OMG, Waay toooo long. Waaaay tooo much!

So much has happened and if you can't tell I have been hit the the "Busy Mommy Syndrome". =P Between playing and reading to Miss K, cleaning house while she naps, scrap booking, and reading- I have not had time to be on the Internet much. I jump on every other day to see what's going on in the world with my peeps on FB, and check my email which always contains over 130 junk emails. I have started to use the Filter function, so that should be easing up.

So.. As a family we all experienced our first trip to Disney World. Chris was going for work, and I decided on the Friday before the Sunday that he was leaving that hmm.. yeah we want to go too. Chris used his miles to pay for most of the flight, hotel was paid for, rental car was paid for, and to put the icing on the top of the cake - My grandma is friends with a lady who is retired from Disney and she hooked us up with 2 free Park-Hopper passes. We spent all morning at Magic Kingdom, taking in the Welcome show on the train and participating in the whole 1000+ person race to get in the gates. =) Katelyn's first park ride ever was It's A Small World. She loved it. She loved all the rides we took her on with the exception of the very short Aliens skit on "Journey Through the Movies" at Hollywood Studios.We left the Magic Kingdom park for lunch and naps. Then we went to Hollywood Studios, and from there we took the Ferry to Epcot. We grabbed some sandwiches from a French Bakery, along with Apple Turnovers and Strawberry Tarts... and WOWZA - They were delicious! We caught the amazing Firework show before ending a "very magical day".

Katelyn and I stood outside at the hotel and watched the fireworks at Magic Kingdom twice, since they were going off right next door, and Chris was working. =)

Now we're home. Katelyn has been rolling over at night when we have her in disposables for sleeping, and now she is strong enough to roll over and over and over in the cloth diapers. I thought maybe we were hindering her development by having her in the cloth since she couldn't roll as well in them, but she has been rolling anywhere and everywhere today, and when in the disposables, she is practically jumping when she goes to roll. No more leaving her to nap on the couch while I go clean the kitchen anymore... she is a girl on the move.

Chris and I worked hard in the yard this weekend and it looks great. A great head start. I got all my old planters painted. They look brand-spanking new now! I painted them Crimson Red. We also took a pie down to the new neighbors a few houses down. We prayed for a younger couple with a baby - and we got...a younger couple with an 11 month old boy. Katelyn got her Passport photos taken, and $220 later, she's good to travel outside the U.S.A.

Now, I've got to finish this book - so I can start the Alex Cross series again. Casi gave me that itch! Thanks Casi - This is an 18 books series, it'll take me forever.

Some Pictures

I have been a scrapbook fool lately, not spending much time at all on the computer. You'll see more from me once I get these pages done.

Meeting Miss Maddy

Saturday we drove over to Manteno, IL for my (ready for this?) Cousins Daughters Daughters 1st Birthday bash! It was our first time getting to meet this little cutie pie, and CUTE she is! Her name is Madisen, and Katelyn was pretty excited to hang out with such a big girl. It was great to see family there, and just enjoy the time we got to spend with them.

Me and Uncle Lou!

(Hence the nickname LuLu - I'm told that he is the one who gave it to me.)

Katelyn just can't get enough time with her Great Grandma...

Yes, she is Madisen's Great-Great Grandma.

Katelyn was also glad that her Grandma made it to the party too!  

K's Doctor Appt.

We're super happy to report that Katelyn's Baby Wellness visit went great. She had to get 2 shots and drink a cherry flavored liquid that she did not like. Thankfully the shots were not as bad as last time. She screamed for a few seconds on the second shot, but stopped wailing once Chris picked her up.

Her weight is at a very healthy 12lbs 12oz, and the doctor is thoroughly impressed by her great neck control, that she prefers to sit up, and the fact that she is already rolling over. He told us to go ahead and start giving her some cereal mixed with the breast milk. Once she is taking it, we are supposed to start letting her use the spoon herself, so she can start learning to feed herself. (OMG, already- really?? That's like...such a big girl thing!)

Katelyn got 12 more books from the library ANNND a fish puppet to read to her. I didn't think she would really like the puppet, but she totally loves it! She just giggles and reaches for it all the time. The library has a huge collection of puppets, I was so impressed! Some are small hand puppets like the fish we got, and others are huge- like taller than Ashley and Makenna tall.

One Happy Momma

I have eaten cheese and ice cream over the past few days and Katelyn has done just fine with it. So, I'm hoping that she is not really Lactose Intolerant and is now able to process milk now. I am going to have a little glass of Chocolate Milk and see how she does.

Alos added 9 books to her reading list today. Notice there are like 5 authors in a row that the last names begin with "R"... Yeah, that's because I just grabbed all the book in the bin for that section- HAHA!

Operation: Nursing Cover

Finished the Nursing Cover that I have been trying to complete for weeks now (Sew A Nursing Cover post coming soon!). Katelyn and House Cleaning has kept me plenty busy. I absolutley love playing on the floor with Katelyn, but it was nice getting up this week and getting the house tidy in the morning, and then getting my sewing done in the afternoons while she napped. I got 2 diapers and this cover done. It may not sound like a lot, but I also cleared all the cabinets in the kitchen, dusted & lined all the drawers and shelves and rearranged. I also dusted the cabinet tops, lined them, and put up a small amount of decor (just need the fake plants now, haha). I also made REAL dinners for myself, and prepared a large portion of Chicken Fried Rice for my freezer meals, and made Fruit Leather!

All-in-All - I'd say it was a productive week with Chris being in Canada. Tonight he comes home and I'll be happy!

