Santa and Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs

Last Friday, before the church Christmas party, I took the kids to the zoo. As this is a fairly regular event, you may be wondering why I would include another post with pictures from the zoo. Well as you can see the kids are excited to go. They both have there hats on, and are ready to see the animals. We went from exhibit to exhibit, enjoying the empty pathways. While viewing the anteater, Kate was standing up and holding the rails to keep her balance. The next thing we know, her little white hat is down in the exhibit. Max was thrilled! He kept telling me, "A worker gets a ladder and find the hat!" We went to the front office and notified them of the incident, but we have not yet been back to retrieve her hat. All of the previous times of going to the zoo have been overshadowed by the excitement of Kate's dropped hat. Max is very curious to see her hat the next time we go to the zoo.

Here we are at the Christmas party. Max has been eagerly anticipating meeting Santa. He has been dying to tell him that all he wants for Christmas is trains. And train tracks. He can hardly contain his excitement as we wait in line. He kept on squeezing Rob's hand while he waited his turn.

He finally made it onto his lap. He gave Santa lots of hugs and loves. Told him about the trains and tracks and repeatedly thanked Santa for letting him sit on his lap.

Kate was not nearly as excited to see Santa. We weren't very surprised by her reaction.

Yesterday as I made breakfast, Max kept requesting my help in getting some stickers out of his coloring book. I declined helping him, so he took the initiative to figure a way to get them out. He peeled all the sticker edges off first (they are not pictured), then he proceeded to place all is stickers in a "train" on the floor. He was so proud.

I have wanted to go to Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs to see the Christmas lights all month. We finally had the opportunity to go last night. It was so much fun! The kids had a great time seeing the thousands of lights.

It was cold, so we bundled the kids up. Kate uses Max's old coat and hat, so everyone thought she was a boy. Oh well!

Watching the water go under the bridge.

There is a swan on the lake behind them.

A big bonus (in Max's eyes) was the train. He was able to turn the wheel....

... and pull its bell! Awesome!!

A rare photograph of all of us. I probably should have cropped the picture so we are bigger, but the gingerbread man on the right side of the photo was a highlight for Kate. She thought they were all trying to give her "high five!"

They were fascinated with the peacock.

3 more days until Christmas! Hooray!

Kate Turns 1

My baby girl has turned 1! I still cannot believe it. She is such a joy in our lives.

Here are some things I want to remember about Kate:

1. We call Kate: Sissy, Princess, Baby Girl, and Kate Jane.

2. She loves her Mommy. She is still very attached to me and gets so excited to be with me, on me, or holding me.

3. Kate loves fruits. Her favorites: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, strawberries, kiwi's, and apples.

4. Kate loves vegetables. Peas, corn, green beans, carrots, squash, and cucumbers top her list.

5. Kate crawls everywhere.

6. She can stand up and balance in the middle of the room. She cruises on all the furniture and walls.

7. She weighs 27 pounds (98.6%ile).

8. She is 31.5 inches tall (98%ile).

9. Her head is 18.5 inches around (92%ile).

10. Kate gets so excited to watch Baby Signing Time or Signing Time. She requests it whenever I go by the TV. She starts babbling and you can distinguish "baby baby sssss".

11. If you ask Kate to give you a high five, she smiles and puts her hand up to hit yours.

12. Kate's favorite book is Higher, Higher by Laura Patricelli.

13. Kate still takes a pacifier.

14. Kate sleeps with 4 blankets. 2 are the same blankets, just different colors. They are her favorite blankets because they have a silk edge.

15. Max is a great entertainer for Kate. She follows him around and tries to do everything he is doing.

16. Kate is allergic to eggs.

17. You never would guess that Kate had shoulder dystocia. She is completely normal.

18. Kate has naturally curly hair.

19. Her eyes are bright blue.

20. Kate loves taking showers and baths. Her latest thing is lying on her back in the tub and splashing with all her might.

21. Kate takes one nap each day for 2 to 3 hours.

22. Before she goes to bed, she always gives everyone an open mouthed, slobbery kiss.

23. She has excellent fine motor skills. If I give her a fork with something on the end of it, she can get it to her mouth no problem. She also can hold a pencil and color a paper.

24. Kate can reach the dvd player in our room. She has figured out how to open it up and take the dvd out.

25. Kate talks a lot. Some of her favorite words include: bubbles, Max, mama, dada, happy, ball, baby, uh-oh, no no no, ca ca ca (stinky/yucky), more, all done, and ba-bye.

Here she is on her birthday, beaming with happiness.

