Monday, June 30, 2008

Beach #2-What we Did

Here is a snapshot of some of the things we did. I didn't get pictures of everything, though. We enjoyed playing lots of Rockband on Chris France's Wii.
Even Kathryn got into Rockstar mode!

Hanging out over dinner one night. We also gathered around this table to play lots of games.

Enjoying a beautiful sunset over the sound.

We walked to the sound and took some pretty pictures.

The love of my life...

Beach #1

This is the first of several posts about the beach! We had a great time hanging out with our friends from college. In case you don't know what this trip was all about, here's the short version: Back in college we were all talking about how it would be sad when we all graduated and moved away, and if we'd ever all get together again. Somebody came up with the great idea that we should all keep the date "6-7-8" reserved as a reunion date, so that no matter where we were, we would all have that date reserved to get together (that's June 7, 2008 if you haven't gotten it yet). So, although we were a couple of weeks past the 7th, we all got together at Jeni Newnam's parent's beach house in Corolla, NC last week. All of my roommates were there, plus significant others and children...and some new friends too! It was so much and such a great reminder of how God has truly blessed us with some amazing friendships!

On the way down, we stopped at the Virginia Diner for breakfast...yummy!!
Johnny felt silly with me taking a picture of them out front..too touristy, he said. But secretly, I think he was glad...

Happy to be done with the long car ride (it took us 10 hours with stops!).

Enjoying her first bathtime with a friend.

Family picture at the beach. For those of you wanting to see how big my belly has gotten, there's a glimpse!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Coming soon...

An update about our time at the beach! In the meantime, check the blogs listed on the side to see if some of the others who were there update before I get a chance to. I'm sure they'll have lots of pictures with Kathryn (and maybe us!) in them too! In the meantime, keep checking! :)

Friday, June 20, 2008

what we've been up to...

Lots of playing outside! Kathryn brings me her shoes, then mine, constantly throughout the day to go out. On this particular day, I didn't even bother to change her out of her pj's. I just put her shoes on and out we went. Notice her choice of shoes, too. They are hand-me-downs from some friends, and although they're just a little big for her, she loves them. They are by far her favorite, and anytime we let her pick out her own shoes, these are the ones she brings us.


Taking fun pictures of ourselves!
Whenever I start to cook now, Kathryn runs to the drawer and gets me my apron. It's so funny, and she's so sweet to want to help.

Then she likes to help me cook. Last night after getting me my apron, she cleared off a kitchen chair (it had some papers on it) and scooted it over to the counter so she could help. She loves to pour things and stir. Of course we use safety precautions with hot pots and such...she just has to watch me with those!

Watering our garden. We planted a little late, so we don't have any veggies yet, but we're hoping for a good crop of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and green beans!

And watering our flowers. Kathryn loves to help water, mostly by getting in the water!

Selling houses! Johnny sold his first house! He's been very busy with Real Estate since school has been out.

Here's KK's new house!

Playing in the sandbox.


We're looking forward to a busy month of travel as we'll be heading to the beach three different times between now and the beginning of August! So, if updates are rare, that's why. But I'll try to update as much as possible with lots of fun beach pictures, and if the places we stay has internet and I have time, I'll see what I can do!

On another note, the counter on our blog says we've gotten over 10,000 visitors now!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy. I love him so much!Happy Father's Day to my Grandpa and Granddaddy also. I love you guys!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Twirling

I figured we needed to add a girlie video of her in addition to the car video, so here she is twirling. She loves to twirl, and will do it often in response to music, or just because. (Notice she is twirling with her car in her hand!)

"Vroom!"

Kathryn is really into cars right now! She loves anything with wheels on it, and will say "Vroom" as she runs it across the floor. Even earlier today, she was dragging a basket across the floor saying "vroom", pretending it was some sort of vehicle. You can kind of hear her in this video doing it. I did prompt her because I wanted to be sure to catch it on video, but these days, she just does it all the time with just about anything! Yes, she's our sweet, non-girlie little girl! :)

Sunday, June 08, 2008

17 months old

The internet has been working well enough the past couple of days for me to update, so be sure to scroll down and see lots of pictures. The three posts following this one show how much of a help Kathryn is to me these days. In addition to all the help that she is for me, she's been really into feeding herself...

It's a mess, but it's often a sure way to get her to eat something she's otherwise not too enthusiastic about eating. However, she is still a super eater most of the time, and continues to amaze people at how much she can put away at any given meal (or snack).

Here are a few pictures of our silly girl from today in the super-cute dress that Aunt Lindsay got for her!

If it looks like there is something in her mouth in this picture, there is. She had just gone into the bathroom, where she likes to get pieces of toilet paper and "blow" her nose. Apparently, she got some in her mouth this time too!
She loves to play outside at all times of the day, and whenever she is a little fussy or irritable, all I have to do it take her outside and it's all better. She brings me her shoes, and mine, to tell me when she wants to go out. She now likes her sandbox, after being a little unsure of it at first, and loves to pour the sand over her head (messy!). She's talking more and more every day, and has just started saying "uh-oh", "ok", "KK", and "outside", and "yes". Reading books is still a favorite activity. She no longer takes a nighttime bottle. We stopped that a few weeks ago cold turkey, and she hasn't asked for it since. I think she enjoys eating a snack before bed just as much! We now spend time praying right before bed, and then sing a few songs before laying her down, which she loves. She's just started praying before meals by herself too, repeating what we say. She usually gets the words "Jesus", "thank you", "food", and "amen" in there, so she gets the main idea, anyway! Well, that's all I can think of right now. I'm sure in the next day or two I'll think of many more things that I left out, and will have to write yet another addendum to what our girl can do. Thanks for checking in with us, and sorry about the lack of updates recently! Remember to check out the next 3 posts too!

laundry

Kathryn also likes to help me with the laundry. She's best at helping me put the clothes into the dryer. Whenever it's time to switch over the load, she gets so excited to go downstairs with me to help. All I have to do is pile the clothes up like that, and she shoves them into the dryer for me.
Making her funny face/smile while helping. I can hardly get a picture of her anymore without this face!

She loves closing the dryer when we're done.

And as soon as the dryer is shut, she starts waving her arms for me to pick her up so she can push the button to make it start. She gets almost frantic about it, afraid that I will forget to let her push it!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Washing

Anytime Kathryn gets a hold of a washcloth, she goes to town...

Washing the floor:

Washing her tummy (and she'll wash her face and feet too):
And here, washing the dishwasher:
She's also been known to wipe/wash the cabinets, fridge, walls, doors, toys, and anything she can get her hands on!

Recycling

If we don't have time (or energy) to put our paper products outside on the screened porch in the recycling bin, we'll put them on this chair in our kitchen by the door to remind us to do it later. If Kathryn happens to see a pile there, she is sure to take it to the door and insist on being let out to do her job.
Putting the papers in the bin...

Coming back inside, proud of herself, and making her funny face/smile.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

playin' outside

Kathryn absolutely loves playing outside!! She brings me her shoes constantly throughout the day and sits at the door until we go out! Some of her favorite things include collecting things in her bucket...
...sweeping with her broom (thanks Miss Glenna!!)...

...or simply digging in the dirt!

She also now loves playing in her sandbox (pictures/video to come), walking around looking at things, climbing into the flower beds, watering the garden, and calling for dogs and birds. She loves to chase after people walking down the sidewalk, too, waving at them until they pay attention to her. She still enjoys going for walks, also, especially if we get to see dogs. (Can you tell she loves dogs?)