If That Is Not A Big Boy...

I don't know what is!!! Whenever Blake wakes up and Kate is not up yet, he makes tons of noise just to wake her up. When I walk him down the hall, he is so loud. I put him down with toys in the living room while I make coffee, but he gets down the hall so fast and starts hitting Kate's door. Too funny! It is like he doesn't know what to do when she is not there.

Kate is hugging Blake- looks like she is tackling him, but he was giggling... sometimes we have to quit hugging because it gets a little rough!

Just another "hug."

Blake has TAKEN OFF! It is like he went from a few steps to really walking around in just a matter of days. He walks from room to room now and has started walking with his toys in his hands.



Cute little diaper butt! I love how babies are bow-legged, I think it is cute.

Taking steps while flashing his teeth. He also started saying "mama" today and has gotten to love the sippy cup. It is like he just grew up all of the sudden! I guess I will have to enjoy him for awhile, because even though I miss my baby, we are not ready for number 3!

Kate has had so many posts, I thought it was time for a just Blake post. We love this boy!

Busy Weekend

This was not supposed to be that great of a weekend! Brandon was originally going to Auburn without me and the kids this weekend- which I was not thrilled about, but he doesn't get to go often. But, late Friday night, Brandon's brother called to tell us he had two tickets. Brandon got off the phone and I told him that I would love to go, but it was too late notice, and no one would be able to keep the kids. Five or ten minutes later, Brandon's parents called to tell us about his youngest brother's high school football game and Brandon told him about the two tickets and they said, "if you ever get tickets to the game, we would love to keep the kids." We immediately made plans to drop the kids off with them on our way to Auburn the next morning... they did not have to ask us twice! While they were there, Blake improved his walking skills and can now walk from the couch to the tv or from the kids' play chair to the computer chair where I sit. He goes slowly, but if he is unsure of himself, he just squats for a second and gets back up to go. So, he is off! We have a way to go, but he is our early walker- not even 11 months- yikes!
This was on our way home today- Kate was giggling and saying, "I want to hold you." She says this a lot in the car, and I always say that I will have to hold her when we get there because I can't reach her, so I thought she was talking to me. But, I turned around and saw her holding Blake's hand and it melted my heart. We were in Brandon's car, but they normally can't reach each other in my car. (Disclaimer- it was not sweet much longer after this, she started yanking his arm and we had to cut out the hand holding.)

Here we are in the game. We looked like drowned rats after we sat in the rain for an hour. I kept asking if we could leave, but Brandon just reminded me that we had no kids to rush home to- we should just enjoy being there. We were so soaked that I think we smelled like mildew by the end of the game, and my jeans were still damp this morning!

The POURING rain in Jordan Hare Stadium. I did not get out my camera for this, I copied this picture from somewhere else, but it is what it looked like. A friend works on rain/storm drains and said that drains are built for 2 inches of rain an hour, and anything above that is a 1 in 100 year storm... which just happened to be last night! It was at least 2.5 inches of rain in an hour- and we stood in it! We had such a great time seeing friends and enjoying Auburn- hope we get to do it again this season!

Cute Phrases

I have been noticing Kate saying all kinds of funny things lately, and I don't want to forget them, so I thought I would share...
Kate has a hard time saying words that start with "sp" so she just uses an "f" to start it instead. For example, "sprinkler" is "frinkler." One day, Blake was trying to climb up the legs of a barstool in the kitchen and I heard Kate scold him and say, "Bubba, don't climb that." And when he did not quit, she said, "Do you need a fankin?" I wish she hadn't learned the spanking threat from me, but it is used quite a bit around here!
When we go out to eat, she gets to drink a "frite" and drinks every last sip! Some moms are funny about kids and soft drinks, but I could care less with a caffeine free sprite! Kids need a little treat every now and then too! And, is there that much difference in sugar content between apple juice and sprite?
She started Mother's Day Out this week (hallelujah!) and loved it. Yesterday afternoon, when I picked her up, I told her that Blake and I missed her and that he wanted to hear what she did all day. She simply said, "Dude, I went to school." I just could not stop laughing! I couldn't figure out where she got "dude" until Blake was whiny later in the afternoon and Brandon said, "Dude, you need to chill out." She picks up on everything!
She was screaming her brains out the other day because she wasn't getting her way, and I was ignoring her (which has actually been the best way to get her to stop, because she is not getting the attention she desires) and my mom called. She heard Kate screaming, but we talked anyway. When I got off the phone, I said, "Kate, that was GiGi and she was very sad that you were acting like that." And she immediately stopped crying and said, "I'm sorry GiGi, I'm sorry Mommy." Later on, Blake whimpered in the car because he was so sleepy and Kate said, "No no bub, that makes GiGi very sad." I guess I have found another way to stop temper tantrums.
Anyway, she never quits talking! When I picked her up from her first day of school, her teacher told me that she is definitely the "class talker." I don't know how much she will enjoy that as the year goes on! I am sure there are things I am forgetting, but these are a few funny ones.
As for Blake, there is no talking! It is kind of freaking Brandon out because they are supposed to know a few words by the time they are one, but Dr. Peters told me from the beginning that the second ones take a while to talk, especially with a very verbal older sibling... so we will just let him take his time! Sometimes I wish Kate couldn't talk quite so much anyway!

