Green Velvet

When Grammy and Grandad came to visit Katherine for the very first time, when she was just a few days old, one of the gifts that they brought was a pretty green velvet dress for her first Christmas (10 months later). It was a size 12 month which is a pretty safe bet. Except for Katherine who was and continues to be tiny. So, last year when we put it on her, it swallowed her. This first picture is last year, in front of the tree, swimming in green velvet.


I just knew that by this Christmas when Katherine would be 22 months this dress would be too small. Well, I continue to be surprised. It fits perfectly. So, here she is this year, in front of the tree with Hooligan again, in a much better fitting dress.

Rewriting the Christmas Story

In an effort to teach Katherine the true meaning of Christmas, we bought her the Little People Nativity set so she could play with and learn the Christmas story from the Bible. Katherine can now identity and name Baby Jesus, mommy, daddy and wise man. Of course she was already good at all of the animals. She calls the angel "mommy" because we both have blond hair I guess.

The funny thing is that since all of the Little People are interchangeable, we have found a few interesting renditions of the Christmas story.

In the first picture you will notice that there is a lion admiring the baby Jesus and the Angel of the Lord is riding in on a tricycle.
Here is a better view of the Angel of the Lord and her new set of wheels.
Don't forget the zoo keeper and the school girl. They must come to worship the Baby Jesus as well.

After erin commented I realized that I forgot to include a few things about the Little People Nativity set in my post. You have to buy it online. Forsome reason they don't carry it in stores. I guess the anti Christ-mas conspiracy :). You can get it either straight from Fisher Price or from Toys R Us. There are two versions. We have the basic. The deluxe has a star that lights up and plays away in a manger and it comes with few palm trees and maybe a cart that the donkey pulls. I didn't think it was worth $10 more.

There are two things that bug me. First, there are no shepherds, only wisemen. You buy those separately. Technically I think it should have come with the shepherds since they were there first and the wisemen did not actually arrive until much later. Second, Joseph has a shepherds crook which is silly since he was a carpenter. I guess the toy makers at Fisher Price are not theologians are they?

No sick days

One of the most difficult and challenging things about being a mom just may be that you don't get to take a sick day when you are sick. You are still a mom and you are still on duty. Today was one of those days.

I have been feeling under the weather all week with a sinus infection of some sort. Today Sam and I both woke up feeling like we had been run over by a freight train. He had different issues but felt just as bad. He took a sick day and we both would have stayed in bed all day but Katherine was in a very good mood. That is good since she has been sick but it was not easy. We did lay on the couch most of the day and we both took a long nap when Katherine napped.

Let's pray that we all are better tomorrow.

The Christmas Tree

I honestly did not know if we were going to get a Christmas tree up this year. What is funny is that in our 5 years, we have pretty much decorated every other year. One year was the year we got married and another year we were in Greece and Italy. This year we were just still overwhelmed from our trip and getting everything back organized. I don't know why we can't get it all back together. We have been home 4 weeks now.

On Friday my good friend Madi and her son Ben came over to hang out. We are going to start meeting for accountability. We love getting together to just do life. If one of our husbands is working late, we will call the other and practically invite ourselves over for dinner. We step up and babysit one another's kids and just help out however we can.
Friday was no exception. I was telling her how I just wasn't sure if we were going to get the tree up and I hated that since I love having my house decorated for Christmas. She piped in and said, "Let's do it now". So that is what we did. The kids played and we put up the tree.

Usually I put strings of gold and red beads on the tree. The kids were interested in them and as I was putting up one strand, Madi was playing with the others with the kids. As soon as they were up, Katherine started to pull them down. I decided I would rather remove them than constantly fight that battle.

I chose to put cute, kid friendly ornaments near the bottom and let Katherine play with them. Again, it is not a battle I want to fight. There are so many discipline issues at this age. I wanted her to enjoy Christmas. I have pretty much taught her not to take the gold and red balls off (they are breakable and she pulls the ball off the hook). She loves the two stuffed puppies and the other balls. She has a lot of fun taking them off and hanging them back on. I never know how the ornaments will be arranged.
She loves the lights. If she enters the room and the lights are not on yet, she asks me to turn them on. I have been pretty sneaky and she has not figured out yet how to turn them on and off on her own. It would be very easy since it is a button on the floor.
I love the Christmas tree and am so thankful that Madi made me put it up on Friday. It was a fun thing to do with a friend. Sam loved the surprise too and thought that elves had come to visit.

