Pumpkins for our Punkin'

What screams fall more than a field full of big, bright orange pumpkins?  Not much, which is why the first opportunity we had we packed up the van and headed to the pumpkin patch.  In fact, Kate liked the pumpkin patch so much we visited twice this year!  Nothing like good, free entertainment.

Below you'll see pictures of Kate and the pumpkins.  Although we purchased some cheaper pumpkins at the grocery store, Kate got some small, her-size pumpkins and, naturally, we had to take home the orange and white "tiger striped" pumpkin.  I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as Kate enjoyed being in the field of pumpkins!

So many to choose from!

My size!

Still holding on to that little pumpkin!

And Grammy came too!

There are green pumpkins?!?!

I'll take two!

Fallin' for Fall

It's hard to believe it's November already and we're heading into Thanksgiving soon.  October was a busy month for us.  Busier than I thought it would be.  Of course that's usually how the fall is for us.  In years past our weekends would be consumed with football games and fall parties; now, they are consumed with family gatherings, pumpkin gathering, and Halloween activities.  How life has changed!

Besides Halloween, of course, other big October events included Gramma turning 92 (!), cousin Lindsay visiting Kate for the first time, and Patsi, David, Kim, Andy, Leah, & Amelia coming in for Gramma's birthday (and I like to think to see Kate's cuteness as well). Oh yeah, and Uncle William was in town for several weeks from Colombia (the country, not the capital of SC).  We also managed to sneak away to one football game with our friends Dan and Ann.  They are UNC grads and, fortunately, Clemson whipped up on Carolina and made our weekend just perfect.  Blake's parents also drove in from Marion to watch Kate during the game and she had a blast feeding the fish, ducks, and greeting all the dogs that live in Keowee Key.  At then end of this super busy month, I guess it was to be expected that Kate's immune system would give up and she got the first, big virus of her short little life.  We battled a high fever for about 5 days before her cold finally said, "adios."  Thankfully she is now back to her normal, fun-loving self.  We missed that girl.

I'm posting a few pictures from Gramma's 92nd birthday.  You're going to be lucky enough to get a whole new blog on our pumpkin patch visit and Halloween.  Stay tuned for that!

Happy Birthday Gramma!

Apparently it's a little hard to get 3 kids and 2 adults to pose

Gramma and Leah

Following Amelia

Changes

Splash park!

We have a water baby!

And a beach baby!

Who knows just how to relax on the beach

According to the blogger log it's been about 2 months since my last post.  It's kind of embarrassing.  Especially when I log on to read a friend's post and think, "oh, I should update my blog." Somehow I have managed to carve out time to read someone else's post, but can't make the time to update my own.  I could give you a myriad of excuses:  Kate's cold, going back to work, busy fall weekends, Blake working, yet all of them would fall short.  There's just no good excuse.  As of today, I sincerely hope that I will be better at keeping everyone up-to-date.  That being said, here's what happened in the last couple of months (in picture form, of course):

Our STEADY walker!

Love that bubble butt!

Now when you say "baby" to Kate she pats her belly.  She thinks all babies are in bellies even though Baby Zoey arrived already!

Still obsessed with balls

What started out as peek-a-boo....

Ended in hmmmm.....let me lick the plate....

Helping with the watermelon harvest

And I'm off!

Dottie and Kate patrolling the yard

Hi Mommy!

Oops! First skinned knee!

Had to prove she occasionally lets a bow stay in!

 

 

 

 

 

First day of preschool.  I love Ms. Shelly!

Where Did My Baby Go?

It's almost hard to remember what I was doing this time last year with Kate.  She had just come home from the hospital at the beginning of May and we were trying to establish a routine of feeding, sleeping, and surviving.  Fast forward one year and now I'm trying to keep up with my always-moving 15-month-old toddler!  

Kate took her first independent steps on June 1st, just 3 days shy of what would have been her first birthday had she arrived on time.  It took her about a month to be "declared" an independent walker.  Her first major steps happened on July 4th.  Since then she continues to do a mix of walking and crawling.  The walking part still needs to be coaxed out of her at times.  Since she didn't crawl before she walked I think she's discovering that crawling is almost just as fun!  

Kate's walking also had a little set-back recently when I decided to return to using cloth diapers.  As my stash of bargain disposables was running low, it just seemed logical to go back to cloth since they were already paid for; however, Kate decided that walking in a cloth diaper was NOT for her.  In fact, she would barely crawl at times.  I think the big, bulky diaper threw her balance off and she wasn't sure what to do!  So, back to disposables for now until she gets a little steadier.  Those big 'ole cloth diapers sure were cute on her for awhile! 

Godparents

Godmommy Leah, Baby Bear, & Kate

Kate is so fortunate to have TWO sets of godparents who love her dearly.  We had one set of godparents, Dave and Leah, over for dinner the other night so they could see our new screened-in porch (pics are coming....I promise)!  Not only do they have their hands full with their own three children, but they always make time to love on our little one.  Since Blake and I are both only children, we are so fortunate to have wonderful friends who we love like family.

Baby Bear

Ellison & Ethan...they might not be our children, but the look on their faces is so "Blake" in front of the TV!

There She Goes!

'Round and 'round she goes!  That's the theme in our house at least.  Kate has become pretty darn good at pushing her little walker around the house.  She goes from the kitchen to the living room to the foyer, down the hall, and back to the kitchen....over and over again.  And she is so proud of herself when she zooms by mommy!

We're hoping all this "walking" will lead to independent walking very soon.  Kate actually took her first three steps without support on June 1st (3 days shy of what would have been her first birthday).  Blake took some time off this week and we worked and worked on walking, but Kate seems to be a cautious learner who won't try anything new without being completely sure of herself.   This is a pretty good trait to have, I suppose.

Our new favorite evening ritual is having Kate walk in between us.  When she reaches Blake or I she falls into our arms and gives us the best hug ever.  Every time I wrap her up in my arms a tiny piece of me wishes she would stay like this forever.  

There she goes!

'round and 'round!

Giving Back

Our wagon of goodies for the Family Room!

For Kate's first birthday we asked friends and family to bring donations for the Ronald McDonald Family Room at Forsyth Hospital instead of gifts.  The Family Room serves NICU parents and provides a comfortable place to grab a meal, a snack, and just to unwind. Blake and I used that room almost on a daily basis to eat lunch and get a snack (it took us a long time to want another pimento cheese sandwich again). :)

Today we took all of the donated goodies to the Ronald McDonald House on Hawthorne Rd.  The Family Room Coordinator was transporting everything over to Forsyth Hospital this afternoon.  We are so thankful for the support of this wonderful organization and know that lots of other families will benefit  from our donation.

Hanging out with Ronald