't tear up the stomach quite so bad, so it is our backup. And she closes her lips tight when she sees my finger with orajel on it coming close. I can sneak it in there before naps and bedtime by pretending like I am putting her pacifier in and then putting the orajel on, but she resists it. I think that is only because she doesn't want me to touch her gums. The bottom ones (stomach teeth) are just under the skin, so I know they are close, but this has made for a miserable girl lately!

And this is her new fake smile. When she sees the camera come out, she starts this squinting thing until I take the picture. She loves squatting like this when she plays, it does not seem like it would be that comfortable, but she seems to enjoy it. It keeps her in the ready-to-run position at all times! We had a welcome dinner last week for our Christian Medical Ministry Bible study, and we saw friends that we have not seen all summer. So, Kate was surprising them all with her walking/running skills. She was running around, weaving through all of the people, and we were just trying to keep up with her. I finally told Brandon that it was his night- I was way too hot to chase her around the whole time. She loves being chased, she just turns and smiles and goes even faster in the other direction. Fun in the house, NOT fun in the heat of outside! Anyway, one friend of ours just watched her for a minute and said, "Did she just go straight from crawling to running?" I forgot that Kate only started walking around her birthday in late May, and most of our friends from this Bible study have not seen her new skills.
Speaking of that Bible study, we are starting back to our weekly meetings tonight! I am so excited to get back in the swing of things, I feel like I am starting back to school. We have a womens' Bible study that meets on Wednesday morning (nursery is provided, which is so nice) that starts back this week too. I am also starting a smocking class tomorrow night that I have been so excited about, so I cannot wait! I had a friend ask me the other day what I do all day at home with Kate, and it made me so glad that the "schoolyear" is back in session, because I don't feel quite so stir-crazy when I have things planned for each day. I just hope Kate can be a trooper with this new schedule of things to do that may interfere with the nap/bedtime routine we have worked so hard to establish!