Who does Katherine look like?

I am not at all surprised by the results of this test. People have told me from the beginning that Katherine looks like her daddy. If I had used a picture where he did not have on glasses I am sure it would have been even more to his side.

A sunny December day

Last week we went on a playdate with my neighbor, Kathryn and her daughter, Hannah. It was a beautiful day so we went to the arboretum. The girls loved playing in the little village.
We have only gotten together to play with Hannah once before and that was last spring before she was walking. These girls became quick friends, following one another around and holding hands. It was so cute.

That night when Daddy came home I asked Katherine to tell him what she did today. To my surprise, she said, "Hannah, house, water, deer, flower, walk." She was actually telling him all about her day at the arboretum This is one of the first times she has done this.

Birthday Celebrations

December is the month we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. Apparently for Katherine it is a month to celebrate the birth of a lot of friends as well because we have had a lot of birthday parties.

Robert turned 2. Katherine is helping with his gift.

Evie is turning 1. She likes her cake.

Cale turned 2. The kids loved decorating cupcakes.

Bed turned 2. Katherine again loves to help with the gifts.

Father and Daughter visit the zoo!

What can be more fun than a Saturday at the zoo? Christy was busy with an event at church, so I took Katherine for a trip to the Dallas zoo. We spent most of our time watching the gorillas from the enclosed research center, which is very exciting!!


If you wait long enough, you can watch the gorillas do some interesting things. This gorilla ate some leaves then settled in for a nap in the afternoon shade.

Monkey see, monkey do!!

After watching the gorillas, we had lunch with the chimpanzees!

Shortly thereafter, Katherine fell asleep in the stroller just in time to go home!!

1st Sunday of Advent

This Christmas season our church is doing a few new cool things. One is that between services in the courtyard they have cider, caroler and photos. I was actually the photographer for one session. So this week we all dressed in festive outfits for a family photo. Isn't it bright and sunny? It was actually about 75-80 degrees and we were all so hot. I am glad that Katherine has a short sleeved holiday dress.
Katherine was playing on the ramp down to another building while I was taking photos (dad was supervising) and right as she reached the bottom of the ramp, Nana and Pops came out the door. They were so surprised to see Katherine waiting for them. It was funny because they could not see any responsible adults at first so they were wondering how she got there. They were able to get a holiday picture as well.

Still a small fry

We went to Katherine's 18 month check up last week. It was three months late due to our long trip. It made it pretty funny when they were asking me all the 18 month old developmental questions. My favorite was when they asked if she was saying at least 5 words other than mommy and daddy. I actually laughed out loud as I said she has well over 200 words and speaks in 2-3 word phrases.

We had a bit of a challenge getting Katherine's height measured. She did not want to lay on the table and be still. We even had baby show her what to do. So then we tried to measure her standing. I had a nurse and someone in training and the measurements ranged form 30-33 inches. I think that officially they wrote down 31.25 inches. She did better on the scale and stood still. She was 20.4 pounds, still at <3%. class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">consistent growth curve that follows the line on the chart, it is just below the lines.

Today Katherine is feeling a bit under the weather. They called me from MDO to tell me she had a fever. She was pretty lethargic the rest of the day and was somewhat content to sit in mommy's lap for the rest of the day. Surprisingly, being sick did not increase the number of times she nursed today. She has been holding steady at 2 times for the last few days. We are making progress. I have not nursed her before bed since Thanksgiving and I have only nursed her first thing in the morning a few times. I think that weaning will help her to start eating better and hopefully get larger. I need her to gain a little weight as we are having an impossible time finding pants that will stay on her skinny waist yet not be highwaters. Don't start suggesting adjustable waist pants to me either, they either are only available starting at size 24 months or they form a nice poof on her bum.

