A Sleeping Baby

I love to watch my babies sleep. Kate is very particular about the way she falls asleep. Generally she has to be holding onto something - my shirt, her hair, her ears. She also likes to be upright when held and have a blanket over her ears/head. Here is a picture of her holding her ears when she was sleeping. Once she is in a good sleep she will let g0, but this just doesn't seem very comfortable to me!

Uncle Zac's Work

At the 4th of July festivities they had inflatables that Ella thought she wanted to jump in. Every time that she has wanted to in the past she always changed her mind because there were bigger kids jumping too. Aunt Annie promised her that we could go to Uncle Zac's work sometime and she could jump by herself. So on Wednesday that's what she did! And she jumped for over an hour! Mommy, Daddy, Annie & Zac all alternated jumping with her, but somehow she never wore out! She jumped in the Bounce House for a long time and we lost track of how many times she went through the Obstacle Course. At the beginning she could get into it by herself, but when she was wearing down she needed someone to boost her up. She LOVED it! Daddy went to get dinner for us so we could eat with Zac before we left. She gobbled down her nuggets and apples without any encouragement from us - she was a hungry girl!



Jumping in the Bounce House


Mommy was trying to keep up on the Obstacle Course to take pictures...she was fast!




Time to take a break (she laid down for about 10 seconds). I didn't have time to take a picture so this is actually staged. Wish my breaks were only that long!


This is what Kate did nearly the entire time we were there...

Family Gathering

Last Saturday we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house for a gathering with extended family. (We, of course, did not bring our camera!) Ella made some new friends and Kate slept the entire time we were there. Here is a picture of Ella & Chloe that Aunt Cathy sent to Pete...

Franklin County Fair '09

Last Sunday we decided to take a quick trip to the fair. Last year Ella really liked to see the animals and we spent more time there than we thought we would. This year she was excited to go. She wanted to see the moo cows, but of course she caught a glimpse of them and was ready to move on the to horses. Walked by them and she was ready to see the chickens, and so it went. We literally went through all the animals in 20 minutes. No time to waste before we moved on! On our way out there was a pony ride so she rode Patches. This was the highlight of the fair!




Love the concentration...


The horse behind Patches was close to them - she was worried he was going to bother Patches

Girlies

Corn???

For those of you that know Pete...this is a MIRACLE!! Pete doesn't like corn, but he decided he would try it. He had two ears this week! We are making progress.


Ella likes the idea of eating it off the cob, but she's still learning efficiency!


And Kate taking it all in...

Zzzzz....

Grandma put Kate to sleep...or did Kate put Grandma to sleep?

PS...Grandma didn't know that this photo was taken...SURPRISE!

Kate seems to have this effect on everyone...

Holiday World

Last weekend we went to Indiana to have Kate's 3 month pictures taken. We thought it would be fun to take Ella to Holiday World too (well really I thought it would be fun and Pete went along with it!). It was a beautiful day and the park wasn't too crowded and our wait for the rides was not very long at all. I have not been to Holiday World for many, many years and Pete has never been. We were both impressed at the number of rides that Ella could ride and the cleanliness of the park. Also the added bonus of free drinks and sunscreen! We went on the rides in the morning and after lunch we headed to the water park. I hadn't been to Holiday World since they had the water park - it was so much bigger than we had expected. Ella had a blast - 2 wave pools, a "sprinkler" area, a 1 foot pool with slides for young kids, and a lazy river (I think that they actually had 2 but Ella was too small to stay in the tube so it wasn't so lazy for us trying keep her in the tube - we opted not to check out the other!). These were just the things that toddlers could do - they had a ton of slides that Pete and I would love to go on if we ever go without kids! And the best part of it was that kids 2 and under are free! Mom got discounted tickets for us from a friend so it was a relatively inexpensive day as far as amusement parks go!









Yep, I took her on this ride - this is not my year for Mother of the Year. I don't remember it being this fast or "scary". And you only had to be 36" to ride - I thought that it would be fine. She cried for Daddy!


Daddy takes her on much slower, safer rides. He may still get Daddy of the Year!


She was not the least bit scared of Santa - ran right up to him with her arms up so he could hold her! Big change from Christmas!

4th of July

We always enjoy the 4th because we are able to walk to all the events for the day. Aunt Annie & Uncle Zac came over to spend the day with us and enjoy the festivities. We walked to the parade in the morning - Ella enjoyed the band and all the fire trucks. Kate slept through most of it. We went home, had some lunch and the girls took naps. That afternoon we went to our neighbors party for dinner and then walked across the street to the "party" with a band and inflatables for the kids. Then we came home to wait on the fireworks. Ella was dancing in the backyard. She was teaching Annie how to dance then she tried to teach Uncle Zac and Daddy too. We got a lot of it on video. I will have to figure out how to post videos because it was really cute. She must have gotten her dancing skills from her Daddy - definitely not Mommy! Ella even stayed awake for the fireworks this year!!! This is the first time that she hasn't been too grumpy to stay awake! She loved them - we thought that she might be scared, but she wasn't at all!

Kate's been fighting a cold for the past week. She was getting congested last Sunday. Nighttime is still a little rough, but for the most part I think that we are over it. Thank goodness! She's not a big fan of the saline or booger sucker! And she likes to fall asleep with a pacifier which was difficult when she couldn't breathe through her nose. Poor girl is finally feeling better!

This weekend we are going to Mom & Dad's to have Kate's 3 month pictures taken! Hard to believe that she is already 3 months old! We are leaving on Wednesday night so we can take Ella to Holiday World on Thursday. Mom is going to watch Kate for us. We didn't tell Ella that we were going to Grandma & Grandpa's or to Holiday World (not that she knows what that is) because she doesn't quite what tomorrow means - if we tell her, she will want to go right now!

PS - Em, if you are reading this, check out Ella's 4th outfits and shoes (and her purse she used to catch candy!!)

Look familiar?

Waiting for the parade to start

Enjoying the "party"

Kate's Baptism

Kate was baptized on Sunday, June 28th. She did really well - she didn't mind the water. She didn't cry at all. Actually there were 5 babies being baptized and they were all really good! After the baptism we all went back to our house for lunch and then everyone had to get on the road to head home.

Daddy, Ella, Mommy & Kate

Aunt Christy & Uncle Jonathan are Kate's Godparents

Kate with Cousins Kelsey & Kaiser

Grandpa & Grandma with Kate & Ella


Grandpa & Grandma with a tired Ella!

Swimming Lessons

Daddy & Ella took swimming lessons this year. Mommy & Ella took them last year and she has made much progress since then! She is not at all scared of the water. She will dunk her head, blow bubbles, jump off the side and go under. The teacher told Pete that the next time she takes them that she will move into the Preschool class where she doesn't need a Mommy or Daddy to be with her! Good job Ella!

Blowing Bubbles


Swimming with the Teacher


Her Favorite...Jumping In!!!