Riding Horses

Our friend Montana had her 3rd birthday party last weekend at Oak Mountain Stables and Petting Farm. We had so much fun! Kate had a blast riding the horses- and Blake was a ladies' man and enjoyed being passed around. I didn't know how Kate would handle riding a horse, but she did it all by herself and even cried when it was time for her to get off. We just got back in the end of the line to ride again and again. Here are some pictures of our fun day! Katie loves Bubba, and you can tell he loves her too!

Want some pretty grass?

Petting the goat flipped her out! That same goat tried to eat the leg of my shorts.

Look at the dirt on Kate's face! Kate and Campbell are best friends and these pictures capture their sweet personalities.

The big girl riding all by herself.

Allergic

Apparently, Kate is allergic to fire ant bites. Brandon went to get her from Sunday school this morning and they said she was in the office. I had gone to get Blake and when I saw him walking towards me empty-handed, it kind of freaked me out. They will page you if your child is bad or sick, but I had not been paged. She was sitting in the lap of the nursery director eating a sucker smiling, so I figured that whatever had happened was ok now. Then, the director asked me if Kate always reacts this way to ant bites, and I realized that these may be her first ones. (Mosquitos are a different ball game, she is covered in them!) Her foot was fat, red, hot, and tight! Her sandal wouldn't fit over it, so she was carried to the car. We went to Walgreens on our way to lunch to get some Benadryl, and then met my family. Kate was a ZOMBIE the whole meal! My whole family could not believe that she was that quiet and zoned out. She passed out in the car on the way home, and then slept for 3 hours once we got home. When she woke up from her nap, she played for a little bit, but then collapsed on the couch and covered up. Brandon was reading her some books and snuggling with her and said she was hot, and she had a fever of almost 103! She is now dosed up with more Benadryl and Motrin, and she is off to bed! Poor thing!

On a more fun note, Blake is all over the place! He has taken a few steps at a time and then sits down once or twice, but he is climbing all over the couch, the kids' chair, and trying to get onto the coffee table! He is busting out teeth everywhere too- he is showing you his top 2 (and tip of 3) teeth here. I can't believe he is already this big!

Playtime

Turner came over today and he was a little less excited than Blake to play. Blake was a little too in his face!

A sweet "hug" from Blake and a gentle "high five" from Turner, and somehow Kate slept through it all.

The stare down. It is funny to watch kids this age stare at each other and make noises like they are actually trying to communicate.

New Projects and Bossy Kate

These are some new projects I have been doing lately. The little dress is so cute on! It has little side vents that button and it just makes it hang so cute on Kate. The john-john was fun to make, but I am not used to so many details! The smocking part was fun, but the actual construction of the outfit was tedious! It turned out very nice though, and it is fully lined, so I feel like it will hold up nicely. The pattern can be unsmocked and reversible, which is my next venture! The john-john took so long that I don't think I am going to sell them on my sewing blog because I barely have time to make one for my own child! But, I will probably end up selling that style of dress once I make one or two more and get comfortable with the pattern. I really do love smocking and sewing but my love of sleep has suffered lately to get these finished. :)

Kate loves "talking down" to Blake. She is constantly saying, "No No, Bub!" and "Don't bite!" when he is just putting toys in his mouth. She just doesn't realize that is what babies do! We laugh that she has started calling him "Bub" because it sounds like a northerner- my dad still has a touch of a Michigan accent and we like to say that is where she got it. She has gotten a little mean recently, I hate to say. She has this evil little giggle and I know she is torturing him. Yesterday she was pinching his cheeks so hard they turned bright red, and she pulls his ears (like they need to stick out more) so hard. I get more upset than he does. For some reason, he puts up with it. He may whimper a little bit, but he just looks at her wondering what she is doing. I had to explain that if she loves him like she says she does, then she cannot want to hurt him. Then she gets tender-hearted and hugs him and tells him she is sorry. She got so sad that she cried today, but I had to explain that he loves her and forgives her even if he can't tell her. It has made me tear up more than once to see her realize that she is hurting someone (I know it sounds cheesy, but I can't help it- I used to say the random tears were pregnant/nursing hormones, now what can I blame it on?) She really is sensitive, but I am hoping she will learn soon to not hurt him in the first place. The picture of him by the jumperoo kind of reminded me of Brandon's brother, Christopher. Some of Brandon's family has said that Blake looks like Christopher since birth, so I thought I would show this little glimpse that we saw. More and more people have been saying that Blake looks like Brandon lately- it is funny because we look at him and only see Blake!

How can Kate hurt this sweet face? :)