Pajama Ride

Today Katherine went to Mothers Day Out and only took a 45 minute nap. So, this afternoon was a little rough. Add that to the fact that daddy was trying to re-install a toilet and mommy was trying to cook dinner, Katherine was not in her best mood. So, after dinner we took an early bath and went on a pajama ride to see Christmas lights.
She really enjoyed the lights and would name the colors. We went to the "12 Days of Christmas" street. I remember going there as a kid. There are 14 houses on a cul-de-sac. The first and last house welcome you and tell you good bye and the other 12 houses each have a wooden rendition of a day of Christmas. The houses are all lit as well.
There was only one other car visiting the street while we were there. As the month goes on, it will be more crowded. I remember as a kid there were lines of cars around the block and it was a huge bottle neck. If you want to go take a look, it is a great thing to do on a pajama ride.

NaBloPoMo

You may have noticed that I have been posting a lot lately. I actually have posted a blog entry every day during the month of November as a part of National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). There were days when I struggled to get it done and one or two where I was late (due to international traveling so give me a break). But, I did get a post done for every day. I will hopefully win a prize for my efforts. Expect me to continue blogging but at a lower frequency.

Our First Date

Wednesday night we went on our first date in over three months! That was one of the hardest things about our trip to Norway. We did not really get time away from Katherine for time as a couple. The only two dates we had while we were there were in early September when my parents came to visit. Katherine was at a stage where we would take her out with us but it seemed that half of our energy was on keeping her out of trouble.

So, Wednesday we dressed up and went to eat fajitas at Chuy's (yummmmmy!). Then we went to the Meyerson for the Dallas Symphony's dress rehearsal of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. This show is sold our for all four performances this weekend so it was a treat to be able to go FREE to the rehearsal. I actually enjoyed the rehearsal. The quality of the music was just the same as a performance but they would stop at the end of a movement and redo parts.

The Dallas Symphony Chorus also performed. I am horrible at knowing which composer and which symphony matches to which music. The last movement of Beethoven's 9th is what we would refer to as "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee". It was sung in German and absolutely beautiful.

So, we are glad to be home so that we can date again. We already have Nana and Pops booked for a few holiday events and an overnight trip for our anniversary in a few weeks.

Toddler Travel Tips

I keep forgetting to post on this topic. I am sure many of you have traveled with babies and toddlers. Traveling on extended, international trips with a toddler is challenging but having a toddler should not deter you from traveling. Here are some tips that I can share from our experience.

• Try your best to book your flight around when your toddler usually sleeps. On international flights this is somewhat easy since it takes so long to get from point A to B and chances are that the toddler will sleep for some of that time. Try not to be clearing customs when they usually sleep.
• Of course planes get delayed and connections are missed so the best schedules can get messed up.
• Take plenty of food for your toddler. This is especially important on travel days as kids usually do not like airplane food. Hey, I don't really like it either.
• We learned to take several cans of veggies and a can opener on weekend trips because sometimes it is hard to find a grocery store and they have much shorter hours in Europe than we are used to in the US.
• If possible, stay in an apartment rather than a hotel. You can either rent from a family, through a service or through a corporate apartment chain. This was a life saver for us because when Katherine went to sleep we could watch TV or read without keeping her up.
• Plan to travel at a much slower pace than you are used to. We would try to see one sight before lunch and one, maybe two sights after. I learned that having an itinerary with more that that just left me frustrated.
• Plan for naps. If you are lucky, your toddler will nap in a stroller and you can continue to see things while they are napping.
• Have more than one mode to carry your toddler. They get tired of the stroller so move them to the back pack. They will want to walk and it will frustrate you.
• Find kid-friendly sights or parks. I normally would not have seen the Pippi Longstocking museum in Stockholm or stopped to visit three playgrounds in Helsinki but for the sanity of all of us, those things were required. You cannot expect a toddler to go all day without some play time.
• Realize that most rules at home are bent while traveling. This means that your toddler who normally eats mostly organic food will eat french fries and pizza. It makes it hard to discipline. Pick your battles.
• Find a meaningful souvenir for your toddler. For us we have chosen to buy books about the destination.
• Jet lag is a killer. I recommend trips of at least 2 weeks with a toddler. I have heard that it takes about one day for every hour of time change to adjust and I would say that was pretty accurate for us. It was a 7 hour difference and it took a week for Katherine to get on schedule.
• Be flexible and be patient! This is probably the most important tip. There will be meltdowns. Flights will change. They will get hungry in the middle of a museum. There will be diaper disasters. Just remember, you will never see any of these people again.
• Take a ton of pictures. Katherine will not remember a single bit of this great Scandinavian adventure but she will have a lot of pictures to prove where she has been.

