Vacation begins and Kate crawls!

Hello there!


Most exciting news of the day: Kate is crawling! Barely, but it counts. :) She crawled across the room to me this afternoon after I picked her up from daycare! No one said anything about it at daycare, but I am guessing that she may have crawled there, too. (the ladies are so thoughtful and sensitive - in a good way; wouldn't be surprised if they wanted me to think she started crawling at home).


Speaking of daycare, here's a photo:



Here's some of the babies with Ms. Samira and Ms. Juliet. So, someone got this cool wagon, and they strap the babies in and roll them around the bldg!! It is hilarious.
Of course my kid is the one not looking at the camera..

Starting at the top right is Emme (who sadly cries 99.9% of the times I've been there), Kate (duh), Giavanni (called Gia), Camille and Reed (who is a girl). Lots of little ladies!
I believe we have 6 girls and 1 boy in the class, but we will be getting new babies soon.

Last weekend we went from our normal bottle feeding routine to..
"I do it, Mommy" - suddenly she wanted to hold it! And she's always put her hands on the bottle, but they have been at the nipple where you can't hold it alone. She just understood how to do it one day and now enjoys feeding herself.

And now she knows how to pull up, too, although she does not do this too often. She is becoming more interested in standing.

Standing alone. Amazing!!


I know I said I probably wouldn't write again until after the holidays, but I'm feeling much better today and I feel like the last entry wasn't very "positive".
So I'm writing again because I have more energy than I know what to do with!
And everything is DONE... what a relief. Presents are bought and made and wrapped.
And work is over for a few days at least.
I made these for some peeps at the office, and for Gail. They are hanging candle holders, from one of Martha's ideas. The crystal at the bottom hangs underneath. I have 4 on my front porch and they've been there for 4 years. That's a good thing, Martha.

And I just finished this notebook cover for Lanndyn.

Oh... ahhhhh....
And I threw in a bag. We get lots of goodies from work. This was a free bag that I've had for a while, and I know Lanndyn loves pink - time to hand it down (it really has not been used). I added the flower pin. The notebooks were free from work, too.


Who knows if she'll actually use them, but it's the thought that counts. It was fun to make, especially the felt stitching.


So I don't want you to think that Lanndyn is not getting anything else - she is getting
THE... Justice Hot Pink Electric Guitar!! Apparently a hot item this year for tweens. James did the shopping (we had a list, thankfully!), and he found one at the Phipps Justice store (Justice used to be called the Limited Too, but they are trying to rebrand it or something).
James was trying to decide if he should get the guitar or the boots, and the sales lady told him he was crazy. We didn't know that people had been driving in from out of state to get the guitar, and that it was the only one left in Atlanta. That made up his mind!
I know she will be very excited to get this present - I can't wait to see her face!!!
I WILL bring the camera, so cross your fingers on happy photos (remember, she is 10 and hates to have her photo taken).


Merry Christmas Eve - Eve!! (My Dad always says that.. cheesy, but I love it)

Christmastime

Helloooo!!!

We have been very busy getting ready for this holiday, as I'm sure everyone has. it has been really stressful this year with this crazy economy, and with trying to juggle working and being a mom for the first time. I am trying to remain calm, which James will tell you is not an easy task!

I try to remember the real reason of Christmas. Jesus was born!! it is a time to celebrate. And a time to be thankful for friends and family. I know that I am!! And we have been blessed with a child this year...
It is so easy to get emotional at Christmas, at least for me. The songs on the radio get me every time. Ahh... pass the tissue and the mascara please.

We visited with Santa for the first time wayyyyy back in November (Phipps Plaza Santa, need I say more?). here's the photo that I took because there is no time to scan in the official one.

She looked like that for about 6 seconds before she started crying. It was so funny! Santa was trying to talk to her about what she wanted for Christmas, and she took one look at him and started screaming. But I think she looked pretty cute in her little outfit. She wore this to our office party, too - sorry no photos. Kate was so good! We kept her up way past her normal bedtime, but she was still smiling and having fun when we left. Sweet baby!!

