our Boyne weekend

Over the MLK holiday weekend, Kate and I took a little trip to Boyne Mountain with the Pridgeons.

Matt had to work Friday night and Saturday night (and would be sleeping most of the day Saturday and Sunday), so we thought it would be a good weekend to get out of town and hang out with family.  Matt's family was up north for an extended weekend, but we just went up Friday afternoon and came home Sunday afternoon.  It was a great weekend, but the time is always too short.

Kate entertained all of us with her spectacular dancing skills and jibber-jabbering on the 'phone' (in case you didn't know, anything and everything can be used as a phone:)).

While shopping Friday afternoon, Uncle Brian picked up an infant sled for Kate so we could play in the snow.  We brought her out both Saturday and Sunday and though she was a little hesitant at first, she quickly got used to it and seemed to have a lot of fun.

she loved the snow on grandma's mittens:)

We had a really great meal at Cafe Sante in Boyne City...great until Kate threw up on the drive back to the condo.  I'm still not really sure what happened, but it was pretty gross.  Poor girl:(

Our drive home on Sunday afternoon was slightly treacherous with all the snow and ice, but we made it home safely and in time for small group.  Kate was quite excited to see her daddy when we got home.  I think he was equally excited to see his little peanut too:)

she's an arteeest

My aunt gave Kate a box of crayons and coloring books for Christmas and she loves them! She's a total natural with holding the crayons and won't use them if the right end isn't down.  Maybe we have an artist on our hands?

snow!

Just a few pictures from our first snow (a couple weeks ago):

Kate doesn't seem to mind the cold much and really likes to walk in the snow:) Matt says she's hardy, I just think she's cute!

new talents

New talents around here include picking up shoes, one-by-one, from under the bench and putting them on the rug by the front door....

...and pulling all of the q-tips out of the jar and covering it with a bowl...

Oh, and here are a few pictures of Kate stabbing her own food and feeding herself with a fork!

she's quite proud of herself:)

Such fun you are these days, little love!

14 Months

Kate turned 14 months old yesterday (on the 14th of January - how fun!).  Here's what she's up to these days...

• she's constantly walking - oh, and running too:)
• she likes to feed herself, as in, she puts the spoon in her mouth and she stabs the food with her fork and puts it in her mouth
• when she is standing up, she pauses for a minute and looks behind her through her legs (yes, upside-down) and thinks it's so funny
• she loves to carry things around, especially her stuffed animal doggies
• she LOVES to dance and usually claps at the end of each song...if there is music on, she is moving
• likes to snack on the go (she pretty much likes to do everything on the go!)
• she thinks it's super funny to tickle me, usually at her daddy's prompting.  she even says 'tickle, tickle, tickle' when she's doing it, but maybe it doesn't sound like 'tickle, tickle, tickle' to anyone but me:)
• she's a total jabberbox
• remember how she used to love provolone cheese? well she doesn't really like cheese anymore, but still likes hummus and broccoli and usually just wants to eat whatever mom and dad are eating
• she likes to push buttons and see what happens (literally, not figuratively - yet)
• she LOVES to be outside, and if you ask her to get her boots and coat, she knows exactly where to go!
• duplos are her current favorite toy, but she still likes magnets too
• she reads books to herself (in a language known only to her)
• she's in the process of dropping her morning nap - a struggle for both mommy and Kate right now, but we'll get the hang of it
• she kicks her soccer ball while walking (that's impressive, right?)
• she follows you to the bathroom...if you want privacy, our house is not a good place for you right now
• she helps me load the dryer, no joke.  if I hand her wet items from the washer, she'll put them into the dryer
• she follows simple commands (like: 'give this to daddy')
• she has 7 teeth now (2 of them are molars!)

And, of course, here are a few pictures from our day...

Moments

Recently, Kate seems to be developing and learning a TON, and I love the moments I get to watch her figure something out or do something she hasn't done before.  These moments are wonderful.  But, last Friday, Kate gave me some of the best moments ever.  And I have to write about it so I don't forget.

We've been struggling lately to figure out if Kate needs two naps or one because she's been pretty hard to get down for naps.  I've gotten pretty used to our little routine of two naps, and don't feel particularly excited to change it, but if she's ready to drop the morning nap, then we'll do it.  The problem is that one day she is and the next day she isn't.  The inconsistency drives me bonkers.  Anyway, one solution I've been trying is to limit Kate's morning nap to 45 minutes or an hour to preserve her afternoon nap.  I hate waking up a sleeping kiddo (especially mine!), but it seems to be working for now.  When I go in to wake her up or after her afternoon naps, she has started to lay her head down on my shoulder, which I think is just the best.  She will usually only keep it there for about 15 seconds and then she's ready to get moving.  But, last Friday, she put her head down and left it there.  And we just snuggled for a few whole minutes.  And when she picked her head up, it was just to move it to the other shoulder.  Then we snuggled again.  I tried not to make any noise or quick movements so she would stay with me.  Her hair was tickling my face, but I didn't move because I wanted that moment to last forever.  And for those few minutes, the moment did last.  I even closed my eyes to try to burn it into my memory; Kate's little body, how she smelled, how she felt in my arms.  My little girl is so busy and doesn't do much sitting still anymore so those moments meant the world to me.

Oh, Kate, I love you so much!

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that 

take our breath away."

-Unknown

winter walk in the woods

There's a cute little park near our house that we've been to a few times in nicer weather, but we decided to check it out on New Years Day with our new baby hiking pack.  It was pretty cold outside, so we were all very bundled up and our walk didn't last long.  But, we had a good time anyway:)

lots of kids were sledding too...we'll have to remember that for the future

Kadzban Christmas 2012

Kadzban Christmas didn't happen until New Years Eve this year.  Even though things were a little different, they were still good.  I always enjoy time with my family.  We headed over to my parent's house after Kate's morning nap and had lunch with the family.  Kate attempted to take her afternoon nap in the basement, but only slept about half an hour.  Later that afternoon my brother and sister-in-law brought home their new puppy (pictures to come).  Once he settled down a little bit, we opened gifts and then had a really good dinner together....think prime rib, roasted sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans sauteed with onions and garlic and a salad:)

afternoon crossword puzzle

busy, busy girl

she wasn't quite sure what to think about Burley:)

cuddle time!

Kate's very own dog:)

"let me help you, grandpa"

Kate's last gift...saved the best for last:) 

it's a wagon!

After gifts and dinner, we watched an episode of the BBC Sherlock Holmes show and then got ready to celebrate the New Year. Adam made us a banana crepe layer cake with butterscotch walnut topping for dessert.  Yum.

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We ended up staying the night at my parent's house because we didn't have the heart to wake Kate up at 12:30, load her into the car, and take her home to go back to bed.  It was pretty convenient, though, since we were there to open stockings in the morning.

not so easy to get six adults, one child and a dog all looking good in the same picture!