Cute pig tails

Aren't these the cutest pig tails you have ever seen? They are complete with matching curly ribbon bows compliments of Aunt Jaime. Sorry it is not a better picture. Katherine and Robert were on the move today.

Who is this man?!

We decided to take the girls for a trip to see Santa. It did not go that great. Katherine screamed and squirmed. Sophia did not cry but has a very uncertain look on her face. I am considering this a dress rehearsal for when Katherine is wearing her Christmas dress. Hopefully that trip to see Santa will go better.

Comparing Cousins

Katherine is blessed to have 5 cousins. Emily is 5 years older than her at 6.5, Nathan is 4, Ty is 5 months older, Hanna is 6 months younger and Sophia is 1 year younger. It is a lot of fun that she has three cousins that are within a year of her age. The funny thing about cousins is that since they share grandparents, they share half of the same genetic make up. Take a look at the photos of Katherine, Hannah and Sophia. It is obvious that Katherine and Hannah are cousins. They both look just like their dad and their dads (brothers) look a lot alike. They look more like sisters than cousins. But look at Sophia. She looks like her daddy who is my brother but she and Katherine don't seem to share any of the same genes. They look like strangers, not cousins.


Hannah

Katherine

Sophia

Almost cold turkey

I am not talking about Thanksgiving when I am talking about cold turkey though there were plenty of turkey leftovers. I am talking about nursing Katherine and the desire to wean her in the near future. This morning she slept until 7:30 instead of 6:30 so I was actually close to ready to get up for the day. So, when I got her out of bed I did not bring her to our bed to nurse her and fall back to sleep. Instead we got up and went in to eat breakfast. She ate more than usual which should be no surprise since she was not full on milk. All morning I tried to keep feeding her and distracting her until we went to church. After church we went to my parents where she ate lunch as soon as we got there. I had Sam put her down for a nap and she only cried for about 3 minutes. After her nap it was at least 30 minutes before she requested "Moolt" (her new way to say milk). So, I actually did nurse her at that point. She did not request it again until we were almost leaving my parents house at 10pm. We went home instead and I gave her Cheerios to eat in the car. At home I put her in her pj's and put her in bed. She did want to nurse but I decided to try to put her down without it. I set a 5 minute time limit of crying but she was silent after only 3 minutes.

So, in one day we went from nursing 6 times to nursing 1 time and falling asleep every time without it. That is pretty close to cold turkey, at least for one day. We will see what happens the rest of the week. I think the key factors will be getting up and starting our day when she wakes up rather than starting out by nursing. That begins a chain reaction of eating instead of nursing. The other important thing is to stay busy so that she is distracted. I find that she wants to nurse more when she and I are home all day not really doing anything.

Thanksgiving Part 2

Thursday's Thanksgiving festivities continued when my brother Will, sister-in-law Jaime and niece Sophia arrived from California. Sophia and Katherine are almost exactly one year apart. The last time they were together was 5 months ago when Sophia was not sitting yet. They are having a lot more fun together as they are able to interact and play more.

Both girls were on the floor as Aunt Jaime waved a scarf over their faces. There were many giggles by the girls.
Katherine had a new interest in her exersaucer when Sophia was playing with it.

We gave them a bath and there were more screams than laughs. Both girls usually enjoy bath time so we were not sure why they were so upset over this bath.
You can tell in these photos that even though Sophia is a year younger, she is one pound heavier. No more hand me downs as they wear the same size. Let the hand me ups begin!
Sophia tried several new things to eat at Thanksgiving dinner. She was not too thrilled with any of them and made some really funny faces.
This time Sophia was not excited about sharing though Katherine actually was playing nicely. I think she felt crowded.
Katherine loves her Pops.