Opening her packages. She did a great job ripping the paper off.

Max was eager to help her.

Kate was fascinated with the candle. She didn't burn herself, although this picture is deceiving.

Apparently Kate was not a fan of the cupcake.

Thankfully, Max was a fan!

Grandma Milar gave Kate a little shopping cart to push around. Kate loves it! I realize she looks Jewish in this picture, but it is a new cashmere hat she is wearing! Kate loves to wear hats.

I attempted a Christmas photo shoot. I did it during the day. I was the only adult. I had to be the positioner, actress, and photographer at the same time. It didn't work out as well as I envisioned. Here are a few of the best shots.

Motley's Tree Farm

Rob took the day off yesterday, so we decided to go to Motley's tree farm to cut down our Christmas Tree. It was a really fun place. They have a petting zoo area with goats, chickens, a pig and a donkey. Max and Kate were both in heaven!

Kate was really excited to have the animals right at her level.

I usually don't put pictures of myself put on here, so here is one for you Mom!

I'm pushing the kids on the horse swings.

Kate in a normal swing.

Max doing "airplane" on a swing.

Kate exploring the picnic table.

They had a really cute cow train. I was just posing the kids in them, when the driver came over to pull us around.

We were located in the rear of the train.

I had Kate on my lap, Max had his own car, and Rob brought up the rear. The driver was CRAZY! He put the pedal to the metal and drove on all the bumpy dirt roads, through the mud, and then (Rob's favorite), he drove in 2 or 3 tight circles to whip the last cars around! Rob was laughing and laughing. Max wasn't sure what to think until we ended the ride, and then he declared we should go again!

We watched a few pig races. It was pretty entertaining. Max felt like he needed to sit in that exact part of the bench. Maybe it was the best view!?

Go pigs go!

We hunted around, and found the perfect little Virgina pine. It is the smallest one that Rob and I have ever cut down, but it is a great tree.

We loaded the tree on top of my car, and headed home.

We decorated a lot of the tree last night, but today as I was snapping pictures, Kate was smiling and smiling for me! So cute!

The tree!

The mantle with the stockings. Max woke up this morning so excited to see stockings and a tree with ornaments! He is getting very excited for Christmas. Come to think of it, I am too!

Happy Holidays!

Pics

We love going to the zoo. We have a season pass, and we go there frequently. Kate can finally pull herself up to standing, so she has loved seeing all the exhibits.

Fish

Penguins

Gorilla

Turtles

Flamingos

Tortoise

Giraffe

On Tuesdays/Fridays, we try and attend a playgroup that our church puts together. Here is a quick snapshot of part of the group at the Two Rivers Bridge.

Max insisted on walking that little plastic dog the whole time.

Max and Kate both love to play on the trampoline. We usually play a game that we call "To Kate, to Max, to Mom!" which consists of me passing a ball to Kate, she rolls it to Max, and he kicks it to me.

Max is pretty good about entertaining Kate. When she starts crawling around, he will get down there with her and either chase her, or lead her. He does it at the post office, Kohl's, or anywhere else I put Kate down on the ground.

Playing in the leaves over at Ron and Judy's house.

Last Saturday we went to Memphis for several different reasons. The first reason was to meet Lolo's buyers (they came up from Georgia). Here we are saying goodbye to Lolo.

After dropping off Lolo, we went over to the temple. Rob and I were able to drop Max and Kate off at the church while we went inside. It was so nice to be in the temple together. From there we went to lunch at a fried chicken place (the name is evading my memory). It was really good (and VERY fattening) food. They had "corn nuggets," which is fried corn. Delicious, just super fattening. From there we went on over to one of our favorite stores- Costco. We dearly miss Costco. Sam's Club just does not compete against Costco in terms of quality or service. We left with a cart full of fun. We made one last stop on the way out of Tennessee- Harbor Freight. Rob made a few purchases, and then we started our trek back home.

Now that Lolo is gone, Kate can play on the sand table we have outside. She loves it. Lolo also really enjoyed it, so she would jump up and on it whenever it was open. Max could handle Lolo on the table, but not Kate.

Monday I raked leaves in the backyard. Max was my big helper.

Here Kate is hamming int up for the camera. She was so funny.

I realize she has cross-eyes, but she was very focused on looking at the camera. Such a cutie!

What was Max doing during this photo shoot? He was passed out on our bed. He had missed his nap earlier, so he was exhausted.

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving. We are getting together with our neighbors. We have really been lucky to have such wonderful neighbors. We planned the menu last night. I will be making a lot of bread! Yum!