That's all for now, and if I don't update until after the holidays, forgive me! I love you all - have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Susan

Pure filler

Hi there!!
Yes, this is just pure filler until we are able to get Thanksgiving III photos posted. I'm sorry to report that we are experiencing some technical difficulties, so it may be a little while before you see them. Until then, enjoy Kate + James + Alley the Cat.

Thanksgiving II

Our second Thanksgiving (how lucky are we that we have SO much family?!!), we went to Bamberg to see Mel and Lisa (that's Papa-Mel and Grandma for Kate), Jennifer, Melissa, Martha, Terry, Keith, Mary Alice, Kristen and Taylor!
Sorry I don't have photos of everyone, but I try not to be the crazy camera lady. :)
Martha pulled out some toys for Kate that she had in the house. She loved them! Here's Martha and Melissa with Kate.
Kate and Melissa
We stayed in Lexington with Mel and Lisa. Here's Kate getting her dinner.
Kate just loved all the attention. We kidded that she would be spoiled rotten after all this good attention, which I guess is what grandparents are for, right??
Grandma Lisa and Kate


Papa-Mel shows Kate Zorro that cat.
At some point, Kate was just tuckered out from all that fun!
With Jen. Kate was loving her sweatshirt strings.

We had a great time visiting!! It makes you wish that everyone could live closer together.


Again, more meals without tasting!! Grrr!
But you know, at the risk of sounding cheesy... without being able to focus on the food, I really focused on family this year. Maybe I get wrapped up in the cooking and planning and eating of food too much at Thanksgiving, but this year I couldn't enjoy that. I did enjoy and appreciate how blessed we are to have our family.

Thanksgiving I

Our first Thanksgiving was in Aiken at Kathy and Gail's house!! We had a wonderful time visiting and catching up.


I was still getting over my cold, and was not able to taste and smell. What a bummer!!!!! I always look forward to Gail's cooking. It's soooooo GOOD!! So I had to eat with my eyes and feel the food to experience my Thanksgiving dinner.
This is actually the next morning - quiche. It's a tradition!!
And here is a lovely caramel cake that had a great texture (what more can I say, i know what it was supposed to taste like? Everyone else really enjoyed it?).
Kathy and Kate playing with rings.
With Alex!

Gail and Kate
Checking out Blueberry Bug (We have names for all her toys, don't ask).
Kate loved playing with KC the cat and Alex the dog.

What I do not have are photos from our visit with Lanndyn. We took her to go see New Moon! It was really good!!! And i've never read any of the books or seen the first movie. Lanndyn really wanted to go see it, so of course we did everything we could to ensure that we would not miss the movie. I had heard about the chaos going on over this thing.
Anyway, that was great and then we went to Chili's for a late lunch.
Lanndyn is a beautiful girl!! I really wish I had taken some photos to show off, but she's at that age where she does not enjoy having her photo taken, so I am trying to respect that. :) Maybe at Christmas...heehee.


We CAN'T wait to see everyone again. I know Kate loves spending time with her Grandmas!
And we love you Grandmas!!!

I love Daddy

Did I tell you how much I love my daddy?? So much!!! He let's me play.


On black friday, I played the doctor, and he played the patient.

Oh dear Mr. Carlyle, you are really sick there..

Let me check out that eye.

Umm... no, not they eye. But you might have a real problem with..

Oh YEAH! You have a serious issue with, ur, um..

your mouth?..

Let me take a closer look.

Yes!! The teeth!! Take a look, Nurse Carlyle..

Yep, and the nose.

And the... WAIT! Stop the game - omg, what is going on with tiger woods?

Ha! He did what?!

Listen kids, this is crazy!

I don't know what he was thinking!

Updates coming from Thanksgiving Part I, II and III!!