Video Time

Katelyn wanted to share her precious laugh with everyone!

4 months old (mostly, lol)

Games to Play with Baby

 Playing with an infant can sometimes seem more like playing with yourself, but it is actually very stimulating and important for baby's growth - just like reading! I had planned on posting some games a while back, just never got around to it, so here I am in full force... (At least until baby K wakes up.)

It really has not been too much of a winter, but it is still a bit too chilly and windy to be heading out to the park. So, I thought it would be nice to share some of the games that Katelyn and I like to play throughout the day (and ones we hope to play). She's still really little, and most of the time I do feel like I am just entertaining myself, but she smiles and laughs at me, and that makes me feel good about feeling so silly.

It is hard to believe that she is getting so big now that I can find games to play with her! She is sleeping a lot less, and therefore requires more entertainment! At times, I have felt like I am not entertaining enough – so I sought some fun game ideas that I can play with her just to mix things up a little bit from the norm.

Katelyn and I hit up StoryTime at the library today which really got me motivated to make this post happen. Game 1 is what we played today:
Game 1: "There's a Snowflake on my Toe"
We were given a cute paper snowflake prop. Then simply follow the song while laughing a cooing with baby!
There’s a snowflake on my toe…oh no.
There’s a snowflake on my knee…oh gee.
There’s a snowflake on my tummy…oh honey.
There’s a snowflake on my back…oh drat.
There’s a snowflake on my neck…oh heck.
There’s a snowflake on my head… oh dread.  
There is a snowflake falling on my head,
Down my back,
Around my tummy,
To my knee,
And to my toe…oh no!
Game 2: "Baby Hokey Pokey"

Sing to the beat of the regular Hokey Pokey song we all know and love. Katelyn absolutely loves doing this.

You put your arms up

You put your arms down

You put your arms up

And you wave them all around

You tickle, tickle, tickle

And you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

The baby hokey pokey is fun!

You put your legs up

You put your legs down

You put your legs up

And you wave them all around

You tickle, tickle, tickle

And you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

The baby hokey pokey is fun!

You put your baby up

You put your baby down

You put your baby up

And wave her all around

You tickle, tickle, tickle

And you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle 

The baby hokey pokey is fun!

Game 3: "Wheels on the Bus"

(Bicycle baby’s legs)
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.

(lift baby’s arms up and down)
The people on the bus go up and down.

Up and down, up and down

The people on the bus go up and down

All through the town

(lean baby from side to side)
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish

All through the town

(touch baby’s nose)
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep

Beep, beep, beep, Beep, beep, beep

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep
All through the town

 

1,000 Books

If you looked, you noticed a new bar just above the posting area. There is a tab for HOME, and now a tab for 1,000 BOOKS. This is because Katelyn and I have committed ourselves to having her "read" "1,000 Books Before Kindergarten". It is a program set up through the library where each child gets a special prize for reaching the goal of 1,000 books. You can simply click that tab to see how well we are doing on achieving our goal.

I have most of the books we have read together listed. I'm sort of disappointed that it looks like she is not read to everyday, because she is...but we don't always finish one story a day, because I always stop when she has totally lost interest, and sometimes that happens after only a page or two.

Here is a list of points that Library states as reasons why it is important to read your baby:

Develop vocabulary skills. Research has shown children with larger vocabularies are better readers.

Develop narrative skills. Children who are able to tell or retell a story find the story easier to understand.

Develop letter recognition skills. Learning letter names and sounds help children to pronounce written words.

Develop print awareness. Children familiar with the printed word feel more comfortable with books.

Develop print motivation. Children who enjoy books want to learn how to read.

Develop phonological awareness. Children who have difficulty reading often have trouble with phonological awareness

We're excited to reach our goal, though the prize is going to have to be determined at a later date, hehe. =P

Tennessee

We had a great trip to Tennessee this past week. Mom went with to do some geaneology and visit family, and since Chris had to leave from Knoxville to Orlando for a day she made great company for me. Katelyn and I hung out around the library reading Dr. Duck and being cute to every old lady in the place (I got to enjoy SewNews magazines when she slept,) and mom researched in the back.

We spent two nights at Chris's parent's house and Katelyn was glad that she got to spend some one-on-one time with her Grandpa West. (great video coming!)

We also found ourselves in the Smoky Mountain Park and Gatlinburg (surprise, surprise)! We ate Shoney's (gross! Sorry, but it was), and then we picked up some Moonshine Jelly for my dad and Chris's dad some Apple Pie moonshine as a thank you for "putting up with us" ...and cooking us an amazing dinner!

All of which you can clearly see in the collage above... what I can't believe I forgot is our number 1 ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS MUST (no exceptions) ALWAYS make a shop stop at... The Smoky Mountain Knife Works. Chris got all the info he needed to get his Gerber knife fixed, and bought himself a small pocket knife. I can't wait till Katelyn is old enough to get her first SMKW's knife. (hopefully minus the self-mutilation, haha)

 Mine had Popeye on it, and I sliced my finger in the first 15 minutes out of the store. My older sister, Casi, had gotten a "real" knife - but I was positive that mine was sharper than hers. So, naturally we found something to cut.... a small Sunny D container. Hers cut right through it. Apparently my knife wasn't made for cutting plastic, but it sure cut my finger good and I have the scar to prove it. (If you can see the tiny white line on the bottom right side, that's it.)

Dinner was great with family (some that I had never met before ). It is always great to gather with friends and family for a big bowl of Chili! So much to do, so little time. I could have spent weeks down there.

A Few Pictures: